Palin takes the stage tonight to speak to Republican convention Google releases a new web browser, called Chrome, to take on Microsoft Following up on Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna expected to hit Friday US plans to send $1 billion in aid to rebuild Georgia Don LaFontaine, the voice you know from movie trailers, dies at 68 The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, meet in US Open quarterfinals Study finds the older the father, the......

As Gustav looks like it is on its way to New Orleans, President Bush and V.P. Cheney announced today that they will not be attending the GOP convention in St. Paul this week. Instead of making an appearance in Minnesota, Bush plans to check on emergency preparations in Austin and San Antonio when the storm is set to hit Louisiana, then will make his way to the other states affected after the storm hits....

Hurricane Dolly's leading edge hits Texas, Mexico Bush drops opposition to housing aid plan Women on antidepressants may benefit from Viagra Polygamous sect leader charged with sexual assault Brawl breaks out at women's pro basketball game Lyons and Mankiewicz: At the Movies Comic-Con expects crowds of up to 125,000 for this year's convention......

Chemical spill closed highway in Williamson County for a good part of the day today. Perry defends the expensive rent for his Barton Creek-area temporary home, saying, "Texas ain't Arkansas." Man arrested at the border for a murder committed 13 years ago in Northeast Austin. Shocker: Secretary of State expects low voter turnout for this constitutional amendment election. Supposed chupacabra discovered in Cuero found to be just a coyote. "Get out of Iraq .......

Flood waters threaten thousands in southern Mexico. Hurricane Noel will bring heavy rainfall to the East Coast. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begs U.S. Diplomats to serve overseas. NASA plans a risky spacewalk to save a ripped solar wing at the international space station. Hollywood writers are set to declare a strike sometime today. Get ready for a reality television blitz! NBC Anchor Brian Williams is hosting SNL this week. The reunion show......

COLOUR REVOLT What’s the Deal: There’s a small college town in Mississippi where Colour Revolt is waiting like a swollen, porous sponge for someone to wring them out over the parched mouths of indie rock fans and critics alike. Right now, there is only the self-titled 6-song EP re-released in October of ‘06, but they’re currently in the final stages of recording their debut full-length. The EP, which caught ears at Spin and Stereogum......

Hurricane Humberto leads to one death and Orange, Jefferson, and Galveston counties being declared disaster areas. More trouble for the Longhorns: Senior player arrested for marijuana possession. More trouble in the Texas Youth Commission: the overuse of pepper spray. Austin city council has allocated $40,000 to find a new City Manager, but they're not all very happy about it. Dallas County DA stops inmate's execution scheduled for tonight. Domo arigato, Roboto boy: Richardson inventor......

Badass: Your private jet holds 180 passengers. Google.com: NASA geeks think it is so cool, they're going to let you park it on their runway. Lame: Being seen in one of those electric cars they sell by 6th and Lamar. More lame than that? Being seen in one of these things. (We're kidding, folks, seriously.) Remember when we told you about that OU guy that tore that UT guy's balls? Yeah, he's going to......

The Out of Bounds Improv Festival and Miniature Golf Tournament ended on Monday after six days of blithe musings from some of the finest improv and sketch-comedy troupes in the country. In its sixth year, Out of Bounds reached new heights of comedic exuberance over the past week—and, more importantly, surely introduced a new universe of humor to an unimaginable quantity of newcomers. But for some, Out of Bounds was more than a once-a-year......

Del McCoury has been playing bluegrass music since 1950, which basically means that he's been playing guitars and banjos since before your parents were born. If that doesn't translate into transcendent musical abilities, we have no idea what your standards are. McCoury's band features his two sons, Rob and Ronnie McCoury, who have only been playing bluegrass since the early 1980s--banjo and mandolin, respectively--so, whatever. Ha ha j/k! Del McCoury Band Bakersville, NC Latest Release:......

Felix, Category 5 hurricane, is hitting Nicaragua. Oh, the times they are a'changin (finally): A female joins the ranks of the Beefeaters at the Tower of London. Bush arrives in Australia today amid protests from Australians. Slate reviews O.J.'s book: "The narrator of 'If I Did It' introduces his story not as an exercise in counterfactual speculation but rather as the God's honest truth." Author Anne Lamott censored from speaking at Creighton University? Hybrid......

Big surprise: Obama doesn't care much for "Obama Girl". Hurricane Dean was a category 5 when it hit Mexico, but settled down to a category 3. The "Daily Show" tries to recapture its cultural relevance by really and truly sending a correspondent to Iraq. Gaddafi's son wants a free media (among other reforms) in Libya. The gal who works on your nails definitely deserves a bigger tip. Rumor is Google is investing in Chinese......

UT Austin professor receives national award for "distinguished service to education in librarianship" A kid in South Austin gets an explosive reaction after he attempts to use real bullet in toy gun Hurricane Dean looks like it's heading to Mexico, but FEMA says Texans should still look out A Dallas man allegedly murders his mother, keeps her decomposing body in the house for days until neighbors complain about "a stench" Austinite Lynne Smith successfully swims......

A 17-year-old kid dies after smashing his car into a tree in Central Austin Round Rock police, fed up with pesky juvenile delinquents, close down a popular skate park for a week Tropical Storm Erin was just a warm-up; Hurricane Dean might be on its way The Texas Attorney General closes a local illegal nursing home operation; one resident was found locked in a room with boarded-up windows UT students and others looking to......

Here comes the story of the hurricane that wasn't really a hurricane and didn't even affect the fireworks last night ... but you should still be skeert. Golden gloves indeed: 20-year-old man charged with manslaughter for his part in the murder of a man on June 19. Giving new meaning to booze in the blender. We are totally awesome at throwing block parties. When it's not raining, at least. Wonder if you could afford......

Never mind that it's not that hot outside right now (though we would argue that the wet-dishrag humidity more than makes up for what the thermometer's not showing). Climate change is still happening/still scary, and the movie at the Alamo tonight, the next installment in the AFS' global scifi series, is all about that possible future heated terrasphere. The Day The Earth Caught Fire, having been birthed in 1961, is more worried about nuclear war......

Coldtowne Conservatory's Tami Nelson and Chris Trew are Hurricane Katrina transplants who also happen to be pretty damn funny improv artists with a sold out FronteraFest 2007 show - one a.m. Austinist got up close and personal with these two cut-ups, and this is what we found out: Tell me about the background and history of Coldtowne Conservatory. Tami Nelson: So, Tami Nelson and Chris Trew are in Coldtowne and one a.m. is the......

If you watched the State of the Union last night (we tried to, but ended up choosing the guilty pleasure that is Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Orange County" over it), you heard our Fearless Leader not mention a hurricane starting with K or the region affected by it plug his plan for Iraq. This weekend, various national organizations are sponsoring a peace march in D.C. against the war. Local peace organizations are eager......

Theatre fans aren’t hurtin’ for stuff to do this week. So let the good times roll, people. Let ‘em roll theatre-style. Put your hands together for our Austinist Pick of the Week, Free Night of Theatre! Not just one, but like a bazillion completely free shows in Austin, and across the nation. (That’s right, jetsetter – even if you’re out of town, it’s no worries, because the metro area you’re closest to is probably......

All images in this post by special guest contributor Megan Griffiths This is the second post highlighting the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The first is here, but we'll ask again: if you know of good local resources to help Katrina and Rita evacuees, or if you know of any artists who were forced from their homes and into Austin, please let us know. In this installment, we highlight the work of Megan......

A couple from Utah have decided that kidnapping their daughter is the best way to stop her marriage. Those silly "scientists" now say that the ozone hole will take an additional 15 years to recover from pollution. This puts it in the year 2065. Hurricane experts are predicting just one more hurricane for this 2006 season. The Perry camp is accusing Carole Couger Keeton Strayhorn of using college fund ads for election help. North......

Starting today, Cinematexas #11 will present a cavalcade of international, narrative and experimental short films at venues all over Austin. Thematically, this year's festival is incredibly diverse, with subjects ranging from "provocative experiments with vintage 'skin flicks' to sobering documentaries on the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina." Screenings are taking place all over town, at unique venues like the east side's historic Victory Grille, so we recommend checking the schedule to see......

I can't believe that one week from today, it will all be over - and I'll be waking up and getting ready to fly home to Nashville. But I guess I should just focus on getting through the next four days... and it's going to be hard, because something tells me I'm going to distracted to the point of being completely useless this week at work. Anyway, here's your Monday morning dose of ACL......

Hello there. I’m an impending hurricane. Other than oil or diamonds, I’m pretty much the only African export you all ever see. And I’ve been in the news a-lot lately, which is flattering and all, but I’m having trouble justifying my newfound popularity....

Webcams solve crimes! A Dallas Beatles fan foiled a crime in Liverpool that he witnessed in progress through a webcam-view of a street related to the Fab Four. It looks like Hurricane Ernesto may hit South Florida very soon. We're no scientists, but we think this study on smarts and their relation to height is just crap. The Austrian girl who was abducted and kept in a basement room the size of a closet......

It appears that city council members are choosing to pursue a bike safety study rather than moving forward with an law requiring cyclists to wear a helmet. The five redrawn congressional districts are now open and ready for political mayhem with multiple candidates running for office in each district. Democratic goobernatorial candidate Chris Bell thinks that Rick Perry is catering to "polluters who write big campaign checks." In other completely unrelated news, a campaign......

We'll never smoke look at broccoli the same again- especially if it means that the truck is carrying our next stash. We're getting mixed messages from those astronomers. On Monday, Pluto wasn't a planet, now we have three more to add to our solar system. Tomorrow, the Sun will be cold or something. Apparently water had nothing to do with the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. We don't want to make it a spectacle,......

Even as the stores sport back to school sales (which depress us, even now), summer lingers on your friends the -ists. This week's collection of links provides some of the best, worst, and oddest bits of summer fun. So, bring your laptop up onto the roof, make yourself an umbrella drink or ten, and enjoy this week's choice posts from across the Gothamist network. Torontoist (where it's 75 degrees F as of this writing)......

Another week, another batch of ACL bands from my Austin City Limits Festival Artist Previews Page. Here's the latest: Son Volt - After seven years and four solo albums, Jay Farrar returned to the studio with Son Volt and emerged last year with Okemah and the Melody of Riot, and proof that his group is still one of the best country-influenced rock bands out there. (full preview) The Long Winters - After about four......

Good Morning! This kitten has two faces. Cheap, plastic crap has finally taken the backseat. Exxon surpassed Wal-Mart in the rankings of the 500 largest companies on the planet. The 2008 Class President of Lehigh University in PA set a good example for his class after he robbed a bank to pay off some gambling debts. After being humbled by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, our favorite Mr. T is losing all the bling......