Cover Story
Making Biscuit
Punk icon Randy “Biscuit” Turner serves art 24/7
Caught in the Crossfire
Caught in the Crossfire This short film is about the U.S. bombing of Falluja.
Misery
Misery 1990, R, 107 min. Directed by Rob Reiner, Starring James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, Lauren Bacall. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for playing a deranged fan who takes her favorite novelist hostage in this stellar Stephen King adaptation.
Day Trips
For love of the hummingbird
Sticker Shock
New registration stickers cause more problems than they fix
The Hightower Report
Public utility watchdogs keep close eye on corporate executives’ parties; become a head honcho and get rewarded for not producing
TCB
Requiem for the Austin Music Network, news on Zykos, the Arm, Victory Grill, and more
Soccer Watch
It’s open season for the Lady Longhorns
Snipped Funds Mean Unsnipped Animals
Money from ‘Animal Friendly’ license plates goes unawarded
Discord and Ecstasy
Werner Herzog on ‘Grizzly Man’
The Utter Daveness of Dave!
A farewell tribute to artist and co-founder of the Fresh Up Club Dave Bryant
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Saturn’s moon Titan has square craters that appear to be lined up along north-south, east-west lines
Naked City
Headlines and happenings from Austin and beyond
On the Case: No. 2
Greetings from planet ‘Cassidy’
Brawl in the Family
It’s Round 10 of the Rude Mechanicals’ annual fundraiser, and the Black Eye Ball promises to pack enough punch to send a herd of Santa Gertrudis to Slumberland
Excellence as Custom
Traveling Tien Jin’s menu
Naked City
Fundamentalist leader still hiding, while prosecutors try to tie the purse strings
Film News
Kat in a hot Austin indie summer; plus, ‘How to Eat Fried Worms,’ Jeffrey Travis, and the rest
Payne Pleasures 2005
Drama with a Gothic flair scored high in the nominations for the 2005 B. Iden Payne Awards, as announced by Austin Circle of Theatres on August 15
Azul
Azul opened quietly a couple of years ago in a refurbished two-story home on East Cesar Chavez, but it quickly became an important cornerstone of the gourmet sandwich revolution in Austin
Naked City
Casey Foundation finds we measure near bottom in many child welfare categories
DVD Watch
Two from Seijun Suzuki
Nominations for the 2004-2005 B. Iden Payne Awards
A complete list of all Payne Award nominees.
Tony’s Vineyard
My first introduction to Tony’s Vineyard was during one of their recentMurder Mystery Musical Nights
Naked City
Federal progress rankings put pressure on AISD
TV Eye
When compared with the higher profile ‘Over There,’ the Steven Bochco series about soldiers on the front lines of the Iraq War, ‘Embedded / Live’s teeth are sharper, coaxed by wicked humor and touches of pathos at all the right moments
Muralmania Month
August has seen at least three murals added to the city’s burgeoning collection: at Mathews Elementary, St. David’s Hospital, and a new Starbucks
Garibaldi’s Mexican Restaurant
Garibaldi’s is my idea of a great neighborhood restaurant
Naked City
Long-delayed whistleblower case finally headed for court
Photos From the Vigil for Cindy Sheehan
As Cindy Sheehan camped outside of George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, waiting for answers from the president as to why her son Casey died in Iraq, citizens in dozens of cities across the country held their own peaceful protests against the war, calling for the safe return of American troops. Hundreds of Austinites…
Arts Review
The sketch comedians of Gag Reflex have lots of interesting ideas and deliver some funny performances in their new revue, but all the bits aren�t as tasty as you�d like.
Food-o-file
Comings and goings on SoCo; plus, Boggy Creek Farm takes a break
Naked City
1995: Mala Sangre investigation officially begins. 1997: First whistle-blower lawsuits filed by former Mala Sangre investigators who say they were transferred because they persisted in investigating leads alleging police corruption. After initial investigators are transferred, Jeff White is assigned as the lone investigator on Mala Sangre. 2000: White, interviewed as a potential witness in whistle-blower…
Arts Review
In ‘Aztlan Underground,’ Aztlan Dance Company again shatters Latin dance stereotypes, twirling the pieces and making a mosaic of its own contemporary style
Naked City
Grand jury no-bills Schroeder
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
A singularly dreadful example of what can happen when potentially capable comedians check their brains at a committee meeting and go slumming for dollars.
Recent and Anticipated Texas
From ‘Panic’ to ‘Andrew Jackson’
Phases & Stages
DungenTa Det Lugnt (Kemado) There’s a Swedish proverb that says, “Wisdom is in the head and not in the beard.” This adage applies to Dungen, a band that plays like the past 25 years never happened. Ta Det Lugnt (“take it easy”), the band’s third album, grows from the verdant psych pastures of 1960s Sweden,…
Naked City
Some provisions encourage renewables, but fossil fuels still reign
Valiant
Valiant, an animated adventure about heroic homing pigeons in England during World War II, flies in on a wing and a prayer.
Page Two: Page Break
“Page Two” is taking a break
Phases & Stages
There is an art to being a successful indie rock band. Things have to be in perfect balance: timing, perception, ego. Death Cab for Cutie is a model of that prowess. Justin Mitchell’s Drive Well, Sleep Carefully: On the Road With Death Cab for Cutie (Plexifilm) “is simply a story of a band on the…
Naked City
Democrat declares candidacy for governor courts ‘the new mainstream’
Red Eye
Red Eye’s no classic, but with its smart, twisty little script and those two killer performances, it’s a helluva lot of fun.
Letters at 3AM
The sapping of America’s economic and technological dominance is a boon for the world. Many are gaining from the decline of a few.
Phases & Stages
Weird Tales of the Ramones(Sire/Rhino) The Ramones anthology has come as least as far as “Rockaway Beach” since 1988’s single disc, Ramones Mania. In 1999, the 2-CD Hey Ho Let’s Go!: Anthology got three-fourths of this Queens-punk drama right before fumbling the ball on the goal line. 2002’s Johnny Ramone-curated Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest…
Naked City
The hottest morning show in town is not a morning show
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
A standout, a gross-out comedy that makes its audience go “awwww” as much as it goes “ewwww.”
After a Fashion
It’s a veritable monkey jungle this week: first Stephen goes ape, and then finds himself on South Beach … sort of. Ahh ahh ee ee!
Phases & Stages
Whatever: The ’90s Pop & Culture Box (Rhino) The Nineties can pretty much be summed up in three steps: grunge, the Internet, and Pulp Fiction. Think about it. There’s always O.J., Tonya Harding, Amy Fisher, and a slew of other tabloidian tales, but we’re more sophisticated than that, right? Rhino’s 7-CD Whatever box serves as…
Point Austin: Samsung’s Domain
The city eagerly raises the corporate incentive flag, and we’re all expected to salute
Grizzly Man
This documentary reveals how Timothy Treadwell, the popular grizzly bear preservationist, may have needed the bears more than they needed him.
About AIDS
One of the “holy grails” of HIV treatment was about to become a reality until a surprise announcement last week from Gilead Sciences that things were not going smoothly
Phases & Stages
Webbie Savage Life (Asylum) Ying Yang Twins United State of Atlanta (TVT) Boyz N Da Hood (Bad Boy) Chillin Villain Empire Villainism (Covert) Infesting airwaves with a misogyny so deep-rooted that it could make Luther Campbell cringe, Webbie’s “Give Me That” incorporates a beckoning sound and a nasty Bun B verse as it works its…
Point Austin: Beside the Point
What’s coming up on the City Council agenda
The Edukators
Sticking it to the man, German-style, is the subject of this smart, kicky little gem.
To Your Health
Does the mercury content in fish make it unsafe to consume while pregnant?
Sheehan’s Field of Dreams
Hundreds gather at Camp Casey to mourn the dead and fight like hell for the living
On the Lege: Two Sessions, Two Failures
Lawmakers still can’t salvage school finance
The Common Law
Recreational waivers and releases
The Day the Music Died
Austin Music Network’s on-air life winds down, as another network AMPs up
Lege Notes
Odds and ends – mostly odds – from under the pink granite dome
Luv Doc Recommends: Rude Mechanicals’ Black Eye Ball
You’re right, you should feel nervous about attending an event called the Black Eye Ball. Sounds like something held at a biker bar in Baytown instead of a trendy performance art warehouse in East Austin. You’ll find colorful people in both places, no doubt, but in the Off Center you’re much more likely to meet…
