A bat found at Leander High School tested positive for rabies Leadership Austin's next project: finding a new chief UT nabbed a $1 million federal grant to fund grad school programs for low-income, first-generation and other minority students Happy National Coming Out Day! Some company named "Digital Reg of Texas" is suing Apple, Hustler.com, Microsoft, Playboy, Audible, Sony, Macrovision, and Blockbuster, claiming the companies violated a 1998 patents on digital rights management technology Environment......

Augie March Moo, You Bloody Choir (Sony BMG) Over a year after the release of their third full-length in their Australian homeland, the literate, intimate rock of the Moo finally makes its way stateside. From the very beginning, it’s easily discernible why they chose to name themselves after the picaresque novel by Saul Bellow The Adventures of Augie March. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Glenn Richards is prone to extremely descriptive, poetic lyrics. Within the liner notes, examples of......

This summer, you have a choice: you can see Johnny Depp as a pirate frolicking across a movie screen, delightfully impersonating a rock star, or you can see rock star David Bowie frolicking across a movie screen, delightfully impersonating a pirate, er fairy king. So, no matter what, there will be frolicking, but with the second instance you will also get singing, dancing, riddle and rhyme in the magical re-release of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. All......

The AFS retrospective of Michael Haneke's films concludes tonight with Caché (Hidden), a film which was lauded by critics yet went largely unseen during a national release just over a year ago. Haneke's insistence on audience discomfort probably has a lot to do with this, as he calls into question everything from Western abuse of wealth (by the French) to the inherent goodness of children. The film begins with a videotape of a Parisian......

Filmmaking legend Francis Ford Coppola needs little introduction, but it can be daunting to keep track of everything that this prolific director, producer, screenwriter, and (yes) winemaker has been responsible for. For instance, we'd completely forgotten that he directed the amazing 1986 3-D space opera, Captain EO (see below). Youth Without Youth, his first directorial effort in over a decade, is set to be released later this year. The romantic thriller is set in......

Violinist Charles Yang. Photo by Eric Uhlir Three weeks ago, Austin's newest arts organization, strataTX, launched with a successful kickoff gala at the Design Center of Austin. The latest giving group of the Texas Cultural Trust, strataTX brings together enthusiastic young professionals of all industries and backgrounds to help sustain and expand the Lone Star State's arts community. StrataTX Launch Party Attendees. Photo by Eric Uhlir Amidst heavy fanfare, TCT Deputy Director Jennifer Wijangco......

We're having a yard sale today so I can raise a little extra spending money before I head down to Austin next week (I'm already doing well, and I've been calculating how many crunchy chicken cones I can now buy at the festival). But I thought I should run inside between customers to give you your daily dose of ACL previews. Remember you can check out the full list of previews on my ACL......

While it may only be two thirds as tittilating as the panty raid party at Beauty Bar happening shortly thereafter, the Austin Symphony opens its 96th season tomorrow night at Bass Concert Hall, with a program featuring Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell and works by William Schuman, Beethoven, and Brahms. Bell, who plays a 1713 Stradivarius Gibson ex Huberman valued somewhere in the millions, has garnered accolades and recognition far too numerous to list. From......

We knew there was some devious reason John Mayer’s “Daughters” topped the charts. That song managed to be both cheesy and creepy at the same time. This morning, New York’s illustrious Attorney General Eliot Spitzer subpoenaed nine major radio conglomerates for their role in this crime against music. Buying airplay has been illegal since the 1960, when a federal law was put into place to ban the rampant practice of “payola” (pay plus Victrola,......