NYC Cops acquitted in shooting death of bridegroom Sean Bell. Internet sales tax coming to New York. Texas rejects creationist science degree. China offers to meet with Dalai Lama envoys. Tax rebates to start arriving Monday. Al-Sadr may restart full-scale fight against US in Iraq. YEAH, TAKE IT, YOU TAKE IT!......

Photo by Phillyist's Matt Johnson, SkyscraperSunset.com, December 19, 2007. Phillyist explored an impending implosion and lived to tell the tale.Gothamist marveled at the city's new NYC-branded condom campaign - especially the use of a Toronto landmark in the advertising. (Also, fun fact: Gothamist turned five years old yesterday.)Tired of the worldwide Scientology protests? Torontoist totally isn't: they covered the big downtown protest the day it happened, and followed up with an examination of all......

For a year now it’s been a strange coexistence with these beasts of inconvenience. It’s not like I’d crack open a box of cereal and they’d pour out in a waterfall of crippling disappointment. Or that they’d even be found in the kitchen at all. Normally I’d find one pathetically backstroking on the floor tile in my hallway, and then dispose of it neatly. But every once in a while there’d be an adventurous fucker that would show up on the ceiling above our bed, as we were going to sleep, threatening to drop down like some crazed black-ops periplaneta. All hell would break loose for an hour or so until I could get the thing quarantined and dismissed. Neither of us would sleep for an hour after that. ...

Photograph of memorial outside Heath Ledger's NYC apartment Gothamist learned that actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his SoHo apartment, cause of death unknown so far (but apparently the masseuse who found him called Mary-Kate Olsen before 911).Bostonist considered sending a link about the Super Bowl, but damn! The New Kids are reuniting!Although Sylvester Stallone is a native of New York City, his Rocky character lets many Philadelphians consider him a native son......

This project is a direct response to Austin’s lack of world-class entertainment infrastructure, and it’s a bold attempt to bridge the gap between a mid-level entertainment industry with huge potential (which Austin is) and a mature industry with world-class production facilities and creative professionals (which Austin, says Villa Muse, could be). ...

SFist saw Christmas Day turn tragic after a Siberian tiger escaped from her pen at the San Francisco Zoo, killing a visitor and mauling two others. Phillyist counted down the top ten items on Philadelphia's New Year's wish list. Gothamist looked at the wooden bikes being offered for NYC's first bike share program on Governors Island. LAist received a Christmas present in the form of a drunk Santa Claus in a g-string. Bostonist launched......

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 courtesy lagarconne.comAustin/NYC production team, The Witty Pioneers, are producing a fashion feature for Lucky magazine in Austin on Thursday, Dec. 6, and they're combing the area to cast some real women from our fair city. It involves a brief time commitment and the requisite hair, makeup, and wardrobe treatment with the end result being a prominent portrait in the March 2008 issue. They're looking for local ladies who are: 18-35 years old Sizes 2-8......

Paris Is Burning DVD Cover Scion Independent Film Series Presents Paris Is BurningWednesday, November 28thAlamo Drafthouse South Lamar (1120 S. Lamar)Free, 9:30PM, RSVP Required[info]The musical stylings of "strike a pose, there's nothing to it", "you better work" and "I'm too sexy" entered our lexicon at a time when we were still sporting a perm and a retainer, so understanding that these pop radio songs were simply a corporatization of an entire underground subculture was far......

Image by the "Subway Cyrano," from GothamistNew York City was at its strangest and swellest this week. On Sunday, tens of thousands people ran in the NYC Marathon, including Mrs. Tom Cruise, aka Katie Holmes, who ran it in just under 5 hours, 30 minutes. Gothamist also found out that limes in Corona are sometimes illegal, the weird maple syrup might be back and a famous punk music pioneer-turned-real estate broker was possibly killed by......

Photo courtesy 31 Corn Lane StitchSaturday, November 10Austin Convention Center (500 E Cesar Chavez Street)Doors at 4pm, Fashion show 9:30pm, Tickets $10[info] | [tickets]31 Corn Lane is all about girls wanting to have fun. It's the brainchild of three sisters—Teeter (the youngest), Amy and Heather Sperber (the latter two are identical twins who rock out with The Boxes). We've loved their pony necklaces, novelty totes and bright floral print belts ever since we saw them......

As farmer's markets gain popularity nationwide, Austinites can stand proud as the Austin Farmer's Market does its part to support local farmers. Greenlight Magazine highlights the top 10 markets in the nation in its most recent edition, and Austin hits the list. According to the magazine: This growers-only market is limited to local (within 150 miles) farms, and boasts a distinct Southwestern flavor. Pick up Creole pralines, pecans, as well as heirloom zipper, cream, black-eyed,......

Bush wants $45 billion more for Iraq, Afghanistan, and a couple other wars he's not even telling us about. Southern Californian fires drive hundreds of thousands of people out of their domiciles. Police officer in NYC goes off the tracks, shoots man in road rage incident. If that police officer wasn't screwed up enough for you... Republican voters ask: What Would Chuck Norris Do? MySpace soon to feature games (beyond the game you already......

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:......

The Funniest Filmmaker in Austin contest returns to Cap City Comedy Club, with semifinals emceed by Bryan Gutmann, winner of the 2007 Funniest Person in Austin contest NYC's uber-scenesters The Misshapes hold court at Beauty Bar with Riot in Belgium and KidIndie Zilker Park hosts the very last installment of KGSR's Blues on the Green, featuring Marcia Ball & Band DJ Mel spins the killer 80s jams at the quarterly Rock the Casbah dance......

Every fall, Austin looks forward to ACL Fest, and each year, there's always a point where two of your favorite bands are playing on different sides of the park at the exact same time. ACL Band Clash is a weekly series in which Austinist scribes Paige Maguire and Tom Thornton examine the worst ACL scheduling clashes, and try to provide good advice on finding a resolution. Well, good advice might be a stretch, but......

Five local personalities get together to tell The Sickest F***ing Stories I Ever Heard over a game of Texas Hold 'Em 101x hosts a Guitar Hero happy hour at Stubb's Car Stereo (Wars) celebrate the release of their first album, The Bandit—think Burt Reynolds circa 1977—at Beauty Bar, with a little help from Single Frame, White Denim, and NYC DJs Finger on the Pulse Peter Bean, founder of BurntOrangeNation.com, and Chip Brown, a sportswriter......

These days, when it ain't raining, it's blazing hot--definite shorts weather. So put on your short-shorts and head over to Salvage Vanguard Theatre next Wednesday for an assortment of offbeat short movies, all of which will quench your thirst for knowledge just like a Shiner quenches actual thirst. From car crashes to dead dogs to hustlas from Galveston, these films have it all: The Aftermath on Meadowlark Lane (David and Nathan Zellner) A car crash......

Julie Powell is a hero to food geeks everywhere, but Austin food geeks should be especially proud. Long story short: An Austin native without formal culinary training, she and her husband packed up for NYC a few years ago, and, soon after, she began the cathartic process of plowing through Julia Childs' tome, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." A year later, she had recreated every recipe in the book, blogging the whole way through.......

We're sure you already know this because, after all, what else could you have possibly been doing on Sunday night other than watching the 2007 Tony Awards broadcast live on CBS? It's not like there was anything else on TV. Nevertheless, in case you missed it, former Austinite Julie White scored a Best Actress Tony for playing a lesbian Hollywood agent in Douglas Carter Beane's The Little Dog Laughed. White was nominated alongside the likes......

Albert Hammond Jr., that mop-topped guitar-wielding cuddlebear from the late, lamented NYC band The Strokes--wait, nevermind they're still around. But Al Hammond is still one of the only players to come out of the New York scene who evinces any prowess at his instrument, let alone cuts loose with razor-honed licks if and whenever he pleases. His three-piece band will play songs from his new Yours To Keep album Sunday at The Parish Room......

A couple days ago, NYC Mayor Bloomberg proclaimed that by October 2012, all yellow taxis in NYC will be hybrid. It's true that New York City has far more cabs than our city, but this idea sounds like something Austin would be the first to consider. After hearing of the NY decision, Austin councilmember Martinez told News8Austin that soon, our fair city may ask (require?) contractors, as well as city fleets, to move towards......

The Alamo has Music Mondays, so it seems only fitting that a bar-slash-music-venue should host a few films. Beauty Bar and I Luv Video are teaming up to bring you Movie Mondays, a celebration of film in a bad-ass bar setting. This month's Movie Monday theme is hip-hop, and tonight the projectors will be rolling Style Wars, a classic eighties celebration of graffiti, breakdancing, and rapping. So slip on your Chucks, grab a can of......

Reported just days ago on the their own blog, The Alamo Drafthouse revealed two bits of interest concerning their future transition down the street to take over the famous, and schizophrenic, Ritz on 6th. It's looking like the final day at The Original Alamo on 4th & Colorado will be Wednesday, June 27th, 2007. From the blog, "We'll have three shows, something special for 3 different crowds that we serve at the Alamo. We will......

And if it weren’t for his showing that he could sprout and thrive amongst such atrocious conditions, I might never have bothered to try and plant the little dude. But a week ago, I did. And in that week’s time he’s already grown an inch or so, valiantly flourishing amongst my blowing-trash-riddled, weedscaped lawn like it was the majestically sloping side of a nutrient-rich Norwegian fjord. ...

Paula Disbrowe has been a food and travel writer in Manhattan and the cowgirl chef at Hart & Hind Fitness Ranch in Rio Frio, Texas. Her work has been featured in publications including the New York Times, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, and Saveur. She recently launched one of our favorite websites, Dishola, and her new book, Cowgirl Cuisine: Rustic Recipes and Cowgirl Adventures from a Texas Ranch, showcases her love for Texas food. Catch......

We're back in New York where people are trying to recover from SXSW, here's the last entry of Nate from My Brightest Diamond's Austin tour diary he kept for us. Read the first part here. Over at Gothamist we've got Pela's tour diary...we totally snuck in to their hotel room and found it under their pillow. SXSW DAY 2: A DAY, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER In contrast to my first 24 hours here at the......

Dallas’ The Hourly Radio has garnered some top-notch buzz lately. Rolling Stone and Filter magazines both named History Will Never Hold Me in recent “Top 5” listings, while their guitar-centric, post new-wave musical stylings are a hit in NYC, among other cities. We, too, have enjoyed their Texas shows, be it last year’s non-SXSW the rich girls are weeping bash during, well, SXSW, or their opening gig for Stellastarr* at the Parish a few......

This Saturday at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, there will be badass doin’s a-transpirin'. We have various Blanton parties. We had the whole Radical NY! at the AMOA (which the writer who posted on it completely ruined by misspelling the names of extremely popular artists, and just appearing to be a twat of an art icon ignoramus in general), and if you attend(ed) these events, you’ve likely felt the energy surrounding the concept:......

That diapered astronaut homewrecker was under a lot of stress. This is our clinical diagnosis. A lady from Dallas tipped an NYC cabbie thirty cents on a $10.70 fare, and he still returned her diamond rings. See, the streets of NY ain't so mean. Meanwhile, an NY state senator is proposing a ban on the use of iPods on said streets, after two unfortunate Brooklynites were killed crossing the street while hooked into theirs.......