http://www.austinmama.com/ "connecting and celebrating Austin's varied community of thinking mamas". This won the 2002 Texas interactive media award for acheivement in technical creative innovation. Who's your mama? from their website In the beginning, there was a severe case of writer's block and a weakness for purchasing domain names. And it was good... except for the wallet. Next came an idea: why not open an accessible, 24 hour community center for Austin mamas who are hungry to connect -- a sanctuary against isolation, loneliness and estrangement. But why stop there? Why not ice the cake with rich, quirky, soulful images by Austin artist Sarah Higdon? Why not support local writers by featuring their essays, fiction and poetry? Why not guarantee that the work will be absent of the absolute crap and treacle sometimes shoveled to mamas on a daily basis by people who think a woman's brain is delivered attached to the placenta? And why not spotlight some neighborhood mama-heroines and the work they do while we're at it? Sounds good, eh? We thought so too. What we ended up with is AustinMama.com -- a long overdue, one of a kind, cyber- haven tailored especially for Austin's thinking mothers; a place to talk freely, be chal- lenged, trusted, validated and respected for the gifts we mamas give so abundantly, and recog- nized for the hard work we do every day.

Topic 66 [texas.ind]: virtual communities based in Austin and Texas #2 of 5: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Tue Aug 20 '02 (02:26) 16 lines http://www.austincityclub.org/ According to their main web page: You live in a democracy YOU can make a difference! The government has tremendous power over our lives, but who controls our government? Do you make a difference? Can you make a difference? An eighteen percent voter turnout at elections suggests many people question whether their participation makes any difference at all. Do you have thoughts about our region you would like to express? Do you feel there are adequate forums for you to share your thoughts? Would you like more information about the issues and trends that concern you so that you can be a better-informed citizen? Topic 66 [texas.ind]: virtual communities based in Austin and Texas #3 of 5: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Tue Aug 20 '02 (02:27) 11 lines Outrageous. http://www.livejournal.com/~austincommunity howdy ya'll!!!! ok cow pokes and cow pies it's getting close to the end of the month and you know what that means? TIME FOR A BADASS PUNK SHOW!!!!! That's right coming to you strait from down town Austin we got a perfect line up to make your ears bleed and your mothers cry after you come home drenched in some fat spike punk's sweat...... Hell I'll sweat on you myself it's all good, just go to the show it's going to be badass!!!!!!!! Topic 66 [texas.ind]: virtual communities based in Austin and Texas #4 of 5: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Tue Aug 20 '02 (02:31) 53 lines With reference to the above badass community, the Electric Daisy rave got canceled this past weekend but another one got organized impromptu style in an unregulated region of the County and resulted in one Ecstasy death. Bad, bad press for these bad boys. Before all this bad stuff happened, one of the posters at the above community noted: Before people begin jumping to conclusions, there are alot of details regarding the cancellation at the Expo Center. For one thing, ELECTRIC DAISY CARNIVAL IS STILL GOING ON at a new venue. Details posted later from Ark, I'm sure. Keep an eye on www.electricdaisycarnival.com for full venue info. The issue with the cancellation is pretty sad. Travis County pulled the rug out from under Ark's feet with a small loophole clause that states that insurance permits must be submitted within 7 days of the event. Travis County Sheriff's and the Expo staff had a meeting planned with Ark on Friday of last week, at which point they were going to go over all the last minute detials of the insurance permit and more. At the very last second, TRavis County postponed the meeting till Monday. When Ark arrived on Monday, the Sheriffs tried to serve Noah with papers due to an unsettled debt from last year's Airport. When he tried to pay the debt on the spot, they told him the show was cancelled due to the insurance clause. No questions asked. When he argued, they threatened to arrest him for criminal trespass and told him to leave the premises. Ark Entertainment spent the remainder of the week battling in court to secure the Expo Center. They've contacted just about everyone to help them in this case. Even the APD and DEA said they would testify on Noah's behalf, which is pretty surprising. Once the word was final that the cancellation would stand, they rushed about town and locked down another venue to save the festival. The shitty thing about this for me is that Noah and I have spent the last 8 months talking to APD, DEA, TABC and more to secure this show. Our main focus was to ensure that the city was behind us and that there were no unannounced "busts" or "crackhouse" antics to screw it up. To that aim, we were successful in getting the city to support the show. There has never been this kind of cooperation between city officials and promoters in Austin, possibly even Texas. But Travis County was never an issue because contracts were signed and they all seemed very supportive of the event. NOW, last second, the County pulls this loophole and cancelled the event without any negotiations whatsoever, which is seriously messed up. To his credit, Noah has worked his tail off for 8 months to make this party happen. Fortunately, there will still be a party. It just won't be happening at the Expo center. Topic 66 [texas.ind]: virtual communities based in Austin and Texas #5 of 5: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Tue Aug 20 '02 (02:33) 5 lines So is the County the one that really messed up? And are unregulated raves a danger? I expect that discussion to rage through the austincommunity site. The article about the Ecstasy overdose/death was prominent in yesterday's snakeskin.