L Style G Style has conquered Austin … Jett Winders, Justin Barker, Douglas Kennedy Expanding in size and scope while other magazines have retreated … Ellen Gambrell, Sean Peletier, Kim Shumski Alisa Weldon, Oliver Everette and team have done so well … Vanessa Ramos, Elvia Mendoza, Valerie Espinosa, Joakuin Espinosa They are exporting the concept to Dallas … Robert Grunnah, Ed Ishmael Then Seattle … Jonathon Todd, Kirsten Walles Then Raleigh-Durham … Caret Beyer, Cody Kinsfather Ultimately, building LGBT communities nationwide … Anna Nguyen, Beth Barlow Befittingly, LSGS launched its July/August issue at Center Market … Kirk Berlin, Matthew Mielcarek The original location that Weldon did so much ...

A veritable Who’s Who of Austin arts lovers bunched around the basically bare stage of the Off Center for the opening performance of “Henry V.” Critic, editor, actor, director and writer Robert Faires had distilled Shakespeare’s sprawling history into a solo. He played all the roles himself. Filing into the raw, familiar space were Boyce Cabannis, Annette Carlozzi, Dan Bullock, Forrest Preece, Linda Ball, Shawn Sides, David Jewell, Elizabeth Cobbe and dozens of other leading lights. At the end, they surged to their feet in appreciation for the 90-minute drama. I particularly liked the light, comic bits and the stirring battle ...

Kay Morris danced. When she could no longer dance, she ran. She took lessons from running guru Paul Carrozzo. And she kept a diary. That inspired her to create Marathon Kids. She created color-friendly diaries in quarter-mile increments that added up to marathon totals, to be completed in months rather than hours. She and backer Carrozzo expected 200 kids to sign up for the first round. Thousands did. (Meaning Carrozzo had to mint thousands of tiny medals.) The program spread like wildfire. Tens of thousands of students — many of them in danger of obesity and diabetes — have signed up ...

I’ve learned more about art from Jonathan Bober than from the dozen or so art history classes I took as an undergraduate and graduate student — put together. He has patiently, methodically, even ecstatically explained hundreds of works in the Blanton Museum of Art collection. Bober curates the Old Masters, as well as drawings and his original love, prints. Probably nobody in the world knows as much about Genoese art. His wife, Andree, runs the Landmarks program at the University of Texas, which acquires and places contemporary art on campus, including a collection lent the Metropolitan Museum of Art (including ...

Avant Le Weekend with Barbara Chisholm ...

The minute we exchanged pleasantries, I knew Clarke Straughan was a story. We met at an international dinner last year at the Bullock Texas History Museum. Then we followed up with coffee at Fair Bean on South First Street this week. I’ll devote a substantive print article to Straughan soon, but let’s get to know him casually here. Born and raised in San Antonio, he entered the hospitality industry while attending Texas A&M University by managing the run-down Western Motel on Highway 6 in College Station. Later, he ignored warnings from British officials — and his empty wallet — finding his ...

We’ll play a lot of this holiday weekend by ear … Thursday, July 2 6 p.m. Drinks with Andree and Jonathan Bober at private residence 8 p.m. First night of Red Then’s “Henry V” at the Off Center Friday, July 3 6 p.m. Drinks with Stanley Wilson at Perla’s 7 p.m. L Style G Style Release Party at Central Market 8 p.m. “Salado’s Got Talent” with Daniel Jens from 2008 “America’s Got Talent” at Salado Silver Spur Theater Midnight Tribute to Michael Jackson at Red Fez Saturday, July 4 6 p.m. East-West Game Day Event at Palm Park 7 p.m. Freedom Fest at Dell Diamond in Round Rock 10 p.m. “Sno ...

Good economy or bad economy, Austinites demand a cheap lunch. Whole cultures have grown up around the city’s best — and cheapest — tacos, wrap, barbecue, hamburgers, sushi, or deli sandwiches. Two plucky Austin eateries vied for the top spot in the A-List vote for Best Cheap Lunch. Both are funky. Both are beloved, but for different reasons. Maria’s Taco Express concentrates on one creatively decorated shop with intense ingredients. Thundercloud is post-hippie chain famous for sub sandwiches and laid-back service. The first took 26 percent of the vote; the second 23 percent. Wrap economists Freedbirds and Japanese fast-fooders Zen virtually ...

Does one really need a special place to smooch? I hope not. PDA aside, smooching should be encouraged anywhere discretion allows. Yet going over the list of locations endorsed as “Best Places to Smooch” by A-List voters, a few themes pop out. All of them are out of doors. Several are linked to spectacular views. At least five also include proximity to bodies of water. The hands-down winner: towering Mount Bonnell with 32 percent of the vote. Placid Lady Bird Lake and a riotous UT football game were neck and neck at 11 to 12 percent. Barton Springs, Zilker Park, Zilker ...

Really didn’t intend this to be an all-sports Round-Up, but Austin’s other celebrities are pretty quiet today. Andy Roddick defeated Lleyton Hewitt today at Wimbledon to reach the semifinals. A win on the grass would put an end — temporarily — to complaints that Roddick hasn’t fulfilled his promise as America’s great male tennis hope. (His only previous Grand Slam win was the U.S. Open in 2003.) Among basketball star Kevin Durant’s summer assignments is a 20-page book report. The former Longhorns stand-out — now with the Oklahoma City Thunder — is back in school at UT this ...

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Sometimes Out & About misses social news that’s as big as Dallas … Adam Krueger, Amanda Krueger, Eddie Garcia Such as the opening — last November! — of Cover 3, a sports bar and restaurant on West Anderson Lane … Doug Young, Chip Brown Not just any sports bar and restaurant. This one from Doug Young and Matt Dodson looks like an high-modern lounge and spreads out over more than one floor. … Matt Dodson, Kathy Dodson And talk about TVs. Last week, I teased Players on MLK Boulevard for their ancient big-screen television, horrible for sports. Cover 3 has gracefully installed top-quality ...

OK, so Wes Hayden is the remaining bachelor from Austin on ABC’s “The Bachelorette.” Jillian Harris, unceremoniously dumped on “The Bachelor” version of the reality show, and now in the rose-giver’s seat, still likes him, even though followers of the painful series think he’s a cad and a sham. (Or worse.) On last night’s episode, Jillian visited Wes’ hometown — ours — and heard his self-named country band play at Hill’s Cafe. Then a booted contestant from Dallas, Jake, interrupts Wes and Jillian’s date at the Hyatt Regency, saying Wes already has a girlfriend named Laurel. Wes denies it. Laurel’s ...

Don’t go out in the pouring rain and crackling thunder. Take a few seconds, instead, to review who went out this weekend at the Out & About Rewind Gallery, back better than ever. ...

How bull-headed could the Fort Worth police be? Raiding a gay bar on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which helped inspire the latter-day gay rights movement? Might as well bust a soul club on Juneteenth. Yet Fort Worth police, along with their pals from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, arrested seven patrons of the Rainbow Lounge early Sunday during a code inspection. Associated Press and other reports say excessive force was used, and one patron was sent to intensive care for head injuries. Two city council members have called for an investigation, as has the Human Rights Campaign. “Brutality at ...

As reported here first, the Womack brothers are acquiring Mother Egan’s with plans to transform it completely. Meaning no more Irish pub concept. Something new, something West Sixth Street. Further conversations with reporters and bloggers reveal that the transformation won’t come until May 2010. So you have a year to soak up all that trivia and Harp’s. Also, Brad Womack would like to clarify: His club group is not purchasing the building, but rather taking over the lease. There is a difference. The outcome will be the same. BTW: Played NTN trivia with gallery owner Jeff Kirk and Kip at Aussie’s ...

We’ll conduct a Live Chat with bon vivant, producer and actress Barbara Chisholm about her coming social days for Avant Le Weekend. Just come back to this spot 3 p.m. Thursday and join the conversation. (No Apres Le Weekend this week.) ...

In Austin, she’s a princess. In Texas, she’s the queen of all she surveys. Devin Felger, winner of the runner-up Princess position in the Miss Rodeo Austin contest earlier this year, claimed the top crown of Miss Rodeo Texas in San Antonio over the weekend. The New Braunfels resident joins a growing royal family of statewide winners: 2007 Miss Rodeo Austin, Lauren Graham, won the title of Miss Rodeo Texas Teen in 2008. ...

Just clearing out the Roundup folder about Austin celebs. Some of this news stale-ish. What happened to Dennis Quaid’s “The Horsemen”? It opened limited in this country back in March and has slowly spread around the world. Don’t know of anyone in Austin who has seen it. His “G.I. Joe” opens Aug. 7. As Lance Armstrong prepares for the Tour de France, rumors have gone rampant that Matt Damon will play him in the biopic. Wouldn’t an Austin shoot be a coup? Andy Roddick has advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals by beating Tomas Berdych. I may start watching, Pimm’s Cup or no ...

“You’re the guy from the paper, right? How can we get more lesbians to join our group? … James Skornicki, Rey Hernandez, Joseph Halverson Not the sort of question one anticipates while waiting to cross over from Rusty Spurs to sibling bar, the Other Side, for an Equality Texas fundraiser … Daniel Guerra, Michael Arbuckle Yet Joseph Halverson and Michele Zambrano waste no time helping out their club, Capital City Front Runners … Mitch Martinez, Michele Zambrano The gay running team was meeting, mixing and two-stepping on the Spurs’ wide expanse of dance floor … Jack Goodman, Ben Watts It’s true: When a social ...