Cover Story
The ARA Faces the Music
For the Austin Revitalization Authority, Eastside renewal proves to be a long, slow dance
13th Annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival Contest Winners
Individual Category Red Sauce 1st Place: Chris Cooper 2nd Place: Sam Attaguile 3rd Place: Valery Caselli-Dubov Green Sauce 1st Place: Victor Hernandez 2nd Place: Rishi Bajekal 3rd Place: Gene Golembiewski Special Variety 1st Place: Salomon Hernandez 2nd Place: Victor Hernandez 3rd Place: ManDee Mason Restaurant Category Red Sauce 1st Place: Trudy’s 2nd Place: Trudy’s 3rd…
Machine-Gun Kelly
Machine-Gun Kelly 1958, NR, 80 min. Directed by Roger Corman, Starring Charles Bronson, Susan Cabot, Morey Amsterdam. Bronson pulls out the stops as the trigger-happy gangster in the Corman quickie.
Golden Swallow
Golden Swallow 1968, NR, 108 min. Directed by Zhang Che, Starring Jimmy Wang Yu, Zheng Peipei, Luo Lie. Although it’s nominally a sequel to Come Drink With Me, the director turns this movie named after its heroine into a story about a tormented male swordsman – the type of conflicted hero for which the director…
Meeting People Is Easy
Grant Gee’s documentary is a dreamy, hallucinogenic profile of the life and tours of Radiohead.
The Journey
The Journey 2001, NR, 93 min. Directed by Eric Saperston. After Eric Saperston graduated from college he decided to seek out successful members of the previous generation in order to ask them the following questions: Why are we here, does love last, and what might they have done differently in their lives? Traveling in a…
After a Fashion
Bettie Naylor’s got ’em … but what are they? Also learn about a culture of men who chase the AIDS epidemic in a most personal fashion. Oh! And guess who turns 4???
Phases and Stages
Gnappy… Is This a Machine? (Bean Pie) Alphabetically speaking, Gnappy falls within two degrees of separation from the asphyxiating “j” word. Both of them. One, pedigreed and proud — the veteran, wizened beyond classicism. The other, young, groovy — man. Both genrify this Austin foursome (guitar, bass, drums, and sax), constraining it also if the…
Naked City
The school board votes to turn its inquiry into Ortralla Mosley’s death over to its new defense lawyer
Thirteen
Catherine Hardwicke directs her laser-beam gaze into the horrifically malleable soul of young girls caught in bad situations.
Second Helpings: American Cafes, Part I
“Second Helpings” offers tasty, bite-sized restaurant listings compiled from new and previous reviews, guides, and poll results. This week’s entries were updated by Erin Mosow. For quick, reliable info about Austin eateries, check here. 34th Street Cafe 1005 W. 34th, 371-3400 Monday-Friday, 11am-9:30pm; Saturday, 11am-4pm, 6-9:30pm 34th Street Cafe is the perfect setting for a…
Burning Sensations
The 13th annual ‘Austin Chronicle’ Hot Sauce Festival Contest winners
Phases and Stages
A Tiger Named Lovesick, Dead Whale Tide, Sound Team Mercury, Aug. 22 Everyone needs to indulge their inner Eighties craving, this three-band local bill offering a variety of fixes for your Donnie Darko urges, from the cheery electro-bop pop of Sound Team, to the moody wanderings of Dead Whale Tide, and the Joy Division posturing…
Naked City
Ridership is up and sales tax is down, but the transit authority manages to avoid budget crisis
Marci X
A hip-hop artist and a Jewish American Princess discover that bling-bling makes the world go ’round.
TCB
There’s like some shows and stuff, and some new places to see bands, and, like, people are getting shot, too.
Winners
Individual Category (* denotes first-time winners) Red Sauce 1st place: Chris Cooper* 2nd place: Sam Attaguile* 3rd place: Valery Caselli-Dubo* Honorable Mentions: Luis Calvo, Matt Morris, Susan McClendon, Jesse Padilla, Debbi Tucker, Michael Rypka, Eric Blanton (Houston), Lia Austin, Lance Brauckman, Scott Nettles, Kathy Warren, Maria Hernandez, Gene and Cathy Hill, Mary Greenjeans, Antonio Lopez…
Phases and Stages
Heartworn Highways Hell-and-gone documentary Heartworn Highways is to the DVD big bang what Skip Spence’s solo album Oar was to CDs: an artifact restored. James Szalapshi’s barely seen theatrical release from 1975, archiving the beanstalk seeded by Willie, Waylon, and the rest of them outlaws — inheritors like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell,…
Naked City
Democratic strategist Kelly Fero squats on tort-reform group’s (Web) domain
Jeepers Creepers 2
This horror sequel is more snooze than nightmare.
A Mutual Respect
Russell Lee’s documentary photographs of the Great Depression helped fashion our collective visual memory of that era, but his greatest achievement may have been the trust he engendered in his subjects.
Food-o-File
Virginia B. Wood hits the barbecue backroads with the Travel Channel’s Epicurious.
Naked City
The controversy continues over the ill-starred Williamson Co. Juvenile Justice Center
Dracula: Pages From a Virgin’s Diary
Visionary Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin films the Royal Winnepeg Ballet’s rendition of the Dracula story.
Acting Out and Causing Trouble
The works in “Difficult Daughters,” the final installation in the Blanton Museum of Art’s “Projections” series of contemporary films, show women acting out and causing trouble, but they also demonstrate how women of different generations approach feminism.
Draw the Line
Blue October rebuilds.
Central East Austin, On the Ground
The ARA’s Community Redevelopment Plan covers East 11th Street from I-35 to Navasota and East 12th Street from I-35 to Poquito (i.e., to Sam’s BBQ). According to the CRP document, adopted in 1999, East 11th “has been conceptualized as the place for higher intensity mixed-use development [that] can build on the present and historical strengths…
Naked City
The village outs its opponents in its battle to stay incorporated
Dirty Pretty Things
Stephen Frears’ low-key thriller casts its eye toward the furtive lives of London’s illegal immigrants.
A Piece of Work
There’s nothing conventionally beautiful about Virginia Fleck’s Indented Round Sod, a large, dun-colored disc of dried earth cemented together with mortar, and yet it exudes a strong, serene presence in its shape and balance of the natural and the manmade.
Phases and Stages
God Drives a GalaxyPale Blue Dot (Strangelove) If Billy Corgan took himself a little less seriously and David Bowie was a little less flip, you’d have God Drives a Galaxy frontman John Constant. On the Austin quartet’s third release, Constant’s sad-eyed song craft has caught up to the sonic art-pop the band has been driving…
ARA, CRP, E-I-E-I-O — The Central East Scorecard
An introduction to the East Austin revitalization efforts.
Naked City
The alleged victim of a sexual assault by a former UT police officer sues the university for negligence
The Cuckoo
This 1944-set story humanizes the wastefulness of war.
Articulations
Months of speculation come to an end as Austin Lyric Opera appoints conductor Richard Buckley to the position of artistic director.
Phases and Stages
BeyoncéDangerously in Love (Columbia) Baby girl is looking to get some. The blossoming womanhood of Destiny’s Child’s 21-year-old alpha female explodes all over her solo debut, Dangerously in Love, much like the Chi-Lites horn sample that cranks up leadoff track/smash summer single “Crazy in Love.” Yes, brothers and sisters, she’s hot and bothered. The steamy…
Hard Luck in Heritage Heights
Renters in Eastside housing project feel misled, misused by the city.
Capitol Chronicle
The fight over re-redistricting is a battle for the civil rights of minority Texans.
Readings
Jesse Sublett on Willeford anthologized
Phases and Stages
Kacy CrowleyMoodswing (Fifth Column) It’s probably best not to make much out of the six long years since Kacy Crowley’s many times (re-)released Anchorless. One might be inclined to build up grand expectations for the phoenix rising from the flames of label-related bullshit, but sometimes six years is merely a long layoff between albums. Despite…
The Budget Battles, Round 3
Will Wynn proposes permanently shuttering libraries, parks, and other facilities to devote scarce resources to the ones that are left.
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large
For the firefighters, City Hall’s rep for putting its people first goes up in smoke
Readings
Kate Cantrill on Vendela Vida’s debut novel
Phases and Stages
Caroline HerringWellspring (Blue Corn) It’s a standard music-industry truism that an artist has their whole life to record their debut, but maybe only a year to make its follow-up. It’s a litmus test of the artist’s talent; how they respond musically to a successful debut is liable to make or break their career. Those who…
‘The Perfect Storm’: AISD Board Adds by Subtracting
The Austin ISD board of trustees passes its 2003-04 budget.
On the Lege
The second special session ends with a whimper, but the re-redistricting battle rages elsewhere
Readings
Jay Trachtenberg on Paco Ignacio Taibo’s sequel to The Shadow of the Shadow
Phases and Stages
Rodney CrowellFate’s Right Hand (DMZ/Epic) Rodney Crowell’s last release, 2001’s The Houston Kid, was his first in nearly six years. It marked a new beginning for someone who had been at the top of the country-music heap since the late Seventies, but had taken time off to raise a family. On Houston, Crowell revisited his…
Wal-Mart Smiley Face Eats a South-Side Trailer Park
The newest bad big-box project prepares to displace poor people on Slaughter Lane.
The Hightower Report
The Bush administration tries to roll back union gains; and Wal-Mart wants to dominate the banking world.
Page Two
Proposition 12 indicates the problems with Texas constitutional amendment process as well as the current administration’s and legislative majority’s cynical agenda.
Phases and Stages
Howard KalishWhat the Hey “I like being a sideman,” quips Howard Kalish in the liner notes to his solo debut. Kalish is a first-rate fiddle player, having logged countless gigs with Don Walser, Cornell Hurd, Justin Trevino, and too many other Austin honky-tonkers to name. This time, the sideman is out front, backed by most…
Endorsements
This year’s proposed list of 22 constitutional amendments is more than usually cumbersome. The Chronicle editorial board (an extremely informal institutional fiction) takes a dim view of the sort of legislative effluvia burdening what should be a bedrock document of common principles of government. We recommend that our readers at least consider voting a resounding…
Not Another Teen Movie
UT grad Catherine Hardwicke and Thirteen
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
There are towns called Michigan City in Indiana and Mississippi, but not in Michigan.At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force had a secret plan to show its military might by blowing up a nuclear bomb on the moon.”Noodling” is a term for the way some redneck guys catch fish. They wade…
Phases and Stages
Eastside Suicides(Super Secret) If Iggy Pop can reform the Stooges after 30-some odd years, it stands to reason that plenty of younger musicians are still enthralled with tweaking Pop’s patented formula of runway poses and raw power. Although the debut from Austin’s Eastside Suicides is more Max’s Kansas City than Motor City mayhem, this 10-song…
Full Ballot Language With Extended Endorsements
In case you’re wondering, since the Texas Constitution was first enacted in 1876, voters have approved 410 amendments. That’s averaging a little more than six per biennium, so this year’s proposed list of 22 is more than usually cumbersome. The Chronicle editorial board (an extremely informal institutional fiction) traditionally takes a dim view of the…
The Wuxia Clan
AFS’s ‘Heroic Grace: The Chinese Martial Arts Film’ flys high with eight overlooked classics.
Daytrips
The night skies of Texas offer an excellent gateway to exploring the heavens. The stars are big and bright, and the planets look close enough to reach out and touch in the inky darkness. To get an even better peek at our celestial neighbors, visit one of the observatories that offer public access. The big…
Phases and Stages
Pink SwordsOne Night High (Mortville) Imagine being zipped into a sleeping bag full of mosquitoes and tossed down a flight of stairs. That’s the quick-strike dynamic driving this meaty punk rock treatise from Austin’s Pink Swords. The 12 songs on One Night High are deftly sequenced right up against each other, giving them a collective…
Naked City
Quote of the Week: “I’m basically pretty ignorant about it. I’m just kind of pro-white. Doesn’t mean I’m anti-anybody.” — Former Williamson Co. sheriff’s Deputy David Gay, testifying in his lawsuit alleging that his firing for joining a Ku Klux Klan group violated his First Amendment rights. (The leader of the group testified that “black…
TV Eye
Strong words from Edward James Olmos, and what’s on this week.
To Your Health
Recently I took 300 milligrams of alpha lipoic acid after breakfast and I felt weak much of the day. Is this too much or does this mean I shouldn’t take it at all?
Phases and Stages
Dixie WitchOne Bird, Two Stones (Small Stone) Dixie Witch raised a few eyebrows with their 2001 debut, Into the Sun, one being Small Stone. The Detroit indie liked the band’s Southern rock fuzz enough to sponsor Dixie Witch’s second full-length. Throughout One Bird, one thing’s as obvious as a 7-foot transvestite: Dixie Witch exudes more…
Naked City
Mayor Will Wynn and Council Member Betty Dunkerley spent part of this week in New York with the bond houses — which are understandably concerned about Austin’s budget crisis. The major rating agencies — Fitch, Standard and Poor’s, and Moody’s — all met with the Austin delegation Monday and Tuesday. “I think we’re showing them…
Short Cuts
Marc Savlov courses through the Central Texas festival circuit.
The Common Law
Can I Have My Security Deposit Returned If I Never Moved In?
Phases and Stages
The SweetheartsL.U.V (Mortville) “Luv” was the way girls signing your high school yearbook spelled “love” if they liked you, but not in that way. This local pop-punk quartet gets good mileage out of extending that wonderful, terrible ambiguity into the realm of young-adult romance. The Sweethearts’ sound is standard issue buzz-saw punk combined with a…
Naked City
The Scripps Howard Texas Poll says both Gov. Rick Perry and the Legislature have managed to disgust millions of Texans. (You call that “news”?) In the survey, 48% say they disapprove of Perry’s performance — the lowest rating for a governor since Ann Richards in 1994 — while 68% feel the same way about the…
About AIDS
Austin’s Dwayne Haught Helps States Score AIDS Drug Price Cuts for Poor
Phases and Stages
Two Guy TrioYour Rock-n-Roll Birthday (Edible) Two Guy Trio is a young Austin band with more than two guys and more than a trio. Two Guy Trio is also an Austin band with more than its fair share of novel songwriting talent and stylish song arrangement. On Your Rock-n-Roll Birthday, the local quartet has crafted…
Naked City
Tonight (Thursday), a fundraiser to help defray Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos’ Albuquerque expenses will be held at 5:30pm at La Zona Rosa. Contact the Travis Co. Democratic Party at 477-7500 for more info. David Barsamian, founder and director of the progressive Alternative Radio syndicated series, will speak on “USA (United States of Amnesia): How the Media…
My Boss’s Daughter
Ashton Kutcher suffers the price of fame with the release of this previously shelved clunker.
Luv Doc Recommends: Pet-a-Palooza
The truth about cats and dogs is that either one makes a better pet than a ferret. Owning any animal that would just as soon lap up your blood than look at you is a bad idea, but keeping a pet that loudly crunches dried cat food at 3 in the morning and drags your…
