It’s been two weeks since Pimp C’s death. Last Thursday he was buried in Port Arthur. Reading through all of the eulogies and obituaries that have poured out of the local papers, the blogs, the national media, and the rap community since December 4th, you obviously will see trends. Everyone immediately identifies Pimp C by his drawl and how he rhymed through his vowels, and it seems as though this – his voice - will be a big part of his legacy, along with his production and his pioneer-status as an early and consistent member of the Texas rap scene....

Paris Is Burning DVD Cover Scion Independent Film Series Presents Paris Is BurningWednesday, November 28thAlamo Drafthouse South Lamar (1120 S. Lamar)Free, 9:30PM, RSVP Required[info]The musical stylings of "strike a pose, there's nothing to it", "you better work" and "I'm too sexy" entered our lexicon at a time when we were still sporting a perm and a retainer, so understanding that these pop radio songs were simply a corporatization of an entire underground subculture was far......

Photo by Will Pate on flickrInteractive + ScreenBurn The preliminary list of Interactive panels has been released, and includes topics like "The Great Debate: Is Web 2.0 Bulls#!t?", "The Porn Police: Know the Rules," and "The Suxorz: The Worst Ten Social Media Ad Campaigns of 2007." [Preliminary List] Additional, several panels for the gaming-centric ScreenBurn fest have been revealed. These include "The Future Virtual World Game Development: Rise of the Indies," "You Are Here: Gaming......

Image from RCIS.org Solar Austin Happy HourTuesday, November 6Artz Rib House [map]6:30-8:30pm[info]Solar Austin gathers for their monthly happy hour Tuesday at Artz Rib House. Renowned science fiction author and founder of Viridian Design Movement, Bruce Sterling, will be the featured and the topic will be Future Trends in Solar. Best known for his eight science fiction novels, Mr. Sterling is also a contributing editor of WIRED magazine and a columnist for MAKE magazine. He has......

In April we captured hot local looks for spring, asking local boutique owners to create outfits based on their new stock for the season. We had so much fun doing it that we asked other store owners to come up with cool ensembles for fall. This time we cast our net a little farther by choosing four old and new boutiques in different regions of Austin: By George on North Lamar, Solid Gold off......

Austin and Round Rock bested nearly 400 metropolitan areas to be named the number one place for business in the country, according to results recently released by independent research firm Economy.com. Since 2001, Economy.com has published the Economic Vitality Index, a closely-watched ranking of the nation's largest metropolitan areas based on current economic conditions, future trends, and potential risks. The Index also takes into consideration such factors as employment growth (Austin's job market grew by......

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too—two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the city's Congonhas......

The subject of jewelry comes up again and again when we're hitting the streets and getting the scoop on Austin’s fashion scene. Everybody seems to know somebody in Austin involved in making or selling it. Even Eliza Page, the upscale jewelry store in the 2nd Street District, carries over a dozen local designers. It was impossible to interview everyone, so we selected four young designers to profile: Melissa Lancaster, just starting her collection Part-time......

You’ve got to possess a certain amount of bravado or at least a total lack of giving a shit about current trends to bust out the white denim and strut down the street, or Mohawk Friday night. And that’s exactly how the band must feel about their music, taking long strides with their heads held high. Because White Denim has created something that is uniquely alarming in all its post-whatever, garage-ish experimentation. My comrades......

Battles Mirrored (Warp) Battles combine John Stanier's (Helmet, Tomahawk) frenetic drumming with Ian Williams' (Don Caballero) signature finger-tapping guitar work and layer prog-metal keyboards along with everything from hip-hop and rap to free jazz to cartoonish vocal effects, creating what is probably going to be one of the most quietly influential albums of the year. Though the band has been around for over four years, Mirrored is their first full-length. Previous EPs have indicated......

Now that spring is finally here, we can finally start dressing the part. But what new things are fashion concious Austinites going to wear (granted, if they have the money to shop)? Trends on the runway have, like always, trickled down to the mainstream and now local boutiques are carrying what the respective owners think are best for Austin. We asked the owners and employees of three popular yet very different boutiques - Factory......

There are several Welsh acts playing this year's SXSW, but none are newer to Texas than The Gentle Good. Essentially a one-man folk music project, Cardiff's Gareth Bonello has been playing a quietly captivating mix of English, Welsh, and Spanish folk to drunken (his words, not ours) Welsh audiences for several years. Bonello has already released an EP and is currently recording his first full-length album. He recently chatted with us about cowboy boots,......

Admit it, the hype is over and now you are just going to have to face it: for the rest of your life, you will use Google. Odds are, if you are the least bit tech-savvy, you use Google for email, maps, searching the web for news, images, video or our favorite feature, free SMS. The youth of America (who are being raised with google for brains) fully understand that the industry giant has......

Conor Oberst’s Team Love fosters a number of indie-pop stalwarts like Jenny Lewis and Tilly and the Wall. The latter is derived from Oberst’s initial project, Park Ave., as bandmembers Jamie Williams and Neely Jenkins eventually formed Tilly and the Wall with Nick White, Kianna Alarid and Derek Pressnall upon Park Ave.’s demise. The band recently released their follow-up to 2004’s acclaimed Wild Like Children. Bottoms of Barrels picks up where its predecessor left......

Heading to End of an Ear or Waterloo? Here's what you can look for this week on the new release wall. Adem: Love & Other Planets (Domino) Adem's work with Fridge doesn't give any indication of his capabilities as a folk / pop singer-songwriter, but the distinction between the styles is indicative of his talent. The album's subtle yet sonic layers combined with Adem's fragile, persistant voice create a soundscape to match the themes......

Park Officials in Bastrop are busting out the big guns against the hundreds of black vultures that presently terrorize the local establishment. The new Texas State Highway 130 (under construction) may allow drivers to fly down the road at 85 mph. Unfortunately it took a violent death to push the Backyard music venue to address the dangers related to their parking situation. Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of the deceased.......

Austin made the list of the Top 10 Sweatiest Cities in America. But some people in Florida are pissed that they didn't make the list. The Central Texas Area, including Austin, of course,was listed as one the Top 10 Chill Places in America. We found this and thought you needed a good tear-jerker. Local animal rights activists are accusing Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus trainers of abusive behavior towards the circus animals.......

What’s the best thing about Cantina Laredo, the new corporate crapulence located on the back end of the 2nd Street District? Leaving it, steaming mad, after being told the waiter couldn’t close out a bar tab after waiting 45 minutes for a table; waiting 20 minutes at the bar, without any service, while trying to close that same bar tab; being told by the helpless hostess to try again later, because they’re "really slammed";......

Voting has now begun for the coveted People's Choice Award, just one of many to be handed out at this year's SXSW Web Awards ceremony on March 12th. The annual prizes, which are meant to "uncover the the best new websites and celebrate those who are building and implementing tomorrow's online trends," are given out in categories such as Community/Wiki (43 Things, Popist), Experimental (MusicMap, Spamgraffiti) and Amusement (Death in Sakkara, The Onion). Their professional......

A study released yesterday predicts Austin's spanish-speaking population to increase by 55% over the next 20 years. The findings, based on census data and national trends, concluded that our roughly 294,000 Spanish speakers will rise to over 456,000 by 2025, which puts our growth in line with similarly booming cities Boston, Las Vegas and Orlando. On a national level, the study sees the total number of Spanish-speaking Latinos growing to over 40 million -......