The place to be for Happy Hour this Thursday is The Belmont. For $20 (suggested donation) you can take in the view from the patio, drink to your heart’s content and mingle with your philanthropic peers at the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network fundraiser. ...

The fourth annual Texas 4000 for Cancer bike ride will kick off this weekend. Actually, it's less of a "ride" and more of a "trek." The 44-member cycling team, mostly made up of UT students, will cycle from Austin all the way to Anchorage, Alaska (that's 4,500 miles!) to raise money for the American Cancer Society. It's the longest annual charity bicycle ride in the world, and it kicks off this afternoon from the UT......

Tomorrow marks the 30th year of the American Cancer Society’s day-long Smoking Cessation program, The Great American Smoke Out. The premise of the day is to get smokers to quit smoking for just one day. The hope is that with each passing hour, smokers will want to "Stay Quit," and resist the urge to light up until smoking addiction is no longer an issue. It doesn’t take a Rocket Scientist to tell you what you......

FRIDAY [27] party/music/awesome • Car Stereo (Wars) and Austinist host a Halloween Bash with Clap!Clap!, carnie games, face painting, fortune tellers, free fangs, "killer" drink specials, a costume contest judged by the fashionistas of Team Fabrication, and more at Beauty Bar (10pm-2am, $3 with, 4 w/o costume) zombies • Zombie Flash Mob at City Hall fashion • Beauty Bar Blowout with complimentary 'dos by Birds Barbershop, makeup applications by MAC artists, DJ Robbie Hardkiss......

Another Austin writer has made good. Attorney and novelist Mark Falkin has written a coming-of-age story about a man coming to terms with his life after losing his mother to cancer. (Aside: All of the proceeds from the book will go to the American Cancer Society. Bravo, Mr. Falkin.) Told in a modified stream of consciousness style, Days of Grace portrays a young man's confusion and anxiety as he sets out on a humorous and......

This Thursday night at Ruta Maya, Ghostland Observatory, Tammany Hall and All Points Bulletin join forces to help raise money and awareness in the fight against cancer. The bands are playing a gig benefiting the Texas 4000 for Cancer, a UT student organization whose mission is to spread awareness about cancer. The students’ main source of fundraising is their annual bike ride from Austin to Anchorage. Yes, that Anchorage! So come out to Ruta......

Let's just cut to the chase: everyone knows that smoking kills. Then again, so do stress, vodka, charcoal and high fructose corn syrup. But this isn't a public service board, nor do we care to proselytize - we'd just like to point out that today is the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. And unlike the other Great American Smokeout a few months from now, this one's designed to do your body a bit......

The city is anxiously awaiting (or maybe dreading) May 7th, when Austin will be allowed to vote on the fate of cigarettes in public places. Some people are rejoicing. Some are really, really pissed off. Some bar and restaurant owners fear losing clients if the ban on cigarettes passes. A group called Keep Austin Free has formed against the ban. They even have T-shirts that read "No smoking? It’s a bar, stupid." The major opponents......