Cover Story
Blood on the Tracks
The ballad of Griff Luneburg and Cactus Cafe
East Coast/West Coast Smackdown, Lit Edition
Local screenwriter/novelists dish on L.A. versus NYC
Busy Bees
Austin Video Bee drops a deuce. Don’t worry, it’s art.
New Healthy and Planned Families Bills Hit Lege
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte and Reps. Ruth Jones McClendon and Mike Villareal team up with healthy family and fam planning bills
The Celebration Continues
Fred Eaglesmith soars through the Cactus
Seattle Police Chief Named Drug Czar
Obama has named Seattle’s progressive police chief to be head of U.S. drug policy office — perhaps a signal of more compassionate times to come?
All You Need Is…
…a little Saturday night L-O-V-E
House Committees Announced
Speaker Straus says assignments “will draw upon the House’s wisdom and experience”
Snack-Food Makers Upset Munchies-Prone Stoners
Potheads boycott Kellogg’s
The Lineup
Recommended music for the week of Feb. 13-19
Revenge of the Return of the Titty Tax
Legislators want third swipe at fee condemned as unconstitutional by district court
Coraline’s Other Other Parents
Stephin Merritt Does Coraline
Latin American Officials say Drug War is a Failure
Former presidents of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico say U.S. drug policy is a failure
Aztex Add Two More
The Austin Aztex continue to build their roster, plus more news
Hust FM: Hustling on a Budget
The Hustle discusses $20 million in proposed city cuts, the mayors race and more
It’s Not About Religion … Except When It Is
Board of Education member shows his hand on creationism
Office Spaced in Austin
Mike Judge and cast celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the release of Office Space
Last Minute Valentine’s suggestions
Food Editor Virginia B. Wood shares some last minute suggestions for Valentine’s gifts or celebrations.
I Am So Grateful for Rain!
After months drought, Austin finally gets some rain
City Lists $20 Million in Budget Cuts
A million here, a million there – pretty soon, you’re talking about real money
Lick My Legs, I’m On Fire
PJ Harvey heats up SXSW
Getting Film Incentives to Pay Off
Film Commission director Bob Hudgins talks about proposed reforms to the incentive program
All-Star Rap
Kool Keith raps about balls
Bill Would Allow Texas Brewers to Sell On-Site
Beer producers want same rights as winemakers
Gay the Catholic Way
UT Catholic Center launches new gay prayer group.
Sounds of the City
Church of the Friendly Ghost’s new urban planning
Bathroom for Two?
John Mayer and Ellen rock it… in the loo.
Further Up the Mountain
Heartless Bastards on Letterman tonight
Voter Registrar Holding Open House, Seeking Volunteers
Events coming up next week
Creativity! Uniqueness! Nerve! and Talent!
RuPaul’s Drag Race episode 2 recap and comments.
Texas Senators Skip Stimulus Votes
Cornyn misses cloture vote to attend fundraiser Monday after Hutchison absent for Friday votes
President Will End Medi-Pot Raids. For Real. Seriously. He Swears.
Obama spokesman says the Prez doesn’t like fed medi-pot raids, and wants them to stop
Tokers Boycott Pop Tarts
If Kellogg’s is going to dump Phelps, pot smokers are going to drop Kellogg’s — and all their munchie goodies
The Endangered Waxie Moon
National Geographic should be so lucky.
Attn: SXSW Filmmakers!
Got a movie playing at SXSW? Send it along.
Straus on Film
Footage from House Speaker Joe Straus’ Friday morning open house
Cold, Cold World
Blaze Foley in his element
The Marcia Ball
Valentine’s Weekend is all about her
(Glory) Hole in the Wall
It’s time to face The Hole!
Boot Camp Challenge: Week Three
The things you hate the most, work the best
City Hall Hustle: Campaign Kickin’ It
Can we kickoff? Yes we can!
Rowling’s Resignation
Highlights of the UTIMCO chair’s brutal Senate Finance Committee dust-up
Tora Bora Pete
Criticism flies after Republican Texas Congressman Sessions compares own party to Taliban
Patrick’s Ill-Considered Pull Quote
Houston senator delivers web sneer to his new committee chair
DOMA or Don’tcha?
Equality for diplomats? Hillary’s on it. Sort of.
I Stroke Myself
A response to the ex-masturbator and ex-homo shirts.
President Obama in Primetime
President Obama will address the nation three – count ’em, three – times in February.
Filling the Seats
With Senate committees already meeting, when will the House get appointments?
Cake Envy: Paloma Efron’s Coco Paloma Desserts
Paloma Efron’s decadent cakes – and her home workshop – are the envy of Austin
Nurses Workload Fight Just Begun
We gave a passing mention to Austin Rep. Donna Howard’s House Bill 591 a couple of weeks ago because, enjoying the support of both the Texas Hospital Association and Texas Nurses Association, we didn’t foresee it having much opposition. Not so fast, says the National Nurses Organizing Committee. Howard’s bill (and the Senate twin authored…
Oh, Hecht!
State Supreme Court Justice says he was denied justice from Ethics Commission. Fancy that.
Whisper of the Heart
Whisper of the Heart 1995, G, 111 min. Directed by Yoshifumi Kondô, Voices by Youko Honna, Issei Takahashi, Takashi Tachibana. When quiet bookworm Shizuku follows a mysterious cat to an antique shop, she meets Seiji, a classmate who is determined to become a violin maker. Captivated by the boy, Shizuku vows to pen her own…
R.I.P.
Mourning Roger Mollett
Phases & Stages
Atlantic Jazz 60th Anniversary Collection
How to Turn Purple to Blue
Voter registration drive could turn Texas Democratic
The Hightower Report
The Cluelessness of Wall Street CEOs; and Grumpy Bushites
House Committees
Less is more
TV Eye
Looks like the government – and the people – will have a little more time to prepare for the DTV transition
Strama Steers Clean Car Bill
If Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, gets his way, new cars in Texas could be as clean as those in California. Strama, who is positioned to become a leader on environmental and energy-efficiency legislation in the House, has filed HB 776, which would raise the emissions standards for new cars to the highest level permissible under…
Point Austin: The Way of the Strayhorn
Carole’s for Austin. Is Austin for Carole?
DVD Watch
This is the film that heralded Sirk’s astonishing end-career run of gloriously over-the-top women’s pictures
Dukes Moves to Boost Film Incentives
In 2007, Gov. Rick Perry signed off on $22 million in funds for the new Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program. For the next biennium, Perry wants to boost that investment to $60 million, and Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, wants to fine-tune legislation to keep media production in Texas. “We want to be realistic and…
City Hall Hustle: The Hustle for Place 1
Who are the new coalitions?
Retracing Their Steps
Two choreographers explain why it’s tough to get old dances back on their feet
Old Dog, New Tricks
Turns out there’s life yet in Showbiz Pizza’s animatronic band of animals, the Rock-afire Explosion
Dunbar Will See Opposition in 2010
In 2006, Republican Cynthia Dunbar of Richmond drew no Democratic opposition in her run for the District 10 seat on the State Board of Education, allowing her an easy 70% win over a Libertarian opponent. But with Dunbar making a spectacle of herself lately – being a pro-creationism, anti-evolution voice on the board; writing editorials…
Headlines
• So are we broke or not? In his emergency items request to legislators on Feb. 3, Gov. Rick Perry asked for extra cash and legislation for hurricane reconstruction and insurance reform, state schools, and screening equipment for prisons. • Closer to home, City Council candidate Rick Cofer exited the Place 1 race last week,…
In Memoriam
Remembering one of the Vortex Repertory Company’s most stalwart supporters
The Slow Magic of Stop-Motion
Henry Selick on adapting Neil Gaiman’s Coraline
Senate: Patrick Gets Promoted
If it’s all change in the House committees, on the Senate side it’s more of the same. On Friday, Jan. 30, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst released his list of committees and appointments, with few shifts from 2007. All of last session’s committees are back, while three subcommittees – Agriculture & Rural Affairs, Economic Development, and…
Naked City
News briefs from Austin, the state, and beyond
‘Sister Moses’
Dancing history to life
Fan Favorite
How the geekdom came together to save a love song to Star Wars from the dark side
Phases and Stages
Bass Concert Hall, Jan. 31
Res Publica
Citizen’s calendar, Feb. 5-12
UT Performing Arts Center
Modlin Center for the Arts’ Kathleen Panoff to University of Richmond: Gone to Texas
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Scrabble champions, Manila (hemp) folders, grapefruit-scented sweat, and more
Arts Review
An atypically reflective evening of experiments, explorations, and excerpts
Playing Through
Practitioners of parkour strive for efficient movement for its own sake
New in Nonfiction
A delightful anthropological study-cum-memoir about what unites and divides humans from the animal kingdom
Day Trips
Belatedly celebrating National Pie Day
Arts Review
ALO’s straightforward staging of the Verdi classic offers the thrill of a tale told well
Page Two: The Message
Republicans try to rewrite a history of privileging party over principle
New in Nonfiction
The scary tale of Elsewhere Man, the American professional with no authentic, core self
Gay Place
Is there a proposition against love?
Arts Review
Heyd Fontenot’s new paintings of naked people show the artist’s looser, sloppier side
The Common Law
President Obama’s Oath Mishap
Phases & Stages
Bruce Springsteen Working on a Dream (Columbia) First and foremost, Bruce Springsteen has realized that oft-evoked rock & roll ideal almost never pulled off since Sgt. Pepper replaced singles with the album. Boss struck while the iron was hot. Because everyone who saw Springsteen & the E Street Band live over the last two years…
Off the Record
Diving into Club 1808, the Real Heroes’ Chinese democracy, and Ray Benson on Willie, Wexler, and the Wheel
Taken
Call it the last cinematic gasp of the Bush era.
After a Fashion
Bachelorette parties in gay bars: Sure. Why wouldn’t we want to celebrate your wedding?
Phases & Stages
Andrew Bird Noble Beast (Fat Possum) Over the last decade, Chicago’s Andrew Bird has created his own lexicon of pop music, layering spells of violin and guitar into novelistic labyrinths. The first half of fifth LP Noble Beast, buoyed by the brief, aqueous interlude “Uou,” marks his most exquisite work to date. His Orbison-like croon…
City Counseling
The Wildflower controversy, the Leffingwell noncontroversy, and more
The Uninvited
A generic creeper that does nothing to improve upon the South Korean original.
Tea Gets Hot in Austin
Austin’s new cup of tea
Phases & Stages
Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino) The praise bestowed on Animal Collective is justified, even if the exultation over the Baltimore-born trio’s latest LP is overblown. From the group’s freak-folk anticipation on 2003’s Campfire Songs to its ushering in indie’s new density with Feels (2005), the Collective forges musical frontiers even when the results are…
ANC: Do More With Less
ANC members see breath of fresh air in new Parks director
Academy Award-Nominated Live-Action Shorts 2009
Good things come in small packages.
Food-o-File
Artz hangs on while Starlite shuts down, Woodland expands, and Izzoz Tacos makes a grand entrance
Big Tex Budget Blues
The money debate begins: ‘Every Texan for himself’ vs. ‘All in this together’
Mistrial, Retrial for McKay
Jurors drop bomb on prosecutors’ case against man accused of bomb-making
Coraline
An unparalleled master of the phantasmagoric image returns with this children’s film.
Event Menu
Your local foodie events for Feb. 7-28
Phases & Stages
The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 11B: 1971 (Hip-O Select) Despite messieurs David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks having outgrown the Temptations and Smokey Robinson readying his exit from the Miracles; regardless of the Supremes going through the motions post-Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Holland-Dozier-Holland; and notwithstanding Martha & the Vandellas down to their last three Motown…
TPWD Film: Watching the Rivers Flow
Texas Parks & Wildlife hopes a new documentary will encourages Texans – and legislatures – to conserve
Fanboys
This shaggy comedy is an earnest, sweetly geeked tribute to fandom.
Castle in the Sky
Castle in the Sky 1986, PG, 124 min. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Voices by Keiko Yokozawa, Mayumi Tanaka, Kotoe Hatsui, Minori Terada. Animated tale by the Japanese master about a young boy and girl fending off pirates and foreign agents in their search for the legendary castle.
Luv Doc Recommends: ‘Office Space’ 10 Year Anniversary Reunion!
One of the great ironies of American society is our notion of freedom. We’re free to do just about anything we want as long as it doesn’t seriously impinge on someone else’s freedom. And yet, even though Americans have this tremendous gift, paid for by the blood and toil of preceding generations, we choose largely…
