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(Laura Figi/Austonia)
Mysterious couple Elon Musk and Grimes are calling it quits.
If you thought you never saw these two space lovers together anyway, it's only going to stay that way. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk told Page Six that he and the musician are taking some time apart since they work in different areas.
"We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms," Musk told the outlet.
The almost richest man in the world spends most of his time in Texas between Boca Chica, otherwise referred to as Starbase, and Austin, where the newest Tesla Gigafactory is going up. While Grimes confirmed on social media she was living in Austin in February of this year, the life of a musician takes her to LA and overseas. She is currently filming a new Fox show, "Alter Ego," as a judge.
Musk says he and Grimes will continue to co-parent their one-year-old son and the two are currently staying with him.
The power couple made their debut at the 2018 Met Gala; this year Grimes walked the Met Gala red carpet on her own with Musk meeting her inside. What some called an odd match for a number of reasons—age, professions and different lifestyles—grew to be a three-year mostly private relationship, where they seemed to live different lives. They had child X Æ A-Xii in May 2020.
The two have mostly kept "X" out of the public eye, sharing minimal photos on social media, as they do their own couple photos. "I think having a baby was a big kind of like rebirth for me, like artistically," Grimes recently told Vogue.
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AvaGG is one of many Twitch video game streamers to make it big in Austin. (AvaGG/Twitter)
Want to become an influencer, a business-savvy marketer and content creator while doing what you love?
For Austinite AvaGG and thousands of others, that dream unexpectedly became reality as they dove into the ever-evolving world of Twitch, a video game streaming platform. Ava now only goes by her gaming name after facing safety issues.
Ava's original goal was simple: Make money and connections while playing her favorite games, including Apex Legends, Magic the Gathering and Animal Crossing, on Twitch.
Now a 10-year streaming veteran with over 450,000 Twitch subscribers and well over 200,000 followers across Instagram and Twitter, Ava said the industry has changed exponentially in ways she never expected. As a longtime Texan who joined Twitch when it was around a year old, Ava's watched the industry transform—for better or for worse—from a hobby to a more than full-time job.
"You are a content creator, you're an influencer," Ava said. "It's hard because you still just think of yourself as a person who's just playing video games, and you also have to come to the realization that you have a platform that people do follow."
Through subscriptions and tips, sponsorships with national brands and a grueling streaming schedule that can well surpass the typical 40-hour workweek, Ava has been able to skip the office lifestyle, become friends with notable people and travel the world.
But it wasn't always this easy—for years, Ava said the job was just enough to pay the bills.
Through years of growth and a boost in the COVID-19 pandemic, Ava and over 8 million other Twitch streamers have gained the ability to diversify their business ventures and profit from large sponsorships. By 2020, 26.5 million viewers were logging into the streaming site daily, and over 8 million streamers were on the site in July 2021. Twitch gods like Ninja, who broke all-time streaming records in 2019 as he played Fortnite with rapper Drake, have made big-money sponsorships with brands like Adidas and Ubereats.
That growth has been especially evident in Austin. Streamers Lululuvely (1.1 million Twitch followers), TeaWrex (265,000 followers) and Nokokopuffs (265,000 followers) are just a few Austinites who have cashed in on the site.
The city's web of influencers has only grown more tight-knit—Ava, for instance, has friends that range from fellow streamers to prominent local food blogger Jane Ko, otherwise known as Koko—and many streamers decided to make the move to Austin to hang out with their virtual friends.
"I think it just started because, like, one or two people moved here, and then once a couple of them moved here, then everyone else followed," Ava said. "I convinced so many friends from like the (Grand Theft Auto game) World to move here... You game together with them for years so you want to hang out."
Ava said it's nice to have friends that understand her unique employment status. But it's also hard to strike a work-life balance in a world where your every move could be monetized.
"It's the entertainment business, right?" Ava said. "If you're not doing something, then someone else is going to. It's a harsh world."
Some cracks are beginning to show in the fledgling gaming world. Gaming addictions are now making headlines, with Austin online gambling streamer TrainwrecksTV (195,00 subscribers) recently coming forward about his own addiction. Ava's dealt with stalking, misogyny and racism, though she's managed to turn incidents into teaching moments for her followers. At 30, she's even seen premature effects on her health—from back pain to mental health issues from staying inside.
But the nature of gaming still stands true. Due to its inclusivity and widespread interest, she believes Twitch streaming and E-sports industries will soon become more popular than sports.
"I feel like it's going to explode," Ava said. "Because that's what's cool about gaming is, you know, for as noninclusive as people try to make it, it can be very inclusive, right? It's women, and men, young and old. I'm going to be 80 years old, probably still paying attention to Twitch."
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(Laura Figi/Austonia)
Keep on the lookout for celebrity sightings as the city of the Violet Crown slowly morphs into the new Hollywood. Tinseltown A-list power couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have taken up residence in Austin.
The couple has temporarily relocated to a temporary luxury condo in the heart of Texas, according to a report from TMZ, where Affleck will live while shooting the new movie, "Hypnotic," directed by local talent Robert Rodriguez.
You may not see as much of J-Lo, who will only be staying with her newly-rekindled flame part-time. The singer, actress and producer will still spend plenty of time working on her own career in Los Angeles, where Lopez has been searching for a new estate.
Affleck isn't the only celeb coming to town for the film—which is set to follow a detective, played by Affleck, on the search to find his missing daughter while investigating a series of high-stakes crimes—"I Am Legend" and "The Suicide Squad" star Alice Braga will also star in the thriller.
Sources say crews are already preparing the condo for the couple's arrival, so keep your eyes peeled for Bennifer around town.
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Save Austin Now's Prop A will include their own language, budget estimate after Supreme Court ruling
02 September
The Texas Supreme Court voted unanimously Wednesday for the city's Proposition A ballot language to be replaced with Save Austin Now's captioned ballot language, but the court held that a budget for the proposition must be included on the Nov. 2 ballot.
The proposition, which was placed on the ballot after receiving enough verified signatures on a petition, was rewritten by City Council on Aug. 11. Save Austin Now hopes to mandate minimum staffing levels at the Austin Police Department to two police officers for every 1,000 residents, increase cadet training and implement measures to improve police response times. City Council members added new language and a city-budget staff estimate that the requirements could cost between $54.3 million and $119.8 million each year for the next five years.
Former Travis County Judge Bill Aleshire filed a lawsuit on Aug. 20 against the city for Save Austin Now due to its language and inclusion of the budget in the proposition. According to the Texas Supreme Court ruling, certain language will be taken out and the petition language will be inserted before the city's cost estimate, which will remain at the end of the proposition.
BREAKING: City wins on most critical issue on disputed ballot language.
The Texas Supreme Court held today that the $271.5 million to $598.8 million cost of Prop A must be included in November ballot language.
— Mayor Adler | Get vaccinated! (@MayorAdler) September 1, 2021
Save Austin Now co-founders Matt Mackowiak and Cleo Petricek said that City Council's rewrite of the ballot was negatively biased against the cause. Supreme Court Justice Rebeca Huddle and the seven other justices unanimously voted against the city's rights to rewrite the ballot.
"The City did not have carte blanche to rewrite the petitioned caption wholesale, and abused its discretion by doing so," Huddle wrote.
Council Member Greg Casar and Mayor Steve Adler, who celebrated the inclusion of the budget, argue that the proposition will allocate too much city money to the police budget. Meanwhile, Mackowiak and Petricek called the vote a "big win for every Austin citizen."
Aleshire also celebrated the Supreme Court ruling.
"The Supreme Court's Opinion today will strengthen the rights of every Austin voter to be able to initiate ordinances without political interference by the City Council in manipulating the ballot language for the proposition," Aleshire said. "It is wonderful to see the Court enforce the Austin City Charter voter rights of the citizens of Austin."
Prop A will be included on the Nov. 2 ballot.
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