A wall at Rice University campus collapsed this afternoon, trapping four people. Millions of pounds of toxins from Mexico may soon be headed for incineration in Port Arthur if the EPA approves an exemption. Gov. Perry agrees with his buddy in the White House on lifting the ban on offshore exploration. "This is likely not the finest moment for DPS," Texas Public Safety Commission chairman admits after an internal investigation into how an arsonist was able to bypass security and set fire to the Governor's Mansion. Worst exit in Texas at southbound IH35 and MLK, second worst at northbound IH35 and Riverside. Or so this study says, anyway....

If you love booze and cinema, well, have we got a deal for you. Cine Las Americas, Austin's own multicultural, non-profit media arts center, will be holding Chicha 56, a combo happy hour and after party fundraiser to benefit this year's programming. The event comes a mere 56 days before the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival kicks off....

Photograph of the Trump Soho by Riccardo Sinti...

Although Longhorn football folk hero Major Applewhite interviewed today for a vacant assistant coach position, it will be at least Thursday until any announcement is made. ...

photo by Rikke Iversholt from dragcity.com Alasdair Roberts, CharalambidesTonightThe Mohawk (912 Red River)doors at 9, all ages, tickets at the door[info]What is it about Scotland that produces such hordes of mope-addled songwriters? The moors? The drink? Their everlasting proximity to the Irish? Anyhow, Alasdair Roberts has been recording mostly solo acoustic tunes since the mid-'90s, first as Appendix Out and recently under his given name, and it's all first-class mope material--not as poppy as that......

Original menu image courtesy the Frisco Shop With the Brentwood Tavern and the Travis County Farmer's Market both closing last month, the Allandale culinary scene is certainly undergoing some transition. The Austin Business Journal and the Statesman's Dale Rice report that the Frisco Shop (North Central Austin's haven of pie and artery-clogging comfort food) has found a new home and will not close its doors after learning last year that its location would soon house......

Flood waters threaten thousands in southern Mexico. Hurricane Noel will bring heavy rainfall to the East Coast. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begs U.S. Diplomats to serve overseas. NASA plans a risky spacewalk to save a ripped solar wing at the international space station. Hollywood writers are set to declare a strike sometime today. Get ready for a reality television blitz! NBC Anchor Brian Williams is hosting SNL this week. The reunion show......

Careful stringing up those fake spiderwebs this year. If you haven't been following the bizarre case of the Russian "chessboard serial killer", you should before it becomes a full length feature film. Protestor with painted blood on her hands gets within inches of Condoleeza Rice. Craddick blames trial lawyers for trying to get him out of the House Speaker's office. One of the largest fires in California was sparked by arson. 5 gold championship......

#7 Texas (4-0) vs. Kansas State (2-1) Time: 2:30 pm, Saturday, Sept. 29 Location: Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium TV: KVUE (ABC) Radio: KVET (98.1 FM, 1300 AM) As the Kansas State Wildcats come to town this week, the Texas Longhorns insist they don't have revenge on their minds, but it would be easy to allow them that sentiment. When the two teams met last year in Manhattan, Kansas, Texas was on top of the......

#7 Texas (3-0) vs. Rice (0-3) Time: 6 pm, Saturday, Sept. 22 Location: Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium TV: Fox Sports Southwest Radio: KVET (98.1 FM, 1300 AM) There have been more than enough distractions to keep Texas coach Mack Brown occupied this week. Word that a sixth Longhorn had been arrested in the past four months set off allegations that the program is out of control. And even though they've won their first three......

Longhorn football player James Henry has been suspended indefinitely from the team after being charged with felony counts of retaliation and tampering with physical evidence. Police say the charges are in connection with the alleged armed robbery involving former Longhorn football player Robert Joseph. Court records indicate that Henry, 19, confronted witnesses on behalf of Joseph, who was arrested June 27th on aggravated robbery charges. Police say that Joseph called Henry from jail the......

UPDATE: NME is also reporting that Muse will play at Stubb's on Sunday night, we'll have details as they emerge. A lot of this might be old news for ticket holders who have been scurrying around trying to figure out how they're going to be compensated for their White Stripes @ Stubb's tickets, but it's true: Muse's performance has been moved up, and they will now occupy the White Stripes' slot, while the rest......

Formed from the ashes of Split Enz, Crowded House may well have been the best pure pop-rock group of their era. Twenty-two years after their beginnings in Melbourne, Australia, Neil Finn and Nick Seymour have brought back Crowded House's classic songwriting and effortless melodies via a new album and tour. The group disbanded in 1996 and has weathered the shocking suicide of founding member Paul Hester, the disconnect of distance (Finn lives in Auckland,......

Rilo Kiley Under the Blacklight (Warner) Whereas their last few releases were more Omaha or Seattle and Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis’ solo record last year, Rabbit Fur Coat, was pretty Nashville, this latest effort is totally L.A. With its ensnaring pop choruses, undeniable disco feel and lyrical nods to the porn industry, it is perfectly suited for the extravagant metropolis where people go to give up everything to become a star. With Under The......

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take......

Major Applewhite will still be nearly a year shy of his 30th birthday when he takes the field as the nation's youngest offensive coordinator next month at the University of Alabama. Applewhite, 29, is only seven years' removed from his days as a Longhorn fan favorite, when he set school records for passing yards and touchdown passes. He helped Texas to four consecutive bowl games and was the Offensive MVP of the 2001 Holiday Bowl,......

It's hard to believe, but even our most talented artists, actors, musicians and filmmakers all had to start somewhere. You know "the journey of a thousand miles" and all that crap? It's totally true--whether those first attempts are timid baby steps or long, confident strides. This Thursday, the Austin Film Festival will pay tribute to a whole pile of tenacious Austin filmmakers--including Mike Akel, Steve Collins, Scott Rice, Jeffrey Travis and The Zellner Brothers--by screening......

Dale Rice over at the Statesman is reporting that a rash of vandalism has erupted among downtown restaurants because they serve foies gras, the pate made from the liver of geese who are force-fed. The vandalized restaurants comprise Aquarelle, Eddie V's Edgewater Grille, Fleming's, Restaurant Jezebel, Ruth's Chris Steak House, the Spaghetti Warehouse and Truluck's. Apparently, what's getting the restaurants' collective geese are obscenities spray-painted on their signs and doors. photo by cappellmeister on......

Consider Tuesday night another notch in Austin’s bedpost of filmmaking opportunity as the Austin Film Festival debuts its new year-round Conversations in Film series. This first installment “Script to Screen: Making the Short Film” will target the writers among us, but will also be useful to directors and filmmakers who need distribution tips for their shorts. Three Austin area award-winning filmmakers will lead the discussion, as well as screen their most recent/notable shorts:Steve Collins is......

[This post comes from Anna Hanks, who'll soon be joining the Austinist staff!] Oh how we love our brooding bad-boys, full of emotional conflicts and divided loyalties. From James Dean to Marlon Brando, we just adore our theatrical time-bombs ticking down to an eventual emotional explosion. Black outfits only accentuate their outlaw charms. Biblical bad-boy Judas Iscariot — beautifully and brilliantly portrayed by John Pointer in Zachary Scott Theatre Center’s new bilingual production of Jesus......

We love Austin. As obvious as that might seem, it never hurts to declare how great this city is for people interested in art and culture, and specifically live music. On any given evening, one has a chance to experience a wide variety of genres at different venues around town. And in most cases the cost is minimal, or nothing. Tonight, the Scoot Inn presents another great opportunity to catch a local favorite. Pink......

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service fame played to a sweaty, sold-out crowd at a sweltering Emo's on Tuesday night. Openers Jonathan Rice and David Bazan (Pedro the Lion) opened the acoustic evening with solid sets and a profuse thanks to Gibbard for giving them the opportunity to tour. Gibbard's set was comprised mostly of Death Cab favorites with a dose of Postal Service thrown in for good measure. In......

In one of the most anticipated shows of the year, two of this generation's most beloved singer-songwriters and one young up-and-comer are gonna be strumming the night away this evening at Emo's. Ben Gibbard, the bespectacled teddy bear that fronts Death Cab for Cutie has teamed up with David Bazan (aka Pedro the Lion, going by his own name) and mussy-haired crooner Johnathan Rice (Jenny Lewis' beau, lucky stiff...) There's a reason this show......

Damien Rice will perform tonight at Bass Concert Hall in support of his most recent work, 9, an album wrought with angst, anger and (not surprisingly) sexual frustration. Last year, we reviewed the album and were pleased with Rice for not letting the follow up to a brilliant work (his previous full-length, O) suffer the slump: Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice has carried quite a weight the past four years. Ever since his debut release,......

WEDNESDAY [9] books • Amy Guth presents Three Fallen Women at BookWoman (7:00pm) comedy • Jimmie Roulette at Cap City Comedy Club film • Texas Doc Tour: "Ten Under Ten 2007" at Alamo Downtown film • "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with Golden Ticket Giveaway at Alamo Downtown film • Weird Wednesdays: "Cop Killers" at Alamo Downtown food • Angel Valley Organic Farm Farmstand at Asian American Cultural Center, 11713 Jollyville Road (10am-2pm) food......

Believe it or not, there's a bunch of activities going on around town this week other than SXSW. This week's IST List won't include our usual bevy of music and film events; for those, we recommend that you check out our Interactive Guide to SXSW Parties and the Other Side Guide, respectively. We'd also like to welcome LAist editor Tony Pierce and Gothamist arts editor Jen Carlson, both of whom will be joining us......

MONDAY [26] film • Squeegee Your Third Eye: Remembering Bill Hicks at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown books • New and Noteworthy Book Club discusses Snow by Orhan Pamuk at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • Wonderwall at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown meeting • Austin Music Foundation's Music Industry Boot Camp at Gibson Guitar Showroom (3601 South Congress G400) music • Aloha, Pompeii, The Politics, Low Line Caller at Emo's Lounge music • Shoot for the Stars, iKiLLcaRs, Bones......

There are several Welsh acts playing this year's SXSW, but none are newer to Texas than The Gentle Good. Essentially a one-man folk music project, Cardiff's Gareth Bonello has been playing a quietly captivating mix of English, Welsh, and Spanish folk to drunken (his words, not ours) Welsh audiences for several years. Bonello has already released an EP and is currently recording his first full-length album. He recently chatted with us about cowboy boots,......

MONDAY [5] art/theatre • Sex Workers Art Show at Arts on Real (7:30pm, $24) film • Eddie Murphy: RAW at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Air Guitar Nation at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown music • Possessed By Paul James w. Paleo, Andy Klier, Ralph White at The Parish Room music • Guy Town Happy Hour at Scoot Inn (7pm) IST List compiled by Allen Y Chen, Sam Armstrong, Shannon Roberts, Adam Rice.......

MONDAY [22] books • The Ludicrous Speed Book Club discusses The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Cold Hearts: Icelandic Music Shorts at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • "24" at Alamo Drafthouse Village film • "Heroes" at Alamo Drafthouse Village film • St. Edwards University Paper Project at St. Edwards ® indicates a recommended event.......