Volume 25, Number 9
ON THE COVER:
news
The sinister legions of the 'Drug Cartel' have little to fear from the latest incarnation of border hysteria. As for the rest of us ...
BY DIANA WELCH
Baxter leaves the Lege, and would-be state reps may have to jockey for position early
BY AMY SMITH
Without reform, Texas' mental health system might fail killer of piano teacher again
BY EMILY PYLE
Real-life hero of 'Hotel Rwanda' is honored for saving lives
BY RITA RADOSTITZ
Toll roads and trash dumps on the council agenda
BY WELLS DUNBAR
No on everything. Double no on Proposition 2.
How to be Babs 'Marie Antoinette' Bush for Halloween
BY DIANA WELCH
Headlines and happenings from Austin and beyond
Don't know about you, but I'm beginning to feel sorry for Tom DeLay
BY MICHAEL KING
Fifty percent of Americans say they want Congress to consider impeaching Bush if he lied about his reasons for invading Iraq; and while Big Oil gouges America, Congress gives refiners new tax breaks and anti-pollution requirement exemptions
BY JIM HIGHTOWER
food
888's fine Vietnamese fare deftly seasons the classic with the contemporary
BY CLAUDIA ALARCÓN
A Majestic future for Grape Vine Market? Plus: Noodle-ism and Mangia aren't just local favorites.
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Food Reviews
The perfectly pulled imperial pint of Smithwick's Ale was all I needed
music
Out of Austin's primordial music past comes John Andrews with tales from the music hall of legends
BY BILL BENTLEY
John Cale loosens a new 'Black Acetate' on the unsuspecting underground
BY AUDRA SCHROEDER
The Astros' World Series run prompts memories from longtime fans, and memories of smoking in local bars will stay just that
BY CHRISTOPHER GRAY
Texas Platters
The Real Deal
Live shot
Catfish, Until the Shame Is Gone, The Black Angels, The Rocket Breaks Down, Young Mountain EP
Byzantine
Black Sheep Boy Appendix
Tanglewood Numbers
screens
GAMING
How my attempt at hard-core gaming proved too hard
BY JAMES RENOVITCH
October 27-28
BY JAMES RENOVITCH
Real news for your virtual existence
BY JAMES RENOVITCH
'Smartbomb: The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution'
BY JAMES RENOVITCH
Austinite Stephen Romano's psychotic collaboration with Don Coscarelli launches Showtime's 'Masters of Horror' series
BY MARC SAVLOV
Nov. 3-6
BY MARC SAVLOV
Harold Ramis and Mike Judge receive awards; plus, go to www.austinfilmfestival.com for a list of film competition winners
BY JOE O'CONNELL
'The Wilgus Stories'
Jonathan Jakubowicz and Elizabeth Avellán on 'Secuestro Express'
BY MICHAEL KING
I could offer the usual list of Halloween fare. Instead, I offer a list of good scary and bad scary things on the small screen.
BY BELINDA ACOSTA
Screens Reviews
This most impolite of directors attacks the most polite of genres in a way that makes it feel like her own creation, and pays tribute to her source by bringing it so ferociously to life
Film Reviews
While Capote is a good film, it hasn’t closed the book on the subject, even though the performances are undeniably great.
This Hamptons-set hip-hop story about love and success is modeled after The Great Gatsby.
Whereas the Zorro of yore was a cunning subversive with a libidinous guerrilla panache, this new take with a tyke added is more like Leave It to Zorro.
With genuine sparks between its two lovestruck leads and a delightfully flinchy performance from Meryl Streep, this comedy is just what its title implies: prime.
With nary a decent, connective character in sight, this nasty sequel quickly becomes little more than a strenuous battle for survival among the already damned.
Julian Fellowes is two for two: The English actor’s first big screenwriting credit, Gosford Park, netted him an Oscar, and with this directorial debut, he again demonstrates a mastery of British uppercrust dramas.
This lush and horrific anthology film from three of the finest craftsmen working today – Fruit Chan, Chan-wook Park, and Takashi Miike – is an instantly memorable and squirm-inducing assemblage.
In this heartfelt comic drama, a wonderfully controlled Nicolas Cage plays a man who, despite the appearance of success, is despondent over his superficiality.
arts & culture
Dan Dietz's new play 'Americamisfit' may get you to question the way we Americans romanticize the sudden, violent change of revolution
BY BARRY PINEO
In advance of her Oct. 30 program, the Essential Chopin, pianist Mary Robbins talks about Chopin and Mozart, and what makes for essential Chopin
BY BARRY PINEO
Just two weeks into what was to be his sixth season with the State Theater Company, Scott Kanoff was booted from his job as producing artistic director
BY ROBERT FAIRES
A national economist discusses the role of the arts in regional vitality, the LBJ celebrates the NEA at 40, Miami City Ballet cancels a show, and the Blanton Museum delays its grand opening
BY ROBERT FAIRES
Arts Reviews
In Zach's original production 'Keepin' It Weird,' Dave Steakley displays examples of Austin weirdness as lovable freaks in self-referential spectacle
October is a fitting time for the Vortex to premiere Chad Salvata's opera 'Vampyress,' about a ghoulish countess who killed 600 women so she could bathe in their blood
Lora Reynolds Gallery's first group show, 'Suspended Narratives,' is a cleverly developed grouping of artworks that have obscure or hard-to-find meanings
columns
Watching the watchmen
BY LOUIS BLACK
Our readers talk back.
With oil in the future rationed to agriculture, essential services, and (inevitably) the military, and personal long-distance driving and passenger flight no longer feasible then, if the United States is to remain a continental entity, the only answer is trains
BY MICHAEL VENTURA
Stephen is deep in fall fashion benefits. 'Tis the season!
BY STEPHEN MACMILLAN MOSER
Is erythritol a natural sweetener, and how does it compare in safety to sucralose?
BY JAMES HEFFLEY, PH.D.
When can the police search my car?
BY LUKE ELLIS
Termites. A thousand million of them.
BY MR. SMARTY PANTS
The faithful and the curious make the trek to the shrine of faith healer Don Pedrito Jaramillo just east of Falfurrias
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD
Our latest batch
Sixth Street, Monday, October 31, 2005
BY THE LUV DOC
Letters to the editor, published daily
sports
The Lady Longhorns lose their chance for a regular-season title
BY NICK BARBARO