From ImageAfterArt The Teresa Long Center for the Performing Arts (formerly the Palmer Auditorium) will be opening with a bang in early March 2008. Enter: "The Earth Harp," a gargantuan outdoor stringed instrument created by these guys. /// Art thieves strike in Brazil! They robbed the Sao Paolo Museum of Art (MASP), making off with two paintings worth a total of approximately $100 million dollars. The paintings: Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (Picasso) and The Coffee......

This weekend brings another tremendous set of gigs to our beloved city. If the abundance of synth-pop and electro-rock acts lately is bringing you down, raise your spirits and beers to some stellar rock n’ roll on Friday. Emo’s hosts one of Austin’s hardest rockers in the form of the Young Heart Attack, while the newly renovated Austin Music Hall boasts a Dallas - Forth Worth Metroplex attack in the shape of the Toadies and Baboon....

It's hard to explain in 2007 what it feels like for music to be both uniting and important. Having spent nearly three years of the '90s living in London, it's with honest nostalgia and wonder that we examine Rhino's The Brit Box. The set's mission is rather broad: it attempts to examine the whole of UK indie rock from 1985-1999 and devotes a disc each to '80s indie, shoegaze, Britpop, and the late '90s. One......

"Barista Babe" From Unrelated Source, Found on Seattle MetblogsA new coffee trailer in South Austin is hoping to capitalize on the recent "sexpresso" fad that's taken over Seattle. Latte Dolls offers a selection of coffees and espresso drinks served by scantily-clad female baristas with stripper fascinating names like Kyana, Alysha, and Reyna. Touting itself as a "highly-personalized, memorable and convenient coffee alternative to morning commuters and the mobile labor force of Austin," the stand plans......

Image via misterjingo on Flickr. Azul (1808 East Caesar Chavez)Now Closed[info]Last week, popular East Side coffee and food spot Azul closed down for good on the day before Thanksgiving. The converted house at E. Cesar Chavez and Chicon had been serving the neighborhood since 2000 with a mix of coffee, sandwiches, and breakfast items. It had been featured as one of Austin's best coffees in both Zagat's Texas restaurant guide and hipster travel guide eat.shop.austin.......

Photo courtesy Progress Coffee, 500 Street San Marcos ProjectThe time's flown by so fast that it's almost hard to imagine, but eastside cafe Progress Coffee turns three today. It took over a year to transform what used to be a derelict warehouse into the beloved coffeehouse, which today anchors one of Austin's fastest growing creative communities. Nearby businesses now run the gamut from moped retrofitters and photography studios to film production companies and "digital media......

If you comb through news aggregate websites every morning waiting for your coffee to kick in like I do, you may have come across an odd little story about the recent demise of OiNK, an invite-only torrent site that put links to thousands of music files at one’s fingertips. It was a sprawling, cluttered site that demanded small download-to-upload ratios (1:1 was emphasized) and gave special privileges to users who donated to the site’s administrator,......

Snake Eyes Vinyl is not a record store front for a dirty gambling outfit. Snake Eyes, in fact, is just another of those death metal illusions, like Whore of Babylon, Self Induced Pain, or Suicidal Failure. In fact, Snake Eyes Vinyl does specialize in the metal genre, specifically zeroing in on the black metal, death metal, thrash metal, doom, stoner rock, southern rock, crust, grind, power violence, fast core, hardcore, punk, classic punk rock, progressive,......

Saturday and Sunday, October 6th and 7th Hey you, big-spender: If you missed FactoryPeople's last pop-up store, take a look-sy at the rockin' jewelry by Austinite Brian Crumley (now based in New York). The Crumley trunk show is from noon to 6 p.m. Guests can chat up Brian and sip Crumley Cosmos—a raspberry champagne cocktail—while browsing through sample on the new fall lines. Enter to win Crumley's handsome Banquet Amulet, a large hand blown glass......

An ominous black piñata shaped like a B-2 bomber greets visitors walking through the doors at Arthouse in downtown Austin. Around the corner stands a John Deere tractor made entirely of clay; a string of Japanese fireworks dangle from the ceiling. Five of the state’s most under-recognized artists are featured in the new Arthouse Texas Prize exhibit, which marries unexpected beauty with mind-bending artistic statements. The exhibit was designed to celebrate the broad spectrum of......

Henry Rollins is tearing across the country on the "Provoked" spoken word tour, billed as "An evening of quintessentially American opinionated editorializing and storytelling." With over a dozen spoken word albums under his belt, Rollins has definitely proven his skill as a storyteller and cultural commenter, particularly on works like Black Coffee Blues and Get in the Van. He's also done some brilliant television work. For example, check out the potentially misogynistic letter to Ann......

Houston brewer St. Arnold released St. Arnold Divine Reserve 5 this week in Houston, DFW, San Antonio, and Austin. The Divine Reserve label goes on St. Arnold's single batch beers, and they sell out quickly. Reserve No. 5 is a Russian Imperial Stout which is a very big, bold stout with coffee flavors. Early ratings on RateBeer.com give it a 98 out of 100. Find it at Grapevine, Spec's, Whip In, Whole Foods or Central......

Maru (Japanese) Location: 4636 Burnet Rd [map] Phone: (512) 458-6200 Cost: Starters $5-8, Maki Rolls $6-13 Atmosphere: Not much to speak of, as it's on a nondescript part of Burnet Road in some modest and anonymous white-walled digs. Food: There are three reasons to visit Maru, and they are simply the freshness of the fish, the affordability of high-quality sushi, and the modest $5 corkage charge. Maru's decor is as plain as can be,......

Anyone interested in learning about the farm bill, buying some sustainable grass-fed beef and fresh local eggs and long beans, or just finding somewhere nice to walk around with a fair-trade, locally-roasted coffee should consider heading to one of Austin’s farmers markets this Saturday. Figs, apples, pears, purple long beans, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash blossoms, greens, basil, garlic, shallots, onions, and summer squash are among the fresh seasonal picks available at the markets this......

Texas Death Row: Executions in the Modern Era is too small (and probably too grim) to make a good coffee table book. It is too stark and bare to be considered literature, or even a “true crime” book. The book is merely a distillation of the public domain information preserved by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. But none of this takes away from the creepy and bone chilling, if understated, weight of this book.......

Floratone Floratone (Blue Note) The band is called Floratone, but given the fact that Bill Frisell is the guitarist, it's sort of impossible to leave that out of the title of this week's NRT. Frisell's history in the guitar world is long and impressive, and this collaboration with drummer Matt Chamberlain (a notable musician in his own right, having performed with everyone from Pearl Jam to Neil Finn) is another beautiful addition to his......

Surely by now you've heard about this big boat party bash we're co-sponsoring on Sunday with Green Potato Ventures, PartyEnds.com, Independence Brewery, Super!Alright! and Progress Coffee.This party's going to be off the hook. Seriously. Five hours on a lake on a boat full of good music and great people*. And food. If you want to take a pop at getting yourself a spot on the list without having to pony up the entry fee like......

Thanks to everyone who wrote in about getting tickets to the annual summer party we're co-sponsoring with Green Potato Ventures, PartyEnds, Super!Alright! and Progress Coffee. Summer Extrav-O-Ganza 2 will take place on Sunday, August 5th, on board the Ark at Lake Travis. We'll have music by White Denim, DJ sets by Markus with a K and Hustle Simmons, plus beer, food, refreshments and more. Everything, including the boat rental, is included in the ticket. BYO......

Craving a trip out to Lake Travis, especially now that monsoon season has passed? So have we. As such, we're thrilled to be co-sponsoring the second annual Summer Extrav-O-Ganza, along with Green Potato Ventures, PartyEnds.com, Independence Brewery, Super!Alright! and Progress Coffee. Last year's midsummer soiree at the old Gallery Lombardi warehouse was a huge success. This year, we're taking a cue from a certain action movie franchise and moving this out to Lake Travis.......

The official single from Spoon's latest, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, "The Underdog", was directed by Keven McAllester and features a ton of Austinites. Point out your favorite cameo appearance in the comments, and Pre-order Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga while you prepare for the release next Tuesday. Spoon Official Buy a Spoon Coffee Cup?......

Kind of a slow week for new releases here in Austin. You can either bro out and get amped on some new Die Hard, or submit to the CGI summer blockbuster force that is Ratatouille. Oh, and Michael Moore wanted to talk to you about some things. Live Free or Die Hard: John McClane is back! Now shorn bald (and resembling a very stern penis), he must jump off careening jets and donkey-punch the......

For you Dell people that went to work before the sun came up or for you coffee shop crawlers who haven't looked out your tinted window in a while: THE SUN IS OUT! Hurry, catch what rays you can before that old friend comes in from L.A. for the summer with a blistered skin and a light orange hue. All lakes in the tri-county area are still closed. Barton Springs Pool is closed today,......

Thursday, June 28 artOpening Reception for Whitney Lee: Power Craft at Women and Their Work, 1710 Lavaca Street (6-8pm) artOpen House Work Viewing at Atelier 3-D, 2209 Pasadena Drive (4-10pm) artArtistic License: Josefina Guilisasti at The Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress Ave (Free, 6-8pm) booksAmanda Eyre Ward presents Forgive Me at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedyPat Dixon with Brendon Walsh at Cap City Comedy Club comedyParallelogramophonograph with special guests Look Cookie at ColdTowne Theater (8pm)......

Last fall, a friend referred us to a mysterious new website. The page at Supper Underground promised a multi-course meal at a secret location with a small group of guests. Intrigued, we signed up for the next dinner, and received a cryptic email with an address and time several days later. The September event was held at a tony Westlake Hills estate with a lovely back patio garden. Candles flickered on the porch, quiet......

This morning marks the release of the ACL 2007 schedule grid. This is probably the most stressful day of the year for the avid ACL festivalgoer, as hopes of seeing every act one likes are dashed when seeing how many of your favorite bands are playing at the exact same time. It's impossible to program such a big festival without a couple of conflicts, but three stand out to us this year as particularly......

FRIDAY [15] juneteenth/parade • Alvin Patterson Battle of the Bands and Drumline Competition at Congress Avenue (2pm) books • Lama Surya Das presents Buddha is as Buddha Does at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Billy D Washington with Doug Mellard at Cap City Comedy Club comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) dance • Constellation, a site-specific dance work from Sally Jacques at Pickle & Thornberry Federal Courthouses (9pm) dance......

THURSDAY [14] dance • Constellation, a site-specific dance work from Sally Jacques at Pickle & Thornberry Federal Courthouses (9pm) art • Guest Tour with Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa at Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress (Thursdays are always free at the Blanton,12:30-1:30pm) art • Opening reception for "Just Been Fired," the mostly at Gallery Lombardi (7-10pm) art and books • Blanton Book Club at Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress 6-7:30pm) books • Reginald......

Austin, Texas: It's not exactly New England here. We don't have the Liberty Bell or historical plaques on every block explaining how the Pilgrims invented the Internet in some old tavern. But we do have history! You just have to look a little harder to find it. For instance, did you know that in Austin's oldest standing structure, the French Legation, some dude's pigs broke into the bedroom in 1841 and ate the papers and......

(FIRST) THURSDAY [7] party • Official Space Launch Celebration at Salvage Vanguard Theater (9:30pm) music • Go Motion! at Beauty Bar music • The Dollyrots, Alright Tonight, The Sweethearts, Abby Birds at Emo's music • Vietnam and Greg Ashley, The Strange Attractors, The Golden Boys at Emo's music • Scott Miller, The Commonwealth, The Gougers at Stubb's music • An Evening with Old Crow Medicine Show at The Parish Room music • Locals @ La......

The little pocket of tex-mex restaurants on Manor just east of I-35 never ceases to delight and impress, and El Gringo is no exception. Sunday's brunch outing was fruitful and exciting for the future of this establishment. Brunch was an addition to the full menu, meaning we had a wealth of options if one of us wasn't up for traditional morning fare. We began with gorgeous chorizo empanadas with a perfect crust - substantial......