Hearth & Soul
Dear Suzy. We live in one of those houses where the contractors took every shortcut they could think of and topped it off with aluminum wiring. We’ve been nervous about the wiring every since we moved in and have asked a number of people advice. Everyone suggests something different: 1. Rip out all the wire…
No Science Is Good Science
by Robert Bryce For a good time, call Andrew Sansom, the head of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Ask him why his agency opposes scientific inquiry. Here’s his number: (512) 389-4802. Sansom won’t return calls from the Chronicle. So perhaps you’d enjoy asking why he and his staffers are opposing a study on the…
Benefits
Celebrity Dog Wash to benefit the Humane Society of Austin/Travis Co., at Humane Society Auditorium, 10am. 837-7985, ext. 226. ALAA Garage Sale to benefit Artists Legal and Accounting Assistance of Austin (ALAA), at 4209 Ave. A, noon. 476-4458. THU 29 4th Annual Day of Caring to benefit the United Way, at Hyatt Recency, Town Lake,…
Naked City
Mayor Bruce Todd told the daily it was “small potatoes,” but the Save Our Springs (SOS) forces have been celebrating, or at least trying to, since last week’s Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that the city did not violate FM Properties’ constitutional rights. The decision is a reversal of an earlier jury verdict…
Coach’s Corner
Often, my most intractable but wrong notions occur when “I’m sure.” Being perfect, I’m not likely to re-examine these convictions. An example: My view of the NFC Central, derived from being a Bear fan, as unworthy of serious consideration. I’ve viewed a long history of abject mediocrity; normally possessing one decent team (Minnesota Vikings), occasionally…
The Stunt Man
In the fall of 1988, New York City’s Film Forum sponsored a two-week festival entitled “Gimmick-o-Rama,” celebrating the films of the 1950s that featured technical and publicity innovations with outlandish names such as “Emergo” and “Hypnomagic.” In anticipation of the festival, Newsday writer Bruce Eder interviewed Terry Castle, daughter of the man whose exploitation of…
Page Two
As with any good return-from-the-dead scenario, the almost unexpectedly revived SOS is again wreaking havoc and mayhem. When the citizen-passed initiative was reaffirmed by the courts, supporters were vindicated and re-energized but some of them are so excited they are ready to go too far (see this week’s “Council Watch”). The morally correct choice for…
Scanlines
D: Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro; with Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vettet, Dominique Pinon, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Genevieve Brunet, Odile Mallet, Mireille Mosse, Joseph Lucien. VHS Home Video Waterloo Video, 1016 W. Sixth From the makers of the quirkily convoluted French film Delicatessen comes this dark fairy tale which, like its predecessor, is also somewhat…
Public Notice
Shine on Me. I Love It. Shine a Light… The lyrics rattle in your brain like loose rhinestones from granny’s glasses. Remember ’em? Like the back of your Smiley Face Mug, eh, Fonzie? This bit of brilliant verse is from the hit penned in homage of the baddddest foxy-female Seventies superstar mama of the racquet…
Day Trips
Community theatre at the Bastrop Opera House keeps alive a tradition that is over a century old. The latest reincarnation of the 106-year-old building has seen a remarkable 12-year run. The success of the theatre group has been largely due to the efforts an army of volunteers and its executive director, Chester Eitze, who has…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
Eighty percent of American women are deficient in calcium. At a crime scene, a medical examiner can determine the approximate time of death by inserting a device resembling a meat thermometer into the liver of a dead body. On June 26, 1944, the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers, and New York Giants staged the first…
Dancing About Architecture
Unclean Records had the unusual honor of a horserace in their name, the “Unclean 500,” at Retama Park racetrack in San Antonio, thanks to a friend of the Sons of Hercules who works there. Unclean owner Roger Morgan reports that he lost money until the last race of the day, when his wife won it…
Ki ho`alu
We’re all familiar with Hawaiian music, right? Chinky-chanky ukulele rhythms, liquid pedal steel guitar, falsetto singing, and a whole lotta shakin’ going on. Just add a tropical backdrop, a couple of long-haired wahines with leis, and the image is complete. Amazing, isn’t it, how readily we accept this picture, particularly since it completely disregards the…
Fiddles, Not Violins
You got that thing on? I hope you don’t print it like I’m sayin’ it!” Seventy-year-old Ray Price (“going on 71 with a bullet”) of Perryville, Texas, son of Walter and Clara Bradley Price, has just looked up from the glass of sippin’ whiskey and accompanying glass of orange soda in his hands, having seen…
In League With the Best
The Austin Writers’ League (AWL) has a busy fall coming up for members and aspiring authors: * The AWL is now accepting entries for the Sixth Annual Violet Crown Book Awards — named after an O. Henry reference to Austin as “the City of the Violet Crown” — to honor three outstanding published books written…
Record Review
RAY PRICE San Antonio Rose (Koch International) Having come of age in Texas during the Great Depression — when Bob Wills was still King — Ray Price had more than a passing familiarity with Wills and his innovations. More than a dollop of Wills’ Saturday night dancehall savvy seasoned the hardened swing that characterized the…
Articulations
The Austin Circle of Theatres (ACoT) has announced the nominees for its 1995-96 B. Iden Payne Awards, recognizing outstanding achievement in local stage productions during the past year. This year’s list includes 184 nominations in 30 categories. Receiving the most recognition for their work this year are the Zachary Scott Theatre Center, with 32 nominations,…
Also Playing
Friday: Ponty Bone, Jovita’s Saturday: Crust, Moist Fist, Horsies, Stubb’s Sunday: Kelly Willis, Continental Club Monday: Murphy’s Law, H20, Emo’s Tuesday: Dread Zeppelin, Liberty Lunch Wednesday: Johnny Goudie, Kacy Crowley, Southern Joker, Steamboat Thursday: W.C. Clark, Pearl’s
Art of the State
DALLAS MORNING NEWS DANCE FESTIVAL features some of North Texas’ finest dance artists, performing outdoors for free. Among this year’s participants: Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folkl�rico, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Dancers Unlimited Repertory Company, and Fort Worth Dallas Ballet. August 29-September 1, Thu-Sun, 8:15pm. Free. Artist Square, by Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora, Dallas.214/953-1985. UTOPIA…
Record reviews Reissues
THE CONGOS Heart of the Congos (Blood and Fire) As the host of a weekly reggae radio program, I’m privy to most new reggae releases — good and bad. I can’t recall any album in the past few years that’s quite blown me away like this Congos’ reissue. Originally released in 1977 under the direction…
The Art of the Dealer
Years ago, arts writer and former art dealer Dave Hickey described the relationship between dealer and artist as a simple one: The artist makes the work; the dealer sells the work; the artist tries to get the money. And that’s the way the system works, for the most part — not because dealers are an…
RoadkillCowboys & Indians
The hardest thing to figure about Cowboys & Indians is where to put them. They dress up in cowboy hats and boots and, well, the Dallas band’s name certainly evokes Western images. Yet their sound owes less to the steel guitar, relying instead on a full-bore horn-section attack with trombones, saxophones, and a snazzy swing…
Audio, Audio
It’s as if referring to them causes that response and that response alone. “Books on tape? They’re good for long drives.” People use the word “good,” but not as a judgment. It’s more of a rationalization than an endorsement. Omit the “good” and the sentence has the same sentiment — none at all. Everyone suddenly…
Cruel to Be Kind
Austin’s $1.2 billion proposed budget for fiscal year 1996-97 appears to be a no-frills approach to the city’s stated mission: “We want Austin to be the most livable community in the country.” Easy to say, but can we afford to meet that goal? Apparently not. Not if you read between the lines of this year’s…
Postscripts
edited by Lee Nichols and Margaret Moser * THU, AUG 15: Lars Eighner’s Travels with Lizbeth may have an unhappy sequel, unless his many Austin fans pitch in to help. Eighner’s novel, as you probably know, chronicled his struggle with homelessness on the streets of Austin and California. Largely due to the success of that…
It’s a Good Economy, Stupid
“I tell thee,” said madame, “that although it is a long time on the road, it is on the road and coming. I tell thee it never retreats, and never stops.” — A Tale of Two Cities Yup, it is the best of times; it is the worst of times. Austin is wealthier than ever…
About AIDS
One of the things I hear most often from prospective and new volunteers with ASA is “I want to make a difference.” Making a difference is what our volunteer programs are all about. There are many volunteer opportunities at AIDS Services of Austin for every age, skill, ability level, and certainly one that you can…
Daryl’s Dilemma
Three days ago Councilmember Daryl Slusher threw out his back and left the office early. The timing is nothing if not ironic, since some environmentalists now fear that Slusher doesn’t have the political backbone to hold true to his roots. “He’s only been in office for two months,” notes Frank Belanger, formerly one of Slusher’s…
