Aug. 5, 2011

Volume 30, Number 49

ON THE COVER:
features

30 Things

The Highs, the Lows, the Lists
news

Arms on Brazos

As it nears completion of an extended 'Great Streets' rehab project, has Austin learned any lessons?

BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

Point Austin: Bag It

Proposed plastic bag ban will be popular – and under assault

BY MICHAEL KING

City Hall Hustle: Water, Water Everywhere ... and Nowhere

Council splits on WTP4 audit, possible shutdown

BY WELLS DUNBAR

Council Notes: When To Park That Election

Downtown parking pulls in at City Council, and more

BY WELLS DUNBAR

Headlines

Res Publica

Citizens' calendar, Aug. 4-11

Quote of the Week

Naked City

Spears' Retirement Creates Rare Vacancy

Tax assessor-collector leaving office a year early

BY MICHAEL KING AND AMY SMITH

The Right Confounded by Twitter

Empower Texans violates cyber rules, then claims conspiracy

BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

For AISD, Some Positive Signs Amid Poor Ratings

Two high schools and six middle schools miss state targets

BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

A.G. Ruling on Arson Probe Is 'Just Weird'

Decision hog-ties commission's role in Willingham case

BY JORDAN SMITH

The Hightower Report

Back to the Great Recession; and Subsidizing Plutocrats

BY JIM HIGHTOWER

food

'Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home'

Jeni Britton Bauer brings her upscale creations to Austin and your bookshelf

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Food-o-File

Rumors of a Burnet Road building boom, Kickstarting cookie cutters, new croissants at Quack's, and other food news

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Event Menu

Belly up to the bar for the Texas Rollergirls

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Food Reviews

Bartlett's

Bartlett's adds a dash of Austin to the chain-restaurant model and comes out on top

Live Oak Barbecue

The Eastside gets another superlative house of meat
music

Nights in White Satin

Streaming Spotify all the way back to the reel-to-reel

BY MARGARET MOSER

Off the Record

Fun Fun Fun Fest spins at Turntable.fm, Zorch goes viral, and other digital delights from Bali Yaaah and the Meat Puppets

BY AUSTIN POWELL

Texas Platters

Planets

Planets

Charlie Faye

Travels With Charlie

T Bird & the Breaks

Never Get Out of This Funk Alive

The Krayolas

Tipsy Topsy Turvy

The Rock Garage Texas Live Concert Series Volume 1

The Rock Garage Texas Live Concert Series Volume 1

Pocket FishRmen

Live at the Fish Fry

Dickins

Dickins

Squidbucket

Celery City

Bali Yaaah, Equals, Eskimo, Noise Revival Orchestra, ((Sounder))

Never Early Always Fate, Equals, Eskimo, Songs of Forgiveness, If We Don't Get Better
screens

Where the Beards Are

Meet the Austin Facial Hair Club, reality TV's unlikeliest new stars

BY KIMBERLEY JONES

We Can't Go Home Again

Piecing through Nicholas Ray's archive at the HRC

BY MARJORIE BAUMGARTEN

Screens Reviews

Nicholas Ray: The Glorious Failure of an American Director

Film scholar Patrick McGilligan explores an auteur's troubled life and career

Film Reviews

Another Earth

Shaky science fiction shacks up with a corny redemption tale in this Sundance Film Festival double award-winner.

The Change-Up

In this body-switcheroo movie, Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman star as pals each a little envious of the other's life.

Sarah's Key

Two parallel stories from different eras intertwine and inform each other in this film based on Tatiana de Rosnay’s best-selling novel.

Tabloid

Errol Morris finds a real character for his documentary subject this time – scandal magnet Joyce McKinney, who allegedly abducted and raped a Mormon missionary.
arts & culture

Those Lips, Those Eyes

Reading between the features in the Blanton's 'About Face'

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Shakespeare at Winedale

The UT program offers a marathon run of the Bard's early trilogy

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Crisis and Opportunity

Do you know your audience?

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Arts Reviews

Urinetown: The Musical

Students sing and dance this satire at such a high level, it's astounding

Golden Hornet Project Percussion VII

This concert of new music was driven by experiments with rhythm and sound

'Water in Time'/'The Night Way'

Bill Kennedy's photos and Bob Schneider's prints immerse you in watery goodness
columns

Page Two: Community Sourced

Moving backward and forward, toward the future

BY LOUIS BLACK

Oops!

After a Fashion

Sometimes you have to go back to the very beginning to understand where you can begin again

BY STEPHEN MACMILLAN MOSER

Gay Place

Get your tickets now for this year's refreshingly goofy Pride lineup

BY KATE X MESSER

Day Trips

The Hotel El Capitan offers weary travelers a comfortable night's stay in Van Horn

BY GERALD E. MCLEOD

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

Sponges instead of toilet paper, Elvis' diet, and more

BY MR. SMARTY PANTS

The Common Law

My Security Deposit Is Never Returned

BY LUKE ELLIS

Luv Doc Recommends: 'Texas High School Football: More Than the Game'

Bullock Texas State History Museum, Saturday, August 6, 2011

BY THE LUV DOC

Feedback

Letters to the editor, published daily
sports

ATX Roller Derby

Both of Austin's Roller Derby leagues are in action this weekend

BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

Soccer Watch

U.S. Men's team replace Bob Bradley, and more

BY NICK BARBARO

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Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

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