NEW!!! Back Nine: The Austin Golf Club Stories An official and unintended offshoot of this web site. Beautifully stupid short stories revolving around Austin's Hancock Golf Course. All free.  www.backninestories.com O. Henry Pun Off As their website says: Keep Austin Word. The 31st annual groan fest. Saturday, May 17, 2008. At the O. Henry Museum downtown. punpunpun.com/ Spamarama! Wherefore art thou? Bad news for one of the bulwark weirdo events of Austin. According to John Kelso's column in the April 6th Statesman, Hormel, the makers of Spam, have gained control of the event and are moving it to the fall and it smells like they will blandify it.  A canary in the minefield. Map of Austin Weirdness When nerds take on Austin's weirdness: John Cook's winner in the city's GIS contest shows the concentrations of places officially deemed weird. Winner of UT Computer Science Kinetoscopic Wonderment Festival: "Keep Austin Weird."  A nice 15 minute movie you can watch for free. Not sure if you're weird? Take our "Am I Weird?" quotient test.

"Keep Austin Weird" - Buy More Stuff
Bad Guys Get the Trademark

The folks at Absolutely Austin (a.k.a. Nobonz, Outhouse Design, Udamon, etc.), who make most of the T-shirts, hats, and some of the bumperstickers you see, got the trademark for "Keep Austin Weird" in October 2003. We realize most people don't care, and for good reasons. We invented the phrase, did the original bumperstickers, and put up this website before they were out of their diapers, so forgive us for being a touch defensive and probably egotistic.

The real problem with this turn of events is that it points out the boring irony of the entire "movement" (to use a grandiose term). It was a small attempt to counter Austin's descent into rampant commercialism and over-development. Absolutely Austin getting the trademark rather than letting this chicken run free is a sad proof that commercialism is winning. Most people probably think of Keep Austin Weird as a marketing slogan rather than our original attempt to highlight those aspects of our town that are really weird. Making money isn't high on that list.  And they are enforcing the trademark, getting desist orders to folks who were making T-shirts.

Sorry to suck the fun out of this site. If you care, drop us or Absolutely Austin a line with your views. Ignore this. Be weird. Make your own T-shirt or take a look at our new version.

"Rich people can be eccentric. The rest of us can be weird."
- Frank Zuppo

"Austin has to choose between odd and Mammon."
- Zack Replica

"If the way Austin is going makes you mad, don't get even. Get odd."
- Dr. George Greer

Bumpersticker Shock

The original Keep Austin Weird bumperstickers are available at:
- West End Grooming, 2906 San Gabriel (they charge $1 and give the money to Animal Rescue)
- Whip In Convenience Store, 1950 S. IH 35
- Oat Willie's Campaign Headquarters, W. 29th and Guadalupe


We don't sell T-shirts, hats, condoms, skywriting, etc. Search the web and you will find many who do.

keepaustinweird@keepaustinweird.com

(Please put KAW or something in your subject.  The spam is drowning out the real messages.)

Keep Austin Weird named cool site.
Thousands of critics leap to their deaths.

Winner in Austin Chronicle's Readers Poll.
(The award in this category was retired.)
People can be so stupid.

current weirdness    weirdness past    the unweird    links    submit