Cover Story
The New Texas Family Planning
Slashed budgets and anti-abortion politics undermine women’s health care
The Man With Two Heads
The Man With Two Heads 1972, PG, 80 min. Directed by Andy Milligan, Starring Denis DeMarne, Gay Feld, Julia Stratton, Jaqueline Lawrence. Cult auteur Andy Milligan was a Staten Island Ed Wood, whose films usually delved into sexploitation and horror. The Man With Two Brains is a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde takeoff that includes…
New York Doll
New York Doll 2005, PG-13, 75 min. Directed by Greg Whiteley. Arthur “Killer” Kane, the bass player for the legendary New York Dolls, transformed from punk alcoholic to born-again Mormon. He reunites with his old band after 30 years, as the film reveals a man searching for redemption. Includes lots of interviews with rockers and…
Arts Review
Along with the sneakers and toys it sells, Motive 807 shows art, and most of it is really fresh and funny, like the current eight-artist show ‘Three Snaps Up’
Texas Platters
The GourdsHeavy Ornamentals (Eleven Thirty) Now eight albums in, the Gourds’ Sabine River-centric mash of rock, country, swamp pop, Southern soul, and Zydeco continues packing a kinky good vibe. Over 13 languidly woven tracks, Heavy Ornamentals huffs and puffs with a beery-breathed, deeply rooted soul force that comes from a perfect storm of passion and…
Texas Platters
Heroes Return Prophets (Pretend Agenda) Ambitious San Marcos hip-hop collective Heroes springboards from an old-school sensibility that’s grounded in the promise of A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory. Valuing free-flow over hooks, Return Prophets showcases solid, expansive skills that would benefit from a sharper focus. That said, anyone who draws on both Paul…
Point Austin: Beside the Point
This week’s council agenda
The Matador
A curious, postmodern sort of buddy comedy, The Matador is like Death of a Salesman if Willy Loman had been a contract killer.
Readings
Overload, onward …
Texas Platters
White Ghost Shivers Live on the Radio (Chicken Ranch) Pinwheeling their vaudevillian delivery to Western swing, bluegrass, hot jazz, blues, hillbilly, and ragtime, Austin’s White Ghost Shivers have proven themselves a formidable live band over the last half-dozen years. Performance prowess has garnered the local octet live radio spots, a loyal following for their Halloween…
Texas Platters
Secular End Revenge of the Phoenix (Cellar Door) Phoenix transplants Secular End poke and prod at pop-punk’s cathartic essence from a variety of angles on their debut. The catchy “Machines Are Slowly Taking Over My Pulse” adds a New Wave quirk to the mix, “Hey Judas” proffers a Black Francis sneer, and “Make Believe” takes…
The Hightower Report
Bush tries to squelch democracy; and the scandal is deeper than Abramoff
Transamerica
Felicity Huffman’s commanding, gender-bending performance is the primary reason to see Transamerica.
News/Print
2006: Year of the Bird; plus, the Dobie Paisano deadline is upon you, and a big month at Barnes & Noble Arboretum
Texas Platters
Boxcar PreachersAuto-Body Experience On their sophomore effort, the Boxcar Preachers’ brand of old-time bluegrass music is played judiciously and with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, there are aspects of the local ensemble’s methodology that seem forced, at times clichéd, which while engaging live are simply disagreeable on album. They claim kinship with the likes of the Gourds and…
Runnin’ With the Wolf
One man takes on the used-game business model
Page Two: Earth, Stones, and Thorns of the Wild Ground Growing
“In my hour of darkness, in my time of need,” as Gram Parsons prayed, I often just want quiet and coolness: a state such that, even with eyes open, it is as though they are shut. I hardly feel attached to my body. I’m in the most limited contact possible with the ever annoying I…
Texas Platters
Bun BBack Room, Jan. 22 Anticipation heightened late Sunday evening as armchair quarterbacks wagered on whether the newly-paroled Pimp C would be joining his UGK counterpart Bun B at the Back Room. Ultimately, Houston’s stately rapper (pictured left) went it alone, focusing on his 2005 solo debut, Trill. Bun’s 30-minute set drew from a full…
Texas Health Care by the Numbers
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, Texas has one of the “worst records” of preventative health care for women in the entire nation. Here are few of the low-lights: • Texas ranks No. 52 among the states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico for the…
Player’s Guide
Will Wynn represents for the Austin gaming industry (kind of), and Richard Garriott gets the hall-of-fame treatment
After a Fashion
Stephen gets caught, wants to buy Drew a bra, and is already picking out his attire for the Texas Film Hall of Fame
Texas Platters
The Paul Green School of Rock music presents ‘The Wall’Redrum, Jan. 20 Seeing 15 children clad in black with matching red armbands perform Pink Floyd’s classic The Wall is surreal enough, but witnessing their parents singing along as a full house puts it all in perspective. The Paul Green School of Rock Music has been…
Democrats Unite Behind Howard for District 48
GOP uncertain how to approach run-off
Punk, Puppets, and Manson as Messiah
John Roecker on ‘Live Freaky! Die Freaky!’
To Your Health
Magnesium taurate has considerable potential as a nutritional supplement, since both magnesium and taurine supplements improve a number of health conditions
Texas Platters
Big Chief Kevin Goodman & the Flaming ArrowsRed Eyed Fly, Jan. 19 With hurricane winds scattering tribes westward, Mardi Gras Indians find themselves reinstating their festive customs here in Austin. Founded by his father in 1963, Big Chief Kevin Goodman’s troupe of Flaming Arrows translates second-line traditions to the funk format as they run through…
Big Ben Goes Bust
District 48 election by the numbers
In Play
Take control of an elite cadre of players, but be warned: This tournament is more than mere baseball
The Common Law
Dos and don’ts of courtroom conduct
Texas Platters
Austin Jazz WorkshopBig Boss Tenor (Ausjazz Music) The Austin Jazz Workshop may have the most important gig in town: bringing jazz into area public schools. Big Boss Tenor is a culmination of their 11th season, which celebrated Tough Texas Tenors; in this instance, the long horns belong to AJW mastermind Mike Melinger and the ubiquitous…
District 48
Who lives in District 48? A statistical breakdown.
In Play
Sid Meier puts the player in the role of Supreme Leader
Day Trips
The family-owned Dixondale Farms of Carrizo Springs is the largest and oldest producer of onion plants in the U.S.
Texas Platters
The Weird WeedsHold Me (Digitalis) Somehow, the Weird Weeds are catchy. As disjointed and abrupt as their songs are, there’s a common thread through their elegiac melodies. The local threesome employs an interesting dynamic of calculated sound vs. noise. Noirish opener “Paratrooper Seed” leads into the jagged drumming of Nick Hennies (who recently played with…
Capital Metro Strike Threat Looms
Despite citizen efforts to intervene, negotiations have not progressed
Film News
Bob Hudgins, successor of Tom Copeland at the Texas Film Commission, isn’t wasting any time; plus, Andrew Shapter, Lunafest, and more
Soccer Watch
The U.S. women come out on top in the Four Nations championship, and more
Texas Platters
Attic TedHemogoblin (Pecan Crazy) The masked marauders of San Marcos-bred Attic Ted are a warble-laden curiosity best experienced live and in your face. That said, Hemogoblin is an invigorating demonstration of the backhanded prowess that holds all their deep-fried layers of noise together. Dissonant strains of country, goth, punk, and psychedelic collide and bind to…
Naked City
Headlines and Happenings from Austin and Beyond
DVD Watch
SAM PECKINPAH’S LEGENDARY WESTERNS COLLECTION Warner Home Video, $59.95 Alfred Hitchcock might have treated his actors like cattle, but it took a demented iconoclast like Sam Peckinpah to actually pull a gun on them. Brilliant, mercurial, hard-drinking, violent, and by all accounts an impossible human being, he was arguably the greatest director of Westerns since…
Of Cactuses, Crickets, and Cars
Cataloguing the diverse wonders of FronteraFest Long Fringe 2006
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
No free hula
Texas Platters
The Handsome CharliesGentlemen Never Tell (I Eat Records) Bands rise and fall on poker faces, going to great lengths to avoid being accused of trying too hard. Discernible effort flirts dangerously with being uncool, and the ladies certainly don’t like that. So, for Austin’s Handsome Charlies, the challenge is maintaining their carefully crafted suit-and-tie posture…
The Mad Parent PAC Funding Report
Texas Parent PAC reports raising nearly $56,000 since starting up six months ago
TV Eye
Why ‘Love Monkey,’ the newest ‘Sex and the City’ knockoff, might succeed where others failed
TCB
Danny Crooks licks hep C, Banana Blender backs Chuck B, a fistful of talented new bands emerges, and Texans dominate XM Radio. Christmas comes early.
Oops!
In last week’s “2006 State Races,” the boundaries of State Board of Education District 10 were described as going from Austin “east to College Station.” Actually, District 10 only goes east to Burleson County, just shy of College Station.
Texas Platters
AssacreFantastic Illusions Worth Dying For (Awthum) Assacre is but one man, but he wails like a metal symphony: thrashing guitar riffs interspersed with teeth-chattering beats and disturbing glimpses of humanity. Prog metal meets performance art. This full-length debut gnashes windmill hair with gay porn without being overly ironic. The title track, a drugged-out “Star-Spangled Banner,”…
Hurricane Housing Limbo
Evacuees get rent assistance deadline extension
Underworld: Evolution
This tale of the ongoing hostilities between vampires and werewolves is pockmarked by the discordant likes of Puscifer and Slipknot.
Mozart’s Birthday
With a special lecture and three concerts of his music in Austin, Wolfgang Amadeus won’t be hurting for recognition of his 250th birthday this week
Revelatory Vegan
Marvelling at Nu Age Cafe’s ambitious but uneven menu
Texas Platters
The Applicators I Know the Truth Fully fleshed and song-savvy, the Applicators’ second album is a wild ride that accents the quintet’s road-honed punk chops with snap-crackle production and unabashed emotion. Vocalist Sabrina Applicator is a siren embodying the venom and longing of everything she spits. The ill-winded “My Weapon” resonates with latter-day Dee Dee…
Homeless Tangled in Net of Stolen Property Sting
Homeless advocates cry foul over APD’s Operation Out of the Box, which netted more than a dozen suspects for allegedly buying stolen property
Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation 2006
Know this going in: Sex and violence are the currency of Spike & Mike’s gory, twisted economy.
Sharir+Bustamante Danceworks
For its first concert of 2006, Sharir+Bustamante Danceworks not only showed off new dances, it let the audience question their creators about how they were made
Nubian Queen Lola’s Cajun Kitchen
Lola Stephens feels she’s blessed to have her cafe open, but trust us: Austin diners are the ones who are blessed
Texas Platters
Belhome A View of the Woods (Built) Commingling richly textured strains of Americana with just a hint of gothic despair, Belhome’s sound has staying power. A View of the Woods starts strong with “Before We Drown,” a sprightly pop song that cinches the deal with Andrea Couch’s violin. Overlong songs cause momentum to wane, but…
Public and Trustees Blast AISD ‘Repurposing’ Plan
Speed and lack of public input criticized in hearings
End of the Spear
Members of the violent Waodani tribe of Ecuador kill five Western missionaries, but as a result they choose to abandon their kill-or-be-killed ways.
Karen Mason
‘Sweetest of Nights’ isn’t just the title of Karen Mason’s new CD, it’s what you can expect from the musical sensation’s Austin Cabaret Theatre appearance
Chantilly Bakery Cafe
Irwan and Sandra Ojong have a nice surprise for you in South Austin
Texas Platters
The Casting Couch Row Your Boat (I Eat Records) Make room at the table for the Casting Couch. Athens, GA. emigré Wendy Mitchell pits her stew of lyrical switchbacks up against a piquant blend of post-graduate pop and erudite twang to deliver a punch. The Couch’s elaborate, frayed-suit arrangements incorporate horns, accordion, steel guitar, and…
Stratus Busted for Runoff Pollution at Future AMD Site
Activists say early problems foretell future of construction over aquifer
Bubble
Steven Soderbergh’s Bubble is likely to be remembered as the adequate but unspectacular first volley in Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner’s modern experiment in vertical film integration.
Arts Review
For an evening that included a mutilated cat, a self-loathing writer, and selling one’s soul, the second Thursday at the 2006 FronteraFest Short Fringe proved surprisingly upbeat
Food-o-File
The Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival ditches ‘Saveur’ and Capital Sports & Entertainment; plus, King Arthur Flour proves that whatever didn’t kill carbs made them stronger
Texas Platters
Condition of Sale We Are Your New Gods EP Condition of Sale’s five-song firestorm of full-throttle art punk is a short but promising debut. Informed by forebears like the Jesus Lizard and Didjits, the local trio bursts forth on the title track with a malevolent proclamation of rock divinity. The harrowing sermon “She Said” is…
Preservation Politics Progress?
Proposed local historic districts would give neighborhoods some architectural and planning control.
Annapolis
Annapolis is a thick but hardly meaty slice of old-school Hollywood hokum.
Arts Review
‘House’ and ‘Garden,’ Alan Ayckbourn’s coupled comedies performed in tandem by a single cast, is really one show divided between two stages
The Lone Ranger
The legend of Jerry Lynn Williams
Texas Platters
The Cooties Circle Circle Dot Dot The Cooties describe themselves as “hopelessly quirky,” but that assessment is a bit harsh. The trio’s rudimentary pop riffs burrow deep into the earwax on topical digressions like “Ball” and “Bee,” and their helium-enhanced harmonies have a skewed late-night charm all their own. It might not yet be substantial…
Point Austin: Town Lake ‘Chinatown’?
Bill Moriarty’s lawsuit against the city opens a can of worms on contracting, conflicts, and a good ol’ boy network of city contractors
Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee is something of a rarity: a movie for children that is about children and their world.
Luv Doc Recommends: Fronterafest Short Fringe Best of the Week
It would be a serious chain yank to tell you that you’re going to love everything you see at the Best of the Week FronteraFest show Saturday night at the Hyde Park Theatre. There will be ugliness. There will be a few gaffes, bloopers, and outtakes. There will be quiet, awkward moments when the dramatic…
