Break out your spats and bowler hat, Annie's Café & Bar is bringing "Winter in New Orleans" to Austin with 1920s-style jazz and a French Quarter-inspired menu. This four-week series began Thursday, January 20 and continues January 27, February 3 and 17 from 7pm to 10pm. more ›

"We've been so successful here, now we have a chance to do it where we're from," Trew explains. "And that's a dream come true!" adds Nelson. As the New Movement expands, the Austin theater will continue to offer comedy classes and an expanding weekly calendar of shows; in fact, expect to see some exciting new touring troupes. In the wake of today's announcement, the pair are already busy planning a groundbreaking comedy festival, to take place in New Orleans in November of 2011, along with next year's installment of the Megaphone Marathons, a three weekend, three city improv comedy explosion that'll be back in Austin, Dallas and New Orleans next fall. more ›

Krewes are the groups who put together parade floats and/or balls that occur during the annual celebration of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The first predominantly gay krewe (Krewe of Yuga) was formed in 1959, just weeks after three Tulane students were acquitted for the murder of a gay man named Fernando Rios. more ›

• Iraq's top general says their army won't be ready to assume control until 2020.
• Decorated 20-year Air Force officer sues to stop the military discharging him for his sexuality.
• More on the bank executive involved in Rep. Maxine Waters' ethics case.

• More depressing news from the Gulf: BP oil reaches Lake Pontchartrain
• 27,000 abandoned wells in the Gulf of Mexico
• Republicans for immigration amnesty?

With increasingly devastating reports about the vastness of the destruction caused by the oil spill in the gulf, it's hard not to feel helpless. We seem to know what to do in the event of natural disasters - there are handful of reliable charities we can count on to do good work with our donations. But in the case of the gulf coast oil spill, it's not that simple. It's easy to blame BP and ignore the complexity of the issue (and the fact that our own reliance on fossil fuels is, in no small part, also accountable for the situation). There are ways to help - many organizations along the coast are mobilizing volunteers, rescuing oil covered wildlife, and addressing the basic needs of people affected by the disaster. Is it frustrating to throw time and money at a problem that BP should have fixed by now? Sure, but it's becoming increasingly unbearable to sit back and watch as animals die, people go without paychecks, and injustice prevails. Here's a list of some of the organizations that are collecting money, donations, and volunteers to help with the gulf coast recovery. more ›

Art Week Austin is warming up with an opening Art Talk taking place tonight at the Carver Museum. This evening's speaker, Dan Cameron, is a New York based curator with ties to the New Orleans. After Katrina, he organized Prospect New Orleans, the premiere biennial of international contemporary art in the nation. The first Prospect, which took place at the end of 2008, temporarily turned the Big Easy into a contemporary art metropolis. Tonight Cameron will be in Austin discussing Prospect New Orleans and how it helped invigorate our neighbors to the east. An accomplished curator himself, Cameron will also provide insight into current trends in the vast (and often daunting) world of contemporary art. He will also discuss the selection process for the next Prospect New Orleans which is scheduled for November 2011 through February 2012. more ›

• Obama still working on that bipartisanship thing
• Iran still enriching uranium
• Palin still all winky and mavericky and stuff

• Regime change in Japan...
• U.S. to see post-bailout profit?
• US business economists: No need for a second stimulus package?

A legal battle over Dell's involvement in security camera purchases by the city of New Orleans just got messier for the company after a New Orleans judge ordered CEO Michael Dell to give a sworn deposition in the case. more ›

Dell has found itself pulled into a legal battle over security camera purchases by the city of New Orleans. more ›

The Mohawk is no stranger to unique and special events. The venue has consistently brought us a wide array of entertainment, from Beard & Moustache Competitions to Bollywood Bashes, from Ice Cube to Monotonix. This Thursday, the mysterious DJ Minor Strachan spins his vast collection of New Orleans swamp pop records for our pleasure. We learnt from a couple of sources that Strachan actually makes a conscious effort to keep his name and his show listings off the internet. No MySpace page here. He lives in NYC now and only DJs a couple of times a year, offering up music from New Orleans spanning the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. Apparently, he stores these prized records in a cedar case lined with Crown Royal bags and laced with the lightest dose of Drakkar Noir (per our source!) Thursday’s event is presented by esteemed Austin musician Chris Pagan Nelson (The Foggy Mountain Cop Killing Boys) who also lives in NYC now. more ›

To help us understand the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina's impact, Super! Alright! Creative Studio brings Way Down in New Orleans to Austin. The traveling exhibition, curated by Aubrey Edwards, includes dozens of artists with personal ties to New Orleans. They have come together to illuminate the harsh realities of Katrina’s aftermath, finding hope and possibility in the bravery it takes to acknowledge and heal the hopelessness that descended upon the city in this hour of unprecedented abandonment. more ›

Austin dweller Margaret Brown brings her new documentary, The Order of Myths, to SXSW after a successful showing at Sundance. Brown was born in Mobile, Alabama, where Myths takes place. The film follows Mobilians through one cycle of their Mardi Gras celebrations—a festival which the city is proud to have begun celebrating before New Orleans. Unlike the Big Easy’s do, however, the Mobile Mardi Gras is, effectively, segregated. more ›

Tonight is the “Hear” portion of see.hear.speak, the comedy festival that has been taking place at the Coldtowne Theater since last night. One of the performers in Hear—indeed, a headliner of the festival—is Jill Bernard, a Minnesotan (resident of Minnesota) who has toured the continent performing and teaching improv. She even acted as the coach of an aspiring improviser in an episode of MTV’s Made. more ›

Also this weekend, the Zachary Scott Theatre Center kicks off its 75th Anniversary Season with George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. This special production is inspired by the city of New Orleans as well as the music of Ray Charles, Nina Simone, and Louis Armstrong, among others. The show runs for two weeks at the Austin Music Hall and you can purchase tickets here. more ›

The Blanton Museum's B Scene events happen once a month and celebrate the arts by combining music, drinks and socializing to rejuvenate the sometimes stuffy fine art scene. Their unique approach to reaching out to the public this way includes showcasing local musicians and DJs, and each B Scene event offers a different genre representation from Austin's diverse musical culture. more ›

An asteroid could hit Mars next month prompting Mars' threat level to move to Orange. Riots erupt in New Orleans over the demolition of public housing buildings. Why can't New Orleans get a chance to relax? Hearings have been set regarding the destruction of the CIA torture tapes. Bush claims to be totally ignorant about everything, especially this and especially you! more ›

Venezuelan voters didn't want Chavez as a ruler for life after all. Putin's party wins the Russian election, warns against Westerners who may say the election was unfair. Best feminist candidate: Obama? Later this week, Romney will publicly address his Mormon faith and how it may affect his possible presidency. Looks like it will be Texas v. Arizona State at the Holiday Bowl. Conan O'Brien will pay his "Late Night" crew from his own... more ›

Galactic brings its annual Halloween bash back to Stubb’s this Wednesday for a grand ole time powered by the band’s funk, jazz and hip hop medleys. Since vocalist Theryl “Houseman” DeClouet left the New Orleans outfit a few years ago, Galactic have largely returned to their days of extensive instrumental jam sessions while also continuing to receive vocal support from the likes of Lyrics Born and Gift Of Gab from Blackalicious. This year’s Galactic... more ›

Usually, street closures around the Capitol hail the arrival of one of Austin's many street festivals, where you can listen to a wishy-washy blues-rocker do his best to channel Stevie Ray Vaughn while you eat a turkey leg amongst a sea of fanny-packed families and homemade jewelry vendors. But once a year it means it's Texas Book Festival time. As literary events go in this town, it is the big one. For two days... more ›

The Austin Music Foundation presents the third installment of its ever popular She Rocks Calendar Series this month. Created by Ricardo Acevedo and In The RA Studios, the calendar first debuted in 2006, and has since seen notable local female rockers such as Amber Dickerson of Full Stride, Margaret Myrick of Blackholicus, Cella Blue of White Ghost Shivers, and Stella Maxwell of Cruiserweight grace its pages. The first edition’s proceeds were collected for New Orleans... more ›

The start of the fall season on network television used to be a bigger deal before cable's summer original fare became so juicy and good. We admit we still get a little excited when we read about original ideas heading our way on the big networks. The crop of new shows starting this fall seems like more of the same (sadly), but there are some that don't follow type and deserve recommendation. Pushing Daisies, ABC,... more ›

The complete schedule for the 14th annual Austin Film Festival has been announced, and it looks pretty amazing. 79 feature films and 98 shorts will screen over the course of eight days at various locations in Austin, beginning on October 11th with Brett Morgen’s much hyped docudrama Chicago 10, starring Hank Azaria, Dylan Baker, Nick Nolte, Mark Ruffalo, Roy Scheider, Liev Schreiber and Jeffrey Wright. Jason Reitman's brilliant new comedy Juno (starring Ellen Page, Michael... more ›

Austin is full of small, out of the way places that we have grown to love. These aren't the big name restaurants that everyone already knows about or the restaurants in the warehouse district or downtown locations. In fact, two of them are in nondescript strip malls, and one is surrounded by giant safety cones. These places offer up good (and in the case of Tomo, great) food in locations away from the city center.... more ›

Since 1975, Grammy Award winners BeauSoleil have charmed audiences as being one of the most heralded and esteemed Cajun groups in American music history. Band leader Michael Doucet artfully takes the rich traditions of Louisiana culture and blends other southern folk elements such as Zydeco, Jazz, Tejano, Country, Blues to astonishing effect. Beau Soleil have played The Grand Ole Opry, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and the Newport Folk Festival in the past.... more ›

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... more ›

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:... more ›

Presidential candidates make campaign stops in New Orleans this week. The Taliban is saying they will free the remaining South Korean hostages. Turkey elects new President with Islamist past. Greek forest fires lead to conspiracy theories and anger at politicians. Part-time Austinite Owen Wilson is in hospital recovering from a reported suicide attempt. Texas prison officials scared of the power books may have over inmates? Professionals use social networking sites, too.... more ›

The Broken West play the sort of power pop you'll want as background for a trip to the beach, especially if you're into the Kinks and enjoy wearing vintage Adidas short shorts. The L.A.-based band released their first album earlier this year, and the sound is bright and dense, filled up with guitar and piano draped with harmonized vocals that seem to be looking toward George Harrison's work. The Broken West Los Angeles, CA... more ›