Postscripts
Harry Potter is driving Books editor Clay Smith crazy. It’s the publisher’s fault.
A Taste of Summer
Trout of a Lifetime Any fisherman will tell you that angling is for the sport, the camaraderie, the fun. They all say that competition is secondary. Sure, many fishing trips involve friendly wagering for “first,” “biggest,” “most.” But that day, several summers ago, it was for blood. I was “in the zone” — catching everything…
Record Reviews
Lil Band O Gold(Shanachie) A Louisiana supergroup of sorts, Lil Band O Gold has produced a debut that faithfully re-creates the sound of swamp pop’s heyday. The band consists of accordionist Steve Riley of the Mamou Playboys, guitarist C.C. Adcock, veteran swamp pop drummer Warren Storm, Richard Comeaux of country act River Road, File’s pianist…
Video Reviews
Dog ParkD: Bruce McCulloch (1999); with Luke Wilson, Natasha Henstridge, Bruce McCulloch, Janeane Garafolo, Mark McKinney. Every generation has had some form of singles fad. The Seventies had bars. The Eighties saw a rise in gym memberships. The Nineties? Well, toward the end of the decade, a clever concept called the “dog park” emerged. Here,…
Off the Bookshelf
Marie Antoinette The Last Queen of France by Evelyne Lever Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 352 pp., $30 This Marie Antoinette is not the empty-headed, arrogant fashion plate of yesteryear. This is a new and improved Marie Antoinette — a lovely girl, really, who was an innocent victim of the machinations of her neglectful husband, scheming…
A Taste of Summer
Peach Season On the second Saturday in June, I went to the farmers market for the first time this year. It’s always a happy reunion — with the farmers who show up faithfully year after year, with Saturday-morning shopping friends I hadn’t seen in a while, and with the luscious, locally grown vegetables and fruit.…
Record Reviews
Hank PennyCrazy Rhythm/The Standard Transcriptions (Bloodshot/Soundies) People tend to think of music from the Forties and Fifties as falling readily into clear-cut categories, but that wasn’t always true. With Hank Penny, that was anything but the case. Penny had a reputation as a stubborn misfit, making music that no one could easily pigeonhole, and his…
Video Reviews
Pushing TinD: Mike Newell (1999); with John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, Jake Weber, Kurt Fuller, Vicki Lewis. Great cast, great concept, great dialogue, even great scenes, and all in all, Pushing Tin is a very mediocre movie. In the absurdly high-pressure world of air-traffic controllers, Nick Falzone (Cusack) is the star…
Off the Bookshelf
Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman Random House, 454 pp., $29.95 Foremost in fashion, influential in politics, well-educated, cultured — there seemed little the inordinately popular and beautiful Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, Diana Spencer’s great-great-great-great aunt, could not do — except maintain the interest of her husband. In 1774, when Georgiana was betrothed to…
A Taste of Summer
Pasties of the Upper Peninsula The summers of my early childhood were highlighted by our annual pilgrimage to the shores of Lake Michigan on that state’s Upper Peninsula. For the vast majority of people who haven’t experienced the “U.P.,” as the locals call it, it’s a heavily wooded, thinly populated tract of the U.S. that…
When Cable Attacks!
Once upon a time, having cable meant gaining access to a whole new world of information and entertainment: music videos, 24-hour news, and movies you could actually stand to watch, before there was a Blockbuster on every corner, before most people even had VCRs. Today, cable is more likely to conjure the same kind of…
TV Eye
Television’s latest phenomenon Big Brother is here — and it couldn’t be more boring; also, Freaks &Geeks finds a home, and Austin at Issue introduces us to new council members.
Off the Bookshelf
The Royal House of Monaco Dynasty of Glamour, Tragedy and Scandal by John Glatt St. Martin’s, 320 pp., $7.99 (paper) More aptly titled The Fall of the Royal House of Monaco, this book is about the people for whom the term “Euro-trash” was coined. No, I don’t mean our beloved Princess Grace but her children…
Food-o-File
Virginia B. Wood surveys some local restaurateur’s recent offerings.
Broken News
Times Warner’s struggling news channel lashes out at defectors
Third World Cop
Third World Cop 1999, R, 98 min. Directed by Chris Browne, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Paul Campbell, Mark Danvers, Winston “Bello” Bell, Audrey Reid, Carl Bradshaw, Lenford Salmon, Desmond Ballentine. In all likelihood, few of us would be able to name any Jamaican movie other than Perry Henzell and Jimmy Cliff’s The…
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests.
Chief Priest of the Shrine
The epic life story of Nigerian soul superstar Fela Kuti.
Leininger Unplugged
Bad management and drug tests lead to txn’s demise.
Blood Simple: The Director’s Cut
Blood Simple: The Director’s Cut 2000, R, 97 min. Directed by Joel Coen, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Samm-Art Williams, M. Emmet Walsh, Dan Hedaya, Frances Mcdormand, John Getz. Back in the early Eighties when, film-wise at least, Texas was best known for its urban cowboys and best little whorehouses, there came along…
Page Two
The time has come to talk of Alex Jones. When the Chronicle editorial staff first considered how to cover the ongoing controversy at Austin Community Access Center (ACAC) regarding Jones, there was almost a consensus not to do it. The feeling was that regardless of what we said about Jones it would empower him, helping…
Dancing About Architecture
The ins and outs of Sixteen Deluxe; Josh Cisneros has a couple clubs he hopes will save Austin music.
The Reel World
Korey Coleman started The Reel Deal as a scam; he ended up with a show.
I’m the One That I Want
I’m the One That I Want 2000, NR, 96 min. Directed by Lionel Coleman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Margaret Cho. Stand-up comedian Margaret Cho makes fun of her mother … a little bit. When Cho leans her head back at a disapproving angle, her eyes narrow to slits and her mouth turns…
Public Notice
Whoa! More nun action from your friends at Public Notice, plus,more opportunities for you to support good causes.
Record Reviews
B.B. KingMaking Love Is Good for You (MCA)B.B. King & Eric ClaptonRiding With the King (Reprise)Jimmy Page & the Black CrowesLive at the Greek (TVT) The King is dead, long live the King. While it’s true, Making Love Is Good for You, many are those who have expired in the arms of their carnal consorts.…
All Access: ACAC Then and Now
An independent producer at Austin Community Access Center since 1981, Kirk Hunter has seen his share of characters. “Lots of people go through there and they have their dreams,” he says, and then laughs. He remembers Dean Langston’s call-in show Austin Hotline, and the time so many viewers tried to phone in at once that…
The Big Blue: The Director’s Cut
The Big Blue: The Director’s Cut NR, 163 min. Directed by Lionel Coleman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Margaret Cho. Included in the spate of summer re-releases is this 1988 Luc Besson film about competitive deep-sea diving. The Big Blue concerns itself with some big themes, like the love between a man and…
After a Fashion
TAKE A HINT The smartest, funniest and most in-the-know online fashion magazine is Hintmag.com. I have been a fan for quite some time now, but have failed to mention it on purpose — I considered it a private source of information that should remain confidential. But, having never been able to keep a secret, I’m…
Record Reviews
Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, Volume Four(Revenant) Like Joe Gould, the eccentric vagabond that writer Joseph Mitchell brought to life in the pages of The New Yorker, Harry Smith lived on the fringes of society despite a larger-than-life reputation. Smith was similarly prone to making wild claims about his life and work, yet…
Media Clips
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones fields allegations that he’s been stifling free expression on Austin Cable Access television.
Luminarias
Luminarias 2000, R, 98 min. Directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Cheech Marin, Robert Beltran, Lupe Ontiveros, Dyana Ortelli, Angela Moya, Marta Dubois, Scott Bakula, Evelina Fernandez. Watching Luminarias is like going to a really great party. With wonderful music, interesting characters, and lots of laughter, this picture feels…
Mr. Smarty Pants
There are 43,560 square feet in an acre.King George VI of England kept a revolver at his side in case the Nazis invaded. He was planning to defend Buckingham Palace to the death.The total weight of the Dunkin’ Donuts coffee served in one year is greater than the weight of one million African elephants.Elisha Gray…
Record Reviews
Bob NeuwirthHavana Midnight (Motor Diesel) In the summer of 1998, Bob Neuwirth took a trip to Cuba. Neuwirth, who in his 40 years as an artist has worked with the likes of Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Kris Kristofferson, and T-Bone Burnett among others, visited the island country to collaborate with Jose Maria Vitier. A composer…
Access Denied
Charlie Sotelo’s ACAC program The Show With No Name has long been one of the flagship shows on Austin’s access television, and certainly one of the most original to come out of local TV in years. Its eclectic mix of obscure film clips, old commercials, and Bill Hicks arcana is uniquely Austin, and caters to…
X-Men
X-Men 2000, PG-13, 104 min. Directed by Bryan Singer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Anna Paquin, Ray Park, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Tyler Mane, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, Ian Mckellen, Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart. It’s inspired casting indeed to plug Shakespearean greats Stewart and McKellen into the (literally) comic-book roles of…
Second Helpings: American Cafes, Part Three
Chronicle writer Greg Beets dishes out the third installment of Austin’s American cafes.
Day Trips
Richland-Chambers Reservoir has been a well-kept secret with fishermen for the past 17 years. Although it is the third-largest lake in the state, it doesn’t attract the vast number of visitors that some of the smaller lakes endure over a weekend. “We’re the least-polluted and least-known of the Texas lakes,” says G.W. Atkerson at Fisherman’s…
Record Reviews
Ann Dyer & No Good Time FairiesRevolver: A New Spin (Premonition) A new spin, indeed. San Francisco-based Ann Dyer is not your run-of-the-mill jazz singer. One earful of her self-titled, self-released debut on her own Mr. Brown imprint a few years back was quite enough for critics to sit up and take notice. Enough so,…
Naked City
State employees get the shaft again; the last vacancy in the pool of City Council aides has been filled; the Austin Lesbian/Gay Political Caucus is giving Dr. Laura some guff.
Nailing the Market
The next time you go out to eat, keep an eye out for the work of Austin artist Elizabeth Guenthner. She’s showing in almost every cafe where it’s possible to display art, and her works’ precise, distinctly disturbing beauty is simply transcendent.
Coach’s Corner
Pat Cash tried to impugn the Williams sisters’ Wimbledon accomplishment, but they’re bigger than him and that simpering Chris Evert put together.
Record Reviews
Sinéad O’ConnorFaith and Courage (Atlantic) The gift that is Sinéad O’Connor’s voice comes wrapped in her stiff and sometimes baffling politics. The gift is unhampered by that awkward packaging and indeed would take much more to diminish its glorious power. Nonetheless, O’Connor’s politics precede her talent and she has no one to blame but herself.…
Naked City
Like many police forces, the Austin Police Department videotapes suspects without their knowledge : a practice some call an invasion of privacy and a violation of suspects’ constitutional rights.
Articulations
A new tool in finding performance space in Austin.
About AIDS
Because those attending the 13th International AIDS Conference, July 9-14 in Durban, South Africa, wished to not be unnecessarily distracted by disruptive denialists, they published a thesis outlining the relationship of HIV to AIDS. Appearing in the prestigious journal Nature, the Durban Declaration represents a definitive affirmation by more than 5,000 of the world’s leading…
Record Reviews
TravisThe Man Who (Epic) Travis are big in the UK. Big. As in little old men whistling their choruses in the cornershop big. While manufactured teen fluff like Westlife and Britney have slain the mighty Oasis, Travis fight the good guitar-pop fight. Though their chirpier, 1997 debut Good Feeling went nowhere, its follow-up, The Man…
Naked City
Austin Energy readies a “secrecy resolution” to present to council that would allow it to conceal some of its financial information from the public. The resolution already has many consumer activists up in arms.
Exhibitionism
Zachary Scott Theatre Center’s original production Tapestry: The Music of Carole King celebrates King’s landmark album with both deeply felt renditions of its songs by an ensemble of singers who can rattle your soul and the testimony of women who heard those songs speak to them in profound ways.
A Taste of Summer
This week, the Chronicle Cuisines writers savor their summer food memories. They’re free, they’re delectable, and best of all this time of year, they won’t heat up the house.
Record Reviews
Richard AshcroftAlone With Everybody (Virgin) Alongside Keith Richards and ex-Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown, Richard Ashcroft has the most prominent cheekbones in the whole of modern pop (not counting, of course, Charlie Sexton). Considering the sorry state of affairs that is Ashcroft’s first post-Verve album, perhaps that’s not such a bad thing. When the Verve…
Naked City
As the Waco trial winds down, many involved on both sides are disappointed that they haven’t been able to present all their evidence. But perhaps the most disappointing thing has been the lack of drama throughout the proceedings.
Exhibitionism
Goldie (a fish story), an original musical from the kidsActing troupe that pokes extremely corny fun at the Hollywood mythos in an undersea milieu, is a happy spectacle of acting and directing and singing and costuming.
A Taste of Summer
A Dram of Nectar The summer sun spilled into my grandmother’s kitchen, making cookie-cutter patterns on the tiled floor. “There is no dessert as delicious as a peach Brown Betty,” she told me as she taught me how to make it. I believed her, and my mouth watered with anticipation. She first showed me how…
Record Reviews
Sonic YouthNYC Ghosts & Flowers (Geffen) The ghosts in the title of the latest Sonic Youth album emerge repeatedly throughout the album’s eight songs, literally and lyrically. There are other ghosts as well, however — ghosts of the many approaches the band has adopted in nearly 20 years of history. The opening notes hearken back…
Naked City
The Austin Lesbian/Gay Political Caucus (ALGPC) will meet in the AFL-CIO auditorium at 11th and Lavaca, at 7pm Monday, July 17, to plan a July 28 demonstration that will kick off “a major effort to target local sponsors of the Dr. Laura radio show.” The show’s host, Laura Schlessinger, has made headlines recently with inflammatory…
Exhibitionism
Writer-performer Brian Shapiro opens And You Come From Where …? with a bang — a solid, vivid tale of family that’s enough to make you fall hard for the show. But the rest of this multiple-character one-man show never quite achieves the same excitement, and you may find your love waning.
A Taste of Summer
The Summer Snowball Fight We’re standing outside, the swampy “climate” is registering the dreaded double hundreds — degrees and percent humidity — and I can see the annual argument looming on the horizon. “It’s good, hunh?” “Pretty good, I guess.” Annie and I have been friends for what officially qualifies as “an uncomfortably long time.”…
Record Reviews
Steve TurreIn the Spur of the Moment (Telarc) Among the most ubiquitous trombonists in the USA, if not the world, Steve Turre reflects his varied interests here by playing with three different rhythm sections. The first, in what’s supposed to be the blues portion of the disc, has Ray Charles on piano. Actually, this set…
Short Cuts
Upcoming events and workshops of interest to the Austin film community.
Unhappily Ever After
Three of the newest books about the Princess of Wales, Margaret Moser writes, are by people who played roles of varying degrees of intimacy in her life; they paint a more accurate, more vibrant picture of her life than the spate of cockeyed conspiracy theories, endless photo collections, and soggy coattail remembrances that traditionally make…
A Taste of Summer
Corn Suppers Fritz and Tim Kate are practical, hardworking Midwesterners. They raised a family, keep a neat home, and perhaps most impressively, tend a huge backyard garden that for years has flourished in the unforgiving Oklahoma red clay. For me, much of the Kates’ mystique comes from imagining them as the very embodiment of the…
Record Reviews
Cheikh LôBambay Gueej (World Circuit) On his second album, West African musician and bandleader Cheikh Lô spins a convincing web of melodies and rhythms from across the African Diaspora. The Latin cadence opener “M’Beddemi,” an adaptation of Guillermo Portobales’ “El Carretero” is greatly reinforced by the airy runs supplied by Cuban flautist Richard Egües. The…
Video Reviews
Vogues of 1938 D: Irving Cummings (1937); with Joan Bennett, Warner Baxter, Mischa Auer, Helen Vinson, Alan Mowbray, Jerome Cowan, Penny Singleton. This silly, contrived, and utterly outdated tale defies description or explanation. But it is a scream to watch, as the kaleidoscope of scenes unveil themselves in glorious early Technicolor. The lovely and stylish…
