In this Internet age, censorship isn’t much of a going concern in America. Yet, things were different in this country back when cars had a rumble seat, a lady never went out without her gloves and telephones still plugged into the wall. more ›

• You might be aware that President Barack Obama was in Austin yesterday. If you didn’t make it to any of his events, you can read what he had to say during his visit.
• There’s a Frank Lloyd Wright house for sale in Houston. For only $3,290,000 bucks it can be yours! (Luckily, it has an addition you can actually live in!)
• The truth about what it’s like to really spend a weekend in Austin. (Shocker: It seems some of our cheap hotels have crappy wifi!)

The Harry Ransom Center's current exhibition, "Becoming Tennessee Williams," focuses on the first half of the acclaimed playwright's career, and, it's hard not to note, his near-obsessive attitude towards revision. The Ransom Center's collection, much of which comes from Williams' own archives, includes multiple drafts of plays alongside detailed notes on changes made and explanations for edits. These materials give Williams enthusiasts a great deal of information about the writer's process and connection to his work, but nobody knows quite how intricate these relationships are as John Lahr, senior drama critic for The New Yorker and Williams' biographer. more ›

• The Sheriff who just arrested Willie for weed has an interesting backstory.
• Newsweek is delving into the archives of David Foster Wallace at the Ransom Center.
• Getting really stoned on fake weed in the interests of Journalism.

Lunch hours usually are, in their typical glory, little more than a much-welcomed partition in the workaday tedium. We rarely expect more from them other than the promise of a.) an hour away from work and/or b.) an hour away from work wherein we get to eat sandwiches (or Amy’s frozen lunches, if you’re feeling fancy). While a good sandwich is, of course, an end unto itself, we’d suggest you reconsider venues for your PB&J at noon: the Harry Ransom Center is kicking off the 2010-2011 Poetry on the Plaza series at noon, and they’d love for you to show up, get your daily dose of verse, and eat/drink some of their free (!) refreshments. Edification AND satiation on your lunch break? Who’d have thought. more ›

Exposing the raw truths and ironies often lacquered over by the typical 9-to-5 was, to put it one way, second-nature to David Foster Wallace’s genius. Indeed, if we’re abiding Wallace’s charge (and taking heed of his observations thereafter) to Kenyon College’s 2005 graduating class to suspend their "skepticism of the value of the totally obvious,” most members of the over-educated working class will find themselves chuckling (or nodding, depending) in acknowledgment. more ›

One of the most important photography archives of the 20th century now resides at the University of Texas' Harry Ransom Center. more ›

UT's Ransom Center has acquired the archives of Jim Crace, author of such award-winning novels as Being Dead (winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award) and Quarantine (Booker Prize shortlist). more ›

Accompanying the current exhibition at the Harry Ransom Center, Beat Voices delves further into the doings of Peter Orlovsky, Diane di Prima, William S. Burroughs, and Alfred Leslie. The production's four brief plays run Sat-Sun @1 & 3pm until the exhibition closes on August 3. // The rock opera Speeding Motorcycle at Zach Scott Theater is based on the work of Daniel Johnston and tells the tale of Joe the Boxer's unrequited love for an undertaker's girlfriend. We're betting it won't disappoint. Through March 23, Thu-Sat @8pm / Sun @2:30pm. more ›

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Austinist. more ›

Haven't had enough of Valentine's Day yet? Ever secretly wanted to take a date to the Harry Ransom Center, but went for $2 Tecates at some hipster dive instead? This Friday, for one night only, the HRC is heading to the Eastside, celebrating love, the birth of hip, and the "starving, hysterical, naked" visions of the Beat Generation. Sounds hot. more ›

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Austinist. more ›

Playwright and filmmaker David Mamet will appear at UT's Hogg Auditorium on Monday, February 4th for a discussion of his work with the Austin Chronicle's Robert Faires. The event is the first of several appearances by Mamet at UT in conjunction with the acquisition of his archives by the Harry Ransom Center. more ›

Photo by smellyknee on flickr
• Kucinich left off Texas primary ballot for not signing Dem loyalty oath, sues.
• No Republican is running for Travis County DA.
• How's the City Manager search going?

Score one more for the acquisitions team at the Harry Ransom Center. Yesterday morning, the UT facility announced that it had purchased the papers of Tim O'Brien, American novelist and resident of Central Texas. O'Brien teaches at Texas State University in San Marcos. more ›

Image from Arthur Miller Collection, Harry Ransom Center Rehearsing the American Dream: Arthur Miller’s TheatreSeptember 4 - December 30Harry Ransom Center (21st & Guadaloupe)free, hours vary[info]Sometimes we think we could spend a lifetime sorting through the treasure trove of historical documents and materials in the Harry Ransom Center. From the Gutenberg Bible to the Watergate papers, from the first-ever photograph to love poems written by Ernest Hemingway from the trenches of World War I, the... 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 ›

You probably know by now that perennial badass Robert De Niro donated his complete collection of film-related materials to the Harry Ransom Center in 2006, including annotated scripts and research materials from his character studies (that's right, De Niro is totally an anthropologist.) One of the main reasons De Niro chose the acclaimed University of Texas vault-of-goodness that is the Harry Ransom Center is because he knew that the materials would be available for students... more ›

On Thursday, a scholar named Randolph Lewis, of the University of Oklahoma, comes to the Harry Ransom Center to speak. Resolved: The recent explosion of documentary film has not helped the genre at all, instead causing it to conform to televisual norms, and pushing its filmmakers to use less "literary imagination" in their creative processes. We guess that means that in order to get on board with this argument, you kind of have to believe... more ›

Thursday, June 21 comedy Christian Finnegan at Cap City Comedy Club music Emo’s 15th Anniversary Week with De La Soul, Word Association, Just Born, DJ Notion at Emo’s music Buddy Guy, The Greyhounds at Stubb’s music US Air Guitar Championships at The Parish Room music The Score at Beerland music Discovery School Fundraiser w/Gary Clark Jr., Johnny Moeller, Mike Barfield, Ephraim Owens & more at Continental Club music Doc Watson, Jack Lawrence, Richard Watson... more ›

Monday, June 18musicHairy Apes BMX, Gabby La LA, Jetpaq Shakur at Stubb’s musicMenomena at Waterloo Records musicArt Brut Karaoke Party and "Caddyshack" at Beauty Bar filmThird Coast Night: "Leila Khaled, Hijacker" at Alamo Downtown filmMusic Monday: "Here We Come" at Alamo Downtown food/booksDr. BBQs Big-Time Barbeque Road Trip at BookPeople, 603 N Lamar Blvd (7pm)foodCentral Market Cooking Class: The Perfect Scoop with Chef David Lebovitz at Central Market Cooking School, 4001 N Lamar ($65, 6:30-9pm)... more ›

If, like us, you thought that Marie Antoinette might have been a hell of a lot better as a silent movie, consider Orphans of the Storm (1921), screening tonight for free at the Harry Ransom Center as part of the Silent Silver Screens Series. Starring the lovely and incandescent Gish sisters (that's Lillian on the left and Dorothy there on the right), Orphans follows the odyssey of devoted French sisters Henriette and Louise. When... more ›

(FIRST) THURSDAY [7] party • Official Space Launch Celebration at Salvage Vanguard Theater (9:30pm) music • Go Motion! at Beauty Bar music • The Dollyrots, Alright Tonight, The Sweethearts, Abby Birds at Emo's music • Vietnam and Greg Ashley, The Strange Attractors, The Golden Boys at Emo's music • Scott Miller, The Commonwealth, The Gougers at Stubb's music • An Evening with Old Crow Medicine Show at The Parish Room music • Locals @ La... more ›

We're always trying to extol the value of having the Harry Ransom Center right here in town. They keep so many valuable treasures safe, yet make them readily available to the Austin community. Who else is going to keep your authentic Raging Bull boxing trunks so "just-off De Niro" fresh for an eternity? Well, it was only a matter of time before the HRC got mad props from New York's poshest periodical: The New Yorker.... more ›

THURSDAY [24] theatre • Rubber Repertory presents A Thought in Three Parts at The Vortex (8pm) music • Emissions From the Monolith Fest at Emo's music • Small Stars, Sounds Under Radio at Stubb's music • DJ Qbert, DJ Craze, DJ Klever, Table Manners Crew at The Parish music • Winovino, Bourbon Legends, Jett Mullens, Jaime Thomas at Beerland music • Morrissey Pre-Party with Andy Rourke! at The Mohawk music • Gulf of Mexico,... more ›

THURSDAY [10] music • Learning Secrets with Ramesh (Voxtrot), Ben Craven + Co at Whisky Bar music • Rock of Ages Cover Show with Preserve the Sound (50s), Consider the Source (60s), Seaflea (70s), Promisebreakers (80s), Say Hello to the Angels (90s) at Emo's music • The Postmarks, Shuttle Debris, Raleign at Stubb's music • Future Clouds & Radar at Waterloo Records (5pm, Free) music • Moonhangers, Love Gone Cold, Salvia Family Band, Shot Gun... more ›

We were excited to find out that we no longer have to rely on walking our dog by at night to see the inside of those cool old houses near Duval St. because this Saturday, they will be open to the public as part of the Heritage Society of Austin’s 15th Annual Homes Tour. This year’s theme is “Duval Street in the 20’s,” and six of those beauties will be part of a walking... more ›

MONDAY [7] books • Caro Soles and Anthony Bidulka read from their latest works at BookWoman (7:00pm) comedy • Funniest Person in Austin Contest, hosted by 1986 Winner Kerry Awn at Cap City Comedy Club film • "Strangers on a Train" with Farley Granger live at Alamo Downtown film • Music Mondays: "We Were Never Here" at Alamo Downtown food • Central Market Cooking Class: Picnic Food with Amuse Bouche at Central Market Cooking... more ›

Well, not really, but with the release of a commemorative book, two major acquisitions and the climax of the amazing American 20's exhibit, April was a huge month for the Ransom Center. On April 1st, to commemorate the first 50 years of its existence, the Ransom Center released Collecting the Imagination: The First 50 Years of the Ransom Center. Just a few weeks later, they secured roughly 100 boxes of written materials from playwright and... more ›

THURSDAY [3] film • Austin Film Festival screens "The Ballad of A.J Weberman" at Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek (7:30pm Free/$4 Members/General) art • West End Gallery Night at Participating Galleries (Until 8pm) art • Blanton Museum of Art Public Tour: An Introduction to Prints at Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress (7-8pm) books • Book Release Party: Collecting the Imagination: The First Fifty Years of the Ransom Center at The Harry Ransom Center (7:00pm)... more ›