• 60 dead after suicide bomb attacks people waiting in line at Iraqi military recruiting office.
• CA gay marriage on hold after decision by 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Justice department gives up federal investigation into DeLay's shady dealings.

The death of a University of Texas freshman early Monday morning, possibly a suicide, is prompting school officials to once again urge troubled students to seek help. more ›

• Governor Perry issues a legal challenge contesting the idea that greenhouse gasses are bad for people.
• The Texas Supreme Court will be hearing the case about how “exotic dancing” is free speech. If so, then a $5 tax (per strip-club patron) violates the First Amendment. (Maybe they’re thinking that the Constitution includes the right to bare anything you want?)
• Austin's ubergamer Richard Garriott launches a new social-networking game company!

Arson may have damaged the studio that housed 91.7’s KOOP Radio, but they, and the Austin community at large, will be damned if they let the station go without a fight. Another benefit is happening this Saturday, presented by Church of the Friendly Ghost and Commercial Suicide, and taking the shape of Rick Reed’s 6th installment of the Toneburst series. Begun about two years ago, Toneburst is billed as “new and unusual experimental music from Austin and beyond...” and this will be its first show in The Salvage Vanguard Theater. more ›

Sign of global warming? Two butterflies make their first appearance in the Valley; they haven't ventured this far North before. Austin lawyer forged judges' signatures on personal bonds. KXAN shows how an Austin couple's startup is making it simple to buy from Shanghai (see video at right). GOP Presidential hopeful Huckabee was in town fund-raising last night. Operation Blue Santa needs volunteers. And so does the Human Rights Commission! State Rep. Mike Krusee won't... more ›

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... more ›

Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators. If you missed your chance at tickets to his ACL taping, you can catch him, along with bassist Benny Thurman, drummer John Ike Walton, and producer Walt Andrus at BookPeople this Saturday. Image from Southern Records Paul Drummond and Roky Erickson present Eye MindSaturday, November 10th BookPeople (603 N. Lamar)Free, at 7pm[info] There are plenty of routes to fame in the world of music, and talent certainly plays... more ›

On October 17, a UT student committed suicide in the Gregory Gym pool. Austin unveiled Texas' first hybrid school bus yesterday. Those helicopters flying over Austin yesterday were "supposedly" practicing for this weekend's football festivities. New study finds that most Texas High School graduates are not prepared for college. Clever: Give inmates jobs. Borderline: Give them jobs cleaning cars. Not-so Clever: Leaving the keys in the ignition. Even more proof that in this day... more ›

Four suspects have been arrested for the Wachovia Bank robbery yesterday. Probable murder-suicide in San Marcos; the couple was found by their teenage daughter last night. Student group at Texas State wants the right to carry guns around campus and to classes. This evening KEYE becomes the first Austin TV station to show local news in hi-def. It will still look the same on our old-school TV. Johns Hopkins calls Johnston High School (and... more ›

Minus The Bear’s third full-length, Planet Of Ice was released this past August on Seattle based Suicide Squeeze Records. The album was produced by (former keyboardist) Matt Bayles and Chris Common. Minus The Bear formed in 2001 and has since developed a knack for churning out experimental indie-rock enhanced by complex time signatures and abrupt rhythm changes, as well as occasional employment of jazz standards. Add to this Dave Knudson’s distinct two-handed tapping style... more ›

To prove this isn’t an exaggeration, see a few of the song titles: “Fake Yer Death,” “A Faceless Death,” “Suicide Kiss (Because Dead),” and, ending the album on an unsurprising note, “Drink Yourself (To Death).” The parentheses are hardly necessary at this point, as one has to be completely obtuse not to get Orion’s gist. more ›

Last Friday in Houston, a young girl brought a loaded 9mm pistol to school and started pointing it at people. She is 12 years old. The U.S. Supreme Court's new term starts this week. Why exactly is socialized medicine such a bad idea? Interesting article... The guy who tried to extort $1 million from Tom Cruise commits suicide. Article about the bloggers who helped bring the story of recent government oppression in Burma to... more ›

It is often said that the sign of a true master painter is how he or she chooses to deal with space and so-called "negative space." Amateurs feel compelled to fill up every inch of the canvas with detail; those more confident in their craft are able to leave empty space. Similarly, writers like Kafka and Hemingway were often acknowledged for what they had left unsaid. Hemingway so mastered the practice of omission that he... more ›

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,... more ›

A woman who shared a jail cell with Laura Hall, an accomplice in the 2005 murder and mutilation of Jennifer Cave, testifies that Hall justified dismembering Cave's body by saying, "Intelligent people are able to compartmentalize things." The 3-year-old girl whose throat was cut by her mother's disgruntled ex-boyfriend in an attempted murder-suicide is going to be okay. Meanwhile, Assistant Police Chief David Carter declares that Officer Metcalf, who shot and killed the suspect,... more ›

Presidential candidates make campaign stops in New Orleans this week. The Taliban is saying they will free the remaining South Korean hostages. Turkey elects new President with Islamist past. Greek forest fires lead to conspiracy theories and anger at politicians. Part-time Austinite Owen Wilson is in hospital recovering from a reported suicide attempt. Texas prison officials scared of the power books may have over inmates? Professionals use social networking sites, too.... more ›

Okkervil River The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar) more ›

Every once in awhile a show comes along that sounds like a sure bet. The press for Capital T Theatre's upcoming production of Noah Haidle's Mr. Marmalade makes us believe this is just such a show: Lucy is a four-year-old girl with a very active imagination. Unfortunately, her imaginary friend Mr. Marmalade doesn’t have much time for her. Not to mention he beats up his personal assistant, has a cocaine addiction, and a penchant for... more ›

Overweight girls are half as likely to go to college as non-overweight girls, claims a sociology professor at UT Austin. In a new report published in this month's Sociology of Education journal, associate professor Robert Crosnoe goes on to say that obese girls are even less likely to enter college if they've attended a high school where obesity is uncommon, suggesting that this disparity may be caused by various mental health and behavioral issues. Furthermore,... more ›

Minus the Bear Planet of Ice (Suicide Squeeze) more ›

Justice † (Vice) You might have familiarized yourself with French dance duo Justice courtesy the remix of Simian's "Never Be Alone", and such an introduction wouldn't be a false start, though the album is a bit different. Justice, who have received (mostly justified) comparisons to Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk, seem to shine when given someone else's work to toy with, but seem less dynamic when working from their own toolbox. This album claims... more ›

Please take a moment and enjoy Austinst's first installment of staff writer Matthew DeWitt's column, Hots On For Nowhere, which will appear each Thursday, concentrating on one album (maybe a new release, maybe a dollar bin discovery, or perhaps an over-looked classic) in depth. DeWitt is a longtime Austinist contributor and freelance writer splitting his time between here and Skyscraper Magazine. -Paige Maguire, Music Editor Tuesday saw the release of New Moon, a collection of... more ›

Keith Rowe has been astounding audiences for decades with his unusual style of free-form jazz guitar techniques inspired by early American jazz greats and other less likely influences such as Jackson Pollack and an old art instructor. Rowe took small steps over the years as a guitarist to attempt a completely individual approach to the instrument, embracing free jazz and various prepared guitar techniques (eg. a New Year's resolution to never tune his guitar... more ›

"This one is called 'Sacrament of the Unholy Communion" -opening act, Ball Gag Boston thrash metal gurus AC have long teased and taunted fans with their relentless pursuit of all things offensive, both audibly and lyrically. Frontman Seth Putnam has spearheaded the band's rise to infamy since 1988, pushing the limits of feasible tongue-in-cheek aversions to political correctness to the outer limits despite death threats, drug-induced comas and censorship woes (well, and a libel... more ›

Tonight, Alamo Music Mondays presents The Legendary Joe Meek, a made-for-TV look at the life and death of the eccentric 1960s record producer whose innovative recording techniques and bizarre personal life made him one of the most interesting figures in early 1960s pop. Probably most famous for his hit songs "Telstar" and "Have I the Right", meek is widely regarded as Britain's first independent record producer, regularly churning out top 50 hits from a DIY... more ›

Tonight, as part of their South By Southeast: The Films of Thailand and Vietnam series, the Austin Film Society presents Last Life in the Universe, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s gorgeously pensive tale of violence, loneliness and love on the outskirts of Bangkok. Last Life tells the story of Kenji, a timid, obsessive-compulsive librarian whose attempt to hang himself is interrupted by his brother Yukio, a Japanese gang member on the run from a vindictive Yakuza boss. After... more ›

Austin Lyric Opera has one more performance of Madame Butterfly tonight. We attended the Saturday opera, and while we weren't blown away, we weren't disappointed, either. Madame Butterfly is Giacomo Puccini's tale of a Japanese geisha done wrong by an American sailor, Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton. Pinkerton marries a young Cio-Cio San (aka Butterfly), mainly to sleep with her. He explains to his friend that upon his return to America, he will marry a... more ›

THURSDAY [16] wine • Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! at Various music • Peter and the Wolf, The Interest Kills at The Mohawk music • The Elected (Members of Rilo Kiley), Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos, Whispertown 2000 at Emo's Lounge music • Jack Ingram & Reckless Kelly at Stubb's music • The Pretenders, Operation:Awesome at Austin Music Hall music • White Ghost Shivers, Dewayn Bros at Beerland music • St. Lawrence... more ›

Tonight, Music Mondays presents Christopher Petit's brooding 1979 "anti-road movie" Radio On, featuring music from David Bowie, Kraftwerk and Devo, as well as several Stiff Records artists, including Lene Lovich, Ian Dury & The Blockheads and Wreckless Eric. Set in 1970's England, Radio On follows a young man as he travels from London to Bristol to investigate the suicide of his brother. Along the way, he encounters a string of strange characters (including a brief... more ›