The City of Austin Elections are coming up pretty soon (early voting starts April 20), and some fairly important issues are being decided. You’ve got like a week to vote for this shit, so you probably should. Now, just so you don’t go and randomly press buttons (fun though it may be) we’ve put together a little guide of the issues at hand. Sure some of the commentary is a little biased, but we’re much too lazy to give you both sides of an issue (besides, if you don’t agree with us then you know what not to vote for, don’t you). So here’s our fucked up guide to the city elections.

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From this week’s Chronicle:

“‘With the Disney-fication of Sixth Street, we’ve had live [original] music venues get outpriced and move onto Red River,’ says Wickham. ‘And the bars that are on Red River right now, we’ve survived the economic downturns that have happened over the last three or four years. We’ve survived poor city planning that put a homeless shelter right across the street from my bar. And yet this smoking ordinance threatens me in a way that poor city planning and economic downturns never could. That’s the concern.

‘This is something real, and quite frankly, all the live music venues and all of the bands I’ve talked to, we’re scared. There are no two ways about it. I’m not going to lie and say we think we can beat this thing. We’re scared. We’re really scared. This is going to change not only our business but what Austin is to everybody who comes here, and the only thing we can do about it is try to better inform people right now.’”

The Austin City Limits Festival organizers are going to try to do something about the massive crowds that have been showing up the past couple years. This means that there will be less tickets available, 10,000 less to be exact. So to prevent being one of those 10,000 that would have gotten a ticket you should know that three-day passes go on sale tomorrow: Friday, April 15. Hopefully you make more money than you did last year too, because the starting prices have risen $15 (Inflation?). $85 will get you a three-day pass (day passes will go on sale this summer). And when the first allotment of tickets runs out (which probably shouldn’t take too long) you can expect that price to go up again.
Of course they aren’t releasing the lineup until May 5, so you’ll just have to go on faith that they’ll get some good acts. Organizers are also planning to stagger the headliners more so there won’t be a huge traffic jam when everyone leaves. I’ll believe that when I see it.

Buy Pass Online [austincitylimits.com]

I know April’s halfway over, but there’s still a shitload of stuff to check out at the Drafthouse (but what else is new). Here’s some highlights:

• Fearless Freaks, Starts 4/15 - Village
  If you missed this music documentary about the Flaming Lips during SXSW, now’s your chance to check it out. Highly recommended.
• The Sinus Show: Travoltathon, Starts 4/15 - Downtown
  The Sinus guys are back, this time they’ll be lampooning some choice clips from the distinguished filmography of one John Travolta.
• The Animation Show, Starts 4/15 - South Lamar
  Don Hertzfeldt returns with others in one of the best animated shorts programs around
• The Comedians of Comedy w/ Live Comedy, 4/19 - Downtown
  Another great documentary from SXSW, and by far the funniest. Plus check out some of Austin’s own comedians before the movie.
• The South Park Movie Sing-along, 4/20 - Downtown
  Need I say more?
• The Films of Kim Jong Il: Pulgasari, 4/25 - Downtown
  See some quality North Korean propaganda / Godzilla-esque action. Plus Kim Jong Il live in person (pending state dept. approval). $1 Night!
• The Beaver Trilogy, 4/27 - Downtown
  Some things are just two wierd to describe. Everyone should see this. Crispin Glover’s best performance.
• Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room, Starts 4/29 - South Lamar
  Yet another great SXSW doc. About the fall of Enron.

More on the Drafthouse [Originalalamo.com]

“Simply defined a man date is two heterosexual men socializing without the crutch of business or sports. It is two guys meeting for the kind of outing a straight man might reasonably arrange with a woman. Dining together across a table without the aid of a television is a man date; eating at a bar is not. Taking a walk in the park together is a man date; going for a jog is not. Attending the movie ‘Friday Night Lights’ is a man date, but going to see the Jets play is definitely not.”

What about President Bush’s man date?

The Man Date [NYT]

If you like reggae music and you havn’t checked out Austin’s annual Bob Marley festival, then you must be really really stoned.
The festival is this weekend, April 16 and 17, at Auditorium Shores. Tickets are $7 for one day or $10 for both days. But make sure you bring two cans of food to donate to the Capital Area Food Bank. As usual, there are tons of reggae bands playing, and of course the wonderful smell of pot mixed with B.O.

More Info [austinmarleyfest.com]

More from the 79th session of the Texas legislature today, also known as the longest running April Fools joke of all time, concerning bill HB 789; which, if passed, would make it impossible for municipalities in Texas to start Wi-fi programs in libraries, parks, and other public places. The bill has garnered support from many representatives, including Rep. Phil King (the bill’s sponsor) and wireless broadband provider SBC, who feel that free municipal Wi-fi is directly competing with businesses whose job it is to deliver wireless internet. As Rep. King puts it, “No business should have to compete with public tax dollars.”
The thing is: SBC, although they may think otherwise, does not own the Internet. Nor do they own the radio waves used by wireless internet or the air in which they reside. These things are in fact owned by the people via the government. If offering Wi-fi in public places infringes on SBC’s right to free-market competition then the world must have gone mad without me noticing. To even remotely compete with businesses then the city would have to offer Wi-fi as a for-profit program. Something which no city has ever done or, as far as I know, planned to do.
But they’re still making a big deal about it. Come on guys, the joke’s not funny anymore.

Text of HB 789 [PDF]
Phil King Still Confused [SaveMuniWireless.org]

If you’re like us, then the thought of a leisurely drive down 360 interrupted by a government employee requesting you give them money is a less-than-appealing prospect. Add this to a proposed $22 billion price tag and you’ve got a pretty ugly proposal. This is the opinion expressed repeatedly by Austinites in transportation meetings, with reasons ranging from risks of increased taxes to environmental damage. But this doesn’t mean the plan has died. On Monday night the regional toll road planning board voted to postpone the plan. This adds a little bit more jeopardy to the establishment of the whole toll road proposal, since June 12 is the federal deadline to adopt the plan.
Besides the disapproval of some of the board members, this may have something to do with how the plan lays out funding for the toll roads. One source of funding in the current plan would include the proposed hike in the state gas tax in an attempt to tie it to inflation. House Bill 5 would raise the tax by nearly a penny; which, granted, isn’t a whole lot, but doesn’t sound too attractive considering I just had to take out a loan to fill my tank. The bill seems unlikely to pass, but it’s curious to note that many Representatives see an increased gas tax as unnecessary if toll roads are to go into effect. So we have ourselves a little catch-22. Oh the irony!
House Bill 2481, concerning a proposed emissions reduction program, also includes a portion of the State Highway Fund going towards the cost of the toll road plan. Although the Chairman of the Environmental Regulation Committee, Rep. Dennis Bonnen (who also helped to draft the bill), was reluctant to say whether or not the funds would actually end up going towards toll roads, which have been targeted by a few environmental groups for proposing construction in the sacred Barton Creek Watershed.
Keep in mind the toll roads wouldn’t be finished until around 2030. But still, they suck.

Board Postpones Toll Road Plan [Daily Texan]
House Bill Would Raise State Gas Tax [Chronicle]
Bill would cost highway fund a half billion dollars [Statesman]

You may remember Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. He is probably best known for running for President way back in 2004 (he lost). You may also remember his lack of campaigning in the state of Texas. It makes sense after all, because he probably would have been shot along some highway by a crazed redneck ala Easy Rider. But Senator Kerry has recently figured out that he can book a flight directly to the speck of blue amidst a sea of red that is Travis county.
John Kerry will be speaking on Saturday at the University of Texas’ Recreational Sports Center located on campus at 2100 San Jacinto Blvd (thanks to the University Democrats). The discussion will be a town hall style forum concerning children’s health insurance and his “Kids First” initiative (and recreational sports?) . This shit goes down at 10am sharp (Kerry is never late) and anybody is welcome to attend. However there’s only so many people who can fit in a building so visit the link below to reserve up to four spaces.

RSVP [JohnKerry.com]
Event Details [UDems]
Directions [Google Maps]

Friday 4/29, The Parish
The guys from Okkervil River will soon be home from their tour with The Decemberists (and what a tour it was). And they’ll be right back on the road before long, this time with Los Angeles based indie-act Earlimart. And you better catch a show before they leave. They will be celebrating the recent (April 5) release of their new album Black Sheep Boy at The Parish on Sixth Street. Earlimart will be there as well to kick off their tour right here in Austin, so it should be a good show.

Advance tickets go for $10, a marginal discount off the $12 door price. Doors at 9pm, show at 10.

Event and Venue Details [theparishroom.com]
Okkervil River [okkervilriver.com]
Earlimart [earlimartmusic.com]
Buy Black Sheep Boy [scdistribution.com]