ACC Highland
features
GIFT GUIDE
Notes on Kitsch
... or W.W.S.S.T. (What Would Susan Sontag Think) about Austin's love of camp?
BY KATE X MESSER
news
Turnaround Tale
Annie's List jumps out of the red and into the blue
BY AMY SMITH
Ho-Ho-Homegrown Holidays
Austin's independent "iconic" businesses hope we'll all put them on our list
BY KATHERINE GREGOR
Oaxacan Turmoil Touches Austin
Oaxacan artist with Austin connections arrested during police sweep in Oaxaca City
BY CHERYL SMITH
The People Have Spoken: Here are your icons
The results of our "Icon or Eyesore?" contest are in
BY WELLS DUNBAR
Developing Stories: Northcross Neighbors to Wal-Mart: You don't want us as enemies
"Responsible" development sought for flagging mall
BY KATHERINE GREGOR
Naked City
Beside the Point: Their Northcross to Bear
Council wades into Wal-Mart's waters
BY WELLS DUNBAR
Reefer Madness
Hemp Farming Battle Update
BY JORDAN SMITH
The Hightower Report
How Glamorous is Child Labor?; and A Sweet Fix
BY JIM HIGHTOWER
food
GIFT GUIDE
Cookbooks
These cookbooks – which would make excellent holiday gifts, by the way – explain everything
GIFT GUIDE
New & Noteworthy
Pear Bread
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Food-o-File
Toys, tamales, and drive-through pies – the holidays are here in earnest
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Event Menu
We're here to present you with several attractive options: among them, drink whiskey, shop sustainably, and/or construct a gingerbread house
music
Year of the Squirrel
Ralph White, 21st century naturalist, 18th century musicologist
BY AUDRA SCHROEDER
TCB
Fun Fun Fun doesn't disappoint, the Dixie Chicks leave Bush for Britney, and a Red tide sweeps through club land this week.
BY CHRISTOPHER GRAY
Ralph White Reviewed
Ralph White
Navasota River Devil Squirrel
various artists
What It Is! Funky Soul and Rare Grooves from the Vaults of Atlantic, Atco & Warner Bros. Records
various artists
The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 6: 1966
Bee Gees
The Studio Albums 1967-1968
the Clash
The Singles
Sublime
Everything under the Sun
Michael Jackson
Visionary:The Video Singles
Dolly Parton
The Acoustic Collection:1999-2002
John Coltrane
Fearless Leader
Weather Report
Forecast:Tomorrow
Frank Sinatra
Vegas
Vince Gill
These Days
Tony Joe White
Swamp Music: The Complete Monument Recordings
Tom Waits
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
Jerry Lee Lewis
A Half Century of Hits
Richard Thompson
RT: The Life and Music of Richard Thompson
John Lee Hooker
Hooker
Buddy Guy
Can't Quit the Blues
Robert Plant
Nine Lives
Andy Partridge
Fuzzy Warbles
John Mayall
Essentially John Mayall
various artists
The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited
Doors
Perception
Tori Amos, Beatles, Björk, Billy Bragg, Byrds, Miles Davis, Goth box, Bruce Hornsby, Impulse Records, Waylon Jennings, Motown Vol. 4, Motown Vol. 5, Willie Nelson, Pretenders
More 2006 box sets
screens
Desk Set
Its inaugural class – equipped with cameras, computers, and expert instruction – wades into a sea of possibility
BY MARC SAVLOV
GIFT GUIDE
Sports Gaming Guide
Holiday Edition '06
AFS Texas Documentary Tour
Heather MacDonald's 'Been Rich All My Life
BY ANNE S. LEWIS
Austin Films Bite Into Sundance
The Unforeseen, Teeth, and Joshua
BY JOE O'CONNELL
TV Eye
Midlife Geists
BY BELINDA ACOSTA
Screens Reviews
Methadonia
"By the time someone has gone from heroin to speedballs, methadone, and prescription drugs, the magic is over. The fantasy now is what other people might call a routine day."
Film Reviews
Apocalypto
The ever-astonishing filmmaker Mel Gibson continues his (probably unintentional) study of the mortification of the flesh through the ages.
The Architect
This well-meaning social drama about the intersecting lives of a dysfunctional, upper-middle-class family in suburbia and the residents of a deteriorating public-housing project is flimsy at best.
Baabul
After his son's death, an Indian father-in-law tries to get his daughter-in-law remarried.
Blood Diamond
This action-packed take on the issue of blood diamonds is an example of social critique masquerading as cineplex fodder.
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
From the director and writer of Secretary comes this odd fictional biopic about this photographer's impulses.
The Holiday
Nancy Meyers’ follow-up to Something’s Gotta Give mines the same go-girl terrain but is far less interesting, featuring stock characterizations and a blandly upbeat vibe.
National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj
This highly unanticipated offering is cut ’n’ paste horn-dog humor.
National Lampoon's Pledge This!
Two weeks before this Paris Hilton sorority comedy is released to DVD, the film is making a half-hearted theatrical run.
Unaccompanied Minors
Calling John Hughes: Former Freaks and Geekster Paul Feig has got your number.
arts & culture
Kitsch Kringle
What we really want when we want Santa
BY NIKKI MOORE
Xmas Unwrapped: Doff we now our gay apparel
After a powerhouse first year of sold-out shows, critical awards, and company growth, the shrewd women of Shrewd Productions are returning to their debut effort, the holiday burlesque Xmas Unwrapped!
BY HANNAH KENAH
Austin Eurythmy Ensemble: Our bodies, our instruments
With their performance of Touched Twice, the members of the Austin Eurythmy Ensemble mark 10 years of embodying sound through movement
BY BARRY PINEO
'La Pastorela': A funny thing happened on the way to 'La Pastorela'
Half a millennium after Franciscan missionaries brought the nativity story to Mexico, the Austin Latino Theater Alliance continues the tradition of La Pastorela but also creates something totally new
BY PATTI HADAD
365 Days/365 Plays: Week 5
The yearlong festival of plays by Suzan-Lori Parks continues with seven short plays presented by Hyde Park Theatre in Week Five
Arts Reviews
The Santaland Diaries
The Santaland Diaries, as staged by the Zachary Scott Theatre Center, lets you laugh at the ridiculousness of American Christmas customs and yet leaves you feeling a bit more merry
columns
Page Two: Sluggish by Design
The only "original intent" of the Constitution was to foil extremism and maintain a balance of power
BY LOUIS BLACK
To Your Health
Jim Heffley's death, on November 26, was a loss not only to his large circle of family, friends, and colleagues but to all of us in the extended Austin community who were lucky enough to benefit from his extraordinary professional expertise
BY ANNE S. LEWIS
Letters at 3AM
The film Babel is winning awards, but none of them for Best Comedy. It seems I'm fated to laugh alone.
BY MICHAEL VENTURA
After a Fashion
Your Style Avatar takes you on a shopping spree to test out Tickle Me Mark Foley's stamina and to find Kinky boots or give Kinky the boot(s).
BY STEPHEN MACMILLAN MOSER
Day Trips
James Owens Handmade Boots of Clarendon are family footwear made the old-fashioned way – one stitch at a time
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD
The Common Law
Sexual harassment at work - what is it?
BY LUKE ELLIS
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The monkey bite heard round the world
BY MR. SMARTY PANTS
Luv Doc Recommends: Whole Foods Rooftop Skating Rink
Whole Foods Market Downtown, Friday, December 8, 2006
BY THE LUV DOC
Feedback
Letters to the editor, published daily
sports
Soccer Watch
North Carolina wins NCAA women's championship, UC-Santa Barbara wins the men's, and more
