The Libertarian Party of Texas is hoping for a record election year. Well, at least in terms of candidates. They’re planning on having 174 names on the November ballot, beating their 2006 record of 168. They’ve already nominated 131 candidates for senate, house and district seats, plus 33 for county offices, and hope to get eight runners for statewide offices, and their presidential ticket as well. The TLP are riding high off state party chair Pat Dixon re-taking the Place 4 Lago Vista city council seat he lost in 2007. Dixon has already said he’ll be every inch the strict Constitutionalist, having proclaimed, "When you're sworn in, you swear to uphold the Constitution. Some people think it's a formality. I take it seriously." But who does this big turn-out of candidates hurt the most? Traditional thinking has always said that the free-market end of the GOP is most likely to break bread with the Libertarians, but there’s a theory that they may be picking up on some protest Democrat (and stoner) votes. Either way, as pretty much the only people to come out against the Austin ISD bonds that were passed by an almost 3-1 majority this weekend, it’s still not going all the Libertarians’ way.

I wandered into the Movie Store on Saturday night with an itchy, already defeated feeling. I didn't know what I wanted, and walking into a video store without knowing what you want is like the inverse of going to the grocery store hungry. Instead of everything looking good, nothing looks good. Unless, of course, you wander in to find the Movie Store is unloading its entire VHS inventory, for super-cheap, and instead of having to make one decision, you can make ten instead.** At $3 per tape, I felt a little bit kid-in-a-candy-store... and at five tapes for $10, I figured it'd be like throwing money away to stop at four... and with those kind of savings, why not really make a go of it? (I might gently lean toward compulsiveness. I'm also seriously regretting not adding The Pirate Movie to the pile.)

It's an old story, but it's making news again. And Tango Makes Three, the story of a pair of penguin dudes who foster an egg to hatching is again, the ALA's most challenged book of the year. What's funny? It's a true story. Reality: Book banners doth protest too much.

Rushing into Stubb’s early Sunday evening to find Alan Sparhawk already writhing through “Destroyer” on his antique, Mahogany-hued Les Paul had the appearance of arriving at your own exorcism late. Duluth, Minnesota’s Retribution Gospel Choir has already born one of 2008’s devilishly best platters in its eponymous spring debut, so catching Wilco’s opener was paramount. Low-fi pioneer and professional six-string stranglehold specialist, Sparhawk tore into his very own My Aim is True-era Elvis Costello epithet, “Kids,” followed shortly by True Believers evocation “Easy Prey.” 100-pounds thin in a snug black shirt, with shoulder-length blond curls, the guitarist looked for all the world like Angus Young as he beat his instrument into plowshares. Hüsker Dü never went so missed. Jeff Tweedy, on the other hand, never wore such a dour, joyless expression as he stepped onstage at the stroke of 8:15pm. As Wilco’s lovably hangdog air traffic controller steadily scales Dylanesque heights of musical worship, the mantle continues to bow his shoulders even when cloaked in a green pinstriped sports jacket. Fortunately, he’s been saved by rock & roll, literally – by his own sung admission – so once he launched into opener “Sunken Treasure,” his clenched face loosened and finally broke into a sheepish grin just prior to “Handshake Drugs,” which tore the first of two sold-out shows a new blowhole. “Happy Mother’s Day,” he offered, “you guys rule. It’s the best day of the year – just look at this.” Austin never weathered such perfect May temperatures Sunday night, so Tweedy and company obliged with 26 songs in 135 minutes that even engaged the high school girl in front of me, texting her boyfriend, “I’m at some concert with my mom.”

We had a bumper crop of stupid criminals last week – each doing their part to give pot smokers a really, really bad name. First, from Humble, Texas, comes the sick and sad story of three teens arrested and charged with misdemeanor abuse of a corpse for allegedly digging up a grave and stealing a skull in order to make a bong. I wish I were kidding. (You think normal bong water tastes and smells bad – can you even imagine? Ick. Ick. Ick.) Seems 17-year-old Kevin Jones was being interviewed by police about the use of a stolen debit card when the teen (who faces charges as an adult) spilled the beans about digging up a grave with two buddies, including 17-year-old Matthew Gonzalez (also charged as an adult). (The third teen is still legally a juvenile, so police have not released his identity.) Gonzalez apparently confirmed the tale, though police are still investigating, reports the Associated Press. The grave was in a 19th-century veterans cemetery, the AP reports, and the skull appears to have come from an 11-year-old that died in 1921. Why would Jones confess to such a thing? "We can only speculate and guess to what goes on in the criminal mind," Humble Police Sgt. John Chomiack said.

Peep the pics from Place 1 candidate Allen Demling's E-Night party at The Side Bar here. Thanks to photographer Alison Narro.

Local sevenpiece massive When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth is ready for its close up: They made Spin's Artist of the Day. The mag called sophomore album Not Noiice, which drops tomorrow, "an enticing collection of psychopathic, sludge-punk tunes, right at home at an acid-fueled Brooklyn loft party." Do acid parties even happen in Brooklyn? Check out the boys' video for "It's Not the Heat, It's the Humidity" below and bow to its grungeness.

It's the stuff deprived-of-light writers dream of – getting away from the big city, nestling into a wooded enclave, and doing nothing but wordsmithing ... and maybe a little yard work. Welcome to the Dobie Paisano Fellowship. Well, not welcome to you, exactly, but certainly to the two latest fellowship winners, just announced today. The Ralph A. Johnston Fellowship goes to former Austinite Michael Erard, who held a crowd rapt at last year's Texas Book Festival, where he was promoting his first book, Um...: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean. The Jesse Jones Fellowship was awarded to Vanessa Ramos, a native El Pasoan who traffics in poetry, playwrighting, and creative nonfiction. Each writer will enjoy a monthslong stay at J. Frank Dobie's historic, 254-acre ranch, located to the west of Austin. If that sounds good to you – and, really, how could it not? – you can apply for the 2009-2010 fellowships come fall. Information and applications will be available on the web in October.

The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians is looking for groups to compete in its 2008 Corporate Battle of the Bands. To be eligible, bands must have between three and ten members, all of whom must be hobbyists and residents of the Austin area. Each band must be willing to throw down a 1K donation. The deadline to register is Thursday, May 15, and the showdown takes place at Antone’s on Sept. 3. Get to work.