Silver Wheels3
” I hate being categorized as the Queen of Darkness,” Betty Elders laughs. “It was fun for a while, but let’s move on, shall we?” It would seem she has. The last time we looked in on the Austin singer/songwriter, the dark role came upon her pretty naturally – she was still struggling with the…
Treasure Hunting
For as long as I can remember caring at all, I’ve gravitated toward a lean aesthetic. Canvases chosen carefully, displayed with plenty of clean wall behind them, each one treated like royalty in his or her own court. I’m not a scavenger, happy to peruse back rooms in search of the forgotten masterpiece, the mislaid…
The Information Dirt Road
Rock & roll and computers – they would seem to go together as well the Grateful Dead and a caffeine injection! Both are the realms of outcasts, certainly, but out- casts of two different stripes altogether. Just imagining a straw-maned guitar hero, clad in frayed jeans and a dirty M�t�rhead T-shirt, slouching at a desk…
And to Top It Off…
New Classic Desserts by Andrew MacLauchlan VanNostrand Reinhold, $39.95 hard The publisher gladly rushed me a review copy of this new book when I explained to them that Coyote Cafe would be opening an Austin location. Author MacLauchlan was the executive pastry chef at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago when the book was written, but has…
Council Watch
The regular council salary of $30,000 a year and a full-time job on the side apparently isn’t nearly enough for some councilmembers. According to city records, a firm partially owned by Eric Mitchell is slated to reap a cut as a subcontractor for a project administered by the city’s aviation department. This, despite prohibitions in…
Two for the Read
Cowboy Angst by Jasen Emmons Soho Press $20 hard While the catchy title had me eager to read this book, it wasn’t long before I realized it had been sadly misnamed. Cowboy Ennui would have been more accurate or, better yet, Wimp Factor Ten. Never have I encountered such a wishy-washy milquetoast of a protagonist.…
Naked City
Edited by Louisa C. Brinsmade, with contributions this week by Roseana Auten, Nelson England, and Alex de Marban. REP. SUSAN COMBS RESIGNING EARLY? A story in theOak Hill Gazette on July 6 reported that Republican State Representative Susan Combs will resign her post early, possibly in anticipation of an appointment by Governor George Bush. Combs…
Leader of the Pack
A little less than a month ago, Mark Miller, one of America’s most famous chefs, opened the Coyote Cafe at 612 West Sixth Street in downtown Austin, thereby becoming the first “celebrity chef” to venture into the Austin market. Miller is best known for bringing chile peppers into the mainstream of American cooking. His Great…
Dawson: Birth of a Neighborhood
With more than 1,100 households within its boundaries, the year-old Dawson Neighborhood Association (DNA) could be the subject of a lot of differ- ent stories. But for now, and for most of its existence, the focus of DNA’s attentions has been right here, on the north side of a bridge over East Bouldin Creek, at…
Eva Destruction
I was touched to learn that the ever-glamourous Eva Gabor, of Green Acres fame, died July 4 at age 74. In 1981, at the age of 18, I began a two-year stint as a “techie” in a Houston dinner theatre with a production of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, starring Miss Gabor as Elvira. I still…
TxDOT Hopes for the Best
“As far as the highway department is concerned, this is a drainage ditch.” Dawson Neighborhood Association president Donald Jay Dodson gestures over the side of the box culvert bridge on El Paso Street to the meandering flow of water called East Bouldin Creek. Dodson is probably right. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) installed an…
Follies Faithfuls
by Robert Faires They love to laugh. Often. More than anything, that’s why they visit that corner of Sixth Street again and again. The Follies always make them laugh. They are the Esther’s regulars, the hardcore fans of Austin’s musical comedy revue, the ones who have seen Shannon Sedwick and crew dozens of times, who…
Live Music Recommended
Backyard, Friday 14 I’ve always said that if country artists with mainstream potential just stick to their guns, eventually they’ll be able to call their own shots. Krauss was offered many seats aboard the Nashville train, and she turned them down and stayed with Rounder. Now her greatest hits collection, Now That I’ve Found You,…
Scanlines
CHICKEN HAWK D: Adi Sideman. Film Threat Video This controversial documentary, which details the inner workings of pedophile support group NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association) and five of its members, is a deeply engaging, if troubling, piece of work – not only because of its lurid content, but because of the intelligence, humor, and…
Show Times
Showtimes listed below start Friday, July 14 and cover the week ending Thursday, July 20. *An asterisk (*) before a title means that no passes or special admission discounts (apart from matinee discounts) will be accepted for any screening. *Parentheses indicate weekend showtimes for Saturdays and Sundays only, unless otherwise noted. *Changes may sometimes occur,…
Live at the Apollo 13
Hollywood, we have a problem. At least we had a problem until The Bridges of Madison County and Apollo 13 cleared the studio gantries. There can be little argument that the first part of this movie summer was a struggle. But our patience in slogging through Crimson Tide, Congo,Casper,Die Hard With a Vengeance,Outbreak,Pocahontas, and the…
Day Trips
The Prince Solms Inn looks like it could be the oldest continuously operated inn in Texas, as the innkeepers claim. But inside the weathered, yellow brick New Braunfels building, the ambiance radiates a simple elegance that can only be claimed by the best bed-and-breakfast establishments. Built in 1898, the two-story inn has kept up with…
Coach’s Corner
by Andy “Coach” Cotton To flee the smothering heat of the comedy critic’s luxurious garden retreat in the prestigious “04” area of town, aka South Austin, someone suggested we go to the Laff Stop. The critic promised to pull strings for a “reduced cover charge.” It was, after all, her “beat.” It was the comedy…
Betty Elders
Crayons (Flying Fish) After declaring Elders to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, and pleading with the “major” folk labels to pick her up, I’m now put in the uncomfortable position of being less than blown away by her debut for such a label. I hate to subscribe to that old theory of misery…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows…
Seals can hold their breath for as long as 90 minutes. Every minute some place on the planet, a child dies because of Vitamin A deficiency. A year’s supply of Vitamin A for one child is four cents. There are more Muslims in the United States than there are Presbyterians. The first bagel was made…
Live Shots
KING VALENTINE OCTET Cedar Street, July 2 If ever there was a fast jazz ship going in harm’s way, King Valentine is it. These guys lay down a keel of Dixieland and sinister night music, then loom up quickly at flank speed. In one typical selection, trumpeter Emphraim Owens trills and peals then negotiates octave…
Hearth & Soul
Of Idiots and Aliens Dear Suzy, I’ve been reading your column and enjoying the hell out of it. I’ve also been engaged in the supposedly simple task of removing wallpaper from my bathroom and then it came to me… ask Suzy. Okay, the stuff was glued onto the wall, which is that stuff that looks…
Film
LITTLE ODESSAD: James Gray; with Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Moira Kelly, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximilian Schell. So austerely realized that it seems cold to the touch, Little Odessa fittingly harks back to the great themes in Russian literature, to familiar stories of fathers and sons and to tales of unhappy families. A hit man, estranged from…
Bonus Tracks
SANTIAGO JIM�NEZ, JR. M�sica de Tiempos Pasados, del Presente, y Futuro (Watermelon) If ever there was an accordion dynasty, it would have to be the Jim�nez triumvirate founded by the late Santiago Jim�nez, Sr. Although no longer with us, he left two capable sons to carry on the squeeze-box banner. The elder son, Leonardo “Flaco”…
Conjunto Pesado, Not Pescado
Heavy-duty conjunto has been happening at Parque Zaragoza since at least the Forties – the oak-riddled park was, in fact, deeded to the City of Austin in 1931. Elders in the largely Chicano neighborhood extending east from I-35 long Seventh Street will tell you that the “plataforma” (platform dance floor) stood in the center of…
Dancing About Architecture
There’s a bit of room to spare in the column this week, so I thought I’d take advantage of that fact and give you a bit of a personal update on myself. No, I don’t mean a list of my favorite foods (popcorn), hobbies (movies) and stance on sex in the movies (“Don’t like it;…
