Item: The organizers at SXSW have responded to years of complaints about long lines and short notice by dramatically revising the wristband system for the 2008 festival. 4,000 wristbands priced at $139 are reserved exclusively for Austinites and will be distributed via an online lottery system that commences at 9am on Thursday, February 21st. There is a four-day period for sign-up, then the festival will let the winners know they've been selected shortly thereafter. All registrants must live in the Austin area - a credit card with an Austin metro area billing zip code will be required (this generously stretches as far as San Marcos, Georgetown, and Taylor). One can purchase two wristbands, but one of them must be for the purchaser...and the recipient of the second one must be named when placing an order....

We've heard rumors that a soon-to-open performance venue won't be such a swell place to work for the folks behind the scenes. Scant room backstage, an eensy fly space, and a tricky loading dock with an 8' door, aren't exactly the makings of a stagehand's dream job....

This weekend, while many of our friends are shaking their fists across town at the Fun Fun Fun Fest, the bookworms among us will climb the Capitol steps to get our “shhh!” on at the Texas Book Festival. We’ve waited all year for this, the biggest literary event in Austin. All the great local writers will be on hand, along with a smattering of nationally recognized authors. For anyone looking for a thorough introduction to......

Contrary to popular opinion, feminism and romance are not incompatible and feminism may actually improve the quality of heterosexual relationships. The Statesman reports that the ACLU and LULAC have complained about the location of the new municipal court. US House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to renew the ban on taxing Internet access — but only for 4 years, not permanently. MySpace will offer members of its popular social network free Internet phone calls......

Stop-Loss is the first film from director Kimberly Peirce since her brilliant, award-winning 1999 drama Boy's Don't Cry. Filmed in and around Austin, Stop-Loss follows an Iraq war hero named Brandon King (played by Ryan Phillippe) who returns home only to be called back to active duty under the US military's "stop-loss policy". But rather than return to Iraq, King flees with his friend Michele (Abbie Cornish) while trying to figure a way out of......

Few forms of entertainment elicit such fanatical, diverse opinions on what warrants the label of being "good" as comedy does. To this day, the mere mention of Andy Kaufman's name can set off a heated debate on whether "genius" or "talentless asshat" is more applicable, and the perceived injustice that the Freaks and Geeks fan club was dealt when network suits and critics downed one of Judd Apatow's earliest efforts still has teeth. All this......

This morning marks the release of the ACL 2007 schedule grid. This is probably the most stressful day of the year for the avid ACL festivalgoer, as hopes of seeing every act one likes are dashed when seeing how many of your favorite bands are playing at the exact same time. It's impossible to program such a big festival without a couple of conflicts, but three stand out to us this year as particularly......

We should probably preface this whole thing by saying that we absolutely love Don McKellar. And not in a cute, innocent, forgivable way—in a nerdy, fawning, obsessive kind of way. And so while much of the following interview does relate directly to Reg Harkema’s new film Monkey Warfare (which Don is in, and which will be screening at SXSW), we also couldn’t resist occasionally veering way off topic, randomly blurting out years worth of pent-up......

This weekend, first-time directors Brian Cassidy, Jennifer Loeber and (ex-Austinite) Aaron Hillis will bring their unusual but fantastic new documentary Fish Kill Flea to Austin for its world premiere at SXSW. Strange and funny and sad by turns, Fish Kill Flea is an honest, close-up portrait of a decaying mall in upstate New York that has become home to a popular (though shabby) flea market. Though the subject seems fairly specific at first, the film......

UPDATE: We found the video of Sean Stevens and Peter Berdovsky placing the "fake bombs" around Boston. Plus, the bidding war reached a little over $5,000 before the item was removed from Ebay. The stunt that brought Boston police and transportation its biggest scare since 9/11 yesterday was one Austin is very familiar with. Bostonist has all the coverage. Pictured above, this LED-lit advertisement stood over South Congress just north of Oltorf for more......

Tonight, Alamo Music Mondays presents a rare 16mm print of the 1971 British film Melody. Starring Mark Lester, Jack Wild and Tracy Hyde, Melody is the story of two pre-teen children who fall in love and declare their intention to get married – an announcement that is (of course) met with ridicule by overbearing parents and teachers. All we’ve actually seen of this film is the Japanese trailer (that has now been removed from Youtube),......

If it weren't for our life as an -ist, we're not sure we'd ever leave our apartment. Fortunately, to fully -ist, one must seek out the new, the fresh, and the unknown. Brand new, or just new to us, that's what we're all about this week. Phillyist keeps it fresh by getting a new motto, learning to prioritize, and taking in an experimental indie rock show. Torontoist does their first post in franglais, gets ready......

Earlier this morning, Tamara Hoover posted the following announcement to her MySpace blog: Hello all. Under advice of my lawyer (and not without great resistance on my part) I have agreed to settle the matter with AISD out of court. With this agreement the district asked that I resign my position as an art teacher at Austin High School. My legal bills were mounting and my lawyer felt that the settlement was in my......

While eBay may not allow people to auction off items in support of suspended teacher Tamara Hoover, ain’t nobody gettin in the way of this party. Tomorrow night at the Pedernales Lofts there will be an art party and exhibition featuring work from Tamara, as well as photographic and video works from Celesta Danger. All proceeds will benefit Ms. Hoover’s legal defense fund. Food and drink will also be served. Hoover was recently suspended......

The SIMS Foundation is a local nonprofit dedicated to providing low-cost counseling and other mental health services to Austin-area musicians and their families. They're currently running a special online auction over on eBay, to help raise funds for the organization. Check out awesome, custom-designed Gibson Les Paul electric guitars like: Mike Judge's portrait of "Butthead" Bob Schneider's abstract, "Rock, Sex, Drugs, and Roll" Billy Gibbons' (ZZ Top) "Gold Signature" Robert Hurst's "Jimmy Page Tribute"......

*Update: We guess we were slightly short-sighted and admit we see your point about eBay having to be concerned about charitable auctions, but does that mean I couln't say I'm selling my baseball card collection in order to put my newphew through preschool? Anywho...Harold has moved the piece in question to his site. He is selling it for $250. All proceeds will go to Tamara Hoover.* Remember how we told you about that lovely......

These $12 tickets (sold out) are selling at a fever pitch on eBay. [eBay Listings for "Roger Clemens" "Round Rock]......

-The Washington Post's Terry M. Neal speculates on Miers' failed bid for the Supreme Court -The latest move in Google's quest to take over the internet: crushing eBay? -Janet Jackson has a secret kid! (Maybe) -2,000 international firms have been accused by the United Nations of paying off Saddam Hussein's regime -MSNBC explains the whole hubbub over the CIA leak story -Charles and Camilla, desperately trying to stay relevant -Another luxury condo's going up......

-Surprise, surprise: NCLB has, in fact, left most behind. -Considering weight loss surgery? You're 4.6% likely to die. Better options: eating right, vigorous exercise, or picking up a cocaine habit. -Yet another reason why we wish we were twelve: Star Wars Transformers! -As a rule, when you throw a house party, uninvited guests will invariably show up. -These 2006 SXSW wristbands are going for a great cause. -They're actually arguing that intelligent design is......

The behemoth of nonprofit cultural awareness organizations, Americans for the Arts, takes over Austin this weekend for its annual convention, this year entitled Leading the Charge. And how! This promises to be the largest gathering of city and state arts leaders from all over the country, essentially a who's-who of the established arts community. Their theme this year couldn't be more appropriate for our fair city: what better place to "focus on establishing and......

If you're a fan of ballet, or just happen to be at Barton Springs this Friday or Saturday evening, you might want to check out Austin Dance Ensemble's "Ballet Under the Stars". The free production takes place at the Zilker Hillside Theatre (next to Barton Springs pool) at 8:30 each night, and features works by Mike McKinley, Ernest Gildon, Arletta Howard-Logan and John Logan - none whom we even pretend to have heard of......