Miracle on 34th Street
Miracle on 34th Street 1947, NR, 96 min. Directed by George Seaton, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart, Natalie Wood, Thelma Ritter, Porter Hall. A real holiday classic, this one’s bound to make a Christmas booster out of the most hardened cynic. Little Natalie Wood plays…
Nobody Wanted to Die
Nobody Wanted to Die 1963, NR, 106 min. Directed by Vitautas Zalakiavicius, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Regimantas Adomaitis, Via Artmane. The final film in this series is a Lithuanian tale of family revenge that is reported to have an epic spaghetti Western feel.
Big in Austin, Big in Japan
In case you hadn’t noticed, while you and your Gap exposed-seam cowl neck sweater were sitting comfy in your Ford Explorer, sipping your Starbucks, draped in red, white, and blue hegemony, a battle has been raging for the minds and hearts and holiday dollars of consumers across the land. Some might even say America is…
Phases and Stages
The Reggae Box: The Routes of Jamaican Music(Hip-O/Island) Discovered by Columbus in 1494, subjugated by the Spanish until the British colonized it in 1655, the tiny island of Jamaica began Westernization as a slave port and pirate haven. Emancipation came in 1838, fanning the flames of a melting pot culture peopled by African/West Indian refugees,…
Naked City
Bust out those strap-on antlers, and stick Rover in his glittery sweater for Saturday’s Austin Humane Society/SPCA Santa photo-op. The annual event, which includes a blessing for animals, takes place from 11am-5pm at the Austin SPCA, 124 W. Anderson. For those celebrating a pet-less Christmas, the new, improved, 100% more patriotic Zilker Christmas tree has…
Discus Maximus
Dario Argento’s Suspiria Anchor Bay Entertainment ($44.98) Directed by legendary Italian giallo filmmaker Argento, this genuinely creepy tale of a European ballet academy run by witches has been at the top of every genre fan’s must-have DVD want-list for years now. Various Japanese import-only Laserdisc and bootleg versions have surfaced in the past, but this…
Page Two
Our cover means what you want it to mean; term limits should be junked; decisions about light rail require the long view.
Discus Maximus
The Lady EveThe Criterion Collection ($39.95)Sullivan’s TravelsThe Criterion Collection ($39.95) Leave it to Preston Sturges to be the vanguard of an emerging technology more than 60 years after his death. Inventor, playwright, composer, restaurateur-to-be, and the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood by the time his directorial debut prompted the creation of a “Best Original Screenplay”…
Focus
Focus 2001, PG-13, 106 min. Directed by Neal Slavin, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring William H. Macy, Laura Dern, Meat Loaf, David Paymer, Kay Hawtrey. Lawrence Newman (Macy) is a man living in the shadows, hemmed in by veils of conformity and prejudice. Social acceptance and prosperity ought to be his WASP-born natural…
Turning Japanese
Here are some names and addresses of area businesses to help with your quest for better cultural understanding: Animagix 2801 Guadalupe. 457-1342. Asahi Imports 100 North Loop. 453-1850. Atomic City (Japanese toys) 1700 San Antonio. 477-0293. East-West Framing & Gallery 6015 Burnet Rd. 458-2088. Gamefellas 2525 W. Anderson. 302-3021. 11200 Lakeline Mall. 250-0808. 2901 Capital…
Phases and Stages
Creedence Clearwater Revival (Fantasy) With “Keep on Chooglin'” from its 1969 LP Bayou Country, Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty coined the perfect term for his band’s signature sound. Despite the fact that Fogerty & Co. were California natives and weren’t born on the bayou, Fogerty crafted an ineffably Southern landscape, steeped in swamp imagery,…
No Free Lunch
For more than 10 years, East Cesar Chavez-area community leaders have tried to shut down a soup kitchen that has drawn a growing number of free-lunch seekers — as well as day labor-seekers, mentally ill people, and criminals — into their neighborhood. On Tuesday evening, several dozen concerned residents gathered at Sanchez Elementary School to…
Discus Maximus
Doctor ZhivagoWarner Home Video ($29.98) This deluxe DVD presentation of David Lean’s epic comes with all the “Special Edition” trimmings (running audio commentary, 10 vintage documentaries plus one new one, and interviews with Julie Christie and Omar Shariff), but, refreshingly, it’s priced in the same range as a regular old DVD. Of the special features,…
Mr. Smarty Pants
Tiger stripes are as unique as human fingerprints; no two patterns are exactly alike.A recent study by Guang Yue and his colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio has concluded that just imagining yourself exercising can increase the strength of your muscles.Some gourmets recommend storing blue cheese in foil.One cannot park on the street…
Discus Maximus
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryWarner Home Video ($24.98) These days, this film probably couldn’t get made without Jim Carrey at the CGI-enhanced helm and a noticeable softening of the story’s slyly menacing edge. But, as screenwriter David Seltzer notes in the documentary that accompanies Wonka’s new widescreen-DVD edition, the film’s mischievous streak and playful…
Vengo
Vengo 2000, NR, 90 min. Directed by Tony Gatlif, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Fernando Guerrereo Rebollo, Juan Luis Corrientes, Bobote, Antonio Perez Dechent, Orestes Villasan Rodriguez, Antonio Canales. I saw some video footage once of a man playing flamenco guitar with such feverish intensity that by song’s end the instrument’s neck was…
Phases and Stages
Billie HolidayLady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933-1944 (Columbia Legacy) You couldn’t have made her up. Elegant yet earthy, successful yet tragic, Billie Holiday had the makings of a character straight out of fiction, one that embodied everything good and bad in jazz. With a nightmarish upbringing that included rape and pre-teen prostitution,…
Phases and Stages
The FugsElectromagnetic Steamboat: The Reprise Recordings (Rhino Handmade) Despite harboring occasional artistic pretensions, the Fugs shone brightest when they crawled into the gutter sporting eighth-grade hard-ons. Formed in 1964 at New York’s Peace Eye Bookstore by poets Tuli Kupferberg and Ed Sanders, the Fugs initially transcended their lack of musicianship with a toxic mix of…
Barton Sees a Building
Ah, the solace of the Barton Creek Greenbelt: the trails, the creek, the canopy of trees, the … office building? Surprise! That concrete skeleton you see looming in the near distance is part of the Terrace PUD, a 1.1 million square-foot multiuse project whose buildings appear to be taking on more visibility along the hike-and-bike…
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Clint Eastwood Collection(Dirty Harry, The Enforcer, Magnum Force, Sudden Impact, The Dead Pool) Warner Home Video ($79.92) Growing up, I always had a hard time reconciling the Don Siegel that directed 1971’s Dirty Harry with the far more popular (around my house, anyway) Don Siegel that directed 1956’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Both films…
Day Trips
Fritsche’s Farm near Giddings is one of several good area options for your Christmas tree shopping.
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The French Connection I & II20th Century Fox Home Enteratainment ($39.98) The chase begins with sniper fire and ends with a shot in the back. In between is a hijacked subway, a car chasing that subway, the same subway colliding with another, a heart attack, a fender-bender or two, several curiously pinkish spurts of blood,…
Better Than Sex
Better Than Sex 2000, R, 84 min. Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring David Wenham, Susie Porter, Kris Mcquade, Catherine McClements, Simon Bossell, Imelda Corcoran. The title alone sets Better Than Sex up for a fall at the hands of metaphor-manic critics (“About as appealing as dry-humping a second-hand sofa!”…
Phases and Stages
John ColtraneLive Trane: European Tours (Pablo) If you were to walk into a club or concert hall today and hear a saxophonist blow with the passion, inventiveness, and unmitigated ferocity that John Coltrane demonstrates throughout this 7-CD box set, you’d be mesmerized. The fact that Coltrane and his colleagues, most notably pianist McCoy Tyner, were…
Phases and Stages
The Velvet UndergroundBootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes (Polydor/Universal) Moe Tucker’s signature slappy 4/4 launches track four, disc one, “I Can’t Stand It,” her drum the righteous stand-in for the trash can in the first line: “It’s hard bein’ a man, if you’re living in a garbage pail…” Blam! Blam! Blam! BLAM! Mesmerizing, hypnotizing,…
New Mold Regs Stink
More than a month after the original October deadline, the Texas Department of Insurance passed a final decision requiring insurance providers to offer at least some mold damage coverage in standard Texas homeowner policies — including claims caused by water damage. However, the decision eliminates insurance companies’ responsibility for pricey claims for testing and cleaning…
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Almost Famous Untitled: The Bootleg CutUniversal/MCA ($34.99) The Almost Famous that came out in theatres last fall is for the rest of the world. Almost Famous Untitled is for the fans, man. Drawing inspiration from the rock culture the film celebrates, director Cameron Crowe offers a two-disc DVD box set — “the bootleg cut” –…
After a Fashion
State Democrats party, David Byrne gets shorn, and “After a Fashion” readers learn more about how to be a good customer and how not to be a fashion victim.
Discus Maximus
The Best of the Rest … Sure to kick Episode 2 anticipation into overdrive, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace: Special Edition includes a CD-ROM with advance scenes from the second prequel due this summer (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, $29.98)… Silence is golden: This biggie-size box set, The Art of Buster Keaton, includes…
Phases and Stages
Miles DavisThe Complete In a Silent Way Sessions (Columbia Legacy) It’s 1968 and you’re Miles Davis, the intense, handsome dentist’s son who thrilled New York bebop audiences while still in his early 20s. You beat heroin and became a star, despite your refusal to play the game or suffer fools. The long list of those…
Dancing About Architecture
That was the week that was in the Live Music Capital…
Tough Love Rylander
Technically, she came to praise the Austin Independent School District, not to bury it. But at her recent news conference, State Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander sounded a lot more like One Tough Grandma (as she dubbed herself in her 1998 campaign) than a friend of the public schools. Officially, AISD is making “satisfactory” progress in…
Discus Maximus
WillowCBS/Fox Home Video ($26.98) Ron Howard’s 1989 fantasy-adventure about a swashbuckling rogue hero, Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), and his grumpy but good-hearted companion, Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis), is one of those “two-camps” pictures: Either you love it or you hate it, and, either way, ardently so. If you’re already amenable to Willow’s many charms, this no-filler…
To Your Health
I have an aggressive form of breast cancer being treated by some powerful chemotherapy drugs. A friend is warning me that some vitamins should be avoided during chemo. Which vitamins are these?
Discus Maximus
DVDs From the Small Screen Television series old and new debut in several DVD boxed set collections in time for the holiday season. The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season: Not as brilliant as the first season, but still better than other TV dramas (Warner Home Video, $99.98)… Sex and the City: The Complete Second Season:…
Phases and Stages
Artie ShawSelf Portrait (Bluebird/BMG) Three things make Self Portrait worthy and important. The 5-CD retrospective of Artie Shaw gathers cuts from several labels that released the clarinetist-bandleader’s oeuvre before the swing king hung up his horn and baton for good in 1954. Better yet, Shaw himself picked the nearly 100 tunes, choosing energetic live recordings…
Ten Down … 90% to Go
AISD votes to move the Liberal Arts Academy from Johnston to LBJ, a move that magnet parents support but many others question.
Just Can’t Keep Track of It All
The Tony Sanchez for Governor campaign had to answer some questions about record-keeping last week, following news reports of a Sanchez-related PAC woefully behind on its ethics reports. Wayne Slater of The Dallas Morning News reported Nov. 30 that a political action committee controlled by the Laredo International Bank of Commerce had failed for nearly…
United We Paint
On Monday, December 3, 53 members of the community came to the UT Performing Arts Center to create a giant American flag for display outside Bass Concert Hall.
About AIDS
The epidemic isn’t over: Hospice needs volunteers.
The Box and Beyond
Games, hardware, and gadgets to make a techie’s holiday dreams come true.
Ocean’s Eleven
Ocean’s Eleven 2001, PG-13, 116 min. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Bernie Mac, Eddie Jemison, Elliott Gould, Carl Reiner, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Shaobo Qin. A clever, ingratiating, and altogether inoffensive update of the 1960 Rat Packer of the…
Phases and Stages
Quincy JonesQ: The Musical Biography Of Quincy Jones (Rhino) Think Madonna, Cher, Bono, and Bjork are cool? Quincy Jones is so cool he gets by on just an initial. Released in conjunction with Jones’ recent autobiography, the 4-CD Q: The Musical Biography tells the story of a man who has been a major influence on…
AISD Magnets and Academies
A listing of AISD’s magnets and academies
Speaking of “Sachez’ …
The high-dollar invite for the Dec. 6 Tony Sanchez fundraising bash at Ben Barnes’ Olde West Austin swankienda does not lack for big names: former guv Ann Richards, ex-UT Chancellor Bill Cunningham and wife Isabella, restaurateur Nick Kralj and wife Lynne, etc. A cool thousand at the door makes you a “patron,” on up to…
Articulations
Danceworks director Cindy Goldberger leaves Austin as playwright Colin Swanson returns for a visit, and who are Ballet Austin’s lucky mothers?
Coach’s Corner
As much as he dislikes Longhorn football, Coach feels for Chris Simms.
The Box and Beyond
Microsoft Xbox $299.99-$499.99 With a half-billion-dollar advertising blitz shelling the gamer’s arena in anticipation of its U.S. landing, Microsoft’s new Xbox platform hit the bustling November market with all the fury of a D-Day style invasion. Now, firmly bunkered into the drop zone, Xbox finds itself immersed in a bloody two-front war. With PlayStation2 fighting…
Phases and Stages
Say It Loud! A Celebration of Black Music in America (Rhino) Quite an undertaking, this, charting the entire last century of black musical culture from Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, and Duke Ellington all the way down to … Coolio. This gargantuan 6-CD box set, 108 songs strong, doesn’t skimp on either signature hits or…
No Room at the Inn
Parents and educators discuss adding a sixth grade to the Kealing magnet.
Monitoring the Monitors
Monday’s public hearings with the two finalists for the new city police monitor job didn’t exactly pack the convention center, yet City Manager Jesus Garza said, “I was very pleased.” Former Austin City Attorney Iris J. Jones and current Dallas assistant city attorney Chris G. Wittmayer are vying for the spot, created this spring when…
Exhibitionism
In its production of The Sound of Music, Austin Musical Theatre delivers Rodgers & Hammerstein’s familiar songs with an ear for not just their beguiling tunefulness but their dramatic impact, so that the redemptive power of music makes itself heard again and again and again.
Season’s Grazings
This year’s holiday season seems tinged with uncertainty; how much celebration is appropriate in the aftermath of tragedy and in the midst of war? Should we send greetings on postcards as opposed to cards in envelopes? What’s affordable during a recession? Food is still guaranteed to comfort and, in this insecure time, the idea of…
The Box and Beyond
Nintendo Gamecube $199.95 On November 18, Nintendo launched their newest game console, the Gamecube, and with $98 million in sales (including games, etc.) the first day alone, it appears to be off to a great start. The GC is by far the most compact and attractive of the new generation of game consoles, especially compared…
Phases and Stages
The 70s Soul Experience (Rhino) First off, it’s worth noting Rhino’s knack for packaging; to all outward appearances, The 70s Soul Experience is a half-dozen pristine 8-tracks by Bill Withers, the Temptations, Spinners, and a few others, stacked in an authentic woodgrain case. Open the facade of everybody’s favorite dead technology, and you’ll find a…
Redistricting: Follow the Bouncing Pols
Redistricting trims Texas Dems and progressives from the Lege ranks. Start worrying.
G’town Manager Jumps Ship
In a Tuesday afternoon press release, Georgetown officials announced that City Manager George Russell is resigning from his position with the city effective Dec. 31. As of press time, city officials did not know who might replace Russell, who began working for the city in 1998 as an assistant city manager and was named acting…
Exhibitionism
Mexico: Bailes y Tradiciones, a “Kids Series” performance by Roy Lozano’s Ballet Folklorico at the One World Theatre, was an immensely entertaining tribute to Mexican folklore that included traditional costumes, dance, and mariachi music in front of a painted Mexican town square backdrop.
Season’s Grazings
In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Baker’s Companionby Regan Daley Artisan, 692 pp., $35 Last New Year’s Day, I promised myself that 2001 would be the year that I learned how to bake. Fortuitously for me, 2001 also was the year that In the Sweet Kitchen was released in the U.S. — it proved to…
The Box and Beyond
PC Games: Tried and True Long ago, Sid Meier created Civilization, the greatest computer game ever made. Then he left the Civ fold. The skies darkened during a generation or two of boring sequels. Mothers everywhere wept and prayed for the gaming gods to restore Meier’s name above the title. Bless their hearts, it worked.…
Also in Bookstores …
Midsummer Snowballs (Abrams, $29.95) … One winter, Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy stored 13 one-ton snowballs in cold storage and released them into London’s financial district one summer night. Filled with everything from elderberries to barley to barbed wire, the snowballs released their contents to a startled audience. This fascinating, amusing book shows how it was…
Phases and Stages
Grateful DeadThe Golden Road 1965-1973 (Rhino) “The bus came by and I got on, that’s when it all began….” Literally speaking, that vehicle was the Day-Glo school bus used by Ken Kesey & the Merry Pranksters on their crazed cross-country treks, but metaphorically, this line from the Dead anthem “That’s It for the Other One,”…
Congress
How lame a job did the three-judge federal panel do when they drew the congressional map? We used to have one district — Ron Paul’s D. 14 — stretching from just outside Austin to just outside Houston (and down to Port Aransas). Now we have two, with the new D. 31, which swoops from Williamson…
Capitol Chronicle: A Profile in Courage
After 10 years in the Texas House, Glen Maxey retires and reflects. A profile of Austin’s New Black Panther PartyA surprisingly small crowd turns out to demand safety guarantees from Longhorn Pipeline.
Pages as Presents
2001’s Crop of Coffeetable Books
Season’s Grazings
Oranges & Lemons: Recipes From the Mediterraneanby Sarah Woodward and Diana Miller Conran Octopus, 144 pp., $24.95 In the post-wartime England of the 1950s, Elizabeth David wrote, “It is hard to envision any cooking without lemons.” This British art/cookbook aptly demonstrates the pervasive appeal and versatility that these citrus flavors maintain in today’s cooking. The…
The Box and Beyond
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 Activision Sony PlayStation, PlayStation2, Nintendo Gamecube, Game Boy Color $29.99-$49.99 ESPN X Games Skateboarding Konami/ESPN the Games PlayStation2, Game Boy Advance $39.99-$49.99 The third installment of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (played for review on PlayStation2) has made an already awesome game even more fun and playable, with more challenges per…
Second Helpings: Santa’s Helpers for Food Gifts
Stumped on Christmas gift giving ideas? Food Editor Virginia B. Wood serves up the best ways to give the gift of Austin food purveyors.
Phases and Stages
Four Tops Fourever (Motown) This explains a lot. Like the paucity of Four Tops repackages by Motown, a veritable assembly line for reissues of its bejeweled catalog: Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, the Supremes, Temptations, Stevie Wonder. Following lavish box sets of these aforementioned heavyweights, Fourever is the latest chrome-polished 4-CD rollout from Detroit’s real Motor…
House
Despite local carping about how the Travis County Dems got screwed in redistricting, the new six-district House map is pretty much what a schoolchild would have drawn if given the task. The only geographic anomaly is the new District 46’s foray north into Pflugerville — that to ensure that Rep. Dawnna Dukes still lives in…
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large: Governing Boards
A commission to study commissions — it’s not a political parody, it’s for real.
Pages as Presents
‘Strange Stories’: Strangely Irresistible If it’s true, as Amazon.com suggests, that Strange Stories for Strange Kids (HarperCollins, $19.95) is intended for readers ages 4 to 8, I need to be remanded to first grade immediately. Husband-and-wife team Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly (he’s the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning MAUS: A Survivor’s Tale and she’s…
Season’s Grazings
The Wine Bibleby Karen MacNeil Workman Publishing Company, 910 pp., $19.95 (paper) Karen MacNeil is the director of the wine program at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Calif. We love the approach of her new book, not the least because we share her thoughts about wine. “To me, it’s a way –…
The Box and Beyond
Tech Toyland Holiday shopping for the technophile can be daunting when you don’t know your RAM from your ROM. Here are some ideas: Geek accessories: Made by Victorinox (the Swiss Army Knife maker), the Cybertool is loaded with 41 tools for those pesky computer repairs. Available in translucent ruby, sapphire, or black. No, the Lap…
Table Topplers
Kubrick: The Definitive Edition by Michel Ciment Faber and Faber, 329pp., $50 Originally published in 1980 and recently updated to include Kubrick’s last two films and a memoriam, this coffeetable book calls itself the “definitive” exploration of the filmmaker’s oeuvre, and it’s tough to argue with that claim. Film historian Michel Ciment provides an exhaustive…
Phases and Stages
Roots Music: An American Journey (Rounder) Thinking that the recent PBS documentary series American Roots Music, which focused on the pioneers of American folk music, would have the same effect as Ken Burns’ Jazz did on the CD-buying public, Rounder Records has released its own version of Roots Music. While that series didn’t have the…
Senate
As chair of the failed Senate Redistricting Committee, GOP Sen. Jeff Wentworth was overruled and humiliated by his GOP colleagues. It should be some comfort that he gets his ultimate wish: His own D. 25, which formerly included part-but-not-all of more than a dozen counties, is now remarkably compact, and people in Travis, Hays, and…
The Hightower Lowdown
The Bushes suddenly discover women’s rights in Afghanistan, tear up the Bill of Rights, and let pesticide companies test their poisons on human beings.
Pages as Presents
The Texas Mountain Men There’s a breed of folks spread across the West, and some isolated pockets in the East, who can be identified by their affinity for solitary places found at high altitudes. For lack of a better term, they’re mountain people. In Texas, they can be found in the far western part of…
Season’s Grazings
Cuisines of Portuguese Encountersby Cherie Y. Hamilton Hippocrene Books, 378 pp., $24.95 Cuisines of Portuguese Encounters is one of those rare international cookbooks that manages to break new ground. It features the foods of Portugal as they were spread around the globe by the 16th-century Portuguese explorers and adopted by all of the lands they…
Shortcuts
Kodak’s light shines down on Flicker.
Food-o-File
All the right ingredients came together at a benefit for Boggy Creek Farm.
Phases and Stages
Simon & GarfunkelThe Columbia Studio Recordings 1964-1970 (Columbia Legacy) The enduring legacy that was Simon & Garfunkel rang true last September when Paul Simon performed “The Boxer” on Saturday Night Live in tribute to a wounded New York City and a devastated America. Missing was Art Garfunkel’s vocal sweetness, the necessary sugar to Simon’s salty…
Kitchen’s District Changes Flavor
Incumbent Kitchen and Republican opponent Todd Baxter spar for seat in reconfigured District 48.
Weird for the Holidays
Shop online for maximum holiday video and DVD satisfaction.
Pages as Presents
Master Class This year we’re blessed with books encompassing the careers of noted photographers Robert Capa and Elliott Erwitt and a new Irving Penn offering that reminds us of the range of one of America’s leading fashion photographers. Capa is the definitive photojournalist — a photographer of war and international politics; Erwitt is the leading…
Season’s Grazings
Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen by Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall Ten Speed Press, 272 pp., $29.95 Oddly enough, very few cookbooks concentrating on the delicious, healthy, and widely varied cuisine of Korea have been written in English. This new cookbook vividly reveals the subtle nuances of Korean cuisine in a simple yet dynamic fashion,…
Video Reviews
The Simpsons Season One Collector’s Editon DVD Box SetFox Home Entertainment $39.98″If the animation seems particularly glitch-filled, just remember this: We didn’t know what the hell we were doing back then.” So explains Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, in a message included in the DVD box set of the animated series. “Back then” refers…
20 Years of Austin Gifts
In case you hadn’t heard, The Austin Chronicle is celebrating 20 years in Austin. We’ve seen our town in boom, bust, überboom, and near bust again. For our holiday shopping guide, we have chosen to focus on survivors also celebrating 20 years. Here are 20 places eager to assist with your gift-giving needs, plus a…
Phases and Stages
Glenn MillerArmy Air Force Band (Bluebird/BMG) Capt. Glenn Miller, U.S. Army Air Force, knew how he wanted to serve his country when World War II broke out. He wanted to make music that would inspire an “ear-splitting, almost hysterically happy reaction” in his fellow soldiers, music that would stoke their courage on the battlefield and…
People vs. the Pipeline
A surprisingly small crowd turns out to demand safety guarantees from Longhorn Pipeline.
Burn Hollywood Burn
Anti-American protestors in Pakistan set fire to a movie theatre that was, strangely, still showing Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado.
Pages as Presents
Jerome Charyn’s Ping-Pong: Much More Than Sport More an anecdotal memoir than the sleek, charming coffeetable book blessed with beautiful vintage photographs that it first appears to be, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins: Ping-Pong and the Art of Staying Alive (Four Walls Eight Windows, $24) is the work of a devoted pongiste who has played…
Season’s Grazings
Your Glass or Mine? The holidays are upon us. You’re having a party. Out come the wine glasses. People are drinking, eating, talking. Pretty soon someone sets a glass down. Then another. Eventually, people start asking, “Is that your glass or mine?” Rather than risk an impromptu germ exchange, they both get another glass. Soon,…
Video Reviews
Occasionally a bit preachy with its critique of advertising or the Eighties commodity mindset, How to Get Ahead in Advertising is a still-relevant satire about an ad man who sprouts a talking zit on his shoulder.
20-Year Eats
May we (heartily) recommend these fine local eateries, also celebrating 20 years in Austin? Consider a generous holiday gift certificate, a special evening out with your squeeze, an elaborate family function, or just a spontaneous night out on the town once that holiday bonus rolls in … Chez Nous 510 Neches. 473-2413. Chuy’s 1728 Barton…
Phases and Stages
Cat Stevens(A&M) Here’s a 4-CD retrospective of the man now called Yusuf Islam, but whom we all know better under the name Cat Stevens. Accompanied by a graphics-rich book called In Search of the Centre of the Universe, On the Road to Find Out takes us from C. Stevens’ pop beginnings (“Back to the Good…
Texas’ Own ‘Roe v. Wade’
The Texas Supreme Court will decide whether medically necessary abortions for the poor will be state-funded.
Discus Maximus
We preview some of the best, brightest new DVDs and box sets.
Pages as Presents
Getting a Little Personal Before he died in 1999, Michael C. Smith was considered one of the nation’s best admen, having won the Bronze Lion from the Cannes International Film Festival in addition to being named one of the 10 best art directors in America by Adweek. It’s no wonder that someone so attuned to…
Season’s Grazings
A Dozen Handy Items Under $40 No Baker Should Be Without(Available at upscale hardware, cookware, and local restaurant supply stores) Offset Spatulas Spread frosting, fillings, battters. You can’t have too many of these. $3-6.Silicone Spatulas Scrape the last bit of batter out of the bowl with these; they won’t crack, melt, or lose their shape.…
TV Eye
Keeping one eye on television and the other on pop culture.
Other Significant Anniversaries
Consider throwing some of your holiday gift-giving budget in the direction of these fine folks who’ve stood the test of time.10 YearsBaubles & Weeds Personalized floral service. 1207 Hillsdale. 442-9742. baubles1.home.texas.net. Oceans Window Scuba. 13376 Research. 258-8000. www.oceanswindow.com. Tapestry Dance Works 507-B Pressler. 474-9846. www.tapestry.org. Blimp Photo & Video Service Austin aerial photography. 794-8401. www.blimpphoto.com.…
Phases and Stages
Dead Can Dance1981-1998 (Rhino) Meaningful career retrospectives strike a balance between songs that make a band influential enough to warrant such a collection in the first place, and a gatherall of goodies for the die-hards who have all the pre-released material. With a band like Dead Can Dance, this balance is imperative given the passionate…
Lone Star Panthers
A profile of Austin’s New Black Panther Party
Discus Maximus
DumboWalt Disney Home Video ($29.99)Snow White and the Seven DwarfsWalt Disney Home Video ($29.99) Uncle Walt Disney would have turned 100 years old this week, on December 5. Personally, my best bet for celebrating would be to curl up with the new 60th anniversary DVD edition of Dumbo. That flying, flap-eared elephant brings joy and…
Postscripts
What’s selling in several area stores and the local literary news
Season’s Grazings
Baked Goods Very few things evoke more pleasant seasonal memories than holiday baking. To inspire the baker on your list, choose a volume from this annotated list of new titles, and grab one or more of the “must-have” gadgets for stocking stuffers. There’s something here for professionals, passionate amateurs, and beginners, too. You can’t go…
Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers 2001, PG-13, 105 min. Directed by Steve Miner, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jon Abrahams, Oded Fehr, Tom Skerritt, Leonor Varela, Rachael Leigh Cook, Randy Travis, Robert Patrick, Usher Raymond, Ashton Kutcher, Alfred Molina, Dylan Mcdermott, James Van Der Beek. Call it Dude, Where’s My Horse?. This photogenic Western is more…
