Now this is some funny shit, from the Chris Bell campaign:

Background: in 1990, as co-chair of the Clayton Williams campaign, Carole Strayhorn staged an "Ann Watch" outside the State Treasury, wanting to make sure that Richards was putting in her time as State Treasurer. AWR (Ann Willis Richards) Women and Men for Bell will monitor the Comptroller's Office to make sure Strayhorn is now doing her job.

Good luck guys.

Times and location below the fold.

Travis County's early voting numbers continued rising this week, reaching new highs of 7,654 on Monday and 7,757 on Tuesday. The grand total now stands at 52,880 early voters, plus 4,418 mail-in ballots, for a total of 57,298, or 10.31% of the county's registered voters. If you have an office betting pool going (and if you do, oh my god you're a geek), I'm predicting a 45% total turnout in the end. Early voting ends Friday. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7.

This Sunday's game against the Panthers was like my dream come true, complete with the disturbing gay undertones. Seriously, what was going on with Bill Parcells playing Seven Minutes in Heaven on the sidelines this week? Sure scoring 25 points for a come-from-behind win is exciting, but I haven't seen that many awkward old-man kisses handed out since my grandpa was in town. The real credit for the win goes to the Dallas defense, which allowed only 204 yards and 16 first downs, and the Julius Jones/Marion Barber double team, which combined rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns. Drew Bledsoe, for his part, has not yet figured out how to throw an interception from the sidelines.

   It was midway through the third quarter of a very interesting Nebraska-at-Oklahoma State football game this past Saturday when I received a phone call from my friend Brent.
   “You’ll never believe what’s just happened,” he said, and I could tell from the excitement in his voice that, for once, it had nothing to do with women. “I just won 1,500 bucks.”
   “What did you do,” I asked. “Buy a scratch-off lottery ticket?”
   “No,” he replied. “There is no lottery in Mississippi. The Republicans would never allow it.”
   I remembered at once that my friend had recently moved to a state controlled by some of the most wicked white men gathered in a single area since the fall of Nazi Germany.
   “I was playing a trivia game at my new favorite bar,” he continued. “You know those machines that allow you to play against other people? Well, it turns out that on some of 'em, you can play against people in other bars, in other states. I got in a game that offered cash prizes and actually won.”

A dramatic late equalizer from Ivorian star Didier Drogba put Chelsea in the driver's seat in Champions League Group A, and dropped defending champion Barcelona into the danger zone, as the top two teams on the continent fought to a 2-2 draw in the Catalan capital on Tuesday. Barca now faces a must-win against German side Werder Bremen in two weeks.

Meanwhile, a handful of teams clinched spots in the round of 16: Bayern Munich in Group B, with a lackluster scoreless draw against Sporting Lisbon, Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven in Group C, eliminating Bordeaux and Galatasaray, respectively, and Valencia in Group D, with a tough 2-2 draw in Ukraine.

Click below for the up-to-date standings, and a look at tomorrow's action in Groups E-H.

The precisely-monikered AustinContrarian raises an interesting point today regarding Prop 5, the affordable housing bond. Our author thinks they will do some good for the city's oft-overlooked (umm, more like invisible) renters, but additionally, "will give the City Council the cover it needs to do the right thing on housing... Proposition 5 will allow Council members to say they support both dense redevelopment and affordable housing. It will be easier for them to approve infill projects without being accused of hurting the low-income."

I'm not sold on the Contrarian's insistence that the only way to keep prices affordable is by tearing down admittedly "cheap housing" to make room for bigger infill projects that will supposedly drive prices down by keeping up with demand (demand I just don't see– I'd like to see condo occupancy rates downtown in a few years, once everything is built). However, this nugget about the Austin Neighborhoods Council bears repeating:

You can count on the neighborhood groups, who hijack the affordability cause whenever it suits their purpose, to keep affordability front and center. (To my knowledge, ANC has not endorsed Proposition 5, which is significant considering its public handwringing over affordable housing.)

Good question. Any answers, ANC?

This article about the League of Conservation Voters was previously published in our paper version of the paper, but it bears repeating here as you head for the voting booth. If environmental issues are key in helping you make picks for Congress and Senate, the LCV scorecard is mighty illuminating.:

Enviros Say Doggett Shines, Others ... Stink
Just in time for the November elections, the League of Conservation Voters has issued its voting scorecard for the second session of the 109th Congress (that is, the 2006 session). Unfortunately for environment-minded Texans, it is depressingly similar to previous scorecards.

From Austin Chronicle cartoonist Doug Potter

You've probably seen the ads by 3rd Court of Appeals Place 5 Democratic candidate Mina Brees invoking the name of her famous son, NFL quarterback Drew Brees. Well, you won't be seeing them any longer. KXAN-TV is reporting that son and mother are estranged, and Drew has asked Mina to pull his name from the ads. Brees is challenging Republican incumbent David Puryear.