Film Reviews
THE INCREDIBLY TRUE ADVENTURE OF TWO GIRLS IN LOVED: Maria Maggenti; with Laurel Holloman, Nicole Parker, Maggie Moore, Kate Stafford, Sabrina Artel, Toby Poser, Nelson Rodriguez, Dale Dickey. At first glance, the plot of Incredibly True Adventure couldn’t be more prosaic; teen love traumas are a film industry staple and our familiarity with their formulas…
Happy Trails on the Horizon?
by Nelson England Some Austinites have been dreaming about it for decades: a system of interlinking urban trails that would allow hikers and bikers to get around town free of the fumes, noise, danger, and harassment of motorized traffic. Now the dream is within the range of fulfillment if Austin’s cyclists and pedestrians can seize…
TFAA Director Sandra Greagor Igniting a Fire for the Arts
by Rebecca Levy “I think you make art be- cause you can’t not make it,” says Sandra Greagor, Director of the Texas Fine Arts Association (TFAA). “I don’t have that compulsion.” Needless to say, she’s never dreamed of becoming an artist. What has enriched Greagor’s life for the past 12 years – her obsession -…
Austin Aqua Festival
Despite the ebb and flow of its yearly attendance figures (and profit margin), Austin’s Aqua Festival is still afloat, and celebrates year 34 with a bevy of local and regional acts spread over eight stages and nine nights (Monday 31 is an off night) at Auditorium Shores. Activities start at 6:30pm each night, ending at…
Film: Showtimes
Showtimes listed below start Friday, July 28 and cover the week ending Thursday, August 3. *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,…
Austin Music Network Schedule
Austin CableVision Channel 15 THURSDAY, JULY 27 10pm Tex Mix #19: Country Cousins 10:30 Joel Valentine, BFT Project 11pm The People’s Picks #66 11:30 E.P.K.’s: Van Morrison, Deep Forest MID Tex Mix #49: Quarry Mix 12:30 SXSW ’95 Conferece, Awards 1am Tex Mix #56: Texas Titles Mix 1:30 Alternative 15 #62 FRIDAY, JULY 28 10pm…
Bonus Tracks
ROBERT EARL KEEN No Kinda Dancer (Sugar Hill) The second reissue of Keen’s first album now places all his albums under the same tent at Sugar Hill (the disc was originally put out by Keen himself, and subsequently picked up Rounder). Included is the earliest version of the favorite “Front Porch Song” (co-written with Texas…
Awake in the Dark
Two for the Road These are the best of times and the worst of times for Hugh Grant. On the plus side, he appears in his first Hollywood-made star vehicle, and it’s a hit. Nine Months, tailored to his easy-going charm, is his first major film since Four Weddings and a Funeral – a movie…
Dancing About Architecture
Lollapalooza? Whassupwiddat? Famed trouper Spitwad O’Connor has split the scene (you remember the Irish lass’ last appearance in Austin consisted of four songs, a sore throat, and promised-but-never-issued refunds), claiming she can’t sing and be pregnant at the same time. David Yow of the Jesus Lizard was recently arrested for waving his Jim Morrison in…
Microserfs Struggling in Legoland The Voice of a Generation Breaks
HarperCollins, $21 hard Hey man, are you done reading that book yet?” whoever happens to be walking by my desk asks me, and I have to say no, and then, well, almost, but Deborah wants to read it next and then Steve and then Cindy. Finally, I have to kiss it goodbye and trust it…
Cash From Chaos
Personally, I’m thrilled to death that people are still interested,” says Joel Richardson of San Diego, formerly of Austin. “I’m fascinated that people still have some recollection of the Huns. When we all moved away, I kinda figured it was just gonna fade away and just be part of Austin folklore.” Richardson may now be…
You’ll Never Cook Again The Deli Explosion
by Virginia B. Wood After World War II, the supermarket concept really exploded in this country. American housewives were encouraged to buy more modern, convenient, mass-produced packaged and frozen foods. Just as the original canning technology was developed to feed Napoleon’s armies, the chemical innovations necessary for the long-term shelf-life of packaged foods were developed…
Roadkill
Pennywise Liberty Lunch, Friday, July 28 Pennywise did not become Pennywise because they are smart shoppers. Named for the clown/demon of Stephen King’s It, they chose to use Pennywise, who turned into what his victims feared the most to terrorize them, as a metaphor for their sound (scary hardcore) and their message (positive!). Pennywise (the…
25 Years of Shakespeare in Central Texas
by Robert Faires The title of the course is “The Play Through Performance.” But the world at large knows it as Shakespeare at Winedale, Winedale being the 19th-century German farming settlement in Central Texas to which Dr. James Ayres has been bringing students for 25 years to forge a link between 20th-century Americans and a…
Absolutely Frank
There’s no question that a number of others were more deeply affected by Frank Zappa’s death in 1993 than I was. It’s not that I hadn’t appreciated his talents – far from it – but his passing was, after all, not a surprise; the cancer which led to his demise had been known of and…
Conversations With Builder Paul Lamb and Architect Don Crowell Is This My Beautiful House?
by Anne S. Lewis So you’re thinking about buying a house; it’s summer and the house-trading season is certainly upon us. But even if you’ve done it before, be prepared for a wild ride: In Austin, real estate, like politics, is a contact sport. To begin with, this is not, in the opinion of many,…
Budgeting for Happiness
by Andrea Barnett Every year, city processes align fortuitously with the rising temperature as the annual budget talks begin. Administrators are directed to make cuts, then propose to council how they plan to do more with less. Some officials talk of a tax increase, which prompts others to rule it out immediately. So at the…
Road Shows
JULY FRI 28 Pennywise, The Joykiller, Liberty Lunch FRI 28 Li’l Suzy, Collage, Intonation, Parque Zaragosa FRI 28 Kyuss, Back Room SAT 29 Better Than Ezra, Menthol, Liberty Lunch SAT 29 Latchkey Kids, Ignorance Park, Eco Action Warehouse SAT 29 Martin Page, Jann Arden, Austin Music Hall SUN 30 Hootie & the Blowfish, Don Dixon,…
Council Watch
The homeless – a bona fide political force? It seemed so last Thursday, as homeless people and their advocates overloaded the council meeting’s timetable with 108 speakers, winning a three-week reprieve from a doomsday vote on the mayor’s anti-encampment ordinance. Chalk it up as the Homeless 1, the Mayor 0. The winning team pulled out…
Music Recommended
Backyard, Saturday 28 Saturday night in Texas and Monte Warden is playing under the… oak… at… the Backyar -. Hold it. This looks familiar. Stop tape. !@#$*@!!* We ran the same *&$#%@!! thing last week. Get me the producer… Okay, rolling, take two: And action… Saturday night in Austin and Monte Warden is playing under…
The “Yuppie Chow” Market
A mere five years ago, the only reliable sources for what one food writer calls “Yuppie Chow” were a few Whole Foods Markets and Wheatsville Co-op. The larger, corporate chains were satisfied to offer your basic head of iceberg and plenty of white bread. Now, everybody in Austin wants in on the natural/gourmet food market…
Winedale Lessons
As I live through my first summer as a Winedale alumna, I find I appreciate my two summers in the program more each day. Not often are you taken to a beautiful place, fed, sheltered, and told to play. But Dr. Ayres’ parting comment to last year’s class, “Part of this experience is being able…
Paying More for Less in East Austin
Supermarkets are repositioning themselves in a big sweep across most parts of the city, but in the commercial corridors of East Austin, it’s the s ame old story: There’s no new grocery store on the horizon. That means that more than 24,000 residents living in the area bordered by the Colorado River to the south…
Scanlines
POLYESTER D: John Waters; with Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, David Sampson, Mary Garlington, Ken King, Mink Stole. Voyager/Criterion (laserdisc) “If I’ve achieved one thing in my career,” says comedy auteur John Waters during a particularly reflexive moment on his commentary track for this laserdisc release of Polyester, “it’s to have made bad taste respectable.”…
Naked City
Edited by Andrea Barnett, with contributions this week by Alex de Marban, Steve McGuire, and Nelson England. BLINDSIDING JUSTICE: If Congressional conservatives get their way, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) may soon be extinct. The LSC is a private, national organization that uses federal money to provide legal aid to poor people – some 10,000…
About AIDS
Looking For a Few Good… Volunteers There are many ways in which you can provide the vital service to people living with HIV/AIDS in the process of living with dignity. We are looking for volunteers who have some time to dedicate on a regular basis. Buddy/Helpers: As a Buddy/Helper Volunteer you will have the opportunity…
Your Tax Dollars at Play
by Alex de Marban Coming soon to an East Austin neighborhood near you! The Central City Entertainment Center, featuring two movie cinemas, 16 bowling lanes, a roller- skating rink, food court, and live performance stage, paid for entirely by the city. But that’s not all! If politicos and community leaders are right, the center could…
Coach’s Corner
by Andy “Coach” Cotton “There’s a whole lotta things I’ve never done, but I’ve never had too much fun.” -Billy C. Farlow un seems like a hu- man, universal concept. Everyone’s had some sometime. So it fol- lows that an understanding of this concept should be unambiguous. I believed this to be, as our Founding…
food-o-file
Red Ribbon Repast Zoot Restaurant 509 Hearn, 477-6535 Monday, July 31, 6:30pm, $100 per person The cream of Austin’s restaurants are at it again, raising money for AIDS Services of Austin. The third annual fundraising dinner series kicks off this Monday night at Zoot Restaurant, according to organizer chef Steward Scruggs. Subsequent dinners will be…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows…
The saxophone was patented on June 23, 1846. Alexander the Great was only known as “Alexander the Invincible” during his lifetime. It wasn’t until a few months after his death that the Romans named him “Great.” Madonna’s security firm is Protection One. The word “moxie” may mean “spunk” or “guts,” but it’s also a registered…
Day Trips
No Texas schoolchild’s elementary education is complete without a visit to the Battleship Texas and the adjacent San Jacinto Battle Grounds. The 1,000-acre park on the Houston Ship Channel is a history lesson that children of all ages will not soon forget. The battleship is one of the few things in a child’s young life…
Hearth & Soul
House Hold At a party the other night a friend, an architect, asked me, “Do you and Richard plan on completing your house or is it an ongoing project?” I didn’t understand the question then nor many sober hours later. No house should ever be completed. My dad always tells the story of the first…
Reissues
T-BONE WALKER The Complete Capitol/Black & White Recordings (Capitol) ROY BROWN The Complete Imperial Recordings (Capitol) MUDDY WATERS & MEMPHIS SLIM Chicago Blues Masters, Vol. 1 (Capitol) Texas guitarist Aaron “T-Bone” Walker, New Orleans blues belter Roy Brown, Chicago blues singer Muddy Waters, and expatriate pianist Memphis Slim all had style to burn. Consequently, they…
