Some of That Jazz
Plenty of bad fusion records have been cut, but plenty of bad acoustic albums have as well. To dismiss music that employs heavily amplified guitars and electronic keyboards is absurd: Miles Davis had great fusion bands. On What Jazz Is: An Insider’s Guide to Understanding and Listening to Jazz by Jonny King (Walker & Co.,…
Into the Pink
Gus Van Sant is full of surprises. Who could have imagined that the director of such outre films as Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho would ever venture to make a feel-good movie like Good Will Hunting? And turn it into a hit movie to boot? The gargantuan wave of publicity generated by Good…
S�, S�, Ccec
illustration by Doug Potter When Eastside activists Dorothy Turner and Rev. Frank Garrett have nothing to say to the city council, you know changes are afoot. Normally, when the Central City Entertainment Center (CCEC) is on the council agenda, Turner and Garrett can be counted on to give long speeches in favor of the center,…
Postscripts
Austin Writers’ League director Jim Bob McMillan has been in that position for just over a month now; his top priorities are raising the visibility of AWL both locally and nationally and increasing membership of the 1,300-member organization simultaneously with an effort to know more about each of the league’s members. At least three AWL…
Pink and Read
Pink by Gus Van Sant (Doubleday, $21.95 hard) Pink, written by veteran independent film director Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, and most recently, Good Will Hunting), is a charming and inventive first novel. It is perhaps best described as a postmodernist book of dead and not-so-dead celebrities that…
A Boy Named Sue
llustration by Doug Potter In 1992, Jim Bob Moffetttold a local TV reporter than he was going to “bankrupt the city” with lawsuits if he didn’t get his way. Well, the chairman and CEO of New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold won’t put Austin in receivership any time soon, but Freeport’s legal and lobby tactics…
Name Reporting for HIV+? Current System Doesn’t Work
You go get an HIV test, and your name winds up on a list at the local health department and in a Texas Department of Health (TDH) computer. Subsequently, the information is disclosed to your employer or family, and your life is wrecked. Realistic or not, this scenario is envisioned by many folks as TDH…
I Can’t Wait to Get ADD!
by Marion Winik illustration by Penny Van Horn I yell at my kids too much, like I used to yell at my mother too much, but it was when I started yelling at my friends that I really got worried. Where did this newly shortened fuse come from? Was I born with a small and…
Oscar and Lucinda
Oscar and Lucinda 1997, R, 131 min. Directed by Gillian Armstrong, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Wilkinson, Richard Roxburgh, Clive Russell. People in glass churches shouldn’t amount to great movie subjects, but all bets are off when it comes to Oscar and Lucinda. An eccentric, idiosyncratic…
Benefits
FRI 20 Mardi Gras Masked Ball to benefit Jack Sansing HIV Dental Clinic, at Four Seasons Hotel, 98 San Jacinto, 8pm-12:30am. Cost is $125 reserved; $75 general. 406-6175. Taco Plate Luncheon to benefit Metz Rec Center, at Metz, 2407 Canterbury, 11am-2pm. Cost is $3.50. 478-8716 SAT 21 “Chilly” Chili & BBQ Cook-Off to benefit Comfort…
In Person George Plimpton at UT
George Plimpton doesn’t talk like anyone I know. On second thought, I don’t think he talks like anyone. During one moment of his reading from his latest oral biography, Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, $35 hard), the punchline centered around the word “arm,”…
Sphere
Sphere 1998, PG-13, 118 min. Directed by Barry Levinson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, Peter Coyote, Liev Schreiber. Speaking as a movie-consumer’s advocate — though not necessarily as a book critic — I suggest at least a cursory skim through Michael Crichton’s source novel before going…
Coach’s Corner
I didn’t even know I was going until I got in the car, so I was without the most basic of reporter’s tools: a pen and notebook. With cars parked a half mile from the gym, I realized, too late, this was a mistake. Leaving a dark bar at 7:30, with my normal Friday night…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
Alexander Graham Bell may have said “Ahoy” instead of “Hello” when answering the phone. It takes 800 square miles of forest just to keep McDonald’s supplied with paper for one year, according to a chemist testifying against McDonald’s in a McLibel case. Jackie Kennedy Onassis was a chain smoker. If an older African-American woman in…
Bent
Bent 1997, NC-17, 104 min. Directed by Sean Mathias, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Clive Owen, Lothaire Bluteau, Ian McKellan, Mick Jagger, Brian Webber. The most amazing thing about Bent is that it has been tagged with those scarlet letters of the film industry: the NC-17 rating. It’s a grim film from start…
Day Trips
Georgetown doesn’t ordinarily have longhorns roaming past the county courthouse anymore, but at one time in the town’s 150 years the Chisholm Trail ran past the town square and thousands of longhorns passed through town on their way to market. The Williamson County seat will be commemorating its 150th anniversary by sponsoring special events throughout…
Sin by the Numbers
illustration by Jason Stout Some numbers: Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world (after China, India, and the United States). Thirty-five thousand troops were in the streets of its capital, Jakarta, this morning (February 12). They were prepared to take severe measures if the food riots that have erupted in many villages…
Senseless
Senseless 1998, R, 88 min. Directed by Penelope Spheeris, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Marlon Wayans, Rip Torn, Tamara Taylor, David Spade, Matthew Lillard, Brad Dourif. I suppose it’s good to know that as long as Penelope Spheeris is around, David Spade will probably have a steady stream of pay-the-bills roles offered to…
Page Two
by Nick Barbaro The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, broadly, states that you cannot at the same time measure both where something is and where it’s going. In fact, the more closely you try to pin down either variable, the more wildly unpredictable the other becomes. The HUP has other corollaries and manifestations; among those which have…
Back in the Saddle
photograph by John Anderson Fonda San Miguel 2330 W. North Loop, 459-4121 Mon-Thu, 5:30-9:30pm, Fri-Sat, 5:30-10:30pm, Sun, 11am-2pm Few people in the United States had ever tasted a black bean or even heard of a chipotle pepper when Fonda San Miguel first opened its now famous doors in 1976. But that was about to change.…
Public Notice
Wounds take their own damn time to heal. Left untended, without closure, they tend to fester. Rooted in the metaphor of the physical wound, “closure” is not just some 50-cent modern therapy term used to force people to “talk” out their problems. Closure begins the healing process. Different people, different cultures express their own need…
Food-O-File
Austin isn’t exactly known for New Orleans-style Mardi Gras celebrations, but Central Market (4001 N. Lamar, 206-1000) is doing what it can to bring the flavor of Louisiana to Austin before “fat Tuesday.” The store is stocked with fresh baked King Cakes, genuine Cafe du Monde coffee, beignet mix, and the Hurricane Cocktail mix from…
The People’s Court
It doesn’t take long to figure out which of the three races for Justice of the Peace will be the least peaceful. The Democratic battle for Precinct 5 – between criminal defense attorney Herb Evans and associate municipal court judge Gisela Triana – is the one to watch for fireworks. No Republicans bothered to enter…
7 & 7 IS
The best 45 not being written about this week is the Derailers’ green vinyl romancing the gemstone “California Angel”/”Raspberry Beret.” That’s because this limited edition single, in a beautiful card sleeve, was a promo-only freebie given away at some record releases. Seeing as this is probably the best local 45 to come out since Sixteen…
Heebie-Jeebie News
illustration by Jason Stout Halfway through a long string of reports on violent crime, death, and other assorted mayhem, the ominous word “HOMICIDE” screamed out from behind the head of KTBC (“Fox-7”) anchor Stephanie Rochon. Accompanying that was an equally pulse-quickening graphic of a chalk body outline. A body had been found in a trailer…
Bonus Tracks
THE CARTER FAMILY On Border Radio, Vol. 2 (Arhoolie) Though not from Texas, by 1938 the Carter Family had moved to San Antonio for the winter months, in part to broadcast their mountain harmonies on border radio. Here, then, are radio transcriptions taken from acetates that feature not only rare solo turns from A.P. Carter,…
Overall Breakdown of Austin’s Evening News Broadcasts
News Promo/ Chatter Weather Sports Ads KVUE (ch. 24; ABC) 13:11 (42%) 1:45 (6%) 3:22 (11%) 3:04 (10%) 10:17 (32%) KEYE (ch. 42; CBS) 12:32 (41%) 1:25 (5%) 3:25 (11%) 3:24 (11%) 9:43 (32%) KXAN (ch. 36; NBC) 12:01 (42%) 1:14 (4%) 4:07 (14%) 3:26 (12%) 8:05 (28%) KTBC ( “Fox-7”) 12:08 (39%) 1:50 (6%)…
Dancing About Architecture
We’ve been feeding you bits and pieces all along, but this time, I’ve got the whole plateful of acts scheduled to play the 1997-98 Austin Music Awards, Wednesday, March 18 at the Austin Music Hall (7:55pm sharp, as usual): The Derailers, MC Overlord with Hot Buttered Rhythm, Trish Murphy, Kacy Crowley, and Ana Egge (all…
Naked City
Here’s a political deed you can perform and still feel good about yourself. The Travis County Democratic and Republican parties need qualified voters to work the March 10 primary election, as well as the March 7 early voting ballot board. They won’t feed you, but they pay $5.15 an hour – not bad for a…
Change of Hart
photograph by Diane Watts Smooth jazz is the work of the devil. It is a ravenous creature, born of something real and pure, that now seeks to devour its progenitor – a beautiful, graceful animal that unwittingly crapped out a spore, which somehow, through bizarre genetic experimentation no doubt performed in a marketing boardroom in…
Think Locally, Act Regionally
illustration by Doug Potter So where is Central Texas, anyway? It used to be a place known only to travel writers, TV weathercasters, and the friends and relations of Lyndon Johnson. Nobody actually lived there. Instead, they lived in Austin, or in towns Outside Austin (as opposed to “suburbs”), or in a place, now nearly…
Saxophone Prolificus
Jazz saxophonist David Murray hasn’t played in Austin for over a decade, but he has bittersweet memories of his last visit here. Back in 1984, fronting an amazing all-star octet that included the likes of Julius Hemphill and Craig Harris, Murray’s band played on consecutive nights at the Ritz Theater on Sixth Street to the…
Articulations
If somebody – let’s say an artist – owed you some money – let’s say a lot of money – and seemed not to notice that you were waiting for him to pay you back, how far would you go to get his attention? Harassing phone calls? Standing on his lawn and shouting at him…
Grammys and Milk
A gratuitious mention of the Grammy-nominated Rolling Stones warrants a gratuitious photo of Ron Wood, who mugged for me last October at their ’97 NY show. Let me just start by saying that I hate the Olympics and television coverage of the Olympics and refuse to watch it on general principle. The nice thing is,…
Recommended
Friday: Starfish, Trail of Dead, Superfecta, Emo’s; Diamond Smugglers, Electric Lounge Saturday: The Mighty Zor, Beth Black, Antone’s Sunday: Two Hoots & a Holler, Hole in the Wall Monday: Marvel Anne, 68 Pennies, Electric Lounge Tuesday: Will Taylor & Maryann Price, Caucus Club Wednesday: Steve James, Cactus Cafe Thursday: Susanna Van Tassel, Broken Spoke
Exhibitionism
MISS EVERS’ BOYS: CONDEMNED FOR THE SAKE OF SCIENCE The Public Domain, through March 14 Running Time: 2 hrs, 15 min The road to hell is paved with good intentions. In the heart of every clich� lives a kernel of truth. Good intentions also pave the way to Macon County, Alabama, a new kind of…
Scanlines
D: Maxwell Shane (1947) with DeForest Kelly, Paul Kelly, Ann Doran, Kay Scott, Charles Emmett Keene DeForest Kelly’s first feature film is an adaptation of “Nightmare” by William Irish (Cornell Woolrich) in which he goes to sleep and dreams of murdering a man, then awakes to find a button and a key which appeared in…
Texas Platters
BEDHEAD Transaction de Novo (Trance Syndicate) The latest offering from Bedhead isn’t likely to win over those of the opinion that this Dallas band’s fleshed-out, slow-time approach is musically comatose. If you really listen closely, though, you can clearly discern that the band is evolving at a tortoise-like pace with every new release. In fact,…
In the Middle of It
photograph by Kenny Braun It isn’t exactly the best time to be talking with Acia Gray. As a rule, three weeks out from a big performance is not the point when an artist working on that performance is going to be just bursting with confidence about what he or she is doing. See, that’s right…
Short Cuts
SXSW Film keeps hurtling toward this year’s starting gate. One of the most talked-about events at this year’s fest is the world premiere of Richard Linklater’s new film The Newton Boys. In addition to Linklater, several of the stars (including Ethan Hawke, Matthew McConaughey, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Julianna Margulies) are expected to be on hand.…
Road Shows
FEBRUARY FRI 20 Jonny Lang, Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise, La Zona Rosa FRI 20 Skatalites, Liberty Lunch FRI 20 DRUM, Stubb’s FRI 20, SAT 21 Big Ass Truck, Mercury Lounge SAT 21 Slow Gherkin, Ska Walkers, Skate or Die, Money Penny, Voodoo Lounge SAT 21 Steel Pulse, Liberty Lunch SAT 21 David Murray Quartet, Bates…
