Culture Flash

• Tom Hester's A Fist Full of Pills didn't land an Audience Award in the Just for Laughs festival's Comedia film program, but it came so close that the Texas-shot short was awarded a special mention "for so well exemplifying the mandate of Comedia as a home for stand-up comedians who have written, starred in, or produced their very own big-screen presentations, as well as in recognition for the exceptional critical and public response it garnered at the festival." The Austin comic notes that "this goes to show that anyone can make a film with no money and get into an international festival if they starve for 20 years, develop their talent, lose the respect of family and friends with grace, ruin their love life, sell their soul, and then save up enough karma to buy it back."

• Kathy Dunn Hamrick earned a bit of good press in The New York Times after her company's recent turn in a showcase of independent artists at P.S. 122. In the July 25 edition, Erika Kinetz noted: "There rises from the messy tumult of half-formed dances, bad lyrics, gender-bending charm, and awkward pauses, the occasional flash of beauty and inspiration. Jennifer Lanier, who had come from Hawaii to perform in the Road Show, delivered a rollicking monologue, and Kathy Dunn Hamrick, a choreographer from Austin, Tex., made a sweet dance full of lilting jumps and the simple pleasures of moving."

• Though it's about to close the doors on the popular exhibits "Annie Leibovitz: American Music" and "Charles Mary Kubricht: Scanning the Grand Canyon," the Austin Museum of Art will keep its doors open a little later than usual – until 8pm – Aug. 4-7 to make it easier for working stiffs to see what the fuss is about. The shows are projected to be AMOA's third most popular by average daily attendance, following the two Andys, Warhol and Goldsworthy. For more information, visit www.amoa.org.