Ha – I know, I know. You look at me and see a whirlwind frenzy of globetrotting and peanut serving, ocean-hopping and lavatory monitoring. I can't imagine how glamorous this game of intercontinental hopscotch must appear. Left foot, Belize; right foot, Miami. Left foot, Shanghai; right foot, New York. Well, with a layover in Chicago. And we generally switch posts at that airport because it's a hub. You get the picture. ...

The folks at South by Southwest have announced the winners of their 2007 SXSWclick short film competition. This year's winners include some fantastic shorts about lovestruck mice, low-budget time machines and bizarre customer service reps. If you haven't already, we recommend checking out all of the finalists here, but if you're short on time (like, say, if you have a nail appointment, or you desperately need to pee) you can just check out the winners......

City Manager Toby Futrell announced a couple days ago that she will be retiring in May 2008. Ms. Futrell has served as city manager since 2001. She had been expected to retire sometime next year, since the city council recently approved a pretty sweet retirement package for her. Futrell has worked for the city since 1976; her current annual salary is $240,600, and the retirement package ensures her $167,000 per year. During her service......

After the news of the firing of the director of the convention center earlier this week, today a search warrant was issued to search his office. What is being searched for has not been released, but the plot sure is thickening. The former director, Robert Hodge, was fired for supposedly doctoring surveys related to customer service, but that act alone doesn't seem worthy of a search warrant. More likely, this is tied to an......

We bring you this customer service announcement for those of you in need of a little friendship in the 'burbs. It seems to be fairly specific, so if you fit the criteria you best apply. *Cowboy Hats Not Included. My friendship My good friend and neighbor of nearly 6 years is moving to Georgetown. As with all (non-gay, strictly friends) friendships, we enjoyed some great experiences from attending games downtown to poker nights to......

Austin Business Journal reported yesterday that Swedish home goods behemoth IKEA has set out on a massive hiring binge in anticipation of its new Round Rock store opening in just a few months. The bargain-priced furnishings retailer, also home to some particularly delectable soft-serve, is looking to fill nearly 300 positions in all areas imaginable, including interior design, customer service, security, food service, sales, and maintenance. They're offering, in return, pretty nifty benefits: full......

[The following is an editorial column by contributor Alison Coffey and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Austinist staff. --The Editors] Sorry I'm late. A couple of mis-strokes on my keyboard made me lose half the column and it took me a couple of days to regroup. Sometimes you suffer for your art. Sometimes you lose two paragraphs and run to the bed and cry instead of taking a deep breath and......

We have some ambivalence about reporting on a restaurant that features meat. You know, being vegetarians and all, it feels like we're kinda traitors to the cause. But we can't help but get excited when a place that specializes in pig parts on buns, offers up all of their specialities in non-pig-part options. Enter Dog Almighty, located behind the new Brentwood Tavern at the Historic Farmer's Market at 6701 Burnet Rd. It a smallish,......

We have loved Austin's Pizza for a long, long time. We have forgone Gattis, Pizza Hut, even Mangia for one of those Farmer's Market Specialties. Yum. And they don't even deliver to us. We have to drive there. That is how much we love Austin's Pizza. Hankering for a pie full of delicious veggies, we took a trip to the newest location on the drag, which is calling itself the "Varsity" bar. This is a......