Results tagged “people”

Austin is about to incur a hefty carbon footprint as SXSW kicks off, but thanks to the folks at MakeMeSustainable (MMS), people have an opportunity to walk the sustainability talk. The 'Interactive Carbon Tree' was designed specifically for SXSW in an effort to mobilize attendees at the conference to reduce their collective carbon impact. Check it out here: http://makemesustainable.com/sxsw

BarCamp Austin is an "unconference" -- an event that flips the traditional meeting setup on its head. Everything in an unconference is planned, set up, and executed by the participants. If it sounds like a model for chaos, it turns out it's just the opposite.

SXSW has announced the schedule of events for this year’s official showcases -- start here! Also, check out Greg Hewgill's site for (unofficial) Torrents featuring the various artists playing SXSW 2008 (as well as past years).

As we move to the next square on the calendar you're still out there trying to make a connection. Sadly you let most of them slip by without saying a word. We understand, no one wants to be overzealous and get shot down. If only you had some place to find a second chance. Oh yes, Missed Connections. If only you had someone to sort through and find the best of the above. Oh, right, read below....

Then last November, the magazine put together a diverse panel of women to discuss the issues that were raised by the ex-staffer's comment. Local academic Barbara Trepagnier, a professor of sociology at Texas State, was called to be on the panel because of her research on racism. In her book , Barbara argues that because racism is built into our culture, there's no point in talking about whether whites are racist or not racist. Instead, she says that racism should be thought of as being on a continuum with well-meaning whites at one end and people who are intentionally racist at the other. By formulating the issue this way, she thinks that Americans will begin increase their race awareness and it will help to break down racist cultural norms.

The high winds aren't helping the firefighters working on the grass fires in Burnet, Williamson and Hays counties. People involved in ACL fire are suing the makers of the RV and the manufacturers of the parts on the propane tank. Complaint filed with Texas Ethics Commission against Dawnna Dukes for her incomplete reporting of $90,000 worth of campaign credit card charges.

Covers are inherently ballsy, and Lord knows Chan Marshall is no coward. She's already released one full length's worth of odes to her varied inspiration, 2000's Covers Record. In general, the songs Marshall covers are tiny glimpses into what we gather is her inner life, and they're almost always hit or miss, just like the lady herself. Her version of Pavement's "We Dance" was withered, but her rendition of Lou Reed's "I Found a Reason" was emotionally devastating. "I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)" was inspiring and combined her natural strut with a legend's perfectly, but here we find her opening number, "New York New York" an uncomfortable, shallow mess.

Tomorrow, for the love of God and country, the Drafthouse Village hosts a special sneak screening of the new Rambo movie. Seriously, did anybody see the new Rocky movie? It actually wasn't that bad...

Tired of free shows? Me neither. But Beerland is upping the ante this week with two impressive bills on days that start with “T;” first with School Police, The Pillow Queens, Poor People, and The Nasty Rumors this evening, and a great line-up on Thursday as well (preview forthcoming).

I don’t believe I’m properly equipped to "welcome" myself after yet another year of meeting with you on Tuesdays (sometimes Wednesdays, Thursdays, Whateverdays). And it’s not easy to express my gratitude to people I’ve never met. People who have so many different reasons for being here, for something so irreverently personal. So I’ll defer my copy to the illustrious Mr. Samuel Clemens, as he handed thanks to the Lotus Club in 1908.

Cap Metro bus caught fire on northbound 183 this morning. Ronnie Earle endorses Rosemary Lehmberg, his co-worker, to run for his current position. A case of death, mutilation and possible cannibalism in Tyler over the weekend.

This weekend has to be dominated by the various Emo’s Free Week shows -- look for previews to those events on the site.

After an automobile accident Sunday morning in San Antonio, paramedics placed a yellow tarp over the body of Texas State student and Austinite Erica N. Smith, thinking her dead. When the medical examiner came to investigate the scene of the accident over an hour later, she discovered that Smith was still alive. Smith was immediately sent to a hospital, where she died from her wounds Monday afternoon.

San Diego’s Grand Ole Party joins a quality bill of local acts this Saturday at Emo’s Lounge. The band is fresh off a jaunt with Vampire Weekend, having toured with Rilo Kiley prior to that. Produced by Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett, the trio’s debut record Humanimals (no connection to Manimal) showcases singer/drummer Kristin Gundrer’s powerful vocal chops that pace Grand Ole Party’s raw garage rock. The album has been available through iTunes this year and a more traditional release on DH Records is expected in early 2008.

• Ladies: If you're wondering where the nice guys have gone, you might want this perspective from an ex-nice guy.
• One of our nation's most beloved spousal abusers has passed away at 76. Oh, he was also a R&B; hit maker ... no, it's not Robert Blake.
• Armando Walle is in Austin today to show the people of Texas that change is needed in Houston. We're not sure we want to see that PowerPoint.

The Planning Commission approved a proposal by the Organization of Central East Austin Neighborhoods to tighten the McMansion restrictions applicable to the smallest lots in Central East Austin. The proposal would remove the current McMansion rule allowing a house up to 2,300 square feet on any size lot. Instead, these lots would only be allowed to build floor area equal to 40% of lot size (e.g. a 1,500 square foot house on a 3,750 square foot lot). City Council may take up the issue tomorrow, but will probably wait until next month.

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.

This is a good example of poor judgment.The students of Penn State University should have taken a note from their counterparts at Tarleton State University when picking out this year's Halloween costumes. Even more idiotic than their costume idea was their decision to post the resulting pictures on Facebook. Photos of two Penn State students donning Virginia Tech t-shirts, covered with bullet holes and fake blood, were put up on Facebook and quickly spread over...

Garrel met Nico, German model, actress and moody monotone of The Velvet Underground, in 1969. They quickly became lovers and partners, with Nico being featured in seven of Garrel's films during the 1970's. Nico was already a heroin addict at this point and shortly after her death in 1988, Garrel created this stark portrait of people on the edge, inspired by his muse's undoing. Using characteristic long take shots with very little action, he created the tension of extreme solitude, for not only the characters but the actors playing them, leaving everyone in cold boxes. The salacious nature of the subject matter is dealt with antiseptically, without emotion. We are guessing that the title of the film refers not only to the character inspired by Nico, but also to Garrel himself and his feelings not only after her death, but also immediately following the end of their relationship in 1979. We suppose all tomorrow's parties just wouldn't be as interesting if you could no longer hear the music.

Photo by jmtimages on flickr Help out: Volunteers needed to take people with mobility issues through the Trail of Lights. Austin/Travis County EMS asks people to not block the driveways at fire and ambulance stations; it's not against the law, but it does slow their response to emergencies. The NY Times thinks the Justice Dept. needs to take a look at the Texas Youth Commission. Body of murder victim's mom found in San Marcos. Jerry...

As we mentioned last Friday, Austin entrepreneur Jim Plamondon, through his company Thumtronics, has unleashed both a new musical instrument and a new concept of music theory on the international stage that many believe could bring substantial attention to our fair city's music industry. It's called the "Thummer." Praised in last Friday's Wall Street Journal, the device addresses the difficulty that many people experience when attempting to learn how to play the regular old keyboard....

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,...

Image from Fix290.org. Despite TXDOT's incessant bleating about lack of funds, they apparently still have plenty of cash to build the controversial Phase II toll roads, including the particularly controversial twelve-lane highway in the sky at the Y (71 and 290 in Oak Hill). In an era of concerns about budget cuts, pollution of Barton Springs and CO2 emissions, it seems like an egregious waste of resources to build this monstrosity that helps Hummer-drivers hurtle...

Image from SOS Alliance SOS Holiday Party & Silent AuctionFriday, December 7Mercury Hall (615 Cardinal Lane)$10 Suggested Donation, 7pm - Midnight[info]Tonight, the Save Our Springs Alliance will be hosting their annual Holiday Party and Silent Auction at Mercury Hall. In addition to food, drinks and great people, the event will showcase music by two environmentally-conscience local bands, Bill Oliver's Otter Space Band and The Bouldin Creek Bobkats. The Silent Auction features items from over 300...

Image from Clap!Clap!’s MySpace Clap!Clap! final showSaturday, December 8Emos (603 Red River St)$5 | Doors 8 p.m. | Outside[info]Local act Clap!Clap! has furnished enough dance parties around town with their brand of energetic electro-pop to command endearment and respect alike. However, last month they surprised a good amount of us with news of their demise. Needless to say we were fairly intrigued about the reasons for this culmination and also their plans for the future....

Photo of the Walls Unit gurney from Britannica Student Encyclopedia 25 Years of Lethal Injection: What Have We Learned?Friday, December 7Texas Prison Museum (map) This Friday marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first execution by lethal injection in the United States. Naturally, Texas, along with the city of Huntsville -- sometimes referred to as the "execution capital of the world"-- took this honor. With executions effectively on hold in Texas while the U.S. Supreme Court...

Photo by pisti on stock.xchngAustin City Council will discuss a resolution today that calls for expanding services for the local homeless population. Councilmember Jennifer Kim, citing the need for a "comprehensive and compassionate" strategy in dealing with Austin's estimated 6,000 indigents, sponsored the proposal. From what we've seen, the measure mostly calls for re-prioritizing and increasing social services funding, providing more beds at local shelters, and collecting more data on the homeless. Critics of the...

Image by LuiSFher Gallo via Cafe Tacvba’s MySpace Cafe TacvbaThursday, December 6La Zona Rosa (612 W. 4th Street)$40, Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm[info] | [tickets]Pop quiz: name a band that has won multiple Grammys, performed on MTV Unplugged, been compared favorably to Radiohead, played three encores at a recent Lollapalooza, and headlined to 170,000 people at Mexico City's Palacio de los Deportes. If you're thinking U2 or Coldplay, we couldn't blame you. But the...

A teenage gunman wishing to "go down in style" killed 8 people, then himself, at an Omaha Shopping Mall. Hearings began yesterday in landmark case about whether Guantanamo detainees have a constitutional right to challenge their imprisonment. A portion of the US-Mexico border fence may be put on a wildlife refuge. If you drive by any Austin area high school right after school lets out, you will not be surprised by this. What's worse...

Photo by cote on flickr Fans of creepy, overpriced and sort of socially awkward grocery shopping will be disappointed to read that after weeks of redesigning, adding more people to the store employee rosters, doubling the checkout lanes and stocking shelves with the kind of stuff most of us have become accustomed to buying, H-E-B is ready to re-open two Albertsons stores that had mysteriously remained open under the quirky Albertsons brands into the new...