You might still be infatuated with Marfa, but there's a new (old) Texas town to become obsessed from afar with: Crush. As Sarah Hepola discovers in her journey through the intriguing Wikipedia page for the word "crush", this now non-existent town existed for only one day, and that day was certainly bizarre enough to last forever. It was created a sort of publicity stunt in 1896 by William George Crush, a passenger agent of the Katy Railroad. His idea? Gather enough people in one place, put on a show and then ... watch two trains collide. Sure enough, 40,000 people gathered three miles south of West, Texas and made it official: Crush was the second largest city in Texas that day. The train collision caused three deaths, a lost eye, and Crush's prompt firing (he was rehired the next day). Afterwards, the Katy Railroad would give people rides to the site of the crash for $2. Scott Joplin even wrote a tune about it. Learn more here. more ›

Bastrop County is soliciting help from the public as they collect video, photos, and personal testimonies related to the fires earlier this month. Mike Fisher from the Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management says, "While everything is still fresh in our minds, we want to document exactly what happened. We hope to create a complete and accurate record of the wildfires that began on September 4, 2011, for future generations. We also aim for this record to serve as a case study for our local emergency responders and for other departments that may face similar disasters in the future." Photos and testimonies may be submitted via the Bastrop County Wildfire Historical Project Facebook Page, and video to the Project's Vimeo group. more ›

Cactus Pryor, known to most Austinites for his work in local TV and radio, died yesterday at Hospice Austin's Christopher House. Pryor announced in 2007 that he had Alzheimer's disease, and had suffered a bad fall in recent weeks. more ›

A biographical look at singer/performer/activist Harry Belafonte, Sing Your Song is the latest film from director and documentarian Susanne Rostock. Throughout his life, Belafonte has overcome racial injustice, worked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. in the struggle for civil rights, and unabashedly fought for the rights of others. more ›

How and why was journalist Carlos Berger killed? His son German Berger-Hertz looks further into his father's life and death in 1970's Chile with his film My Life With Carlos. more ›

Yesterday the University of Texas at Austin announced the creation of the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies. The new department will focus on African Americans, indigenous Africans and people of African descent around the world with an affiliated institute focusing on urban policy. more ›

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The week's news on arts, books, film and music. more ›

Tonight at the Salvage Vanguard Theater, music and film will be united in odd, unexpected ways. Italian musician Giuseppe Ielasi and Austrian filmmaker Michaela Grill are the guests of honor at this event sponsored by the Church of the Friendly Ghost. Ielasi has a long history with improvised music and uses “guitars as primary sound sources by integrating microphones and multichannel speaker systems in order to create complex networks for sound diffusion in relation to space” according to this event's press release. Sounds confusing, but obviously far from typical. more ›

If you’re an aspiring writer, you might want to find some time between holiday parties this weekend to brush up your best short story. The Austin Chronicle’s sixteenth annual Short Story Contest closes on Monday. Winners split $1,500 and get published. more ›

This week's news on art, books, music, and film. more ›

This is a good example of poor judgment.The students of Penn State University should have taken a note from their counterparts at Tarleton State University when picking out this year's Halloween costumes. Even more idiotic than their costume idea was their decision to post the resulting pictures on Facebook. Photos of two Penn State students donning Virginia Tech t-shirts, covered with bullet holes and fake blood, were put up on Facebook and quickly spread over... more ›

Image via Big Hassle PR The Straylight Run w/ The Color FredMonday, December 3The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$15, Doors at 7pm[info] | [tickets]Formed from the ashes of Taking Back Sunday, the Long Island group Straylight Run plays a blend of indie rock and chamber pop. Formed in 2003 by ex-TBS members Shaun Cooper and John Nolan, the duo left behind most of their emo influences when switching groups and recruited both Will Noon... more ›

The Austin Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Austin: Handel’s MessiahDecember 4, 2007 at 8:00 p.m.4214 N. Capitol of Texas Highway (4214 N. Capitol of Texas Highway)Riverbend Centre[info] | [tickets] Sir Thomas Beecham wrote of Handel in his memoirs, "Since his time mankind has heard no music written for voices which can even feebly rival his for grandeur of build and tone, nobility and tenderness of melody, scholastic skill and ingenuity and inexhaustible variety of effect…Handel…is... more ›

UN reports: Poorest people are most at risk through climate change. Dick Cheney's heart (ha) may be in trouble. In California, they drink sewage. Sort of. Russian hipsters carefully ignore Stalin, long for the good old days. Speaking as a nation wearing Native American t-shirts, we could teach them a thing or two about revisionist history... Living in the city makes your breasts denser. (This is not a metaphor, and it could be dangerous!)... more ›

You wouldn’t necessarily think the squeaky-clean world of power-pop and dirty, dirty metal have a great deal in common, but they do share a few similarities other than loud guitars. Writers and fans of metal often rate metal in terms of its “heaviness,” as if how sludgy, powerful, hard, or just “metal” an artist is works as a sure-fire way to judge their output. Even when picking and choosing between different types of metal, the... more ›

Blazing Saddles Quote-Along & Bar-B-Que RunQuote-Along: Thursday, Nov. 8th @ 7:00pm, Saturday, Nov. 10th and Thursday, Nov. 15th @ 7:15pm / BBQ Run: Saturday, Nov. 10th @ NoonAlamo Drafthouse Downtown (320 E 6th Street)Quote-Along: $10 / Quote-Along & BBQ Run: $75[info] | [tickets]Hey you! Yeah, YOU! Quit yer lollygaggin'! Don't you know that we're rounding up cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican... more ›

Sunday marks the tenth anniversary of Komen Austin Race for the Cure. With 24,000 attendees and a fundraising goal of over $1 million, this year’s event is expected to be the largest in the Austin's race history. Throughout the past ten years, 150,000 Austinites have raised more than $6 million dollars to support those affected by breast cancer in our community. Susan G. Komen for the Cure started as a promise between sisters back in... more ›

Several dozen employees at Dell Financial in North Austin were exposed to what authorities believe was pepper spray earlier today. From the Blotter: Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services is reporting that 40 Dell employees have been exposed to a toxic chemical, believed to be pepper spray discharged in an enclosed area at 12234 N. Interstate 35. One person with a history of asthma was taken to St. David’s Hospital. All others refused treatment, according to... 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 ›

#17 Texas (6-2) vs. Nebraska (4-4) Time: 2:30 pm, Saturday, Oct. 27 Location: Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium TV: ABC Radio: KVET (98.1 FM, 1300 AM) The Texas-Nebraska game on Saturday highlights the clash of history and reality. Historically, both are among the premier programs in college football, and the numbers prove it. The schools have combined for more than 1,600 victories, nine national championships, 90 bowl appearances, and five Heisman Trophy winners. But in... more ›

The long-term future of the crown jewel of Austin municipal golf -- Lions Municipal Golf Course -- is in question after UT's Brackenridge Tract Task Force recommended hiring an outside master planner and redeveloping the land occupied by the course. Lions was built in 1928 and has hosted some of history's most notable golfers. Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite have won the annual Fourth of July Firecracker Open there, and Ben Hogan's comment on... more ›

Okay--so there are a bunch cool things happening at the Austin Film Festival tonight, and a we wanted to let you know about a few last-minute tidbits and screening changes. *The Rebel is now playing at 9:45pm at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, NOT at the 9:30 Paramount slot we'd previously told you about. *The awesome narrative feature and 2007 AFF "Film Jury Narrative Feature Winner" Shotgun Stories is now playing at 9:45pm... more ›

We're gonna come right out and say it: We're total crybabies. No seriously, we may be the most empathetic people in the entire world. Anytime that we see someone in pain, someone suffering injustice, or even something sappy and overly romantic, like a first love, it's Niagara Falls, Frankie Baby. When you see a bunch of puffy-eyed, slobbery messes walking around downtown for next week, you can blame these films. And yeah, we're fine, we've... more ›

You’ve probably seen Carlos Alazraqui as Deputy James Oswaldo Garcia on Reno 911!—but you’ve probably heard him, too. Alazraqui is a prolific voice-over actor, having performed as Néstor in Happy Feet, the Taco Bell Chihuahua, Rocko in Rocko’s Modern Life, Winslow T. Oddfellow in CatDog, and Goofy Goober in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. But in addition to acting, Carlos is also an accomplished stand-up comic. We spoke with Carlos before his run of shows... more ›

O, the mighty men and women of Austin's stages! They get so busy this time of year. There's more than enough to choose from this week, but here are the theater picks that top our list. ProArts Collective wraps up the Black Arts Movement Festival with Incognito on Thursday at 8pm, and Spoken Word Caravan on Friday at 8pm. The former is a one-man drama, performed by author Michael Fosberg, about a man who grew... more ›

The Austin Film Festival is right around the corner, and this year's Marquee programming is some of the best in the festival's history. With a wide variety of stellar comedies, dramas, and documentaries (not to mention several strong Oscar contenders) announced, there's something for everyone in the 2007 Marquee category. To help you plan out your festival schedule, we've put together a list of best bets for this year's program. The whole program looks excellent... more ›

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out and... more ›

The Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF) is all grown up in its 20th year and it shows in tonight’s kickoff festivities. Not only is the inaugural film—Call Me Troy—a world premiere, it is also the first documentary in the festival’s history to serve as an opening night film. The schedule continues to entice with another noteworthy first: the Sapphire MojitoMartini. You can down this “aGLIFF 20 Signature Cocktail” and chat up... more ›