An Arc of Crystal Clarity
Rob chats with Gavin Russom and Viva Ruiz of the Crystal Ark
Barge to Hell, Part 2
HeadCrusher’s baptism in metal
Oscars Shows Love for ‘Open Heart’
Local producer gets Academy nod for Rwanda short doc
Chaos in Tejas: Damned If You Don’t
Fest adds UK punk legends, plus Iceage, more
SXSW: A Thousand Bands And More
Latest huge infodump adds Clutch, Vampire Weekend
The AggreGAYtor: January 10
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Straus The Survivor
How the coup to remove the Texas House Speaker strengthened him
Film Flam
Aisha Tyler emcees SXSW Interactive Awards, and more
Gossip Girl: Alexandra Patsavas
Music supervisor soundtracked my life and yours too
What Becomes a Legend Most
Jeanne Manford: In Memorium
Barge to Hell, Part 1
HeadCrusher’s seven seas of ‘metal brotherhood’
Top 10 Blogs of the Year
Ricky Williams, CenTex barbecue, ACL vs. FFF, and more
The Faces of Austin’s AAPW
Profiling wrestlers American Eagle, Creepers the Clown, and more
Alamo Drafthouse Latest Austinites to Get Dose of Reality
Cinema chain featured on A&E’s ‘Shipping Wars’ tonight
A Hole in the Wall, A Snake in the Hand
New season of ‘Justified’ opens with an old mystery and a new snake
The AggreGAYtor: January 9
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Something to Yodel About
SXSW Interactive taps design guru swissmiss for keynote speech
Baby Grand
Visit from stork means shift in Schumann’s concert schedule
Out With the Old, In With the Goat
A new year calls for new recipes: slow-roasted goat leg
Sandy Nay-Sayers
The eight Texas congressmen who voted against storm relief
HHSC Says Texas Women’s Health Program Just Fine Without Planned Parenthood
Report shows increase capacity after PP ban
Sonic Pathos & Antipathy: Gregg Turner
Angry Samoan turned critic gives into his goofier side
App Alert: ‘Hundreds’
A deceptively simple and deeply satisfying game for iPad
‘Farm-City, State’ Documentary Film in Progress
Local filmmaker explores Austin’s sustainable food movement
Bernadette’s Reopens With Lizzy Caroloke
The ax has been put away for now, as the queer dive bar gives it another go
Straight Out of Brooklyn
Austin Film Society highlights three films distributed by Factory 25
The AggreGAYtor: January 8
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
SXSWedu Announces Bill Gates as Keynote
Microsoft founder and education reformer to close event
Supremes Reject Jimenez Appeal
Case moves back to federal district court
20 Favorite Songs of 2012
Gay Place blogger Rob weighs in with individual lists
DVD Watch: ‘Sleep Tight’
Spanish shocker puts a real monster under the bed
Tops & Bottoms
Gay Place blogger Jordan weighs in with individual lists
The AggreGAYtor: January 7
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Want More Arts Space?
Take 10 minutes and fill out the Artspace Market Survey
Meet Curtis McMurtry
A third generation emerges in the McMurtry clan
Austin Food & Wine Alliance Announces Grant Winners
Culinary innovation and community projects rewarded with $20,000
CASA Looking for a Few Good Advocates
Non-profit aims to provide advocacy for 100% of children in need
‘Downton’ or Bust
Financial ruin and a wedding in peril kick off season 3
State Budget Estimate Up, But Much Already Spent
Texas prepares for second half of grand bait and switch
Oh, Who? Manziel Affirms Life After Heisman.
Is there a national championship in their future?
The Q&A Hole: What’s Your Favorite Book Of All Time?
With Michael Schaub, Kathryn Rogers, Matt Bucher, and more
TV Review: ‘The Staircase’
Sundance Channel re-airs true-crime miniseries with a new coda
Brandon’s Tops & Bottoms
Gay Place bloggers weigh in with individual lists: 2012 from 10 to F1
2012 Was Tops
Gay Place blogger Andy weighs in with individual lists
‘Derby Baby’ Growing Up in Public
New doc tracks the complex adolescence of Roller Derby
Kickstarting Another Chapter for the ‘Intergalactic Nemesis’
Double bill at Stateside before book three begins
Bill of the Week: Human Traffickers Beware, Van de Putte Is Coming For You
Senator wants to protect children and nab traffickers
Have You ‘Herd’?
It’s another stampede to La Follia’s harpsichord concert
From the Vaults: The Roots of ‘Promised Land’
Before John Krasinski and Matt Damon, it was Krasinski and Dave Eggers
Anarchy in S.A.
The Sex Pistols return to San Antonio!
The Lights Go Down at South Lamar
Final night at the Alamo Drafthouse mothership
The AggreGAYtor: January 4
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
When Steve Jobs Was Fired, and Other VC War Stories
SXSW alum ‘Something Ventured’ debuts Monday on KLRU
From Source to Sea
Three Austinites kayak South America
Lather, Repeat: British Sudser ‘Downton Abbey’ Returns
Season 3 debuts Sunday with a two-hour episode
Genie, Light That Fuse
Get the early scoop on Fusebox 2013 at Blue Genie tonight
Always on a Sunday: The Comedians of ‘Thinning the Herd’
Tyler Bryce wrangles up an improv-spiked weight-loss competition
Book Review: ‘Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook’
Over 100 crave-worthy recipes from Austin’s famous food trailers
Joseph, Toros Must Shake Off Losing Ways
Face Rio Grande Valley tonight
Eight Wheels, Two Toe Stops: The Flat Track Top 10
Calling fouls and handing out points on the Roller Derby year
Rodeo Austin 2013 Music Line-Up
Star of Texas Fair & Rodeo ropes in more March madness
Farmer’s Market Report: January 5-6, 2012
Markets back to normal after the Holidays
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Napoleon led 600,000 men into Russia. About 30,000 survived. France gives out medals to citizens who raise several children with dignity. The Marx Brothers did a silent movie in 1921 called Humor Risk. Harpo played the leading man, a detective named Watson. The film is presumed lost. Bears don’t pee for five months while they’re…
Top 10 Dances With Complexity of 2012
Dances that were ferocious, vibrant, and poignant made the year remarkable
Recommended Reading
Our favorite books of 2012
10 Best Bites of Local Charcuterie and Salumi
1) Salt & Time’s Coffee Lomo The salumerians first butcher a pig and then shape, season, and slowly cure the cuts into various delicious European-style products. The unusual coffee lomo is pork loin cured with coffee, chile, and cumin. 2) Salt & Time’s Porchetta di Testa I’m also smitten by this porchetta: deboned pig head,…
Marjorie Baumgarten’s Top 10 list
Marjorie Baumgarten’s Top 10s
Top 10 Visual Arts of 2012
The emergence and re-emergence of arts spaces, events, venues, and museums dominated the year in Austin art
Top 10 Afterschool Snacks (for Kids and Parents)
1) Iced Bennu Bennu Coffee 2) Popcorn tofu Wheatsville Co-op 3) Oatmeal cookie Sandwich Capital City Bakery 4) The Funky Meter (carrot, apple, ginger) JuiceLand 5) $2 small gelato on Tuesdays Tèo 6) Salted caramel cake ball Austin Cake Ball 7) Fresh fruits and veggies Triangle Farmers’ Market 8) Kids’ bag of Movie Mix popcorn…
Kimberley Jones’ Top 10 list
Kimberley Jones’ Top 10s
Top 10 From Visual Art in 2012
In an exceptional year for seeing art, deconstructed graphics, technosculpture, and detailed drawings stood out
The Hightower Report
America, it’s time for a raise
After a Fashion: Top These
Your Style Avatar gets on top of the Tops of 2012
Oops!
In our recent preview of the Austin Film Society’s Essential Cinema series (“Extreme Temperature Swings,” Dec. 28, 2012), the Chronicle erroneously referred to the series as Asia: Hot and Cold. The series is called Asia: Hot and Cool.
Headlines
• Austin Police are investigating the suspicious death of a 13-year-old girl who was found unconscious outside a home (not her own) in Southeast Austin on Jan. 1. Police are working to determine the circumstances surrounding her death. The girl was taken to Dell Children’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy has been…
Impressed, Yes, but Socks Still Firmly On
It was a good year for movies – but was it great?
Day Trips
Top 10 happenings for day-trippers
Power On
Top 10 games of 2012
Gay Place: Tops & Bottoms
Tops? Hell, the Gay Place like Tops and Bottoms. Who’s on Top? Who’s on Bottom? How can we pick just 10?
Cliff Notes: Happy New Deadline!
Congressional huffing and puffing finally yields a deal
Deeper Water
Best albums locally, nationally, and critical poll dancing
CenTex Sports Top 10
1) THE DOWNFALL OF LANCE ARMSTRONG In a sport riddled with performance-enhancing drugs, it would be surprising for such a dominant athlete to not have been (allegedly) involved with doping. For more, see “Top 10 Local Stories,” News. 2) FORMULA ONE Great Britain’s Lewis Hamilton raced to victory in Austin’s first F1 event, which most…
Meet Your New Tax Assessor
With oath of office, Elfant goes from constable to tax assessor
The Luv Doc: Prognostications
Man, fuck 2012. Compared to 2013, last year was a huge, steaming turd. I can’t even believe we lived through it. What an embarrassment. We’re only a few days into the glorious new year and I can tell already that things are looking up. Here a few reasons why 2013 will totally kick 2012’s ass.…
Top 10s
Top 10 National 1) Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball (Columbia) 2) David Byrne & St. Vincent, Love This Giant (4AD) 3) Royal Headache (What’s Your Rupture) 4) Father John Misty, Fear Fun (Sub Pop) 5) Jimmy Cliff, Rebirth (UMe) 6) Baroness, Yellow & Green (Relapse) 7) Killer Mike, R.A.P. Music (Williams Street) 8) Best Coast, The…
Hornucopia: Top 10 Edition
1) Mack Brown still loves his job (shucks). With about eight minutes to go in the game, and Texas trailing 27-17, quarterback David Ash evaded a sack and looked as if he would run for whatever yardage he could get, but then he suddenly bucked up and threw the ball down the sidelines where RB…
Top 10 Quotes of the Week
Notable quotables of 2012
The Impossible
The sound and fury of the Christmas tsunami is deeply harrowing as shown here through the microcosm of one family’s experience.
Austin Top 10
Greg Beets 1) Beaver Nelson, Macro/Micro (Freedom) 2) The Golden Boys, Dirty Fingernails (12XU) 3) A Giant Dog, Fight (Tic Tac Totally) 4) Kingdom of Suicide Lovers, Distant Waves (Golden Hour/Super Secret) 5) The Gary, Remains (Sick Room) 6) Crooked Bangs (Western Medical) 7) Burgess Meredith, Banana Moon 8) Dana Falconberry, Leelanau (Antenna Farm) 9)…
Soccer Watch: Top 10 Soccer Stories of the Year
The usual suspects: Aztex, Beckham, Messi, and more
Setting the Stage
Austin’s art scene spent 2012 prepping for the big things to come
Not Fade Away
Five years after the end of The Sopranos, creator David Chase directs his first movie, which takes him back to New Jersey in the Sixties.
Top 10 National
Greg Beets 1) Bob Mould, Silver Age (Merge) 2) Field Music, Plumb (Memphis Industries) 3) Jack White, Blunderbuss (Third Man/XL Recordings/Columbia) 4) Ty Segall Band, Slaughterhouse (In the Red) 5) Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory (Carpark) 6) Tame Impala, Lonerism (Modular) 7) Sharon Van Etten, Tramp (Jagjaguwar) 8) Lambchop, Mr. M (Merge) 9) Bob Dylan,…
Top 10 Local Stories
WTP4, IDEA, Leslie, and more
Top 10 Theatrical Wonders of 2012
History plays with contemporary urgency and giddy surprises made the year memorable in theatre
Promised Land
Matt Damon and John Krasinski star in this modern morality tale about fracking in America; Gus Van Sant directs.
Critics Poll
Best Local Show Brown Whörnet, Opposite Day, Bipolar Gentlemen, ND at 501 Studios (Beets) Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison, Continental Club Gallery (Caligiuri) Amplified Heat, Lovejoys’ closing (Curtin) GZA & Brownout, Haven (Fawcett) White Denim, Hotel Vegas (Freeman) GrulkeFest, ACL Live at the Moody Theater (Hernandez) White Denim, Hotel Vegas (Hoffberger) Whiskey Shivers, Scoot Inn…
Top 10 City Council Stories
Bill Spelman’s cancer scare, Austin Pets Alive!’s takeover at Town Lake, and more
Top 10 (+1) Dance/Classical Music Treasures of 2012
In 2012, dance memorably explored profound topics, and classical embraced Charlie Brown and George Washington
Allegiance
Bow Wow plays a National Guard soldier who goes AWOL in the early Nineties in this unfoused drama
Top 10 Designer Contributions of 2012
Celebrating the year’s most exquisite – and often surprising – stage designs
Top 10 State Stories
Rick Perry’s embarrassments, education’s funding battles, and more
Austin Culinary Top 10s for 2012
A tasty sampling of Austin’s finest in food
Table No. 21
A free trip to Fiji turns into a nightmare in this Bollywood film.
Recommended Reading
Our favorite books of 2012
Top 10 Education Stories
School finance lawsuits, AISD board shakeup, and more
Top 10 Sweet Bites
1) Lemon Panna Cotta with lemon curd and biscotti Vespaio pastry chef Sandi Reinlie’s elegant offering was the transcendent sweet bite at Food for Thought. 2) Orange Crème BrÛlÉe at the French Quarter Grille The memory of this luscious dessert stayed with me all year long. 3) Chocolate Pudding at the Noble Pig Good thing…
Top 10 Pork Dishes of 2012
1) New Year’s Day feast at Rancho Winslow Pork and cheese stuffed chiles wrapped in bacon, black-eyed peas with ham hock, collards with apple-smoked bacon, cornbread with poblanos, Johnny G’s garlic sausage, orange spice cake, Anna de Codornìu Cava Brut; good luck perfection. 2) Buda Grocery and Grille’s double cheeseburger with double thick bacon A…
Top 10 (+1) Theatrical Joys of 2012
Recalling a year of Shakespeare on bikes, masterful Miller, and a one-woman eco-soap
Top 10 Environmental Stories
Save Our Springs’ anniversary, Al Armendariz’s move, and the bag ban
Top 10 Savory Bites
1) Tasting menu at El Naranjo This stunning contemporary Interior Mexican meal prepared by chef Iliana de la Vega expanded my thinking about the cuisines of Mexico. 2) Mexican Street Corn This popular item is showing up on appetizer menus all over town. I love it on the cob at Fresa’s Chicken al Carbon and…
Wes Marshall’s Top 10 Libations x3
My Favorite Blanco Tequilas of 2012 If you really love the taste and aroma of the agave tequilana, always go straight to the blancos, aka platas. The next two levels, reposado and añejo, both spend time in charred oak barrels. In fact, old Jack Daniel’s barrels are quite popular, so you can imagine that some…
Top 10 Arts Events of 2012
Remembering the year onstage in dynamic acting, atmospheric design, and unexpected beauty
Top 10 Election Stories
This year wasn’t just about the November ballot, but that was a very big (literally) part too
Top 10 Austin Food Blogs
It takes a lot of talent, dedication, ability, and endurance to successfully keep a blog going, especially as, the vast majority of the time, it’s a labor of love (read: working for free). Nevertheless, Austin has more than 100 active food blogs covering all aspects of our collective culinary life. Here are the ones I…
Top 10 Things That Defined Austin Dining in 2012
1) Tacos still and ever will be the reigning champ for favorite late-night snack, hangover breakfast cure, quick lunch, and cheap dinner. 2) Hamburgers The runner-up. Places like Hopdoddy, Wholly Cow, and P. Terry’s have taken the lowly hamburger to new heights using premium ingredients and lots of accent toppings. 3) Unexpected hybrids Burgers and…
Top 10 Ensembles of 2012
The year’s most memorable groupings in classical music, dance, and theatre
Top 10 Criminal Justice Stories
Death and drugs dominated the year for Austin police
Top 10 Grab Bag
Some of my favorite places, dishes, drinks, and events of 2012. 1) Swift’s Attic From décor and atmosphere to service and food, I love everything about Swift’s Attic. Hard to pick a favorite dish, but Mat Clouser and Zack Northcutt are plating the best (and prettiest) octopus I’ve ever had. 2) Lenoir Affordable, beautiful, friendly…
