Cover Story
When I’m 64
Veteran musicians retire to Austin
Ginger Snaps
Ginger Snaps 2000, NR, 108 min. Directed by John Fawcett, Starring Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche, Mimi Rogers. Uncommonly good teen werewolf movie that centers on two sisters who develop the hairy curse with the start of the elder’s first menstrual period and the appearance of a full moon.
God Is Brazilian
God Is Brazilian 2002, NR, 110 min. Directed by Carlos Diegues, Starring Antônio Fagundes, Wagner Moura, Paloma Duarte. God decides to take a vacation.
Arts Review
The Short Fringe lineup on Jan. 26 covered juice enthusiasts, life in a small Texas county, an action TV parody with a ticking clock, and a fading friendship as a wrestling match
Food-o-file
Parallel opens on Burnet Road; plus, celebrate the Super Bowl, Carnaval, and Mardi Gras Austin-style
Phases & Stages
D:FUSEBegin (System Recordings) You’d never guess, listening to this gorgeous, ethereal solo debut from Austin’s most successful global export, that the progressive house/trance DJ/producer D:Fuse got his start 15 years back as one-half of the clangy industrial outfit Culture Industry, walloping Austin’s ears at long-gone dives Backstreet and Ohms. A decade on and suddenly it…
Naked City
San Antonio House candidate has ties to Pflugerville racetrack group
Bad Education
Almodóvar delivers the finest movie of his career: a film noir melodrama that maybe should be called film sanguine.
Arts Review
Ariel Dance Theatre’s new work Detour’ blends dance and drama, humor and gravity, to tell of brushes with death that bring people back to life
How to Get Your Kids Through College
Once students enter the ‘pipeline,’ can educational plumbers stop the leaks?
Weed Watch
Polls show medical pot has strong public support
Arts Review
Malaquias Montoya’s Premeditated: Meditations on Capital Punishment’ was notable for the art and its challenge to consider deeply a topic it would be much more comfortable to forget
Neil Flanz
“Rehearsals were a joke. We got high and partied and didn’t take care of business. Emmylou had no idea what was going on – she thought it was standard to learn introductions and such. We had a good time for two weeks instead of learning the arrangements from the album. When we opened in Boulder,…
Hunting Moby-Spam
Austin spam-fighter goes forth to battle the kings of e-trash
Naked City
State rep presses AG for ‘murderabilia’ opinion
Yes
Former ‘Chronicle’ Books Editor Clay Smith accepts the Texas BookFestival’s offer to become its program manager
Pete Mitchell
Pete Mitchell came home with the armadillo, but not because of good country music and friendly people. No, Mitchell came to Austin because of one of the prettiest women he’d ever seen. He’d gone to Buda for the funeral of steel legend Jimmy Day. Day was a longtime friend, and while paying respects to his…
How to Fight Back
How you can help in the war on spam.
Craddick Commits Committees
As someone who has spent the better part of his political career championing the sick and the poor, Austin Rep. Elliott Naishtat was understandably angry when that segment of the Texas population was shortchanged in the Legislature’s 2003 budget-making process. Especially on the long night of the budget vote, Naishtat exhorted his colleagues to defend…
Readings
Howard Kapostash can’t speak or write, but the narrator of Dave King’s novel – a Vietnam veteran silenced by a head injury 30 years ago & #150; is a man of insight and feeling
Phases & Stages
Ray Wylie HubbardDelirium Tremolos (Philo/Rounder) You know it’s gonna be another good year for Austin music when one of the first albums out of the chute is Ray Wylie Hubbard’s finely crafted and well-conceived Delirium Tremolos. This is no surprise to longtime fans or those who discovered the Wimberley outlaw in the wake of 1991’s…
Council Candidates Take Their Places
Many scramble to replace Slusher and Goodman; only Gale takes on Dunkerley
How Our Lawmakers Scored (or Didn’t) With House Speaker Tom Craddick
Committee Assignments Rep. Elliott Naishtat: Lost vice chair seat on Human Services; removed from Public Health; appointed to County Affairs Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Round Rock: Retained chairmanship of Transportation; reappointed to Redistricting; tapped for seat on Pensions & Investments Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin: Retained chairman’s seat on Criminal Jurisprudence; reappointed to General Investigating & Ethics;…
Readings
The joy of reading Pratchett’s skillfully constructed artifices is in the discovery of his endless fascination with How People Work, and Going Postal, puns aside, is practically an instruction manual
Phases & Stages
Old 97’s Live (New West) It may not be the most imaginative title, but then the Old 97’s have always been a no-frills act, and like most of what they do, Live is direct and to the point. Better still, Live makes it explicit that when the Old 97’s are on, the Dallas quartet is…
Zero-Energy Homes and Hope Break Ground in Montopolis
The city shoots for energy efficiency and affordability in low-income neighborhood
Point Austin: A Blueprint for Mental Health
The Mayor’s Task Force issues its report, but the real work is yet to come
Page Two
It’s time to celebrate the coming of South by Southwest and think about how we’re going to pay for our roads
Phases & Stages
The Weary Boys Holy Ghost Power The photos accompanying Good Times, the previous Weary Boys disc, were a weird amalgam of guns, young girls, and tractors. With Holy Ghost Power, the local outfit has turned to the Lord. Bluegrass has long held opinions on the dichotomy between Saturday night and Sunday morning coming down, so…
Still Looking for the Truth at APD
Chief Knee may be guilty of the same offense for which he fired an officer
The Hightower Report
‘Consumer Reports’ explores capitalistic idiocy; and libraries go begging while boondoggles get funding
About AIDS
The foremost tool to have in fighting HIV is information, whether someone is newly diagnosed or an old hand at treatment, an HIV-infected person or a care provider. The year’s first opportunity to advance that education process will be offered on Thursday, Feb. 10, as ASA launches its 2005 Dining With the Expert series. The…
Phases & Stages
Rob HalversonSecond Whirled (Jumping Man) “Without time, everything would happen at once.” That, from “Without Time,” relays well the barely contained feeling of Rob Halverson’s second solo release, Second Whirled. It’s all over the place, sparing no sound or experiment, but it’s been assembled into a format just sensical enough to understand. Mr. Well-Kept Austin…
What If … Media Terrorists Landed on Sixth Street?
We assume it would go something like this …
A Full Dance Card
Back in Austin after eight days in the land of mountains and Mormons at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, it’s hard to distill the experience into any one verity. The combination of dozens of movies and the oxygen-poor altitude create memories that seem more impressionistic than precise.
After a Fashion
Signs, signs, everywhere signs! Sigh! Is the (now) controversial Gomi Kitty really a sign?
Phases & Stages
The StepbrothersBaby It’s Over (Licorice Tree) What ever happened to psychedelic soul? Not that garage rock and psych haven’t entertained Austin audiences for decades, but with a little dash of soul, the Stepbrothers knock down the door and destroy the stage. On Licorice Tree debut Baby It’s Over, the local all-star quintet isn’t afraid to…
Naked City
Headlines and happenings from Austin and beyond
I’m Crazy for You
Blow-Up’ at the Drafthouse
TCB
Darin Murphy heads for Broadway, Daniel Johnston heads for the silver screen, DJ Pandora heads home
Letters at 3AM
Carnaval literally means ‘Goodbye, meat,’ but in spirit it’s more like ‘Farewell to desires of the flesh.’ Let’s celebrate our desires before we bid them farewell.
Phases & Stages
Jesus Christ SuperflyI Don’t Wanna Be Crazy (Chicken Ranch) A lot has changed since Jesus Christ Superfly first preached punk rock in Austin clubs 14 years ago. As multiple generations of next big things have come and gone, guitarist Rick Carney and bassist Ron Williams have stayed on course with only a few subtle tweaks.…
Naked City
Four director possibilities rise to the top
SXSW Update
Two more big announcements from SXSW Film 05; plus, stay tuned for the full lineup and be ready to buy up some passes
Bittersweet Spotlight
New York City is not living up to its noisy reputation this morning as the animated sounds of early morning traffic and passersby are strangely absent. Instead, hundreds of policemen occupy the streets, and the usual steady traffic is replaced with tow trucks racing through the streets and helicopters circling frantically overhead. Ellen Marlow stands…
Day Trips
Artists have tried to replicate the method of creating cement sculptures that look like wood, but few have mastered the technique like Dionicio Rodríguez
Phases & Stages
The Golden DawnLegend of the Dawn: Live 2004 The story of the Golden Dawn is a little-acknowledged chapter in Austin psychedelia. The Dawn recorded the highly regarded Power Plant in 1968 for Houston’s International Artists. The album was delayed to accommodate seminal psych band labelmates the 13th Floor Elevators’ Easter Everywhere. Subsequently, the Dawn were…
Naked City
It’s Square One for settlement plaintiffs
Film News
Finally, something louder than a whisper for incentives, but it’ll take a roar; plus, Bill Plympton, Texas on TV, and Dinesh Potluri
The Car That Flies
If you didn’t already know that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was the creation of Ian Fleming, you might get a clue from the names of its characters, say, Truly Scrumptious or Lord and Lady Bomburst, or from the abundance of spies, gadgets, despicable villains, and spectacular chases. The man behind 007 dreamt up the fanciful…
Soccer Watch
Mascots become erudite, Man United trounces Arsenal
Phases & Stages
Rusted ShutRehab (Emperor Jones) Anybody familiar with the drunken riot that is Rusted Shut might suggest that their appeal is limited. On the contrary, anybody with more than a passing interest in distortion would be amazed at the oversaturated, rumbling filth these Houstonian transients cajole from their amps. Rehab is the sophomore album nearly 10…
Naked City
Activists to push for stronger affordability language
TV Eye
Like most filmmakers, New York-based Shola Lynch is attracted to a good story. Enter Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to successfully run for congress in 1968 and, in 1972, to enter presidential campaign,
Songs of a New Race, Sung Again
A celebration of African-American chamber music from the Austin Chamber Music Center and Huston- Tillotson College
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
One of the molecules in your lungs came from Caesar’s last breath
Phases & Stages
GloriumFantasmas (Golden Hour) If Glorium hadn’t gone on hiatus in 1997, it’s not so hard to imagine a scenario in which the Austin/San Antonio quintet moves to Brooklyn, signs with Matador, and becomes a significant force in American indie rock. That’s how prescient Fantasmas is. Glorium would’ve fit right in with the Liars, Interpol, and…
Naked City
Longtime KVUE anchor leaves over contract disagreement
DVD Watch
‘Friday Night Lights’ is the story of Odessa’s Permian High School football dynasty in the 1980s. It’s a good story, but did Hollywood pull off a film rendition of Odessa high school football?
Art Burn
An early-morning blaze at Guadalupe Arts Center displaces 75 artists
The Common Law
Mediation – what is it?
Phases & Stages
Call it what it is, creative hip-hop from Texas, or better yet, Southern Borders Soul Music (Alternate Take). Either way, Hydroponic Sound System formulates the blueprint. Based out of Dallas, the production team of Skinny Fresh and Rube brokers rap collaborations that make perfect sense. On this, their third vinyl EP, Hydro offers a self-explanatory…
Naked City
The White House’s changes to the Clean Air Act are bad news for Texas, enviros warn
ASF + $$$ = RSC N TX?
The Austin Shakespeare Festival may be the first company in America to stage the Royal Shakespeare Company’s hit comedy ‘The Dog in the Manger,’ but first it must raise $15,000
All Good Thoughts, All Good Food
The symbolism and celebration of Tet, the Vietnamese new year
Phases & Stages
Don’t Mess With La Musica De Tejas(Texas Music Project) Don’t Mess With Texas Music, Volume Two (Texas Music Project) The Texas Music Project’s mission is to “strengthen and restore rigorous music education to Texas schools.” A notable ambition, to be sure, particularly with shrinking school budgets. To further this worthy goal, TMP created a series…
Naked City
Fired employee claims retaliation for union organizing
Alone in the Dark
There’s a certain majesty to German director Boll’s style of filmmaking: a freedom from art, talent, skill of any formal kind, and the sheer pigheadedness to keep going at any cost.
Arts Review
Tour de force describes what actress Barbara Chisholm’s performance in ‘Blown Sideways Through Life,’ Claudia Shear’s autobiographical journey through the workplace
Tet in Austin
Austin has its own Tet celebration, taking place this year on Saturday, Feb. 5, from 10am to 4pm at John B. Connally High School, 13212 N. Lamar. There will be dragon dances, many food booths, big crowds, Viet culture displays and demos, music, and all manner of general merriment. With most people working jobs during…
Phases & Stages
Shearwater Thieves (Misra) Five songs. That’s it? Sorry, that just won’t do. Shearwater has followed up one of last year’s most magical local albums, Winged Life, with this five-song EP. It expands the at times brittle, at times spacious folk sound of Winged Life, but just barely, with moments of delicate sorrow offset by surges…
Naked City
A flawed study suggests that abstinence-only curricula does not reduce teen sex
The Wedding Date
Inexplicable Fantasy Romances for the Harried Modern Gal 101 is a more fitting title for this shameless mediocrity.
Luv Doc Recommends: Carnaval Brasilero
Now is a really good time to schedule one of those two teeth cleanings per year allotted on your dental plan. No time like the present, and even if you don’t relish the idea of having a trade school grad in an untinted welding mask ravage your tender gums with jagged, spiky implements, you’ll probably…
