Any publicity is good publicity. Such is the case with Director Brian De Palma's newest controversy du jour, Redacted, which will see a limited run at the Alamo Downtown starting this evening. This film has garnered both praise and outrage from a varied panel of critics, earning the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for De Palma and the scorn of conservative pundit Bill O'Reilly and the Boycott Redacted crew. more ›

I bet you DO. So it’s the holidays, and people are cheering with cheer and whatnot. Lots of eggnog getting sloshed on your under-aged cousin’s workboots and such. Your aunt booted her meds and has already stripped down and dry-humped your artificial tree. Twice. Dad was putting lights on the house and somehow managed to take out your Mom’s azaleas and his left knee. So you painted his cast to look like the trampled azaleas and that caused your Mom to rage like a stuck bull and she drop-kicked a honey-roasted ham through the back door window. Your sister got caught masturbating with two of your younger out-of-town cousins, and she had white-boarded diagrams and a Powerpoint presentation on technique like it was a well-practiced roadshow routine in a Santa hat. more ›

Ming's Cafe (Chinese) Location: 2604 Guadalupe St. [map] Phone: (512) 476-8888 Cost: Lunch specials $6-8; Dinner dishes $6-12 Atmosphere: Clean, good tunes, comfy booths and a semi-private outdoor patio. Food: The word on the street is that Ming's is hit or miss, so we decided to check in and assess the situation. We ordered straight off the Daily Specials menu: crawfish with jalapeno black bean sauce, curry chicken with potato and the specialty spinach. We... more ›

It's the hot Astanga instructor at Yoga Yoga South, or the girl in the cutoffs at El Chilito. It's the smoking UPS guy or your favorite Lone Star Rollergirl. It's your local secret crush. Our column returns with an interview with one of Austin's local gallery owners and artists: E. Moises Diaz of Urban Roots Gallery. We received a request to interview him by a married lady (gasp!) who wrote not just on her behalf,... more ›

Named for the proclivities of a Parisian couple who planned to take out the titular monument because its lights kept them up at night, San Diego's The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower play a fairly lovable brand of jazz-inflected sass-core. Or perhaps we should say they used to; since the show is billed as part of their last tour before they disband, presumably to further their careers in hedge fund management. The... more ›

Thai Kitchen has been a serious addiction of ours for about 6 years. It all started one New Year's Eve when we didn't really have the bucks or energy to go out, but at least wanted a yummy take out meal. Thai sounded really good. Before our move to Austin 7+ years ago we lived in Chicago, where every other block had an amazing looking culinary experience. It was hard to be poor in... more ›

One of the advantages of being marginally employed is that we sometimes have days, like today, off from work. We were going to do something important with our day off, like take out the trash and check our e-mail, but then we kept reading the awful hurricane news. We got all worked up and decided to go do some volunteer work. more ›

One of the keys to losing weight is motivation. And people do crazy things to stay motivated. Some keep their skinny jeans and bikinis in plain sight. Others put pictures of Sumo wrestlers in their fridge. But, how does $1000 cash sound? more ›