This year's Free Press SummerFest was not for the faint of heart. Battling extreme weather conditions ranging from record setting heat (104F!) to torrential downpours to whipping winds, the estimated 70,000 Houstonian music-lovers were not deterred. more ›

Fantastic Fest '08 Badges are on sale now! VIP badges sold out while the '07 festival was still running, but there are some new ticket options for '08 including "2nd Half" and "Daytime Only" badges. UT Professor Ellen Spiro and Talkshow Host Phil Donahue's doc "Body of War" has made the Oscar shortlist. Check out Chris Garcia's interview with Spiro here. The Belgian government has honored four Austin filmmakers for their documentary work. We... more ›

Memorial services for beloved newspaper columnist Molly Ivins, who passed away on Wednesday, will be held at 2pm this Sunday afternoon at First United Methodist Church. A gathering will follow at Scholz Garden. Donations in Ivins' honor can be made to The Texas Observer or the American Civil Liberties Union at: The Texas Observer 307 West Seventh Street Austin, TX 78701 American Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street 18th Floor New York, NY 10004 Related:... more ›

Nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, political reporter, and beloved Austinite Molly Ivins passed away in her home yesterday at the age of 62. In a remarkable career that spanned nearly four decades, Ivins commanded the respect and admiration of a devoted national readership, who rallied around her unapologetically liberal, often satirical, and always insightful coverage of the Texas "Lege" and our leaders in Washington. Among various and sundry positions held, Ivins served as co-editor of the... more ›

Didn’t want to spend your hard-earned cash for ACL ducats this year? Or maybe you have to work, and can’t get away from that computer to which you’re chained. Whatever the case may be, if you aren’t heading down to Zilker Park this weekend, you can still catch several of the ACL performances broadcast live over the intranets. AT&T will be airing exclusive content at their Blue Room portal beginning tomorrow with the first... more ›

Let's just cut to the chase: everyone knows that smoking kills. Then again, so do stress, vodka, charcoal and high fructose corn syrup. But this isn't a public service board, nor do we care to proselytize - we'd just like to point out that today is the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. And unlike the other Great American Smokeout a few months from now, this one's designed to do your body a bit... more ›

About six minutes into the first game of the 2005 NBA Finals, the Detroit Pistons had the Spurs looking like a bunch of clowns--unfunny clowns, at that. How the Pistons managed to go from trouncing (at that point, they led 17-4) to being trounced (the Spurs won, 84-69) is an unsolved mystery, although it might have something to do with Manu Ginobili, who went from a dismal opening (four points by halftime) to a magisterial fourth quarter, finishing up with 26 points, more than anyone else last night. After the game, we heard a TV commentator say that Manu "can be motivated by anger." We don't know whether that's true, but if so: hot. more ›