Cover Story
The New Traditional
Damian Mandola has the restaurant business in his blood
Rainbow Tales
Dallas couple Dee and Tee tell it like it is.
Stitch Lab Grand Opening Redux
A little bit of the grand opening, a little bit of the history
The Closer Tackles Trans Issues Uncomfortably
Beau Bridges plays a transwoman on The Closer.
Afghan Thoughts
Elections and reconstruction expert Dan Grant discusses the presidential plan
Miles Smiles
Buried within Miles Davis’ Complete Columbia Album Collection is the stunning Live in Europe ’67 DVD.
Court Says No to Hemp
After years of legal wrangling, appeals court rules against North Dakota farmers
Election Update, 12/23/09
Guess which Travis Co. Dem drew a surprise GOP opponent?
McDonald Exits CD-10 Race
Democrat drops out despite raising almost $1 million
Rock Ampersand Roll
Elijah Wald’s alternative history turns out to be the best rock book of the year
So Long, Spazio!
Sadly, Spazio is closing. Silver lining: You still have time to pick up a modern classic at half off.
Art Against Cancer
The Art Bra project turns a calendar into a really thoughtful gift
Travis Co. Makes Cap Met Appointment Today
Current board member Mike Manor did not make the cut
Crime Declines
FBI reports a decrease in both violent and property crime in 2009
Marijuana Misfortunes
It’s been a holiday season full of bad luck for more than one pot purveyor
Toros’ Jerrells and Jones Co-Performers of the Week
Led Austin to 2-0 record last week
Cap Met/Veolia War of Words Gets Nasty
Transit agency says fired contractor trying to “scare the public”
Monroe Returns for Championship Game
DWI charges dropped
Texas to Officially Adopt QT
2010 Texas Film Hall of Fame inductees to include one glorious bastard
Help a Girl Out
Donate to the Girls Rock Camp Austin
Cap Met Limits Sales of Passes
Move is in preparation of rate increase
Election Update 12/20/09
Earle gets in, Isett out, Miles versus Edwards round three in Houston
Workman Carpetbags Turner
HD-47 GOP hopeful Paul Workman goes after primary opponent early
UT Volleyball Heading to NCAA Title Game
Longhorn teams to play for two national championships in less than a month
Obama’s Address at COP15
The president’s address to the U.N. Climate Conference
I Kissed a Dolphin and I Liked It
Check out our blog series detailing great gift ideas on on Texas travel deals and great experiences.
Happy Derby Day (Video)
Mayor proclaims Dec. 18 Texas Rollergirl Day
Who‘s on Mars
Tenth Doctor David Tennant’s long goodbye ramps up this weekend on BBC America
No Place Like City Hall for the Holidays
A long to-do list for the last City Council meeting of the year
Phases & Stages
The Rolling Stones Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! (ABKCO) With every inch of their catalog and wrinkles staked out and ear-tagged, it’s not as if the Rolling Stones haven’t been documented into infinity, so seriously, what’s left? Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!, apparently, recorded at Madison Square Garden, released in 1970, and still one of the all-time…
Up in the Air
The director of Juno and Thank You for Smoking is back with another film that is perfectly in touch with the times.
Homies for the Holidays
The art and science of Austintatious giftology
A Boulevard for Cyclists … and Cars
Nueces Street could become the street of choice for Downtown cyclists
Voodoo Lounge
That ol’ black magic, West African style
Phases & Stages
Nirvana Bleach (Deluxe Edition) (Sub Pop) Nirvana Live at Reading (Geffen/UMe) “Bleach recorded in Seattle at Reciprocal Recordings by Jack Endino for $600.” Twenty years later, that liner note expanded into a mini picture book, Nirvana’s first album now sounds like the United States Mint. Toasty as vinyl, comparable to Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s CDs…
The End of Poverty?
This documentary argues against economic globalization and corporate imperialism.
Gay Place
Gay Place knows what it wants for the holidays and has e-mailed Santa her dimensions
Capitol Dome to Get a Face-Lift
State Preservation Board announces a year of renovations
The Hightower Report
Obama’s War; and Federal Execution Commission
Culture Flash!
Speed talking at AMOA, Correa in as ASO ED, and Ballet East needs your toys
3 Idiots
Two friends embark on a quest for their lost buddy in this new Bollywood comedy. Opens Wednesday.
Arts Review
The Rude Mechs’ re-creation lets us experience a tragedy in a rare and personal way
Family Planning Contracts Approved
Opponents decry board’s contracts with abortion providers
Three Guys, a Girl, and a Dog Named Friday
Austin film collective Jollyville Pictures on its ingredients for success
Austin Visual Arts Awards
An overflow crowd turned out to see which local artists would be honored
Arts Review
Performing Dickens’ tale solo asks a lot of a storyteller, but Bernadette Nason delivers
Politics Gift Guide
Deck the halls – or get decked – with these last-minute suggestions from the News staff
Letters at 3AM: Conditions on the Ground
This is no war on terror; we’re taking sides in a civil war
‘Austin: East of I-35’
Photographer Rama Tiru’s book brings the Eastside alive in a riot of vibrant colors
Running the UT Numbers
Unless you’re the football coach, budgetary times are dire
Naked City
News briefs from Austin, the region, and beyond
Phases & Stages
U2 The Unforgettable Fire (Universal-Island) Careful reupholstering of U2’s catalog has supplemented discs onto Boy, October, War, and Under a Blood Red Sky, but until now, only The Joshua Tree has been stuffed and crowned with the deluxe box treatment. The Unforgettable Fire, its predecessor, now comes sized as a 2-CD/1-DVD prayer book as well.…
DVD Watch
Don’t call it a downer: This acid wash of cancer, estrangement, and secreted longing was the surprise feel-good film of last year’s winter crop
Arts Review
Whatever your holiday of choice, this Davis Gallery sampler is worth attention
Election News
SBOE: Candidates With Cred Two Democrats with doctoral degrees – Rebecca Bell-Metereau and Judy Jennings – filed for the State Board of Education Monday in the seats that include Austin: Districts 5 (south of the river, down to San Antonio) and 10 (north of the river and out toward Houston). They did so with the…
Phases & Stages
The Relatives Don’t Let Me Fall (Heavy Light) A glorious hour of witness on the Continental Club stage in October and it’s easy to see how Dallas’ Relatives might have been overlooked. They’re born of the church, but the Rev. Gean West’s holler and the group’s amalgam of soul, funk, and R&B point higher. Back…
AFCA Announces 2009 Awards
The Austin Film Critics Association hands The Hurt Locker top prize
City Hall Hustle: You, Too, Can Be Historic
A herd of West Austin historic house claims worries City Hall
Fresh & New, Tried & True: 25 Simple New Recipes and 28 Classic and Favorite Recipes From the Eastside Cafe
Fifty-three recipes for the locavore
Phases & Stages
Betty Davis Nasty Gal (Light in the Attic) Betty Davis Is It Love or Desire (Light in the Attic) Following the 2007 reissue of her 1973 debut and 1974 follow-up, Seattle archivists Light in the Attic continue unearthing the catalog of freaky funk goddess Betty Davis. Backed by the stone grooves of Funk House, Davis…
Feed an Artist, Nourish the World
Austin School of Film underground and avant-garde shorts
Point Austin: The City’s Tired Story
Fleet Services may be cleaning up those tires, but there’s still a big mess
Casa Brasil Coffee
Casa Brasil strives to more directly connect coffee producers with consumers
Phases & Stages
Freddie Hubbard Without a Song: Live in Europe 1969 (Blue Note) As Louis Armstrong was to the 1920s, Roy Eldridge to the 1930s, Dizzy Gillespie to the 1940s, and Miles Davis and Clifford Brown to the 1950s, so Freddie Hubbard was the thrilling young trumpet star of the 1960s. He’s captured here in peak form…
Wish List
Here’s your chance to give back to the areas of our community that need it the most
Headlines
• There’s plenty of chestnuts on the fire at City Council’s final meeting of the year today (Thursday, Dec. 17) – a new firefighter contract is on the agenda (though Council Member Bill Spelman says he’ll vote against it, citing equity issues), a texting-while-driving ban returns to the dais, as does the controversial Grayco/South Shore…
Food-o-File
Another successful Eat Local Week, and foodie news about town
Phases & Stages
Jackie DeShannon (Collector’s Choice Music) Jackie DeShannon Me About You/To Be Free (Collector’s Choice Music) Jackie DeShannon New Arrangement (Collector’s Choice Music) Jackie DeShannon never achieved the recognition of singer-songwriter peers such as Carole King, but her estimable career arcs from the late 1950s to the present with composition credits that include “Put a Little…
Page Two: A Constant Marvel
Binder, Beck, and the Big Red Cheese
Res Publica
Citizens’ calendar, Dec. 17-21
Event Menu
This week, Austinites dine for charity and teach the little ones to garden
Phases & Stages
Pete Seeger Live in ’65 (Appleseed Recordings) As folk forefather Pete Seeger sails into his ninth decade, the retrieval of previously unreleased recordings like this show at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Hall on Feb. 20, 1965, will become more and more. While the 31 songs spread across this 2-CD set capture Seeger at the peak of influence…
Day Trips
Texas-born Pulitzer Prize-winning author Katherine Anne Porter left a literary legacy
Off the Record
Stephen Bruton’s final cut, a parting gift from At All Cost, and other holiday stocking stuffers
TV Eye
Do you dream in color? Network execs sure don’t.
Phases & Stages
The Jayhawks Music From the North Country: The Jayhawks Anthology (American) Drive-By Truckers The Fine Print (A Collection of Oddities and Rarities): 2003-2008 (New West) Drive-By Truckers Live From Austin TX (New West) The alt.country craze is just a dim memory to most folks, but Music From the North Country offers more than just a…
Soccer Watch
Barcelona looking to make history, Aztex holiday gift package, and more
New in Print
More meta-shenanigans from seasoned pro Paul Auster
Phases & Stages
Rod Stewart Atlantic Crossing (Warner Bros.) Rod Stewart A Night on the Town (Warner Bros.) Rod Stewart Unplugged … and Seated (Warner Bros.) Rod Stewart was over the top, literally, when 1975’s Atlantic Crossing and 1976’s A Night on the Town were released. The Faces’ pub rock had been dispatched in favor of stateside musicians…
Avatar: Special Edition
Avatar: Special Edition 2010, PG-13, 170 min. Directed by James Cameron, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi. The new release of this “special edition” includes “more than eight minutes of never before seen footage,” because there are some never-before-seen dollars that remain…
Developing Stories: The Rail Learning Curve
Spillar outlines city plan to avoid Cap Metro’s missteps
New in Print
Rachel Sherman puts three generations of a Long Island family under the microscope in her debut novel
Phases & Stages
The Stone Roses (Silvertone/Legacy) Considered the crowning achievement of Manchester’s ecstasy era, the Stone Roses’ lone masterpiece successfully fused spacious psychedelia with danceable, acid house euphoria. Sequenced with clairvoyant fluidity, most apparent in the head rush of “Waterfall” and its backward tide “Don’t Stop,” the quartet’s 1989 debut soundtracked a soma holiday of melodic pop,…
Avatar
James Cameron’s opus is thrilling, lovely, sad, and explosive in all the right ways.
Long Haul for Ethanol in Travis County?
Commissioner wonders why Cap Metro kept a lid on freight rail proposal
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Operation Dominic, Columbus’ pickles, and more
Phases & Stages
Whitesnake Slide It In 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition: 1984-2009 (Geffen) Whitesnake Slip of the Tongue 20th Anniversary Edition: 1989-2009 (Geffen) Third-string Deep Purple vocal overlord beginning in 1974, David Coverdale started shedding Whitesnake LPs and band members four years later. More hard roots Free booters than Foghat bazooka crew, and despite deep catalog production by…
The New Daughter
In this supernatural thriller, Kevin Costner stars as a single dad whose daughter begins behaving strangely.
Railroaded? Cap Metro vs. Veolia
Cap Metro fires its rail contractor, and Veolia strikes back
After a Fashion
Your Style Avatar throws it down, then sleeps it off. It’s the holiday season.
Phases & Stages
Leonard Cohen Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (Columbia/Legacy) Amchitka (Greenpeace) Leonard Cohen’s Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 should rightly be put in a bottle. That’s just prior to Songs of Love and Hate, so the set list is golden, and this historic concert on an island in the English Channel shows…
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker play a feuding New York City couple who rediscover their love while out West.
The Impossible Dream
We’ve got your Friday Night Schedule.
Luv Doc Recommends: Master Pancake Christmas Show
At some point this weekend you are going to be stuck on the highway behind some hayseed from that region of Egypt that doesn’t even appear on the map. He will be driving 20 miles per hour below the speed limit and hitting his brakes at random intervals trying to decide if he missed the…
