Dear reader, we’re sure you’ll agree that it’s been too long since we’ve heard from our favorite Bear Den/music venue, The Chain Drive, up there on Willow Street. ...

On Wednesday at the Salvage Vanguard theatre, a character named Ethan Master of the Hawaiian Ukulele stripped down to his bathing suit, donned a hat and colorful lei, and then stood on his amp to proclaim, via song, “I heard noise-pop is in.” You know Ethan, you might be right. And leading the fray are none other than our own Peel, a magnanimously kick-ass band whose bits of unbridled feedback and synthesizer explosions are balanced with a collective appreciation for the types of melodies that make ears smile. With some out-of-town friends, Peel will play The Mohawk this Sunday as a fitting end to a great week of music. ...

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

After maintaining a low profile since their "Night At The Opera" at Hogg Auditorium in January and SXSW showcase, hometown dance-noise champs Ghostland Observatory are unleashing a triple kung-fu combo punch on Austin this summer. On Wednesday, they'll play a "secret" show at Emo's as part of the club's anniversary celebrations. Then in mid-July, the band will tape an episode of the PBS series Austin City Limits - call the ACL hotline on 475-9077......

Attention, pirates and purchasers of digital music alike! On Wednesday, Apple officially launched its new, long-awaited DRM-free music download service. It's called iTunes Plus. But don't get too excited, music fans. Whereas before, in the DRM (digital rights management) world, every song you downloaded from iTunes was wrapped in protective code that could hinder your personal use of the product (bad), songs downloaded from iTunes Plus are apparently not as "liberated" as Apple may have......

On Wednesday, Sen. Kirk Watson (Austin) – former Mayor of Austin – helped the Texas Senate pass Senate Bill 1688, which seeks to increase the powers given to the City of Austin with regard to development along the State Highway 130 toll road, east of Austin. Here’s part of the official Bill Analysis for this piece of legislation: “This bill addresses a new challenge facing the City of Austin – the creation of a......

On Wednesday, January 11, a bronze plaque remembering the victims of Charles Whitman's August 1966 shooting spree from the UT Tower was added to central campus' Tower Garden. Affectionately referred to as "The Turtle Pond" by most students, the garden was dedicated on August 1, 1999 to provide a "place to honor all those whose lives were touched by the shooting tragedy." The limestone rock is just the start of several improvements planned for......

Because most performance companies create their budgets on a fall-to-spring season, September and October generally see hordes of productions by our local theatre-makers chompin’ at the bit after a summer of relative tranquility. With the B. Iden Payne nominations and Austinist’s own Best Theatre in Austin picks officially announced, it’s time to leave 05/06 behind us, and head charging off into new theatrical waters. (Or something.) This week’s Austinist Pick of the Week is......

On Wednesday night, The Austin Film Society hosted a little over one thousand friends to watch Austin's very own premiere of A Scanner Darkly at the Paramount Theatre, with a post-screen party down the street at The Austin Museum of Art. Originally written by Philip K. Dick in the late 1970’s and adapted to the screen by Austin's own Richard Linklater, A Scanner Darkly is an eerie, yet hilarious, film of drugs, paranoia and......

On Wednesday, we brought you Austinist's interview with Emily and Marshall of Stem and Leaf Records -- they've been working hard the past few weeks to put together The Interest Kills CD Release Party, happening this Saturday at the Victory Grill. Though recorded last summer, Capital Flight was only recently mastered and pressed after The Interest Kills signed to Stem and Leaf; an early unmastered copy was enough to impress us (the review is......

If you thought your week went well, check out five days in the life of Spurs guard Tony Parker. On Monday, he and girlfriend Eva Longoria appeared on The Oprah Winfrey show to donate $50,000 to Oprah's Hurricane Katrina fund and to talk about their relationship. On Wednesday, Parker scored 32 points and added 13 assists in a road win against Toronto. Yesterday, he was named to the 2006 NBA All-Star Team for next......