It's one thing to laugh and groan and gag at the many filthy antics of the jackass crew from the relative safety of your couch. It's comedy, right? But what about when you take away the divider, between antic and audience? What if one of the original jackasses was right there – right in front of you – unleashing his special brand of jackassery in real time and in spitting distance? Is it still comedy? Or is it performance art? Or simply an invitation to get puked on? Actually, Dave England is known more as the poo guy in the crew (although he does a pretty neat trick involving the regurgitated raw contents of an omelette – bon appetit!). He also knows something about digital filmmaking and viral marketing, which is why he'll be teaching a workshop on those very subjects at the Austin School of Film on Sunday afternoon (4/5). Then later that night, the so-called Lord Supreme of Self-Destruction will take the stage at the Alamo Ritz to screen some of his very favorite moments in masochism from the jackass franchise. After that... well, after that, we're promised "Live Self-Destruction." Details are fuzzy, but you can bet it won't be pretty. On the other hand, it'll probably be pretty fucking funny. Tickets are still available. Go here for the workshop and here for the Alamo event.

Watching Leonard Cohen's 1989 Austin City Limits episode before his second show at the Long Center last night, it's amazing the difference two decades makes. On the studio stage, Cohen is sweating, his voice strong but slightly slurred, no doubt from the tequila he mentions drinking. It's a hit or miss hour from Cohen in his more "experimental" period after 1988's I'm Your Man. The hints of synthy, New Age schmaltz were gone for the most part Wednesday and Thursday. The impeccably-suited, graceful, and surprisingly limber 74-year-old skipped onstage both nights and delivered two three-hour tours of his oeuvre, including "Famous Blue Raincoat," "So Long, Marianne," and "Tower of Song." The crowd was reverent, tearful, grateful. I'd liken the shows to a religious ceremony, but Cohen might take exception. Check out next week's paper for a full review by yours truly.

That's rights ladies and gents. Iowa the home of corn, Field of Dreams, and soon to be gay marriage USA. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that it was unconstitutional to say, "no way to the gays" and "okay to the breeders." As of April 24, barring any crazy right-wing, religion-abusing antics (and oh, I am sure there will antics) all of us will be able to say, "I Do" to any one adult person we wish. The way it should be. Oh, happy happy day!

With Gov. Rick Perry still threatening to reject $555 million in federal unemployment insurance assistance, Democrats took the opportunity on Thursday to highlight some long-overdue reforms to the UI system, especially when it come to benefits for women. The presser, scheduled for 2pm, was slightly delayed: between long-running sessions, late-starting committees, and a plethora of press conferences, members are finding their time is getting seriously stretched. House Democratic caucus chair Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, was accompanied by Reps. Carol Kent of Dallas, Scott Hochberg of Houston, and Austin's own Valinda Bolton: Even Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, dropped by between votes. [video-1]

Happy birthday, Serge. Gitanes: Smoke 'em if you've got 'em.

[audio-1] On this inaugural edition of Off the Record’s 33rpm, OTR catches up with Austin’s Roscoe Beck, the musical director for Leonard Cohen, and tests the pallet of wine connoisseur and Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan, co-owner and operator of Arizona Stronghold Vineyards.

The Score dropped by the Lightweight Lightning press conference Wednesday afternoon to rub shoulders with boxing greats and get ready for the big fight this Saturday night. Bernard Hopkins was in attendance at the press conference which helped to lend an air of excitement to the event. The card, as of now, features Edwin "El Inca" Valero vs. Antonio Pitalua in the main event with Jesus "El Matador" Chavez vs. Michael Katsidis, Carlos Hernandez (San Antonio) vs. Vincente Escobedo, and Julio "The Kid" Diaz vs. Rolando Reyes leading things off. The fight is also available nationally on pay-per-view, but you'll want to be there in person. Check out a couple pics from the presser above. Sat., April 4, 5pm. Frank Erwin Center, 1701 Red River. $25-200. For tickets, see www.texasboxoffice.com.

If someone's suing you, it's probably a good idea to know why they're suing you, as Rep. Ellen Cohen, D-Houston, may just have found out. This evening, Cohen was laying out House Bill 2070 to the House Ways and Means Committee: That's her attempt to reform last session's HB 1751, the infamous and legally-contested "titty tax." The problem, Cohen told the committee, is that the old bill split the cash between the sexual assault program fund and indigent health care: "It is this diversion of funds to uncompensated health care that is the basis for current litigation that prevents the over $11.2 million raised from being spent on these vital programs like rape crisis centers, sexual assault nurse examiners, and rape kits." To re-enter broken record territory, that's simply not true. No matter how often Cohen tries to claim this was just about the money, Judge Scott Jenkins found (as Texas Solicitor Gen­eral James Ho was pushed to admit by Ways and Means Chair Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville) that HB 1751 was a straight First Amendment violation. "For some reason, the state skips past this in lots of their argument," Stewart Whitehead, attorney for the Texas Entertainment Association, dryly commented.