Cover Story
Play the Role
Mr. Bavu Blakes, ridin’ herd on Texas rap
Dying in Committee, Part 3
The Lege seems to have decided to not end the United Nations this session.
Lost in Space
With the economy at Warp 10, why is the city in the red zone?
Cute Band Alert!
Finally Punk are not your typical girls.
ACL 2007 Derby: And They’re Off!
The first whiff of ACL 2007.
I Called the Witch Doctor
Get money, get money …
‘Arena Football: Road to Glory’ for the PlayStation2
There’s just one thing that keeps Arena Football: Road to Glory from being as completely kickass as the Madden juggernaut. That is its lack of big-name stars like Vince Young, Peyton Manning, Terrell Owens, and LaDainian Tomlinson. The main rebuy factor for Madden year after year is the updated rosters and improved graphics. Saints’ fans…
Crush o’ the Week
Getty luvs Doogie.
Texas State Hold ‘Em (Updated)
Will poker become taxable income in Texas?
Austin Lightning Get Their Season Started and More Soccer News
Chelsea and Manchester United will still get to play for the FA Cup. But neither one will be there to play for the title they really wanted, the UEFA Champions League. Instead, Liverpool and AC Milan overturned first-leg losses to advance to a rematch of their great 2005 final. The Merseysiders knocked off Chelsea on…
Veto That Veto
Chimpeach. Chimpeach!
Teh LOLgayz
Haggin’ the fagz wid da LOLgay!
Big Hair, Bigger Hearts
Earnest Eighties bands get a second chance on XM Radio.
(Medi)-Pot Paranoia
Which GOP committee chair is keeping medical marijuana at bay?
We Ain’t Saying She’s a Gold Digger …
“Mayor Will Wynn and the Gold-digging Hoochie Mamas”
EMS Bargaining Power – At Budget Time
Austin EMS employees likely to receive bargaining power – while the city looks to cut public safety spending.
City Council Notebook
What’s poppin’ this week in council-land …
Dying in Committee, Part 2
Looks like medi-pot won’t be legalized this session
Coachella 2007
Traveling to the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival felt a bit like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, sans the expense account and excess of drugs. The three-day excursion, which featured 123 bands and had an average attendance of 60,000 people daily, began with a plane flight, car rental, and trip through the…
Dying in Committee, Part 1
The first casualties of the legislative session are the bills that will never be debated in the chamber.
Happy ‘Mission Accomplished’ Day!
The famous speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln went down four years ago today …
The Lawnmower Man
Run, run from the Dixie Cutter LP3000!
Follow the Money (Online)
Texans may have a clearer idea of where (and to who) their tax dollars go, thanks to a bill heading to the Senate.
10 Under 10: The First Five Years
10 Under 10: The First Five Years 2007. This collection of 10 short documentaries (all under 10 minutes in length) has been made by RTF students at the University of Texas and represents a diversity of subjects and styles. The program includes five new films and five favorites from past years. See story on p.…
Pointless House Point of the Day
Musings from the lege as things start to wind down in the committees.
Bush Boozing Frazzles First Lady Laura
Dubya’s drink sends Laura out the White House?
Saying Goodbye to the Ex
Margaret Moser says goodbye through the ether.
No Fake Rock Here!
What are Austin’s legislators doing to keep music authentic (in a legally binding way)?
For Fans of Government Oversight
The U.S. government is pushing for investigations into corrupt arms deals. Yes, you read that right.
OMFG, HB 626 Is Even Worse Than Voter-ID Bill
Phil King’s awful voter registration bill makes the Voter ID bill look almost progressive by comparison.
GOPers for Needle Exchanges
Needle exchange legislation passes through the Senate with a somewhat surprising sponsor.
Low Intelligence. Always.
Where does the enterprising domestic terrorist get their supplies? Why, Wal-Mart, of course! From the Statesman: A soft-sided cooler bought at the Ben White Boulevard Wal-Mart in South Austin led authorities to a 27-year-old man, who was arrested and charged Friday with leaving a homemade bomb in the parking lot of an Austin women’s clinic…
The Wendell Baker Story Advance Screening
The Wendell Baker Story Advance Screening 2007, PG-13, 95 min. Directed by Andrew Wilson, Luke Wilson, Starring Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Seymour Cassel, Harry Dean Stanton, Eddie Griffin, Kris Kristofferson, Eva Mendes, Jacob Vargas, Will Ferrell. Brothers Luke, Owen, and Andrew Wilson will be in attendance at a special advance screening of this comedy that…
Teaching Austin: 125 Years of Public School Education
Teaching Austin: 125 Years of Public School Education 2007, NR, 56 min. Directed by J. Kevin Smith, Mike Nicholson. Celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Austin Independent School District by seeing this new documentary about its history over the decades. To reserve a seat in the IMAX Theatre, send a reply to aisd125@austinfilmfestival.com.
Last Night at the Alamo Grindhouse
Last Night at the Alamo Grindhouse Quentin Tarantino will host one final festival at the downtown venue before the Drafthouse moves into the old Ritz Theatre location on Sixth St. at the end of the summer. Last Night at the Alamo Grindhouse features a different triple feature each night: Thursday (5/10), Sex Comedies; Friday (5/11),…
Once a Cardinal, Always a Cardinal
Josh Hancock, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, dead at 29
Le Draft 2007
My first draft was in 1994 when I was a freshman slumming in a dorm flat. This was the first year of my life with the magical and wondrous “cable” television, and its ever-so-amusing ESPN. That year, my Colts were debating on which player to add with the second-overall pick in the first round; a…
Arrest in Clinic Bombing Attempt
Paul Ross Evans, 27, arrested.
What Is Terrorism? (UPDATED)
Why does a media that spends every waking minute hyping the threat of terrorism think the explosives in Austin aren’t a big deal?
Into Great Silence
At once eerie, picaresque, and evocative, this is a daring and breathtakingly constructed documentary about the Carthusian monks of the French Alps, who have taken a vow of silence.
Readings
The first of Vladimir Sorokin’s novels to be translated into English; the author will be at BookPeople on Saturday
KJ Hines
Prince of the City
Supremes Chip Another Brick out of ‘Roe’ Wall
Court allows ban on ‘partial birth’ procedure
The Hightower Report
Romney Goes Hunting … for Votes; and What’s Happening to Our Bees
Page Two: Lost and Found
‘Tis the season when the future is used up yet then renewed by singing each morning out of each night
Gilded Palace of Sin
Downtown Mystic isn’t only the title of Lomita’s second disc
Days of Our Minimum-Wage Workers’ Lives
‘The hour glass is running out of sand’ in dramatic struggle to raise minimum wage for first time in more than nine years
Playing for a Living
GameCamp! blazes a career path
Oops!
Our latest batch
Indierectly Responsible
Dániel Perlaky is a one-man show. The 26-year-old Hungarian immigrant and UT graduate runs two graphic-design companies (Blue Buddha Design House and City on Fire). He shoots for Austin Music Magazine and Study Breaks, publishes the Austin Independent, and most importantly, operates Indierect Records, the bedroom label responsible for Ghostland Observatory’s debut, Delete.Delete.I.Eat.Meat. “I’ve got…
Endorsements
May 12 Joint and Special Election
Screens String
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Letters at 3AM
Heterosexuals are no longer the sole ‘official’ definers of marriage and gender.
Lomita Reviewed
LomitaDowntown Mystic (Indierect) Indierect reissued a supersized version of Lomita’s debut, Stress Echo, less than a year after its 2005 release, and Downtown Mystic seems destined for an even warmer reception. How do you not love a disc that starts off with a choice Cramps cover, 1980’s “Garbage Man,” and an unruly, growling one at…
On the Lege
Trying to revive insurance for kids
Screens String
God of War II
After a Fashion
Stephen remembers husband-in-law Rollo
Phases & Stages
Aretha FranklinBass Concert Hall, April 19 R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Such did a sold-out Bass Concert Hall find out exactly what that meant to them. “Whatchu want? Baby I got it.” And she did, Aretha Franklin. In her 65-year-old face spread the same smile of her 14-year-old self singing to the rafters in her father’s Memphis parish, joyful,…
Immigration Folly at the Lege
Sweeping immigration reforms passing through the Texas House could severely affect the way the city does business. On April 16, the House State Affairs Committee discussed eight bills that covered such issues as banning local government from accepting consular documents as ID and auditing how much is spent by each agency on providing services to…
Screens String
Def Jam Icon
Day Trips
The past and present of the West Texas town of Iraan
Phases & Stages
The CluttersDon’t Believe a Word (Chicken Ranch) If Nashville, Tenn., is the new Omaha, Neb., and incredibly enough, that’s exactly what several scene-spotters have begun suggesting, it’s not just because of Kings of Leon and Be Your Own Pet. The Clutters might not turn up on quite as many blogs, but whoever doesn’t turn up…
House: Squeeze the (Dem) Voters
Voter-ID bill passes the House
Screens String
UEFA Champions League 2006-2007
Soccer Watch
Champions League finals semifinals, and more
Phases & Stages
Modest MouseWe Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic) Modest Mouse has pulled off the near impossible with its sixth full-length and third major label release: The Issaquah, Wash., sextet has managed to retain its edgy, proto-emo dynamics while availing itself of a more mainstream audience. Case in point: “Dashboard,” the first single, is…
Capitol Briefs
• The Texas Senate has passed a measure by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, that would increase the amount of state compensation to those who have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. Senate Bill 262 would allow for $50,000 in compensation for each year of wrongful imprisonment or $100,000 for each year on death row. It also…
Screens String
Crackdown
TCB
Remembering a tattoo legend, bracing for Texas’ upcoming festival season, and saying so long to ‘hippie hour.’
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Law and order for adults, and the truth about Einstein’s head
Phases & Stages
Dinosaur Jr.Beyond (Fat Possum) A rather ripped Van Winkle moment has arrived for Lou Barlow and company, who last recorded as Dinosaur Jr. in 1989. Even listeners too old to judge a 50-minute CD by its cover will find something enthralling in that figure on the couch being sucked under the cushions. The leadoff chorus…
Developing Stories: Town Lake Trail – Closing the Gap
Town Lake Trail takes aerobic sprint toward reality
Screens String
Austin gaming news and then some
Radical Inclusion: A Morality Tale
Halfway through the 365 days of 365 Days/365 Plays, Suzan-Lori Parks’ dramatic project has everyone making theatre and in new ways
The Common Law
My Old Boss Said What?
Phases & Stages
Uncle EarlWaterloo, Tennessee (Rounder) Originally begun as a project of K.C. Groves and Jo Serrapere in 1999, Uncle Earl has since congealed into a female bluegrass supergroup around Groves, Kristin Andreassen, Rayna Gellert, and Abigail Washburn. Like 2005’s She Waits for Night, the g’Earls’ latest seamlessly weaves original string tunes and old-time ballads, reveling as…
Media Watch: Katie Couric’s Pretend Blog
America’s sweetheart ruins it for everyone
Chet Baker in Black and White, but Still Blurry
Bruce Weber reminisces on Let’s Get Lost
East Austin Live: Strength in numbers
Quick, how many arts and entertainment venues do you think there are on the Eastside? Eight? 10? 12 maybe? Try 19, with new ones popping up all the time. Add to that number almost as many arts companies that work in East Austin but don’t have their own spaces and the dozens of restaurants and…
A Taste of Sweden: IKEA Food Market and Cafe
IKEA food market and cafe
Phases & Stages
Willy MasonIf the Ocean Gets Rough (Astralwerks) Today’s young artists face the combined challenge of breathing life into established genres while also having something fresh to say. Twenty-two-year-old Willy Mason is one such relative newcomer. He’s drawn comparisons to Bright Eyes and Beth Orton and has become something of a phenom in the UK. After…
Naked City
Quote of the Week “Racism is racism; xenophobia is xenophobia. It’s too bad that we’re going to see it enacted on the House floor again.” – Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, on the passage of a bill requiring a photo ID to vote. Republicans say it will prevent voting fraud; Democrats say it will disenfranchise…
Film News
Of informational pickets, $1.5 billion projects, and newborns
Vacancy
Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale play a couple who try to escape from the snuff-film motel at which they’re stranded.
Fuse Box: The final jolt
Refraction Arts’ newly expanded Fuse Box Festival is almost out of juice, but before it goes, it still has some electrifying new dance, theatre, video, and site-specific performance to deliver
Austin Finally Gets the Delta Blues
Singing the praises of the latest ice cream flavor to swirl into town
Phases & Stages
FeistThe Reminder (CherryTree/Interscope) Whether Leslie Feist is the chanteuse who will someday make crooning cool again remains to be seen. Her follow-up to 2005’s chunk of Canadian goodness, Let It Die, is neither miserable nor memorable. It does, however, succeed in mixing soft rock, indie rock, jazz, and soul. With mind-stickers like the repetitive “I…
Anthony Graves Update
Retrial of capital murder case against Anthony Graves set to go forward this summer, even though special prosecutor recently admitted that crucial evidence in case is lost
TV Eye
Galán and La Guerra
Ta Ra Rum Pum
New Bollywood film about a race-car driver and his family was shot mostly in the U.S.
The Moth: Mmm-mmmh! Good story!
The Moth, an organization that’s been dishing up old-fashioned storytelling like literary comfort food for a decade, makes its long-awaited debut in Austin
Food-o-File
Reports from Deep Eddy, Zilker Park, and … Chicago
Phases & Stages
Charlotte Gainsbourg5:55 (Because/Vice/Atlantic) Music by Air, lyrics by Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon, knob-twiddling by Nigel Godrich. It’s easy to believe 5:55 a vanity project. It’s the second album in 20 years for Gainsbourg, multitalented progeny of Serge and Jane Birkin, the first being 1986’s Charlotte for Ever, an album penned by her father. So…
Balcones Canyonlands Preserve Still Struggling
With only 2,500 acres to go in the full 30,000-acre Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, Travis Co. has realized that its anticipated dollars won’t go far enough fast enough to meet the federally mandated 2016 deadline set by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service under the preserve’s permit application
Remembering Rollo Banks
Page Two: All in the Family April 19, 2007 by Louis Black Debunking the hippie Mafia theory, and starting to say goodbye to Rollo Banks R.I.P., Rollo Banks April 20, 2007 By way of farewell to a fine friend, a gallery of amazing Chronicle covers After a Fashion April 27, 2007 by Stephen MacMillan Moser…
The Condemned
Steve Austin stars in this WWE-produced movie about a death row convict who is brought to a remote island to fight nine other killers to the death for a televised bout.
Culture Flash!
Texas has its official artists for 2007 and 2008, the soon-to-open MACC has a program manager, and Zach has a Golden Girl drop in for a visit
Event Menu
April 27-May 3
Phases & Stages
The RosebudsNight of the Furies (Merge) The Furies, according to Greek mythology, were the goddesses of vengeance, jealousy, and anger, emotions not usually associated with this lovey-dovey North Carolina couple. It’s hard finding the connection between the Rosebuds’ post-New Wave dance tunes and hideous goddesses dripping blood from their eyes, but the duo’s third LP…
Military Recruitment Protesters Arrested
Two protesters arrested after trying to storm Army’s recruitment station inside Dobie Mall
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Ken Loach paints a grim realist portrait that captures the solemnity of an Ireland turning on itself and the tragedy of two brothers spiraling away from each other.
Arts Review
Jane Martin’s Anton in Show Business satirically skewers everything in modern theatre, and the Vestige Group’s production will have your cheeks sore from laughing
Evangeline Cafe
Evangeline Cafe
‘I Am Sullied – No More’
Col. Ted Westhusing chose death over dishonor in Iraq
Happenings
April 26 – May 2
Black Book
Although in many ways a characteristically perverse Paul Verhoeven spectacle, this Dutch World War II resistance story is more morally shaded as well as handsomely mounted and suspenseful.
Arts Review
The cast of the UT opera theatre production of Plump Jack performs admirably, but the score and direction make the glorious rogue Falstaff just a drunken fat crook
Sea Dragon
Sea Dragon
‘Life Needs Trust’
Ted Westhusing’s last note to his superior officers
Point Austin: All EARRS
Stage Two of the Hodge Affair may be less than meets the eye
Year of the Dog
In his directorial debut, Mike White embraces the awkward with this story of a woman (played by Molly Shannon) who just wants to be loved.
Readings
An anthology offering remediation for those who believe that there is value to understanding other national perspectives and reading – if not always traveling – widely.
Ted’s Ghost
The death of Ted Westhusing leaves a widening circle of sorrow
Beside the Point
Troubled men’s shelter gets tentative council approval; sparring continues over cabs
Luv Doc Recommends: Dale Watson Record Release
Nobody could argue that Dale Watson hasn’t lived up to his end of the bargain when it comes to keeping Austin weird. He may not parade around in a chartreuse banana hammock, twirl flowers on Sixth Street, or spout paranoid vitriol on late night access TV, but Dale still has enough quirks to peak most…
