Volume 24, Number 15
ON THE COVER:
features
Presents for Public Service
BY KATE X MESSER
news
The federalist smoke from medical marijuana reaches
the Supreme Court. Can they clear the air on states'
rights, pot, and the Constitution?
BY JORDAN SMITH
The Mueller deal is done, but that doesn't mean the
process is over
BY MIKE CLARK-MADISON
The Texas Observer celebrates its 50th
birthday
BY WELLS DUNBAR
Austin still struggles with bicycle mobility
BY DANIEL MOTTOLA
Last-minute campaign contributions come under fire
BY AMY SMITH
Headlines and happenings from Austin and beyond
BY MIKE CLARK-MADISON
The Dietz decision recounts at length the financial
straits of the public schools
BY MICHAEL KING
Design standards turn out to be (maybe) more than
just skin-deep
BY MIKE CLARK-MADISON
No need for a babysitter, Big Brother will do it; and
Britain has moral scolds just like America
BY JIM HIGHTOWER
food
Cookbook Reviews
Holiday gift guide
V.B.W. is serious about fruitcakes; plus, the Event
Menu is in holiday heaven
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
music
Box Sets
Gift guide
Jazz Sides
Gift guide
Crunking up the holidays with a legal spat, an old-
world reunion, Dolly, and Derek Smalls himself
BY CHRISTOPHER GRAY
screens
DVDs
Gift guide
'Oscar Night: 75 Years of Hollywood Parties'
BY MARJORIE BAUMGARTEN
Under Tim McCanlies' Spell; plus, accolades aplenty
all over Austin
BY JOE O'CONNELL
In an unusual union between an indie-rooted movie
network and another cable network specializing in
sensational courtroom dramas comes a sustained,
multifaceted discussion on one of the most pressing
issues of our time: free speech
BY BELINDA ACOSTA
Film Reviews
Originality is in as short supply as shirt buttons as Snipes' high tech vampire slayer meets up with what appears to be a steroidal Eurotrash pimp playing Dracula.
Johnny Depp delves into the mind of author J.M. Barrie in this adeptly realized celebration of the wonder of the imagination.
Like Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven and 1960’s Rat-Packing original, Ocean's Twelve is an elaborate and delightful excuse to get the screen’s biggest and most gorgeous stars in the same film.
Cautionary tales about the pitfalls of indie filmmaking don’t come more searingly truthful or sober-minded than this.
Von Trotta puts a human face on 1943's Rosenstrasse uprising, one of the few public, and moreover, successful citizen protests against the power of the Nazi regime.
A Mexican and Canadian production, A Silent Love puts an unusual spin on some of the clichés of the romantic comedy.
arts & culture
Austin Museum of Art has artists transform nature in a
huge way and wants you to help
BY ROBERT FAIRES
With Conspirare’s Christmas at the Carillon and
Austin Civic Chorus’ Sing It Yourself ‘Messiah’, you’ll
get a thrilling dose of that most potent Christmas
commodity: song!
BY BARRY PINEO
Giving the gift of art this season and don't know where
to start? Try the Blue Genie Art Bazaar and the
Gallery Lombardi 'Xmas Expo.'
BY ROBERT FAIRES
Arts Reviews
Making his debut in 'The Santaland Diaries,' Rob
Williams creates an elf who's not so naughty yet who
keeps the show nice
Despite many glorious moments in St. Cecilia Music
Series' Baroque Festival Concert II, there was
evidence throughout that the musicians may have
taken on too much
columns
The old political labels don't quite fit, but new ones
have not yet evolved
BY LOUIS BLACK
Our readers talk back.
'My love is an imperfect thing but it sings.' Those are
the words to be carved on the tombstone of Michael
Ventura's brother Aldo, an unstable soul who died last
week.
BY MICHAEL VENTURA
Stephen is all about the holidays. Hide your peacock
feathers!!!
BY STEPHEN MACMILLAN MOSER
The Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock is home to a
tribute to one of Texas’ favorite sons and also
provides a venue for international and local visual art
exhibits
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD
Lawrence Welk sells out
BY MR. SMARTY PANTS
AIDS and older people
BY SANDY BARTLETT
Are vitamin E supplements harmful?
BY JAMES HEFFLEY, PH.D.
Medical Power of Attorney
BY LUKE ELLIS
Our latest batch.
Hogg Auditorium, Friday, December 10, 2004
BY THE LUV DOC
Letters to the editor, published daily
sports
Of Porto, PSV, and the Big Five
BY NICK BARBARO