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......

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......

Great Lake Swimmers Ongiara (Nettwerk) Ongiara sees Great Lake Swimmers move a little further into country with prominent banjo strums and unforgiving Nashville-esque male/female harmonies. The themes are still dark, open and intimidating, never belying the band's daunting name. Production-wise, the songs are gorgeous: layers of acoustic guitars over a banjo and reverberating snare never sounded better. Tony Dekker's voice is straight out of the old dance hall and as slide guitars subtly make......

We keep reading that My Latest Novel are being compared with Arcade Fire. Obviously, there are major differences. First, My Latest Novel is a five-piece from Scotland, and Arcade Fire is an eight-piece (or more) from Quebec. And while you can see Arcade Fire this week on SNL, you have to wait until March 16th to see My Latest Novel. Wait you must; for now you can read drummer Ryan King's take on the......

After reading all the blog-hype this summer and viewing whatever clips/pilots we could find on YouTube, we’ve got our picks for new shows that seem the most interesting/original/well-made/least lame. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, NBC, Monday @ 9pm. On September 18, you can see the pilot. We caught it in early August when it was on YouTube (before NBC took it down), but if you can’t wait a couple of weeks, Netflix has......

Remember that Lazy Sunday parody you did after you couldn’t get The Chronic-what-cles of Narnia out of your head? Or the remake of the Sabotage video you did using your old Starsky & Hutch action figures? Well, funny guy/gal, Cap City Comedy Club and the Austin Film Festival have synergized to give you the chance to flex your inner Benigni with the Funniest Filmmaker in Austin Competition! Get your funniest film on tape and send......

If you don't speak Yiddish, or never watched SNL's Coffee Talk, then it may be helpful to know that a shonde is a term used to envelop the many dimensions of shame: pity, disgrace, embarassment, etc. The Shondes are a New York based quartet that proudly boasts that -according to orthodox belief or even conventional society- they are in fact a bunch of shondes. Standing up for human rights, giving voice to radical queer......

With Out of Bounds - Austin's premier improvisation and sketch festival - quickly approaching (August 30th – September 4th, 2006), the Austinist gets you acquainted with the hometown scene through this weekly series highlighting ensembles, players and shows about town. (Didn't know there was a difference between improv and sketch? Waste valuable work time looking it up.) Week in Review - July 20th -22nd This past weekend, we saw some great shows, the highlight being......

Imitating Norm MacDonald impersonating Burt Reynolds on SNL's Celebrity Jeopardy: "It's funny because it, ah, you know, it says 'Historic District,' but it's in front of modern architecture. Funny." Seriously, when did the city put these new signs up? And how did someone — an amateur photographer, no less, who should be a little more observant — not notice them until like last week?......

You know, we just couldn't help ourselves. The Coffee Talk sketch is a permanent part of our psyche. Blame SNL and Mike Myers. Anyway, this is somewhat last minute, but we recently learned that Barbra Streisand impersonator Steven Brinberg will be in town tonight and tomorrow night only for two very special performances of Simply Barbra. Both are at 8:30pm in the Crystal Ballroom at Mansion at Judges Hill. A native New Yorker, Brinberg......

Have you ever watched SNL or been to a Second City performance and thought, "Wow, I would love to do that!" Well, here's your chance. Esther's Follies and The Velveeta Room are auditioning folks for their latest sketch/improv ensemble "SPANK." They are looking for experienced writers, improvisers and comedic actors interested in making people laugh till they cry. And, who knows, maybe even if you are just a really, really funny novice you could......

There are things to do on Valentine's Day besides go out to dinner, eat chocolate, and put on new lingerie. For example, you could take your date to the 80's Power Ballad Sing-A-Long at the Alamo Drafthouse, a sure-to-be-hilarious night presented by Mr. Sinus' Owen Egerton and Henri Mazza (the program director at the Alamo). From the Alamo site: This February Owen and Henri will present the definitive sing-along for the Valentine’s season, featuring......

We spent an inordinate amount of time going to movies, shoveling buttered popcorn into our trawls, and drinking Mr. Pibb through red vines (Watch this SNL clip we just referenced if you want to laugh. Crazy funny.) Well, just like with our illegitimate children, we refuse to name favorites, so with that in mind, Austinist presents to you our favorite 14 films of 2005 in no particular order. *UPDATE: A late editorial note, at......

Do we like political satire? Yes, we do. Do we like a little bit of raunchiness in our comedy? Why the hell not. Are we fans of the sketch comedy of SNL? Mos’ def. Does the improv of Second City make us blow beer out of our noses? Well, we’re going to Chicago this weekend if that tells you anything. So, with all that said, we have been promised we will love the “Austin......