No Terror at Concordia
APD simulates terror attack on Concordia University
Day Three of Early Voting
Third-day early voting results from Travis County
Final Forum?
Austin Police Department’s Police Chief’s Forum the final farewell?
ATX Style at NOJF (or… Marcia Knows NOLA)
Austin takes NOLA by storm. Really, there have been lots of storms.
Krusee Arrested for DWI
Round Rock Republican rep arrested, charged
Huffman Heads Out!
Assistant City Manager Laura Huffman leaves to head Nature Conservancy of Texas
Morrison’s Ad: Terror at 580 Feet – Times Three!
Laura Morrison explains her controversial, condo-centric commercial
Well…
A lesbian by any other name would smell as sweet!
A Tale of Two Cities
The Austin Aztex play the first game in franchise history this Saturday, May 3. The new franchise has big ambitions, and a lot of good players on their Under-23 roster; this opener, on the road against a very good El Paso Patriots team that was in the playoffs last year, is a stern first reality…
Watson: Appointees Could End TXDoT ‘Us Versus Them Mentality’
Austin Senator weighs in on Texas Transportation Commission appointments
Kasparek No-Hits Bobcats, UT Takes Weekend Series From Wildcats
Before we get to last weekend’s series with the K-State Wildcats, it must be noted that UT right-hander Kenn Kasparek pitched a no-hitter last night in the Longhorns’ 11-0 win over the Texas State Bobcats. Kasparek was one hit-batter away from a perfect game and faced the minimum of 27 batters as that lonely base-runner…
TXDoT: Perry Goes With Who He Knows
Perry picks former chief of staff, toll road chief to head up Texas Transportation Commission
Three-Ring TV
News 8’s Place 4 candidates forum is a real circus
Homage to a Dick?
WTF is Wilco thinking?
Backyard Wrestling
Memories from another dying Austin venue
Tort Versus Thought
Is the tide of medical malpractice suits really a desert?
Happy Birthday Willie Nelson!
Today is Willie Nelson’s birthday! (mine too but that is beside the point) To celebrate we are attending two different events this evening that have nothing to do with Willie Nelson. FIRST! We will be out at Hill’s Cafe on South Congress to see KVET’S Texas Music Series featuring Brandon Rhyder with Matt Skinner. The…
Galoshes By Goshes
Lots of neat feet at Jazz Fest, especially when it rains.
Early Voting Results
Travis County Elections Division releases vote totals for first two days of voting
Will Green Country Get Hustled?
Hell Marys, Honky Tonk Heartbreakers to roll this weekend
Timeless Joe Jackson
Steppin’ out with a sharp-dressed man
Creationist Degree Not Scientific Enough for Texas
Houston Area Pastors Council claims Baal on side of Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Leffingwell, Shade: Stanford Behind Culleton Ads
Meeker’s newly-former campaign manager colluding with his former campaign treasurer in attack ads
Nebula Over Austin
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America honors del Toro, Chabon, Moorcock in Austin
Super High He
Iron Man at the Alamo Drafthouse
A Close Shave With Robin Cravey
Lather up with the Place 4 candidate
I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T
Jennifer Kim’s ad: Just Jennny from the block
ARTS = RATS
Lamenting the closing of an Austin landmark and its secret rats
High Rises Bad!
Laura Morrison’s initial ad
Leffingwell’s Re-Election Run
Leff goes for a jog.
Save Our Springs Chiefs Savage Shade
Barton Springs activists, former mayor and state rep criticize Shade comments
SDS to Kim’s Defense
Stop Domain Subsidies calls coverage of Council Member Jennifer Kim unfair
Early Voting Begins Today
Balloting in city council, school district, and Austin Community College races kicks off
Austin Represent
Texas artist whips out the leather in NOLA.
Putting on Your Best for Fest
The first installment in posts about festival, or “what were they thinking” wear.
Place 4 Candidates
Profiling the Place 4 candidates, featuring Robin Cravey, Cid Galindo, Laura Morrison, and Ken Weiss.
Shade: Culleton Support Unsolicited
More weirdness in Place 1 race
$20 Million in the Hole
The city’s budget projections looking bleakish
Cine las Americas Signs Out
Cine las Americas announces jury and audience award winners
Outlaws Play Well in Houston but Lose to the Cyclones
Despite some of the worst timekeeping since game four of the 1994 Rockets-Jazz playoff series and some of the strangest and most inaccurate announcing since Harry Caray’s passing, the Outlaws played well against the Houston Cyclones in their season opener this past Saturday. Linebacker, tight end, and defensive lineman Tracey Suire scored the Outlaws’ first…
‘Chronicle’ Mock NFL Draft
I keep Patrick Rosal’s collection of frenzied-cool poetry Uprock Headspin Scramble and Dive on the water tank of my toilet, along with A Brief History of Time, an episode of The Paris Review, a few well-worn issues of Austin Monthly, Stuff Magazine, and some decomposing installments of The Sporting News. When scrutinizing the 2008 draft,…
Aztex Roster Announced
The Aztex announced their 2008 Under-23 Roster on Thursday, April 24, at a press conference held at SoccerZone North in Cedar Park. Sorry, I couldn’t be there myself; but the lineup looks pretty solid. My further first impressions from yesterday are repeated below. The Austin Aztex announced their 2008 roster Thursday, April 24, in a…
Meeker Hits the Small Screen?
Rick Culleton’s pro-Meeker campaign hits the boob tube
Cute Band Alert!
Follow That Bird! rips it up, grrrl-style.
Finally – a Commercial Without Cid Galindo!
The first ad from Randi Shade airs out Jennifer Kim
Phases & Stages
Santogold (Downtown) Santi White has been hailed as visionary, creative, genre-bending, and inventive – America’s answer to M.I.A. – but despite Santogold’s bloggorific buzz, her eponymous debut, while diverse, is no revolution. Aside from dubbed-up standout “Shove It,” the Philly native and former A&R rep forgoes 24 karat for gold filler. Opener “L.E.S. Artistes” could…
Polygamist Raid Prompted by False Report?
Arrest made in investigation of the phone call that started it all
An Uncertain Hand
A pair of wild cards in Place 3
Restaurant Review
A great Hyde Park hub for wine and appetizers
Big Man Japan
Midnight madness doesn’t begin to categorize this bizarre Japanese superhero/monster movie.
Phases & Stages
The Dynamics Version Excursions (Groove Attack) Jamaican music gets labeled green for reasons beyond the island’s preoccupation with collie herbs. After all, no other country’s musical community does more recycling. Riddims and sounds are continually and liberally borrowed and patched back together, tracks reborn in a rub-a-dub style, while nearly every 7-inch single has an…
WilCo Sends Another One Packing
There’s just no pleasing the Williamson Co. brass
Six-Card Stud
With Mayor Pro Tem Betty Dunkerley’s retirement, her term-limited Place 4 has drawn six candidates – half seasoned hands, half jokers. The crowded game means a June run-off is probably on the table. Here’s a breakdown of the players, the cards, and the handicapping. Robin Cravey “What I am really representing is the grassroots of…
Event Menu
April 24-May 1
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Ben Stein uncovers the worldwide plot to unseat scientists, educators, and philosophers who are being fired, ridiculed, and ostracized for supporting the theory of intelligent design.
The Hightower Report
Big-Spending George; and House the Rich
Supremes Rule on Lethal Injection
Three-drug cocktail is A-OK
That Girl Can Sing
On the Trail With Gale
Food-o-File
The busy life of Cathy Cochran-Lewis, Earth Day, and White Mountain Foods founder passes
Baby Mama
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler skewer motherhood but make sure that nothing gets terribly burnt.
TV Eye
Summer hiatus is almost here. ‘TV Eye’s ready to fall under the thrall of the next new thing.
The Smog Cometh
Alternative transportation programs help keep Austin in line
Partisan Values or Expertise?
In theory – and on the ballot – municipal races are nonpartisan. But party ties could figure heavily into the Austin Community College board of trustees Place 1 race. No, Harrison Keller did not make a mistake when he filed his papers – he is fully aware that he is running for the board of…
Gluten-Free Pizza Dough
Gluten Free Kneads is rolling out gluten-free cookie and pizza doughs
Chapter 27
Jared Leto gains weight and lets it all hang out as John Lennon’s killer, Mark David Chapman, in this fictionalized account of what occurred at the Dakota.
The Warped Tour
Tim and Eric of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! perfect the anti-joke
Happenings
April 24-May 1
Arts Review
The ProArts/ACC co-production plays out like a Robert Johnson number: strong, sweet, natural, and full of longing
Wines of the Week
Big company distributes small wines
The Animation Show 4
Mike Judge is back with a brand new collection of short animated films, and it’s premiering here in Austin.
Big in Japan, but What About Austin?
Magnolia Pictures and the Alamo Drafthouse hope to build an audience for a Japanese oddity here in the heart of Texas
Eastside Development: A community dialogue
Meetings encourage community input on Urban Renewal Plan
Arts Review
The Butler Opera Center production achieves real magic, most notably a triumphant performance in the title role
Off the Record
The battle for Townes Van Zandt’s legacy wages on, Willie and the Doggfather get Half Baked in Amsterdam, and Pinetop Perkins gets his mojo working
The Visitor
The writer/director of The Station Agent is back with another interpersonal drama that is strangely both predictable and unpredictable.
A Whale of a Tale Goes 21st Century
The Fuse Box Festival hosts a Herman Melville Hoot Nite
Page Two: The Vision Thing
Championing idealism over realism is not inherently good, moral, or noble
Arts Review
Austin Lyric Opera�s debut in the Long Center serves Bizet�s classic in a clear, uncluttered way that satisfies
Last of a Breed
Veteran Austin music scribe tackles a topic equal to his skill: Willie Nelson
My Blueberry Nights
Filmmaker Wong Kar-wai’s English-language debut stars the singer Norah Jones in her acting debut, but instead of exuding newness this sensuous film has an also-ran feel.
Benh Zeitlin Benefit
Helping to defray hospital bills for injured SXSW filmmaker Benh Zeitlin
‘Chronicle’ Endorsements
May 10 municipal elections
Butler School of Music: For this John Adams, a King
UT honors the Nixon in China composer with an award for his notable musical work and three concerts featuring his compositions
Landmark Willie
And Then I Wrote His first album, recorded for Liberty Records, 1961-1962, in Nashville and Los Angeles, showcases Willie as a distinctively hip, almost fully formed vocalist who happens to be covering his own songs. Live Country Music Concert Released by RCA in 1965, this captures Willie live at Panther Hall in Fort Worth, his…
The Life Before Her Eyes
Although Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood deliver strong performances, this film from the director of House of Sand and Fog is a muddled affront.
Film News
Changing of the guard at SXSW Film, the Alamo Ritz gets boozy, Austin Golden Hour wants nothing to do with its namesake, and more
Day Trips
Caprock Canyons State Park is a hidden gem of a state park that you won’t forget once you’ve seen it
Austin Arts Hall of Fame: Class of 2008
The seventh group of inductees includes individuals from the fields of architecture, comedy, music, and patronage
Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir
‘Austin, 1972,’ an excerpt from Joe Nick Patoski’s new tome, Willie Nelson: An Epic Life
Tashan
In this highly anticipated new Bollywood film, three people travel across India on a dangerous journey during which no one can be trusted.
Austin: 197 …
Doug Sahm Leon Russell Jimmy Buffett Jerry Jeff Walker Kenneth Threadgill Roky Erickson Willis Alan Ramsey Willie and Ernest Tubb Guy Clark
From Mad Dogs to Mister Golf
Bud Shrake, continued
Playing Through
Realize your long-held rowing dreams at the Texas Rowing Center
Ladies Are Funny Festival: Are ladies … funny? Girls Girls Girls insist, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’
The second round of the comedy fest spotlighting women adds sketch, stand-up, and more
‘Willie Nelson: An Epic Life’ Book Review
567 pages might not be enough to cover Willie Nelson’s Epic Life
Phases & Stages
Portishead Third (Mercury/Island) Mid-1990s Britain yielded some questionable pop pap, but Portishead was an exception. Singer Beth Gibbons, guitarist Adrian Utley, and multi-instrumentalist Geoff Barrow no doubt spent the last decade trying to shake a short-lived genre (trip-hop) that never really fit them. Smartly, the Bristol trio’s first studio album since 1997 is free of…
The Electric Exchange
Theatre, dance, music, and film meld and get supercharged in the Fuse Box Festival
Soccer Watch
Austin Aztex announce rooster, and more
Riding the ‘Wave’
Bud Shrake compacts his far-flung, storied career in his new collection
Don’t Forget the Children
Before Superintendent Pat Forgione retires next year, another longstanding figure in Austin Independent School District will step down: District 3 trustee Johna Edwards. After eight years representing North Central Austin, including a turn as board secretary, Edwards is leaving her seat open to be fought over in the May 10 elections by two local parents:…
Phases & Stages
The Clash Revolution Rock (Epic/Legacy) Five years after Joe Strummer’s death and 30 years after the Clash’s debut, the band’s alternating pattern of genius releases and near-misses balances out here. Last winter saw the definitive Strummer bio-doc, Julien Temple’s The Future Is Unwritten (the DVD hits stores in June), burnish the band’s righteous legacy. Now,…
Fuse Box by Day
Schedule
Point Austin: What’s at Stake?
There will be blood
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Spaghetti made from coca leaf flour and Bolognese sauce made from llama meat, temperamental Alfred Hitchcock, and more
The Uncontesteds
Voters will actually decide four seats for the ACC board on May 10, but Place 1 is the only contested seat. Places 2, 3, and 5 will be occupied by the following: Place 2: John-Michael Cortez will replace John Hernandez, the current board chair. A public outreach specialist for Capital Metro, the McNeil High and…
Phases & Stages
Beatbox The Roots outdo themselves on eighth LP Rising Down (Def Jam), ?uestlove & Co. welcoming new bassist Owen Biddle into the mix of their most band-centric effort yet. Featuring spots from a whopping 12 outsourced MCs, jump-started by straight fire from Mos Def on the infectious title cut, Rising strips down for the a…
Group Calls for Museum Director’s Ouster
Museum director makes girls cry
Beside the Point
It’s nickel-and-dime time at City Hall
The Common Law
Deadline for Homestead Exemption?
Point Austin: What’s at Stake?
There will be blood
Phases & Stages
The Black Keys Attack and Release (Nonesuch) The Black Keys’ Nonesuch debut, 2006’s Magic Potion, sounded a bit diluted and formulaic. Enter Brian Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, the beat scientist behind Gnarls Barkley, whose shape-shifting production – from the swelling organ of moody opener “All You Ever Wanted” to the backward guitar in…
Waterfront Agreement Ends Deadlock
Neighbors and developer reach deal on condo project
Naked City
News briefs from Austin, the region, and elsewhere
Letters @ 3AM
Globalization isn’t only something that’s happening to our economy: Globalization is happening to us – to our bodies, our families, and our psyches
Early Voting
April 28-May 6
Phases & Stages
R.E.M. Accelerate (Warner Bros.) Brooding disaffection about these Accelerate-d end-times peaks on “Until the Day Is Done,” introduced in the lyrics accompanying R.E.M.’s 14th album with Sinclair Lewis’ co-opted anti-Bush sloganeering. Strangling jangle trademarks the Athens, Ga., trio’s opening triptych, sealed by “Supernatural Superserious,” first cousin to Automatic for the People smash “Man on the…
Dildos No Longer a Hard Sell
Anatomically correct and legal, too!
The Long Shadow of Wal-Mart
No one would argue that City Council Member Lee Leffingwell is without accomplishments. In his first term, the Place 1 incumbent can point to his work on a water conservation plan, moving forward the new water treatment plant, revisions to the Save Our Springs Ordinance, and a ban on coal-tar sealants on parking lots. Going…
After a Fashion
Stephen is going to affairs and fundraisers as if his life depends on it. Oh, right.
Phases & Stages
Allison Moorer Mockingbird (New Line) Honey-haired Allison Moorer follows her sister Shelby Lynne’s lead for a set of mostly covers. While Lynne feted only Dusty Springfield, Moorer’s sixth album features material by women celebrating their strength. The premise allows Mrs. Steve Earle a wide berth to explore a sweep of styles and emotions, choosing tunes…
New Rail Plan Rolled Out
The latest line on streetcars
Upcoming Candidate Forums
The City Council candidate forums endurance test continues. Soldier on! Capital Area Democratic Women Forum: Thursday, April 24, 11:30am; Nuevo Leon, 1501 E. Sixth East Austin Forum: Tuesday, April 29, 6:30pm; Southwest Key, 6002 Jain Ln. South Central Area Command Crime and Safety Forum: Thursday, May 1, 6:30pm; City Council chambers, City Hall, 301 W.…
Restaurant Review
Imperia confuses Austinites with its delicious and disgusting fancy Asian-food offerings
88 Minutes
Al Pacino stars in this dull and formulaic procedural.
Luv Doc Recommends: Lone Star State Jam
It’s a good thing Texans were smart enough to put in all those toll roads before gas got so expensive. We probably couldn’t even afford to build them now what with the economy swirling down the toilet. Imagine what it would cost to haul all that concrete these days. Fortunately, folks around here were farsighted…
