• We can’t do better than the original title to this blog post: How to Have a Hipster Thanksgiving.
• The Houston Press wants your Thanksgiving to be full of “creamy white deliciousness.” Don’t miss the flow chart, and the directions to “beat the crap out of the egg white.”
• As you start your holiday shopping…you might run into the Riverboat Gamblers in the most unusual places…like the NYC based internet emporium Barking Irons.

An Austin man has been charged with fraud as part of a scheme to steal millions from the FCC's Video Relay Service, a government program that is intended to help deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans communicate with hearing persons. more ›

• Houston financier accused of a $7 billion fraud can’t afford his own lawyer, has a public defender appointed for him. That’s your tax dollars at work.
• An Austin cop was in the movie “Lightning Strikes” that aired on the Syfy channel this past Saturday. He was playing… a cop. Talk about method acting!
• Dallas-area high-school student DJs have their own radio station. Maybe it is just like that station they had on Beverly Hills, 90210...

Former Dallas resident Nancy Rose McGowan, 26, was thrown in Travis County Jail yesterday after authorities discovered that she lacked a state board license and, more disconcertingly, any kind of formal education in pharmacy work whatsoever. McGowan had been working at the CVS Pharmacy at 4405 E. Riverside Drive for the past two months, and actively filled prescriptions using the names "Amber Mclendon" and "Amber Shcherbelis." more ›

Photo by Fort Cloudy on flickr StitchSaturday, November 10Austin Convention Center (500 E Cesar Chavez Street)Doors at 4pm, Fashion show 9:30pm, Tickets $10[info] | [tickets]We figured we'd end our Stitch Preview series by interviewing Matthew Stinchcomb, who does PR for Etsy. We learned that the online store is kind of a big deal in the DIY world. Several Stitch vendors sell their homemade wares on the site so it'll be a treat to meet the... more ›

The notion that ‘It's not a conspiracy theory if it's actually true,’ is about as spot-on and useful as ‘Golly, she ain’t a witch if she done drown.’ more ›

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week. Torontoist Special Report: Rosie to Trump: "Fire 300 Bicyclists for Fraud!" On DCist: Students Go Wild for Slogans, Secrets and Sexual Harassment The action was thick... more ›

THURSDAY [15] benefit •St. Valentine's Day-After Massacre, A Spay/Neuter Fundraiser at Mother Egan's (5:30pm-7pm) art •Public Tour: Michener and Modernism at Blanton Museum (7:00 - 8:00 PM) art •Public Tour: By the River by Radcliffe Bailey at Blanton Museum (12:30 - 1:00 PM) ballet •Ballet Austin presents Director's Choice at The Paramount Theatre (8pm) film •Flicker Film Festival at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film •Love Bites: The 80s Power Ballad Singalong at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown... more ›

Some people marry for love. Some for companionship. And yes, there are some thrifty evil souls out there who marry for riches. But we romantics at the Austinist are happy to know that at least two people in this hardened nation of ours have married for a reason even purer than true love: rock and roll. Back in 2001 Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel decided to ditch their day jobs, get hitched, and begin... more ›

Enron founder and former chairman Kenneth Lay died yesterday of an apparent heart attack, while vacationing in Aspen. The convicted felon was to be sentenced in October after being found guilty in late May of six counts of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. Even during his trial, when his insanely decadent lifestyle was exposed -- including his purchase of a $200,000 yacht for his wife's birthday soiree while concurrently over $100 million in... more ›

Billboards are always an eyesore. We recommend not moving into a neighborhood where the advertising is more prominent than the sun. The guy that founded Daewoo, Kim Woo-choong, is in prison again for charges of fraud, etc etc etc. Stock up on calomine lotion. The increase of CO2 gasses in the atmosphere is triggering a higher growth rate of poison ivy and other poisonous plants. Pornography is becoming increasingly popular among the British. Researchers... more ›

After 16 weeks of testimony, the jury has come back. And fairly quickly. The Smartest Guys in the Room now know their fates. Jeff Skilling (28 counts) Guilty on Conspiracy and all counts of Security Fraud charges. Not guilty on charges 42-51 (insider trading). Ken Lay (6 counts) Guilty on Conspiracy and all counts of Security Fraud charges. Experts think the two men will receive close to 20-25 years for their misdeeds. It is... more ›

Once heroic South Korean scientist, Hwang Woo-suk, fabricated much of his data in some of his research on cloning. Now at an all-time low, he is being charged with fraud. Ritz-Carlton for some, Motel 6 for others; A hotel in Germany actually charges their guests based on their weight. Last night, The Anaheim Ducks took over Round 2 and knocked Colorado out of the playoffs, winning 4-1. The Ottowa Senators beat Buffalo by a... more ›

Rick Perry unveiled his school financing plan yesterday and it looks like the smokers get the short end of the stick, again. In his efforts to devise a plan to fund schools and give property tax relief, Perry has suggested cutting property tax by $6 billion, the largest reduction in history, and broaden the franchise tax to apply to more companies and raise cigarette taxes by $1 a pack. Critics of the plan say... more ›

DCist helps us make more sense of the world this week. Posts like this concert review are the reason for Scott Stapp. DCist also enumerates the reasons for playing ultimate frisbee, Condi's tight buns, their love of a local convenience store, and their jealousy of a person in Seattle calling the city. LAist documented graf artist Banksy's most recent visit to LA in one two three posts. They also found the best possible use... more ›

News8 reports that the four men who were indicted last June on charges of selling fake insurance plans now face felony indictments for organized criminal activity and theft. The Travis County District Attorney's office, in their ongoing investigation into the insurance fraud, say the quartet tricked some 800 Texans - many of whom were low income families - into purchasing "affordable health insurance," which they would later discover to be entirely fraudulent when trying... more ›

Reuters is reporting that Lance Armstrong will go to trial in Italy next year on defamation charges because Italian rider Filippo Simeoni has some thin skin: Italian judge Nicola Insiti decided American Armstrong should go on trial in Simeoni's home town of Latina near Rome on March 7 after he called Simeoni a liar in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde in 2003. Simeoni had given evidence in 2002 during the trial... more ›

Image from The Bioengineering Institute Have you ever wondered what the rest of the world thinks about us? While some media conglomerates try and lead you to believe our "news" is “fair and balanced” and maybe even informative, media and citizens in other countries often times have a little different perspective. To find out what the global community thinks of the US, check out watchingamerica.com. Here is their mission statement: WatchingAmerica reflects global opinion... more ›

Renee, honey, sit down. No, sit down, we want to talk to you. Woman to woman - uh, us. Yes, yes, we heard the news. Now, we understand that sometimes love is blind. Very, very blind. So blind that it causes us to marry no-talent ass clowns who breathe, eat, and sleep mediocrity, who work in a genre of music that has strayed so far from its roots we can hardly discern a shred... more ›

We are obviously mounted-up and riding high with the Kinky Friedman campaign for governor. (I mean, Why the Hell Not?) But we have the sneaking suspicion that this race will eventually come down to a battle between the two parties of the Establishment. With that said, the Democrats picked up a little bit of optimistic steam this morning as Chris Bell announced his candidacy for governor. In his announcement, Bell brought a breath of... more ›

So A Flock of Seagulls won't be playing Elysium tonight, but there are a few great shows happening around town that are bound to tickle your fancy...pants. IF YOU LIKE ... The Rapture, The Faint, or tight pink jeans: Rock out with electroclash wizards Ghostland Observatory at Karma Lounge @ 10pm. They're fresh off a hugely successful East Coast tour, so come and give 'em a warm Austin welcome back! Jack Johnson: Nashville singer-songwriter... more ›

In The News Today: Leisure Tax? Governor Rick Perry has announced his idea of how to resolve the school finance problem that brought Texas legislators back for a special session. His idea: raise sales tax from 6.25% to nearly 7%, tax cigarettes ($1 extra a pack), cosmetic surgery (huh?), car maintenance and repairs (who told him that was fun??), and porn (just kidding). The plan would also lower property tax. Dems are skeptical and... more ›

The Texas House voted 83-63 yesterday to approve a bill that would require voters to show up to three forms of identification before being allowed to vote. In addition to the standard voter registration card, a person would need a photo ID card or two other documents without a photo. Currently, only five states require photo identification in order to vote. Some members of the House (cough*Republicans*cough) are behind the bill, claiming that it would... more ›

Marginal religious sects, ritual sodomy, women and children in danger and one “evil, evil man”? Just another day in our Legislature. Yesterday a House committee heard from Utah’s attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, about the hazards posed to the state by the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, a fringe sect of Mormonism which is currently building a compound outside El Dorado, near San Angelo. The leader of the Fundies, Warren Jeffs (pictured), is being... more ›