It’s Thursday, which mean it must be time for snippety snippetry (BTW, apologies for slipping on Week in Reviews–if anybody reads those things. December is hectic.).

· Pop punker Avril Lavigne has started working on a top secret project with Austin director Richard Linklater.

· Coldplay are set to tape their Austin City Limits performance Friday night at 8 p.m. in Studio 6A, but tickets are long gone for that. However, you can wait in line in the bitter cold (doors open at 7:45 PM. Line begins at 3:00 PM at East door of Hogg Auditorium, 2400 Whitis, Austin, TX) to see a simulcast of the event on the big screen as it’s being taped.

· WaPo features a story about New Orleans musicians who have flocked to Austin following Hurricane Katrina.

· Last Friday, Statesman critic Chris Garcia talked to the ever-entertaining David Carradine, who’s now shooting a caveman film (funded by Mark Cuban) with Talia Shire.

· They all laughed when Whole Foods decided to put a skating rink atop their building. But who’s laughing now…muhahahahahaha! (OK, it was funny to me.)

· Coffee house La Tazza Fresca on Guadalupe still exists, despite the Daily Texan’s efforts to close it down with their poison pens (meanies!).

· Dallas’ corporate-sponsored music promotion site Buzz-Oven will be opening an Austin branch in February 2006.

· Jason Cohen’s 2004 profile of Austin for Budget Travel still rings true: “It’s an unwritten rule that once you’ve paid rent in Austin for, oh, a month, you can start complaining about how much better everything was when you first got here. But even those who gripe about the city’s evolution happily patronize restaurants, shops, and coffeehouses that wouldn’t otherwise exist. No one ever leaves, and we’re constantly reminded how good we have it by friends from out of town.”

· Isn’t it amazing how “The Real World Austin: Reunion” and “The Shit They Should Have Shown” were more amusing than the rest of the entire series? Reality Blurred attended a lecture earlier this week where Danny and Melinda shared some more secrets, including Danny denying that his engagement ring was paid for by MTV. More questions: Did Dr. J really hit on the girls in Costa Rica? And what did go on with Melinda and Andy Roddick?

· Austin’s Collection Agency Films, who produced the Kinky Toons, got profiled this week in the Statesman. Today, Kinky officially declared his intent to run.

· New MySpacers: the poster festival Flatstock (who will be back at SXSW this year) and Room 710. Become their fake friends now.

· Nice Austin Flickr sets from Dave McClinton, Peter Lares, an_agent and the Blue Buddha Design House.

· Vancouverization Ahoy!: More tall buildings downtown may be on the way. Austin leaders (and Williamson County Rep. Mike Krusee) want the city to hire a national planning firm to make the downtown core (now from Lamar to I-35 and MLK to the river) denser. Krusee is continuing to stump for rail or street car lines downtown as well.

· SXSW News: 1) In a huge coup, Neil Young will do the music keynote. 2) Henry Rollins will speak at the film conference. 3) Pro bloggers Jason Kottke and Heather “Dooce” Armstrong will conduct the keynote conversation for the interactive event. Interactive’s Threadless bag design competition ends Friday. My money (if I had it) would be on this one.

· The Austin Chronicle’s Christmas wish list skewers hipsters and yuppies who are moving on up to the East Side: “This Christmas, ‘keep it weird’ with a fun and funky look at life east of the freeway, where the condos are cool, the music is hot, and the living is easy! The trip begins with Sparks-tinis, a popular Eastside quaff, at the Peacock Lounge, conveniently located by the Pedernales (pronounced ped-ur-nal-ees) Lofts. From there, we’ll move to groove to the East’s indigenous rhythms