• A writer for Ain’t It Cool News is now also a screenwriter with a deal! Here’s an interview with C. Robert Cargill. (If you been to film events in Austin, you might recognize him.)
• The New York Times notices Governor Perry’s "day of prayer and fasting" scheduled for August 6. (If you are Pagan, Wiccan, Jewish, Buddhist or gay, you might feel a touch left out of this event.)
• Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Championship! Here are some salient cultural points about the win.

• Roger Waters' brought Pink Floyd's The Wall to Dallas…but we hear it might have been torn down.
• Is this woman from Katy the most talked-about sex offender on the planet?
• A woman is coaching an NBA-affiliate… but doesn’t the way the story is written make it sound like, “Look at the little girl who is playing with the big boys?”

• Turkey/Israel hold first open talks since sea raid.
• Hurricane Alex reportedly kills three in Mexico, is downgraded to tropical storm
• Alex disrupts BP cleanup

The NBA draft is tonight, the annual event where young soon-to-be millionaires stroll across the stage at New York's Madison Square Garden to don a $12 cap along with their $2,000 suits. Three Longhorns are expected to be among the picks in the first two rounds tonight. more ›

• On the record, South Korea blames North Korea for deadly sinking.
• Cheerio to the House of Lords.
• Scientist calls B.S. on BP's oil spill estimates.

• One person, believed to be a child, survives a Libya plane crash that kills 100
• Cameron takes over as British prime minister with coalition cabinet
• BP tries two-ton "top hat" plug in latest attempt to contain Gulf oil leak

• First US swine flu death was a Mexican toddler being treated in a Houston hospital
• Specter's switch likely to have limited impact on energy, climate bills
• Time magazine offers a day-by-day look at Obama's first 100 days in office

University of Texas junior swingman Damion James will declare himself eligible for the 2009 NBA Draft but does not plan to hire an agent, he announced today. more ›

Now more than 400 children in care of Texas CPS after being removed from Eldorado compound. Slight earthquake hits South Texas early this morning. Interactive feature on the fate of Brownsville's Sabal Palm Audubon Center as the border fence threatens to split it from the US. UT named in federal suit for their admission policies. more ›

Last Saturday, actor Will Ferrell made a quick stop in Austin during a press tour for his new film Semi-Pro. He also attended a sneak preview of the film and did a Q&A session at the Alamo Drafthouse, where attendees were required to dress in 70's basketball attire for admission - you can see the Drafthouse "team photo" here. Austinist's Tom Thornton and Gordon And The Whale's Chase Whale spoke briefly to Ferrell during the media day. more ›

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... more ›

Austin's Explosions In The Sky play powerful instrumental indie-rock that has been compared to Mogwai and Sigur Ros and are widely lauded by critics. Their live shows have become so popular that their Emo's show in March has been sold out for weeks, and multiple-night runs are now needed in cities like New York and Toronto. After a three-plus year wait, EITS's new album All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone arrives on Tuesday.... more ›

Or so the people at HappyNews.com like to think. Today they released their Top Ten Happy Stories of 2006. Some of these items are genuine "news" items, such as NBA player Dikembe Mutombo donating millions of dollars to start a hospital in his native Congo, Warren Buffett's ginormous donation to the Gates foundation, and Google allowing free book downloads. The website also includes some random human interest stories on the list, such as "Boy... more ›

Sometimes you need to clean yourself up, get serious, and move in with daddie for a few months before you head to Latin America for a new gig. The District bid's Jenna Bush adios. D.C.-based television shows have an elderly audience and DCist has some suggestions to fix that. They're also throwing Butterstick the panda bear a birthday bash. Yeah, we may have a few issues with our World Cup broadcasters here, but this guy... more ›

The NBA Draft takes place tonight in New York City, and besides the annual fun of watching young athletes in their Sunday finest (we’re looking at you, Chuck Person) as they walk up to the podium to shake hands with the commish and awkwardly don their new teams caps, Texas basketball fans will be watching intently to see what happens with their teams, as well as the fates of former Longhorns LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker... more ›

Sampaist is on the scene in São Paulo beginning this week, becomin the only Ist south of the Equator. Editor Leandro M. Pinto leads the paulistanos down there. You can protest someone at his office, sure, but when the whistle blows at the end of the day can you follow him home? D.C. has sports fans, apparently, and elephants aren't really cut out for zoos. There's this trick where you can read information from a... more ›

Hey, hey, goodbye, P.J. Tucker. You will be missed. Yet another of the starting five from the Longhorns basketball team is officially headed to the pros. It should not come as too much of a surprise that Baby Barkley (as we call him) has decided to forego his final year of eligibility and go make some cash. The AP named Tucker to its second-team All-America after he averaged 16 points and 9.5 rebounds last... more ›

Austinist knows many of you prefer football or baseball. Some of you like basketball, but think college ball is better than pro. We implore you to start watching the Spurs/Mavericks series, because if you can't get excited about this, you don't like sports at all. With former Spur Avery Johnson coaching the Mavericks, former Mavericks Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel playing for the Spurs, and the in-state rivalry factor all in full effect,... more ›

Holy smokes. Anyone watching Sunday's breathtaking Game 1 simply can't wait for the next battle in the Spurs/Mavericks showdown: everyone, that is, except for fans of either team, who all had heart attacks and keeled over from the intensity. To recap: Tim Duncan dropped 31 points, Bruce Bowen played great defense on Dirk, and the Spurs pulled off an (extremely) narrow 87-85 victory when Jerry Stackhouse airballed on the final possession. The Mavs led... more ›

Haven't been following the first round of the NBA playoffs? That's okay, you haven't missed much. more ›

Life is bad for the Sacramento Kings. On Saturday, the Spurs absolutely decimated them in a 122-88 rout that was essentially over by halftime. No Spurs starter played more than 25 minutes, and San Antonio scored an amazing 73 points by halftime. As for the suspension: after the game, The Spurs sent game tape to the NBA arguing that Ron Artest of the Kings applied illegal contact (meaning a cheap-shot elbow) to Manu Ginobili's... more ›

Can the Spurs finally repeat as NBA Champions? ESPN doesn't think so. CNN/SI, not so much. Charles Barkley? No. And the Spurs' first opponent, Ron Artest and the Sacramento Kings? Absolutely not. So despite the emergence of Tony Parker as an All-Star, the addition of Michael Finley to their bench, and a record-setting 63-win season, the Spurs go into the playoffs...as decided underdogs. Wild, eh? Most of the naysayers believe that the Spurs will... more ›

French MP goes on hunger strike. "Like a sad clown," he says, "I'm not asking to win. I'm asking for good sense to triumph." Reason for the dramatics? He didn't want a paint factory in his district to close. When they say "Long Live the Queen" they're not kidding. Today Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday with a small get-together. MySpace has been quite the forum for do-no-gooders lately. Some kids were planning... more ›

Ray Allen is a sissy. We knew it back when Denzel kicked his ass in streetball in He Got Game, but it keeps going downhill from there. In 2001, Allen complained of an "NBA conspiracy" when his Bucks lost to the 76ers in the Eastern Coference Finals. This year, he has been involved in snippy altercations with LA's Kobe Bryant, Orlando's Keeyon Dooling (which merited a 3-game suspension), and of course San Antonio's Bruce... more ›

It appears LaMarcus Aldridge will follow in the footsteps of Longhorn football player Vince Young and leave UT early for the riches of the professional ranks. The Dallas Morning News is reporting that three sources have all said Aldridge will enter the NBA Draft. While Aldridge had an underwhelming performance against LSU in the Elite 8, most experts still expect him to go in the top-three come draft day. Aldridge averaged 15 pts., 9... more ›

In 1994, a documentary came out that took the nation by storm. It told the story of two young African-American kids and their dream to make it to the top of the basketball world. The movie was Hoop Dreams, considered by many to be the finest film of the year. Director Steve James followed his subjects, Arthur Agee and William Gates, from their freshman year of high school to the time they entered college.... more ›

Basketball: Thursday is your very last chance to catch the Austin Toros this year. The team celebrates Marcus Fizer's MVP win and the conclusion of a successful opening season, finishing against Fort Worth at the Convention Center that evening at 7:30pm. Tickets available here. Baseball: Opening day is approaching for the Round Rock Express. The team kicks off their 2006 season by playing nightly from April 14th-21st at the Dell Diamond. There's even swag... more ›

Austin will be home to the first-ever Spanish-language 24-hour sports station. As if we don't have enough moronic locals calling in to radio stations to talk high school football and give their weak takes on the NBA, now we can have it in Spanish, as well. more ›

They way Prince sings, you know he's a good decorator. His landlord, Carlos Boozer (yes the NBA star) isn't going to hire him anytime soon, though. Boozer is suing Prince for bad taste...or something. Austinite Anna Ginsberg won the Pilsbury cookoff bringing home the $1 million bacon. The scene in Baghdad sounds worse than an exaggerated movie about crime in Detroit. Violence including bombings, drive-by shootings and murders are out of control, having killed... more ›

Can't wait till Thursday to get your basketball fix? The NIT not getting your juices flowing? Women's tournament a little too boring for you (despite the first-ever dunk - two, no less - by a woman in a tournament game)? Then why not head over to the Convention Center tonight for a little NBDL action. Tonight you can get two Austin Toros tickets for the price of one. And you may just be watching... more ›