It's not official yet, but yesterday evening Nikke Finke reported on her blog that NBC is making a deal with DirecTV to keep airing critically-acclaimed and locally-filmed Friday Night Lights. ...

"Unfortunately, no one watches it": NBC's head entertainment honcho seems pessimistic about the chances of a third season of Austin-filmed Friday Night Lights. KLRU's Tom Spencer to head up Austin Area Interreligious Ministries. All of the City's diesel fleet will soon run on bio-diesel. 17-year-old charged with two counts of sexual assault on the Texas State campus....

Photo from KXANWhen you're tuning in to tomorrow night's episode of Friday Night Lights, keep your eyes peeled for a cameo appearance by local weatherman Jim Spencer. On the show, KXAN's Chief Weathercaster warns of a tornado approaching the fictional town of Dillon, TX. The episode spoiler reveals that a rival high school is subsequently damaged by the twister, forcing both teams to share Laribee High's weight room, football field and lockers. Antics doubtlessly ensue.......

Woman who had worked as pharmacist for the CVS on Riverside had fake documents. 60 soldiers who had been serving in Iraq for over a year return home to Ft. Hood for the holidays. Look what our city might be gifted: a 60-foot saxophone sculpture!...

Photos from this weekend's inaugural Santa Speedo Run, which took place during the Trail of Lights 5K. Check out triman's blog recap for more about this festive fundraiser for Out Youth. Previously: Santa Speedo Run Balances Naughty with Nice — Just Pray You Don't Lose a Nipple Photos by Yann, Mark Cathcart, Cody Dickson, and Justin Lichfield If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump.......

Photo by jmtimages on flickr Help out: Volunteers needed to take people with mobility issues through the Trail of Lights. Austin/Travis County EMS asks people to not block the driveways at fire and ambulance stations; it's not against the law, but it does slow their response to emergencies. The NY Times thinks the Justice Dept. needs to take a look at the Texas Youth Commission. Body of murder victim's mom found in San Marcos. Jerry......

Photos from opening night of the Trail of Lights in Zilker Park. Visit the city's Trail of Lights events page to find out about the various festivities taking place this year. Photos courtesy of Keith Gaddis. If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump.......

Achilles' Last Stand: Led Zeppelin to play gig this evening in London for the first time in decades in honor of deceased Atlantic record mogul Ahmet Ertegun. Show is rumored to be their last. US President hopeful Mike Huckabee appears to be gaining ground, which is quite interesting considering his shockingly inhumane views on carriers of the HIV virus, for example. Another interest rate cut expected by the Fed to counter-balance more sub-prime mortgage......

Photo by Northern Transplant on flickr The Trail of Lights will open this Sunday evening. Suspicious black powder sent to office at Ninth and Congress today. Looks like vice chancellor and dean of agriculture Elsa Murano will soon be A&M's first female president. The former TEA science director forced out for forwarding an email on evolution thinks she is now unemployable. Will the upcoming strip club "tax" affect the Alamo Drafthouse? The Texas Comptroller's office......

Photo by The Chaninator™ on flickr Travis County officials hope to extradite former UT student from Peru; in 1996, her drunk driving led to the death of her passenger. Attorney General Greg Abbott's office collected $2.3 billion in child support last (fiscal) year. Chief Acevedo to decide today if any disciplinary action will be taken against Sgt. Olsen for the death of Kevin Brown earlier this year. Secretary of Defense Gates visited Fort Hood this......

Photo courtesy austinsantaspeedorun.com Santa Speedo Run at Trail of Lights 5kSaturday, December 8Zilker Park6pm[info]During next weekend's Trail of Lights 5k Run, Zilker Park's festive arrangement of lighted scenes won't be the only eye candy on display. Some steely individuals will get together to participate in Austin's first annual Santa Speedo Run, wearing, as you might have guessed, nothing but the trademark Lycra swim briefs. It's all in the name of good fun, while (informally) fundraising......

Image from nbc.comAustin's favorite high-school football drama, Friday Night Lights, could be changing networks. Radar is reporting that ESPN is in talks to bring the critically-acclaimed, but little-watched, show into its lineup of original programming. Friday Night Lights, which follows the lives of the fictional Dillon High School Panthers, films in and around Austin. Despite winning critical awards and having a loyal following, the show has moved time slots three times and has struggled in......

Image from Myspace; Photo by Colin Smith The Ponys + Chin Up Chin UpWednesday November 14The Mohawk (912 Red River)Doors at 9pm, Free![info] [The Ponys MySpace] [Chin Up Chin Up MySpace]Chicago's The Ponys traffic in post-punk and dark overtones, and have been tirelessly touring the club circuit for years. The band have recently opened for both Spoon and Bloc Party, but are now headlining their own fall trek through the South. Their latest work Turn......

As Austinist's music staff were preparing for Fun Fun Fun Fest coverage, we realized that many of the festival's headliners had kindly spoken to us for interviews over the last year or two. For any of you who may have missed the original pieces, or for those who have recently discovered these fine acts, a recap and links are presented below. Explosions In The Sky - Saturday, 8:40pm, Stage One: Austin's Explosions In The Sky......

Connie Britton, of Friday Night Lights fame, appeared earlier this week on the Late Show with David Letterman. Dave brought up filming in Austin and she discussed Keeping Austin Weird. They also had a lengthy conversation about Leslie, whom she couldn't recall by name, as well as her interactions with our actual mayor.......

Have you been missing out on NBC's Friday Night Lights? Did last season's Wednesday night showing time not gel with your schedule? Well, we're going to give you five reasons why you should make time to watch this award-winning, but low rated, show. 1. The show is filmed in Austin. Local landmarks show up on the show, from EZ's in the opening credits to the Dairy Queen on Manor (where Matt works) to Brackenridge Hospital......

As Fantastic Fest kicks off tonight, Austinist will be bringing you previews of films playing at the festival. We begin today with Wendigo director Larry Fessenden's latest, The Last Winter. An interesting yet practical genre mash-up, the film is an eco-horror piece concerning the fate of an oil crew who are damaging the environment in rural Alaska. There's no serial killer here: the antagonist(?) is actually the planet, which begins to fight back when......

You know how Texas has those new Film Incentives dollars to throw around now? Well, they're not limited to movies and Friday Night Lights only. The gaming industry gets a piece of that, too. And since there are over 50 gaming studios already in Austin (not to mention the availability of increasingly slick development/programming courses) it's a given that gaming will continue to blow up here in the Capitol City. But all that's a major......

ACL Previews Interview: Ghostland Observatory Previews: The Broken West, Big Sam’s Funky Nation & Rose Hill Drive Previews: Billy Joe Shaver and Fionn Regan Previews: Brandon Rhyder and Ocote Soul Sounds Interview: The Broken West Previews: Sylvia St. James, Jeffrey Steele, and Amy Cook Interview: Bloc Party ACL Fest Updates: Google Mashup, Contests, Eco-Chic Previews: Augustana, Amos Lee Interview: Peter, Bjorn, and John ACL Band Clash, Round 3: Wilco Vs My Morning Jacket Travis......

David Owen has an interesting article in last week's New Yorker (the Aug. 20 issue - only the abstract is online) discussing light pollution. The bottom line is that leaving the lights on all the time (mainly streetlights and building-exterior lights) not only brightens the night sky, but is also economically wasteful, environmentally damaging and probably causes cancer. It also doesn't decrease crime or have any other real benefits. Lights like the "glare bomb"......

ACL Previews Austinist Launches Dedicated ACL Page! Preview: Manchester Orchestra and Patterson Hood Preview: Ian Ball and the Little Ones Interview: Paolo Nutini ACL Band Clash, Round 2: The Killers Vs. Björk Weekly Features Tales Of Mere Existence Hots On #9: Sound Off New Release Tuesday: Frisell's Floratone The Argyle Academy New Movie Releases: The Invasion, Superbad, Death at a Funeral, and More Truesday: Friesday The Laurie Show News, Features, and More Travis County......

The Invasion Kidman stars in this remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. While some might argue that this particular sacred cow does not need a remake, others might argue that a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers that was first directed by the German guy who made the fantastic Der Untergang, and then meddled with post-production by the Wachowski Brothers, is a totally different story. Monstruous and beautiful hybrid, we hail you. [Trailer]......

NBC's sweaty teen pigskin drama Friday Night Lights, now shooting in Austin, is still casting extras. And they made a MySpace page about it! Now, interested young hopefuls eager to sample the Dionysian craft-service spoils of the new Texas film incentives plan may simply hit up FNL on MySpace for instructions and call times. They're casting football players, cheerleaders, teachers and students, and seeking all ages and ethnicities. However, their MySpace page does hold one......

A pair of tiny abandoned ducklings found battling against waves after being washed out to sea are being nursed back to health - in a teacup. Weekly World News Closes Its Doors (Not Alien Related) Deerhunter Hunted at Gunpoint After Gig: "They Took My F*cking Camel Lights" Texas = Doomed: Perry Assigns Creationist to Board of Education Spoiler Alert: Rowling Gives Details on What Happens After the Book's Epilogue......

1990s Cookies (Rough Trade/World's Fair) The 1990s "play music like a blond gets out of a car." This, we assume based on listening, means something like, "Our sound is snotty, a little fucked up on we-don't-remember-what, and always f-u-n." While John McKeown (Yummy Fur) won't make any news showing his knickers to paparazzi during a limo exit, he will succeed in promoting the display of everyone else's underthings on the dance floor, as Cookies......

Author's note: I will do local music stuff next time, I swear. As an old-school Interpol fan, there is no way I'm not reviewing this record. Interpol - Our Love To Admire Despite all the Joy Division references, Interpol made an impression largely by splitting the difference between The Cure and Duran Duran. The balance of minor-key dirges and slick decadence, perfected on 2002’s Turn On The Bright Lights and poppified on 2004’s Antics, made......

Hot on the heels of the Austin City Council rolling out the incentive red carpet to keep Friday Night Lights turned on, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1634 this weekend, also known as the Texas Film Incentive Program. The bill, authored by Rep. Dawnna Dukes (Austin, represent!) and spearheaded by Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) along side our very own Governor Rick Perry, will set aside $20 million worth of incentives to entice future productions......

What's going on around here you ask? Well... Spring is in full bloom, the ACL lineup was announced last week, the weather behaved nicely for us all weekend, and Friday Night Lights is sticking around. Everything is coming up Austin! What could be better you say?! We've collected the best of last week's Missed Connections for you to find out for yourself... ATTN: 80s Cokehead Guy Did I miss the joke? Because it looked......

Yesterday it was announced that NBC has renewed the small-town Texas drama, Friday Night Lights. Michael Ausiello from TV Guide says that a full season (22 episodes) has been ordered. But more relevant to us: it will still be filming in Austin (guess the incentives worked). We can look forward to more filming in Northeast Austin and other local areas. If you haven't yet seen an episode of the Peabody Award-winning show, all the......

We love animals. In fact, we're secretly training to be EAMTs (Emergency Animal Medical Technicians) so that we can save kittens and turtles and gerbils. We aren't alone in this love, however, as is evident by the longstanding trend of animal-centric band names: The Eagles, The Unicorns, Tortoise, Grizzly Bear, The Animals, Super Furry Animals, Band of Horses, Cat Power, Le Tigre, Modest Mouse, Gorillaz, Doves, Eels, Sparklehorse, and now -- The Ponys. Ok,......