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Da Bull Returns!
The Austin Toros mascot and cause célèbre, Da Bull, has been attracting enough media attention of late to make K-Fed and Britney jealous. The Toros are hosting several promotions this weekend in their two-game homestand vs. the Bakersfield Jam with Da Bull in the middle of most of the action. Friday is San Antonio Spurs Affiliate Night with appearances from Spurs' mascot the Coyote, the Spurs Silver Dancers, and, most importantly and awesomely, George "Iceman" Gervin. Gervin is possibly the most popular and successful Spur of all time along with David "the Admiral" Robinson and Tim Duncan. He'll be holding an autograph session in the arena starting at 6:15pm. Friday is also Toros Go Red for Women night with all fans being asked to wear red in support of the American Heart Association's campaign to educate women on heart disease. The first 100 ladies through the door will receive a free red dress lapel pin.
4:12PM Fri. Feb. 2, 2007,Mark fa*gan Read More | Comment »
Senate Passes Minimum-Wage Raise
Yee haw! The U.S. Senate approved a $2.10 minimum-wage raise Thursday, Feb. 1, the first increase in the federal minimum in more than nine years.
3:37PM Fri. Feb. 2, 2007,Cheryl Smith Read More | Comment »
An "extreme wing-eating competition"? Yes, and it's taking place at Bagpipes Pub & Eatery (9070 Research), North Austin's authentic Irish answer to Hooter's! The Big 1530 ESPN Radio hosts Wing King 3 on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Two heats will pit the top nine qualifying wing-dingers against one another, with 15 minutes and 30 seconds to eat as many as they can. Last year's winner ate 86, so there's some stiff, greasy, skin and bones competition. And no competitive eating event would be complete without wacky nicknames – you can expect Mark "El Wingador" Scully, who brings his own marketing consultant, Paul "Dirty Danish" Olufson, who competed in last year's event, Jared "Are You Gonna Eat That" Zuniga, and Brandon "Chicken Choker" Watson, as well as a few nonprofessional wing enthusiasts. Starts at 7:30pm.
3:11PM Fri. Feb. 2, 2007,Audra Schroeder Read More | Comment »
TODAY'S EVENTS
Colby Acuff, Benjamin Dakota Rogers
Antone's Nightclub
SiR, Zacari, Davion Farris at Emo's
Bike Picnic at Dick Nichols Park
MUSIC | MOVIES | ARTS | COMMUNITY
Katrina Past, Katrina Present, Katrina's Future
Regular pedestrians and bus passengers around town have probably seen the rambling, incoherent, and unnerving handwritten “signs” taped to bus shelters, seats, and signs telling the half a million refugees from Hurricane Katrina that there’s some new housing opened in New Orleans. So go home. Now.
The warm welcome that Texas extended to the Katrina refugees, it seems, is starting to wear thin in certain quarters. It’s not hard to find anti-Katrina refugee graffiti around Austin, especially around Sixth Street and Red River. Many Houstonians will talk freely about how former New Orleanians have brought a crime wave with them. Rick Perry (political barometer par excellence) went, in a year, from being the governor lauded for opening up his state to refugees to being the incumbent who scarcely squeaked a word about it during election season.
Meanwhile, reconstruction of New Orleans is failing. Walter Leger, of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, told the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee this week that state and federally funded building is being hamstrung by contradictory finance laws. The Rand Corporation estimates that the Big Easy will only be back to 51% of its pre-Katrina population by the end of 2008.
2:37PM Fri. Feb. 2, 2007,Richard Whittaker Read More | Comment »
The Day the Music Lived
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: It's unlikely Feb. 2 will go down in music history the same way Feb. 3 has. Tomorrow is the 48th anniversary of "The Day the Music Died," the Clear Lake, Iowa, plane crash that claimed Buddy Holly, J.P. "the Big Bopper" Richardson, Richie Valens, and, if not for a lucky coin flip, Waylon Jennings. But today is still kind of momentous around the Chronicle music department, as it's the day we come down with the Internet-borne flu known as blogging. Like any self-respecting virus, the blogging bug slips into your system unobtrusively, but before you know it, it's taken over your life. (And there's no vaccine, either.) Since we're new at this, TCB thought for the first installment he would throw out a few of the things you might see over the next few weeks as he hand-cranks the propeller and tries to get this TCBlog contraption off the ground. Let's hope it says aloft. Please, please, please send any questions, comments, criticisms, corrections, or other feedback to [emailprotected]. News, sports, traffic, and weather after the break.
1:29PM Fri. Feb. 2, 2007,Christopher Gray Read More | Comment »
Samurai Sword
Into the Void … With the Sword
Just as Black Sabbath plunged deep "Into the Void," knocking down the Wall of Dis with disorderly riffa*ge, so do I now dwell in darkness with the comfort of the Southern Lord. Each week, together, we’ll traverse this realm of brimstone, fire, and all things metal.
This week, drummer Trivett Wingo, from Austin’s metal messiahs the Sword, which has been dormant for the winter, delves "Into the Void" before embarking on another West Coast crusade with Priestbird and Year Long Disaster.
12:50PM Fri. Feb. 2, 2007,Austin Powell Read More | Comment »
NEWSLETTERS
Fascinating Political Factoid of the Day
Rick Perry might try to put the best face on and assert that he has "100 percent of the authority," but here's a great argument for just how weak his governorship is: In the 2006 election, his 39% of the vote was actually less than the percentage of the losing candidate in 19 other states. Boy, now that's a mandate.
We pulled that from a report by the Lone Star Project on why Texas should move its primary up to February. LSP cited Perry's weakness as a primary reason why such a move would not be accomplished.
11:42AM Fri. Feb. 2, 2007,Lee Nichols Read More | Comment »
You Got Damage in My Joy
schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun: A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.
The word comes from the German schaden, which means "damage," and freude, which means "joy." There’s no English equivalent for the word, which generally carries a negative connotation. However, the amalgamation of damage and joy is a perfect example of music’s therapeutic quality. One artist’s pain and failure is our existential backpat. Just watch an episode of American Idol or any of its mewling, quivering spawn, and the feeling literally oozes out of the TV.
Here, you can expect to absorb some of that ooze, the general weirdness Austin’s music scene is rumored to harbor, plus interviews, show reviews, and, if all goes as planned, a gallery of tragic band fashion during SXSW. In the meantime, this weekend is a good place to start: Basic and Finally Punk play Mohawk tonight, and Yellow Fever go on early (9pm) at the Carousel Lounge tomorrow. For a great example of this blog’s titular word, there’s Hug’s CD release for latest God Gasm at Room 710 Saturday.
11:23AM Fri. Feb. 2, 2007,Audra Schroeder Read More | Comment »
Now There Was a Guy With an Exit Strategy
We sh*t you not: One of the U.S. contractors in Iraq – one that was convicted of fraud, although the judgment was later set aside – is named Custer Battles.
Not exactly a name that makes you think they have a strategic vision, is it? Definitely not a good name for working in a war zone with an insurgent native population.
11:19AM Fri. Feb. 2, 2007,Lee Nichols Read More | Comment »
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