Obama thinks tonight's the night. Tampa gives nation the massive creeps. Teddy's surgery goes well; nonetheless, his prospects are not stellar. The end of an era: Kinko's is no more. Money and happiness may be mutually exclusive. Entertainment Tonight's journalism is called into question. Amy Winehouse looks like something out of a dermatology textbook.......

Cabela's has to return $173,000 in local tax incentives after failing to meet job goals. After failing to update their billing system after annexations, Time Warner Cable owes the city over $1 million. Three armed robberies in three weeks on the UT campus; police think the robber may be targeting Asian students. Some of the kids removed from the FLDS sect will be placed in foster care in Austin....

Photo by jenn_jenn on flickrFind out how much money your neighbors make at Statesman.com Make it work! ‘Project Runway’s’ Tim Gunn coming to Austin AMD's chief technology officer resigns, no plans to replace him Hike and bike trail along Cesar Chavez reopens TEA threatens to shut down Pearce Middle School Record-setting Texas gas prices average $3.28 American Airlines begins to get planes back in the air......

Meanwhile, both Obama and Clinton are pulling out all the stops to appeal to our state's Hispanic population, which account for as much as 25% of Texas' eligible voters, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Obama today launched a Spanish radio ad (mp3) stressing his humble working-class roots. Each campaign is also spending upwards of $1 million on TV ads that began running this week....

Dame Edna had to cancel her entire North American tour due to complications from appendix surgery. Said the Dame in a letter to her loyal Austin fans, "Texas is no country for sick Megastars, so I will see you in November 7-9, 2008 [at the Paramount], possums."...

At the Vortex, Rob Nash continues the saga of the Smiths in the holiday edition of his Holy Cross series, 12 Steps to a More Disfunctional Family. Nash is a wonder to behold as he switches characters, and you don't have to be familiar with the storyline to enjoy the current installation....

The Paramount presents White ChristmasDecember 9th, 11th and 12thParamount Theater (713 Congress Avenue)$7 / $5 Children, Students and Seniors, 7pm-ish, Tickets available at the box office day of show[info]Being that we live in a heat belt where it is not uncommon to see kids raking leaves in tank tops and jorts on Christmas Day (seriously, we've done it...well, not the jorts part), dreaming of a white Christmas is something that we are intimately familiar......

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

Photo by my favorite yarn on flickr Sgt. Michael Olsen is appealing his firing by APD. While the housing market everywhere else is on the decline, Austin still a place to buy, according to real estate expert. David Letterman in Austin for a Habitat build. Someone is going door-to-door claiming to be raising money for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Video: Bobby Knight's neighbor isn't happy about how close Knight is shooting to his property. New, more......

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......

Photo from Soundcheck Magazine Austin's 2nd Annual Green Holiday Festival, "The Sustainable Shopper's Ball!", returns to the Sunset Valley Farmers Market with over 60 local vendors and educators offering everything from bamboo homewares to luxury organic linens SXSW Film Festival Producer Matt Dentler shares some insider tips on what the film programming team is looking for - "Should you spend money on a fancy press kit? Should you check your DVD screener 4 different times......

"Oh, hai." Still from No Country for Old MenThis week in new movies: A cornucopia of literary adaptations, special effects, and Javier Bardem. No Country for Old Men is FINALLY opening in Austin, and we couldn't be more excited (or strangely aroused by Bardem's "lost Beatle from hell" haircut and Wranglers ensemble.) Beowulf: Robert Zemeckis reprises the motion-capture animation technique he used in Polar Express and applies it to everyone's fave Anglo-Saxon epic poem. Ray......

Photo courtesy Richard Foreman/Miramax There is dark humor, and then there is the kind of humor in which a bone sticking out of a man’s arm qualifies as one of the lighter moments. No Country For Old Men, a film of dark beauty and sharp formal precision, is not a comedy by any stretch of the imagination; but, like the best films, it proves that an element of absurdity is necessary to chart the best......

Photo by deJong MortifiedNovember 16th, 2007Coldtowne Theatre (4803 Airport Blvd.)[info] | [tickets]An obsession with Huey Lewis. The detailed diaries of a nerd molester. A girl's small town love of Nicholas Nickelby. True tales...ripped from the pages of diaries everywhere. Featuring a distinct lineup of local performers reading their own humiliating teenage journal entries, rap lyrics, philosophical musings and fictional shorts, Mortified makes its Austin debut this Friday night. Hailed as a "cultural phenomenon" by Newsweek......

AFS Essentials Presents Black DjuTuesday, November 13thAlamo Drafthouse South Lamar (1120 S. Lamar)7pm, $4 / Free to AFS Members[info] | [tickets]It's bad enough being a stranger in a strange land, but when you need assistance from the local people to help solve the mysterious disappearance of your father, things can get downright maddening. Tonight, the Austin Film Society sends us on a suspenseful quest as they presents Black Dju, the fifth offering in the......

Flyer distributed by Pangaea AustinFor better or worse, Austin's new safari-themed nightclub in the Warehouse District will host its (doubtlessly) over-the-top grand opening next Friday, November 16. Pangaea, a so-called "ultra-lounge," takes over the former Alamo Drafthouse space. It was originally scheduled to open on Halloween, but evidently the tribal accoutrements didn't show up in time. Here's what you guys had to say when we first posted about it: "I think they want to go......

Power lines by Frenzied Vole on flickr"Texans have shown little interest in nine billion dollars worth of initiatives." Have you voted yet? Sorry, Ice Bats. Cedar Park has another team in mind for their arena-to-be. Upcoming 2008 state anti-pollution law is causing problems already; if TCEQ is too lax on coal/power plants, cities and school districts stand to lose a lot of money. Fed Chairman gave speech in San Antonio today. This morning a suspect......

unattributed press photo Regina Spektor at Stubb’sTuesday, November 6thStubbs [map]$22.50 SOLD OUT, doors at 7[venue info][Regina Spektor Website][MySpace]Tonight, Russian import and all-around cutie Regina Spektor will deliver her charming sense of humor and attitudinous tunes to Stubb’s. And if it feels like she was just here, it’s because she pretty much was, with an evening position at the Austin City Limits Festival followed up by an intimate performance for her ACL show taping—both of these......

What did you dress up as for Halloween? 911 Dispatcher that fielded the first calls about the North Carolina beach house fire is now receiving death threats (w/ creepy audio). Want to beat cancer? No red meat. No wine. Eat less. The Canadian dollar is worth more than the American dollar. Double, oh no way. UK comes out with invisible tank (w/pictures). Dog The Bounty Hunter gets yanked from A&E due to Dog's racist......

The Austin Contrarian did a nice post yesterday on the Design Commission's Density Bonus Recommendations. A "density bonus" isn't quite what it sounds like - developers don't get a bonus for building more density. Instead, developers pay the city (generally to provide money for parks, affordable housing or mass transit) in exchange for the right to build more density. Parks, affordable housing and mass transit are all good things, but density is also a good......

17-year-old Hannah Hawley (photo at right) has been missing since Monday afternoon and has a heart condition requiring medication. She was last seen at South 1st and W. Stassney Lane. Police ask anyone with knowledge of her whereabouts to call 911. Texans for Public Justice says that our city is losing money on incentive deals. Citizens of Northeast Travis County are opposed to the possible expansion of the landfill in their area. The odor......

Proposition 12 on the November 6 ballot would authorize the Texas Transportation Commission to issue up to $5 billion in general obligation bonds for highway improvement projects. That means TTC could borrow $5 billion dollars, spend it building new highways and require that the $5 billion be repaid by general revenue (taxes). This is being widely touted as a "stopgap" measure allowing the state to put off making a decision on how it will pay......

Contrary to popular opinion, feminism and romance are not incompatible and feminism may actually improve the quality of heterosexual relationships. The Statesman reports that the ACLU and LULAC have complained about the location of the new municipal court. US House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to renew the ban on taxing Internet access — but only for 4 years, not permanently. MySpace will offer members of its popular social network free Internet phone calls......

Three UT students make national news for getting stuck in local cave. "Well, that's the last time I throw my son a birthday party," said Father. "I'm getting too old for this crap." Radiohead stands to make approximately $9.6 million from sales of their latest record, "In Rainbows." Ex-General who served in Iraq speaks out on the war: "There is no question that America is living a nightmare with no end in sight." Study:......

Math teacher at Bowie high school wins a national education award worth $25,000. Last night, the Planning Commission voted against proposals made by CWS to develop land so close to Lady Bird Lake. TxDOT used cameras hidden in orange barrels to collect license plate data for a transportation study. Staph infections making the rounds at Austin high schools; 10 Anderson football players have been affected in recent weeks. As if we needed another reason......

CAMPO approved the toll roads . . . who didn't see that coming? UT's statue of Cesar Chavez was unveiled today. GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee was in town over the weekend. Austin resident Marion Jones has given back her 5 medals from the 2000 Olympics and may have to give up $100,000 of prize money after admitting to steroid use. The Supreme Court won't hear the appeal re: the 1999 Aggie bonfire deaths......

CAMPO's voting on tolling existing roads tonight. . . they say they won't toll the parts of the roads built with tax money. Guess we'll see how that works after tonight's meeting. Looks like rough waters ahead for councilmember Jennifer Kim in the upcoming May election. Woman's body found on UT campus this morning. Tyrell Gatewood, suspended indefinitely from the Longhorns in September for possession, is once again in trouble for. . . possession.......

The new head of EMI apparently gets it. Study: "War on Terror" is spawning legions of terrorists. Texas investor to help fund the International Space Station with the hope of saving millions of lives. Campaign by Blackwater to further embarrass our country continues to be a great success. Parisian vandals destroy valuable piece of art, trot away laughing, smoking cigarettes and looking absolutely fabulous. Article about students getting it on during class at a......

Harris Goldberg has spent most of his screenwriting career penning successful, high-concept comedies like Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and Without a Paddle. But these days, he's no longer interested in hammy, big-studio money machines. In 2006, after a long struggle with an unusual psychological disorder called "Depersonalization", Harris decided, for the first time in his life, to write something personal. His directorial debut, Numb is being billed as a "semi-autobiographical" film--but in reality it's a......

Unfortunately for the frogs, Japanese scientists have made them transparent. Transcript: What Clinton actually said about 24-Bauer-style torture. Every upcoming VW model is scheduled to have a hybrid option, with some models hybrid-ready as early as next year. By raising tons of money from his dedicated supporters, Ron Paul becomes harder for Republicans to ignore. There is a new world record for ear lifting, folks. It's exactly what you think it is. Well, mostly.......