Dec. 12, 2003

Volume 23, Number 15

ON THE COVER:
news

'Something Went Wrong'

Six months after he was killed by an Austin cop, Jessie Owens' family still wants some basic answers

BY JORDAN SMITH

Under the Holiday Bush

Even the politically conscious can participate in the rampant consumerism of the season.

BY LEE NICHOLS

Under the Holiday Bush

A holiday gift guide for the political junkie.

BY LEE NICHOLS

Here Come the Judges

The federal court takes up the Texas congressional re-redistricting case.

BY MICHAEL KING

Last Call for Lowe's? Council Ready to Split

It's still 4-3 and holding as the controversial big-box deal goes up for final approval

BY AMY SMITH

Supremes to Banks' Prosecutors: 'Tell the Truth'

The death row case of Delma Banks reaches the Supreme Court.

BY JORDAN SMITH

Naked City

News briefs from Austin, the region, and elsewhere.

BY MIKE CLARK-MADISON

Austin @ Large: The Results Are In ...

The Envision Central Texas planning survey confirms a popular vision that the power brokers just don't want to see.

BY MIKE CLARK-MADISON

food

GIFT GUIDE

Someone's in the Kitchen With Santa

Recommended cookbooks for holiday gift giving

BY MICK VANN

A Baker's Half-Dozen

The best books of the season on breads, pastries, and desserts

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Food-o-File

An Austin restaurant legend is gone but hardly forgotten.

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Second Helpings: The Other America

music

MUSIC GIFT

Box Sets

BY CHRISTOPHER GRAY

Music DVDs

BY ROBERT GABRIEL

Metallurgy

BY DARCIE STEVENS

Jazz Sides

BY HARVEY PEKAR

TCB

[French accent] Listen very carefully… I shall say this only once…

BY CHRISTOPHER GRAY

screens

Gear Up and Get Away

The escapist magic of the holidays' hottest games

BY MARCEL MEYER

From BarFly to 'King of the Ants'

An interview with George Wendt

BY MARC SAVLOV

In Print

As Chaplin historian David Robinson is happy to report in the introduction to Charlie Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema, "the raison d'etre of this book is not so much the text as the photographs."

BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

The Toronto International Film Festival

A first-timer's diary

BY LOUIS BLACK

Short Cuts

Harry Knowles' Butt-Numb-A-Thon outdoes itself. Like, totally. Read on to regret not having attended.

BY MARC SAVLOV

TV Eye

Belinda Acosta is not amused by the two rich chicks on Fox's farm.

BY BELINDA ACOSTA

Screens Reviews

Dragonslayer

Dragons have a PR problem, and this movie doesn't help.

Film Reviews

Die Mommie Die!

Charles Busch's campy send-up of Fifties melodrama falls flat.

In My Skin

Disturbing French drama about a woman who cuts her own skin as a prelude to gnawing on her flesh.

King of the Ants

Nifty new thriller from Stuart Gordon, the director of Re-Animator.

Something's Gotta Give

Sure, the co-stars delight, but the script has more flab than its middle-aged lovers.

Stuck on You

The Farrelly brothers deliver the ultimate buddy movie.

Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion

Martin Sheen narrates this documentary on the plight of Tibet under the occupation of the People's Liberation Army.
arts & culture

The Whole Universe Rocks

The Harry Ransom Center's exhibition "Make It New" explores how modernism changed everything.

BY KATHERINE CATMULL

Playing Around With the Evil Empire

The Rude Mechanicals go Russian with a play -- well, a performance piece -- umm -- a performance collage -- well, '300 Plays About Vladimir Putin.'

BY BARRY PINEO

Good News!

Pro Arts Collective Pro Arts Collective celebrates the season with a gospel sound in the Austin premiere of Langston Hughes' Black Nativity.

BY BARRY PINEO

Articulations

Austin Shakespeare perseveres, Ballet Austin gets a grant for a Shrew, Zach hunts for a fundraiser, Mexic-Arte's Museum Store hits USA Today's Top 10, and the Funniest Person in Austin goes global.

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Arts Reviews

The Flaming Idiots

As long as the Flaming Idiots are juggling and making fun onstage at the Zachary Scott Theatre Center, you won't care about anything but the pure pleasure they let you experience.

'Cream, Frost, Mint'

In the arresting mélange that is Women & Their Work's annual "Juror's Choice" exhibit, Cream, Frost, Mint stands out as a calm, bright presence.

Paths

The many paths we walk can shape the people we become in life. Ballet East united old and new troupe dancers and choreographers to present multiple works in Paths.
columns

Page Two

Readers seeking "objectivity" won't find it here; the Chronicle is dedicated to advocacy and opinion, and always has been.

BY LOUIS BLACK

Postmarks

Our readers talk back.

Letters at 3AM

Memories of the first stirring of Self and Soul.

BY MICHAEL VENTURA

After a Fashion

Oh, Stephen! Always a bridesmaid, never a bride! Fret not, honey, your day will come!

BY STEPHEN MACMILLAN MOSER

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

Einstein, beer, and those prickly French

BY MR. SMARTY PANTS

Day Trips

Choose your own Christmas tree at one of the many tree farms here in Texas.

BY GERALD E. MCLEOD

The Common Law

What is the easiest way for me to have my credit card company take care of a problem?

BY LUKE ELLIS

To Your Health

My father has just been diagnosed with COPD. Do you have any suggestions on nutritional help for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

BY JAMES HEFFLEY, PH.D.

About AIDS

Medicare bill an AIDS nightmare

BY SANDY BARTLETT

Luv Doc Recommends: Holiday Hullabaloo

Moxie and the Compound, Saturday, December 13, 2003

BY THE LUV DOC

Feedback

Letters to the editor, published daily
sports

Soccer Watch

BY NICK BARBARO

One click gets you all the newsletters listed below

Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events

Keep up with happenings around town

Kevin Curtin's bimonthly cannabis musings

Austin's queerest news and events

Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

Information is power. Support the free press, so we can support Austin.   Support the Chronicle