If you thought that the controversy between the city of Austin and transportation network companies Uber and Lyft would die down a bit until the May 7 election, you’d be wrong.

It’s shameful, really. The treacly suggestions on “How to Do Austin Like a Local during SXSW” from lifestyle media act as if the descending audience were very small children unaware of the monster hiding underneath the bed. 

When Excess Flesh played at SXSW 2015, it was as a Midnighter, the traditional domain of horror. Yet director Patrick Kennelly is wary of the terror tag. "We've been put in this box," he said, "but if there's horror in this, it's the horror of the self. It's about the horror of consumption."

The T-shirts told the tale: "Eat. Theatre. Sleep. Repeat." How else to explain the insane level of energy in the Long Center before breakfast last Friday? The young thespians there were as jacked up at 7am as their pigskin-minded peers are under the Friday night lights. The cause: The Greater Austin High School Musical Theatre Awards nominations.

What’s the best way to get to a hip and cool stand­up comedy night? Taxi? Bicycle? How about a Chortle Portal? That’s the name of the weekly show produced by current UT students and comedy gurus Andrew Clarkston, Andrew Dismukes, and Shannon Cloud.

In just a few days, South By Southwest will once again unleash its unshakable grip over Austin. Time will warp and everyone – both local and out-of-towners – will be plunged into the black hole that is the 10-day long festival.

Marfa Myths mixes music and film over three days, March 10-13, in Marfa.

Sometimes a cookbook is just a collection of recipes. When Sonya Coté is at the helm, it can be a lot of other things too – an art project, a history, a community testament, and a love letter to Austin.

10am today marks the official start of Austin’s first queer hip-hop festival. Aiming to be the largest festival of its kind, Pink Elephant will feature more than two dozen artists, DJs, and producers of the LGBTQIA persuasion.