Oct. 16, 2009

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Volume 29, Number 7

ON THE COVER:
news

The Fire at AFD

Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr leads a department flaming with labor, race, and gender politics

BY WELLS DUNBAR

'The Austin Chronicle' Endorsements

BY THE CHRONICLE EDITORIAL BOARD

Point Austin: Clinton's Wars, Bush's Wars, Obama's ...

A peace prize, a peace rally, and more of the same

BY MICHAEL KING

City Hall Hustle: Everybody Join In!

Participation is an Austin thing ... except at Capital Metro

BY WELLS DUNBAR

Headlines

Res Publica

Citizens' calendar, Oct. 15-22

Naked City

New briefs from Austin, the region, and beyond

Roadblocks

Transit agency's self-evaluation report reflects frustration over impediments

BY LEE NICHOLS

So Over Grover

Norquist, Perry join anti-tax forces

BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

The Hightower Report

A New Day for the EPA?; and Rich Boors in Fancy Drawers

BY JIM HIGHTOWER

City Sorting Through Web of Options

Website redesign process still in the works

BY WELLS DUNBAR

Appeals Court: Patterson Looking for Escape Hatch?

Justice's departure from court would tilt the political balance

BY JORDAN SMITH

Cool Cities: Dispatches From Copenhagen

Climate change, clean energy ... and bicycles

BY KATHERINE GREGOR

'Junk Science' Emerges in Graves Case

Refusing to throw in towel, prosecutors take another stab at death row inmate

BY JORDAN SMITH

food

Saint Elias Church 77th Annual Mediterranean Festival

Saint Elias Church shows Austin for the 77th year that it knows how to party

BY KATE THORNBERRY

Food Reviews

Food-o-File

The beloved Gourmet magazine dies as cooking TV expands

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Event Menu

Foodie events around town for the week of Oct. 16-21

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Food Reviews

Ventana

The student chefs at Ventana offer gourmet food at deli prices
music

Capricorn Jesus

Sometimes outlaws walk on water

BY MELINDA HASTING WHEATLEY

Off the Record

Slow, Stoned, Rugged: A tribute to Austin's original cosmic soulman Rusty Wier

BY AUSTIN POWELL

Texas Platters

James McMurtry

Live in Europe

the Cipher, the Daze, the Steps

From Soldiers to Warriors, Straightjacket Hymns, Take It All In

Guy Clark

Somedays the Song Writes You

Ola Podrida

Belly of the Lion

Jess Klein

Bound to Love

Brownout

Aguilas and Cobras

Robert Earl Keen

The Rose Hotel
screens

A Rocky Road to Recovery

The lights are still on at ME TV, but is it a new dawn?

BY BELINDA ACOSTA

Sealed With the Sigh of a Commiserating Spirit

Adam Elliot on Mary and Max, his Claymation film about unlikely pen pals

BY KIMBERLEY JONES

I Can Watch What Where?

Finding films for cheap on the Internet

BY KIMBERLEY JONES

AFF Amuse-Bouche

A taste of the Austin Film Festival

BY KIMBERLEY JONES

TV Eye

A new six-part IFC documentary cracks the code on that wonderful crackpot Monty Python troupe

BY BELINDA ACOSTA

Film Reviews

Afghan Star

In Afghanistan's version of American Idol, there's a lot more at stake than the glory.

All the Best: Fun Begins

In this Bollywood film, comic events unfold in an effort to cover up an initial lie.

Blue

This new Bollywood film is an underwater action thriller.

Coco Before Chanel

Before she became a world-renowned brand, Coco Chanel was a girl of few prospects but with lots of pluck.

From Mexico With Love

An illegal migrant worker dreams of becoming a boxer but suffers setbacks in this film shot in San Antonio.

Law Abiding Citizen

Vigilante justice may be just what the law requires in this film starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx.

A Serious Man

The Coen brothers deliver one of their best and most personal movies, a kind of cockeyed Jewish fable that urges us to embrace life's mysteries.

Where the Wild Things Are

This very special film is the rare children’s offering that isn’t coded for adults or made corny and flip for kids.
arts & culture

Deep in the Art

Bob 'Daddy-O' Wade's 40-year road trip through all that is Texas

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Chorus Austin

With choral conductor Ryan Heller, Austin's gain is not necessarily Portland's loss

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Shannon Sedwick

The once and future queen of Esther's Follies receives a special B. Iden Payne award

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Culture Flash!

Salvage Vanguard scores a prestigious R&D grant, and Jenny Hart goes Gallic

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Arts Reviews

Evil Dead: The Musical

If dancing zombies and blood by the gallon appeal to you, this may be your dream musical

A Time for Life

A gorgeous and meaningful musical experience that again showed Conspirare's mastery

Contemporary Culture

A show offering a wonderful variety of strong art, but grouped by an unnecessary theme
columns

Page Two: Haters and Promises

Whether it's in or it's out, the right twists reality to suit its own views

BY LOUIS BLACK

Oops!

After a Fashion

Are eight arms enough to hold Stephen in fringed buckskin?

BY STEPHEN MACMILLAN MOSER

Day Trips

The Dabbs Railroad Hotel in Llano isn't a cookie-cutter chain hotel; it's an experience

BY GERALD E. MCLEOD

Gay Place

Honoring the passing of United Court's Mona littleMore

BY KATE X MESSER

The Common Law

Eminent Domain – Can the Government Condemn My Property?

BY LUKE ELLIS AND CHRIS JOHNS

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

Helen Keller, Guinness, and more

BY MR. SMARTY PANTS

Luv Doc Recommends: Evil Dead: The Musical

Salvage Vanguard Theater, Thursday, October 15, 2009

BY THE LUV DOC

Feedback

Letters to the editor, published daily
sports

Soccer Watch

The Aztex continue to build (and win) in the offseason, and more

BY NICK BARBARO

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Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events

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Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

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