Best of Austin 2008Readers PollMediaBest AM Radio Station: KLBJ-AM
On the 69th birthday of our local news-and-talk radio station, we celebrate its enduring intellectual friskiness. KLBJ-AM offers diverse views, provides whip-smart commentary, gets us out of bed hyped to go, and puts us to bed with food for thought. 8309 N. I-35, 836-0590 www.590klbj.com Best Journalist: John Kelso Forget your fancy journalism degrees and chasing down stories. Professional contrarian Kelso works his cranky corner to pick up stories and has established his role as fixture on bar stools and in eateries of South Austin to formulate his triweekly column. As the man himself told his readers, "I've decided to stay on forever and keep making your life miserable." Austin American-Statesman, 305 S. Congress, 445-3500 www.statesman.com Best Local Author/Poet: Owen Egerton This local funny man may have cut his teeth as part of the fabulous Sinus Show, but his literary persona has since grown wings. Encapsulated in both novel and short-story form, his biting wit and spin on the world make for intelligent humor and foreshadow a long career in the written, spoken, and comedic worlds. Lucky for us, we can lay claim to him now and graciously do so with edge-of-our-seat expectations for what lies in store for the future. www.owenegerton.com Best Local Blog: Austinist
Like a box of candy at our sides, Austinist is easy to reach into and pick out a piece or two … or three or four. Though part of a chain of "-ists," Austinist knows Austin, and Austinites love it for its bite-sized news of local events, food, art, and entertainment. www.austinist.com Best Local Blogger: TIE: Eileen Smith, In the Pink Texas; Ruth Pennebaker, the Fabulous Geezersisters' Weblog Admittedly, Eileen Smith, aka Pink Lady (aka IIIIN), is too loud for book clubs. She drinks too much, and you'd have to cover your kids' ears every other word. True. But her blog is funny as hell. Let her blow off steam, rant, rave, hurl insults at Starbucks employees on her way to her desk job at Texas Monthly. Irreverent, self-deprecating, but smart as a whip. Your workday just got breezier. In a different demographic, the Fabulous Geezersisters is the blog of Ruth Pennebaker and Poland-residing Ellen Dlott. The two are sisters, in their 50s, far from each other, but both amped by the written word. Thus, their blog. As Ruth leaves her law days behind for a career in writing and Dlott teaches English in Poland, they have wise words, sage advice, and just normal human reactions, explaining their own investment confusions and neuroses in a frank next-door-neighborly way. Cookies and milk. www.geezersisters.com; www.inthepinktexas.com Best Local Entertainment Website: Austinist Like a box of candy at our sides, Austinist is easy to reach into and pick out a piece or two … or three or four. Though part of a chain of "-ists," Austinist knows Austin, and Austinites love it for its bite-sized news of local events, food, art, and entertainment. www.austinist.com Best Local News Website: KXAN Sometimes you want a fancy website with lots of bells and whistles. Not when you are trying to get your news. You want it quick and dirty, a simple format that's easy to peruse in a hurry, with information instantly, videos to give it to you visually, and the top stories (not only of the city but of the whole country) at your fingertips. Literally. For ease and a simplistic design made specifically for convenience, no one does it better. It's local news at its best - as a website. 908 W. MLK, 476-3636 www.kxan.com Best Local TV News: KVUE Watching Tyler, Olga, Mark, and Mike on the evening news is like settling down with old friends and catching up on the latest … every night. We trust and depend on our pals at the ABC affiliate to keep us up to the minute, and they're always there when we need them. Isn't that the definition of friendship? The KVUE news team knows how to make us feel at home and reliably delivers the news when we get there. 3201 Steck, 459-6521 www.kvue.com Best Locally Produced TV Show: 'Austin City Limits' Like the old-timer showin' them young'uns how to do it right, Austin City Limits has been around the block and knows all the turns. It has grown up with Austin these past 32 years and continues to evolve, presenting Austin and the world with the best in music, time after time. Can't teach an old dog new tricks? Well, maybe the dog's doing the teaching. KLRU, 2504-B Whitis, 471-4811 www.klru.org Best Media Personality: Jason Dick, 101X According to his MySpace page, 101X's Jason Dick believes, "Stalkers + Internet = MySpace." Surely the popular morning-show host is used to these things by now, but at 26, he’s among the youngest of the hit voices on the airwaves. His morning show (with British Deb) is loud. The music is rock & roll. The jokes are lewd. And his poor wife has to play along with sex joke after sex joke. But, the kicker is, he's actually funny. Unlike the other stations you jostle for too much talking, his segments entertain the mind (albeit, the dirty part of it) all the way to work, while you continue to chuckle at a fart joke slipped in for good measure. 101X FM, 8309 N. I-35, 832-4000 www.krox.com Best Morning Radio Show: 'The Morning X' Ah, the return of the The Morning X! A bracing, irreverent wake-up call with the ever-popular Jason and Deb! Mornings on 101.5FM are guaranteed to make you smirk and snicker, especially when the two listen to Jason’s complaints and recount whatever adventures they’ve been up to. This includes the usual embarrassing personal experiences, but Deb’s recent pirate-themed birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's takes the, er … pizza. 101X FM, 8309 N. I-35, 832-4000 www.krox.com/morningx Best Music Station: KGSR Maybe you love them because they give you a reason to drink wine on a blanket in the park listening to blues. Maybe you love them because they celebrate singer-songwriters, with an ear tuned to true Texas tunes. Maybe you love them for bringing it back to when saying you were rock & roll actually meant something. Whatever your reason, the dials are all fixed on 107.1 (and Texas rock rules). 8309 N. I-35, 832-4000 www.kgsr.com Best Non-'Chronicle' Publication: 'Oak Hill Gazette'
Since 1995, this weekly has been bringing the news to Southwest Austin. Between the coverage of elections, local business, community news, civic meetings, district school news (and sports!), and columns about nearly all of the above, its crew keeps busier than a weatherman in a tornado. Southwest Austin appreciates all that busy. 7200 Hwy. 71 W. Ste. B, 301-0123 www.oakhillgazette.com Best Photographer: Todd V. Wolfson What an eye. This master behind the lens captures things in his subjects quite possibly unseen even by themselves. As a mainstay contributor to The Austin Chronicle, Wolfson continuously reminds us of the heights of quality work and distinction that can be brought to subjects, from local celebrities to national rock legends. Each shot is distinctively his own, and we're proud, so proud, to call him one of ours. Todd V. Wolfson Studio, 5405-A Joe Sayers, 452-9051 www.toddvwolfson.com Best Public-Access TV Show: 'Cookin' Good With the Cola Sisters' Sexy, sassy, and one of a kind (except that there are two of them, plus the omniscient and close-up-happy cameraman), the Cola Sisters jumped on to public-access television just a few years ago and have been riding it hard ever since. As the hostesses of our readers' favorite ChannelAustin TV show, Cookin' Good, the Cola Sisters rant about the man, do shots of hot vodka, cook up recipes in real time, advocate for organic/buy-local practices, and offer chicken nuggets of true wisdom… with sauce. PO Box 302102, 782-HEAT www.myspace.com/arciecola Best Radio Music Deejay: Jason Dick, 101X According to his MySpace page, 101X's Jason Dick believes, "Stalkers + Internet = MySpace." Surely the popular morning-show host is used to these things by now, but at 26, he’s among the youngest of the hit voices on the airwaves. His morning show (with British Deb) is loud. The music is rock & roll. The jokes are lewd. And his poor wife has to play along with sex joke after sex joke. But, the kicker is, he's actually funny. Unlike the other stations you jostle for too much talking, his segments entertain the mind (albeit, the dirty part of it) all the way to work, while you continue to chuckle at a fart joke slipped in for good measure. 101X FM, 8309 N. I-35, 832-4000 www.krox.com Best Radio Talk/News Host: David Kobierowski, KOOP
Got a story the dreaded mainstream media is ignoring? Just go to any progressive event, and look for the tall bald guy carrying the bundle of papers. That’s Kobierowski, KOOP Radio’s own speaker of truth to power, whose Texas Politics Today tag team with Deece Eckstein specializes in holding political feet to the fire. KOOP 91.7FM, 3823 Airport Ste. B, 472-1369 www.koop.org Best Sportscaster: Roger Wallace Since joining KXAN (Channel 36) more than a decade ago, sports anchor Roger Wallace has delivered many a smooth sportscast, replete with the necessary info on local and national sports figures. This year, he put a lot of that knowledge to good use for 25 days, following and covering Texas athletes at the Beijing Olympics. His every-guy congeniality and sports savant smarts keep him in our readers' sights for the third year in a row. KXAN, 908 W. MLK, 476-3636 www.kxan.com Best Sportswriter: Kirk Bohls With 90,000 fans in the stands, the last thing the Horns need is one more cheerleader. Kirk Bohls knows it. He calls it like he sees it, win, lose, or draw. Thirty years of sportswriting bring a lot of knowledge, including detailed analysis – be it around player stats, strategy, rankings, or an opponent’s history. Burnt-orange fans might not always agree with Bohls’ commentary, but Chronicle readers have shown once again that they sure respect it. Austin American-Statesman, 305 S. Congress, 445-3500 www.statesman.com Best Talk/News Station: KUT Whether you like your news tight and hard or loose with attitude, the local NPR affiliate is the place to which readers flock come rush hour. The University of Texas-operated station dominates the airwaves with international news, national stories, and local profiles. It's 90.5 KUT, where Texas Music Matters. 2504 Whitis, 471-1631 www.kut.org Best TV Anchor: Michelle Valles
"Michelle, ma belle. These are words that go together well, my Michelle." The gorgeous evening newscaster and savvy reporter has earned popularity through her hundreds of public appearances for charity. Austin adores her. Though her run at KXAN is over, she is still, not surprisingly, everywhere. Accessible, compassionate, and always on the ball, Valles is an Austin icon. PO Box 161085 Best TV Reporter: Quita Culpepper Considering her streak of winning this award, we wonder what would ensue if she worked more than the three days a week she anchors the "Weekend Daybreak" news? World media domination? Culpepper's been at KVUE since 1998, making intrepid reporting her schtick. It's her put-me-in-coach attitude that gives her that poise, that eloquent character, it's what makes her the constant we look for in times of crisis, such as hurricanes and election years. KVUE, 3201 Steck, 459-6521 www.kvue.com Best Weatherperson: Jim Spencer
Congratulations, Jim, on your 10th "Best of Austin" win. The people have spoken once again in favor of KXAN's chief weathercaster. He always gives it to us straight and has a sixth sense about what Mother Nature might bring on his "First Warning Weather." Let's just hope the local NBC affiliate and Time Warner Cable sort out their quarrel so we can get Jim back on air soon. KXAN, 908 W. MLK, 476-3636 www.kxan.com |
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