Cover Story
The New M.O. at City Hall
City Manager Marc Ott opens up on his new job, his new city, and his philosophy of governance
The Gay Place
Your friendly, neighborhood Gay Place is still blushing from the United Court of Austin’s luvfest. The Coronation Ball was a blast. We humbly submit that while it’s a bit of an “in-on-in” affair, the show would translate well to a more public setting – like Mardi Gras balls or crowning Miss Texas. Parts of the…
The Sunny Side to Every Situation
Defending Ethan Hawke and the virtues of John Wayne in a wet shirt
No Medal, but Hooker Runs Lifetime Best
Longhorn Ex places fifth in Beijing
Perry Names New Press Staff
Gov. hires old Dewhurst spokesman to head up his communications staff.
Don’t Drink and Vote
Watering hole wants you to exercise democracy by the pint
Bus Driver Strike on Horizon
Bus drivers union ATU 1091 has rejected Cap Metro’s contract and authorized a strike
Princes to Act
Off your list of Ophelias, I choose Helena Bonham Carter. Though I made a deal with myself many years ago never to speak ill of Kate Winslet (if only on the off chance that she might one day show up at my front door with a flat tire asking if she can use my phone…
Danny Roy Young: The Thinking Man’s Bubba
Paying tribute to the Mayor of South Austin, Danny Roy Young
Federal Court Grants Wood a Stay of Execution
Federal Judge stays Wood’s execution, opining that state courts trampled due process
Absolutely II Trill
Talkin’ with Mr. Trill himself, Bun B., on the eve of his Parish show.
Toot Toot, Hey, Beep Beep
Disco diva Donna Summer returns to the stage and record racks 17 years later with ‘Crayons.’
Fun Times Three
More Fun Fun Fun in the sun
ASL Powerhouse Gets Shut Down
The Austin Chronicle defeats BookPeople 9-5 and clinch a spot in the Alternative Softball League playoffs
Measure for Measure
Ophelia may go to a watery grave, but it’s great prep work for an ingenue
Unkind Cuts at Cine las Americas
Jacqueline Rush Rivera exits Cine Las Americas.
Despair Deferred, and an Odd Couple
So, I was all ready to celebrate your concession and my very first victory – the wine was open, my socks were off, Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band were playing quietly on the hi-fi – when I looked at the day’s vote tally and saw that I was still losing by 50%. My…
My Dull and Sleeping Hour Approaches
Methinks the lady doth protest not enough
Finally, a Golden Longhorn
UT ex wins hurdles for Jamaica
I Know Thee Not, Old Man
First of all, I’m not interested in canonizing anything or anyone. Quite the opposite, actually. If I had my way, we’d drop the classics down a well as soon as we’d taken from them what we needed. As far as I’m concerned, there’s way too much reverence in the world for the things that came…
Anything Goes
Why you shouldn’t put Cole Porter or the Police on a pedestal
On Tap: Horns, Olympics, WC, EPL
Longhorns soccer season begins, Stoke City loses first-ever EPL game, and more
Support Our Troops – Plink a Quarter in Their Cup
ACLU firebrand Debbie Russel on homeless vets in Austin
Driving Strikewards?
Transit union to vote today on latest Capmetro contract offer.
The Man Who Hath No Music in Himself
First let me say that watching all this Shakespeare is having an odd effect on my brain. There was a moment the other night when some actor was soliloquizing on love or murder or truth or beauty or footwear, and all those antiquated words just turned to jelly in my ears. I could have sworn…
Save Austin Music Picks Up Steam
“We can’t have an article in the Chronicle every month, can we?” joked Troy Dillinger as he began Monday’s meeting of Save Austin Music. He was referring to the fact that attendance was down from the previous month when it had been given a boost by last month’s cover story on the city’s reaction to…
Supreme Courts Bursts Brimer Booster’s Bubble
GOP state senator loses latest attempt to get Dem challenger off ballot
A Little Light Music
Branagh’s a hambone, and he’s better at comedy
The High Art of Low Comedy
“But, I know you’ll protest that Shakespeare’s language, though elegant on the page, becomes heavy and purple onscreen and that otherwise likable actors become bloated and declamatory when they’re forced to speak it.” Actually, I would argue the opposite: that, yes, Shakespeare’s language is elegant, but on the page it reads rather heavily, so bogged…
Doubt That the Stars Are Fire
I know I’m a snob. In my defense, I came by it honestly. My father was a snob; his father was a snob; his father’s father was a snob, and on and on, traversing time and space, to Brooklyn, to Minsk, to Russia, to Palestine, through vast history to the Garden of Eden, which a…
The Taming of the Teen
Feeling mighty righteous about teen movies right now
Daugherty Artz Needs Prufreeders
I’d recommend learning the names of the people who provide your funding
Heartbreak for Richards in Beijing
World’s top quartermiler comes up short again
A Brief Interlude
Real quick: Kim and I are always looking for ideas for future Film Fights, and we’d love to hear any suggestions you might have. So please send us your ideas via the “comment” link at the bottom of each entry, and if we use one of them, I bet there’ll be something in it for…
Texas Rollergirls Announce Try-Outs
Hustlers win final post-season, TXRG looks to next year
Speak the Speech
It would be hard to sit here and argue against Throne of Blood and say that simply because Kurosawa chose to ignore Shakespeare’s language, his movie isn’t as good as it could be. Throne of Blood is so beautiful and so terrifying and so intense and so dark and dreary and so totally idiosyncratic that…
School Is Out
First of all, Kim, let me say that it’s a dirty trick using what a man tells you in confidence against him on a public blog … and I applaud you for it. But now I have to take back my applause back because I don’t know how else to show my disappointment with someone…
U.S. at Guatemala WC Qualifier Wednesday Night
The U.S. men open World Cup qualifying group play tomorrow night in Guatemala City. Should be a good match; Guatemala has never qualified, but they’ve got a few really top-class players, and they really think this could be their year. Here’s a good article from the Washington Post. The game will be shown live on…
James Kirkland Has the Look of a Champ
James Kirkland’s life story of bad times as a child and a hard-knock life is all too familiar. He grew up without a father on the streets of East Austin in a poor family that needed food stamps to survive. Kirkland had to rely on what he knew to protect himself. What he knew was…
Ssssssssssteam Heat
Memories of Soap Creek Saloon
When You’re a Jet, You’re a Jet All the Way
West Side Story revisited, and why Josh is an asshat
Converse: Three Chords and the Truth?
Converse Fall 2008 Look Book complaint
Words, Words, Words
Did you really just respond to my calling you out by referencing a movie starring Richard Beymer, whose greatest role since has been as Harry Williams in a one-episode story arc on The Man From U.N.C.L.E.? I mention Ian McKellen, and you come back with Russ Tamblyn? I speak of Shakespeare, and you reply with…
Blast the Canon
Scotland, PA and Maura Tierney’s foul-mouthed, oversexed Lady M
Between the Election and My Hopes (a Quick Aside)
Son of a bitch! When I went to bed last night/this morning, I was ahead in the voting. God, I slept so well – better than I have since the end of last month’s Film Fight – secure in the knowledge that I had finally gotten the better of Kim Jones and that, at long…
After ArmadilloCon
Science fiction convention short on cosplay, big on literary advice
New Bar Smell
A sensory experience? In a bar? Leave it to the Aussies
Layoffs at ME Television
Layoffs at ME TV.
The West Side of Shakespeare
Why West Side Story wins
Cut the Crap Kid
Jerry Wexler
26 Years on My Way to Hell
I am a Nine Inch Nails superfan
Austin Funk
Steam Heat fogs it up again
Round Two
True, I loved McKellen’s Richard III. It was absolutely brilliant from beginning to (almost) end. And true, it was always going to be hard for me to claim that old Shakespeare movies are always better than new Shakespeare movies, come what may, especially when you’ve got new movies like that one on your side. So,…
Speak Low If You Speak Love
Okay, Kim, as much as I hate to admit that you made a good point, I have to admit you made a good point. The gaudy materialism and ostentation of Luhrmann’s visual aesthetic does go a long way to communicating the moral vacancy in the lives of rich kids who are overindulged by their absent…
The Road to Hell Is a Towleroad
I got a scapular Donohue, and I’m not afraid to use it!
Let Them Eat Critical Cake!
GaySocialites.com bust US Weekly’s chops and then does the same thing!
Something’s Rotten…
Kim stacks the deck with Richard III
Kitty’s Back… and Going Bowling
Foodies’ Kitty is back and knockin’ down pins.
Two More Thoughts
I think you’re running with that Versace crack to prove a point that this is some flashy, unsubstantative, tinkering-for-the-sake-of-tinkering modernization. I’d argue the exact opposite – that without leaning too hard on it, Luhrmann has used the designer threads, the casual drug and gun play, the Papa Capulet-sponsored Bacchanalia, to frame the text very much…
Littlefield Clean Up Begins
Building owners come to voluntary agreement with TCEQ after March oil leak
Romeo Talk Back
Tripping on E
Patterson’s September 1 Plans
Minneapolis doves safe as land commissioner skips GOP convention
An Afternoon at Iron Rock
I don’t think I’ll be challenging Tony Stewart or Dale Jr. to a race any time soon after my humbling turn as a kart driver this past weekend at Iron Rock Raceway. The friendly folks at IRR were hosting their Austin Grand Prix (with a 5K purse) and kindly invited yours truly to take part…
The Very Ecstasy of Love
Prologue: Ahhhhhhh …. Film Fight, my Film Fight. God, how I’ve missed you. I’ve spent this past month in low-grade agony, without the thrill of constant argumentation and online contentiousness that made July bearable, without the joy of starting each day by reading 1000 words slandering my character, claiming to the heavens that I’m a…
Enter the Tangent
This has very little to do with Othello, and everything to do with Bob Dylan
Queens of the Realm (or Part II: The Coronation)
Ushering in a new monarchy at the United Court of Austin.
Time Travel
Girlie Action goes back to the beach
I Defy You, Josh
In praise of Baz Luhrmann’s funny, touching, totally insane film
Austin Film Society Has Travel Plans Booked
The Austin Film Society is launching on Sept. 1 a program that will help offset travel costs for Texans whose films are invited to prestigious film festivals and events around the world, with small travel stipends given out on a rolling, year-round basis. Time to pull that short I made about Slinky worship out of…
Danes Coming to Austin for Biopic?
It’s been in the works for a solid nine years, with frequent rumors it would shoot in Austin. Now an HBO film about Temple Grandin, who found success despite suffering from autism, is slated for an October shoot at Austin Studios. Claire Danes is in talk to star as Grandin, according to The Hollywood Reporter.…
Brush Off Your Shakespeare
Friends, countrymen… Welcome to Film Fight
Ugly Americans
Years ago, I saw this comedian on television. I can’t remember his name, or most of his routine, but there was one thing he said that’s stuck with me. Talking about the 1994 World Cup, which was hosted by the U.S., he wondered why it was that not a single incident of football hooliganism had…
Austin at the Olympics: Michelle Carter
Rough going for 1984 silver medalist’s daughter
In Search of a Midnight Kiss With Alex Holdridge
In Search of a Midnight Kiss With Alex Holdridge 2008, NR, 90 min. Directed by Alex Holdridge, Starring Scoot McNairy, Sara Simmonds, Brian McGuire, Kathleen Luong. Ads on Craigslist bring together two comically lovelorn souls for a journey (filmed in luscious black and white) around Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve.
Every Day Is Halloween
Local haunted house attraction gets national award ahead of scaring season.
KOOP Gets Played
This time, I think it was the socks
Leo Manzano’s Olympic Diary (Updated)
Austinite details his Olympic experience
Tales of ArmadilloCons Past
How to deal with a silent William Gibson.
Will the Real U.S. Senate Race Please Stand Up?
Polls are up and down, but all seem to favor Cornyn
Interim DPS Director Named
Highway Patrol Major Stan Clark succeeds Davis, at least for now
UT Fan Appreciation Day Moved Due to Construction
UT football’s Fan Appreciation Day has been moved to Gregory Gym (2101 Speedway) due to construction at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Fans are being asked to enter Gregory Gym at the west entrance. Two thousand wristbands will be distributed at 9am with events set to commence at 11am, Sat., Aug. 16. Two autograph items…
I Smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E
The Continental’s annual Elvis tribute slinks up
Oh, It’s Such a Shame
Reatardgate: What happens in Dallas doesn’t stay in Dallas.
Live Shots
Esteban ‘Steve’ Jordan Tribute H&H Ballroom, Aug. 10 Esteban “Steve” Jordan and his remarkable accordion were the reason for the tribute, but the eye-popping lineup was a cultural, racial, and musical tour de force, a confluence found only in Texas. It was also a grand pairing of San Antonio and Austin Chicano musicians, who have…
After a Fashion
Your Style Avatar rocks with the royals and those who throw parties like they are
Playing Through
A look into the darker side of the Olympic Games
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The only important things in this new animated epic is that viewers be blown away by the endless and pointless laser battles and that girl power comes into its own.
The Hightower Report
Are We in Iraq to Stay?; and Time for Percolate-Up Economics
¡Sí Se Puede!
How Claudia Alarcón saved Christmas (dinner)
Noriega Knocks Border Wall
Noriega criticizes Cornyn’s immigration stance
Fly Me to the Moon
This animated film is a simple parable of spirited can-do-ism, in which a trio of young houseflies semiaccidentally tags along on the Apollo 11 moon shot.
The Community Turns Its Camera On
KLRU’s Docubloggers mixes new media and old
Event Menu
Aug. 15-21
Integrity Unit Members Hunker Down
New unit begins review of how Texas criminal justice system stacks up
The Last Mistress
The latest titillation from French provocatrice Catherine Breillat is a period piece starring the ever-alluring Asia Argento.
Once More Unto the Breach
Film Fight returns, dons ruff and British accent
Food-o-File
Austin eats dirty, drinks hard, and welcomes the new Frisco Shop and Tolbert family chili
Framing the Populist Message
This election year, the populist message just might pay off
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Woody Allen’s newest is by no means a bad film, but it’s irrefutable evidence that Allen has aged – or cloistered – himself into irrelevance.
Mummy’s the Word
Mexic-Arte Museum screens a landmark of Mexican fantastic cinema
TEXSOM: Stands for Some Smart Texas Sommeliers
This year’s Texas Sommelier Conference culminates in a Grand Tasting open to the public
Thomas Frank’s 21st Century Corruption Theory
A Q&A with the author of What’s the Matter With Kansas? and The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule
Bachna Ae Haseeno
New Bollywood romance.
Going Home to the Armadillo
After 30 years, the song remains the same at ArmadilloCon, Texas’ favorite sci-fi convention
Film News
Austin Studios gets an upgrade, plus the fall festival season begins
Restaurant Review
As long as the quality is akin to Torchy’s, Austin can never have too many taco joints
Defense Lawyers Try to Halt Execution
State primed to deliver another lethal injection
Henry Poole Is Here
Director Mark Pellington has turned soft with this corny, redemptive, and/or inspirational tale that stars Luke Wilson.
Book Review
Entertaining and distressing in equal measure, Leather Maiden is a bruising jolt from an immoral moralist
TV Eye
Fake reality and real rock on IFC’s new semiscripted show, Z Rock
APD Commander Gets Job Back
What happens when you don’t report a comment you thought discriminatory, and then the comment itself is deemed not discriminatory after all? You get fired – but not for long.
Take
Take, with a very good performance by Minnie Driver, is a dreadfully misguided movie whose story of redemption is utterly irredeemable.
The Common Law
‘Late Rent’ Penalties and Cash Rental Payments
The Big Show
Comic-Con has gone Hollywood, but Austin’s comics pros say it’s still the place to be
Off the Record
The Sword and Metallica ride the lightning at Ozzfest, while Kanye West and Hope for Heroes lend a helping hand to U.S. veterans
Eastside Memorial It Is
Johnston High is no longer Johnston High. As the Texas Education Agency requested, Austin Independent School District board of trustees has selected a new name for the East Austin campus. Before the name was announced at the board’s meeting on Aug. 11, board President Mark Williams said, “Whatever name we pick, it will disappoint some…
Bottle Shock
Stuff the cork back in: This wine movie was sold before its time.
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Muses, cockroaches, and more
Teatro Vivo: Giving Voice to Its Own
In a departure, the company mounts a program of plays by four of its artists
More Q&A with Marc Ott
The new city manager on council initiatives, city planning priorities, and the change in the weather at City Hall
Budget Woes at AISD
Doesn’t look like AISD will be cutting property tax rates any time soon
Tropic Thunder
Instead of entering the jungle to find the heart of darkness, Ben Stiller goes in to take aim at the Achilles’ heel of Hollywood: its utter pomposity and self-importance.
Letters at 3AM
Officially confirmed ‘alien’ activity would be as sobering as it is intoxicating
Landmarks: Enhancing Campus With Art
UT gets 28 large sculptures on long-term loan from the Metropolitan Museum
Headlines
• The Austin American-Statesman announced Wednesday that Cox Enterprises Inc., which has owned the Statesman since 1976, plans to sell the daily – and “all affiliated operations,” including the Statesman.com and Austin360.com websites – with hopes of closing a deal by early 2009. (The Chronicle is mulling an offer.) • An independent arbitrator ruled that…
Planned Clinic Pits Neighbors Against Health District
Many residents were unaware of proposed clinic until they read about it in the newspaper
Appreciation Society
Shapes Have Fangs bite into a Kinks klassic
Long Center: Playing Without a ‘Chaperone’
The national tour of The Drowsy Chaperone won’t stop in Austin after all
Naked City
News briefs from Austin, the region, and elsewhere
Streetcar: The Work Plan
The wheels are in motion for an urban rail system
Five Faves From the Kinkdom
“You Can’t Win,” The Kink Kontroversy I love the intro. It’s kind of misleading in a way; the song seems to take a different direction after that. Mick Avory’s pounding drums with the deceptively simple Dave Davies vamp just does something to me every time I hear it. If you listen close, there is a…
Judy Thompson-Price: A Maker of Dances Gets Her Due
The Zilker Summer Musical honors the woman who has choreographed 20 shows
Res Publica
Go, go, good citizen, go! Your civic agenda: Aug. 14-21.
Union Considers Final Offer in Cap Metro Negotiations
If ATU 1091 rejects StarTran’s offer – and they might – a strike could be on the horizon
Across the Great Divide
Hacienda’s Abraham Villanueva keys in on the Band
Arts Review
Scottish Rite Theatre serves up Shakespearean comedy with actors who know their stuff
Point Austin: Bare Necessities
Budget decisions are about money … and justice
Media Watch
Sports guy Roger Wallace is unflappable as he delivers live sound bites from “halfway around the world”
Live Shots
Suzanna Choffel Lamberts, Aug. 7 The lack of audience didn’t prevent Suzanna Choffel and her backing trio from lighting up Lamberts. It might have been because she apparently knew almost everyone there, but, more likely, it was due to the graceful confidence of her music, which allows Choffel to make every performance feel as if…
Arts Review
Sequel to HIT. suffers from some trite dialogue, but hang on for that final twist
City Hall Hustle: A Bridge Too Far?
Street closure debate comes to a head over Batfest
Libertarians Jonesing for TCRP Delegate List
The L Word: Not just for lesbians any more
Live Shots
Sarah Jaffe Stubb’s, Aug. 9 Saturday’s show inside at Stubb’s served as a triple CD release, wrangling a lineup of North Texans. Dallas’ Dove Hunter opened, delving into debut The Southern Unknown, though the band’s fervent fans offset the intimacy of the following sets. The quintet’s songs torque the tension between Jayson Wortham’s strained, whispered…
Arts Review
These brothers’ works reveal the fascinating strengths of nonobjective art
Oops
Our latest batch
Live Shots
Souled Out 2008 Victory Grill, Aug. 9 Saturday night, creative energy flowed off the well-worn stage and into every inch of the Victory Grill. Outside, artists from the California-based mural collective Trust Your Hustle immortalized Austin’s first lady of soul, Miss Lavelle White; piano man Roosevelt “Grey Ghost” Williams; and venue founder Johnny Holmes on…
Day Trips
The water in Oregon’s Crater Lake is the most beautiful shade of blue
Page Two: Funny Papers
More than ever, the Chronicle is what people make of it
Luv Doc Recommends: Madonna 50th Birthday Sing-Along
This Saturday, Madonna turns 50. That means Blondie must be hobbling around on a tennis-ball walker somewhere. Or maybe she’s launching a comeback tour under the name “Grayie.” She’s probably doing the Four Seasons Retirement Home circuit, playing back-to-back shows at 8:30 and 10:30am, croaking out, “Once I had prunes, and they gave me gas”…
