7 and 7 Is
The hip police have informed me that The Angels (formerly Charlie’s Angels) are needed to protect the Palace, but I’m thinking much bigger guns are warranted. While “Biographer” twinkles a little Galaxie 500, its A-side partner, “Fitted for the Kids,” makes it plain that “lo-fi” is often a synonym for “dem-os.” And what’s that noise…
Hold the Phone
Radio host Paul Pryor didn’t have any reason to think the caller on the line at that particular moment was any different from the rest. After all, Clifford Wickersham clearly shared Pryor’s anti-homosexual bent, so he was most welcome on the air. But then the Texan-drawling bubba pushed things a little too far — “Now…
Articulations
That’s right, when Austin greets the new millennium, it looks as if it will have not one, but two brand-spanking new art museums. We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the one proposed by the Austin Museum of Art (quick recap: downtown space, Guadalupe & Third, design by Robert Venturi, original plans torpedoed by Eighties…
Dancing About Architecture
Handicappers get ready, because South by Southwest has just released a list of the festival’s confirmed acts, including national and international names like Action Slacks, Anodyne, Bettie Serveert, Boo Radleys, Cockeyed Ghost, Cows, Kelley Deal 6000, Dash Rip Rock, dEUS, Extra Fancy, Fluffy, Galactic, Giant Sand, Gigolo Aunts, The Grassy Knoll, Guitar Wolf, Kristin Hersh,…
Naked City
OutYouth Austin director Lisa Rogers is leaving her post to follow her own youthful dreams of becoming a full-time Therapy Sisters’ singer with partner Maurine McLean. Rogers’ successor at OutYouth is local therapist Steve Siefert, who begins work Monday, Feb. 10. Rogers started OutYouth seven years ago to aid youthful gays and lesbians in need…
Courting Ecstasy
Lisa D’Amour as Oscar Snowdenphotograph by Bret Brookshire There must be a bar- room of people in Austin — aged late 20s, sensibilities vaguely artistes, with plenty of time to think — who have seen the sign and felt the spark. It’s that big sign along Congress Avenue, the one for the appliance store, Oscar…
Also Playing
Friday: Janet Lynn, Filling Station Saturday: Prescott Curlywolf, Bongo Hate, The Jels, Johnny Law, Million Sellers, Liberty Lunch Sunday: Trish Murphy Band, Gingerman Pub Monday: Love Nut, Frogpond, Emo’s Tuesday: D’Zyne, Good, Hole in the Wall Wednesday: Michele Solberg, Cactus Cafe Thursday: Jo Carol Pierce, La Zona Rosa
Scanlines
D: Benjamin Ross; with Hugh O’Conor, Antony Sher, Ruth Sheen, Roger Lloyd Pack, Charlotte Coleman, Paul Stacey. VHS Home Video Waterloo Video, 1016 W. Sixth A boy and his chemistry set. It’s a deadly combination in this black comedy based on the true story of 14-year-old Graham Young, whose experiments in Britain during the Seventies…
Local Palette
Valley View Elementary Students Galerie Bleux through mid-February I noticed two particularly unusual things about this art opening: RC Cola and cookies were served instead of the standard wine and cheese fare, and I stumbled over two of the artists because I didn’t look down. Such is the scene when a group of elementary school…
Record Reviews
ENIGMA Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi (Virgin) Not much has changed in the Enigma camp since the first CD’s release four years ago, which swept across European discotheques before finally catching up to the more fickle U.S. pop market nearly a year after its release. Michael Cretu, the band’s driving force and sole…
Shortcuts
by Jen Scoville We can now officially say that the South by Southwest Festivals are right around the corner, with the Film Conference and Festival `s March 7 start date just four weeks away! It seems like good news travels daily across the parking lot between the Chronicle and SXSW, as the list of screenings…
Postscripts
*THU, FEB 6: The San Gabriel Writers’ League will meet at 7:30pm at the Georgetown Public Library to hear Joan Hall present a lecture titled “Show, Don’t Tell” assisted by Cindy Weigand. Hall, who has taught high school English for 28 years, has won several awards for her writing. Call 512/819-9655 for more information… Mary…
Roadkill
Liberty Lunch Friday, February 7 “We know it’s quite easy to ridicule us,” begins Crispian Mills, fearless leader of Kula Shaker, an earnest bunch of spiritually outspoken British young ones whose debut K finished in UK’s Top 20 of 1996. “Actually, though, we were really quite surprised by how fairly the press has treated us.”…
Grrowing Grrls
Amy Janota, center, surrounded by the Austin Webgrrls’ steering committeephotograph by Jana Birchum Austin Webgrrls celebrates its first birthday this month, but these days, when the pace of change on the Internet is too rapid for its own pioneers to keep track, one year brings the online networking group well into adolescence. Time for an…
Voices from the Darkness
Like his protagonist, the subterranean sleuth Burke, author and attorney Andrew Vachss is a crusader. Vachss is haunted by society’s dirty little secret — sexual abuse of children. His books are strewn with the psychological casualties and human remains that lie in its wake. Under the guise of hard-boiled crime fiction and well beyond the…
Drivin’ the Devil Away
by Christopher Gray “Signe particulier de cette red-hot mama” — French record review of Miss Lavelle, Miss Lavelle White’s 1994 debut on Antone’s Records photograph by Ursula Coyote Loosely translated from the French, that means exactly what it says: Ooh-la-la, Miss Lavelle! Denying it is pointless, especially after stumbling out of one of her shows…
Treats for the Sweet
Hotels: AUSTIN HILTON, 6000 Middle Fiskville, 451-9712. The Hilton has put together a very special, all-inclusive package for you and your sweetie. The deal includes deluxe accommodations for two on Friday or Saturday, complimentary champagne delivered upon arrival, a red rose on your pillow, and dinner for two at Ma Ferguson’s (their restaurant). The dinner…
About AIDS
People come to the City of Austin STD Clinic at 15 Waller St., to test for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. After drug needle use or having unprotected sex, they are amazed to test negative. Sometimes they leave the office promising to fulfill all the deals they made with God to never, never do…
The LCRA Means Business
LCRA general manager Mark Rose will step in to help the MUDs if the City won’tphotograph by Jana Birchum On January 23, fog enshrouded the lofty slopes of the waterway that meanders through the heart of Austin. In the boardroom of the Lower Colorado River Authority, backed by a panoramic series of windows overlooking the…
Miss Lavelle White
It Haven’t Been Easy (Discovery /Antone’s) The Sabine River is an unobtrusive-looking entity, best known as the hardy creation of nature that knits together the borders of Texas and Louisiana. Though it can rise and swell with rain or run low in the high summer, it never changes direction, ever-flowing into the mighty Gulf of…
Hearth & Soul
Shifty Miracles Dear Suzy, My house is located in the part of Austin with shallow soil and a limestone subsoil, so I understand that cracked foundations can be a problem. When we bought the house two years ago, I didn’t notice any cracks in walls or the ceiling. Since then, I’ve noticed a few inconspicuous…
Rose-Colored MUD
After weeks of phone calls and much secretarial sympathy, Mark Rose finally agreed to an interview with the Chronicle on February 3. He spoke to me while comfortably sipping tea in his LCRA digs — a highly stylized office with an interior design that capitalizes on Texas history; a saddle with a cowboy hat hanging…
Meet Wally Sparks
Meet Wally Sparks 1997, R, 105 min. Directed by Peter Baldwin, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Rodney Dangerfield, Debi Mazar, David Ogden Stiers, Cindy Williams, Burt Reynolds, Alan Rachins. What’s up with Rodney Dangerfield? His latter-day film career seems intent on turning his famed comedy routine about getting “no respect” into some kind…
Coach’s Corner
My son has been out on the streets — driving, that is — for over a year now. There’s a good chance you’ve met (as you exchanged insurance information). A better chance is that you cursed him, his radio blasting, as he hurried blithely along on his busy teenage way. You may be pleased to…
Revenge Is Sweet
Ronney Reynolds beams as a quaking Daryl Slusher faces the rowdy crowd at Covington Middle School.photograph by Jana Birchum Covington Middle School, Monday night. The auditorium is a standing-room only madhouse, a seething sea of silver-haired retirees from the uttermost reaches of Southwest Austin and beyond. As if on trial, a full council is seated…
Zeus and Roxanne
Zeus and Roxanne 1997, PG, 97 min. Directed by George Miller, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kathleen Quinlan, Steve Guttenberg, Arnold Vosloo, Dawn McMillan, Miko Hughes, Majandra Delfino, Jessica Howell. If nothing else, the out-there premise of this tale of dolphin-canine bonding reveals interesting parallels between the creative processes of whimsical children and…
Day Trips
Bulverde Bakery has been satisfying the sweet tooth of residents north of San Antonio since 1988 with great success. Their sausage kolaches have been legendary almost since the tiny shop first opened. But now the new owners have added a cake that promises to really put the Comal County village on the map. Frank and…
On Your Marks
Becky Motal, Manuel Zuniga, Ronney Reynolds, Max Nofziger, Kirk Watson, Eric Mitchell, and Gus Garcia are just some of the candidates limbering up for the city council race.illustration by Doug Potter You have to learn to crawl before you can walk. That saying never seemed more true as the candidates running for the May 2…
Losing Chase
Losing Chase 1996, R, 92 min. Directed by Kevin Bacon, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Helen Mirren, Kyra Sedgwick, Beau Bridges, Michael Yarmush, Lucas Denton. For a “small” film, Losing Chase has received a large amount of attention lately. Having premiered on cable television late last year, actor Kevin Bacon’s directorial debut received…
Page Two
With the publication of this issue — February 7 — SXSW 1997 is just four weeks from beginning. This affects the Chronicle in the sense that we print some of our largest issues of the year over these four weeks. The hectic pace of our neighbors across the field at the SXSW compound also affects…
Three’s Company
It’s rightly been called the Max Factor. A black-and-white contest featuring powerhouse candidates Kirk Watson and Ronney Reynolds took on shades of grey last month when former Mayor Pro Tem Max Nofziger jumped in. Voting for mayor would have been as simple as choosing chocolate or vanilla, based on the environmental/developer litmus test applied to…
Maborosi
Maborosi 1996, NR, 110 min. Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Makiko Esumi, Takashi Naitoh, Tadanobu Asano, Gohki Kashiyama, Maomi Watanabe, Matsuka Sakura. The concept of loss, and the sorrow that shadows it, is not what you’d call an uncommon theme in films, but rarely is it handled with such…
The Vicar of Victory
St. James Episcopal Church, 3701 E. MLK, marks a major turning point in its 55 years, as it celebrates becoming a self-supporting parish. This four-day jubilee includes: a parade at Hyde Park Baptist, Thu, Feb 6, 8pm; a dinner at the Shoreline Grill, Sat, Feb 8, 7pm; services at St. James, Sun, Feb 9, 8…
Gus Takes Affirmative Action
A bridge-builder and media darling with surprisingly strong support across a range of normally competing interests. A crusader against city council activism with deep backing from those interests longing for a return of their Boom No. 1 good times. And an unconventional wild-card candidate carrying the banner for Austin’s progressives and counterculture activists. No, it’s…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
80 percent of all pens are free. Wisconsin leads the nation in bars per person, with about one for every 385 men, women, and children. By contrast, neighboring Minnesota’s 4.3 million people have just 4,000 drinking establishments — or one bar for every 1,075 people. The name Mercedes-Benz is always supposed to be hyphenated. According…
Gentleman’s Disagreement
Say goodbye to the so-called gentleman’s agreement in the Place 5 race for city council. What we have instead is a big, old gentleman’s disagreement — disagreement over whether to do away with the unspoken rule of reserving this particular seat for guaranteed Hispanic representation on the dais. Not surprisingly, it’s the non-Hispanic contenders for…
Year of the Ox
If New Year’s Eve 1996 didn’t prove festive enough, or if the evening was particularly enjoyable and waiting until December 31 for the next party seems like light years away, don’t despair. There’s reason to sing the Auld Lang Syne again. Come midnight Februrary 6, the year of the Ox is upon us, and a…
Piece of Cake
Unless some bold, new usurper steps up to join the timid challengers for Place 6, the race will likely resemble a one-man-band with Eric Mitchell beating all the drums and blowing all the whistles. With Mitchell’s only challengers promising little competition, it is possible that Mitchell may coast into office unimpeded. Restaurateur John Goode is…
Food-o-File
by Virginia B. Wood If you don’t participate in a fun, food-related celebration in the next week, then you just aren’t trying hard enough! There’s Chinese New Year on February 8, Mardi Gras on February 11, Valentine’s Day is the 14th, and each event boasts a corresponding list of food festivities. The first Valentine’s bash…
A Rich Herstory
Online Extra: Kat Duff talks about life as a lesbian Austinite in the Seventies (sound, 1:34). [ .AIFF (349K) | .WAV (748K) | Transcript ] Austin Lesbian Activism Project member Desha Melton (left) contributes to the archives.photograph by Jana Birchum Aaaah, the Seventies in Austin: Armadillo World Headquarters, food co-ops, drugs, Students for a Democratic…
Out of This World
Mars Restaurant & Bar 1610 San Antonio, 472-3901 Sun & Mon, 5:30-10pm; Tue-Thu, 5:30-10:30pm; Fri & Sat, 5:30-11:00pm photograph by John Anderson When Mars founder Georgia Coleman announced last spring that she and chef/husband Tim Kartiganer were selling their chic, trendy little mid-town eatery and setting off on a round-the-world adventure, I was concerned that…
Interview Transcript: Kat Duff
Kat Duff moved to Austin from Northampton in 1976, drawn here by the city’s reputation as a politically active environment. She moved into an all-lesbian living collective and worked for Red River Women’s Press, also a collective. Later, Duff became an astrologer, and has written The Alchemy of Illness, a book about chronic fatigue syndrome.…
