Cover Story
Let It Bleed
Riverboat Gamblers: The most thrilling (and battle scarred) punk band this side of the Mason-Dixon Line
Grudge Match: ‘MVP 06: NCAA Baseball’ vs. ‘MLB 06: The Show’ for the PS2
The debate over whether professional or collegiate sports is more exciting to watch lingers as a water-cooler topic and has no end in sight. Some argue that professional athletes are prima donnas who slack off once they’ve made their money and that college athletes play with hustle and all their heart. Others feel that college…
The Wild Angels With the Ugly Beats
The Wild Angels With the Ugly Beats 1966, R, 93 min. Directed by Roger Corman. Peter Fonda|Nancy Sinatra|Bruce Dern|Diane Ladd|Buck Taylor|Norman Alden|Michael J. Pollard|
The Devil and Daniel Johnston Preview Benefit
The Devil and Daniel Johnston Preview Benefit 2006, PG-13, 110 min. Directed by Jeff Feuerzeig. In advance of its Austin opening next Friday (finally – the film played SXSW 2005), this documentary about the legendary former Austin musician Daniel Johnston will screen as a benefit for the Austin State Hospital. Admission includes a reception prior…
‘Fight Night Round 3’ for the PlayStation2
The beauty of boxing is its simplicity. It’s a sport of man vs. man with nothing but some barely forgiving gloves and only-somewhat concerting low-blow protection. This focus on the human form – one of the toughest challenges for game designers – makes boxing video games a struggle to perfect, kinda like trying to make…
‘Arena Football’ for the PlayStation2
Staying loyal to the AFL rules and regulations, EA Sports’ Arena Football aims to keep sports junkies hooked on the juice during the off-season. However, unlike real-world NFL, Madden NFL 06 has no off-season, thus the need for another game is eliminated. Necessary or not, Arena Football garners a lot of rave for its slamming…
Austin Green Art
The city has said Austin Green Art could transform the 40,000 sq. ft. vacant lot of Block 21 into an art park April 15-22 as part of its major Earth Day celebration
Oh, Sister
Adelaide, South Australia, sibling city and state of Austin, Texas, is a delicious destination for food and wine lovers
An Honest Ballot
A look at what you’re actually going to be voting on
Friends With Money
Forget friends with money – how about friends with husbands, kids, mortgages, and so-called life plans? That’s the short list of differences between the depressed, single stoner, played by Jennifer Aniston, and her circle of female friends.
Blue Lapis Light
Before the ugly concrete shell of the Intel building goes away for good, it will be the site for something beautiful: Sally Jacques’ next large-scale dance, ‘Requiem’
Want to Really Celebrate Earth Day?
Drink organic wines
Naked City
Headlines and happenings from Austin and beyond
The Notorious Bettie Page
Gretchen Mol dazzles as the titular pinup girl, but the film raises many more questions about the enigmatic icon than it answers.
Austin Arts Hall of Fame
The Austin Critics Table has named the fifth group of individuals to be inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame
Dariush Persian Grill
Owned by Jaqueline and Farhad Bordbar, Dariush is a pleasant spot on the west side of Congress, just south of 10th
War Watch
Cindy Sheehan and others who have lost loved ones in Iraq come to Austin
American Dreamz
American Dreamz tries to satirize the vapidity of American popular culture; instead, the film gets trapped beneath its own wheels.
Texas Young Masters
Eight students from Austin have been named to the 2006 class of Young Masters as designated by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Texas Cultural Trust Council
Food-o-File
A couple of corrections; a whole lot of events you might consider attending
Justice Delayed for Yogurt Shop Defendant
Robert Springsteen has been waiting for 110,764,800 seconds for his appeal to be heard
Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing & Charm School
The film has talent, quirks, laughs, and even some skin, but nevertheless creaks its way through an awkward story.
Visual Arts Benefits
Women & Their Work will be Making Waves on Thursday to benefit its Arts Education Outreach Programs in AISD’s underserved schools. The annual spring splash, which scored a nod for “Best FUNdraiser” in the Chronicle “Best of Austin” awards, will feature synchronized swimming by the H2Hos, catering by P&K Grocery, wine and vodka by Tito’s,…
Anger at Water Plant Plan Boils Over
City planners and residents at odds over future use of Guerrero Park
Being Cyrus
This atypical Bollywood film is an English-language mystery drama that has no song-and-dance numbers and is a brief, 90-minutes long.
Arts Review
Different Stages’ production of the Amy Freed comedy ‘The Beard of Avon’ benefits from two actors who create an Elizabethan odd couple in delightful balance
Rattle Me Bones
Never let it be said that Mike Wiebe hasn’t suffered for his art. In fact, the Riverboat Gamblers singer suffers on a daily basis. Years of hyperactive frontman behavior – whipping his head around, climbing amplifiers and rafters, diving into the crowd, Chaplin-esque pratfalls – makes great entertainment, but has left him with chronic aches…
Council Notes
What’s ahead for this week’s City Council meeting
Arts Review
Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates is a guilty pleasure, offering reflections on relationships, jobs, fashion, and dating through genuinely captivating monologues
Riverboat Gamblers Reviewed
Riverboat Gamblers To the Confusion of Our Enemies (Volcom) The Riverboat Gamblers have long been perennial short-listers for best live rock band in the state. The Austin quintet’s performance ethic combines feral shit-shaking with nut-tight delivery in a manner that consistently leaves audiences gasping for air. Getting all that energy across on a studio recording…
Point Austin: Refighting the Last Wars
Prop. 1, Prop. 2, Saving Barton Springs … and Everything Else
Arts Review
In the exhibit ‘Life Still,’ Stella Alesi, Gabel Karsten, and Mo Scollan aren’t just showing still lifes of bathroom sinks and kitchen objects, but portraiture breaking away from tradition
Texas Platters
Quite a Party!24 Great Instrumental Bands Play the Fireballs (Ace) Their biggest hits were popcorn: 1963 No. 1 “Sugar Shack” and ’67 boozer’s cartoon “Bottle of Wine,” both with singer Jimmy Gilmer. Yet the Fireballs’ best recordings – and there were dozens, including “Torquay,” “Bulldog,” “Gunshot,” and “Vaquero” – were pioneering electric-guitar classics, mostly written…
Beside the Point
Attempts to debate Props. 1 and 2 produce only polarized statements and crowd heckling
In Person
¡A Viva Voz! featuring Jaime Hernandez, co-creator of ‘Love and Rockets’
Texas Platters
Jon Dee GrahamFull (Freedom) Jon Dee Graham’s a notoriously fire and brimstone kind of guy, so it’s no surprise Full boasts more references to thick smoke and heavy rains than a homeowner’s insurance policy. And yet, the twisted beauty of this South Austin fixture’s fifth album is that it’s both his darkest and most optimistic.…
On the Lege
Opening day of the special legislative session featured more plot lines than a MASH episode.
Readings
Zombies are inherently boring
Texas Platters
ElectromagnetsElectromagnets II (Vortexan) The Electromagnets introduced the brilliant guitar pyrotechnics of Austin’s Eric Johnson. Unfortunately, like most jazz fusion of the 1970s, it has not aged particularly well. Miles Davis laid down the gauntlet with his landmark Bitches Brew, but it was the slew of first generation fusion bands led by Davis alumni – Weather…
The Hightower Report
Don’t Look Down at Immigrants, Look Up; and a New Horror From the IRS
After a Fashion
Stephen explores the melting pot that is … HEB?
Texas Platters
Single FrameEverything Wants to Be Used for What It Was Made For (Volcom) Don’t let the cover art fool you. Or the opening track, for that matter. This isn’t a New Order remix LP. Austin art-punk trio Single Frame whittle, whirl, and wax through 17 tracks of demos, new tracks, and remixes from 2003’s Wetheads…
Little Underground Worlds
Mary Harron on ‘Bettie Page’
To Your Health
Are people who were not breast-fed lacking in any important nutrients?
Texas Platters
Quien es, Boom!Cast Your Burdens Aside (Sixgunlover) The American Western of the Fifties was pure grit. It was all about the rogue and the frontier that goes on for miles. That expansive feel can be applied to the full-length debut of local sixpiece Quien es, Boom! Opener “Brittle Britches” tethers itself to gentle melodies, quiet…
Cine Las Americas
The slate through Sunday
The Common Law
Deferred Adjudication – What Is It?
Texas Platters
Daniel Johnston Welcome to My World: The Music of Daniel Johnston (Eternal Yip Eye/High Wire) Compiling a definitive Daniel Johnston “best of” is slippery business. The most rewarding elements of his songwriting are often highly individualized flashes of recognition spurred by a single turn of phrase heard at just the right time. For this reason,…
Film News
Paranoia runs deep-fried; plus, ‘Elvis and Annabelle,’ Troublemaker’s future, and more
TCB
Ever health-conscious, TCB talks allergies with Claritin pitchman Bruce Robison, delves into the Music Genome Project, and observes the highest holiday of the most sacred herb
Day Trips
The Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum is the Texas version of the Smithsonian Institute
Texas Platters
The Paper South(thepapersouth.com) Midori Umi(midoriumi.com) Austin’s stable of hallucinatory guitar pop bands is splintering the wood. Featuring former members of Winslow and American Analog Set, the Paper South returns to those much-loved bands’ wall of melody on their debut six-song EP. Opener “Caught Leaving the Scene of the Accident” runs through prickly guitar lines straight…
TV Eye
Adorable idiots and selfish jerks
Screens String
Me and My Katamari
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
We have mo bananas today
City of the Dead
Journeying through the graves of Austin’s oldest cemetery
Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story
This SXSW recipient of the 2004 Audience Award for Best Narrative stars The Daily Show‘s Rob Corddry as a professional paintball athlete looking to reclaim his former glory.
The Distance Danced
Between its old and new versions of ‘Swingin’ Then & Now,’ Tapestry Dance Company has swung a long way, baby
Soccer Watch
Champions League results pending, and more
We Have a Winner! Sort of …
Our scientifically calibrated Bloat-O-Meter© has identified the most McMansiony house in Austin
Scary Movie 4
What’s new in this fourth edition of the popular-culture spoof machine? Well, Shaquille O’Neal and Dr. Phil, for starters.
Luv Doc Recommends: Hell’s Belles with the Addictions
Whether you know it or not, every once in a while you need to rock. That’s right, just like getting your teeth cleaned, your eyes checked, your pap smeared, or your colon scoped, it is essential that you occasionally attend a fist-pumping, hair-throwing rock show, the kind of ear-spanking, cheek-flapping, insanely high SPL hell that…
