Cover Story
Promises, Promises
Two Austin neighborhoods vie to bring down federal dollars to help transform communities
This Week’s Waste of Time
High-speed skiing on your browser. Now with more rainbows.
The Daily Hustle: 8/12/10
Jealous of City Council’s light load
The Totally Awesome AusChron Newscast Gets Bonded Out!
Transpo bonds, tires and more
The Kindness of Strangers
Harry Ransom Center restoring Gone With the Wind costumes
Servants and Anchors
GOP throwing chaff as Rep. Riddle rambles about terror babies
Last Days of the Moose
Harsh noise, hip-hop, and more turns out the lights
Travis County Law [Video]
Sheriff explains cite and release to Austin Interfaith
Jeffs Headed Back to Texas?
Utah judge signs polygamist prophet’s extradition papers
Record Spinning
Los Lobos, the Dream Syndicate, and more
The Daily Hustle: 8/11/10
Catching up with Cole
Fund Your Local Filmmakers
The TFPF is still $22,000 shy of its goal. That’s on you.
Pretty for Posterity
The HRC seeks donations to restore Gone With the Wind costumes
The Daily Hustle: 8/10/10
Budget for parking costs!
Robin Schneider’s Protest Arrest
Environmentalist busted for UT water protest
Austin Rockin’ 8/9/10
Margaret Moser’s Fox picks for the week
Big News for Toros Fans
Entire 2010-11 home season to be played at Cedar Park Center
Obama Comes to Town
Full text of president’s speech at UT Austin
The Daily Hustle: 8/9/10
Incoming freshman
The Sunday Survey: 8/8/10
Are we having Fun Fun Fun yet?
19-Year-Old Strikeout Artist Comes to Round Rock
Jordan Lyles promoted to the Express
Roller Derby Update: 8/7/10
Putas vs Hellcats and traveling Texecutioners
The Daily Hustle: 8/6/10
Bond vote set; Seaholm wall tumbles
Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Explodes Over Historic Sixth Street Entertainment District; S’mores Served
Watching Ghostbusters is now a civic duty
The Hightower Report
Wall Street’s Mom-and-Pop Bankers; and Don’t Go Barefoot in GOP’s Grassroots
Headlines
� After a lengthy executive session on July 29, the City Council narrowly rejected a settlement with the family of police shooting victim Nathaniel Sanders II. A furious Judge Sam Sparks castigated council for scrapping the deal and set the civil trial date for November 2011. See “Point Austin,” and “Sanders Settlement Collapses.” � Another…
Soccer Watch
Streaking Aztex host Tampa Bay, and more
Wine of the Week
Champagne through a straw!
After a Fashion
Your Style Avatar detests Snooki so much he dedicates half of his column to her
Point Austin: Hanging Together or Apart
Sanders vote less about money than community, race, and justice
Event Menu
A guide to foodie events around town
Blue Theatre
Despite fire damage, the Eastside venue’s managers say the show will go on
City Hall Hustle: In the Shadow of Sanders …
Council facing less dramatic agenda this week
Dinner for Schmucks
Corporate climbers get their schadenfreude on in this new Steve Carell comedy.
Food-o-File
Austin restaurateur Parind Vora soldiers on after fire, and more foodie news
‘Metamorphoses’
Zach’s take on Greek myths takes flight with help from Blue Lapis Light aerialists
Naked City
News briefs from Austin, the region, and beyond
Step Up 3D
Not as exciting as the two previous installments, this new dance film is overwhelmed by the 3-D.
Texas Platters
The Arcade Fire The Suburbs (Merge) Win Butler is no stranger to The Suburbs. The Arcade Fire co-founder and his multi-instrumentalist brother William grew up in Houston’s The Woodlands, a master-planned community that serves as the metaphorical backdrop to the Montreal outfit’s highly anticipated third LP. “I dreamt I drove home to Houston on a…
Nasty Dogs & Funky Kings
Rockpalast, German for DVD gold mine
Res Publica
Citizens’ calendar, Aug. 5-12
The Other Guys
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg star in this buddy cop comedy that takes some digs against corporate criminals.
Texas Platters
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Couldn’t Stand the Weather (Epic/Legacy) There’s the sophomore slump (U2’s October) and the sophomore slam (Led Zeppelin II). Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble’s second LP for Epic, 1984’s Couldn’t Stand the Weather, amounted to following up Jimi Hendrix with, well, Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954-1990). Where the local, Dallas-born…
Recent ‘Rockpalast’ Avalanche
Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell: The Original Tour (Eagle) According to the DVD notes, Bat Out of Hell remains a worldwide pinnacle behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller and AC/DC’s Back in Black. The write-up also puts the 1977 disc alongside Dark Side of the Moon, Sgt. Peppers, and Quadrophenia. “You guys look like one of…
Sanders Settlement Collapses
City Council rejects payment to family, will proceed to trial
Flipped
Rob Reiner’s best film in a decade is another coming-of-age story set in small-town America.
Texas Platters
Colin Gilmore Goodnight Lane Minus a couple of EPs along the way, it’s been six years since Colin Gilmore’s last long-player. Goodnight Lane proves he’s spent that time well, sharpening his songs full of solid hooks, curious ideas, and a youthful vision. Previously, Gilmore attempted to distance himself from his famous father, Jimmie Dale, but…
Three Other Dinosaur Discoveries
Rolling Stones Stones in Exile (Eagle) What the 2-CD reissue of magnum opus Exile on Main St. lacked in audio revelations is made up for in unseen visuals grooving this hourlong documentary. Thirty minutes of extended interview nuggets: eight minutes with head man Keith Richards, Bill Wyman’s enduring pride (“no one could touch us onstage,…
Former Fleet Services Manager Says Scrap Tires Only a Symptom
Fired whistle-blower says management has ignored serious problems for years
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
A kidnapping caper with only three characters and one basic location, this masterful British film ratchets up the suspense to mind-frying proportions.
Texas Platters
The BlueBonnets Boom Boom Boom Boom If Lucinda Williams didn’t really come into her own until she had a few years under her jeans, the same is true for the BlueBonnets, the Texa-Cali female fourpiece pumping pure rock refreshingly free of embellishment like “roots” or “alt.” Fronted by bassist/vocalist Dominique Davalos and Go-Go’s guitarist Kathy…
Arts Review
A funny, charming, truly sweet staging of a play that’s not melancholy at all
Climate Protection: City in No Hurry To Cool It
Checking in on the Climate Protection Program’s progress – or lack thereof
Middle Men
Middle Men journeys backward in Internet history to 1995 when two coked-up ne’er-do-wells created the first dial-up, porn-on-demand website.
Texas Platters
Patricia Vonne Worth It (Bandolera) Whatever you’re expecting from this new Patricia Vonne disc, the title says it all. The statuesque local Latina here rocks a tough stride in her career at a time when she knows her territory better than ever, exuding a newfound confidence woven tightly within her signature bilingual compositions (“El Marinero…
Arts Review
City Theatre’s solid staging gets an extra charge from Rachel McGinnis’ Maggie
A Closer Look at AISD’s Ratings
Many schools improved over the last year – but not all
Aisha
Bollywood takes on Jane Austen’s Emma.
The Common Law
Austin’s Urban Livestock Movement – Chickens & Goats Anyone?
Texas Platters
Miranda Dodson Change a Thing (Folk Star) With Robert Harrison of Future Clouds & Radar ably producing, Miranda Dodson has it made, especially with guests like Charlie Sexton bassist George Reiff and Alejandro Escovedo cellist Brian Standefer. Clearly on the alt edge of singer-songwriter country-folk, Dodson’s own songs twinkle (“Never Be the Same,” “Slow Motion”),…
Arts Review
Despite flashes of fire, this concert by ACMF’s 2010 quartet-in-residence felt cold
City Website Redesign: Pick Your Fave
Three designs have been proposed in the long-gestating process of redesigning the city of Austin website, and citizens can view and vote on them until the end of the month. The pages can be viewed and ranked at www.speakupaustin.org/austingo, and the city is also soliciting feedback on Twitter (@austingovonline, #austingo), and at facebook.com/austintexasgov. The mockups…
Twelve
The private-school kids on New York’s Upper East Side are definitely not all right in Joel Schumacher’s sordid tale of young promise gone wrong.
TV Eye
The Big C offers a clear-eyed, sometimes comic look at cancer
Texas Platters
The Apple Trio The Apple Trio picked the right year to deliver its eponymous debut. The homegrown chamber pop trio from McCallum Fine Arts Academy combines cellist Diana Burgess of Mother Falcon with Caiti Coughlan on viola and Olivia Erwin on violin. Their airy tunes are red-ripe and sweet, composers Burgess and Coughlan exhibiting a…
Day Trips
Harriet Ann Moore Page Potter Ames is known as the bravest woman in Texas
Getting the Formula Just Right
Austin’s Formula One track faces engineering hurdles
Mike Rila Cooks With Fire
Savory experiments in robotics
Texas Platters
Amy Annelle The Cimarron Banks: A High Plains Emanation (High Plains Sigh) Wedged between traditional folk, Western balladry, and cheeky singer-songwriting, Cimarron Banks is the soundtrack before a script. Produced by Craig Ross, it’s presented in song-cycle style, befitting a lonesome and unpredictable nature. Amy Annelle’s lovely voice carries like the Texas wind throughout, evocative…
Gay Place
The Gay Place Blog wants you! Bloggers sought!
Cap Metro Survey Shows Drop in Satisfaction
Express and UT shuttles make for happier customers
Emily Hagins’ Unsucky Movie Career
Austin’s zombie girl taps into vamps for her third feature
Texas Platters
Ginger Leigh Better Than Well – Live at the Saxon (Ginger Leigh Music) As one of the reigning queens of Austin folk pop, Ginger Leigh was overdue for a live release. Her eighth CD gathers 10 tracks from her repertoire, including “Angel” and “Time To Move On” from 2006’s fine Sugar in My Coffee, plus…
Media Watch: Shiver Me Timbers
Pirate radio station tells FCC to go walk a plank
On the Download
New in downloadable games: DeathSpank and Limbo
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The criminal justice system, Barry Manilow�, and more
The Canada Model
Author Paul Tough on education innovator Geoffrey Canada
Theatre in the Round (Rock)
Penfold Theatre makes its entrance up north – where it’s always wanted to be
What Are You Looking At?
A rundown of our staff’s most recent pop-culture fixations
Book Review
Take this publishing industry satire to the beach, but don’t turn your brain off just yet
‘The Next New Thing’
Author Larry Cuban on the history of reform in Austin schools
Page Two: Between the Lines
What editors blog about when they blog about editing
DVD Watch
A curious little Irish film that mixes relationship drama with a ghost story and only gets it half right
Book Review
A farming family tragedy about brothers – and a brother’s keeper
Off the Record
Pulling back the (iron) curtain on Fun Fun Fun Fest and the Flying Balalaika Brothers in time for the 40th anniversary of the Armadillo World Headquarters
National Pro Fastpitch Softball Series
Cat Osterman and Jennie Finch lead a gold-medal cast of Olympians in a four-day fastpitch softball series
Luv Doc Recommends: Micro Championship Wrestling
Whatever you do, don’t call it midget wrestling. Why? Good question. Pro wrestling has not traditionally been the model of political correctness. Rather than play down the differences of its competitors, pro wrestling has always built them up to comic extremes. Who can forget (remember?) ring legends like Ivan Putski “The Polish Power,” Norman “Black…
