Cover Story
Kyoto: 10 Years Later
Ten years ago, in December 1997, the city of Kyoto, Japan, hosted the first successful international conference on global warming, during which most of the world’s developed countries agreed that joint action – under the Kyoto accord – must be taken to curtail global warming. To mark the 10th anniversary of the agreement, the Association…
I’ll Have Whatever He’s Having
Groovy, baby.
From Bad to Good
What’s in a (street) name?
Girls Rock on Saturday!
Girls Rock Camp Austin benefit this Saturday, Dec. 15
Off the Stack: Holiday Procrastination Reading
Breathless features in the style sections of Time and The New York Times notwithstanding, it’s finally official. The national needlework fever has been given the big nod by the venerable kit/book masters at Workman. The publication of S.E.W.: Sew Everything Workshop, the Complete Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide by Diana Rupp ($26.95, 256 pp.) arrives just in…
Iorek Is Hot! The Sun Is Gay!
Andy hearts Iorek!
Manda Bala
Manda Bala 2007, NR, 85 min. Directed by Jason Kohn, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . On Sept. 12, 2001, the day after the World Trade Center collapsed, I remember arriving at the office building I worked in near Times Square (after a nail-biter of a subway ride over the Manhattan Bridge) and…
The Last Winter
The Last Winter 2007, NR, 101 min. Directed by Larry Fessenden, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring James LeGros, Ron Perlman, Connie Britton, Kevin Corrigan, Zach Gilford, Jamie Harrold. It’s difficult to tell whether The Last Winter is Dick Cheney’s wet dream or Al Gore’s nightmare, but either way you thaw it, director Fessenden…
The Hunting Party
The Hunting Party 2007, R, 104 min. Directed by Richard Shepard, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Jesse Eisenberg, James Brolin, Ljubomir Kerekes, Diane Kruger, Joy Bryant, Kristina Krepela, Dylan Baker. Shepard has a killer eye for the things that rob us of our humanity and the lengths to which…
Finishing the Game
Finishing the Game 2007, NR, 88 min. Directed by Justin Lin, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Roger Fan, Sung Kang, McCaleb Burnett, Dustin Nguyen, Jake Sandvig, Meredith Scott Lynn. Though it’s too broadly silly to have much bite, this genial mockumentary about a kung-fu movie production relates race and the Hollywood shuffle in…
Seasons Drawing to a Close
The University of Southern California won the NCAA Women’s College Cup on Sunday in College Station, beating top-ranked UCLA, 2-1, and then Florida State, 2-0, in the final. It was the first Final Four appearance ever by the Women of Troy. This weekend it’s the NCAA men’s turn, in North Carolina. The semifinals are Friday:…
NoDak Farmers Continue Fight for Hemp in Federal Appeals Court
North Dakota federal District Judge Daniel Hovland on Nov. 28 dismissed from his court a lawsuit brought by two local farmers seeking freedom to cultivate industrial hemp, in compliance with state law and without the looming interference of the Drug Enforcement Administration. In that way the DEA, which sought to have the suit dismissed, has…
Barney Builds a Budget
Bush explaining his National Park Service budget using the magic of puppies.
Astros Trade Five for Tejada
The Astros may have jumped to Central Division faves overnight with the announcement of the acquisition of four-time All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada. Houston had to give up five players in return but it’s worth it, no doubt. They should start printing those World Series tickets right now. Here’s the players Baltimore received for their superstar…
City Council Notebook
Council goes balls out for their last meeting of the year.
Ground Zero Texas: The Rubble
Looking back sans beer goggles at Beerland’s first fest.
Terrible One Hosts Benefit for Skateboarder
Local rider-owned bike company Terrible One is hosting a benefit for their friend Jimmy Levan who was in a serious skateboard accident last month that left him in a coma for two weeks. Needless to say his medical bills are outrageous and that’s where you step in. Bring yourself and your significant other (along with…
Seaholm Powers Ahead, Amid Questions About the ‘Public Interest’
Oft-delayed development getting serious at City Council
Fun Run for the White House
How many candidates really are trying to run for president?
Homer for the Holidays
Fox gives away Simpsons Santa hats at just the right price.
Texans Down Bucs, Face Broncos on National TV
Sage Rosenfels excelled for Houston in Sunday’s 28-14 victory over Tampa Bay completing 27 of 36 passes for 209 yards and three TDs with no interceptions. I always knew he was better than David Carr but now some of the fickle fans in Houston might be thinking quarterback controversy. However, with the Texans depleted offensive…
Totally Giftee Things
So right off the bat (the Christmas bat, shall we say, as if nodding to T. Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas?), let’s pimp some merch by the skyscraperish draftsman Tony Millionaire, because 1) Who doesn’t love Sock Monkey, and 2) The man was kind enough to treat us to lunch during his recent visit to Austin.…
Rudy: Officially Heading to a Primary Near You
Leading GOPers endorsed Giuliani and Thompson two months ago: but are their candidates faltering?
‘NCAA March Madness 08’ Features Kevin Durant on the Cover
EA Sports NCAA March Madness 08 is on the shelves today and you’ll notice a familiar face gracing the cover. UT phenom Kevin Durant was picked No. 2 in the NBA draft by the Seattle Supersonics but receives one more collegiate honor as he is chosen by EA to be their cover star for this…
What Would Jesus Buy: The Encore (Tonight)
Another cinematic fundraiser for anti-Wal-Mart group
Tony Parker and Eva Longoria Check Out the Toros
Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria and rapper/San Antonio Spur Tony Parker made the short trip down I-35 Saturday night to catch the Austin Toros defeating the Tulsa 66ers 109-105 at the Austin Convention Center. Parker was showing support for his teammates Darius Washington and Ian Mahinmi who are currently spending some time with our local Spurs…
Toros Season Three, Take Two; Plus Blog Contest for Fans!
Don’t look now, but the Austin Toros are 4-1. I’m going to type that again: The Austin Toros – a team that has been plagued by enough injuries, dashed hopes, jailed mascots, and untimely deaths over the course of its two-year tenure to drive their fans to drink; a team that suffered through a fraught…
One Meatless Man Pie, Coming Up!
Dhaba Joy’s vegetarian speed dating event gives new meaning to the term meat market.
Outside Outsider Art That’s Out There
A local percussionist plays inside a Crater.
Get to Know Gazprom
Russian president’s preferred successor to come from energy industry.
Happy Trails
The Trail of Lights opens for Christmas.
Whitmire: Christmas Mountains Sale ‘Nuts’
Jerry Patterson refuses to back down over Christmas Mountains.
For Boys Who Like Boys Who Like Joysticks
Mmmmm. Hungry for couch potato?
Club ‘Chronicle’ Team Zen Challenge
This year is the second time Zen has organized a Trail of Lights 5K Challenge but the the first time the Chronicle has sponsored a team. The idea behind the challenge was to get together a group of people who have never competed in a 5K and are looking to live a healthier lifestyle. In…
Texans Fumble Another Opportunity
Despite losing two offensive linemen (Fred Weary and Chris White, both gone for the season) and their starting quarterback, Matt Schaub, to injury, the Texans behind Ron Dayne, Andre Johnson, and Sage Rosenfels managed to bring the score within four points, 21-17, with 12 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Texans D came out…
Bun B Remembers Pimp C
After finding out about legendary Houston hip-hop duo UGK’s Grammy nomination, this MTV interview with other half Bun B is especially bittersweet. You can also listen to Matt Sonzala’s three-hour Pimp C tribute here and read his interview with Bun here.
Chasing Teen Coin
“The generally accepted definition of soul music is rhythm & blues that contains strong elements of church singing.” So writes R&B scholar and music purveyor Billy Vera in the liner notes to Atlantic Soul (1959-1975), a 4-CD box set from Rhino Handmade, the Internet-only arm of the reissues giant. A limited pressing of 3,000, the…
Blanton Museum of Art: Adios, Pérez-Barreiro
Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, the Blanton’s curator of Latin American art, is leaving UT to head the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
Restaurant Review
After you’re finished looking through kitschy playthings at Toy Joy, visit their connected cafe, Dhaba Joy, for vegan soft serve and baked goods
Box Sets
Miles Davis The Complete on the Corner Sessions (Columbia/Legacy) “I got everybody in the band but the devil on tambourine.” So proclaimed trumpet titan Miles Davis around the time of On the Corner. He wasn’t kidding either. Spanning 1972-1975, this 6-CD collection, the eighth and final installment in Columbia/Legacy’s brilliant metal-spine series, is a cultural…
Box Sets
Megadeth Warchest (Capitol) Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine is thrash metal’s pre-eminent master of puppets, wielding nihilistic tales of Orwellian warfare and nuclear holocaust through an unwavering march of guitars. Mirroring Slayer’s Soundtrack to the Apocalypse in both content and packaging, Warchest is a career-spanning 4-CD/1-DVD collection that provides the group’s essential ammunition and includes a 32-page…
Global Warming
A political timeline
What Would Jesus Buy?
The good Reverend Billy is on an agitprop mission to convince his fellow Americans that our heedless consumerism will be their spiritual undoing.
Readings
Part manifesto, part memoir, Robert Jensen’s book calls on men to reject pornography, join the feminist movement, and rise above preconceived notions of sexuality
Give a Chef for the Holidays
This holiday season
Box Sets
Vol. 8: 1968
Box Sets
Sweeeet
Naked City
Quote of the Week “I believe it is in the best interests of the Department, the City of Austin, the citizens we are sworn to protect and serve, and Sergeant Olsen himself, that he be indefinitely suspended.” – Police Chief Art Acevedo, announcing the termination of Sgt. Michael Olsen Headlines • Only two more City…
Page Two: The Terrible Thing
Demonization of those with whom we disagree is the most dangerous disease that can infect a constitutional republic
Give a Chef for the Holidays
Dai Due Supper Club www.daidueaustin.com, 769-7261 Dai due regni di natura piglia il cibo con misura (from the two kingdoms of nature, choose food with care). This Dai Due (say “die dooay”) motto indicates what to expect from meals offered by proprietors Jesse Griffiths and Tamara Mayfield – carefully selected ingredients from the land and…
Box Sets
John Coltrane Interplay (Prestige) A splendid complement to last year’s addictive, 6-CD Fearless Leader, which collected all of John Coltrane’s recordings as a leader for Prestige Records, Interplay weighs in as a 5-CD compilation of the saxophonist’s oeuvre as co-leader/sideman for the same label. Recorded between September 1956 and March 1958, these sides overlap with…
When White Meat Attacks
Troma’s ‘Poultrygeist’ pokes holes (and punctures skin) in our fast-food nation
Texas Fair Defense Project Prevails Over WilCo in Court
Texas Supreme Court’s Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee rejects ‘secret’ complaint filed by Williamson County Attorney’s Office against Texas Fair Defense Project
Letters @ 3AM
Americans no longer look or sound like, and will never again look or sound like, this country’s rigid image of an “American”
Give a Chef for the Holidays
Hosteria Verde www.hosteriaverde.com, 632-8400 Supper clubs are not new to the Austin area. Both Bistro le Marseillais and Dai Due have run very successful, interesting mobile feasts in the past. The newest kid on the block is Hosteria Verde, run by two Vespaio employees: chef Andrew Francisco and server extraordinaire Anne Rutt. Francisco is a…
Box Sets
Ike & Tina Turner The Ike & Tina Turner Story: 1960-1975 (Time Life) In their early-1960s heyday, no touring act was more incendiary than the Ike & Tina Turner Revue featuring the nonstop Kings of Rhythm and shimmying Ikettes. The full-bore show-band with smokin’ horns and blistering rhythm section led by Mississippi pianist-turned-guitarist Ike Turner…
What Becomes a Legacy Most
Forever is in large part about what an artist’s legacy means to the living
More Wal-Mart Fighting – This Time Among Attorneys
Leader of legal team that defended city in Northcross Wal-Mart trial steamed about comments made about judge and city staff by Allandale Neighborhood Association attorney
After a Fashion
Your Style Avatar Grinches about the crappy Christmas decorations on Congress Avenue and relates to one Nomi Malone
Give a Chef for the Holidays
Kitchen Duty www.kitchenduty.com, 512/844-1877 Ebullient chef Jerry Pizzitola grew up in a big, warm Italian-American family in Houston where everyone spent time together in the kitchen. His diverse background includes time onstage as a stand-up comedian, a culinary-school education, a stint in the Air Force during Desert Storm teaching survival courses and refueling planes in…
Box Sets
Frank Sinatra A Voice in Time (1939-1952) (Legacy) Frank Sinatra’s legacy is still largely, and appropriately, defined by his later Capitol and Reprise recordings, the bluster of the Vegas voice coupled with Hollywood iconicity. This 4-CD, 80-track compilation, however, collects his earliest recordings culled from labels like Brunswick, Bluebird, Victor, and Columbia, as well as…
In Print
Film historian Ed Sikov has compiled a loving, slavishly and meticulously researched profile of one of the 20th century’s most memorable film icons
Happenings
Dec. 6-12
The Common Law
My Neighbor’s Yard is a Jungle
Give a Chef for the Holidays
Dish a Licious www.dishalicious.com, 809-4048, 529-8569 Evacuation in advance of Hurricane Rita brought Beaumont restaurateurs Elizabeth and Thomas Winslow to Austin in the fall of 2005. Austin’s hospitality and vibrant food scene made such a positive impression on the couple that they eventually closed their Beaumont restaurant and relocated to Austin full-time last spring. Their…
Box Sets
Emmylou Harris Songbird (Rhino) This one’s for the fans. Those of us that can’t get enough of that angelic voice and its genre-busting way with a song. Over the course of a 4-CD/1-DVD set, Emmylou Harris travels the back roads of her career and creates a collection that’s enthralling and adventuresome. Few artists have mixed…
Beside The Point
City Council racing to get tasks done before end of year
Drum Roll, Please
Each committee was given its agenda of issues to look into before next session, giving an inkling of what battles may be fought when Lege reconvenes in 2009
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The faith behind Nietzsche’s mustache, the most expensive year for oil, the dirty truth about air driers, and more
Give a Chef for the Holidays
La Speranza Cucina Italiana www.lasperanzacatering.com, 452-7517 Between 1976 and 1985, in what had been a rustic brick beer joint on the corner of Fourth and Colorado, Speranza’s Italian Home Cooking sat. It was small – eight tables in all – and you had to book ahead; it held 40 max, and there were two seatings…
Box Sets
The Chicago label reflected the broad tastes of its husband-and-wife owners
The Hightower Report
Bush’s Hollow Support for Veterans; and Vote for America With Your Consumer Dollars
@ Chronic
What’s the intent behind Craddick’s charges?
Day Trips
‘Historic Hotels of Texas’ is as much a history book as it is a traveler’s guide
Give a Chef for the Holidays
Chez Vous Personal Chef Services www.chezvousbytrish.com, 892-2818 Chef Trish Bales was happily catering European-style dinner parties when she began to suffer from gluten intolerance. She ignored her symptoms as long as she could: Being gluten-intolerant simply did not fit in with her career or lifestyle, both of which relied heavily on sumptuous homemade ravioli, baguettes,…
Box Sets
Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons Jersey Beat: The Music of Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons (Rhino) There’s a reason the 4 Seasons never received the veneration afforded the Beach Boys. This 3-CD/1-DVD set oozes classics spanning presidents Kennedy through Carter, but it also highlights where the Seasons fall short of their West Coast…
Acevedo Fires Olsen
Following investigation and hearing, APD Chief Art Acevedo decides to terminate Sgt. Michael Olsen
The State of Texas Children
New report indicates things are looking good for Travis County’s children in the areas of education and premature death, but also lays out some troubling stats on poverty.
Soccer Watch
Champions League group stage ends next week, and more
Give a Chef for the Holidays
Thai Cooking with Jam www.thaicookingwithjam.com, 694-9796 Nithiwadee “Jam” Sanitchat arrived from Thailand in 2001 with a head full of authentic traditional Thai dishes she learned by the side of her mother and grandmother. Her earliest memories are of being in the kitchen, helping them produce culinary magic. Much of Austin first met Jam as a…
Box Sets
Robyn Hitchcock I Wanna Go Backwards (Yep Roc) Repackaging three early Hitchcock albums with a slew of bonus tracks (each also available individually), alongside a 2-CD collection of demos and B-sides, Backwards evidences the Brit iconoclast’s staggering sweep through post-punk, psych-folk, and cryptically warped pop. Hitchcock’s updated liner notes to 1981 debut Black Snake Dîamond…
UT’s Brackenridge Tract: Speculating on Speculation
What will become of these coveted 345 acres where Lake Austin Boulevard meets Enfield Road?
Point Austin: The Convert
Mike Krusee on New Urbanism, Smart Growth, toll roads, and the importance of regional planning
Playing Through
Fans continue to go gaga over the Dallas Cowboys
Give a Chef for the Holidays
McGovern’s Organics Home Delivery www.mcgovernsorganics.com, 512/983-3197 If you have a beloved friend or family member who has celiac disease, severe food allergies, or a child with an autism-spectrum disorder, meals prepared by McGovern’s Organics might be the best gift they have ever gotten. Dealing with learning a whole new way of cooking and eating is…
Box Sets
Hours of limited-release material offered for the first time stateside
Return of the Titty Tax
New ‘nudity’ tax could include not just strip clubs but cabarets, bars, fashion shows, and even mainstream theatres
What I Want to do With My Life
Mike Krusee on New Urbanism, Smart Growth, toll roads, and why Bobby Kennedy is his hero
Arts Review
Yellow Tape’s holiday musical delivers on the promise of its title with tremendous fun
Give a Chef for the Holidays
Eat Street www.eatstreet55.com, 350-4061 “My very first client wanted to lose weight the old-fashioned way: calories in, calories out.” With that as her marching orders, Pamela Nevarez began her career as a personal chef and began Eat Street. While not all of her clients have such exacting goals in mind when they hire her, Nevarez…
Box Sets
Luther Vandross Love, Luther (Epic/J Records/Legacy) Had Luther Vandross been born during the second war to end all wars rather than during the Cold War, he’d rival Marvin Gaye. Instead, the Bronx-born crooner came of age in Aquarius on his way to the disco era, applying his worship of Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, and Dionne…
Arts Review
The Miró Quartet examines our national character and finds some of America’s lights still shine brightly
Give a Chef for the Holidays
ATE Foods www.atefoods.com, 300-4252 “Let them eat Ate,” the website proclaims. A meal-delivery service, Ate is the brainchild of Jessica and Rodolfo Buonocore, former proprietors of the Daily, a sandwich-delivery service that targeted Austin-area offices. Rodolfo grew up in Buenos Aires helping in his father’s bakeries and pastry shops; Jessica is a Santa Monica, Calif.,…
Box Sets
4-CD soundtrack to Ken Burns’ The War
Getting Warmer
A leading environmentalist on the growing threat to the planet and the future
Darfur Now
For all the film’s rallying efforts, its meandering structure and absence of a central focal point result in a film about genocide that is, as unbelievable as it sounds, kind of boring.
Arts Review
This installation leaves us to question our own notions of patriotism and our sense of American-ness
DVD Watch
In his 1948 debut for the immortal Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, Toshir� Mifune unleashes a naked rage that anticipates James Dean by a half-dozen years
Box Sets
Seventy songs culled from 25 years of early American roots
If More CO2 Is Bad … Then What?
The need to reduce emissions collides head-on with the growing world demand for energy
Awake
The phenomenon of “anesthetic awareness,” in which the patient is fully conscious yet physically paralyzed during surgery, is grist for this psychological thriller.
Northward, Ho!
Why we’re headed to the Blue Genie Art Bazaar’s new home
Food-o-File
Christmas dinner at the Ritz, tamales for the holidays from Santa Rita, and more
TV Eye
Wrestling With Angels is an intimate, surprisingly extensive profile of one of this nation’s greatest contemporary playwrights
Box Sets
A 4-CD, 78-track Way Back Machine
The Austin Climate Protection Plan
An update on the state of the city’s ACPP
The Golden Compass
The special effects are mostly spectacular in this story of a 12-year-old orphan whose fate is connected to a holy, multiverse war yet to come.
‘The Ultimate Christmas Musical: The Musical!’ Saving the season with every Christmas story you’ve ever heard
The Yellow Tape gang works its high-energy, kitschy, crowd-pleasing magic on the holidays
Event Menu
Event Menu, Dec. 7-19
The San Francisco Sound
Celebrating the San Francisco Sound, 1965-1970, if not Rhino Records anthology thereof
Box Sets
Donald Fagen Nightfly Trilogy (Reprise) As co-leader of Steely Dan, Donald Fagen’s always been a stickler for immaculate sound. With Nightfly Trilogy he’s achieved near perfection. The Trilogy contains Fagen’s three solo works, The Nightfly (1982), Kamakiriad (1993), and Morph the Cat (2006), each presented in a double-disc format: one CD and one Music Video…
ACPP Update
Municipal & Utility Progress
Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead
Lloyd Kaufman’s Poultrygeist is a campy zombie comedy that’s full of jokes, chicken suits, spewing geysers of various bodily fluids, and barbs flung in the direction of the fast-food industry.
CreateAustin: The future is now
The cultural planning process has produced a draft with visionary recommendations and now needs public input
Restaurant Review
Leslie Horne’s Aurelia’s Chorizo produces authentic Spanish chorizo right in Austin’s back yard, in Boerne
Off the Record
Max Dropout’s garage-punk festival levels Beerland to Ground Zero; David Letterman hosts a Late Show spectacular at Antone’s; What Made Milwaukee Famous grapples with success on second LP
Box Sets
Pearl Jam Live at the Gorge 05/06 (Monkey Wrench/Rhino) “A little sunset music for Tom [Petty] and his band,” announces Eddie Vedder before “Small Town.” This after opening Ramones cover “I Believe in Miracles.” And they’re off, Pearl Jam “Given to Fly” across three performances at Seattle’s Gorge that bulge a bare-bones, 7-CD Digipak. Disc…
What Is to Be Done?
Environmentalists respond
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
One of the most compelling documentary portraits of a musician yet made, Julien Temple’s film about the former Clash musician acknowledges the legend while uncovering the truth.
Luv Doc Recommends: ‘Checking It Twice’
Fasten that sprig of Mistletoe to your belt buckle, the season is upon us. For the next few weeks your schmaltz meter will be pegged hard into the red. Just give in. You’re totally outnumbered. Even that weird-assed pagan/druid/wiccan/communist/anarchist co-worker who won’t spell “women” without replacing the “e” with a “y” is wearing a Bobbie…
