Maneuvering has begun on the Capital Metro budget, which will be discussed by the full Cap Met Board Monday, with publication of the proposed FY2010 numbers to happen the next day and final approval to take place in late September. One board member and the Cap Met staff have each made major pitches to be considered at that meeting.

Are conservatives really prepared to picket a church to block health care reform? The question has been raised because of the venue for Saturday's Real Voices for Change public forum.

Eager hockey fans won't have to wait much longer as the NHL Dallas Stars face-off against their highest-level minor-league club, the AHL Texas Stars, at the can't-wait-to-check-it-out Cedar Park Center on Wed., Sept. 30, 7pm. Tickets are on sale now by calling the Texas Stars office at 512/GO-STARS (467-8277) and through Ticketmaster by phone at 800/745-3000, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or by visiting a Ticketmaster outlet. Ticket prices start as low as $15.

It may have upset some of the self-appointed saviors of the local film community, but Austin Studios has a new tenant. This afternoon, city council approved a sublease agreement allowing Soundcheck Austin to move in to stage four.

Taking a break outside an unassuming complex near Zilker Park, Blondie Chaplin leans against a parked car and grins at his all-star band. Standing next to him are bassist Chris Maresh and drummer J.J. Johnson; guitarist Derek O’Brien is ducking out for another gig and pianist Stephen Barber is off on a B-double E-double R-U-N. The rehearsal, as they say, was smokin’.

This news just came in, as a press release from NuRock Soccer Holdings, LLC. The USL, of course, is the league in which the Austin Aztex play.

NUROCK SOCCER HOLDINGS LLC ANNOUNCES PURCHASE OF UNITED SOCCER LEAGUES FROM NIKE, INC.

Atlanta, Georgia (Aug 27th, 2009) – NuRock Soccer Holdings LLC (“NuRock Soccer Holdings”) today announced that it has acquired United Soccer Leagues (“USL”) from NIKE.

NuRock Soccer Holdings, based in Atlanta, is led by Rob Hoskins and Alec Papadakis. NuRock Soccer Holdings is currently a USL franchisee with a Premier Development League operation in Atlanta [ed. note: the FC Atlanta Blackhawks] and rights to acquire two USL First Division teams in Atlanta, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama marketplaces, respectively.

Personally, I blame "The More You Know." When stern warnings are needed, American PSAs do tend to dance around the issue. This morning, Austin City Council passed a resolution instructing the city manager to prepare a ordinance banning driving while texting, and introducing an enforceable safe passage distance (which we wouldn't need if Gov. Rick Perry hadn't vetoed a statewide safe passage bill. Opponents have spent the morning saying that all that's needed is pubic education, but odds are that everyone will get squeamish about a realistic representation of the danger. Now the Welsh, they know how to do a PSA. This warning bought to you courtesy of the Gwent Police Force. WARNING: The depiction of what happens in a car crash depicted in this video is, well, totally accurate. Therefore gory and unpleasant.

After weeks of free video games as art, I figure it's time to please the masses. Brain games are all the rage these days. The handheld Nintendo DS made a killing with its Brain Age series seemingly because people like to think they are younger than they are even if only in their heads.

Hoping to capitalize on that market are a slew of websites that claim to make you smarter through practice. Good luck with that. For the sake of argument, let's assume these websites can accurately gauge and improve your intelligence. There is a sick pleasure in finding your place in the stupidity continuum and, in turn, trying to claw your way out of the ditch of dumbness by repeatedly playing memory and reaction-time games.

Here's a great example of such a brain-testing game free and on the web:

[audio-1] The Totally Awesome AusChron Newscast continues its unchallenged domination of all lesser newscasts. This week: wrapping up the trial of Texas judge Sharon Keller, protests from the fire department over proposed rule changes, and a ban on texting while driving before the city council. All this, plus an unplanned special guest appearance from inquisitive Chronicle managing editor Cindy Widner, and post-vacation brain freeze from totally awesome co-host Wells Dunbar and Jordan Smith.