“Only the mediocre are always at their best, someone said, which could be why Austin is so damn proud of itself.” - Michael Corcoran Truer words have never been more self-indicting. In Michael Cocoran’s April 6th fuck-off note to Austin, “Mediocre, Texas”, he riffs about the city as the apotheosis of half-assery: we have no zoo, no major sports teams, no Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, no great museums, and our greatest musicians are dead. more ›

Photos courtesy Steve Hopson. 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 ›

If the visions of debauchery seen in the season premiere of The Real World: Austin is any indicator of what is to come, we may have on our hands a pop culture episodic that carefully documents the total disintegration of all things good and wholesome, like a giant Nothing rolling across the land, destroying everything in its path. This is like the decadence of Ancient Rome - orgies, gladiator combat, drunken celebrations of Bacchus... more ›