Cover Story
The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth
A dystopian future meets a pop-culture obsessed past in Ready Player One
TDH: 8/25/11
City Council meets today
Longhorn Network Gets Cable Access
Verizon FiOS service to carry fledgling network
The Slacker 2011 Interviews: Spencer Parsons
Spencer Parsons on Slacker 2011
Dances With Bulls
Capital City Dance Team auditions
Wednesday Rewind
Spoiler Alert: Whiskey Shivers viral video ends badly
Texas Under Power Warning
UPDATE: ERCOT downgrades request for savings, but urges conservation
Sparks Strikes Again in Abortion Case
Fending off another attempt to intervene
Destroy All Monsters (and Ghosts)
Zack Carlson on Destroy, Haunted House project
ERCOT Energy Emergency Again
State power grid asks people to use less electricity until 7pm
Women’s Health Program Saves Money
But the war on women’s health continues
Attack Ships on Fire off the Shoulder of Orion
Faust and Qluster krautrock
TDH: 8/23/11
Sanders settlement dominates Thursday’s City Council agenda
AFF Teases 10 Titles
Duplass Bros.’ latest comedy gets regional premiere
Haunted by Coultergeist
Ann Coulter weighs in on the Perry “hotties” ad
The ‘Infinite’ Arm of DFW
A new Decemberists’ video pays homage to Infinite Jest
‘Computer Chess’ Needs Humans
Andrew Bujalski’s in-production film looking for extras
Austin Fashion Week 2011 Recos
The annual celebration of design and couture heats up
From Worst To First
How Round Rock changed their fortune
TDH: 8/22/11
City Council commemorates the Live Music Capital
What the Smell
What a smell expert has to say about Spy Kids 4
Wentworth to Run for Re-Election
Senator ends retirement speculation
Oh, What a Stylish Pussy She Has!
Cats in ‘jamas – no kidding.
Archer, Beck Hit Bullseye, Score Emmy Nomination
Austin animators nominated for local doc ‘The Eyes of Me’
Bedside Manner: Isn’t It Ironic?
The stories behind the stories we’re reading right now
Growing Up in Public
Josh and Ben Safdie return to Austin with Daddy Longlegs
Avery 7 New Issue Party
It’s something worth celebrating, prose lover
Getting Schooled by Film’s Heavy Hitters
John Pierson’s Master Class airs tonight on KUT
Coulthard Revs Up Austin
Red Bull Racing icon brings the roar of F1 to the Capitol
ESPN’s ’30 for 30 Gift Set: Vol. 2′
Sports docs that transcend sports
‘The Future of the Internet is Cats’
“Kittywood Studios: Cat Videos Incorporated”
The Totally Awesome AusChron Newscast Drops Science
Forensic science, Downtown parking, and more podcast fodder
TDH: 8/19/11
Yesterday’s City Council’s parking decision, tweet by tweet
Austin Rockin’ 8/19/11
Blue October and the Sisters Morales make our weekend live picks
A ‘Fright Night’ at The Opera
Stars of the remake get all Marx Brothers at the Drafthouse
Day Trips
The Wyler Aerial Tramway State Park in El Paso offers a breathtaking view of the Rio Grande Valley
30 Things
As our 30th anniversary (Sept. 4, 2011) approaches, “30 Things” – our lists of 30 notable (or laughable or lamentable) takes on the Chronicle’s coverage, culture, and commentary from the past three decades – is reaching a fever pitch. As is their way, the Chronicle proofreaders quietly posted the usage bomb “30 Overused and Abused…
One Day
This gimmicky romantic drama charts 20 years of one British couple’s ups and downs in one-day blips.
Pop Culture Pop Quiz
Can you speak geek? Define these Ready Player One references.
Gay Place
‘It’s up to you to heed these call-ups’: not exactly what the Clash said, but close
Quote of the Week
“I’m assuming, of course, that we leave the county lines as they are.” – Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe, quipping about county redistricting, which county commissioners will consider at a work session at 1:30pm Friday
The Whistleblower
The international crime of human sex trafficking is the subject of this melodramatic and often harrowing drama.
‘The Red Shoes’
The aerial arts troupe’s circus adaptation of the fairy tale flies again
Constable Says Politics Drove Recall of Warrants
Pre-election antics get off to a roaring start
Headlines
� City Council convenes today (Thursday, Aug. 18), taking up topics ranging from regulation of predatory payday lenders to the revamped expansion of paid parking hours Downtown. See “City Hall Hustle” and “Finding the Way to Downtown Parking.” � Not listed on the agenda but supposedly due to council today is an estimate from engineering…
3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy
What a bizarre, beautiful, and tonally askew sex-and-sadism romp this Hong Kong freak show is.
‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’
The Georgetown Palace Theatre tours its hit musical to the State Theatre
The Doctor Is In – Then Out
Physician says she was fired for speaking out against bad management
City Hall Hustle: With Interest
Absent state action, council moves to regulate payday lenders
Austin Lyric Opera
ALO is selling its headquarters and losing its community music school
Round Rock Express
Skipper Bobby Jones reaches milestone
Point Austin: Magic Numbers
At budget time, the public safety numbers become sacrosanct
The Science of Injustice
Capital murder case highlights Texas courts’ resistance to physical evidence
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Charlie the Tuna and Mr. Bubble both turn 50 this year, prostitutes win Oscars too, etc.
Soccer Watch
Longhorns open their regular season this Friday, and more
Texas Platters
Leatherbag Yellow Television Leatherbag Patience “Don’t know where I’m going, just know where I’ve been,” surmises Randy Reynolds in “Sincerity,” the bittersweet country-rock finale of Leatherbag’s Yellow Television. That’s a fitting synopsis of Reynolds’ restless songwriting aesthetic, always pushing forward with no direction home. The shotgun effect of his prolific band vehicle finally hits a…
Seafood With a Conscience
Shoreline should be applauded for taking a step to help preserve our seas without ever making us feel deprived
Sparks to Lawmakers: Get Off Your Soapbox
Judge rejects lawmakers’ attempts to join ultrasound lawsuit
Res Publica
Civic calendar of events, Aug. 18-25
Texas Platters
Gary Clark Jr. The Bright Lights EP (Warner Bros.) I was in Chicago last June at Eric Clapton’s third Crossroads Guitar Festival when Gary Clark Jr. unleashed the volcanic blast that got him signed to Warner Bros. Records. Out front of a full soccer stadium spanning generations of classic rock die-hards, Austin’s underachieving blues man…
Event Menu
Enjoy a dance party, pies, beer, Hatch chiles, and more
Still No Pay at the Inn
Florida contractor still withholding payment for Holiday Inn remodeling
Firefighters Win in Arbitration
Firefighters’ grievance given aribtrator’s blessing
Texas Platters
Larry Lange & His Lonely Knights Wiggle Room (SteadyBoy Records) Larry Lange & His Lonely Knights is hardly a concept band in the traditional sense, but Lange’s vision and dedication to classic South Texas and Gulf Coast rock, not to mention swamp pop and Chicano soul, makes Wiggle Room levitate into the dance-o-sphere. The local…
Food-o-File
RSVP for a Kitchen Nightmares taping – if you dare
New Law Forces End of Central Health’s Abortion Services
Board says it can’t risk jeopardizing its overall health care mission
Land Purchase Pleases Mother Nature
Acquisition preserves open space in critical area
Texas Platters
Guy Clark Songs and Stories (Dualtone) The dean of Texas songwriters has live albums under his belt. Now approaching 70, Guy Clark’s most recent performances, such as this one – recorded in 2009 at Nashville, Tenn.’s Belcourt Theatre – have a solemnity and sense of purpose that’s deeper than anything he’s done in the past.…
Restaurant Review
Here you’ll find some of the most delectable, exotic sandwiches and appetizers in Austin
Forbidden Fruit: Exit, Chased by the Bare
Austin’s favorite naughty business closes Downtown location
Just Another Cowboy From Texas
Rick Perry talks Texas tough, raises eyebrows
Texas Platters
Gary Nicholson Texas Songbook (Bismeaux) One of Nashville’s premier songwriters for three decades, Gary Nicholson pays tribute to his Texas roots with a big assist from Asleep at the Wheel. Not the smoothest singer, Nicholson remedies that with lyrics that strike a universal chord, this time for those still enamored of honky-tonk and swing. Guests…
Restaurant Review
South-of-the-border treats for the south-of-the-river crowd
Finding the Way to Downtown Parking
A compromise on paid parking hours is steering its way toward council approval
Texas Platters
Deryl Dodd Random As I Am (Smith Entertainment) In the late 1990s, Dallas’ Deryl Dodd was a hot prospect in Nashville. Then a bout with viral encephalitis sidelined him. Recovered for the better part of a decade, Dodd returns with Random As I Am, his seventh disc, which retains traces of his Music City experience.…
DVD Watch
As with the proto-New Wave French gangster epics of the period, the heist’s the thing in this early Kubrick film
Arts Review
The leads put so much of themselves in this new play that it transcends fiction
Final Destination 5
In case we’ve forgotten, this series returns to remind us that death does not like to be cheated.
Texas Platters
Mark Jungers More Like a Good Dog Than a Bad Cat (American Rural) He’s a local contemporary of Adam Carroll and Owen Temple, but Mark Jungers doesn’t quite possess the same naturally astute songwriting talent as those two. On his sixth disc, Jungers continues with a sturdy brand of country rock, and a few cuts,…
Remembering Polly Platt
A collaborative filmmaker, friend to AFF, and mentor to many
Arts Review
You can feel Elizabeth Doss’ new play rising from deep in her past and this land
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie
They’re on TV. They’re on tour. And now they’re onscreen in a concert film recorded during their summer tour.
Texas Platters
Eric Dahl Live by Your Word (Yew Lane) Eric Dahl fancies himself a poet, but there’s little stimulating poetry on Live by Your Word. He’s also a singer-songwriter, but his raspy vocals aren’t very musical, and his songs are mostly rote. Dahl gets lots of expert help on his third disc from local vets Ernie…
Can’t Stop the World
Austin’s native contribution to the Go-Go’s, guitarist/bassist Kathy Valentine, relives 30 years of Beauty and the Beat
Arts Review
Ales has captured panoramic, full-color miracles with his cunning lenses
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D
The family-friendly spy franchise is revived once again, this time with a “fourth dimension” of scratch and sniff.
Texas Platters
Sometime KOOP voice Lisa Schneider’s Milkwood Thistle Promenade is your bonus for weathering the summer heat, a cool respite of violin strings singing in all their rosined glory. Sequenced like a largely wordless world journey, Milkwood is captivating and ethereal: Celtic here, Swedish there, with a hint of country, the touch of klezmer, and a…
The Hightower Report
Obama drags his feet on jobs, and tea party politicians scramble for earmarks
Off the Record
Gary Clark Jr. and the Cactus Cafe go under the lens
Fright Night
The new Fright Night isn’t a prick on the neck of the 1985 original, but what it does it does well.
Pride of the Eastside
The movers and shakers behind El Gallo want you to rethink how movies get made
After a Fashion
Birthdays of art and birthdays of heart
Page Two: Precious Little Harmony
The only thing the founders agreed on was the need to compromise
The Guard
A daffy, delightful Irish yarn capped by fabulous performances by Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle.
Luv Doc Recommends: Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins
Yes, it was Molly Ivins who invented the nickname “Gov. Goodhair” for Rick Perry. That single instance of wickedly brilliant wordplay is much more of a literary legacy than most political commentators can claim in a lifetime. In fact, it could be argued that the nickname alone is enough to warrant a one-woman theatrical homage,…
