cover illustration by Jason Stout, Photos by John Anderson
Volume 31, Number 17
ON THE COVER:
features
2011 GIFT GUIDE
Here's Part 2 of our list, now check it twice and give to do good!
BY KATE X MESSER
news
City Hall and citizen advocates look toward a new model of representation – is the seventh time the charm?
BY WELLS DUNBAR
School district's IDEA project bereft of actual ideas
BY MICHAEL KING
Perfect and good face off in US Farathane incentives debate
BY WELLS DUNBAR
May your blood-giving and tree-recycling be unrelated
'Revenge is a natural instinct, but it's not what I'm asking for here'
BY JORDAN SMITH
Board ignores overwhelming opposition to charter proposal
BY RICHARD WHITTAKER
Lack of space already dogging new animal center
BY JOSH ROSENBLATT
One final gift guide reco for the charity-minded
BY JORDAN SMITH
Glen Maxey's book recounts Perry's alleged very private life
BY MICHAEL KING
Planet K ain't going away
BY JORDAN SMITH
Language intended to exclude Planned Parenthood may jeopardize entire program
BY JORDAN SMITH
Sixteen members and associates face 300-plus years in jail
BY JORDAN SMITH
'Rick the Reformer's revolving door
BY JIM HIGHTOWER
food
Sam Houston and the historic jigsaw puzzle of Boggy Creek Farm
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Jettison your DiGiorno: Bola Pizza comes to your freezer
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Food Reviews
2011 GIFT GUIDE
What to get for the foodie who noms everything?
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
music
Carson Brock's grandmother is looking out for him, and other tales from the 'bless their heart' file
BY MARGARET MOSER
2011 GIFT GUIDE
Now they're just reproducing vintage record art at a fraction of the size on CD, throwing an entire discography worth of albums into a small box with no bonuses, and calling it a box set. Foul!
BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ
Texas Platters
Clay Pigeons
Let It Roll
The Moonhangers
San Juan Street
Pillow Talk
Forever
The Asteroid Shop
Harbinger
In Ya Neck
Kill Shelter, Yes!
Strong Drunk Hands
screens
Mind the viscera: Austin's horror filmmaking scene is exploding
BY MARC SAVLOV
Austin's BioWare unleashes Star Wars: The Old Republic
BY RICHARD WHITTAKER
Screens Reviews
Film Reviews
Steven Spielberg brings Hergé's comic books to animated life.
It's a silent, black-and-white film for the 21st century, full of coy delights.
David Cronenberg forgoes his customary viscera for the more unknowable id as Drs. Jung and Freud hash out the origins of our unconscious impulses.
Rooney Mara completely nails the role of Lisbeth Salander, and director David Fincher is no slouch either in this perhaps unnecessary remake of the Swedish thriller.
Gary Oldman is John le Carré's unflappable spy, George Smiley, in this dandy espionage tale.
A stylistic throwback to classic studio movies, Spielberg's film about war as seen through a horse's experience of it rarely rises to the occasion.
Matt Damon is a widower with two kids who buys a zoo after his wife bought the farm in Cameron Crowe's latest movie.
arts & culture
Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick brings his 'Nickel History' to Slugfest Gallery
BY WAYNE ALAN BRENNER
A recital at a holiday soiree confirms there's no place like home for art
BY ROBERT FAIRES
Ballet for Bay
BY ROBERT FAIRES
Big Apple scores big with 'NAT/D' 4
BY ROBERT FAIRES
Arts Reviews
Though touching, this homespun production was inconsistent
A cocktail of a performance about what it means to send a letter
columns
Cuddle up with Stephen for some holiday cheer
BY STEPHEN MACMILLAN MOSER
Mo' gifts fo 'mos
BY KATE X MESSER
Daingerfield State Park is a jewel hidden in the Piney Woods of Northeast Texas
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD
Buzzards and vultures, bras and panties, and more and more
BY MR. SMARTY PANTS
Sahara Lounge, Saturday, December 24, 2011
BY THE LUV DOC
Letters to the editor, published daily
sports
Angela Kelly named new head coach for Texas soccer, and more
BY NICK BARBARO
Documentary TV series needs your help
BY MARK FAGAN