After a Fashion
Was your Style Avatar caught throwing down with Wilford Brimley(?!) in the grocery store parking lot? Or is it a case of mistaken identity?!
By Stephen MacMillan Moser, Fri., Dec. 9, 2005
CRASH COURSE Blocked by a car in a grocery store parking lot, all we could do was watch in disbelief as a woman's runaway shopping cart careened toward our car, smacking into the door before ricocheting into the path of another car. The woman was mortified that her cart had hit us; there was a long red mark along the door where the plastic bumper from the cart had dragged along it, and a dent at the top. She became panicky and began rubbing at the mark with her thumb. Then Wilford Brimley and his butch little female troll showed up – at least it looked like Wilford Brimley, but we'll just call them not-Wilford and Butch. At first it appeared that they were friends of the woman, and Butch, standing about 8 feet away, started yelling, "That's not damage! It's just dirt! Go wash your car!" Meanwhile the poor woman was scraping furiously with her fingernail and spit, trying desperately to remove the mark. She was actually doing a pretty good job of it, but then not-Wilford started in, "It's a parking lot, you piece of shit! Why is she supposed to be responsible for what happens to your car?" Meanwhile, Butch was in the background, weaving and moaning and chanting like a possessed, toadlike wraith, "There's no damage. She didn't do anything! Leave her alone!" We asked the woman for her insurance info and not-Wilford said, "Don't give her that! It's a parking lot! It's no one's fault!" and Butch piped in with, "Well, maybe if you'd tried to move your car faster …" I came unglued that this wretched little cretin was trying to make this our fault and shrieked at her. It became evident that they were not related to the woman in any way when she told them, "Just go away! You're making it worse!" Not-Wilford and Butch sauntered off spewing obscenities, and we dealt rationally with the woman, who was actually very nice. We were still there when not-Wilford and Butch came back by and gave the woman their contact info, but the woman said, "You didn't even see it happen and didn't look at the damage!" "Doesn't matter," smirked Butch. "We'll say we did anyway." Lovely citizens, dontcha think?
LOCAL SPIRIT When the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards take place in Santa Monica in March, Austin will be well-represented as actress hometown Cyndi Williams goes head-to-head against Laura Linney and Felicity Huffman for Best Lead Actress for her work in the film Room. Nominated for the John Cassavetes Award, The Puffy Chair stars local actor Rhett Wilkins (the film was directed by UT grad Jay Duplass), and Austin actor Brent Smiga plays a supporting role in the Tommy Lee Jones film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, which was nominated for Best Feature. The three actors are represented by our own Collier Talent (www.colliertalent.com).
BETTER THAN EVER As plans are whirling for next year's Texas Film Hall of Fame awards on March 10, 2006, I'm already shivering with antici- … pa-tion. The gala committee alone is star-studded with the likes of Marissa Tomei, the gorgeous Janine Turner, and the legendary Jerry Hall, not to mention localebrities (thank you, Mark Sullivan), socialebrities such as jeweler extraordinaire Nak Armstrong, the delicious Sarah Fox, Best of Austin award-winning Joel Mozersky, the divine Julie Thornton, (sigh) my newest crush, the inimitable Becca Cason Thrash, and so many others! The committee is headed by the incredibly beautiful Carla McDonald (talk about a mind for business and a bod for sin!), and the trés glamorous Alexa Wesner (you should have seen her dress at Arthouse's Texas Excess party). With the wickedly delightful Deborah Green and sleek and soignée Chris Mattsson chairing the auction committee, this event is making use of all the big girls, and is sure to be remembered as the Battle of the Glorious Gowns (I already know the smashing ensemble that Austin Film Society director Rebecca Campbell is wearing, since we snapped it up the minute we saw it last month). The announcements have been made that the staggeringly gifted producer/director/writer/editor John Sayles will be presenting; they'll be inducting Matthew McConaughey (how fortuitous for us that People magazine has just named him the Sexiest Man Alive), Kris Kristofferson (who belongs in the Sexiest Man Alive Hall of Fame, in my book), and JoBeth Williams (who has a surprising number of films making the rounds this year). True to history, look out for quite a few more bombshells to be announced as the great day draws near. Go to www.austinfilm.org and reserve your tables now! Be there or be Cher.
'TIS THE SEASON Shop to your heart's content this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 10-11 at the 2nd Street District's Heavenly Holiday Event. Who can resist free valet, free gift wrapping, complimentary spa services, and free child care at the Austin Children's Museum? We can't wait to see what Estilo, Shiki, and the sparkling new design, furniture, and gift shop Mercury have up their sleeves. We do know Eliza Page is presenting fabulous jewelry from Maria Tucker, noon-5pm on Saturday, and that other chic 2nd Street emporiums are sure to dazzle.
WINE AND DINE Please don't miss AIDS Services of Austin's last Red Ribbon Dinner of the year is Monday, Dec. 12 at Zoot. Still wrangling with an overflow of patients from Hurricane Katrina, the group is offering tickets for this incredible dinner at $125 ($100 goes directly to ASA); these can be reserved at www.asaustin.org.
