Cover Story
Strange but True
Jad Fair making art out in Manor with monsters, aliens, and dead dogs
Votermania Will Run Wild On You!
Huckabee has Chuck Norris: Now Obama has Hulk Hogan.
Extended Play
Back by popular demand, the Invincible Czars reprise Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast in its entirety Saturday at Room 710. Throughout February and March, Walden Media will be in Austin shooting Will, a feature film starring High School Musical’s Vanessa Hudgens that ends with a classic battle of the bands. In similar fashion,…
Getting to the General Specific With Band of Horses
“No revelations in the water, no tears into the booze.” That line haunts closer “Window Blues,” from Band of Horses’ sophomore Sub Pop album, Cease to Begin. It’s lead vocalist/guitarist Ben Bridwell’s long fought realization, rising clean from sodden, broken ghosts. All ghosts are daunting, facing what has been left behind and what lies beyond,…
Puente Says That’s Plenty
San Antonio state rep stands down early.
Strother Bother
Dukes’ campaign man gets Democratic leadership in arms.
Two Longhorns Named to Naismith Award Watch List
Texas guards D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams are on a midseason list of the 30 most likely candidates to win the coveted Naismith Trophy. Both were on the preseason list of 50 possible candidates, which was narrowed after the Atlanta Tipoff Club, which sponsors the award, saw the players perform through the first half of…
The Edwards Impact
Texas Democratic Party praises former presidential hopeful.
Grown Man Wears Spandex, Touches Balls …
The Defuser takes to the court.
Press D-1 for Chips; Press D-4 for Pot
California introduces new medi-pot vending machines.
Dont Forget: On the Chron Happy Hour Tonight!
Come down to B.D. Riley’s between 6-8pm and have your first drink on us! Enjoy great happy hour drink specials: Big Import Pints are 20 oz. $4 and Domestic Beers $3.50! Be sure to stay for Pub Quiz & Blues with Hosea Hargrove starting at 8pm. Test your wits against Austin’s best brains! It’s our…
U.S. vs. Mexico, Arsenal vs. Man U, and the Aztex vs. El Paso
The U.S. Men will try to continue their recent domination of rival Mexico – nine wins in the last 12 matches overall – this Wednesday at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. Feb. 6, 8pm; tickets are $35-300 through Ticketmaster. Get more info at the U.S. Soccer website. The game will also be shown live on ESPN2 and…
What’s Your Broken New Years Resolution?
As February approaches, we’re almost one month into ’08, and those New Year’s resolutions to get in shape, get out of debt, and get off cigarettes are either going strong or gone to waste. For most of us, most likely the latter. Our New Years resolution is to start something new. So for fun The…
City Council Notebook
What’s happening this week at City Council
Honey in the Rock
Black Joe Lewis doesn’t mind giving us his Top 10.
Broken New Years Resolutions
First off, I have decided I need to find newer and more inventive ways to make fun of Lance Armstrong. I don’t really have anything against the guy except maybe his bike team color choice, but in the interest of not beating a dead horse I am trying to reign in my urge to refer…
The Ron Paul Liberty Ball
Rockin’ for Ron
Voter Registration Deadline: Monday, Feb. 4
Are you registered to vote? Are you sure?
Janek Takes June Off (Permanently)
South Texas state senator to stand down in June.
“I’m Not F-Bombin’ Gay”
Daniel Johns swears. He’s not gay.
High Prez Indeed
Forget all the nonfictional contenders jockeying their partisan patooties off for eventual Presidential status. For just a moment, at least, forget those benighted blighters and, instead, feast your eyes on The Cat Who Would Be King, as Achewood’s Raymond Quentin Smuckles throws his metaphorical hat into the political ring upon a platform that all good-thinking…
Alvarez to Run for ACC Board
Former city council member on the muni ballot again.
The (City’s) Internet Is Serious Business
Mad lulz, indeed …
Mind Your Eyebrows, It’s the WWE
The WWE to hold first live TV broadcast in Austin in four years
Humble Me
Sharon Jones sold out Austin, but she’s nowhere near selling out.
Obama Has a Posse
Well, duh: Barack Obama, seemingly the Democrats’ (and most other Thinking People’s, we suggest) choice for the better future of this country, has plenty of posses. But now he’s also got the graphic endorsement of the design wizard who first championed the followers of Andre the Giant: Shepherd Fairey of Obey Giant Industries has released…
Glassy-Eyed
Ira Glass to go multiplex?
KOOP Arsonist Surrenders
Former volunteer arrested for Jan. 5 studio fire.
A Good Day for Channing Tatum Fans
Channing Tatum steps up, screens twice at SXSW
The Chrontourage was at BookPeople Jan 27th
Rob Sheffield, rock critic, Rolling Stone contributor, and BookPeople favorite, made a special appearance reading experts from his heartbreaking and hip memoir, Love Is a Mix Tape. The book documents Sheffield’s idyllic five-year marriage to his unforgettable wife, Renee, through the songs on his personal mix tapes. Stitched together, the songs tell the story of…
Floyd Moore R.I.P.
Floyd Moore passed away Monday. His name won’t mean much unless you were around in the early 1970s or are from Port Arthur, but trust me when I say that if Austin gets to call itself weird, Floyd was one of the reasons. We struck up a MySpace correspondence a few months ago, when he…
Talkin’ Crack With AG Michael Mukasey
According to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, cities across the country will soon be invaded by teeming throngs of crack-addled heathens hell-bent on infecting new users with their dangerous vice. Or at least that could happen, he told the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Jan. 24, thanks to the decision of that crazy-ass collection of…
Cheapo Man
Down on the Street turns her camera on.
Crack Breakers?
The Hershey Co. has decided to pull from shelves its new Ice Breakers Pacs – a breath mint in powder form that is packed inside a small blue dissolvable package that, it so happens, looks a lot like a small nickel bag of cocaine. The company introduced the product at an industry trade show last…
Return of the Lonestar Rollergirls
The Texas Roller Derby Lonestar Rollergirls, Austin’s banked-track league, kicked off the 2008 season with a special bout at the Palmer Events Center, Sunday, Jan. 27. Last season’s Calvello Cup Champions, Holy Rollers, were challenged by the All-Scar Army, a conglomeration of some of the strongest skaters from the league’s other four teams: Cherry Bombs,…
History Keeps Repeating
Ten years ago I was drunk and lost and wandering the Irish countryside when I ran into an avant-garde playwright named Mac Wellman. Wellman would become a writing mentor of mine, and taught me to exploit over-used and boorish narratives and theatrical techniques to my advantage. I think he also taught me how to use…
How’s Your News?
Utah shines kindly on Austinites
I Am a Tosser
Beads for dignity: It’s the American way.
Ghost
Whoopi won an Oscar, Demi made ceramics sexy, and Swayze said, “Ditto.”
Kitty Makes Austin Lezzie Scene (and the Big Cats at HRC) Purrrrr
Kitty takes HRC title!
The Headlines and the Presidential Also-Rans
How can candidates be strong on delegates and weak in coverage?
Today’s Texas History Lesson
Land office buys more Confederate artefacts.
Less than a week to vote for the 2007-2008 Austin Chronicle Music Poll!
After 27 years, you know the drill: This is your chance to duct-tape the critics’ mouths shut and speak up about Austin music. Not sure whom to vote for? Turn on the radio, drop by the local record store, or head to the clubs. Your favorite band is probably playing. Vote now! Entries must be…
See you Tonight at ZACH’s George Gershwin’s Musical ‘Porgy and Bess’
Friday, Jan 25, 7:30pm Austin Music Hall ZACH brings George Gershwin’s musical Porgy and Bess to the stage this season at the all new Austin Music Hall! Director Dave Steakley and ZACH’s artistic team are creating a re-envisioned staging of the classic in the style of the jazz and R&B recordings of legends Ray Charles,…
Relaxo This Weekend
A whole lotta shaking on the Eastsiiiiide.
Sony Bags ‘Baghead’
Sony bags Baghead
Texas a Wind-Power Machine
New American Wind Energy Association numbers show growth in Texas wind-power production.
Border Patrol Corruption Concerns
AFL-CIO group warns the border patrol is cutting corners to boost numbers.
Close Encounters of the Stephenville Kind
UFO watchers sighted in Stephenville.
Somebody Get Me a Shot
In 1980, May, I was 14. The Who at the Oakland Coliseum, on the Face Dances tour – first since Keith Moon’s death – no go. I begged and pleaded with my parents, but nada. I was remanded to their custody. By September, I’d turned 15, so the Cars at the same venue, Panorama tour,…
Monitoring Green-Ad Creep
How green was my advertising? A new Austin-based project sorts eco-fact from polluted promises.
Early in the Morning
So I gotta get up … for FOX 7’s Good Morning Austin
‘Porgy and Bess’: A Select Chronology
The history of Gershwin’s opera, from its conception in 1926 to its reinvention in Austin in 2008
In Print
Deborah Brenner’s book focuses on women in the U.S. wine industry
Off the Record
Daniel Johnston-inspired rock opera Speeding Motorcycle rolls into town with Kathy McCarty riding shotgun, Transmission Entertainment gains another foothold on Red River, and the Black & White Years get Real! In Color! with the Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison
Naked City
Quote of the Week “You know, there’s a first time for everything. I was struck by Council Member [Sheryl] Cole’s comments about … the first African-American city manager, and I certainly understand the significance of that. There always has to be a first in order for there to be a second. I understand that, and…
‘Fritz Haeg: Attack on the Front Lawn’: Activism disguised as art
Arthouse’s exhibition turns a lawn into a garden to get us thinking about where our food comes from
Restaurant Review
Primizie 1000 E. 11th #150, 236-0088 Monday-Friday, 11am-10pm; Saturday, 5-10pm; Sunday, 5-9pm www.primizieaustin.com Painted on the short, western wall of Primizie is a mural depicting a group of merry people quaffing wine and having a decidedly great time. Included in this scene is a dictionary definition of an osteria – a traditional meeting place for…
Phases & Stages
Pink Floyd Oh by the Way (Capitol/EMI) Trapped in a mirror on the front of Oh by the Way, the late Syd Barrett’s shadowy influence lingers long after his estrangement from Pink Floyd following the UK quartet’s playfully psychedelic 1967 debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Housing the band’s complete studio album discography,…
UT and VA Combine Forces to Study Brain Trauma in Iraq Vets
Hope to determine new, more effective treatments for soldiers returning from war
U2 3D
Feature-length, 3-D concert film of U2’s global Vertigo tour in 2006 was filmed at several shows. On the IMAX screen, these Irish rockers really rattle and hum.
‘Portrait of Allison’: Kid pix
For one night only, Allison Elementary School photography students show how they click on the world
Restaurant Review
Red Cap Chick 2510 S. Congress, 416-1134 Monday-Saturday, 10:30am-10pm; Sunday, 11:30am-9:30pm The letters KFC have a new meaning in Austin: Korean fried chicken, the food craze that took New York City by storm about a year ago, which is now colonizing the West Coast. The dish is yang nyum tong dalk, or seasoned fried chicken,…
Looking for ‘Real’ Democrats
A report from the endorsement circus
Hollywood 1, OCEAN 0
Former Dallas Cowboy wins big one – with special teams assist from City Council
Mad Money
Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes, and Queen Latifah as janitors at the Federal Reserve who plot the “recycling” of currency that is pegged for destruction.
see.hear.speak.three: They said ‘yes and’ and had a festival
ColdTowne’s comedy fest grew out of the fundamental improv principle of saying, ‘Yes, and …’
Dukes Under Siege
District 46 race pits veteran incumbent vs. newcomer Thompson
City Still Cleaning Up Waller
Two weeks after fuel-oil leak, city still cleaning up and checking creek for injured or poisoned wildlife
How She Move
She move something fierce in this low-budget Canadian crowd-pleaser about stepping.
Arts Review
Austin Playhouse’s production provides a pleasurable escape from our world of straight talk and minimal etiquette
Phases & Stages
MGMT Oracular Spectacular (Columbia) Disheveled Brooklynites Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser seem unlikely to offer up a scorching, beat-laden debut on a major label, but then the new millennium’s grooves have already been entrusted to an odd assortment of freaks and geeks. Slicing Bowie’s sound and vision with the bluest-eyed bits of Barry Gibb, Oracular…
The Early Money Race
Money can’t buy votes – but it sure can buy a lot of TV time. The latter is already in play in the district attorney’s race, a short-notice, high-speed contest born of District Attorney Ronnie Earle’s mid-December announcement that he would not seek re-election. While most other candidates for Travis County’s elected offices have been…
Newsdesk
Stalking Awareness Month, good; publicizing it at end of designated month, pointless
Teeth
Austin-shot horror pic about a girl who discovers that her naughty bits are bitey.
Arts Review
The first week brought packed houses, captivating shows, and the promise that the rest of the fest will be just as magical
Phases & Stages
Drive-By Truckers Brighter Than Creation’s Dark (New West) The Drive-By Truckers create albums that sprawl, epics not consumed one song at a time but full listening experiences that arc like a premium-cable-channel series. At 19 songs and more than 75 minutes, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark just barely slouches to excess, mainly because it finds the…
Endorsements
Who’s Zooming Who?
Election Notes
• Good news for Ron Paul fans: The Libertarian-friendly Republican presidential hopeful from Texas is the party’s No. 5 candidate in terms of delegates. He currently has six convention pledges (four from Nevada, two from Iowa). This means, going into the Florida primaries, he’s ahead of Rudy Giuliani, who only has two. Two other GOP…
Untraceable
This tepid, borderline-offensive cyber-serial-killer thriller rehashes both better and worse examples of the current, vapid clamor for so-called “torture porn.”
Arts Review
Good art creates believable stories in small spaces, and that’s what this Else Madsen exhibition does
Phases & Stages
Rogue Wave Asleep at Heaven’s Gate (Brushfire) The difference between Rogue Wave’s third LP and their second, 2005’s Descended Like Vultures (Sub Pop), is clear from the first note of the opening track, “Harmonium.” Where earlier “Bird on a Wire” swooped and swayed melodically, the Asleep at Heaven’s Gate kick-off starts out with an allegro-paced…
Day Trips
The National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg is a must-visit for World War II buffs
Seaholm East
Council passes resolution establishing ‘guiding vision and policy principles’ for two large city-owned tracts in redevelopment district
Readings
Brooklyn is a place that demands to be understood literarily, whether the literature of choice is Walt Whitman’s or Jay-Z’s
Phases & Stages
Ween La Cucaracha (Chocodog/Rounder) Half the fun of listening to Ween is trying to discern how much gravitas informs their strange and singular musical ambiguity song by song. Next to 2003’s comparatively straight-shooting Quebec, Ween’s first studio album in four years is flush with quick right turns. It’s easy enough to ferret out intentions when…
Page Two: Welcome to the Funhouse
Republicans’ rhetorical sleight of hand has allowed them to distort this country’s founding principles while seeming to uphold them
Happenings
Jan. 24-30
Readings
Meet the Pulpwood Queens and Kathy L. Patrick, Texas’ answer to Oprah and perhaps just as important a name in the word biz
Phases & Stages
Cat Power Jukebox (Matador) Chan Marshall possesses one of music’s most evocative voices even when she and her musical arrangements aren’t always up to the material at hand. Jukebox follows the soulful turn of 2006’s The Greatest, cueing up an uneven sequel to the hushed acoustics of 2000’s The Covers Record. A slow funk opening…
Playing Through
Wondering why the Longhorns are playing just as well without Kevin Durant as they were with him, economist David Berri knows why
Nice Knobs
It’s Amazing What a Few Well-Placed Knobs and Switches Can Do for an Environment
The Common Law
Texas Homestead Exemption – Does It Apply to Me?
Phases & Stages
Babyshambles Shotter’s Nation (Astralwerks) Not even the Clash’s Mick Jones, who hosted both Libertines albums into Britshod culthood, could salvage Babyshambles’ gutter bound 2005 debut LP, Down in Albion. Free of his former band’s birthplace, Pete Doherty now exacts revenge on Shotter’s Nation, whose opening briar “Carry on up the Morning” rings instantly Libertine, as…
Soccer Watch
Austin has a new professional soccer franchise, the Aztex
Blind Items
With plantation window coverings, you’ll never squint again
After a Fashion
Stephen finagles and whines. And you don’t even have to read all the way through to the end of the column to get to that part.
Phases & Stages
The Hives The Black and White Album (A&M/Octane) Despite uneven attempts to branch beyond their explosive pop-punk, the Hives’ fourth full-length ultimately delivers the goods. Lesser bands would kill for just one number as charged and catchy as “Tick Tick Boom,” but the impeccably dressed Swedish quintet boasts several. “Try It Again” is jet-propelled by…
Point Austin: Gift Horse
A rich guy wants to give AISD $7 million. What’s the catch?
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
ee-through frogs, Hugh Hefner’s peacocks and spider monkeys, and more
The Hightower Report
Facts for Action on Health Care; and Paying the Price for NAFTA
Beside the Point
New city manager gets point-blank barrel blast of Austin democracy
The Garden of Good & Better
The Chronicle’s Nod to LIVING SOUTHERN
Oops
As Food Editor Virginia Wood says, off with my head. There was a miscommunication between myself and Kobrand, the importers of the wonderful Christian Moueix wines I wrote about last week. They should be available widely, but they won’t be in Austin until late April. Sad as I am about the delay, they are worth…
This Kitty’s Got Claws
Teeth tears into everything from abstinence programs to rape culture. Is Austin grownup enough to handle it?
Dinosaur-Track Rescue Mission Under Way at UT … Slowly
Bureaucratic hurdles not withstanding, legendary fossils could soon have new home.
Show Us Your Bulbs
Recycling Artists Take New Orleans Trash and Make Illuminating Mardi Gras Treasure
Jazzin’ Up Catfish Row
After 70 years, Zach creates a Porgy and Bess for Austin
Event Menu
Jan. 26-Feb. 3
Tradition in Transition
Previewing the Austin Jewish Film Festival
City Council Election
While most political eyes remain focused on the national and March 4 Texas primaries, and the May 10 municipal election is months away, City Council candidates are already raising money and their public profiles – and broadcasting the results. The Jan. 15 deadline to report funds raised last year turned into a PR battle for…
Pinkies High
Elegant or Funky, Tea Sets Spiff Up Any Decor
Greg Bolin: Non-Austin Austin Composer
The score on rescoring Porgy and Bess
Food-o-File
Health Department cracks down on temporary food-service establishments
DVD Watch
Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen’s collaboration produced 12 fantastic films in 26 years and a profound influence on the likes of Spielberg and Lucas
Downtown Mural Awaits a New Home
Rescue mission in works for Seymour Fogel mural filling wall on second story of former tax office
Nice Knobs
It’s Amazing What a Few Well-Placed Knobs and Switches Can Do for an Environment
George Gershwin: From the Alley to the Concert Hall
A brief look at the life of the composer of Porgy and Bess
In Print
Iron Chef and restaurateur Masaharu Morimoto
TV Eye
TV without a net … or at least a script
Cross-Border Craziness
Judge says feds can take Eagle Pass land for fence, and more
Blind Items
With plantation window coverings, you’ll never squint again
Gay Galveston Celebrates Tonight
Tonight, the Krewe of Banner rules out over the waves
The Mardi Gras Trail
Design your own Mardi Gras adventure with these links.
Luv Doc Recommends: Austin Air Sex Championships
You might be tempted to question the wisdom of Alamo Drafthouse in preceding their Air Sex Championships this Saturday night with a screening of There Will Be Blood. The bill sounds a little “dark ages” – as if the air sex competitors have to hoist a stained sheet to prove they’ve consummated their imaginary act.…
