Note: Yesterday afternoon Austinist editor Allen Chen asked me to help him find emergency O neg blood donors for a friend’s newborn. I put the word out and the response was swift and overwhelming. Thanks to all of you who helped. You can read all what went down right here at my blog. And now, our regularly scheduled column: Eileen and I pumped away for ninety minutes straight. I broke a sweat right away. Up and down, in and out. Not only that, but we were in public, in broad daylight. In fact it was rush hour so countless people watched us go at it. And when we were finished, I spoke this truth to her, “I don’t think my crotch is going to forget you for a long, long time.”...

"I'm going back to professional cycling," said Armstrong. "I'm going to try and win an eighth Tour de France."...

The latest speculation surrounding Austin athlete, bar owner, and above average lovemaker Lance Armstrong is that he's planning to come out of retirement and race again the Tour de France....

Looking for somewhere to put all that vicarious athletic aggression spawned by endless hours of Olympics-watching? You’ll find your chance in next Sunday’s Nike+Human Race 10K, a tech-enhanced running event that aims to unite the world in sweat-soaked solidarity. ...

International bicycling phenomenon Lance Armstrong was named the top water user in Austin, according to a list published by the Statesman. He paid $1,630 for 222,900 gallons of water. Astounding ingenuity and persistence enabled local attorney Carolyn Beckett to take the number two spot by using 174,400 gallons of water, even though her 1/3 acre lot doesn't have a swimming pool or a sprinkler system. Austinites overall use about 180 million gallons of water a day during the summer....

Los Angeles gets back on its feet after yesterday's earthquake President Bush signs massive housing relief bill 82-year-old Alaska senator Ted "Series of Tubes" Stevens indicted North Carolina man charged with murdering pregnant soldier China will block some Internet access for Olympic journalists Lance Armstrong and Kate Hudson decide to go their separate ways In happier news, Cheech and Chong patch things up and plan a tour......

Photo by Garrette on flickr AMD opened its Southwest Austin campus on Tuesday, and softened environmental criticism with a sustainable design and a $1.5 million commitment to preserve open space. Software firm Motive was purchased by telecom giant Alcatel-Lucent of France for $67.8 million, closing a tumultuous chapter in the company's history that included stock delisting, management changes, and restated financial results. OneSpot, a startup publishing service for media and other businesses, made its public......

Unmellow Lance Armstrong's new bike shop, Mellow Johnny's on Fourth and Nueces, opened last weekend, just in time for Bike to Work Day this Friday, May 16. The Austin Cycling Association is coordinating free breakfast that morning at the locations shown after the jump....

As the growth of downtown continues to explode, so does the need for commuter friendly alternatives - enter the bike. Granted nothing new, but with Lance Armstrong's recent unveiling of plans for a commuter biker shop, he really is bringing biking back. According to Armstrong: "This city is exploding downtown. Are all these people in high rises going to drive everywhere? We have to promote (bike) commuting."...

Photograph of Michael Strahan, coach Tom Coughin (holding the Vince Lombardi trophy) and quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning by Tien Mao Gothamist was amazed after the Giants won the Super Bowl, the city went wild, and it witnessed a ticker-tape parade.Barack Obama drew 20,000+ ahead of Seattle’s Saturday caucus.Londonist had Super Tuesday too.Elusive guerrilla street artist Banksy revisits Los Angeles.After the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and came this close to making......

Photo by ferguweb on morguefileAfter last night's sold-out Band of Horses show at La Zona Rosa, former Austinist co-editor Matthew Odam happened to witness a precious exchange between the seven-time Tour de France champ and the door guy at the Backstage Bar. Armstrong, evidently operating under the notion that he was exempt from pesky TABC laws, attempted to leave the club with drink in hand. When Sean Higgins, the door man, stopped him, Armstrong quickly......

Photo from LiveStrong.orgIs Austin hero and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong mulling over a possible gubernatorial bid? Some folks seem to think so. After championing last month's pro-cancer research bill, Prop 15 (which passed almost unanimously, despite the fevered efforts of some vocal neocons), and hobnobbing with the likes of President George H. W. Bush, Armstrong seems well-positioned to run for political office in the next few years. Both State Sen. Kirk Watson......

Have a happy and safe Halloween! If you're headed to Sixth Street, leave your light saber/fake gun/billy club at home. Williamson County won't kick privately-run immigration detention center out of Taylor now that they aren't liable for it. Some Texas prosecutors will wait for the Supreme Court's decision next year before asking judges to set execution dates. After a soldier died in a Ft. Hood training exercise, his supervising officer is facing court martial.......

How often do you get the chance to cure cancer by knocking back a few? Pretty much never—which is why the Austin Wine Festival this weekend is so noteworthy. Not only does it give you the opportunity to taste wines from 30 Texas wineries, the festival will also donate all proceeds to Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong foundation, as well as the Austin Farmer’s Market. What could be better than funding cancer research and tasty goat cheeses......

Think that hunky muscle queen two doors down is the embodiment of good health? Austin Fit magazine wants to know. From now through July 1st, you can submit your nominations for their second annual "Fittest Person in Austin" survey. The winner will be featured in the August issue of Austin Fit. Additionally, a handful of voters will score some excellent prizes, like the much-coveted year's worth of Laser Hair Removal services from Depilite. Nominees......

The future Lance Armstrong Bikeway is now one step closer to realization, with artwork for the public six-mile route to be approved by the Art in Public Places (AIPP) Commission today. News8Austin reports that ten "large yellow paintings" will be installed along the route, which will be made up of off-street concrete trails, on-street striped bike lanes, and on-street signed bike routes. Additionally, three large tunnels resembling "square Slinky-like coils" will be built. "They're......

President Bush and former President Clinton could be heading to Texas to stump on behalf Rick Perry and Chris Bell. Should Lance Armstrong do more to clean up his dirty little mess? Four ramps near State Highway 45N and I-35 interchange are to be closed this week in preparation for the opening of new connector ramps to SH 45. Iraqi leaders have agreed to develop a timetable for taking over security duties to protect......

In the NYTimes today, Frankie Andreu admits to using EPO, a performance-enhancing drug, for a couple of races. Andreu was a long-time teammate of hometown cyclist Lance Armstrong in past Tours de France and other races. Earlier this year, he and his wife testified in court that Armstrong had told doctors 10 years ago that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. No doctors confirmed their statements, however, and the case they testified for (between Armstong......

The 93rd Annual Tour de France began last Saturday in Strasbourg and ends on July 23 in Paris on the familiar cobblestones of the Champs-Élysées. This year, the course is run counter-clockwise, or anti-clockwise if you're Phil Liggett, and measures an excruciating 3639 km (2261 miles) divided into 20 stages. The notable absence of hometown favorite Lance Armstrong and the major blood doping scandal that eliminated 13 riders has left the field wide open......

The Associated Press says that Lance Armstrong has been cleared on charges of doping ("using steroids or other performance-enhancers," for those of you who don't hablo sports-ese) in 1999. The Dutch investigators who completed the investigation and subsequent report not only let Armstrong off the hook -- they accused the "anti-doping authorities" of misconduct. The tests that led to the initial accusations were conducted on urine samples that were 6 years old at the time......

The South by Southwest Film Festival recently released their complete lineup of this year's short films. All told, 130 - ranging from documentary and experimental to narrative shorts - are to be shown from March 10-18. We've gone through and selected a few that caught our attention (based solely on their descriptions): ANIMATED SHORTS A Painful Glimpse into my Writing Process (In Less than 60 Seconds) Dir: Chel White A darkly satirical tour de......

There are things to do on Valentine's Day besides go out to dinner, eat chocolate, and put on new lingerie. For example, you could take your date to the 80's Power Ballad Sing-A-Long at the Alamo Drafthouse, a sure-to-be-hilarious night presented by Mr. Sinus' Owen Egerton and Henri Mazza (the program director at the Alamo). From the Alamo site: This February Owen and Henri will present the definitive sing-along for the Valentine’s season, featuring......

Lance Armstrong and Sheryl Crow have made the split official. There were more building fires over the weekend and this morning-displacing entertainment venues, KOOP radio (again), artists and local residents. With all the madness, our local Fire Department could use some help. Suburbia is closing in on Downtown neighborhoods. Might those huge homes in our quaint neighborhoods soon be a thing of the past? We're glad we didn't have to sit through the Super......

*Warning: Post may contain sarcasm.* Why do people always feel the need to label and categorize everything and everyone? She’s a hipster; that guy’s a douche bag; those kids are square. We assume, with our rudimentary understanding of psychology and sociology, that it has something to do with fear and insecurity. We’re not real sure, but sometimes it can be a lot of fun. And we hate it when people don’t live up to......

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......

-Nearly two dozen of Austin's finest civic leaders gathered together today to declare their opposition to November 8th's Prop. 2 measure, which would effectively define marriage as solely between "one man and one woman." Among many others, Mayor Will Wynn let it be known that "a fundamental cultural characteristic of Texas is that we mind our own business" - something Great Hills Baptist Church pastor Michael Lewis was unaware of when he decried the......

Weather Update On Fox7News this morning, the weather guy said Austin's going to dodge the scary weather dished out by Rita. Rita changed course , and it looks like it'll hit around Beaumont/Port Arthur. In Austin, that translates into some showers on Saturday. We're trying not to think about what that means for New Orleans. The Show Goes On For those of you insensitive bastards still going to ACL, you might want to know......

Just call him Detective Dirty Daddy Nothing like child porn to sully the reputation of the Austin police department. Ex-detective Lance McConnell plead guilty to seven counts of child pornography, more specifically, he had some nasty pictures of naked under-aged kids (boys and girls), some engaging in sex. And in other news involving a man named Lance We read in The Statesman a while back that Lance Armstrong and Sheryl Crow will appear on......

Contaminated water is being pumped out of New Orleans, now that a major levee has been plugged. The mayor is saying it could take up to two months to get the water cleared out and the energy back on. In an article in The Statesman, Austin is praised for its generosity. About three warehouses are full of donations; they're so full, in fact, that donations are being put on hold in Austin . Monetary......

The director of the Tour de France has launched a serious allegation against Lance Armstrong, seven-time winner of the prestigious race. In the French sports daily, L’Equipe, Jean-Marie Leblanc says that Armstrong has "fooled" the sports world and owes his fan an explanation. The allegation? That Lance’s urine sample recently tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug known as erythropoietin, or EPO. EPO is a red blood cell booster, thus allowing the user’s muscles......