"...The Same Sky by Amanda Eyre Ward Penguin Random House, 288 pp., $25 (paperback available Sept. 1, $15)..."

"...Jimmy Page could crack open terra firma one night, then the band would sputter like a Studebaker the next. My lovingly illicited new $28 DVD, 126 reunion minutes in London’s O2 Arena last December 10, hasn’t changed the tune. Practically shot from atop the flagpole crowning the 20,000-plus seater, Zeppelin’s return to this mortal plane – in this case – initially testifies to (ahem) documentarian resolve, the zoom capabilities of this particularly eye in the sky, and judicious use of the next fellow’s shaggy head as a shield from view..."

"...With perfect poise, Sky Saxon sits cross-legged atop a bed of brown and gold silk sheets in his living room. Unpacked boxes surround him, only heightening the sense of physical disconnect permeating the rustic, South Austin home he recently leased..."

"...Along the novel's picaresque journey, Love is tracked by a racist killer seeking revenge. Paradise Sky (Mulholland Books), like Lansdale's equally fine 2013 novel The Thicket, channels Mark Twain..."

"...From the beginning, it's understood that this young boy is consciously attempting to break free from the chains of a horrible familial tradition. Instead of thinking about kidnapping and the like, he lies on the ground, staring up into the sky, and daydreams about being a hawk, soaring into the blue..."

"...It's creepy in the same way that a youngster's first stirrings of adolescent desire are creepy – both to them and often more so to their elders – when strange attractors come into play and everything seems frighteningly freighted with the surreal, the mysterious, the forbidden. Hedebrant, in one of the film's two remarkable, standout performances, plays 12-year-old Oskar, a blond wisp of a boy who is as shy as the blue sky in a Stockholm winterscape..."

"...And the fiction list features a host of local literati: Edward Carey (Foulsham), Jill Alexander Essbaum (Hausfrau), Louisa Hall (Speak), Kirk Lynn (Rules for Werewolves), Elizabeth McCracken (Thunderstruck and Other Stories), Karen Olsson (All The Houses), Antonio Ruiz-Camacho (Barefoot Dogs: Stories), Mary Helen Specht (Migratory Animals), and Amanda Eyre Ward (The Same Sky)...."

"...Amanda Eyre Ward is the author of five novels, including How to Be Lost and Close Your Eyes, which was named in Kirkus' Best Books of 2011 and won the Elle magazine Fiction Book of the Year. Her most recent novel, The Same Sky, was inspired by meeting immigrant children in shelters in Texas and California, and hearing their stories...."

"...Each member of Explosions in the Sky is branded with the same emblem: the black outline of an angel tattooed on his inner left wrist...."

"...Golden-tousled Midwesterner Chris Hrasky beams, saturated with the sheer gravity of the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King trailer glowing on the Power Mac in front of him...."

"..."I think it's pretty obvious that if I couldn't do the Tour this year, then next year,” Wiggins told an interviewer last week. “If I want to do the Tour, I'll probably have to leave Sky.”..."

"...Most obvious to fans of the original, and not at all surprising considering Crowe's consistently rock & roll overtones, is the replacement of the original's traditional orchestral score with a non-stop barrage of pop tunes and rockers that runs the gamut from Sir Paul McCartney to Radiohead, and from the Beach Boys to Spiritualized. There's barely a quiet moment in Vanilla Sky that isn't interrupted -- and often manhandled -- by a sudden sonic outburst from the Dolbys..."

"...And what window-dressing – when Mother Nature finally cooperates with a blanket of white over mountain vistas in Utah, the effect, lensed by Steven Bernstein, is breathtaking. The resort, too, is something to behold: The film was shot on location at the Sundance Resort, here called the Sky Mountain Resort..."

"...The shinier it is, the less I tend to like it. Like most of Austin – especially those of us who live outside the city center – I probably can't afford to enjoy it anyway, so what do I care? But that skyline sure looks pretty on postcards and websites..."

"...Marionette arms dangling during Jaggeresque scarecrow jolts and punctuated by Iggy Pop-like Spiderman stomps, Cave would summon his best croon then bolt to the piano before unleashing the Bad Seeds’ full roar, which rose in a hellish crescendo for “Jubilee Street,” from last year’s quietly commanding Push the Sky Away. Early blasphemy “Tupelo” repeated the process, as did “Red Right Hand” afterward..."

"...Jane Tillman, a master naturalist and one such birder, will often break mid-sentence, mid-phrase, even mid-word, at the sight or sound of a bird. When this happens, she may abruptly lean back, hand shoved into her back pocket to brace herself, as she points her hat brim to the sky and scans for what she has just heard or sighted...."

"...Girl power takes flight in this upbeat documentary about a 13-year-old Kazakh girl in the remote Altai Mountains who flouts centuries of tradition to become the first female eagle hunter in her family. It’s a kick to watch the guileless Aisholpan and her soaring companion break through the sky-blue glass ceiling of northern Asia to claim her own birthright in this family-oriented film with a post-feminist bent..."

"...stereo mix/The Monkees deluxe) “Sweet Young Thing” (The Monkees) “You Just May Be the One” (TV version/The Monkees deluxe) “Propinquity (I’ve Just Begun to Care)” (demo/The Monkees deluxe) “The Kind of Girl I Could Love” (More of the Monkees) “Sunny Girlfriend” (Headquarters) “Salesman” (Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD) “The Door Into Summer” (Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD) “What Am I Doing Hanging ’Round?” (Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD) “Don’t Call On Me” (Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD) “Tapioca Tundra” (The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees) “Nine Times Blues” (disc 3, Listen to the Band) “Carlisle Wheeling” (disc 3, Listen to the Band) “St. Matthew” (disc 3, Listen to the Band) “Listen to the Band” (disc 4, Listen to the Band) “Good Clean Fun” (disc 4, Listen to the Band) “Some of Shelly’s Blues” (disc 4, Listen to the Band) “Circle Sky” (mono mix, Head box) Live medley: “You Just May Be the One”/“Sunny Girlfriend”/“You Told Me”/ “Circle Sky” (Head box)..."

"...It's an overly romanticized notion, the idea of every generation having some sort of defining musical moment, like Jimi Hendrix deconstructing the "Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, Johnny Rotten singing "No Fun" at the Winterland, or perhaps Igor Stravinsky inciting a riot with his boisterous Rite of Spring at Paris' Champs-...lysées Theatre in 1913...."

"...The hound's head is tilted toward the sky and, judging by the shaggy fur flying up and away from its snout, into the wind. In the photograph, something about its gaze appears fixed, as if the animal has the scent of something carried on that current of air, some mystery it must suss out..."

"...Obviously, there are major problems facing this country, as well as issues on which the public is divided – sometimes so militantly divided that no reconciliation seems possible. Not to whitewash anything, but the only problem with the multiple "the sky is falling" crowds is that there is nothing new or unique about this situation..."

"...(It squeals! It texts! It shops! It consumes everything it sees!) In our new tween-dominated star economy, with Miley Cyrus and other Disney Channel starlets printing money, I suppose it was inevitable that the shamelessly market-savvy Lucas would seize an opportunity to do the same. Enter Ahsoka Tano, a sassy young Padawan, or apprentice Jedi, who arrives (looking like a chorus member from The Lion King stage show) to study under the future Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, who’s busy leading the clone armies of the Republic against the droid armies of the evil Separatists while trying to secure the safe return of gangster Jabba the Hutt’s infant son, who was kidnapped by Separatist leader and Jedi-gone-spoiled Count Dooku in an attempt to frame the Jedi and convince Jabba to open his trade routes to the Separatist army, thereby clearing the way for total galactic domination … not that any of that matters..."

"..."No matter where I am, I'm still thinking about some long stretch of dirt road with nothing but fence posts and sky. I can be in downtown Manhattan and be writing, and that's where I always come back to...."

"...It has too many loose ends and too many logically unexplained phenomena that can only be rationalized away with generalizations about the all-encompassing control that typifies the Seahaven production. Why is it that after 30 years in Seahaven, Truman is only now noticing Klieg lights that fall from the sky and weather patterns that follow his precise footsteps? Is Seahaven breaking down something like a Mir space shuttle that's been in orbit too long? Also, for all the talk of Carrey's toned-down dramatic performance here, it is, though serviceable, still awfully broad and hammy (as is Linney's, yet as Truman's wife it should be said that she's always aware that she's playing to a hidden camera)..."

"...Its playful, interactive approach in doing so reminds me of Yoko Ono's instruction paintings, which similarly broach the distance between the conceptual and the material. Her PAINTING FOR THE SKIES instructs: "Drill a hole in the sky..."

"...1” 2) “Pt. 2” 3) “Famous” 4) “Pop Style” (Drake song) 5) “That Part” (Schoolboy Q song) 6) “Facts (Charlie Heat Version)” 7) “Mercy” 8) “I Don’t Like” (Chief Keef song) 9) “All Day” 10) “Black Skinhead” 11) “Niggas in Paris” 12) “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” 13) “Power” 14) “Blood on the Leaves” 15) “Freestyle 4” 16) “Jesus Walks” 17) “Flashing Lights” 18) “Highlights” 19) “Feedback” 20) “Wolves” 21) “Heartless” 22) “Runaway” 23) “Only One” 24) “I Love Kanye” 25) “Waves” 26) “Touch the Sky” 27) “All of the Lights” 28) “Good Life” 29) “Stronger” 30) “Fade” 31) “Ultralight Beam”..."

"...Paxton's announcement was also self-contradictory: "Texas has demonstrated that it can clean its air without destroying the energy sector," going on to note that nitrogen oxide and ozone levels have declined even as the economy has boomed. He neglected to mention that the primary reason our air is less polluted is government regulation, especially federal – despite reflexive doom-and-gloom predictions from official and industrial quarters, as the state's air quality improved, the economic sky remained in place, and in fact Texas flourished. The Sky Won't Fall..."

"...Unless you're The New York Times, summating a life normally happens after someone's death, so this rare instance of prior knowledge left me numb – uncomprehending. One of Austin's most spirited musicians, adopted organist of two decades, was this very moment loading up his gear for the great gig in the sky...."

"...Since winning the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his opera Silent Night, based on the famous Christmas Eve truce between enemy soldiers on a World War I battlefield, Puts has gained international stature, but that doesn't mean he's a stranger to his old home in the heart of Texas. Last fall, he was in town for the premiere of two choral works commissioned by Conspirare, "If I Were a Swan" and To Touch the Sky..."

"..."Each member of Explosions in the Sky is branded with the same emblem: the black outline of an angel tattooed on his inner left wrist. "The one visible tie that bonds," nods guitarist Munaf Rayani." – Catastrophe and the Cure: Behind the scenes of Explosions in the Sky's most challenging and personal album by Austin Powell, July 1, 2011..."

"...AC: And the derricks. You have this nice horizon low in the frame, and the derricks just stick up from the flat land and poke into that big sky...."

"...Her big eyes glint a clear blue-gray that inspires songs about oceans and heaven. Those boundless horizons seem appropriate given that the sky's the limit for Choffel, 28..."

"..."So that's Luby's," I say as we linger in the parking lot beneath a darkening Texas sky...."

"...• endless ocean endless sky, which features a performance by Portland, Ore., movement artist Tahni Holt that takes place on an inflatable iceberg designed by architect Andrew Kudless...."

"...The transmitter converts the disrupted current into a radio signal that the antenna sends into the air. Signals move in ground waves and sky waves..."

"...Mark Fradl is a veteran touring comic who moved to Austin about a year ago, quit doing stand-up, and is now devoting himself to writing and making short films. Chris Fairbanks is a young comic who recently left Big Sky country in Montana to join Austin's comedy circle..."

"...Arriving by bus ride from Matamoros, I inquired on the whereabouts of the Nuevo Laredo Fairgrounds. Two short "pesera" rides brought me to a flat, circular, open-air stadium as the five or six opening acts unloaded equipment. Overhead the sky went gradually grey, matching the asphalt underfoot. Approaching a musician with one of the opening bands, I asked when La Mafia would show..."

"...encourage it, in no way wishing to calm the numbers. As the last notes of the last song reverberate into the night sky, "family" hanging out backstage rush forward, clothes-lining as many band members as possible..."

"...“We had been looking at different places, and nothing was really matching up to what we wanted in a show I guess. Then Katie kind of dropped from the sky and messaged Devon [about taking over the show].” Walker chimes in, saying, “She approached me a couple of weeks back and I said, ‘I’ll only do it if I can bring Allison O’Conor on.’ That was my one hard rule.”..."

"...Those were only the most high-profile debates, and I haven't even returned to 130. The committee objected, reasonably enough, that in the last weeks they were asked to toss 130-related projects into the mix when those did not figure into the city's own needs assessment, and indeed were not even specifically described in any of the late-breaking, blue-sky requests for same..."

"...Too often, such efforts to bring everyone from everywhere to the table and keep them there -- and to keep an organization like ECT above the fray, rather than a new venue for the same old clashes of the same old agendas -- end up producing consensus on the color of the sky and of the grass, but on very little else. Yet despite taking diplomatic care to, for example, downplay the notion that any of the four scenarios -- even Scenario A, which extrapolates present trends into a sprawl-filled future -- is better than another, ECT's work and output make clear that not only do we need a vision that we currently don't have, but that such a vision needs to be significantly different from the status quo...."

"...It's just weeks before Christmas, but outside it feels like spring. The sky is clear and bright, and there is a south wind whisking through the trees outside the Travis County Courthouse..."

"...No Soundcheck for him, either. Instead, he's out on the road already with fellow locals Explosions in the Sky...."

"...There's no bullshit, there's no craft services, there's just making movies. An incredible crew: They knew the land, they knew the sky, they knew filmmaking."..."

"..."I always said the Eagles were the only band I have worked with that no matter the format, if I saw a radio tower in the sky, they would play the record," writes Schwartz in an unsolicited email. "I have not had that feeling since '76..."

"...I realized that we are not the only people in this universe. We would be so selfish to think that we are the only living beings in that entire universe when we look up into the sky and see those millions of trillions of stars sparkling..."

"...Then there's the magnificent tattoo artistry by the late but still legendary ink-slinger Michael Malone, aka Rollo Banks, formerly of Austin's China Sea Tattoo (see "TCB," April 27), that covers Hughes' entire back, legs, and arms. Done in classical Japanese style, it depicts a sinewy all-star lineup of the Toho Co.'s biggest box-office breadwinners, namely Godzilla, King of the Monsters, posed midroar, batting planes out of the sky, as Mothra and daikaiju galore roil across Hughes' broad back...."

"...People who have worked with Gluckman on the AMOA project -- AMOA executive director Elizabeth Ferrer, Barnes Architects principal Carl Gromatzsky -- describe the architect as "incredibly responsive" and focus much of their praise on his skill at listening. Of course, he speaks, too, and on one of his many whirlwind trips to Austin -- this one as the architect was completing the final design for the AMOA building -- Gluckman took a few minutes to discuss this project, his approach to architecture, and what it means to design buildings for a boomtown...."

"...But even if you didn't see the earlier show, you might well find the suburban setting for The Realistic Joneses eerily familiar: It's one we've been exposed to countless times before, in pop culture spanning Leave It to Beaver to American Beauty to Kirk Lynn's recent novel Rules for Werewolves, and, of course, for many people, it's just where they grew up. Eno makes it pleasant enough at first, with Bob and Jennifer Jones side by side in lawn chairs gazing at the night sky..."

"...Then all the Californians thought the same. Now prices are sky-high and the funk has been marginalized, so expensive apartment buildings can be built where [the bourgeoisie] can feel safe and complain about the noise of the music from the few remaining downtown venues...."