What a difference a year makes—certainly in the case of this fledgling music festival. Last December's inaugural Fun Fun Fun Fest featured over two dozen bands and DJs, and showcased a good variety of indie rock, punk, and electronic music. This year, they've grown even bigger, better, and bolder: the second annual installment will span two days and has been pushed ahead by a month, to November 3rd and 4th. Staying true to their......

On Mondays and Thursdays, we'll be syndicating comics from around the IST network. If you're an artist and would like to share your works with our readers, please email us. Today's post comes from SF-based artist Levni "Lev" Yilmaz. -- Ed Note "Tales Of Mere Existence" By Levni R. Yilmaz Esq Email Lev. Buy a Comic/DVD set from Lev! http://www.ingredientx.com/buy/main.htm For more comics, animations and correspondence, kindly visit http://www.ingredientx.com If you gravitate towards isolated, obsessive......

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......

Banner week for SFist as the site's new editor introduced himself -- hooray for Brock! While the NY Times weighed in on SF's mayoral race, only SFist had the (insert tongue firmly into cheek) hard-hitting latest on candidate/activist Josh Wolf. Coverage of a protest vs. gentrification spawned a fantastic debate amongst SFist's readers. Finally, from the sublime to the ridiculous: video of a man that confused a Board of Supes meeting with "open mic......

It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by poop. Finally D.C. contemplated taking Vermont's place as a state and marveled at the GOP lessons learned from the "Macaca Moment." Due to some sad shootings in......

We've gotten our hands on a bunch of tickets, guestlist spots, and assorted swag for several excellent parties happening during SXSW, and over the course of today we'll be giving these away. Check back every hour for the newest giveaway contest -- each will only run until the next one is posted, so your chances at winning are pretty damn good. Congrats to the winner of our last contest, who'll be announced at the......

Let's take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for? Austinist was in an entertainment state of mind as they covered the dickens out of the Austin Film Festival, depicted all the Big 12 football coaches as South Park characters, and interviewed Jose Gonzalez. Chicagoist talked about the passion as they bid adieu to Bell......

Runners' High Documentary Feature Competition Screening Info: 2:30pm October 21st at Hideout Regional Premiere. The Toronto Star says, "It's pure inspiration every step of the way." The SF Bay Guardian raves, "Inspirational Sports Movies are hard to beat and this one is particularly potent." When teenagers from one of the nation’s toughest neighborhoods in Oakland, California sign up to train for a marathon, they begin the journey of a lifetime. Runners High is an......

Austin luxe clothier By George was recently added to GQ Magazine's ongoing list of America's Top 100 Shops for Men, joining the likes of NYC's Bergdorf Goodman, SF's American Rag, and Dallas/Houston's Billy Reid: If you ever find yourself in Texas and in need of a Dries Van Noten jacket, look no further. Matthew and Katy Culmo’s minimalist designer paradise—itself the work of several noted artists and architects, not to mention a “lighting designer”—has been......

As we sat down to write this week's Best of the -ists post, a car blaring "21 Questions'" passed by our house. And that started us thinking about how some of the best -ist posts out there have at their hearts questions, some of which are answered, and some of which are left open. Check out the Best of the -ists from this week, and see if you agree. Londonist answers the questions "How much......

What with Memorial Day or Labor Day coming up this weekend, we've teamed up with the lovely folks over at BlogBurst to host an Austin Blogger Happy Hour on Thursday, over at Club de Ville. The product of local tech company Pluck, BlogBurst syndicates some of the internet's top blogggers onto major media sites (think The Washington Post, SF Gate) and other "top-tier online destinations." For bloggers, it represents a tremendous opportunity to have their......

What with Memorial Day or Labor Day coming up this weekend, we've teamed up with the lovely folks over at BlogBurst to host an Austin Blogger Happy Hour on Thursday, over at Club de Ville. The product of local tech company Pluck, BlogBurst syndicates some of the internet's top blogggers onto major media sites (think The Washington Post, SF Gate) and other "top-tier online destinations." For bloggers, it represents a tremendous opportunity to have their......

SustainLane's annual rankings of America's Most Sustainable Cities came out yesterday. Austin, which was ranked #6 in 2005 in SustainLane's similar "US City Rankings," plummeted to #14 this year. Other Texas cities among the fifty fared worse, including Dallas (24), El Paso (31), Houston (39), and Fort Worth (46). As far as SustainLane.com -- an "online community site for healthy and sustainable living" -- is concerned, most of our -ist brethren cities (SF, Seattle, Philly,......

Paggi House, a which new Austinist staffer Michael clued us into just weeks ago, is hosting ATX Fest this weekend. The inaugural "music lover's music festival" brings together nineteen bands on two stages for two days of continuous music, ranging from jazz and rock to funk and blues, with the occasional jam band thrown in for good measure. While the proper music festival begins tomorrow (at, ahem, 4:20pm), tonight they hosting a free kickoff party......

We've already told you about The Arm's CD release show on Friday, but we think it deserves another mention: they'll be playing with Single Frame, Faceless Werewolves and Lomita over at Emo's. We've also just found out that Super!Alright! has been tapped to provide visuals, which kinda makes sense considering they've already done a bunch of videos for Single Frame. The Arm's promised to bring some "special guests" onstage throughout their set, as well as......

Seattlest saw a house party get senselessly attacked with a shotgun and end in seven dead. A local senator is debated and their version of the big dig is investigated. To truly get to the bottom of it they interview the writer Jonathan Raban. Bostonist has its first birthday party and investigates how to attach more gambling dollars to the Red Sox. Benjamin Franklin is celebrated and Johnny Damon is not. Image by Ethan Bagley......

South By Southwest released another round of additions to the roster of bands scheduled to perform at this year's music festival (March 15th-19th), bringing the current total to nearly 1150. Notable bands recently added as of January 29th include Morrissey, Camera Obscura, Captain, Boy Hits Car, Billy Bragg, Bedtime for Toys, Division of Laura Lee, and SF's Hudson Bell. The full roster appears after the jump, or you check out much prettier versions at......

Last week, before his show at the Parish Room, Austinist sat down for a chat with SF indie musician John Vanderslice. Famous for his attention to the finest of details and his indelible charm, John was characteristically engaging during the half hour we spoke to him. In addition to his prolific solo career, John also runs a recording studio in San Francisco called tiny telephone, which last year was voted by SF Bay Guardian......

-A judge upheld the smoking ban put in place a few months ago, but reduced the violation fine to $500. -In his "State of Downtown" address, Mayor Will Wynn reported that roughly 17,000 jobs were created last year, and forecasts that the number of poeple living downtown will rise to 10,000 within the next three years. -Several Austin companies made Inc. and Deloitte's annual list of the fastest growing private and public companies, respectively.......

So A Flock of Seagulls won't be playing Elysium tonight, but there are a few great shows happening around town that are bound to tickle your fancy...pants. IF YOU LIKE ... The Rapture, The Faint, or tight pink jeans: Rock out with electroclash wizards Ghostland Observatory at Karma Lounge @ 10pm. They're fresh off a hugely successful East Coast tour, so come and give 'em a warm Austin welcome back! Jack Johnson: Nashville singer-songwriter......