For what is basically a tract of unreachable scrub in the middle of nowhere, there's been a lot of public anger over the plan by the Texas General Land Office to sell off the Christmas Mountains. The School Land Board, which holds the land, is scheduled to meet Tuesday to announce whether the sale was to go ahead.

Now, in tones that would make a supermarket tabloid editor blush for its hyperbole, the GLO has put out a press release saying that Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson will make "a surprise announcement" on Monday, in which he will "expose details" on the sale. Which either means they're going to keep them in public hands, or hand it over to the NRA for target practice. Bizarrely, the second option may be more likely.

Patterson had been the main advocate for putting the land into private hands. But because of his sketchy logic (the determined gun advocate wasn't prepared to give it to any agency that wouldn't allow hunting on it) he has faced vocal opposition from well, everybody. There've been calls to delay or even terminate the sale from state reps Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, and Donna Howard, D-Austin, from Big Bend National Park, eco-groups Sierra Club and Environment Texas, and land donors the Conservation Fund and the Mellon Foundation.

The beginning of this clip teeters deliciously on Serge/Brigitte and Lee/Nancy brinks, but when the kitten begins to growl, she launches into such unmistakable Ann-Margretacity that one might almost think one'd stumbled into the midnight marathon of The Who's Tommy.

Well, none of that is the reason for sharing this clip with you, dear Chronique readers. No, bear with, please.

At the 1:44 (or -1:09) minute mark, A-M starts ticking off a fabulously random style guide to the sassy Sixties in this soda-jerky ode to boots, Nehru jackets, and … temporary tattoos?! She exceeds all requirements as a certified Soft Drink Expert, no doubt. Purrrrrrrrr.

Hi. Well, it's officially November. Let the commercial clusterf*ck that is Chistma-hannu-kwanzaakah begin!

If you want to get your shopping out of the way and support an iconic Austin business (we are in danger of losing) at the same time – the Gay Place suggests you hustle on over to Book Woman and get your honey/bff/partner/self/frenemy an anthology of Lesbian Lit.

Do it!

(Brisbane Running Buddies, after all, you just shouldn't run by yourself http://groups.google.com/groups/brisbanerunningbuddies/

We're getting closer to the race and I am already nervous about it. Good news is, well, if I may be so bold to call it that (ahem!), I get the feeling that a lot of us feel as if we're totally not ready.

This Saturday, we ended up having to pace ourselves for a 2 mile run. Afterwards, when I caught my breath and chilled after having had some coffee, did I realize that it was only 1 mile (or so-sh) off from having run the whole 5K. Hmmmm, it was good to have a sense of distance. Apparently, from the watercoolers on Auditorium Shores to the wooden bridge in Zilker park, it was the 1 mile point so we had to pace ourselves and just run at a steady pace (walking whenever we needed to take a break of course).

Patrick Guy, our trainer told us that if you start fast, you really will lose time in the long run and this type of training (as opposed to the intervals training I mentioned before) actually prepares you a whole lot better for the/a race. I ended up running with Greg, Katie and Chris which we all agreed was a big advantage. People ended up taking turns (spontaneously so) setting the pace and since we were all pretty much on par in terms of fitness/ability, when the pace-setter said, sorry,can't go anymore, we were all glad since we were all ready for a walking break.

The Trail of Lights are being set up as we speak. I keep hoping for some trail/run designation so that I can visualize, and try to run it a few times beforehand. Well, pacing and walking is more like it. Knowing how much better I did in the company of Greg, Katie and Chris, I hope that for the final race I can run (pace, PACE already!)alongside a few of my compadres.

Eventhough not all of Team Zen got selected for the Club Chronicle challenge, the team does consist of more than just 'us 11'. I'm honestly glad to be part of the whole team. As we were yakking during our pace-run, I was happy to hear that everyone is intending to continue after this Club Chronicle challenge. I need them, so thank you Adam from Zen and Patrick our trainer for being available every Saturday morning. Here is to many more, including ALL of us in the challenge. You guys keep me going.

I wish I were out there this Saturday. Unfortunately I was stuck at a professional development session on a Saturday. A Saturday!!!! So let me tell you what these things are like. Two people, who act like they are the best teachers in the world, treat you like you are one of their middle school students. They make you pay attention, share your feelings, and do the stupid things that we make our kids do. I'm sorry, I want to punch someone when they want me to put my hand up with everyone as signal for being quiet. Anyway, as penance for missing twice in a row, I made Chris and I go "run" around Town Lake Saturday afternoon. We can tell a difference in our energy levels when we work out on Saturdays. Happy Day Light Savings Everyone!!! Enjoy that hour!!!!

Hi, sorry I'm late, my name is Ian and I'm a first time racer and blogger.
I never made it into the Mickey Mouse Club as a kid but today I am a proud, shoe carrying member of Club Chronicle 2007. My membership includes a commitment to blog about my experiences exercising and training for the Trail of Lights race. And it's time for me to show up to this blog part!

As always at the Texas Book Festival, there's a heavy slab of politics on the agenda. For early risers on Saturday (come back tomorrow for the Sunday lists), Kristin Gore, (yes, that's Gore as in Al) will be talking about her new presidential satire Sammy's House in the Senate Chamber at 10am. With seemingly no sense of satire by the bookers, at 11am she'll give up the podium to vice-presidential wife Lynne Cheney, talking about her "aw, shucks" bio Blue Skies, No Fences. They'll be followed at 2pm by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison boosting her new tome Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers.

For more serious fare, Robert Draper will be talking about his deeply perturbing and probing Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush in the Senate at 1pm. In fact, for anyone looking for a truly depressing treble bill, start the day at 10am at the Sanctuary with former 101st Airborne member and Afghanistan veteran Brandon Friedman as he discusses his book Afghanistan: The Forgotten War, go see Draper, then head to the House chamber at 3pm to watch Vanity Fair editor at large Cullen Murphy, historian Steven Saylor, Yale law professor Amy Chua and Wall Street Journal reporter Steve LeVine discuss the American Empire.

There will, of course, be some time for misty-eyed reminiscence. Former dean of the LBJ school of Public Affairs Max Sherman will talk about his friend Barbara Jordan at 10am in Capitol Extension room E2.010, while Lou Dubose will be remembering his work with Molly Ivins at 11.15am at the Sanctuary.

At the King of Kombat MMA event at the Crockett Center tonight, rising talent Chilo Gonzalez comes into the main event with Phillip Preece as the paper favorite. But the Team Toolshed veteran isn't counting the San Antonio man out, not least because what he's looking for is a real challenge. "If I'm not fighting the best," said Gonzalez, "I'm not proving I'm the best, so what would be the point?"

The former wrestler, with his mix of Jiu Jitsu and Muy Thai, has been on the same card as Preece before, but never fought him. But he was still confident about his chances. "I'm bigger than him, and I have as much experience as him, and my striking style is a lot more aggressive than most people can deal with."

If the Colorado middleweight sounds confident, he may have grounds. Coming to the card 26-8, he's gained momentum this year, and acquired a new maturity. "I used to fight with a lot of adrenaline," he said, "and I'm a lot more patient now." He put this down in no small part to becoming not just a more rounded fighter, but a more rounded member of the fight community.

Two months later than founders Tim and Karrie League had originally hoped, the new Alamo Ritz finally opened last night (see Marc Savlov's excellent article about the move here). There had been concerns that the shift from the old Alamo Downtown would lose some of the boisterous DIY charm that defined the old cinema. But when the footage was shown of Tim's valiant defeat when he tried to christen the building with a bottle of champagne (score: unbroken bottle 1, cracked wall 0), it felt like the Alamo.

The capacity crowd and the lengthy stand-by cue that spilled out into the street found a cinema that takes full advantage of the Ritz' golden age picture palace dimensions and the opportunities for a bigger screen and new sound system, without sacrificing the communal spirit the old site engendered (for anyone worried that it would be a big-box generic cineplex product, Tim did note the only way onto the newly finished stage was by clambering up a stack of milk crates). Speaking in the gap between the opening movie, 1963 Japanese killer-fungus classic Matango, and a sneak preview of the Coen Brother's nihilist masterpiece No Country For Old Men, League paid tribute to the hard work of his staff and the history of both the Alamo and the Ritz.