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

Excellence Without Pretense

Mark Schmidt's 'rustic gourmet' approach is the driving force behind Cafe 909

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Will Travel For Food

Tequila country

BY WES MARSHALL

Food-o-File

Congratulations and upcoming events across the Austin food community

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Food Reviews

The Kitchen Door

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

99 Bands

Ninety-nine local bands on Red River waiting to be heard

BY DARCIE STEVENS

TCB

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

I Hope You're Happy Now

Andrew Bujalski, who wrote 'Funny Ha Ha' in Austin and wrapped it in Boston, on the film's unlikely fate

BY SPENCER PARSONS

Behind the Curtain

The Texas Documentary Tour: Amy Grappell's 'Light From the East'

BY ANNE S. LEWIS

In Print

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

Film News

The Texas Film Commission copes with big departure; plus, Kat Candler, shooting updates, and casting calls

BY JOE O'CONNELL

TV Eye

Having been exiled from Austin for the month of June, I found myself longing for a decent breakfast taco

BY BELINDA ACOSTA

Screens Reviews

Hustle

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

Après Vous

Two of France's top actors pair up for this wishful farce about good deeds and their consequences.

Fantastic Four

All four aren't fantastic, but at least two are pretty good in this latest Hollywood take on a classic from Marvel Comics.

Kontroll

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.

Undead

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

Music for the Eyes

Annie Leibovitz's portraits of American musicians reveal her true oeuvre

BY MARGARET MOSER

The Next Diegos

Mexic-Arte's 'YLA No. 10' showcases the work of tomorrow's great Latino artists

BY PATTI HADAD

Let the Spirit Move You

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

Culture Flash!

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

Appointment With Death

Even without Hercule Poirot, the Different Stages production of Agatha Christie's 'Appointment With Death' provides a satisfying mystery

Ondine

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'

Flatbed Press offers artists opportunities to create limited-edition prints and compelling memories.

columns

Page Two

Religious zealotry can have the effect of undoing basic morality

BY LOUIS BLACK

Postmarks

Our readers talk back

Letters at 3AM

'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