Coach’s Corner
My girlfriend, Kelly, is all moved in now. To tell you the truth, I’m not too sure how this happened. Some time last year, she sat me down, gave me a glass of bourbon, told me to be calm, and said this: “I just renewed the lease on my apartment for six more months. I’m…
Live Shots
11TH OLD SETTLERS MUSIC FESTIVAL Old Settlers Park, Round Rock, April 3 Bela Fleck at the Old Settlers Music Festival Friday, April 3 photograph by John Carrico The friendly banter came to a strangely abrupt stop. “Yeah, this is the first year under that name,” said one of the vendors, surveying the spread of CDs…
Art Car Photo Gallery
Photographs by Ada Calhoun In the beginning, Bill Rainey’s Object Dart was a trophy showcase with dozens of blank name plates shimmering in the sun. In the course of its life the car became a sophisticated and mobile version of the bathroom wall. Rainey drove the Dart with an engraver handy for anyone who wanted…
When You Know What It Is You’re Doing
Synergy Studio, through April 18 Paul and Wendy are just a young couple with a gun on the run to who knows where when a botched robbery attempt leads them to hop a train to Seattle. But when Paul is shot in the head, Wendy is left flapping in the wind. Like Alice through the…
Living on the Air in Austin
The Pilot Ships on KVRX’s Local Live, Sunday, April 5 photograph by Bruce Dye Six days a week, the business office of University of Texas student radio station KVRX bears a striking resemblance to the “Bullpen” on WKRP in Cincinnati; walls are adorned with promo posters and flyers for shows, old teacher’s desks and filing…
D.i.y. Art Car
1. Be born with the wacko gene. 2. See Wild Wheels for inspiration. 3. Buy a Dodge Dart (optional, but Darts and VWs seem to have some sort of deep art car-ma.) 4. On a budget? Bill Brakhage advises: “Buy cheap paints – house paints, at Builder’s Square and Home Depot. All the stuff we…
In Person
Kim Hewitt at Fringeware photograph by John Anderson You probably think of Fringeware’s playfully subversive bookstore on the drag when you want to buy Gray Alien merchandise or controversial literature, but do you consider it when looking for something to do on a Friday night? It may not be a traditional venue like a club…
Recommended
Friday: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Elephant Room; ThaMusemeant, Sara Dashew, Ruta Maya Saturday: Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Antone’s; Pam Hart, Elephant Room Sunday: Murder 1, US Bombs, Voodoo Lounge Monday: Super Corpse, Trans Fixer, Emo’s Tuesday: The Wobblies, Hole in the Wall Wednesday: Billy Harvey, Renee Woodward, Ron Flint, Ruta Maya; Hollywood Hoot Night, Hole in…
Kids Summer Fun Guide
illustration by Roy Tompkins The temperature’s not up to sweltering yet, but it’s already time to think about where the young ones will spend Texas’ dog days of summer. Fortunately, Austin has a wonderful variety of events and programs to inspire and educate, many offered at low or no cost. While we don’t have room…
Postscripts
Ever since the local Borders Books and Music began posting profits beyond expectation, rumors have surfaced that the corporation’s executives would be interested in a piece of the highly visible Sixth & Lamar area, which of course already houses Book People. Borders CEO Rich Flanagan and other top company executives were in town several weeks…
Road Shows
APRIL FRI 10 Bedhead, Windsor for the Derby, Liberty Lunch FRI 10 Blonde Redhead, Emo’s FRI 10 Randy Beckett’s Rebel Train, Hole in the Wall SAT 11 George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars, Stubb’s SAT 11 Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Antone’s SAT 11 Third Eye Blind, Our Lady Peace, Black Lab, Rebekah, Austin Music Hall SUN…
E-Bonics
As e-mail becomes more and more a part of our lives, so has what I have come to call “e-bonics,” a kind of Readers’ Digest Condensed version of English. You’ve no doubt seen the emoticons, or “smileys” used in e-mail or online chatrooms. You may have even heard people speak in e-bonics: “BTW, I’ll BRB”…
5:45 P.m.
photograph by Todd V. Wolfson Because 5:30 soccer practices and 6:30 soccer games have horned in on the family’s evening meal every other day this week, tonight I am going all- out. We are having the beloved Yellow Dinner. The Yellow Dinner, as you may have guessed, is composed entirely of things that are golden…
The A-Word
When Railyard Apartments residents are protesting the proposed destruction of their “affordable” housing, you know Austin is in a housing crunch. photograph by John Anderson When Mayor Kirk Watson announced from the city council dais in February that the entire Austin police force would be receiving a raise, he made a short speech which hit…
Lunch-box Chronicles
In reading Marion Winik’s latest, I am reminded of a critique I once aimed at Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s Breakfast of Champions. As I read his simple observations of the life of an Indianapolis loser, I kept repeating a sneering mantra of “No shit, Vonnegut.” It was as if the guy had succumbed to the dumbing…
Endorsements
Tuesday, April 14 is Election Day again, as several candidates meet up in run-offs to decide the major party candidates in the November general election. Following are the Chronicle endorsements, but for the record, there are several GOP races which Republican voters should consider carefully: Barry Williamson and John Cornyn for Attorney General; Hank Gonzalez…
Risk Behavior Rises as AIDS Seems Less Scary
Early in the epidemic, when HIV/AIDS was perceived as an automatic death sentence, attempts at getting people to consider their sexual behavior met with some significant success. However, such a black environment also had serious negative impact on people with HIV. As the disease came to be understood as a long-term illness with increasingly manageability,…
Naked City
The city Planning Commission Tuesday delayed for one week a decision on the proposed Triangle development at the request of Tom Terkel, the developer of the project planned at Guadalupe and Lamar. But commissioners – along with a horde of residents who turned out to oppose the plan – were clearly annoyed by Terkel’s absence…
Benefits
SAT 11 KidsFest to benefit Literacy Austin, at Zilker Hillside Theatre, Zilker Park, 10am-noon. Cost is one new or gently used book. 832-4000. THU 16 Whole Foods Market will donate 5% of their profits to benefit the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, at both locations: Sixth & Lamar and 183 & Capital of Texas Hwy.,…
Conventional Thinking
The proposed expansion of the convention center would extend north, replacing this warehouse. photograph by John Anderson Proposition 1 on the May ballot combines two longtime dreams of downtown boosters and partisans: A flood bypass tunnel for Waller Creek, and a major-league expansion of the currently bush-league Austin Convention Center. Since the convention center sits…
Day Trips
New Braunfels’ Clear Springs Restaurant has no trouble filling up to its 325-person capacity. photograph by Gerald E. Mcleod Clear Springs Restaurant on the highway outside of New Braunfels captures the flavor of a Texas roadhouse diner. Heaping portions of chicken fried steak served in an old cotton barn decorated with antiques make this a…
Green Acres
The city proposes buying some 15,000 acres of undeveloped land to safeguard the quality of rainwater runoff into the Barton Springs zone of the Edwards Aquifer. For years, property owners have grumbled that if the city doesn’t want them to develop their land over the Edwards Aquifer, the city should plunk down some cash and…
Page Two
The first of two city bond elections this year unfolds May 2, with voters deciding on a trio of propositions designed to make everyone happy. In a cynic’s eye, the tidy, $210 million “smart growth” package is a PR dream of a deal: It appeals to a cross-section of business and environmental alliances, while attending…
May 2 Election
Election Day is Saturday, May 2, and early voting begins April 15; call the city clerk’s office, at 499-2210, for more information. SMART GROWTH PROPOSALS On May 2, voters will be asked to consider these three propositions: Prop. 1 (see p.24) Authorize an increase in the Hotel Occupancy Tax by 2% to pay for bonds…
Public Notice
Are you kidding? Just give us an excuse to run a picture of a hot babe dressed as a hot dude. Here’s our contribution to a world without gender, Amen. Club Skirt, the delicious singles party for lesbians, brings Club Casanova – a group of nut huggin’ drag kings from NYC touring their particular brand…
When a Hard Rain Falls
Crystalbrook residents Weldon McIver and Ike Williams stand in a dry area of Walnet Creek, which is targeted for flood control improvements under Prop.3 photograph by Robert Bryce Whenever it rains for more than a day or two, Weldon McIver worries that water will start backing up into his yard. A resident of the Crystalbrook…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
Alexander Graham Bell said “ahoy” instead of “hello” when answering the phone. “Son of a gun” referred to the bastard child of an unmarried woman usually born aboard ship. Medical clinics were usually behind the shore gun emplacements, and doctors would list the father as “Gunn” on birth records. Edgar Bergen’s Charlie McCarthy was supposed…
To Her, With Love
The radiant Diana, Princess of Wales. As long as I write this column, you will read about Diana, because I adored her. W e have been devoting much of our time lately to studying subjects once believed left behind with those schoolgirl days of telling tales and biting nails. Maybe it’s the result of watching…
Food-O-File
The eagerly anticipated debut of the newest member of Reed Clemons’ San Gabriel Restaurant Group takes this place this week with an opening bash at Mezzaluna Gateway (9901 Capitol of Texas Hwy, 372-8030) at 7:30pm on Saturday, April 11. Guests at the opening, which benefits SafePlace, will be the first to view the newest local…
Scanlines
D: David Richardson (1985) CBS Fox Artistic rendering of the graves found at Hallstatt, Austria, among the most ancient evidence of Celtic culture. For a moment during Part 5 of the long and winding six-part, three-video series The Celts, the world seems to stand still. It’s when the camera drops below the surface of the…
Articulations
Articulations by Robert Faires In Memoriam Austin has just lost one of its all-time great friends of the arts. On Wednesday, April 8, around 11am, John Bustin died. Bustin was a writer and critic whose career covering the arts and entertainment scene in Austin and around Central Texas spanned a full half-century. In 1947, he…
Favoring Curry
Sarovar Indian Cuisine 8440 Burnet Rd., Ste. 100, 454-8636 Daily, 11am-2:30pm, 5-10pm Sarovar Indian Cuisine photograph by John Anderson All things considered, it’s amazing that America’s restaurant trendwatchers haven’t trained their culinary sights on Indian cuisine. When you get down to it, the Near East’s edible traditions combine nearly all the elements that have catapulted…
Short Cuts
If you need some incentive to finish up that screenplay you’ve been working on, try this: The postmark deadline for submitting screenplays to the 1998 Austin Heart of Film Screenplay Competition and Conference is May 15. Scripts are eligible in two categories: adult/drama (feature-length) and children/family (feature-length). For complete submission rules for the October 1-4…
Exhibitionism
Paramount Theatre,through April 12 Running Time: 2 hrs, 25 min You know it’s coming… The Song. It’s the signature piece of this 1977 musical, the one number everyone knows, that does its bit to bring people to this production. You can sense the audience waiting for it, too; they won’t really settle into the show…
Concision and Subtlety
Trini Martinez, Kris Wheat, Matt Kadane, Bubba Kadane, and Tench Coxe Trying to accurately describe the music of Bedhead is a bit like trying to explain the color blue to someone who’s never seen it; when you’re talking about something so elemental, the obvious starts to seem a bit inexplicable after a while. Bedhead’s detractors…
Signal to Noise
Carla Sinclair is former co-editor of bOING bOING, aka “The World’s Greatest Neurozine,” editor of the book Net Chick, and author of the cyberculture thriller Signal to Noise. She’s been married for years to Wired associate editor Mark Frauenfelder and was recently the subject of an interview in Axcess, along with her sister, porn star…
Rattling Our Stage
Jason Neulander Experimental drama. Now, there’s a term to conjure dread in the heart of a poor theatregoer. It suggests self-proclaimed artistes in black turtlenecks spewing stream-of-consciousness attacks at the rich and the powerful and their parents (especially their parents) in dry, mind-numbing monotones while colored lights flicker on and off over two people in…
Dancing About Architecture
It was only a matter of time before she left us. Many were saying that because of country legend Tammy Wynette’s recurrent health problems. I was saying it because I had just heard a recently unearthed copy of “Stand by Your Man” as performed by Doctors Mob and the Reivers many years ago in a…
Driven to Create
photographs by Ada Calhoun He had a green plastic head and green plastic legs protruding from the hood and top of his car. I must have passed him 20 times on the road in one week, and every time I saw him, I smiled and wondered if it were possible for him to ever succumb…
