Box Sets: Record Reviews
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT: THE ULTIMATE ANTHOLOGY OF MGM MUSICALS (Rhino/Turner Entertainment) Art and photography books have been occupying my time lately, making me think of strong images, scenes, and compositions. Now this: 129 musical moments on a 6-CD set, music as evocative as any graphic image I’ve seen. Evocative, and glorious, for enjoying musicals always requires…
Mrs. Claus Delivers
by Virginia B. Wood For reasons I’m loathe to explain at the moment, I’m feeling a lot like Mrs. Santa Claus today. In that capacity, I’ve got some excellent gift suggestions for the food lover on your Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa list. There really is something for everybody this year: cookbooks and videos, magazines and…
LBJ Science Academy Sucks Rocks
To hear most people tell it, Eddie Orum hasn’t an enemy in the world. The principal of LBJ High School since the 1992-93 school year, Orum is a black leader with a reputation for impeccable moral character, strong rhetorical skills, and a commitment to educational equity that began when he was a Nacogdoches high schooler…
Imagine There’s No Majors
Starfish have just returned from a six-week tour with the proud announcement that they have not signed with Atlantic Records. Furthermore, adds a beaming Jason Morales, the band has not reached an agreement with either American or Touch and Go, while a guy from Island records was told that he could pay for a CD…
Secret Settlements in STNP case
It kind of makes you wonder. Yes, we elected them. Yes, that indicates a certain amount of trust — but trusting our public officials is only possible if they follow the laws they were elected to enforce and abide by. In a case involving Westinghouse Corporation and their allegedly faulty steam generators at the South…
In Defense of Paul McCartney
by Mindy LaBernz “After all, the Beatles were John’s group. He was the band leader and the one who coined the name.” — Yoko Ono, 11/13/95 “The thing I find myself doing, which is a pity, really, is trying to justify myself against John — and I hate to do that. There are certain people…
ECSD Plays Musical Chairs, but the Music Never Stops
The City of Austin can’t decide what to do with its environmental department. Six years ago, the city decided it needed to unify its environmental tasks, so it combined three departments — solid waste services, resource management, and the environmental department — to create the Environmental and Conservation Services Department (ECSD). Since its inception, ECSD…
Sleepless in Cyberia
by Margaret Moser The wedding was, as weddings go, just lovely. In the medieval chapel, the seductive Warrior Princess was outfitted in a white velvet, 15th-century-style gown. The groom, ShadowSlayerX, was a demon knight of untold strength and powers. The minister, an Irish bard, had been tippling beforehand and lurched unsteadily to the pulpit. The…
Naked City
Edited by Audrey Duff, with contributions this week by Nelson England and Amy Smith Off the Desk By posing as a concerned private citizen, agile radio journalist Jim Ellinger was among the first to break UT Chancellor William Cunningham’s deafening silence on Freeport-McMoRan, for which Cunningham serves as a board member. After reading an article…
Glossary
AD&D Advanced Dungeons & Dragons AOL America Online — an online subscriber service. D&D Dungeons & Dragons — This fantasy game is the oldest and most popular role-playing game in the world. GURPS Generic Universal Role-Playing System — a method developed by Austin’s Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated, to allow cross-playing of indepen- dently-created characters in…
Missoula, Montana and Boulder, Colorado
City planning” is one of the best vague political terms being tossed about these days. It makes the speaker sound thoughtful and forward-looking. Political candidates can insist on their strong planning credentials with no fear of contradiction. But in Austin, as in a number of communities around the country, city planning is beginning to take…
SJGI GURPS Books
SJGI’s GURPS book series takes established RPGs such Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Vampire: The Masquerade (both originally published by White Wolf books) and gives them a modular context so they may be inter-played. And although there are dozens of titles available, Steve Jackson’s GURPS Basic Set (SJGI, $19.95 paper) offers almost everyone an easy place…
Why Portland Doesn’t Look Like Austin
It is unsurprisingly cold and wet in the Northwest tonight, and the auditorium of the Portland Adventist Hospital feels a long way from anywhere, surely far from the center of the Rose City’s public policy universe. But many eyes are directed here this November evening, toward the first city council hearing on the recommended Outer…
Once Upon a Toy Story
by Patrick Taggart Twilight Zone experts will know the details of this better than I, but you may remember an episode from the much-missed series that involved a peculiar group of people who lived at the bottom of an empty metal cylinder. One of the characters was a ballerina, I think, and there may have…
Fulfilling the Digital Wish List
The gift-giving season is here, and it is likely many of your dear ones have access to a computer. Some may even fall under the category of the digitally addicted — to action-packed games, that is. We’re not talking about Solitaire here. If you are shopping for someone who chooses to forego sleep in order…
The True Meaning of Giving … and Getting Presents-R-Us
by Bill Crawford The thing I like most about Christmas is the presents. To me, the pile of presents under the tree is the modern equivalent of an ancient burial mound. The cache of brightly wrapped Christmas goodies reveals more about my family’s desires, beliefs, and day-to-day activities than any other depository of our material…
Scanlines
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle D. Alan Rudolph; with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Campbell Scott, Matthew Broderick, Peter Gallagher, Jennifer Beals, Andrew McCarthy, Wallace Shawn, Martha Plimpton, Sam Robards, Lili Taylor, Gwyneth Paltrow. VHS Home Video Fineline Features Director Alan Rudolph’s cast shines in this mostly biographical account of writer Dorothy Parker (Leigh). Opening in…
Innocuousness That’s Insidious
by Tim Stegall AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH! Oh! Let’s Go!” It begins with a blood-shriek more frightening than Iggy’s “TV Eye” — commencing with “LAAAWWWDDDD!!!” Frightening, because it summons drunken redneck hatefest images, of the let’s-git-tanked-and-strang-up-some-shines variety. A two-note rush follows, the same pair of notes that fuels both “Pipeline” and “Pablo Picasso,” but taken at double –…
What to Give the Starving Performing Artist O, for the Poor Player
by Robert Faires To mangle poor old Will once more: “All the Yule’s a stage/And all the men and women merely players.” Most times of the year, we do indeed play many parts, but come the Christmas season, we seem to take on more than the usual number of roles: gift giver, host, frazzled shopper,…
Katy Cusack
Kathryn Lacy Cusack, a member of the Austin arts community in the Eighties, died of breast cancer November 19 in Dallas. During her time here, Cusack ran a small clothing store, Chameleons, was an active supporter of the music and performing arts scenes, and took part in numerous stage productions. Her strongest ties were to…
Art and Photography Books Picture This!
by Margaret Moser Holidays and art books go together like rum and eggnog — the combination is just not for everybody. Still, the impact of a single painting or photograph can linger long after the book is closed and put away. These are images burned in our minds, images of power and beauty and grace…
Coach’s Corner
Friday had been a crummy day. I was tired, listless, and cranky. After a huge cup of coffee, I was tired, jittery, and cranky. A headache, present at 6:30am, resisted a take-no-prisoners barrage from my home pharmacopoeia. At 5pm, head still pounding, I just wanted to go home, sit in the dark and sulk. By…
Midlife & Older Women
Most AIDS research and prevention programs targeted to women focus on “women of child bearing age” (defined as 15-44 years) and most health care providers are not adequately prepared to diagnose and treat midlife and older women with HIV/AIDS. Indeed, older women’s invisibility ensures that essential services will not be available. Because of economic or…
Day Trips
A good guidebook can take the place of a good friend who’s merely along for the ride. Guidebooks can show you the most unique — if not the best — places to explore. These friends always have a story that makes the miles seem shorter. The landscape becomes interesting as well as beautiful with them…
The Season of Wanting
Are you listening, Santa? I want, I want, I want… …that DeWalt Cordless Circular Saw (around $240). I promise I won’t be fooled by its diminutive size and cordless mobility. I promise I will use it for peaceful purposes. …that Stanley 48″ Brass Bound Level (about $30). For years, Richard and I worked with a…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
A funeral supermarket is in business in Paris. Political commentator Shana Alexander didn’t realize that Jane Curtin had been parodying her on NBC’s Saturday Night Live for nearly a year after it began. The Tibetans built iron suspension bridges as early as the Ninth century. Joseph Kennedy, Sr., blamed his family’s misfortunes on an old…
Page Two
by Nick Barbaro D�j� vu, of course, is the feeling that you’ve seen something before, even though you know you haven’t. But what do you call it when what you’ve seen before hasn’t yet happened? n From almost the first moment I set foot in downtown Portland, Oregon about a year ago, and started hearing…
Aisd
A task force has been rapidly assembled to research, debate, and offer possible solutions to the commingling of the class rankings of magnet and non-magnet program students at LBJ and Johnston High Schools. At the last regular meeting of the AISD Board of Trustees, several students from LBJ High School who are not part of…
We � You
For many area public services, the holidays are a time of warmth and remembrance of the year’s accomplishments. But the season is also laden with stress, as problems don’t take holiday breaks. This year, many volunteer groups are taxed beyond belief, whether due to increasing needs, crass budget cuts from insensitive legislators, or pure bad…
The Beatles
Anthology: 1 (Capitol) I was petrified by the “Free as a Bird” concept, especially having heard Lennon’s original demo. It’s so clearly a “work” tape, the type of personal rambling that musicians like to keep under lock and key. And John’s vocal is so unsure and vulnerable that using the track for release — with…
Many Mouths to Feed
Overwhelmed by the thought of holiday over-indulgence? Terrified by the thought of consuming too many calories, spending too many dollars on the wrong gifts, being a pawn in the crass, commercial Xmas machine? The perfect antidote to these chronic holiday complaints: volunteer and donate. Need suggestions? Contact the Volunteer Center (472-3848) for a look at…
