In Person
Jon Ferguson at B&N Arboretum Jon Ferguson is taller than you might expect. Sure, reading something about him called “About the Author” you see he coaches in the Switzerland pro-basketball league, but still, he’s taller than most authors should be. He has deep-set eyes and a face well-crinkled with laugh lines. He is an easy…
Roadkill
Frank Erwin Center August 21-23 It’s the typical story: One day you’re young and in a band, and the world is one big party. The next thing you know, it’s 20 years later, and you’ve been kept up all night long by a bunch of noisy kids. In the case of Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, the…
Shortcuts
After trudging through the summer dry spell (in every sense of the phrase), signs are everywhere that this toddling film town is springing back to life. Generally, the best place to find out about these screenings is in the “Revivals and Special Screenings” section of each issue’s “Film Listings”. But here are some reminders in…
In Person
Gary Phillips at AiC&S There were many reasons I looked forward to catching crime writer Gary Phillips’ appearance last Saturday at Adventures in Crime & Space. One, Phillips’ third and latest book, Bad Night Is Falling (Berkley $21.95 hard), is a really good detective novel. Also, being an African-American who writes hard-boiled novels about a…
Road Shows
AUGUST FRI 21 Buckwheat Zydeco, Antone’s FRI 21 Quadrajets, El Diablo, Emo’s FRI 21 Leroy Shakespeare, Flamingo Cantina FRI 21 Riders in the Sky, La Zona Rosa FRI 21, SAT 22Rebirth Brass Band, Stubb’s FRI 21, SAT 22Joseph Vincelli, Ringside@Sullivan’s SAT 22 Sons of Hercules, Hole in the Wall SAT 22 Cowboys & Indians, Speakeasy…
My San Marcos Summer
illustration by Michael Sieben When I was 19, the town of San Marcos seemed as romantic as its island-sounding name. Lined with elephant ears, the green river curved through the hodgepodge college town, past red tile roofs, dilapidated Victorian houses, low-rent bungalows, and old hippie haunts. Mornings, the mist hung on the water like a…
Benefits
People’s Music Concert featuring Susanna Sharpe and Brazilian Quartet to benefit People’s Community Clinic, at Waterloo Ice House, Sixth & Lamar, 9pm. 467-8776 or 708-3131. Shoot From the Heart sporting clays tourney to benefit American Heart Association at Cypress Valley Preserve. 433-4023. THU 27 Happy Birthday Concert for Charlene Hancock’s 60th featuring Gulf Coast Players,…
Klezmatic Convergence
photograph by Todd V. Wolfson As a founding member of Austin’s seminal bluegrass outfit the Bad Livers, bassist Mark Rubin has seen his share of notoriety. And like many musicians of his caliber, he has also enjoyed success in other musical projects – which can be a problem, apparently. “[Bad Livers guitarist] Danny [Barnes] and…
That’s Fat Lucky to You
photograph by Bruce Dye Some may think that God has forsaken Texas this blastedly hot summer, but I know it isn’t so. Because when the sun is baking, I only have to hear that contorted, strangely familiar music to know that salvation is on its way. Like manna straight from heaven, it’s the ice cream…
Coach’s Corner
When my 15-year-old daughter asked if she could have a slumber party, I figured I could handle two or three friends for a night. Yeah, I said, why not. Within moments — though I didn’t know it — I’d completely lost control of the situation. I told Janie three friends were the max. This, it…
Bursting With Attitude
Top to bottom: Paul Sessums Jr., Paul Sessums, and Sasha Sessums. photograph by Bruce Dye Paul Sessums, owner of the Black Cat Lounge and longtime fixture of the Austin music scene, was killed early Monday morning when the van he was driving lost control on Highway 71 just outside of Bastrop. The exact cause of…
Rubinchik’s Orkestyr
Flipnotics Freilachs Bad Liver Mark Rubin describes Rubinchik’s Orkestyr as “a group of like-minded musicians goofing on some cool old tunes they dug up.” After listening to this collection of faithfully rollicking (mostly) Jewish folk songs, I’ve decided Rubin’s use of “goofing” must refer to his own capacity for egregious understatement rather than the music.…
Day Trips
Highway 1 along the California Coast offers some spectacular views and great restaurants along the way, but Texas has equally unique attractions. photograph by Gerald E. McLeod The main character of this tale shall remain anonymous for reasons to become very apparent by the end of the story. The actual events may have been a…
Septic Overload?
illustration by Doug Potter Austin city council- members are looking for a way to provide sewer service to the city of West Lake Hills that would ensure water quality protection without spurring commercial development in the area. In discussions with city staff, councilmembers Beverly Griffith and Bill Spelman are promoting their belief that the best…
Dance With Me
Dance With Me 1998, PG, 127 min. Directed by Randa Haines, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Vanessa L. Williams, Chayanne, Kris Kristofferson, Joan Plowright. Original working title: Shut Up and Dance. Given the already minimal nature of the plot and dialogue in this low-budget dance-and-romance trifle, the filmmakers might have done well to…
Page Two
Ten years ago this week, the Chronicle was putting to bed its last bi-weekly issue and gearing up for the move to weekly publication, which began with the Seventh Anniversary issue, September 2, 1988. That August 26 issue was 48 pages – about average for that summer. Our office was at 28th & Nueces, across…
Shelter From the Storm
photograph by Ada Calhoun By the time Isaac McNeese left Galveston in 1991, his life had not only hit bottom, it had been dragging there for several years. Strung out on crack cocaine and booze, McNeese was what he calls a “basket man,” wandering the streets of the balmy town with a shopping cart, scavenging…
Dead Man On Campus
Dead Man On Campus 1998, R, 96 min. Directed by Alan Cohn, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Tom Everett Scott, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Poppy Montgomery, Lochlyn Munro, Randy Pearlstein, Corey Page. Well, ah, it’s got a good soundtrack. But then, with both ex-Devo madman Mark Mothersbaugh and the Dust Brothers on board, how could…
Public Notice
Voices for Children features three of Austin’s most golden: Don Walser, Floyd Domino, and Ana Egge, as a matter of fact, singing their not-so-little hearts out to benefit the Pebble Project, the abuse prevention and intervention arm of Austin’s Communities in Schools. The kid-friendly, alcohol-free event happens Sat, Aug 22, 6-10pm at the East First…
The Rent Rub
Holly and Bill Skeen, with son Billy, outside their Buckingham Estates home. photograph by Kevin Fullerton The South Austin duplex that Bill and Holly Skeen have called home for four years is no dream home – but it was certainly an answer to their prayers when the young couple found it. Their previous apartment off…
Killer Condom
Killer Condom 1996, NR, 107 min. Directed by Martin Walz, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Udo Samel, Peter Lohmeyer, Iris Berben, Marc Richter, Leonard Lansink. My friends look at me as though I’ve been off on vacation too long when I tell them of my delight in watching a movie called Killer Condom.…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
Meg Ryan was a high school cheerleader. Contrary to popular belief, penguins do occur in the northern hemisphere. The equator runs through the northern end of Isabela Island in the Galapagos, and the Galapagos penguin ranges all the way to the north tip of the island. Shakespeare’s plays and poems contain over 30,000 different words.…
Dangling the Carrot
Most affordable housing in Austin is built through two major federal programs: – The Austin Housing Finance Corp. issues tax-exempt bonds and extends the low-interest loans to rental property developers, who agree to designate 20-30% of their units for tenants earning no more than 80% of the area median income. – The Texas Dept. of…
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender 1997, NR, 100 min. Directed by Mark Rappaport, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dan Butler. Who would have thought that deconstructionism could be so much fun? Although on the surface similar to the more conventional documentary The Celluloid Closet, The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender doesn’t merely…
Rats From a Sinking Ship
illustration by Jason Stout When Titanic did its bit to sink our culture last winter, I had to keep my mouth shut because what I wanted to say would have given away its climactic moments. Ruining a viewer’s chance to experience a drama first-hand is the one thing a critic must not do. But now…
There’s No Place Like Home
Clockwise from top right: Lisa Robinson, her son Nathan, her daughter Adoria and her neice Angeleigh Newton. photograph by James Blair Lisa Robinson’s three-bedroom duplex on East Eighth Street may not have central air conditioning, but that’s a minor privation compared to the homelessness and public housing she and her two children had known before.…
Your Friends & Neighbors
Your Friends & Neighbors 1998, R, 100 min. Directed by Neil LaBute, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Ben Stiller, Jason Patric, Catherine Keener, Nastassja Kinski, Aaron Eckhart, Amy Brenneman. Although Neil LaBute’s audacious debut film, In the Company of Men, is a tough act to follow, the writer-director’s sophomore effort, Your Friends &…
Articulations
It’s awards time again… On Monday, the Austin Circle of Theatres announced its nominations for the 1997-98 Iden Awards, honoring excellence in local stage work from August, 1997 through July, 1998. A total of 46 productions from 25 companies earned nominations in 23 categories covering musicals, non-musical plays, and productions for children. Leading the nominations…
Food-O-File
Response to our profiles of four women who have shaped the way Austin eats and our list of working local female chefs has been very interesting. Some readers questioned why the feature wasn’t more comprehensive in its coverage of women who have made contributions to the local food scene. The simple answer is that writer…
Rent by Disparity
INCOME BY HOUSEHOLD PERCENT OF HUD MEDIAN Family Income HIGHEST AFFORDABLE RENT* LOWEST AVAILABLE THREE-BEDROOM APT.INCLUDING UTILITIES+ $15,000 30% $425 $660 $25,000 50% $700 $660 $40,000 80% $1,113 $852 Households earning less than 50% MFI, which account for about half the local renting population, find even affordable-housing rates too costly, while families above 50% MFI…
Air Bud: Golden Receiver
Air Bud: Golden Receiver 1998, G, 92 min. Directed by Richard Martin, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kevin Zegers, Gregory Harrison, Cynthia Stevenson, Nora Dunn, Perry Anzilotti, Robert Constanzo, Shayn Solberg. This second installment in what looks to be an ongoing series is about as “family entertainment” as you can get. Granted, sometimes…
Exhibitionism
Tarrytown Gallery, through September 5 “Wallace” by Chris Ruggia This group exhibition, which Tarrytown Gallery has titled “Refreshingly Unfamiliar,” is indeed refreshing in its coherency, but I can’t say that it presents anything terribly unfamiliar. Most of the 19 artists included in it are fairly well-represented in town, and the works they have included here…
Great Aspirations
Si Bon 801 S. Lamar, 326-8323 Tue-Thu, 6-10:30pm; Fri-Sat, 6-11pm Si Bon photograph by John Anderson Ever since energetic young chef Peter O’Brien blew into Austin several years ago, he made it clear that his goal was to be self-employed. His dream was to have his own small restaurant where everything could be done his…
Channeling the News
illustration by Doug Potter For the fourth year in a row, Rocky Mountain Media Watch (RMMW) has passed judgment on local television news in the United States. And the verdict, unfortunately, is a rerun of previous years: It’s bad. RMMW is a Denver-based media activist group founded in 1994 to, in its own words, “challenge…
The Avengers
The Avengers 1998, PG, 91 min. D: Jeremiah Chechik; with Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery, Jim Broadbent. It’s been some time since I had a chance to catch the old BBC television show upon which this updating is based. Last weekend, then, found me sprawled in my living room, caught up in waves of…
Violet Crown Finalists
This week, the Austin Writers’ League announced finalists for the 1998 Violet Crown Awards, an annual contest recognizing the best works published by Austin Writers’ League members. Entrants submitted works published between August 1, 1997 and June 30, 1998 in one of three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and literary fiction: poetry or essay. The finalists are…
The Growing Chorus
photograph by John Anderson The past two and a half months have been a time of both revelation and soul-searching for longtime Steamboat owner/Austin music advocate Danny Crooks. And it all started with a trip to the doctor to get Viagra. “Everything still worked, but everybody was talking about Viagra,” recalls Crooks. “I went to…
Naked City
The ever-expanding list of items up for vote on Nov. 3 may include a ballot question asking if the city should allow the Palmer Auditorium-City Coliseum site to be developed into an ARTS Center Stage-funded performing arts center and hockey arena/civic center, funded largely by the Ice Bats hockey team. Last week, Mayor Kirk Watson,…
Blade
Blade 1998, R, 120 min. D: Stephen Norrington; with Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Traci Lords. It’s so nice to see Udo Kier back in fangs. Trash cinema aficionados will remember Kier as the star of Paul Morrissey’s Andy Warhol’s Dracula way back when, and although the actor isn’t on the prowl for “wirgins” this time…
Sacred Spaces and the Art of Margo Sawyer at AMOA
Blue, 1998 Occasionally, an art exhibition engages me in an intensely personal conversation. It happened recently with “Margo Sawyer: Presence and Absence” at the Austin Museum of Art � Laguna Gloria. This is the museum’s second Art in Process exhibition, showcasing a local artist’s work in the downstairs galleries while providing a Web page, an…
Dancing About Architecture
The image of Paul Sessums that keeps running through my mind is one of him standing in front of his short-lived Split Rail at the corner of Seventh and Brazos a couple of years ago, beaming. He’s beaming because he’s managed to do what many now (and then) would consider impossible; he’s cleared all the…
An Antique Thang
Just when I was smugly congratulating myself for being inured to the seductive charms of television, I was broadsided by the most unlikely temptress: Antiques Roadshow (Mondays, 8pm, PBS). It happened, as these things do, innocently enough. It was a Monday, and I was wandering aimlessly through the channels, seeking not so much entertainment as…
Nice Work if You Can Get It
Austin Writer’s League executive assistant Gus Gonzales III, associate director Sally Baker, and executive director Jim Bob McMillan photograph by John Anderson Jim Bob McMillan, the executive director of the Austin Writers’ League (AWL), may laugh when he says that editors will attend AWL’s agent’s conference this year for the first time “to keep agents…
Scanlines
Tupac Shakur and James Belushi in Gang Related D: Jim Kouf (1997) with James Belushi, Tupac Shakur, Lela Rochon, Dennis Quaid, James Earl Jones, David Paymer Everything about Gang Related, from its genre to its director to its stars to even its title, would normally make this movie the last choice in my video runs.…
Just the Facts for Macs
It’s not that you can’t upgrade a Mac, you can, but there are fewer options. Many of the options are basically the same as for PCs. Zip drives, memory upgrades, CPU upgrades, disk drives, etc., are all available for the Mac, but there are two ways to go. The official upgrade path, using Apple or…
Postscripts
In the literary world, the year 2000 problem has little to do with computers and everything to do with Listomania, i.e. the current overabundance of list-making that Arthur Schlesinger Jr., in an August 11 article in the Wall Street Journal, attributes to the fact that “the big dates looming ahead call for an accounting of…
Live Shots
Malachi’s Wesley Bray at Stubb’s, August 16. photograph by John Carrico TOSCA Cedar Street, August 10 In recent years, Austin has seen a strange herd of non-traditional instruments take to its rock & roll stages, from the tuba to the ukulele to the didgeridoo – proving, if nothing else, that we’ve come a long way…
Cheap and Easy Mac Upgrades
Most cheap and easy Mac upgrades are similar or the same as the PC versions. Zip drives, QuickCams, mouses, modems, keyboards, etc. are all similar in price and availability. For detailed info on Mac upgrades, check these links. http://www.apple.com/support The official Apple support site contains a large technical library with specs for all Macs. http://macworld.zdnet.com/…
Taco Xpress
2529-A S. Lamar, 444-0261 Mon-Fri, 7am-2pm; Sat, 8am-3pm; Sun, 9am-2pm The recently expanded Taco Xpress is about as far from an upscale chef-owned restaurant as it’s possible to get. It’s a delightfully funky little taqueria with a simple bargain menu, counter service, and mismatched tables and chairs. What puts it in a league with much…
Recommended
Friday: Riders in the Sky, La Zona Rosa Saturday: Rebirth Brass Band, Stubb’s; Cowboys & Indians, Cigar Store Indians, Speakeasy Sunday: Neil Finn, Ebba Forsberg, La Zona Rosa Monday: The Panhandlers, Threadgill’s AWH Tuesday: MC Overlord, Steamboat Wednesday: The Fence Sitters, Flipnotics Thursday: Gulf Coast Playboys, Nash Hernandez Orchestra, The Mystic Knights, Cornell Hurd, Jazz…
… In With the New
Last week we looked at internal upgrade options for your PC. This week we’ll talk about add-ons and upgrades that don’t require removing the case. illustration by Jason Stout Monitors The most noticeable improvement you can make to your system is a new monitor. Monitor prices are way down and now might be the time…
