Writes of Spring
First published in theNew Yorker magazine in 1996, “The Fourth State of Matter” is the ballast of essayist Jo Ann Beard’s The Boys of My Youth (Little, Brown & Co., $22.95 hard). Thank god it doesn’t get any heavier: In 22 stunning and graceful pages, the reader loses a husband, a colleague, and a collie.…
Record Reviews
MARC COHN Burning the Daze (Atlantic) The long-awaited Mark Cohn release is here. All five of you who have been holding your breath can stop now. Burning the Daze is actually the 1991 Best New Artist Grammy-winner’s third album, but since his 1993 sophomore release didn’t yield a hit as popular as his debut’s, you…
Endorsements
County Commissioner Pct. 1: Ron Davis Davis and run-off opponent Stacy Dukes-Rhone both have strong community and family ties to the East Austin area. But Davis is unmatched in his longtime commitment to his community through years of volunteer work to bring equity and an overall improvement of living standards to the people of East…
In Person
Molly Ivins at Book People Molly Ivins believes the world desperately needs more fun. Of course, no one is more aware of how challenging that is in this gloomy period of American politics than Ivins herself. “Especially on the liberal side where you don’t always win, and in Texas where you don’t often win,” as…
Roadshows
APRIL FRI 3 Deadbolt, Emo’s FRI 3 Webb Wilder, Continental Club SAT 4 Megadeth, Coal Chamber, Life of Agony, Ranch Studios SAT 4 Luna, Liberty Lunch SAT 4 Kreyol Syndikat, Flamingo Cantina SAT 4 James Cotton, East First Garden Theater SAT 4 Marc Cohn, La Zona Rosa SAT 4 Trans Am, Emo’s SAT 4 Neutral…
Invasion of the Water Snatchers
Swimmers plunge into the cool waters of Jacob’s Well near Wimberley. photograph by Robert Bryce Water and wastewater service is the lifeblood of any community. As the region around Austin continues to boom, water issues are coming front and center. And the recent entry of a Pittsburgh-based electric utility into the local water business is…
Postscripts
“Aaaah!” she cried, falling to the floor of her favorite bookstore, where she writhed in agony, occasionally gasping for air amid yelping sobs, sobs that some in the typically tomb-like environs of the store thought to be mere pleas for attention. The more astute customers who gathered around her, however, knew her as a publishing…
All in Perspective
photograph by Todd V. Wolfson Chris Searles is not an asshole. He’s not even a malcontent. Far from it. But Searles, the Austin drummer who has played with everybody from bigshots like Alejandro Escovedo and Joe Ely to more un-national artists like the Barbers and Will Taylor, hasn’t the sunniest of outlooks for someone who…
Who Is Dqe?
Pittsburgh-based DQE Inc., traded on the New York Stock Exchange, had 1997 revenues of $1.2 billion. Its main subsidiary is Duquesne Light, which provides power to half a million customers in western Pennsylvania. If a proposed merger between DQE and Allegheny Power is completed, the combined companies will comprise the 10th largest investor-owned utility in…
About AIDS
Batelle Centers for Public Health in Seattle recently interviewed about 450 men who had been diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), asking them about their practices after diagnosis. About 1/4 continued to have sex, reports the journal Family Planning Practices, although 85% say they disclosed their status to their partners. Hey, that’s still 15% who…
Back to the Drawing Board
AISD’s hired demographer Dennis Harner spends his days developing attendance zone plans for the district, only to have a new concern voiced by a parent or a board member send him back to square one. photograph by Jana Birchum Taylor Parks doesn’t understand the politics of school boundary lines. She doesn’t know about socio-economic factors,…
Paper Tigers
illustration by Doug Potter When the Save Our Springs (S.O.S.) Ordinance was approved by city voters in 1992, environmental leaders were concerned that Austinites would grow complacent, believing that the southwest sector’s development controversies were over. The recent short-lived Motorola debate has shown that locals are still vigilant; unfortunately, it’s certain media figures who are…
Benefits
SAT 4 Garage Sale to benefit Team Clifford, headed for the Gay Games, at 905 Josephine, 8am. 448-4508. Zilker 5K Fun Run to benefit Zilker Elementary computer programs, at Zilker Elementary, 1900 Bluebonnet, 9am. Cost is $15 ($25 family). 414-2327. Greenbelt Clenaup & Picnic to benefit everyone, at Gaines Creek Entrance (Twin Falls), 11am-noon. 899-0177.…
Grandfather Policy
The new schools and redrawn boundary lines have prompted the need for a policy on which students can stay in their old schools to complete the last grades offered there without applying for transfers. The board is expected to vote on the policy, outlined below, later this month. Students in 5th, 8th, and 12th grades…
Naked City
JPI developers’ controversial office tower complex on the Brodie Tract near the Barton Creek Greenbelt cleared its final legal hurdle March 26, with city council approving a negotiated set of conditions. However, Councilmember Daryl Slusher says the developer has promised not to break ground or sell the land until the city decides whether it can…
Coach’s Corner
by Andy “Coach” Cotton There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.- Stephen Stills In this ode to pharmaceutical-induced, Sixties hippie paranoia, Stephen Stills asks us, how paranoid are we? Can you relate to Stills, who sees a narc lurking behind his Kennedy Brothers tapestry? Do you fret about who’s reading your e-mail?…
Have Your Say
AISD will hold a series of community meet-ings for residents to give input on the current drafts of the attendance zones for elementary, middle, and high schools in the entire district. Residents’ comments will be presented to the board April 20 and incorporated into the final plans the board will consider. The following is a…
Heeere’s Larry
Rip Torn (left) as Artie, the backbone and conscience of HBO’s The Larry Sanders Show starring Gary Shandling (right) If it’s possible for any-thing to be funnier than The Larry Sanders Show (Sundays, 9pm HBO), it’s The Larry Sanders Show website (http://www.hbo.com/larry/). There are doubtless better ways to while away a couple of hours but…
Day Trips
A statue of Billy the Kid by Hico artist James Rice points down Main Street of the town that was the final home of Brushy Bill Roberts, who claimed to be the famous outlaw photograph by Gerald E. Mcleod Billy the Kid was killed at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, but died in Hico, Texas, according…
Mixed Signals
illustration by Doug Potter Outside, it was evening rush hour on Barton Springs Road. Inside, the city council sat debating transportation issues on live television and then, screeeeech! Pow! Two cars slammed into each other in the chicken lane. While councilmembers themselves barely acknowledged the hubbub, there was more than a little irony in their…
Articulations
Used to be visual artists in this city could only sigh longingly when ArtPace, the noted foundation for contemporary art down the road in San Antonio, announced the artists chosen for its International Artist-in-Residence (IAIR) Program. That’s because for the first few years of the program, ArtPace limited the participation of regional artists to residents…
Page Two
This past Thursday, a contingent of city officials – including Mayor Kirk Watson, Councilmember Daryl Slusher, and City Manager Jesus Garza – came by the Chronicle to explain to our editorial board the reasoning behind each of the three bond proposals on the ballot in the upcoming May 2 city bond election. In a cordial,…
Barney’s Great Adventure: The Movie
Barney’s Great Adventure: The Movie 1998, G, 75 min. Directed by Steve Gomer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Shirley Douglas, Trevor Morgan, Diana Rice, Kyla Pratt. Well, Barney and I didn’t quite have an “I Love You, You Love Me” lovefest during his Great Adventure in feature filmmaking, but neither did I come…
4 Little Girls/One Huge Legacy
There is a defining moment in Spike Lee and Sam Pollard’s Academy Award-nominated 4 Little Girls, a documentary about the 1963 Ku Klux Klan bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama which ended the lives of four girls. This moment provides a bridge between the legendary and near-mythical status of the civil…
Public Notice
It is with much sadness and admiration that we say Goodbye to the Foundation for a Compassionate Society and the Feminists for a Compassionate Society as they close their doors forever. The sister organizations have worked toward viable social change in Austin since 1987 through a variety of projects local and statewide: Stonehaven Ranch, Grassroots…
I Love You, I Love You Not
I Love You, I Love You Not 1996, NR, 88 min. Directed by Billy Hopkins, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Claire Danes, Jeanne Moreau, Jude Law. Staggering under the burden of noble intentions and a grant-funded charge to edify, this Anne Frank-inspired story of shattered innocence is artistically handicapped from the word go.…
Looks Back… and Forward
Husband and wife filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus There are precious few living filmmakers today as influential as documentarian D.A. Pennebaker. Best known for his enormously influential film Don’t Look Back, which followed a young folksinger by the name of Bob Dylan on his 1967 British tour, Pennebaker has also chronicled Jimi Hendrix and…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
General Mills introduced three snack foods in one commercial: Bugles, Daisys, and Whistles. In Department of Defense/NATO terminology, a “wild weasel” is an aircraft specially modified to identify, locate, and physically suppress or destroy ground based enemy air defense systems that employ sensors radiating electromagnetic energy. Michael Landon was born in Forest Hills, New York…
Moon Over Broadway
Moon Over Broadway 1998, NR, 96 min. Directed by D. A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Carol Burnett, Philip Bosco, Ken Ludwig, Tom Moore, Elizabeth Wilson, Rocco Landesman. You thought making sausage wasn’t pretty. Next to making comedy, grinding up meat and stuffing it into casing is positively picturesque. That’s…
Scanlines
Sherman’s March (1986) Backyard (1984) Charleen (1978) D: Ross McElwee Charleen Swansea from director Ross McElwee’s Sherman’s March and subject of the eponymous Charleen Ross McElwee is a modern master of cinema v�rit� — rough, real-life documentary filmmaking that seeks to expose a subject’s soul through its very lack of polish. In McElwee’s case, that…
Asteroid Conundrum
illustration by Jason Stout In a way, it’s old news. Pick up a Bible and turn to Revelations, Chapters VIII and IX: “And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood… and many men died… and a great star fell from heaven,…
Niagara, Niagara
Niagara, Niagara 1998, R, 97 min. Directed by Bob Gosse, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Henry Thomas, Robin Tunney, Michael Parks, Stephen Lang. Call it “grunge cinema,” “scuzz cinema,” “Gun Crazy cinema,” whatever you like: Two lonely, white-trash adolescents fall in love, shoot guns, commit crimes, and go on the lam, everything ultimately…
Short Cuts
Just received an announcement in the mail from San Antonio CineFestival about a fast-approaching deadline. Thursday, April 9 is the cut-off date for submission of film and video entries for the June 10-14 event. Presented by the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, CineFestival is in its 21st year and is this country’s longest-running international Latino film…
Food-O-File
Last week, Austin chef Miguel Ravago received a call from a publicity representative with Simon & Schuster, and the rep was so excited about her news that it took Ravago several minutes to learn the reason for her call. The good news: The book that Ravago recently co-authored with Seattle culinary tour director Marilyn Tausend,…
A Price Above Rubies
A Price Above Rubies 1998, R, 115 min. Directed by Boaz Yakin, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Renée Zellweger, Christopher Eccleston, Allen Payne, Glenn Fitzgerald, Julianna Margulies, Kim Hunter, John Randolph, Kathleen Chalfant. Not since Melanie Griffith strode among them in A Stranger Among Us a few years ago has Brooklyn’s Hasidic community…
Who’s There?
illustration by Roy Tompkins He slipped past my first line of defense by asking if I were busy. Then he rolled his entire rap – come on, proposition, and seduction into one simple question. The next thing I knew I had Caller ID. Telemarketers never ask you if you’re busy. They call you up with…
Dancing About Architecture
No, that’s not a Shoulders reference, but don’t worry, we’ll get to that soon enough. First off, I wanted to point out the effort I go through every week for you people; the incredible adventures I have to turn down to grind out this regular dose of exciting news that you plan your week around.…
Ride
Ride 1998, R, 90 min. Directed by Millicent Shelton, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Malik Yoba, Melissa De Sousa, John Witherspoon, Fredro Starr, Cedric The Entertainer, Kellie Williams, Sticky Fingaz, Idalis De Leon, Downtown Julie Brown. The dumbing-down of African-American film comedies is part and parcel of the lowest-common-denominator factor in comedies of…
Toast to an Artspace About Art
Neil Coleman at the original Pro-Jex Gallery photograph by Brenda Ladd Nobody in Austin got too worked up when Neil Coleman’s Pro-Jex Gallery and Frameshop moved from its spot on Fifth Street, between Congress and Brazos, to the ArtPlex at 1705 Guadalupe. The long, impossibly narrow, shirt-sleeve of a gallery that hung from Austin’s arts…
Musical Manifesto
photographs by Todd V. Wolfson There are some philosophies that are easier to execute than they are to explain or discuss. Dav�d Garza calls them the “untalkables” and the local musician says he’s driven by three such abiding philosophies. The first, recently appropriated from his guitarist Jacob Shultz, reads like an excerpt from Hallmark’s “Inspirations…
Meet the Deedles
Meet the Deedles 1998, PG, 94 min. Directed by Steve Boyum, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Steve Van Wormer, Paul Walker, John Ashton, A.j. Langer, Robert Englund, Dennis Hopper. I have to admit to not really being able to remember all of the Teenese from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure or Fast Times…
David Garza
This Euphoria (Lave/Atlantic) Amidst all the excitement surrounding Dav�d Garza’s major label debut, somewhere between Atlantic’s knowing they landed a charismatic singer with talent to burn (as well as his healthy grass-roots audience and a fertile back catalogue) – amidst all this euphoria – someone forgot one crucial element of any successful album: sequencing. Whereas…
Jeff Haley: Twang Twang the Third
At 27, former Twang Twang Shock-A-Boom bassist Jeff Haley is still a little young for the “Whatever Happened to?” file, and yet it still seems like a valid enough question. Whatever did happen to Haley? The short answer: He moved to Queens. After Twang Twang’s breakup in 1991, Haley became the trio’s only UT graduate…
Exhibitionism
CHILDREN OF CHILDREN: THE FACES AND VOICES OF TEEN PARENTHOOD Witte Museum, 3801 Broadway, San Antonio, through May 10 “I am 32 years old. I was a teenage parent. I have been lonely until today.” — note tacked up on the public bulletin board in the “Children of Children” gallery I got home from the…
Recommended
Friday: Deadbolt, Sir Finks, The 4/5ths, Emo’s Saturday: Megadeth, Life of Agony, Ranch Studios Sunday: Slink Moss, Continental Club Monday: Horace Pinker, Blue Flame Tuesday: Dale Watson, Ego’s Wednesday: Concerto Grosso, Fred Sanders, Jazz Workshop, Victory Grill Thursday: American Horse, Steamboat
