The Mstk 3000 Christmas Variety Show
The Mstk 3000 Christmas Variety Show NR. Directed by And John Erler, Owen Egerton, Jerm Pollet, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . The MSTK3000 Christmas Variety Show blends comedy and movies as comics Jerm Pollet, Owen Egerton, and John Erler tackle short subject holiday films such as “A Howdy Doody Christmas,” “A Punch…
Letters at 3AM
The collapse of the American political process in Election Year 2000 is
both an event in itself and a world-class metaphor: The American
Century is over.
Dancing About Architecture
Christmastime comes to Austin.
Record Reviews
Peter FramptonWind of Change (A&M)Peter FramptonFrampton’s Camel (A&M)Peter FramptonSomething’s Happening (A&M)Peter FramptonFrampton (A&M)Peter FramptonI’m in You (A&M) Peter Frampton reissues? Don’t laugh. You’re the one with the Farrah-feathered hair and coke-dealer’s-girlfriend sunglasses. So why not see just how committed to this Seventies fashion premise you are? While he was never the technical monster that, say,…
Video Reviews
Gladiator: the most overhyped epic of the year.
Second Helpings: Interior Mexican (Beyond Tex-Mex)
MM Pack takes readers beyond Tex-Mex with her listings of local interior
Mexican restaurants in this week’s “Second Helpings.”
After a Fashion
Local openings and changes, plus a few words to the wise
re the use and abuse of culottes and, ugh, mullets.
Record Reviews
Big YouthNatty Universal Dread 1973-1979 (Blood & Fire) Down yard in Jamaica, it’s the DJs who most excite the massive. As the popular heroes of reggae, it’s their music that rules the airways and mashes up the dance halls. In the pantheon of all-time most popular DJs, along with the likes of U-Roy, Yellowman, Buju…
Looking for Tony
Democrats are settling on Tony Sanchez as their next gubernatorial candidate before anyone has an idea who he is.
Video Reviews
A Scandal in Paris is Douglas Sirk before Douglas Sirk became good.
Exhibitionism
Scott Kanoff launches his tenure as the State Theater Company’s new
producing artistic director with Eric Coble’s Virtual Devotion, and while
the performances and design work are laudatory, they’re brought to bear
on a lackluster script that looks poor in comparison to the least that, say,
MAD…
Mr. Smarty Pants
A few more pins for the happy hour bowling alley of your mind.
Record Reviews
Sun Ra & His ArkestraGreatest Hits: Easy Listening for Intergalactic Travel (Evidence)Sun RaThe Great Lost Sun Ra Albums: Cymbals & Crystal Spears (Evidence)Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity ArkestraPathways to Unknown Worlds + Friendly Love (Evidence)Sun Ra and His Myth Science ArkestraWhen Angels Speak of Love (Evidence)Sun RaLanquidity (Evidence) A few months before he passed…
Greased Wheels?
“There would be no greater joy than to see a beautiful park that our children and adults can go to and learn about the oil and gas industry.” — A.R. “Tony” Sanchez, 1993 You might expect that kind of talk from an oil and gas tycoon like Tony Sanchez, but if he runs for governor,…
TV Eye
What’s the real meaning of Christmas? Well, it’s doubtful you’ll find it in the typical cheery holiday TV programming. But two upcoming documentaries — The Forgotten Americans and First Person Plural — remind us of the importance of home and family and offer a thought-provoking alternative to more traditional holiday fare.
Exhibitionism
Robert Dubac’s The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron? has its moments, but
its stereotypes and reliance on material recycled from the
men-are-from-Mars-women-are-from-Venus catalog make it more
soapbox than entertainment.
Coach’s Corner
Where’s the pixie dust falling? In a mid-season NFL wrapup, Coach looks
at the season’s surprises thus far.
Record Reviews
Thelonious MonkThe Complete Prestige Recordings (Prestige) The music of pianist/composer Thelonious Monk can be viewed in several ways. He’s often and correctly identified as one of the founders of bebop; Monk’s far-ranging influence marks the work of Bud Powell and other boppers, while a number of his compositions (“‘Round Midnight” and “52nd Street Theme,” for…
Naked City
City council continues to keep public out of Stratus negotiations. Paul Robbins urges individuals and publications to count Floridal votes, A Georgia company sold a flawed list of ineligible voters to Florida.
Dancing the Christmas Spirit
An eight-year-old fan of The Nutcracker has her dream come true when
she gets to talk to a choreographer and ballerina — Ballet Austin’s
Stephen Mills and Gina Patterson — about the ballet that helps Christmas
feel like Christmas.
Exhibitionism
In the nine choreographed dance-theatre pieces that make up Using the
F-Word, REALMdanceproject fashions a collaborative yet tenaciously
personal portrait of feminism.
Day Trips
The Texana Cigar and Coffee Company in Chappell Hill manufactures the
state’s newest custom-made cigars, roasts coffee, and showcases the
owner’s one-of-a-kind collection of antiques.
Record Reviews
Johnny AdamsThere Is Always One More Time (Rounder)Boozoo ChavisJohnnie Billy Goat (Rounder)Champion Jack DupreeA Portrait of Champion Jack Dupree (Rounder)Roomful Of BluesThe Blues’ll Make You Happy, Too (Rounder) One of the ways Rounder Records, perhaps the premier roots music label in the country, is celebrating its 30th anniversary is with a 30-title series of releases…
Naked City
The latest casualty of Vignette’s relocation downtown: The Chain Drive, a gay leather bar that sits on property owned by Perry Lorenz that is directly in the path of Vignette’s expansion.
Articulations
Memorial notices for actor and talk radio pioneer Harv Morgan and UT art
historian Marian B. Davis.
New Writers of the Purple Prose
The romance field, Margraet Moser writes, is unique in its symbiosis:
Most writers come from the ranks of readers and therefore understand
the marriage of reader and book. The sisterhood and moral support in
this almost exclusively female dominion is palpable. It is also gratifying
and empowering…
About AIDS
DEA Approves CA marijuana study.
Record Reviews
Nick DrakeFive Leaves Left (Hannibal)Nick DrakeBryter Layter (Hannibal)Nick DrakePink Moon (Hannibal) We love sad songs. We need tragedy. Our craving to live vicariously through fear, heartbreak, and despair has fueled the making of art since the beginning of time, and any artist that can inspire delicious sadness will, circumstances allowing, become a cultural icon or…
Naked City
Some Florida voters disqualified as ex-felons by misused Texas Department of Public Safety information
The Autumn Heart
The Autumn Heart 2000, NR, 109 min. Directed by Steven Maler, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Lisa Keller, Jack Davidson, Marla Sucharetza, Marceline Hugot, Davidlee Willson, Ally Sheedy, Tyne Daly. This Boston-based sudser ought to come with its own bubble machine. The way it manufactures turmoil surpasses all known quotas and believability. And…
Postscripts
Is the movie better than the book? In the case of Into the Arms of
Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, that old argument seems a bit
moot.
Specialties of the House
There are many components to good food writing, including an adventurous palate and an inquiring mind as well as a flair for communication. Good food writers do much more than describe various restaurant dishes; they craft prose that appeals to our senses, making food sound vibrant and inviting, and placing it in an informative cultural…
Record Reviews
Joy DivisionThe Complete BBC Recordings (Fuel 2000)New OrderBBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (Fuel 2000) Despite what you’ve seen on VH1, there’s not a more compelling tragedy in rock & roll than the Ian Curtis story. On May 18, 1980, on the eve of Joy Division’s great commercial breakthrough, compounding relationship problems and ever-worsening bouts…
Naked City
Council adopts the four-years-in-the-making Mueller redevelopment plan.
Mr. Accident
Mr. Accident 2000, PG-13, 89 min. Directed by Yahoo Serious, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Yahoo Serious, Helen Dallimore, David Field, Grant Piro, Jeanette Cronin, Garry McDonald. Maybe it’s one of those things better left Down Under or maybe it’s something that should have remained under even when it was exclusively Down Under,…
Book Reviews
The Price of Passion by Evelyn Palfrey Pocket Books, 384 pp., $12.95 (paper) Vivian has all but given up on her dream of having a child — until her cad of a philandering husband, Walter, a powerful state legislator, comes home one night with a baby who looks exactly like him. Coincidence? Maybe. The baby’s…
Specialties of the House
Excerpt From Skewer It! 50 Recipes for Stylish Entertaining text by Rebecca Chastenet de Géry Put it on a pick, thread it on a stick, pierce it, wrap it, roll it — skewer it! Playful, practical, yet sophisticated and explosively flavorful, today’s skewers are a far cry from the shish kabobs that formerly starred in…
Record Reviews
Electric Light Orchestra Flashback (Epic Legacy) That the Electric Light Orchestra, or ELO as they inevitably became known, is worthy of a 3-CD career overview is inarguable. Co-founder/songwriter/producer/singer Jeff Lynne produced a body of work through the band that rivals that of any other Seventies pop/rock act, with a McCartney-ish sense of melody and the…
Naked City
Despite an expected cancellation of the scheduled public hearing on the city’s settlement with Stratus Properties, two council members have put forth a motion to start negotiations on a land or development rights swap between Stratus and the city’s land at the former Mueller airport.
Vertical Limit
Vertical Limit 2000, PG-13, 126 min. Directed by Martin Campbell, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Ben Mendelson, Izabella Scorupco, Scott Glenn, Alexander Siddig, Nicholas Lea, Robin Tunney, Bill Paxton, Chris O’Donnell. Cliffhanger meets The Wages of Fear meets K2 may have sounded good at the pitch meeting, but on the screen it plays…
Book Reviews
The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s by Piers Brendon Knopf, 832 pp., $37.50 In 1916, at the Battle of Verdun, which was actually a yearlong concatenation of battles between the French and the Germans over the fortified French city of Verdun, 300,000 people died and 450,000 were wounded. As in other battlefields of…
Specialties of the House
Skewer It! 50 Recipes for Stylish Entertaining by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford, with Rebecca Chastenet de Géry Chronicle Books, 120 pp., $17.95 (paper) You’ve probably been to those parties. You know the kind I mean — not potluck casseroles, not big bowls of salty things accompanied by tubs of well-meaning cheese and…
Record Reviews
The Beach Boys Sunflower/Surf’s Up (Brother/Capitol)The Beach BoysCarl & the Passions: “So Tough”/Holland (Brother/Capitol)The Beach BoysLive in Concert (Brother/Capitol)The Beach Boys15 Big Ones/Love You (Brother/Capitol)The Beach BoysM.I.U. Album/L.A. (Light Album) (Brother/Capitol)The Beach BoysKeepin’ the Summer Alive/The Beach Boys (Brother/Capitol) Being a die-hard, for-better-or-worse Beach Boys fan requires both a sadist’s sense of humor and a…
Naked City
You thought you’d heard everything there was to hear about Austin’s transportation crisis. But we did miss something. Amidst all the talk from trackheads and road warriors about how this costs too much and that does too little, did anyone ask you how transportation, and its discontents, affect your pocketbook? After all, individual consumers ponied…
Proof of Life
Proof of Life 2000, R, 135 min. Directed by Taylor Hackford, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Pamela Reed, David Caruso, David Morse, Russell Crowe, Meg Ryan. I seem to remember hearing something about romantic sparks flying between the two co-stars of Proof of Life, Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe. I suppose we’ll have…
Off the Bookshelf
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh Delacorte, 300 pp., $15.95 What do popular kids make of stories like this? Maybe it doesn’t matter since they have each other for company. But for those of us who were too strange (or too bright, too rich, too poor, too clumsy …) during the harrowing elementary and middle…
Specialties of the House
Excerpt From World Food New Orleans: Creole, Cajun & Soul, by Pableaux Johnson How New Orleanians Eat For the average resident of New Orleans, food is more than a means of sustenance — it’s a hobby, a constant topic of conversation, and a borderline obsession. As it is in other regions of Louisiana, food (with…
Record Reviews
Paul Revere & the RaidersMojo Workout (Sundazed) The best thing about Paul Revere & the Raiders’ Mojo Workout is not the high-energy nostalgia of the three dozen-plus tracks spread out over this 2-CD set. No, the best thing about Mojo Workout is David Fricke’s wonderful liner notes, making an excellent case for the Raiders as…
Naked City
The Border Patrol settles a suit by several environmental groups, who claimed that the agency’s beefed-up efforts at the border have harmed several endangered species.
Non-Stop
Non-Stop 1996, NR, 82 min. Directed by Sabu, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Shinichi Tsutsumi, Diamond Yukai, Tomoro Taguchi. The latest release in the Shooting Gallery series, the 1996 crime drama Non-Stop keeps busy enough for its brisk 82-minute running time. But 82 minutes is a long time to run, as the film’s…
Off the Bookshelf
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood Doubleday, 521 pp., $26 “Thick plots are my specialty,” snaps one of Margaret Atwood’s enigmatic characters in The Blind Assassin, an elegant mélange of romance, science fiction, satire, and history that more than corroborates the aforementioned quip. Atwood’s follow-up to Alias Grace is a sprawling tale of sibling love…
Specialties of the House
World Food New Orleans: Creole, Cajun & Soul by Pableaux Johnson and Charmaine O’Brien Lonely Planet Productions, 208 pp., $13.99 (paper) Let’s assume you’re a foodie headed for New Orleans with little or no advance knowledge and no preconceived ideas about the old port city at the mouth of the mighty Mississippi River. Where do…
Record Reviews
Tom Petty & the HeartbreakersAnthology: Through the Years (MCA) On 1995’s Playback, a 6-CD box set most fans agree would be almost perfect as four longer discs, MCA made a case for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers being one of the Great American Bands. Originally from Gainesville, Florida, much closer to Georgia than Miami, Petty…
Capitol Chronicle
Political commentary on the career of Henry B. Gonzalez
Sound and Fury
Sound and Fury 2000, NR, 80 min. Directed by Josh Aronson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . The sound of fury can be remarkably quiet. In the new documentary Sound and Fury, which debuted at Sundance, it’s the sound of hands flying in impassioned, ASL-signed debate. The furor here is over the cochlear…
Off the Bookshelf
Out of the Girls’ Room and Into the Night by Thisbe Nissen Anchor, 198 pp., $12 (paper) The expression of love is the center of Out of the Girls’ Room and Into the Night, an awe-inspiring collection of short stories by Thisbe Nissen, winner of the John Simmons Short Fiction Award. Nissen’s characters are young…
Food-o-File
What two local moguls were “generally acting like delighted boys with a
brand new toy” at a new Krispy Kreme Donut shop last Saturday?
Record Reviews
AmericaHighway: 30 Years of America (Warner Bros./Rhino) Ugh. You may not know this — nor care — but America is still together. They released an album of new material just two years ago. Honest. And if the name conjures happy memories of an empty-headed and carefree youth set to a soundtrack of slightly meaningful classic…
The Hightower Lowdown
Monsanto Cares; Welcome to the ‘New Economy’
Cleopatra’s Second Husband
Cleopatra’s Second Husband 1998, R, 126 min. Directed by Jon Reiss, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Alexis Arquette, Radha Mitchell, Boyd Kestner, Bitty Schram, Paul Hipp. Thanks to the likes of Neil LaBute and Todd Solondz, filmgoers commonly associate tastefully twee urban lifestyles with emotional terrorism. Though this psychodrama by writer-director Jon Reiss…
Off the Bookshelf
A Book of Memories by Péter Nádas translated by Ivan Sanders with Imre Goldstein Overlook Press, 720 pp., $14.95 (paper) You may think the world needs another 700-page Hungarian novel like you need dental work, but this 700-page Hungarian novel is different. It’s lovely and lyrical and highly erotic. Nádas wrote A Book of Memories…
Saving All Our Changes
Cyber-castoffs are curated at Austin’s Goodwill Computer.
Record Reviews
Cat StevensBuddha and the Chocolate Box (A&M)Cat StevensTeaser and the Firecat (A&M)Cat StevensCatch the Bull at Four (A&M)Cat StevensTea for the Tillerman (A&M)Cat StevensGreatest Hits (A&M)Cat StevensMona Bone Jakon (A&M)Cat StevensForeigner (A&M) It’s a serious riddle, attempting to remove your judgment of music from the time you first experienced its sounds. Listening to Cat Stevens’…
Austin Studios Takes Flight
The past year has been witness to an amazingly cooperative tag-team project between the Austin Film Society, the Austin City Council, and the Mueller Neighborhood Coalition that — as of now — has resulted in a superstar studio setup that could well change the very fabric of filmmaking in Austin.
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons 2000, PG-13, 105 min. Directed by Courtney Solomon, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jeremy Irons, Justin Whalin, Marlon Wayans, Kristen Wilson, Zoe McLellan, Thora Birch, Richard O’Brien, Tom Baker, Bruce Payne. Oh, to be in sixth grade again, rolling the percentile dice on the lunchroom table and knowing full well…
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores
selected to reflect varied reading interests.
Relics of the Past: Some Links
The Goodwill Computer Works Store 8701-A Research (at Peyton Gin). Hours: Monday-Saturday,10am-7pm; Sunday, 11am-7pm. Check out the bargains and then cruise the museum; if Alex Bilstein is there (most Saturdays), maybe he’ll give you a tour. 512/835-8839. www.goodwillcomputerworks.net The Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., Computer History Collection, sampled on the Web…
Record Reviews
Joe “King” Carrasco & the CrownsTales From the Crypt (Roir) When this tape was recorded in a basement in 1979, Joe “King” Carrasco was poised for a success that never materialized. He was one of MTV’s first darlings, a rock critics’ favorite, and when the band played on Saturday Night Live, his brand of Nuevo…
Short Cuts
A reminder of SXSW Interactive and Film submission notices and deadlines, including Web site competition
Page Two
Wondering why Tony Sanchez is on this issue’s cover?
Young, Loud, and Cheap
The Skunks were a band. A loud one.
Record Reviews
BlurBest of (Virgin) Blur are Brit-pop’s resident survivors, holding onto their guitars for dear life in the tide of DJ-spawned musique concrete that’s seeped into rock since the Madchester days. (Don’t expect Radiohead to come sprinting to their aid anytime soon.) After years of practicing those ever-so-arch upper-lip curls, they made Joey Moshpit shout “whoo-hoo!”…
Video Reviews
Although it was described as “pure fantasy” by the Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten, Sid and Nancy gives the impression that it’s not that far off the mark.
Public Notice
Take a break from the holiday Hades and serve a good cause. Our
chock-full list of this week’s is brimming over with opportunities waiting
for you.
Here Comes the Nice
Small Face Ronnie Lane’s tenure in Austin is preserved on Live in Austin.
Record Reviews
The GitsSeafish Louisville (Broken Rekids) Of all the Pacific Northwest riot grrrl bands of the Nineties (7 Year Bitch, Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney), perhaps the best was the one with three guys, Seattle’s Gits. Three guys and one hellion of a singer named Mia Zapata. Raped and strangled while the band recorded its second full-length, 1994’s…
Video Reviews
From winter fun to first love, Snow Day is a modest but entertaining effort.
