Food-o-File
After several e-mails and phone calls from concerned readers about the potential demise of Austin’s oldest coffeeshop/bakery, I spoke with Art Silver, the owner of Captain Quackenbush’s (2120 Guadalupe, 472-4477) about the rumors. Silver confirmed that he’s seriously considering closing Quack’s after 15 years on the Drag. He explained that part of his Guadalupe space…
Watermelon Discography, 1989-1999 (In Chronological Order)
Austin Lounge Lizards, Creatures from the Black Saloon Austin Lounge Lizards, Highway Caf� of the Damned Julian Dawson, Live On the Radio Steve Young, Solo/Live Tish Hinojosa, Aquelia Noche Tish Hinojosa, Memorabilia Navidena Alejandro Escovedo, Gravity Tish Hinojosa, Taos to Tennessee Darden Smith, Native Soil Santiago Jimenez Jr., Corazon de Piedra Carla Olson, Within an…
Literacy Austin’s Bookfest
photograph by John Anderson Mystery, science fiction, humor, travel, sports, fiction, true crime, poetry, fantasy — typical signage in a bookstore, but atypical for a storefront in Northcross Mall that used to be The Limited and this weekend will become a two-day bookstore. For the past two months, the volunteers and staff of Literacy Austin…
Austin Powers
Meanwhile, up high in the Austin Energy power structure, plots to slip a deregulation plan by Austin residents and the City Council are being hatched. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but not much of one, says Paul Robbins, who is perhaps the utility’s most dedicated watchdog. Robbins sounded the alarm to the council and the…
Off the Bookshelf
by G.K. Wuori Algonquin Books, $18.95 hard At first appearance, Maine’s natural beauty seems to be a refuge. Upon closer inspection, it’s actually a hideout. It is a state (in both senses of the word) that reminds its inhabitants: “Nature is perfect and you’re not.” G.K. Wuori’s collection of Maine stories, Nude in Tub, is…
The Spirit of 76th
Predictably, the governor’s all-but-official presidential run cast a long shadow over the Capitol, injecting the question of political motive into every decision made by Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats were accused of playing the presidential card in their protracted and ultimately fruitless fight to win long-sought hate crimes legislation in the Senate. Meanwhile, Republicans were…
Postscripts
One traditional critics’ rap about anthologies is that they are “uneven,” which may be true of A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans (George Braziller, $18.50 paper), but there’s a vibrancy, almost a sense of urgency, to the writing. The editors of this timely collection (it’s the 20th anniversary of the Iranian…
Worth the Dough?
Thanks largely to Mayor Kirk Watson’s constant presence at the Capitol, and partly due to the efforts of Austin’s pricey lobbying team, the city managed to ward off the worst of the numerous Austin-bashing proposals floated at the Legislature this session. But the city paid dearly for its good fortune, spending $1.6 million on its…
About AIDS
The stereotypical AIDS patient is often pictured as a gaunt, emaciated person, hardly more than skin and bones. This is because one of the main manifestations of AIDS is “wasting syndrome,” in which the patient experiences dramatic weight loss. The person with AIDS may be unable to eat or unable to process the food that…
Austin’s Team
In between setbacks such as the passage of HB1704 and battling Ron Wilson’s attempts to keep Mueller Airport open, Austin-area lawmakers enjoyed a number of victories at the Lege this session. Before most bills had even been proposed, the Austin delegation had reason to celebrate. Austin Reps. Sherri Greenberg and Elliott Naishtat received their first…
Coach’s Corner
My friend Dunn is an annoying little fellow. This has been so since I first met him 30 years ago, when he appointed me scholastic chairman of our fraternity pledge class because I made a B some time in high school. Still, he has an upside. He lives in Palm Springs — a city where…
Pressing for Open Government
Updating an earlier column, the Texas Network (TXN) has finally succeeded in cracking the Austin market (see “Media Clips,” Feb. 19, 1999). The News of Texas, TXN’s daily, 30-minute roundup of the state’s news, can now be seen locally on KNVA (channel 54, cable 12), which is owned by NBC affiliate KXAN. The broadcast airs…
Day Trips
Gardenkonzert at San Antonio’s Beethoven Haus and Garden in the King William District features band and choir concerts, German food, and beverages, June 18. 210/222-1521. Peach JAMboree and Rodeo in Stonewall honors this year’s crop with a rodeo, dance, fiddler’s contest, and peach show, June 18-19. 830/644-2735. Berges Fest in Boerne includes parade, carnival, and…
Naked City
Betty Edgemond can take her yard signs down now. The South Austinite keeps her political signs up until her candidates of choice take the oath of office. That transaction occurred Tuesday night, as re-elected incumbent Council Members Jackie Goodman, Beverly Griffith, and Daryl Slusher were sworn in to their new terms of office in a…
Page Two
It was a rocky landing. The family back from France, Italy, and Switzerland on Saturday. Monday back at the Chronicle. Wednesday off to North by Northeast in Toronto with a few other members of the SXSW staff. Toronto is one of my favorite cities, but this trip was mostly work. NXNE spread across 28 clubs,…
Blank’s Slates
Les Blank Les Blank is a man of few words and many films. Something of an anomaly — or maybe just an old hippie — at 63 with over 30 documentaries in the can, he’s still single-mindedly panning the world through a camera viewfinder, looking for revelation and celebration in life’s quirky, telling detail. Blank’s…
Public Notice
Divorce sucks. For anyone acquainted with that legal wringer, one fact is clear: As bad as it might get for the divorcees, it’s far worse for any kids stuck in the middle. “Where’m I gonna live?” “Do mom and dad hate each other?” “Is this my fault?” are just a few of the questions burning…
Casting the Net
Shawn Goldberg (second from left) directs Bartenders. There will come a day, not too long from now, when that bulky JVC idiot box that’s the main focal point for your living room will be obsolete — or, at the very least, a wholly changed beast. Network television, buffeted by increasing inroads being made by cable…
Articulations
Shame on me. This past Sunday, I paid a long-overdue first visit to the State Theater since its renovation, and I deserve a swift kick in the keyboard for taking two months to get there. After all, the revitalized State is one of the keystones of the new generation of Austin arts projects and one…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Elvis Presley could recite numerous Monty Python sketches from memory. The people in Yenshui, Taiwan, think that being hit by multiple bottle rockets will bring them good luck. The more hits, the better, according to a tradition dating back more than 100 years. Women blink nearly twice as much as men. President Lyndon Johnson signed…
Scanlines
D: Kirk Wong (1998) with Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Elliot Gould, Lainie Kazan, China Chow, Sab Shimono. Hong Kong action veteran Wong lensed this Hollywood mess of an action comedy. Wahlberg plays an expert hitman whose assignment is to kidnap Chow. As fate would have it, though, her father has recently gone…
Pared Posthumous Publications
The posthumous publications this summer of Ralph Ellison’s Juneteenth, an unfinished novel by the country’s premier African-American writer edited by John Callahan, a white English professor from Oregon, and Ernest Hemingway’s True at First Light, an unfinished novel by America’s most celebrated modernist writer, edited by the author’s son Patrick, have rekindled recurring arguments about…
MERCEDES MARTINEZ RESTAURANT & BAR: JUST LACKING A CROWD
1703 S. First, 440-1889 Mon-Thu, 11am-10pm; Fri, 11am-11pm; Sat, 8am-11pm; Sun, 8am-10pm The 5pm hour rolled around as we pulled into the parking lot of Mercedes Martinez (MM). Only two other cars sat in the vast lot, and the idea of “getting happy” at an empty eatery didn’t tempt us, so we headed down the…
Short Cuts
Jerry Bruckheimer Films has announced an Austin casting call for the company’s upcoming film Coyote Ugly. They’re looking for a white female who is a “sexy young beauty, approximately 18-22 years old, with acting ability and a golden singing voice” to star in this film about a woman whose aspirations to become a songwriter are…
Exhibitionism
Covert Buick Building, through June 20 Running time: 1 hr Sitting in the transformed Covert Buick building, I was impressed by the arts space Ariel Dance Theatre created from a huge showroom with cookie-cutter offices. All the stage components — dance floor, light trees, risers, and backdrop — were brought in from the outside and…
Red River Cafe: Sunny Side of the Street
2912 Medical Arts, 472-0385 Daily, 7am-4pm When driving or walking to the Red River Cafe (which I can never seem to find exactly on the first try, no matter how many times I go), it is best to look for the two eggs, sunny-side-up, hanging outside — giant yellow beacons bringing you in for breakfast.…
True Stories
The E! Entertainment Network announced that it will produce a quarterly series with Leeza Gibbons Enterprises (LGE) to explore issues in the entertainment industry. “Gibbons’ hard news reporting skills and insider’s knowledge of Hollywood will provide in-depth explorations of a variety of topics affecting not only those working in entertainment, but all consumers of popular…
Canis Interruptus
Chinwe Odeluga photograph by Brett Brookshire Chinwe Odeluga Individual artist integrating video and poetry Discipline: Mixed Arts Years funded: First-year applicant “I’m trying to make lemonade out of lemons,” says Chinwe Odeluga shortly after her allocation session. Odeluga applied for $10,000 from the Mixed Arts panel for her video project Poetic Healings. She received $3,900.…
Hidden Pleasures
photograph by John Anderson Like a stoned pig in a restaurant Dumpster, Austin is growing. Drawn by the hip local nightlife and rich, computer-driven workdays, thousands are flocking to Austin and filling its roads with a metropolitan mosaic of cars. Those of us already here sit idly by, helpless to stop the ballooning of our…
Under the Influenza
illustration by Danny Garrett How I love flu season! Flu season, that universally cherished time of year — several times a year, even. When whatever bug that goes around comes around, visiting devastation on friend and foe alike, weakening the strong, liquefying the weak, making almost everyone you know as miserable as it’s possible to…
1999 Critics’ Table Winners
On Monday, June 14, the Austin Theatre Critics’ Table presented its seventh annual awards for achievement on Austin stages in a ceremony at Top of the Marc, 618 W. Sixth. This year, for the first time, the association of local arts writers recognized achievements in classical music, dance, and the visual arts as well as…
Dancing About Architecture
Oh, this is one strange week, all right. That fact was established when I came into the office Monday to find a package from a Mr. Brakhage, formerly of the Austin-based Skagen-Brakhage art team, who is now living in California. His last offering (delivered to me for no discernible reason) was a five-foot-long Styrofoam wrench…
A Night at The Opera: Artists Sing Out at Arts Commision
Like most everyone else at the Dougherty Arts Center (DAC) on Monday, June 7, I am ready to croon to the Austin Arts Commission that, despite the dedicated work of the Advisory Panel in my discipline, my arts organization wasn’t appreciatedquite enough and therefore deserves more money. “Please increase my funding” is the chorus this…
Live Shots
Paramount Theatre, June 4/Antone’s, June 5 & Backyard, June 6 Robert Cray at Stubb’s, June 12 photograph by John Carrico Austin has more annual music festivals than Willie Nelson has picnics. On this particular weekend, two separate jazz events, one in its 10th year, the other in its first, proved age and experience often have…
A Joycean Riff of Race
by Ralph Ellison, edited by John F. Callahan Random House, $25 hard Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is probably the most important and influential American novel since World War II, and, arguably, the most important 20th-century American novel, the Moby Dick of the 20th century. It traces the life of a young black boy growing up…
Going for Broke
The only portion of Watermelon’s history that remains almost entirely uncontested is what has become affectionately known as the early years, 1989-1995. In 1989, Waterloo Records owner Kunz, and Geissler, a German immigrant who exported rock & roll books back to Europe as the Flying Book Service, started Watermelon with singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen. Their…
