PLUS: Summer Camps

Cover Story

Exhibitionism

Blanche may want magic and not realism, but in City Theatre’s revival, it’s realism that makes the magic

by Adam Roberts

Quote of the Week

“Herman, how you doing, you big stud?” – Rick Perry to Herman Cain, from Dan Balz’s new campaign history book, Collision 2012

by Chronicle Staff

Filling Potholes With Promises

Last week, as it appeared the Legislature didn’t have enough gas in its tank to create a road funding plan, Chronicle News Editor Michael King turned his weather eye to me and said, “Used to be that Texas could always pay for two things – roads and prisons. Looks like they can’t even do that…

by Richard Whittaker

Civics 101

Friday 9 Sales Tax Holiday is this weekend: Friday through Sunday, Aug. 9-11. Families can save money by not paying sales tax on most clothing, footwear, and school supplies priced under $100. See lists of tax-free items at www.TexasTaxHoliday.org. Monday 12 CAPITOL VIEW CORRIDOR APPLI­CATION TRAINING Austin’s Planning and Development Review Dept. continues their summer…

by Chronicle Staff

Exhibitionism

Summer Stock Austin embraces the sprawling fun and surreal silliness of this durable coming-of-age musical

by Dan Solomon

Headlines

• City Council is back to full-time work this week, with a Tuesday work session and a packed agenda for today’s (Aug. 8) meeting, including hearings on the South Lamar Planned Unit Development (aka the “Taco PUD”) and the White Lodging/Marriott fee waiver agreement. › Amid the ongoing police investigations into the July 26 shooting…

by Chronicle Staff

Food Events

• Open House The Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts hosts an open house with cooking demos, tours, food tastings, and door prizes for prospective students interested in studying a whole foods, plant-based cuisine. RSVP online or by phone. Sat., Aug. 10, 10am-noon. The Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts, 1701 Toomey, 512/476-2276. www.naturalepicurean.com. •…

by Chronicle Staff

The Luv Doc: Cock-Blocking da Skeezers

Dear Luv Doc, Every time I go to da club and try to pick up da skeezers, my wife jumps right in and says “No way, Jose!” This makes me extremely angry, because I have told her time and time again that, just because I’m Mexican, doesn’t mean she gets to call me derogatory names.…

by The Luv Doc

Texas Rollergirls Double Header

The home season is over, but in flat track Roller Derby, that means one thing: The travel teams are breaking out their fastest wheels. This weekend, the Texas Rollergirls find themselves in the middle of a pincer movement as Dallas and Houston send their biggest and baddest. Currently ranked sixth in the nation by the…

by Richard Whittaker

The Act of Killing

In this disturbing documentary, former Indonesian death-squad leaders boastfully reenact their real-life mass killings with touches inspired by their favorite movies.

by Marjorie Baumgarten

Texas Platters

Darden Smith Love Calling (Compass) On 2010’s Marathon, Darden Smith covered terrain detailing physical and spiritual desolation in a chilling, captivating manner. In its wake, Love Calling’s warmth and affection comes as a welcome surprise. Over the course of more than 25 years locally, the master song craftsman’s ability to capture exquisite moments with a…

by Jim Caligiuri

Texas Platters

Explosions in the Sky & David Wingo Prince Avalanche: An Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Temporary Residence) Austin’s Explosions in the Sky has become synonymous with Friday Night Lights: evocative, West Texas expanse and moments of sheer triumph. The band’s first of two planned collaborations with Ola Podrida’s David Wingo (the second being Al Pacino vehicle…

by Austin Powell

Elysium

In the year 2154, the rabble live on the garbage dump of Earth while the elite live in the perfect Elysium in the sky; Matt Damon is a mad Max who breaks on through.

by Marc Savlov

Texas Platters

P-Tek DPS/LP2 Adam “P-Tek” Protextor presides over Tuesday Austin Mic Exchanges at the Spider House Ballroom. It’s the largest ongoing open-mic cypher this city’s got going, and he raps like he’s constantly trying to one-up the MC that spat before him. On DPS/LP2, his second CD, the Iowa native emerges dynamic and hysterical (“Wet My…

by Chase Hoffberger

Texas Platters

The Polyphonic Spree Yes, It’s True (Good Records) Thirteen years have flown since the Polyphonic Spree touched off its confetti cannon into the cultural consciousness. A thousand soiled robes later, Dallas’ symphonic pop choir unveils its fifth full-length, Yes, It’s True, an inconsistent collection of life-affirming pop that lurches uncomfortably like a 50-year-old twerking at…

by Melanie Haupt

Blue Jasmine

Class difference and life’s shambles are on Woody Allen’s mind as he leads Cate Blanchett through a perfectly calibrated performance as a Park Avenue matron brought low by modern finance.

by Marjorie Baumgarten

Texas Platters

Peter Stopschinski Now Would Be a Good Time Searching for stock music for your latest film, video game, or theme-park ride? Look no further than this 12-track library of instrumental nerve ticklers from the co-founder of the Golden Hornet Project. Armed with the goal of reconciling pop and rock with latter-day classical composition, Brown Whörnet…

by Greg Beets

Texas Platters

Mammoth Grinder Underworlds (20 Buck Spin) Four years after its Relapse Records debut Extinction of Humanity, Mammoth Grinder sharpens its fangs to razor-sharp edges on third full-length Underworlds. Pulling as many sinews from thrash as from the cooling corpse of death metal, this four-headed Austin hellbeast wastes no time on gentility. For 26 minutes, the…

by Michael Toland

Texas Platters

I Blame You (Dark Descent Records) Recalling the cynical aggression of M.O.D.’s genre classic, Gross Misconduct, local crossover thrash trio Birth A.D. unleashes a remarkably consistent run of two-minute tunes in which bassist/singer Jeff Tandy rips on every aspect of society, including his peers in “This Scene Sucks” and “Mission Statement,” wherein he derides image-conscious…

by Kevin Curtin

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