Cover Story
On the Waterfront
As development accelerates along Town Lake, Austin faces urgent choices
Big Weekend in the English Premier League and More
It was a huge weekend in the English Premier League, with the top four teams facing off against one another in a pair of matches that went a long way to shaping the way the last couple of months of the season are going to shape up. At the start of the weekend you had…
Ice Bats Extend Losing Streak to Five Games, Make Roster Moves
After falling behind 4-0 on the road vs. Corpus Christi Tuesday, the Bats scored three unanswered to get within a goal of tying the game but weren’t able to keep the Rayz from extending their lead and winning 5-4. This brings Austin’s losing streak to an unfortunate total of five games. But, believe it or…
‘Mascotgate’ Rages On
Toros’ Mascot Apologizes for Behavior
With Highlights Like These…
What’s shaking at City Council today?
Toros Trade Merritt, Suspend Da Bull, Host Kids Burgers and B-Ball Clinic
On Monday the D-League approved a trade sending the Toros forward Scott Merritt to Tulsa in exchange for 66ers guard Cheyne Gadson. Merritt appeared in 21 games for the Toros this season making the starting lineup 17 times. Gadson is 25th in the league in scoring (and was the second-leading scorer for Tulsa) averaging 15.9…
A Tale of Two Patricks
Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Speaker. Yup, everyone feared that House speaker Tom Craddick would make the instigators of the failed coup against him pay come committee selection. It seems he’s making them sweat first: with announcements expected today, everyone was on tenterhooks to see who would hang. Instead, there’s only silence, as Tom makes…
Wynn Keeps Plugging Away
Will Wynn & George Bush, both pushing for plug-in hybrids?
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Vegans
The truth about the Bert’s Bar-B-Q fire revealed.
‘Statesman’ can’t ID ‘Gladys,’ but we have a theory
It’s probably Brother Russell.
Bikinis Bar & Grill’s French-Fry-Eating World Championship
Opinions about french fries are like assholes. Everybody’s got one. McDonald’s or Wendy’s? Shoestring or crinkle cut? Waffle or freedom? But when it comes down to actually devouring a Biggie-sized serving of the deliciously deep-fried artery-murderers, most folks would normally stop there. On January 27, Bikinis Bar & Grill hosts the 2007 French-Fry-Eating World Championship,…
A Thousand Blind Windows
Some inspiring words about Austin’s newest condo development.
Another ‘Special Session’
Political series returns to PBS in February.
SOTU Sneak Peak
Looks real enough to us
Colton Pitonyak live!
Turn on Court TV now.
St. Ed’s Soccer Star Kristen Gascoyne Named Third-Team All-American
St. Edward’s women’s soccer player Kristen Gascoyne was named to the third team of the 2006 NCAA Division II All-America team. Gascoyne attended the awards banquet in Indianapolis and was awarded her certificate by MLS All-Star Jaime Moreno of D.C. United. She was also selected as the Heartland Conference’s most valuable player, first-team all-conference and…
‘Possession Arrow’: Badgley->Razook
From: John Razook To: Shawn Badgley Time: 11:54pm, Jan. 22 I’m drained. Exhausted. My nerves are shot, Shawn, and there’s nothing to be done about it. Whisky might help me, I suppose, though a high-powered horse tranquilizer is probably more along the lines of what I need now, after watching yet another nail-biter of a…
Wal-Mart Charm Offensive Continues
All Wal-Mart, all the time. Always.
Bill Parcells Calls It Quits, at Least for Now
As reported by the Dallas Cowboys Fan Zone Web site, Bill Parcells ends the speculation and steps down as head coach for America’s team (or do the Saints have dibs on that title now?). I don’t know, but I’ve a gut feeling Parcells will be back in the NFL in some capacity in the next…
Bats Lose Two at Home
Oh my. After losing to Laredo Friday and Corpus Christi Saturday in the cozy, chilly confines of the Bat Cave, the Ice Bats have some real soul searching to do to get back on the playoff path. They came out strong and played well vs. the Bucks but couldn’t convert on their scoring chances and…
City Council Notebook
A look at what’s on the city agenda this week
Get Thee to Thine Temple, Quick
Just when you think it can;t get any stranger…
More Phone Survey Theorizing
What are the Wal-Mart phone surveys supposed to accomplish?
Push-polling for Wal-Mart (Updated)
A none-too-subtle push poll attempts to sell Wal-Mart to Northcross neighbors.
‘Playing With Rage’ Screens at Alamo Today!
The premiere of women’s tackle football documentary Playing With Rage screens today at the Alamo Downtown at 4pm sharp. Several of the current Austin Outlaws make cameos. Also appearing are Bob Costas, Steve Sabol, Julie Foudy, Ricky Williams, and Suzy Kolber. For tickets go to www.originalalamo.com. They are $7.50.
Elana James Performs Live Following UT Women’s Basketball Game Sunday
Former Hot Club of Cowtown violinist and vocalist Elana James will perform live following the UT’s women’s basketball game vs. Texas A&M Sunday, Jan. 21, 2pm at the Frank Erwin Center. UT is currently ranked 23rd while A&M enters the game ranked 19th in the country. The Lady Horns will also host Baylor Wednesday, Jan.…
What Do You Call 60 Dead Pigeons? A Start.
Any press conference titled “Congress Avenue Dead Bird Test Results” OK by us.
Can Fewer Texas Lobbyists in DC Mean More Clout for the State?
Seems that for the Dems, Tom DeLay is the gift that never stops giving – or, in this case, the stick which lets them keep beating Rick Perry. Yup, the state had been using two DeLay-linked DC lobby firms but has been forced to sever ties with them. Our beloved governor had been paying Cassidy…
Fly to Heaven, Little Birds
Is Craddick a Bird-brain?
We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ De-Icer
City trumpets response to the great storm of aught-7
Day Trips
Los Adaes, the first capital of Texas, once stood on the edge of the world stage
Phases & Stages
The EarliesThe Enemy Chorus (Secretly Canadian/Names) When Texas and England butt heads, you get a struggle between psych-phonic and electronic. The Earlies, former Texans Brandon Carr and JM Lapham and Brits Giles Hatton and Christian Madden, are indeed combative on this sophomore effort, an unwieldy amalgamation of American pop and British mood. On opener “No…
Cross-Border Tidbits
Coahuila, Mexico, passes measure to legalize same-sex unions; and Babies “R” Us starts new year feeling wrath of both the Minutemen and immigration rights movement
Soccer Watch
Well, it’s all about David Beckham this week, innit? And indeed, why not? Becks may not be a great player anymore, but he’s still a great promotional value, especially if it’s major sponsors who are footing the reported $250 million bill. Beckhamania even pushed Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho off the front pages of the British…
Phases & Stages
Ron SexsmithTime Being (Ironworks) With popmeisters as legendary as Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello singing his praises, Ron Sexsmith might finally be poised to rise above cult status. This is especially true since the Canadian singer-songwriter borrows a great deal from both experts. Sexsmith’s eighth album and first for Kiefer Sutherland’s Ironworks imprint, Time Being,…
Coal Goes to Court
Lawsuits are flying to stop dirty power plants
Letters From Iwo Jima
In his companion film to Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood again shows the process by which young soldiers become unwitting fodder for their country’s war effort.
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The LAPD goes 007
Phases & Stages
MenomenaFriend and Foe (Barsuk) Portland, Ore., trio Menomena blasted out of the indie rock netherworld with 2004’s ecstatic I Am the Fun Blame Monster! The band’s m.o. is direct from the future: Multi-instrumentalist Brent Knopf created looping software Deeler, which forms the basis for all Menomena tracks. Now with their second LP, Friend and Foe,…
Point Austin: Act Against the War
Doggett:”We have to do everything we can”
Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation 2007
The boys are back with their hyper-filthy animation show.
TCB
Ghostland Observatory goes to the opera, Friday Night Lights goes to the Broken Spoke, SXSW goes to France, and everyone else stays home because of the ice storm
The Common Law
My car was wrecked – now what?
Phases & Stages
Vietnam(Kemado) This “new Vietnam” has nothing to do with Iraq. It’s the former Austinites’ first proper album, Spiritualized’s acid blues loose in a land of too many beards and too few baths (i.e. Brooklyn). Lou Reed and Bob Dylan linger as guideposts in the haze of frontman Michael Gerner’s vision, which, as he asserts in…
Beside the Point
This week’s cold spell had a chilling effect on public discussion of crucial items
Arthur and the Invisibles
Live-action/animation hybrid from Luc Besson features a host of hip vocal talent but little more.
An Opera for Wartime
Philip Glass’ Waiting for the Barbarians arrives when its message is urgently needed
Oops!
Our latest batch
Phases & Stages
Eleni KaraindrouElegy of the Uprooting (ECM) What if Shakespeare had combined his best – a poem here, a play there, a sonnet to top it off – into a meta-work? And what if this masterpiece illuminated the author’s vast talents while also fashioning a resonant new narrative? Greek master composer Eleni Karaindrou has done just…
The Hightower Report
Immigration Surrealism; and A Little Help for Their Friends
Guru
Bollywood film about a visionary entrepreneur and his love life.
see. hear. speak. two: ColdTowne’s festive three-way (on film, in music, and on stage)
ColdTowne presents the second edition of its own comedy festival, see. hear. speak.
On Leaving Paradise for an Oasis
An Austin foodie falls in love with Marathon and West Texas’ other boutique towns
The Serene Life
David Lynch meditates on Inland Empire
The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?: Tragedy defined
With The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, playwright Edward Albee proves he is still able to shock us, move us, and create a true tragedy
Must-Visits in Marathon, Alpine, and Marfa
Gage Hotel101 Hwy. 90 W. Marathon, TX 79842 800/884-GAGE www.gagehotel.comMarathon Coffee Shop301 Hwy. 90 W. Marathon, TX 79842 432/386-4444Railroad Blues504 W. Holland Ave. Alpine, TX 79830 432/837-3103 www.railroadblues.comHolland Hotel and Edelweiss Restaurant and Micro-Brewery209 W. Holland Ave. Alpine, TX 79830 800/535-8040 www.hollandhotel.netThe Brown Recluse111 W. San Antonio St. Marfa, TX 79843 432/729-1811Maiya’s Restaurant103 N. Highland…
Planning South Shore Central: The ROMA Report
2000 study of redeveloping the South Shore was a good first effort
The Fifth Austin Jewish Film Festival
Jan. 20-26
CreateAustin: Mapping our future, artswise
Help determine what Austin’s cultural scene will look like in the future by getting involved with CreateAustin
In Print
The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa
Death by a Thousand Waivers: Variances granted here
Many projects on the waterfront are asking for exceptions to the rules
Four for the Weekend
Rules of the Game remastered; a Bruno S. double feature; and The Hitcher reaches its destination
365 Days/365 Plays: Week 11
The yearlong festival of plays by Suzan-Lori Parks continues with seven plays performed by the UT Department of Theatre and Dance’s Performance as Public Practice program
Event Menu
Jan. 20-27
The Big Picture Map
A comprehensive map of Town Lake Corridor public and private development projects
Film News
Incentives, the end of Sinus, Screen Door, and more
Arts Review
For much of Daniel MacIvor’s A Beautiful View, its two characters keep finding and losing each another, but in the end, though something is lost, something beautiful is found again
Wine of the Week
No code needed for Da Vinci
On the Lege
New Comptroller Combs signals a very different style from the combative Strayhorn
DVD Watch
ER? Grey’s Anatomy? Scrubs? Hapless interns all.
Arts Review
Vortex Repertory Company’s latest production, about those weaselly mythological misfits who pull pranks and break rules, Trickster, is an extravaganza
Food-o-File
This one goes out to the ones who didn’t just consume this holiday season
Developing Stories
The Heritage neighborhood suspects it’s receiving political payback from the city manager
TV Eye
Who needs enemies?
Readings
No nostalgia: discovery and rediscovery
Echo Chamber
Horse + Donkey collides with Echo & the Bunnymen’s Heaven up Here
Naked City
Quote of the Week “President Bush has been wrong at every step along the descent into chaos in Iraq, and he is wrong once again. The terrible price for his repeated miscalculations is paid for by the blood of the brave, by hundreds of billions of dollars squandered, and by greater insecurity for our families.…
The Sherpa
Professor Robert Solomon could prepare you for any path
Go Insane
Lindsey Buckingham swears he’s not mad
Dinos in the Dome
NARAL hopes these five legislators are headed for extinction
Page Two: Persistence of Revision
Fascism, Frank Capra, and how legend becomes history
Phases & Stages
The ShinsWincing the Night Away (Sub Pop) A lot can happen in an evening. Wincing the Night Away, for one, rewrites Shinsian history. The crystal-cut pop of the Portland, Ore., quartet’s 2001 debut, Oh, Inverted World, and its exuberant follow-up two years later, Chutes Too Narrow, helped define the new millennial revolution reversing the roles…
Follow the Bouncing Big Box
Amended version of Big Box Ordinance bounces back down from council to the Planning Commission, hangs in review limbo
Letters at 3AM
This is the number of deaths a year caused by how we do (or don’t do) health care. A decade of that, and it’s as though terrorists nuked Chicago.
Phases & Stages
How Low Can You Go? Anthology of the String Bass (1925-1941)(Dust to Digital) This 3-CD labor of love puts the spotlight on the most underappreciated of all vital instruments, the string bass. Perhaps because it’s so often obscured on rudimentary recordings of old, the instrument remains habitually overlooked, or in this case, forever underheard. What’s…
Pushing Skyward on West Seventh
Another supertall condominium tower seeks to push envelope of what Austin accepts as Downtown
After a Fashion
Huzzah! Stephen is back, jingling his balls and getting all Carrie on yo’ keister.
Phases & Stages
Nellie McKayPretty Little Head (Hungry Mouse/Sony) New York’s Nellie McKay, the precocious pianist with a penchant for wry humor, wants to be adult contemporary music’s Lucille Ball. She casts herself in the role of female clown with her musical timbre and syntax, in addition to her conversational tone and bald-faced lyrics. As we all know,…
UT Profs Argue Death Penalty Cases Before Supreme Court
In an unusual set of legal circumstances, UT Capital Punishment Center co-director argues to justices that they should refrain from ruling on cases he previously brought to them
Luv Doc Recommends: FronteraFest: Best of the Week
The beautiful thing about January is that the gyms are full of pasty chubbsters looking to get their fit on. It’s beautiful because they annoy the shit out of the full time narcissists who sometimes forget entirely that there are other people in the world. Other people come in all shapes, sizes, and types –…
