Arts and Culture

The beginning of Raging Bull finds Jake LaMotta, the former middleweight champion played by Robert De Niro, a sad shadow of his former self — a paunchy middle-aged washout reduced to converting his legacy in the ring to a stilted lounge act.

Yet those old rituals persist backstage, when he's alone with his demons and anxiously rehearsing his jabs for the big show. "Just give me a stage/where this bull here can rage," says LaMotta. Though robbed of his dignity and his manhood, he keeps on punching.

A crew of Austin creatives has taken its “Intergalactic Nemesis” show on the road – with a stop on Conan O’Brien’s show last night.

What is “The Intergalactic Nemesis” you may ask? Essentially, it’s a live-action comic book where performers enact a fantastic sci-fi story with live music and sound effects. The crew last night featured “Nemesis” producer and director Jason Neulander, musician and composer Graham Reynolds, Buzz Moran providing foley effects, and others – including O’Brien and his sidekick Andy Richeter. The art behind the performers was also created by another Austinite, Tim Doyle.

You can view the performance on the “Conan” website. The “Nemesis” crew concludes its tour in March, and will present a rough cut of its newest piece, “Book Two: Robot Planet Rising,” at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar that same month. 

Below is an excerpt from Adam Davidson's latest New York Times Magazine column, "Don't Mock the Artisanal-Pickle Makers" Read all of Davidson's Times Magazine columns here.

This Valentine's Day, NPR brings you more than just news—we are bringing you love. Back by popular demand this year, our Valentine's Day cards will certainly tickle your funny bone and just maybe add some love to your life.

Check out all the NPR Valentines, and choose the card that best suits your NPR-lovin' sweetheart.

It’s safe to say a music-loving town like Austin’s familiar with Bon Iver, the folk-tinged indie band fronted by Justin Vernon. But that might not be the case for the public at large.

Bon Iver has made numerous stops in Austin: at South by Southwest, the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and most recently, a performance at the Long Center. (KUT is a fan as well.)

Nationally, Vernon’s stature has grown since appearing on Kanye West’s platinum-selling “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, and Bon Iver’s self-titled 2011 album was named album of the year by numerous critics, including music-review site Pitchfork.

But for many, Vernon’s Grammy win for “Best New Artist” last night was the first many had heard of him. And moments after his acceptance speech, the confusion took to Twitter, with hilarious results.

Here’s a tale for you: each year, The Austin Chronicle issues a call for short stories, previously-unpublished manuscripts with a limit of 2,500 words. After a winnowing and judging, one story is selected for publication, with the winner taking home $800.

Tonight, that winning entry in the Chronicle’s 20th annual Short Story Contest will be announced in a reception at BookPeople.

Chronicle Books editor Kimberley Jones tells us that “we had just under 560 submissions this year, significantly up from last year. But not only were the numbers up, I think the overall quality of the submissions improved this year, too. In the first round, every story is read twice by a Chronicle staffer or ‘friend of the family’ and rated 0 to 5. The scores were a lot higher this year. I might've worried we're all just getting soft, but I read about 150 or so of the stories myself and was pretty knocked out by the talent out there. “

You'd think owning the distribution rights to an Academy Award-nominated film might be enough, but the Alamo Drafthouse has never been known to rest on its laurels.

The Drafthouse Films distribution of “Bullhead” is only part of the story. In addition, the venerable local theater is announcing new developments almost daily.

Alamo Slaughter Lane Opens in March: The Circle C Alamo outpost will be opening in mere weeks, with an elaborate, “Little Shop of Horrors”-esque design. (It’s a nod to the nearby Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Drafthouse CEO Tim League tells Austin360 in a victory-lap interview.)  The grand opening is March 22, but an open-to-the-public soft launch begins March 8.

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A certain sporting match is occurring this weekend, and viewers wil