Close to the Edge
The Chronicle Arts team hits the 2002 FronteraFest Long Fringe to find how close to the edge this year’s artists take us.
Food-o-File
Food Editor Virginia B. Wood reveals the best bet for your Valentine’s Day plans, among other tantalizing tidbits.
Excessive Use of Task Force
Texas Civil Rights Project files a lawsuit on behalf of a Spicewood woman falsely accused of growing marijuana.
Texas Hall of Fame Inductees Announced
The Texas Film Hall of Fame Gala March 8 will be star-studded, most assuredly.
Second Helpings: Hometown Buffets
Hometown buffets in this week’s “Second Helpings”
Liquid Assets
Chronicle wine expert Wes Marshall serves up the latest best deals to wine lovers in Austin and updates readers on the festivities surrounding this year’s Texas Hill Country Wine Lovers’ Trail.
Where’s the Smell?
Georgetown engineer Charles Steger says he’s trying to set the record straight about the city’s controversial wastewater treatment plant.
Short Cuts
Local animator Lance Myers goes for the “Guts” and gets into S&M.
Ralph’s Road Show
From the beginning, Nader’s visit to Austin was sold-out activist central.
Rich From the Journey
The crazy quilt career of Kimmie Rhodes.
Yogurt Shop Case Cross-Examined
Appeals court decision may undermine yogurt shop prosecutions.
TV Eye
PBS isn’t afraid to take chances with its programming.
If It’s Thursday, This Must Be Texas
On the morning of January 24, NY Loves America: The Broadway Tour delivered a Big Apple thank you in the form of a dozen beautifully belted show tunes to a small but appreciative audience in the Texas State Capitol Rotunda.
The Amazing Afterlife of Zimmerman Fees
The Amazing Afterlife of Zimmerman Fees A Metaphysical Story and Cookbook by Kimmie Rhodes Sunbird Press, 143pp., $14.95, (paper) The most recent panel of Kimmie Rhodes’ crazy quilt career is a collaborative effort in yet another new medium for the Texas songstress: a self-published “metaphysical story and cookbook” called The Amazing Afterlife of Zimmerman Fees.…
Bars, or Behind Bars?
APD busts the owners of seven Sixth Street bars for falsifying info on their liquor licenses.
‘The Territory’ Schedule
Keeping one eye on television and the other on pop culture.
Carl Hiaasen’s Latest
Carl Hiaasen fans have come to expect novels full of wit and wisdom, bile and brilliance. His latest, Basket Case (Knopf, $25.95), doesn’t break any new ground, but it is almost exactly that type of book, reviewer Rick Klaw writes.
More From the Local Bookstore
About three years ago, Steve Stone had an idea: It should be infinitely more difficult to find a needle in a haystack than build a really great music collection. Unfortunately, the music industry doesn’t make it that easy, says the former corporate man. After a bit of research, Stone, the founder of Austin’s Blue Marble…
Baby It’s Warm Outside
Critics say TNRCC sees pollution problems but won’t do anything about it.
Phases and Stages
Cinemaphonic 2: Soul Punch(Motel/Fourth Density)Popshopping 2: More Music from German Commercials 1962-1977 (Crippled Dick Hot Wax!) The most pleasing irony behind modern-day compilations of Sixties and Seventies stock music for film and TV is hearing long lost compositions divorced from their mundane commercial heritage and given new life as genuine cultural artifacts. Soul Punch, compiled…
Articulations
Salvage Vanguard Theater loses Dan Dietz as co-Artistic Director, the National Endowments for the Arts loses its new director, and the Rude Mechanicals sell out their Mid-America tour of Lipstick Traces.
Dancing About Architecture
SXSW needs venues, and the TABC keeps shutting ’em down. Public Enemy would be proud.
The Designated Acting (Almost) City Manager
Word is that the City Council will be appointing an “acting city manager designate” while Garza finishes his term.
Phases and Stages
The Memphis Blues Againby Ernest C. Withers; Daniel Wolf Viking Studio, 175pp., $35 Ernest C. Withers, 80, probably doesn’t shoot live music on Memphis’ famed Beale Street strip as much as he’d like, but when he did, beginning in the late Forties and continuing through the Seventies, his photos bore the stamp of history. W.C.…
The Pine Curtain
First-time author Dina Temple-Raston’s A Death in Texas pulls the James Byrd Jr. murder out of the East Texas woods.
Patti Has the Power
With the hypnotic strum of her opener, “Beneath the Southern Cross,” still resonating, Patti Smith paused to adjust her cord then inadvertently squirted herself in the face with one of those small nozzle Ozarka bottles as she tried to take a drink. “As a consumer,” quipped Smith as the audience giggled, “I really don’t like…
Profiling the Police
A recent ACLU report says nearly half of police departments in Texas have “successfully” implemented anti-racial profiling policies.
Phases and Stages
A no-show for almost the entirety of 2001, hip-hop finally got game in the fourth quarter last year. Ludacris’ Word of Mouf (Def Jam South) has hutched the charts since then, what with dem hos in different “Area Codes.” The Dirty South rises yet again, “the royal penis” clean and ready with a ribbed-for-laughter follow-up…
Postscripts
Upcoming events in Austin’s literary scene
Phases and Stages
CorneliusPoint (Matador) A genuine one-man-band, Cornelius (aka Keigo Oyamada) is writer, producer, and instrument of his own choice. His debut, 1998’s Fantasma, is a diverse collage of musical elements heading in 10 different directions, but managing a sense of coherence. Playful in the extreme, it’ll make your head spin as you bounce from one rush…
Naked City
02/02/02 Haiku: AISD vote. $50 mill to clean school mold. Vote on Feb. 2, please. The fifth annual Sixth Street Mardi Gras parade has been canceled — though other Mardi Gras events along Sixth Street will still take place. APD officials say they declined to authorize a parade permit for Friday night, Feb. 8, for…
Feb. 2 Election Endorsements
Yes on the AISD “health & safety” bonds The last time Austin ISD got voter approval for a bond package, the ensuing construction program became mired in scandal and cost overruns. That one, in 1996, was for more than $350 million. This one is for a mere $50 million, of which $12 million is going…
Page Two
It�s five weeks until SXSW season, which kicks off with SXSW Film presenting Peter Bogdanovich and his new film. If that weren�t enough, the Texas Film Hall of Fame will feature Sissy Spacek inducting Terrence Malick, along with presenters and inductees Marcia Gay Harden, Cyd Charisse, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Dan Rather, Bill Broyles, Bill…
Phases and Stages
Matthew ShippNu Bop (Thirsty Ear) As someone who recently declared he was going to stop recording altogether, pianist Matthew Shipp has been quite a prolific fellow. As the curator of Thirsty Ears’ refreshingly adventurous Blue Series, he’s overseen a slew of projects that meld avant-garde sensibilities into traditional forms in new and exciting ways. This…
Naked City
In the ongoing battle to improve Austin’s low-performing schools, the Austin Independent School District is considering something new: getting some outside help. Representatives from Edison Schools Inc. met with AISD Superintendent Pat Forgione, members of his staff, and the AISD Board of Trustees on Jan. 24 to present a proposal that would allow them to…
The Other Side of Heaven
The Other Side of Heaven 2002, PG, 113 min. Directed by Mitch Davis, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Anne Hathaway, Whetu Fala, Nathaniel Lees, Miriama Smith, Joe Foulau, Christopher Gorham. The Kingdom of Tonga certainly looks like paradise. Sandy, sunny beaches, gorgeous natives prowling around in not all that much, zero modernities to…
Mr. Smarty Pants
More trivia than you c an shake a stick at
Phases and Stages
Dr. JohnCreole Moon (Blue Note) This album could have been so much better. It had the potential to bookend 1992’s career highlight, Goin’ Back to New Orleans. It even looks like a killer recording, with cover art the Rolling Stones would die for. Instead, Creole Moon comes off sounding like Dr. John’s greatest near-hits, 14…
Naked City
The Dripping Springs City Council last week stunned some local residents with its unanimous approval of a controversial road project that its members had rejected just two weeks earlier. The preliminary plat approval allows Cypress Realty to proceed on its final plat (which also requires council approval) for a road that would run from RR…
The Mothman Prophecies
The Mothman Prophecies 2002, PG-13, 119 min. Directed by Mark Pellington, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Alan Bates, Lucinda Jenney, Will Patton, Debra Messing, Laura Linney, Richard Gere. Spooky is as spooky does in this new supernatural thriller from former video director Pellington starring Gere as a Washington Post reporter caught up in…
Day Trips
The exhibit of flags in Houston reminds us of what it took to come this far.
Confounded Constable
County Judge Sam Biscoe Wins a Bureaucratic & Political Battle With Constable Bruce Elfant.
Capitol Chronicle: Blame It on the Kids
Gov. Perry has no trouble funding his enormous transportation plan, but can’t find insurance money for poor kids.
101 Reykjavík
Icelander Kormakur shows a lot of visual flourish and confidence as a first-time director (he also co-stars), but the story’s real heart lies in its dark comedy.
After a Fashion
Harken back to the days of yore … on the dancefloor, as “After a Fashion” trips the disco ball fantastic in this boogie down Memory Lane.
Constable 101
An introduction to the county constable’s office
Austin @ Large: Austin At Large: Backseat Driver
Karen Rae resigns from Cap Metro
The Independent
The Independent 2000, R, 85 min. Directed by Stephen Kessler, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Ginger Lynn Allen, Julie Strain, Louisa Moritz, Larry Hankin, Anne Meara, Max Perlich, Janeane Garofalo, Jerry Stiller. To get a sense of this goofily funny, oddly tenderhearted mock-documentary, imagine Jerry Stiller delivering, with his typical blustery near-rage, a…
To Your Health
Every once in a while, without overdoing, my back “goes out.” It isn’t bad enough to see the doctor, and I’m nervous about trying a chiropractor. What else is possible?
How It Breaks Down
Bruce Elfant’s Pct. 5 operation is almost as big as the other four precincts combined, and handles almost three-quarters of the county’s paper-serving business. *Civil papers served in each precinct between 1997 and 2000 SOURCE: Travis County Planning and Budget Office
The Hightower Lowdown
Using cows to explain Enron; dumping nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain; and crying in your champagne at Austin’s 360 Summit.
Slackers
Slackers 2002, R, 86 min. Directed by Dewey Nicks, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mamie Van Doren, Joe Flaherty, Laura Prepon, Michael C. Maronna, Jason Segel, James King, Jason Schwartzman, Devon Sawa. Here’s an image I’ll never get out of my head: Michael C. Maronna (“Stuart” from those Ameritrade commercials) singing a duet…
About AIDS
Did you know that HIV-infected people have a major say in what services are provided in the community, and how? The Ryan White Act is the nation’s primary vehicle for providing federal support for HIV/AIDS care and prevention. Following the Ryan White mandates, each local metropolitan area (EMA) forms a volunteer advisory council to make…
This Week in Council
After a break, the Council has a full plate.
Clash of the Titans
William Shatner and Harry Hamlin come to Austin to talk up their indie collaboration, Shoot or Be Shot.
Kung Pow: Enter the Fist
Kung Pow: Enter the Fist 2002, PG-13, 81 min. Directed by Steve Oedekerk, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jennifer Tung, Tad Horino, Steve Oedekerk. In England they’re getting Jean-Luc Godard’s newest – Eloge de L’Amour – right about now, while stateside we’re being subjected to (and subjecting others, thanks to the miracle of…
Coach’s Corner
The agony and the ecstasy of the Bears
Policing Democracy
APA wants the courts to say whose law is the law of the land.
Stand and Deliver
Salute his shorts: Legendary porn star Ron Jeremy comes to town.
Birthday Girl
Birthday Girl 2001, R, 93 min. Directed by Jez Butterworth, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mathieu Kassovitz, Vincent Cassel, Ben Chaplin, Nicole Kidman. Nicole Kidman’s luxurious copper mane and moonbeam pale tones must have presented a something of a problem throughout her career. It’s hard, after all, to pay full attention to her…
Pure Beef
Some years ago, Barbara Chisholm writes, hipsters clearly informed us that Thai, Indian, Italian even — anything but a steak house — was cool. Not a slave to fashion, Austin Land and Cattle Company proudly flew its steak house flag. It was beefy when beefy wasn’t cool.
Buda Flows Downhill
Everett Conner comes back as Buda’s public work’s director, despite previous run-ins with the law.
Transmedia This!
Bill Lundberg is rightly revered among Austin’s media arts dwellers for his biting hybrids of conceptual and filmic art forms; when he brings his program to the Hideout Theatre on Saturday, you’ll have a chance to see what all the fuss is about.
