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

Special Blend

888's fine Vietnamese fare deftly seasons the classic with the contemporary

BY CLAUDIA ALARCÓN

Food-o-File

A Majestic future for Grape Vine Market? Plus: Noodle-ism and Mangia aren't just local favorites.

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Food Reviews

B.D. Riley's Irish Pub

The perfectly pulled imperial pint of Smithwick's Ale was all I needed

music

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

Out of Austin's primordial music past comes John Andrews with tales from the music hall of legends

BY BILL BENTLEY

Outta the Bag

John Cale loosens a new 'Black Acetate' on the unsuspecting underground

BY AUDRA SCHROEDER

TCB

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

Billy Joe Shaver

The Real Deal

Slim Thug, Chamillionaire, Paul Wall

Live shot

Shawn McMillen, Bobby Baker Diaper, The Black Angels, Ben Wallers, This Will Destroy You

Catfish, Until the Shame Is Gone, The Black Angels, The Rocket Breaks Down, Young Mountain EP

Scrappy Jud Newcomb

Byzantine

Okkervil River

Black Sheep Boy Appendix

Silver Jews

Tanglewood Numbers

screens

GAMING

City of Chillin'

How my attempt at hard-core gaming proved too hard

BY JAMES RENOVITCH

Austin Game Conference

October 27-28

BY JAMES RENOVITCH

Player's Guide

Real news for your virtual existence

BY JAMES RENOVITCH

Smartbomb

'Smartbomb: The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution'

BY JAMES RENOVITCH

God Help Us

Austinite Stephen Romano's psychotic collaboration with Don Coscarelli launches Showtime's 'Masters of Horror' series

BY MARC SAVLOV

Austin Asian Film Festival 2

Nov. 3-6

BY MARC SAVLOV

At the Austin Film Festival

Harold Ramis and Mike Judge receive awards; plus, go to www.austinfilmfestival.com for a list of film competition winners

BY JOE O'CONNELL

'SXSW Presents': 'The Wilgus Stories'

'The Wilgus Stories'

'Secuestro Express'

Jonathan Jakubowicz and Elizabeth Avellán on 'Secuestro Express'

BY MICHAEL KING

TV Eye

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

An Angel at My Table

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

Capote

While Capote is a good film, it hasn’t closed the book on the subject, even though the performances are undeniably great.

G

This Hamptons-set hip-hop story about love and success is modeled after The Great Gatsby.

The Legend of Zorro

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.

Prime

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.

Saw II

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.

Separate Lies

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.

Three ... Extremes

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.

The Weather Man

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

Americamisfit: Rock & Revolt

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

The Essential Chopin: A Genius Displaced

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

State Theater Company: Kanoff Terminated

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

Culture Flash!

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

Keepin' It Weird

In Zach's original production 'Keepin' It Weird,' Dave Steakley displays examples of Austin weirdness as lovable freaks in self-referential spectacle

Vampyress

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

'Suspended Narratives'

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

Page Two

Watching the watchmen

BY LOUIS BLACK

Postmarks

Our readers talk back.

Letters at 3AM

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