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The Dark Side of the Box Set

U2 Achtung Baby Super Deluxe Edition (Universal) If “The Fly” winked its compound eyes at megalomania magnified by media overkill, U2’s Achtung Baby Super Deluxe Edition bottles that excess. Expanded onto 10 discs, a 6-CD/4-DVD LP-sized box with filler like 12-inch postcards, the album might not even warrant the baseline 2-CD version. After all, 1993’s…

by Raoul Hernandez

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert (Ecco, 528 pp., $45) Paula Wolfert has been visiting the cooks and souk markets of Morocco for 50 years, and with The Food of Morocco, she has provided fans of culinary culture the definitive text – a zealous and infinitely more complete and detailed follow-up to her groundbreaking…

by Mick Vann

The Dark Side of the Box Set

The Beach Boys Smile Sessions Box Set (Capitol) Nearly four and a half decades after Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson abandoned Smile, pop’s great lost album is lost no more. Although somewhat anticlimactic after Wilson’s 2004 solo version, the original Beach Boys recordings of Smile are both wondrous and essential. In an era of cramming…

by Greg Beets

The Dark Side of the Box Set

Nirvana Nevermind Limited Edition (Universal) “There’s more cameras in here than in a 7-11,” cracks Nirvana’s de facto stage announcer, bassist Krist Novoselic, midway through Nirvana’s 1991 Halloween concert in Seattle. Certainly, Kurt Cobain’s not talking – not with all the cameramen onstage. “So, like, 2 percent of you are dressed in costumes,” observes Dave…

by Raoul Hernandez

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

Sunday Roasts: A Year’s Worth of Mouthwatering Roasts, From Old-Fashioned Pot Roasts to Glorious Turkeys and Legs of Lamb by Betty Rosbottom (Chronicle Books, 180 pp., $24.95, paper) For most American cooks, the vast majority of the action takes place on the stove top, as stove-top cooking is perceived to be faster and less trouble.…

by Kate Thornberry

The Dark Side of the Box Set

Elvis Presley Young Man With the Big Beat (RCA/Legacy) Thirty-four years after his death, after most if not all of his recorded output has been issued and re-issued, and after last year’s massive 30-CD The Complete Elvis Presley Masters box set, this 5-CD set demonstrates how and why Elvis Presley became an international sensation. Concentrating…

by Jim Caligiuri

Project Nim

The story of a science experiment in which a chimpanzee was raised as a human child is recounted in this heartbreaking documentary.

by Marjorie Baumgarten

Handicapping the Holidays

Rocksmith PS3 & Xbox 360 Ubi Soft $80 The Ace: Rocksmith is the first game to replace those phony plastic guitars of Guitar Hero and Rock Band with actual six-stringers (not included). Utilizing the unique ¼-inch-to-USB cable, players plug in their own axes and begin picking along to a smart song selection from the Pixies,…

by Mark Fagan and Kimberley Jones

Soccer Watch

It’s end-of-year-events time. The short lists of World Player of the Year nominees were just announced, and the men’s side has a distinct Latin flavor, with players representing three countries, but just two Spanish teams: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Xavi against Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi could become just the second player along with Michel…

by Nick Barbaro

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

Drinkology Beer: A Book About the Brew by James Waller (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 352 pp., $22.50) A good beer book will be filled with information. The best will also be filled with recommendations of tiny craft breweries. All cover some of the ins and outs of making beer, its history, and various styles. Luckily…

by Wes Marshall

The Dark Side of the Box Set

The Who Quadrophenia: Director’s Cut (Polydor/Universal) Crashing power chords, titanic bass runs, hair-raising bellows, drum-kit thunder – the roar of “The Real Me” leaves no doubt that Quadrophenia is quintessential Who. But it’s more than just a reiteration of the UK quartet’s strengths. Cut for cut, Quadrophenia is the most consistent LP in the Who’s…

by Michael Toland

New Year’s Eve

Did you see Garry Marshall’s last all-star movie Valentine’s Day? This is the same silly claptrap, just a different holiday.

by Kimberley Jones

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender’s Guide From the Celebrated Speakeasy by Jim Meehan and Chris Gall (Sterling Epicure, 368 pp., $24.95) Hundreds of books over the last few years have tried to jump on the mixed drink merry-go-round created by the success of Dale DeGroff’s The Craft of the Cocktail. What made DeGroff’s…

by Wes Marshall

Tomboy

In this French film a 10-year-old girl moves into a new neighborhood and pretends to be a boy because, well, it seems like boys just have more fun.

by Marjorie Baumgarten

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes by Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Clarkson Potter, 256 pp., $40) One thing to keep in mind when approaching Home Cooking With Jean-Georges is that there is the everyday definition of “simple” – which usually involves an uncomplicated protein, a grain poured from a box into boiling water, and a…

by Melanie Haupt

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

The Art of French Baking by Ginette Mathiot (Phaidon Press, 368 pp., $45) I’m the child of a woman who makes a delicious Tex-Mex dish she calls Rabbit Hutch Surprise. Others balk at the questionable-looking casserole, but my mom taught me it’s not always about how something looks, as long as it tastes good. This…

by Monica Riese

Knuckle

Fight Club meets the Hatfields and McCoys in this documentary about the bare-knuckle bruisers of Ireland.

by Marc Savlov

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

Off the Menu: Staff Meals From America’s Top Restaurants by Marissa Guggiana (Welcome Books, 288 pp., $40) Do you ever wonder what top chefs prepare for friends, family, and other colleagues when they’re not working? What do chefs eat when they’re not on the job, and what are their guilty pleasures? Marissa Guggiana answers those…

by Rachel Feit

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

The Book of Tapas by Simone and Inés Ortega (Phaidon Press, 432 pp., $39.95) Simone Ortega was the foremost authority on Spanish cooking, and with her daughter Inés, she penned the iconic 1080 Recipes; think of it as the Joy of Cooking of Spain. The Book of Tapas compiles 250 of the best tapas recipes…

by Mick Vann

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking With Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler (Scribner, 272 pp., $25) Cooking With Economy and Grace says it all. Dedicated to “all amateur cooks,” this is a book of beautifully written essays, simultaneously meditative and practical, about how to appreciate and use what you have and how to prepare it appropriately…

by MM Pack

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

Complete Chinese Cookbook by Ken Hom (Firefly Books, 352 pp., $35) Although traditional Chinese cooking methods (stir-frying, blanching, steaming) are among the healthiest, Chinese restaurant food in America has degenerated over my lifetime, with many formerly wholesome dishes replaced with poor-quality meat or seafood, battered and deep-fried, and drenched in one or another overly sweet,…

by Kate Thornberry

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement Is Changing the Way We Eat by Tanya Denckla Cobb (Storey Publishing, 320 pp., $24.95, paper) For many people, wresting what we eat from the stranglehold of corporate interests is the most important action we can take to ensure the longevity of this planet and its inhabitants.…

by Melanie Haupt

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking by John Besh (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 272 pp., $35) New Orleans chef/restaurateur John Besh has followed up his award-winning My New Orleans with a book dedicated to home cooking, and he definitely has another winner on his hands. Besh is a devoted family man, and the…

by Virginia B. Wood

Headlines

� City Council returns to the dais today (Thursday, Dec. 8) for what looks like final amendments and adoption of the Downtown Austin Plan – even though there’s some disagreement over making developers pay for denser zoning (see “City Hall Hustle”). The final meeting of the year is Dec. 15. � Brigid Shea, who told…

by Chronicle Staff

Handicapping the Holidays

Batman: Arkham City PS3 & Xbox 360 Warner Bros. Interactive $60 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PS3 & Xbox 360 Bethesda Softworks $60 In the battle for open-world supremacy, it’s hard to beat the Elder Scrolls series. They’ve been doing the epic landscape thing for a while, whereas the previous Batman game was well-received partly…

by James Renovitch

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

The New Southern-Latino Table: Recipes That Bring Together the Bold and Beloved Flavors of Latin America & the American South by Sandra A. Gutierrez (University of North Carolina Press, 320 pp., $30) In the American South, the juxtaposition of traditional Southern cooking and the cuisines of Latin America has developed quietly over time. It’s an…

by MM Pack

Handicapping the Holidays

Dark Souls PS3 & Xbox 360 Namco Bandai $60 Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception PS3 Sony Computer Entertainment $60 Looking for an interactive movie experience or just an insufferable challenge? Nathan Drake, that lovable, treasure-hunting rapscallion, returns for another installment of the Uncharted series, here looking to get into even more elaborate trouble as he hops…

by James Renovitch

The Dark Side of the Box Set

First the novel went belly-up somewhere north of Charles Dickens, and now music’s long-player is routinely decried as dead and buried. Which makes this box set season’s multidisc/format expansion of landmark LPs all the more remarkable – or not. From Megadeth (see the Earache! blog) to the Monkees’ new Instant Replay and Derek & the…

by Raoul Hernandez

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

The Happy Table of Eugene Walter: Southern Spirits in Food and Drink edited by Donald Goodman and Thomas Head (University of North Carolina Press, 296 pp., $30) I’m sad to say I never met Eugene Walter. By the time I joined the Southern Foodways Alliance, Walter had already passed away, but the fond stories told…

by Virginia B. Wood

Handicapping the Holidays

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword WiiNintendo $50 Super Mario 3D Land 3DS Nintendo$49 You might want to sit your children down and tell them which one you love more; it might be easier than picking a favorite between Mario vs. Zelda. Both games have grown up together from their genre-defining Nintendo days, with each…

by James Renovitch

The Dark Side of the Box Set

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon (Capitol) Wish You Were Here (Capitol) The Dark Side of the Moon is more than a concept record. Pink Floyd’s 1973 masterpiece poses a psychological evaluation. “Are you afraid of dying?,” asks bassist Roger Waters in a handwritten note, labeled “Questions for Assorted Lunatics,” in one of countless…

by Austin Powell

Mrs. Santa’s Book Bag

Made in Italy by David Rocco (Clarkson Potter, 400 pp., $35) Rustic Italian Food by Marc Vetri with David Joachim (Ten Speed Press, 304 pp., $35) Rustic regional cuisines are very trendy now. Soups, stews, bready salads, and sausages splatter menus as well as the pages of glossy cookbooks everywhere. If you haven’t caught the…

by Rachel Feit

Quote of the Week

“IDEA uses very inexperienced teachers. That’s how they operate so cheaply and [CEO Tom] Torkelson can make $317,000 a year with 8,000 students.” – Edward J. Fuller on a proposed Austin Independent School District contract with a charter school operator

by Chronicle Staff

Handicapping the Holidays

Dance Central 2 Xbox 360 Harmonix $50 Gunstringer Xbox 360 Twisted Pixel $40 The Xbox’s motion-sensing “controller” impresses most everyone that uses it, but few games have managed to utilize its innovative, future-is-now technology. The original Dance Central was already an embarrassment (literally) of party-starting moves as you mimicked the dancer onscreen and the Kinect…

by James Renovitch

Luv Doc Recommends: Cherrywood Art Fair 10th Anniversary

No matter what Jesus said, Christmas is no time to jump off the materialism bandwagon. You may think you’re doing good by feeding the hungry or clothing the homeless, but you’re really just perpetuating the recession by spending money on people who can’t reciprocate. That’s just bad math. Jesus might have been a pretty decent…

by The Luv Doc

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