Volume 24, Number 45
ON THE COVER:
news
As the population swells, officials and activists look for ways to preserve open space
BY RACHEL PROCTOR MAY
Candies derived from marijuana flowers contain no THC, but still raise the ire of politicians
BY JORDAN SMITH
The capital of Texas ... a great place to hook up and throw up
BY KEVIN BRASS
Students build all-solar house for national competition
BY DANIEL MOTTOLA
Headlines and happenings from Austin and beyond
BY LEE NICHOLS AND CHERYL SMITH
Proposals would actually tax Texans more, but with little extra for schools
BY KIMBERLY REEVES AND AMY SMITH
Beneath the rockets' red glare, the costs of our Iraq misadventure mount
BY MICHAEL KING
Corporations promising to relocate here and to create lots of jobs in exchange for tax breaks and other goodies are full of it; and Transportation Security Administration doing a lot more than making you take off your shoes
BY JIM HIGHTOWER
food
Mark Schmidt's 'rustic gourmet' approach is the driving force behind Cafe 909
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Tequila country
BY WES MARSHALL
Congratulations and upcoming events across the Austin food community
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Food Reviews
Since 1975, the Kitchen Door has been selling hearty home-cooked American comfort food to go, and despite its longevity, it shows few signs of aging
music
Ninety-nine local bands on Red River waiting to be heard
BY DARCIE STEVENS
Why everyone loves Alan Durham's Sex Drive; Trophy's and a slew of other music-sharing venues reshape the scene
BY CHRISTOPHER GRAY
screens
Andrew Bujalski, who wrote 'Funny Ha Ha' in Austin and wrapped it in Boston, on the film's unlikely fate
BY SPENCER PARSONS
The Texas Documentary Tour: Amy Grappell's 'Light From the East'
BY ANNE S. LEWIS
The creator of TV's cult classic Freaks and Geeks and writer of another memoir, Kick Me, Paul Feig is no stranger to mining embarrassment's riches, and Superstud ranks high among his work for going so low
BY SPENCER PARSONS
The Texas Film Commission copes with big departure; plus, Kat Candler, shooting updates, and casting calls
BY JOE O'CONNELL
Having been exiled from Austin for the month of June, I found myself longing for a decent breakfast taco
BY BELINDA ACOSTA
Screens Reviews
The 1975 film 'Hustle' is a great modern love story disguised as a neo-noir police procedural. Largely unappreciated at the time of its release, the situation has not improved greatly if we are to judge by this no-frills DVD release.
Film Reviews
Two of France's top actors pair up for this wishful farce about good deeds and their consequences.
All four aren't fantastic, but at least two are pretty good in this latest Hollywood take on a classic from Marvel Comics.
Hungarian writer-director Antal is like the conductor of a midnight express: Grab a rail and hold on while he whizzes through montages and extreme angles of impossibly precipitous escalators in the Budapest subway system.
This Australian horror film arrives at the tail end of a recent and very substantial cinematic zombie overdose. Unfortunately, there are only so many ways to slice the walking dead.
arts & culture
Annie Leibovitz's portraits of American musicians reveal her true oeuvre
BY MARGARET MOSER
Mexic-Arte's 'YLA No. 10' showcases the work of tomorrow's great Latino artists
BY PATTI HADAD
The Spirit Echoes Fine Art Festival is your one-stop shop to fill all those one-of-a-kind sculpture, ceramics, mixed media, and jewelry needs
BY ROBERT FAIRES
Last call for changes to the city arts funding guidelines, another cool two million for the Long Center, Sally Jacques gets touched by an angel, more Austin artists do New York, and another honor for Conspirare
BY ROBERT FAIRES
Arts Reviews
Even without Hercule Poirot, the Different Stages production of Agatha Christie's 'Appointment With Death' provides a satisfying mystery
The plays of Jean Giraudoux are rarely staged today, so Coda Theatre Project's 'Ondine' is, while flat in places, a courageous and heartening show
Flatbed Press offers artists opportunities to create limited-edition prints and compelling memories.
columns
Religious zealotry can have the effect of undoing basic morality
BY LOUIS BLACK
Our readers talk back
'Practice,' in the modern sense, means to work at something persistently, trying to get it right which also fits my meaning, my practice: the hour or so a day when I read my 'devotionals' (a Catholic usage), then to go to my altar to meditate and pray
BY MICHAEL VENTURA
Where and with whom did Stephen sally forth this Fourth of July? And what else happened in town on this party weekend.
BY STEPHEN MACMILLAN MOSER
On the down-low ...?
BY SANDY BARTLETT
A decision on whether to supplement with ultratrace minerals or not depends on diet
BY JAMES HEFFLEY, PH.D.
Lyfe Tyme barbecue pits love their smokers, and so will you
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD
LSD, chess, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and 12 pianos
BY MR. SMARTY PANTS
Our latest batch
Emo's, Saturday, July 9, 2005
BY THE LUV DOC
Letters to the editor, published daily
sports
Divine intervention lifts Austin Lightning
BY NICK BARBARO