District 48 candidate's acknowledgement that he hired political consultant John Colyandro to work on his Senate campaign in 2002 raises big legal questions

BY AMY SMITH

Who We Are

The 'Chronicle' interviews Howard Zinn on war, peace, and human nature

BY DIANA WELCH

Endorsement

Special election for Texas House of Representatives, District 48

Naked City

Headlines and Happenings from Austin and Beyond

Point Austin: It's That Time Again

If you haven't voted, aren't voting, aren't ready to vote – wake up!

BY MICHAEL KING

The Hightower Report

Bush's IRS goes after poor folks; and the latest 'creep' of advertising

BY JIM HIGHTOWER

food

Loving Home

No reservations? No problem! A sex – er, six – -course meal you can make for your main squeeze

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Food-o-File

After 15 years, David Garrido departs Jeffrey's, and the timing's right for Alma Alcocer-Thomas to take over; plus, more food and wine options on Valentine's Day.

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

music

What the Folk?

The 2006 Folk Alliance washes ashore in Austin – brace the bulkheads!

BY JIM CALIGIURI

TCB

Burning down the house, good for Spoon, not so good for KOOP

BY CHRISTOPHER GRAY

MANIKIN|BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICITY

Texas Platters

Thee Fine, Thee Shams, Brotherhood of Electricity, Gutshot & Thirsty, Ethan Azarian, Bavu Blakes

Looking Everywhere, Thee Shams, Brotherhood of Electricity, Songs About Women and Dying, Aliens, Too Selfish.

Cheryl Bliss, Wendy Colonna, Shelly Knight & the Livin' Dead, Hilary York, Annabella

The Sweet Soul Light, Right Where I Belong, Shelly Knight & the Livin' Dead, The Moon, Songs of Goodbye

Where There's Smoke, There's a 'Vérité-Enhanced' Legacy

The Texas Documentary Tour: Ross McElwee's 'Bright Leaves'

BY ANNE S. LEWIS

Film News

Scott Rudin's Texas bent brings Kimberly Peirce's 'Stop-Loss,' even though it's 'No Country for Old Men' and 'There Will Be Blood'

BY JOE O'CONNELL

Screens Reviews

Into the Blue

Reacquaint yourself with one Paul Walker, the Jean-Paul Belmondo of the New Preposterousness

Film Reviews

The Hallmark homilies are all there in this family-friendly feature about a cancer-stricken 10-year-old searching for the elusive morpho butterfly, but when the principals arrive in rainforest country, the film shifts gears and begins to breathe.

Coachella

Where else can you see Iggy Pop & the Stooges back to back with Morrissey, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Belle & Sebastian, Bright Eyes, and Nine Inch Nails? Nowhere but in this rambling, celebratory documentary, which covers performances from all six years of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival and manages to catch the laid-back, slow-fi charm of the actual event.

Curious George

It’s not perfect, but this big-screen debut of H.A. Rey’s lovable monkey is faithful to George’s gentle spirit while fully exploiting the possibilities of old-school, two-dimensional animation.

Final Destination 3

It’s not going to nab any golden statuettes, mind you, but this shocker takes such exuberant, gleeful delight in the unspeakably gory dispatch of assorted teenagers that it may well be the most fun you’ll have at the movies all week.

Imagine Me & You

A traditional romantic comedy with a lesbian twist, Imagine Me and You has its charms, but for a movie about loving radically, it sure plays it safe.

The Pink Panther

In this pointless rehash of the 1964 Blake Edwards film that introduced Inspector Clouseau to the world, Steve Martin inhabits the role of the bumbling French detective without a trace of the comic genius of Peter Sellers.

Protocols of Zion

Documentary filmmaker Marc Levin investigates the reasons for the recent renaissance of American anti-Semitism; sadly, the end result is scattershot and never really elucidates or poses solutions to the problem.

When a Stranger Calls

Simon West’s do-over of Fred Walton’s 1979 creepfest – in which babysitter Belle menaced by a stranger with a phone who probably isn’t that guy from Verizon – is a hollow, shallow, and just plain boring exercise in snooziness.

arts & culture

Proper Exposure

A new exhibition gives eight of the state's finest photographers – who happen to be women – their due

BY BENNÉ ROCKETT

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh

The Jewish Community Association of Austin's production of 'Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!,' a revue of Allan Sherman's parody songs, may tickle your funny bone – especially the part connected to your nostalgia bone

BY WAYNE ALAN BRENNER

Rodrigo Duarte-Clark

Playwright Rodrigo Duarte Clark discusses the genesis of his play, 'Doña Rosita's Jalapeño Kitchen,' and the new production being mounted by Austin's Teatro Vivo

BY BARRY PINEO

ColdTowne Heroes

Help the ColdTowne Heroes get out of town (to hit a batch of comedy fests around the country) at Fun-Razor, an evening of improv, sketches, and films

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Oh Mother

Allison Orr, who's expecting her first child in late March, has organized a program of contemporary dance by a half-dozen moms and moms-to-be

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Arts Reviews

Urinetown: The Musical

'Urinetown: The Musical' may wallow in a sordid premise and have an awful title, but Zach's production is always making you happy, if not downright giddy

FronteraFest Short Fringe Best of the Week, Week 4

The Best of the Week for week four of the 2006 FronteraFest Short Fringe lived up to the high expectations for 'the fringe theatre event of the Southwest'

'Grid'

Scale is the theme in "Grid," where every artwork is on the same scale:4 feet by 8 feet, and the show is worth the visit

columns

Page Two: Name-Calling, Part II

Name-Calling, Part II: The proud badge of 'cowardice'

BY LOUIS BLACK

Postmarks

Our readers talk back.

After a Fashion

Well Riverside and Congress is finally all clear. So now Stephen can go out and be fabulous at all these incredible Valentine's and early springtime happenin's!