Food-o-File
by Virginia B. Wood The world really is coming to Austin this Christmas; just consider the events scheduled in the next week: Central Market (458-3068) kicks off an international week with a Tamale Extravaganza taught by Mexico City native Claudia Alarcon tonight, Thu, Dec. 12. On Saturday, Dec. 14, Bottega della Pasta chef/owner Rino Lanzalotti…
United States Department of the Inteiior
Austin. Texas 78754-3898 October 16, 1996 Mr. Stephen Helfert, Field Supervisor U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200 Austin, TX 78758 Dear Mr. Helfert: Your agency requested that I provide a written evaluation of the effectiveness of current and proposed State rules in maintaining the current water-quality conditions for Barton Springs and…
Articulations
As you may recall from last week’s column, in what feels a lot like one of those Saturday morning serials with the cliffhanger endings, the closure of Capitol City Playhouse by the Internal Revenue Service put the fate of the Austin Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s Gala All-Star Revue — scheduled for Sunday, December 8, at…
A Baker’s Dozen
illustration by Lisa Kirkpatrick Being a baker by trade as well as avocation, my annual personal Christmas list invariably includes an interesting new baking book, a handy new gadget, or an innovative time-saving appliance. Professional as well as amateur practitioners of the baking arts usually fall into one of two categories, patisserie (pastry making) or…
School of Hard Fox
AISD Superintendent Jim Fox On November 1995, members of parent-teacher associations from all over the Austin Independent School District convened at Anderson High School to hear superintendent Jim Fox and members of his staff present their vision of a then-unsold bond package. Fox, speaking in sonorous and measured tones, lectured the group on how critical…
Sweet New Nut
Do the math. Ballet company + the month of December equals… Yup, The Nutcracker. For more than 40 years, the dance adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s fantasy has been a staple of the year-end holiday scene, and in the past two decades, its popularity has snowballed so that it’s all but impossible to find a city…
Culinary Adventures
These two trips really do fall under the heading of big-ticket items — sort of the Austin foodie gift equivalent of the His and Hers section in the annual Neiman’s catalog. But they are such grand gastronomic expeditions, surely someone out there should get them for Christmas. Marilyn Tausend’s Culinary Adventure to Tabasco & Chiapas,…
Naked City
Councilmember Eric Mitchell often complains that his council salary ($30,000) is too low. He must not be counting the fringe benefits. At last week’s council meeting, he may have once again violated city and state ethics laws by voting to award a city contract that could reap financial returns for his insurance company, Wormley Mitchell…
Local Palette
Chris Williams, Dave Lawell, and Adam Bork Ayers Mansion One-night exhibit You’re at a party — a big, crazy party. A drum circle thumps away in the back yard while a couple of half-naked fire breathers perform in a frenzy of flames. Kegs are floating, people are dancing, dogs are attacking the food table. Go…
Texas Mail-Order Citrus
What could be more delicious on Christmas morning than a glass of fresh-squeezed organic orange juice or a sweet-tart half of Rio Star grapefruit? If this sounds like a great gift idea, Dennis Holbrook of South-Tex Organics is the man to call. South-Tex has three sizes of gift boxes of Rio Star grapefruit and Hamlin…
Game for Giving
Duke Nukem 3D Maybe computer games aren’t a gift to feel so great about giving — they’re expensive, mass-produced, oftentimes violent, and they foster antisocial, sedentary behavior. But while many ill-fitting sweaters will no doubt be returned to the Gap almost as soon as the wrapping has been recycled, a present which transforms the regaled…
Books That Keep on Giving
Tammy Faye Messner Giving books as presents is almost a clich�. It seems to be the perfect answer to those gift black holes that seem to loom unexpectedly every holiday season. What in the world do I get for Aunt Tillie? A book, of course. The trick is, of course, that not just any book…
Dancing About Architecture
The Texas Tornados may just be on the verge of having the biggest hit of their career(s). A dance remix of their latest single, “A Little Bit Is Better Than Nada,” has clubs in San Antonio really hopping, and the dancing itch has started to spread. Reprise Records’ Bill Bentley says the label is “working…
Scanlines
D: John Schlesinger; Kate Beckinsale, Joanna Lumley, Ian McKellen, Rufus Sewell, Eileen Atkins, Ivan Kaye, Jeremy Peters, Sophie Revell, Stephen Fry, Miriam Margolyes, Maria Miles. VHS Home Video Waterloo Video, 1016 W. Sixth Who says there’s no such thing as intelligent comedy these days? Thankfully, Schlesinger’s adaptation of Stella Gibbons’ 1932 novel imparts the feel…
Good Books About Bad Men
In the last two decades of the 19th century, Austin was a long way from becoming the live music capital of the world, but it did rock & roll in its own inimicable way. Gunfighting gambler Ben Thompson ran the gambling room at the Iron Front Saloon in the 600 block of Congress Avenue. When…
Also Playing
Friday: Austin Lounge Lizards, Cactus Cafe; Mandy Mercier, Threadgill’s Troubadors, Waterloo Ice House Burnet Saturday: La Buena Madera, Top of the Marc; Shaver, Antone’s; PocketfishRmen, Orange Mothers, Living Pins, Hole in the Wall Sunday: Junior Brown, Continental Club Monday: Blort!, Los Tigres Guapos, Emo’s Tuesday: Ian MacLagan & Bullet, Sarah Brown, Continental Club; Patty David,…
Pillow Talk
illustration by Jason Stout The other day I was lying around on the couch, trying to catch some shut-eye and wondering how long it would take before the sight of me on the couch would drive my wife insane. This is no laughing matter. In fact, I don’t think there is a touchier subject in…
Playwrights in the Queue
Five Legends of British Theater at the Social Security Office; November 8 Playwrights Tom Stoppard and David Hare, theater critic Michael Billington, octogenarian actor and director Frith Banbury, and esteemed Shakespearean actress Janet Suzman present their passports to me like well-heeled tourists. Our lawmakers in their mission to reduce the national deficit have ruled that…
Reissues
GONE WITH THE WIND (TCM/Rhino) Arguably the most popular film ever, Gone With the Wind was released theatrically in 1939, but it wasn’t until 1954 that the first recording of its soundtrack was available. Its appearance even then was something of a miracle — in 1939 (the year that also saw The Wizard of Oz),…
Motoramas in Pink Pajamas
Our Secret Century: Archival Films From the Darker Side of the American Dream by Rick Prelinger: CD-ROM for Mac or Windows, 12 volumes, $19 per 2-CD set, Voyager In a 1956 vision of the future, a ballerina and her beau glide down the Electronic Highway of Tomorrow in a car that looks like a jet…
Postscripts
by Lee Nichols & Margaret Moser * THU, DEC 12: Susan Tucker promotes her The Soul of the Writer with a 45-minute workshop with a question-and-answer session afterwards. She will be at Book People at 7pm. * SAT, DEC 14: A CD-ROM demonstration for GirlGames’ new Let’s Talk About Me! the first interactive guide to…
Sleazy Listening
Alcohol. To deny its place in the so-called lounge music movement is to deny urine its place in the punk rock pantheon, or blood, sweat, and tears their respective places in jazz, country, and blues. Oh, alcohol. According to the post-modern primer to old modern music The Cocktail: The Influence of Spirits on the American…
Shortcuts
by Jen Scoville Last week I reported with disappointment that there were no Austin-based feature films going to Sundance this year, but after the Festival’s announcement of short films that made the cut, it turns out the Third Coast will have a local emissary after all. Making the trip to the Utah tundra along with…
How You Can Volunteer for Change!
Every volunteer at AIDS Services of Austin makes a dramatic difference in the lives of the individuals we serve by giving the gift of self. The willingness to grow, to be there, to be available, to learn, and to serve, is the greatest thing of all for a person dealing with the physical and emotional…
The Who Bettered, The Who’s Best
The music business is a peculiar one. Most employers at least throw a nice party for you upon retirement, maybe hand over a gold-plated Bulova for all the years of use and abuse you’ve endured in the service of lining their pockets. In rock & roll, however, there is no ceremony upon termination of a…
The Gift of Knowledge
by Suzy Banks In school, I was a good student, with a knack for short-term memorization and taking tests. In life, I am a bad student, doomed to repeat the most basic lessons, even remodeling lessons, even though I’ve been building for 15 years. Remodeling lessons are universal and should be easy to remember. When…
Taming the 12-Lane Monster
The ATS wants to shoot traffic from this massive US 290/Loop 360 Interchange through Oak Hillphotograph by Jana Birchum Oak Hill restaurant owner Rocky Hernandez fears that it will knock him out of a livelihood. Convict Hill resident Greg Erwin says, “They’ve written our neighborhood off.” But, like it or not, next week Oak Hill…
Benefits
25th Anniversary Celebration to benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters, at La Zona Rosa, 612 W. Fourth, 6:30-9:30pm. Cost is $10-$25. 472-5437. WED 18 Xmas Tiendita Fundraiser (Holiday Gift Sale) to benefit Red Salmon Press, at Victory Grill, 1104 E. 11th, 5-10pm. Cost is $3. 416-8885. SAT 21 Dance, Music & Magic Show to benefit Lucila Dance…
AISD Notebook
For at least one school board member, a snazzy presentation to the board of trustees on Monday from AISD’s instructional technology development group evoked a strange longing to go back to high school. Several of AISD’s veteran, technologically adept classroom teachers demonstrated to the board how they’ve applied technology to their instruction for years (often…
Coach’s Corner
by Andy “Coach” Cotton St. Louis: So, you want to be famous? How much are you willing to pay? You want to be talked about like a god for the next 10 years? What are you ready to risk? You say you’d like to be a hero, worshipped by children, desired by beautiful women… What…
Summary of Water Quality Recommendations
(From a preliminary US290 Task Force draft) Temporary Controls (to contain silt erosion during highway construction) * More upland controls designed to contain silt erosion at its source. * Installation of detention ponds to capture silt prior to any grading of soil. * Better phasing of construction to reduce exposure of erodable material. * Better…
Daytrips
At Nature’s Way Christmas Tree Farm the hayrides, fresh air, and holiday cheer are all part of picking a tree right out of the field. This year, Bill and Kaye Walton celebrate their 10th Christmas of selling Virginia Pines on their 40 acres a mile east of Elgin, off of US290. The farm, with its…
Southwest Growth: A Free Way to Bergstrom?
Last year, State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos’ aide Richard Hamner told environmentalists that the US290 freeway is not driving development over the aquifer; it’s merely supplying road capacity for inevitable growth. However, just as the US290 Task Force was shifting into gear earlier this year, an article in the Austin Business Journal entitled “South Austin Boom…
Page Two
Next week, the Chronicle will essentially produce three issues in one week, because for the first time since we went weekly, we will be publishing during both Christmas and New Year’s weeks. This should make for an unusually crazed period, and waiting until the last minute to contact us probably won’t work. The “normal” issue,…
Tough Competition
illustration by Jason Stout Today, the council is expected to make the biggest decision of the city’s life: How to prepare the Electric Utility Department (EUD) for competition in the event that the Lege deregulates the electric utility industry. The council’s decision — on whether to approve a multi-pronged, five-year plan from city staff on…
Public Notice
As much as our wild music scene, our state government seat, and our academic focus make Austin vibrant, our generous public service community colors the character of this fabulous town. We give ’til it hurts and what with much of last year’s legislation, it hurts a lot. Here’s our chance to blow a big kiss…
Dead Salamanders
illustration by Doug Potter A dozen dead salamanders were found in the Eliza Springs outlet at Barton Springs last Friday — the largest kill of Barton Springs salamanders ever recorded. The dead animals were found during a routine survey of the pool and adjacent spring outlets by city biologist Robert Hansen and U.S. Fish and…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows…
There are about 80,000 scenic flights over the Grand Canyon a year, nearly three times the number in 1987. A moderately noisy workplace, say 70 decibels, can cause an increase in fatigue. One possible explanation is that noise forces your brain to consume glucose so less is available for other purposes like staying awake. The…
United States Department of the Interior
In Reply Refer To: FWS/AES November 18, 1996 Mr. Dan Pearson Executive Director Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission P.O. Box 13087 Austin, Texas 78711-3087 Dear Mr. Pearson, I write to express my concern regarding the State of Texas’ lack of progress in adopting certain water quality regulations needed to conserve the Barton Springs Salamander. Identical…
