Everyone Gets Naked
I’m lying on my bed in this standard-issue Dallas hotel room, channel-flipping mindlessly, trying to muster some enthusiasm for the room service tray next to me, and fretting about the likelihood of sleeping through the noise of the conventioneers in the lobby and the door-slamming of the girls next door. I’ve already called home so…
Live Shots
Ephraim Owens at Cedar Street June 11 photograph byJohn Carrico NEW JAZZ SHOWCASE Speakeasy, June 9 As their name denotes, the Jazzaholics, the Clarksville-West End Jazz and Arts Festival’s “New Jazz Showcase” headliners just can’t play enough. Following the straight-ahead, funk-flavored jazz of the Brad Andrew Trio, and the Neo Trio’s deconstruction blues-based jazz, the…
Arts Afire
At first glance, Robert Hughes’ new eight-part PBS series American Visions generates a mystique no different from the vaguely “educational,” utilitarian one so often associated with PBS documentaries; it seems good for you. After all, unless you’re an art historian, Hughes’ series on the history of American art informs you about artists, movements, and influences…
HIV Discrimination: Know Your Rights!
It is unfortunate, but all too often true that people living with HIV disease face the challenge of discrimination and unfair practice where they live and work and in access to goods and services. Fortunately, it is also true that HIV+ people who rent have as much right to safe, fair and decent housing as…
On the Verge of Obsolescence
photograph by Minh Carrico That’ll piss me off,” chuckles James McMurtry as he speculates about the inevitable. Two years after the release of McMurtry’s unintentional major label swan song, Where’d You Hide the Body, the single, “Levelland,” has found its way onto the radio. Only it’s not the original, but rather Robert Earl Keen’s recent…
The Wight Stuff
Somewhere between a farm in upstate New York and a racetrack in Northern California lies a small island off the coast of England. Geographically, this might seem an impossibility, but in terms of rock & roll topography — and its concordant cinematic landscape — it makes perfect sense. You see, until recently most music scholars…
Hearth & Soul
Bug-O-Rama I will not complain about the rain. This is an oath I took last year during the drought. Since we’re on a rainwater collection system for our water supply, every crispy week last year seemed like an eternity. As our spring and creek dried up, we wondered why we’d paid so much money for…
Recommended
Friday: Gulf Coast Playboys, Flipnotics Saturday: Concerto Grosso, Elephant Room Sunday: Susanna Van Tassel, Jovita’s Monday: Toni Price, Leroi Bros., Antone’s Tuesday: Los Tigres Guapos, Coreopsis, The Horrors, Flamingo Cantina Wednesday: Cowboy Mouth, Sister Hazel, Stubb’s Thursday: Michele Solberg, B-Side
James Mcmurtry
It Had to Happen (Sugar Hill) In the ongoing parlor game of `Match the Texas Songwriter to his Appropriate Literary Precursor,’ James McMurtry could play a perfect Joseph Conrad to Townes Van Zandt’s Walt Whitman, Guy Clark’s Mark Twain, and Lyle Lovett’s Oscar Wilde. Stacking labyrinthine plots on top of shady characters, sung in a…
Benefits
SAT 21 Sixteen Deluxe, Dizzy Luna, the Shindigs, & the Paranoids will perform to benefit Austin Rape Crisis Center, at Spider House, 2908 Fruth, 6-10pm. Cost is $5. 445-5776, ext. 210. SUN 29 Jubal-ation Tribute to benefit the family of the late Jubal Clark, at Saxon Pub, 1320 S. Lamar, 3-9pm. 301-0054. The Chronicle benefits…
Roadkill
Yo La Tengo Liberty Lunch Friday, June 20 “I think James is completely responsible for it,” offers Yo La Tengo guitarist/singer Ira Kaplan, speaking of bassist James McNew’s contribution to the near bipolarity of the band’s origins and present state. “We feel that the last three albums, in many ways, are like the beginning of…
Burgers, Burgers Everywhere
Cover photography by Todd V. Wolfson; special thanks to Steve Wertheimer photograph by Todd V. Wolfson As guilty pleasure or openly declared passion, there’s no secret that our childhood favorite remains a Perfect American Meal — a juicy, barely manageable hamburger accompanied by a pile of heavily salted fries washed down with the hyper-sweet soft…
Coach’s Corner
What follows is a narrative of two brothers, two dogs, and a girlfriend. It’s not a pretty tale. Indeed, as we speed rapidly toward the turn of the brand new century, it’s a disquieting glimpse backward, to a darker time of witch burnings and human sacrifice. Backward still, toward a moment in time when the…
Road Shows
JUNE FRI 20 Yo La Tengo, Barbara Manning, Liberty Lunch FRI 20 Steeleye Span, Cactus Cafe FRI 20 Paladins, Continental Club FRI 20 Skavoovie & the Epiphones, Lynyrd’s Innard’s, Emo’s FRI 20, SAT 21 Larry Carlton, Ringside at Sullivan’s FRI 20, SAT 21 Hunter Sullivan, Speakeasy SAT 21 Spyro Gyra, Backyard SAT 21 Mudhoney, Emo’s…
Batman & Robin
Batman & Robin 1997, PG-13, 126 min. Directed by Joel Schumacher, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring George Clooney, Chris O’Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Elle Macpherson. You know a franchise is in trouble when Joel Schumacher is sniping at Batman fans on the Internet. The director’s ongoing brouhaha with…
Day Trips
Peach JAMboree & Rodeo in Stonewall celebrates the fruit crop with baking and fiddler’s contests and more, June 20-21. 210/644-2735. Celebration of the Arts in Wimberley features artists at the town’s many galleries, June 21. 512/847-8975. Indian Hobbyists have their Summer Meet to exchange ideas and present new costumes in Llano, June 19-21. 915/247-5354. Cypress…
Budget Blackboard
AISD Superintendent Jim Fox photograph by Alan Pogue When it came to making the budget for 1997-98, officials of the Austin Independent School District say they were forced to put the cart before the horse this time out. School officials on May 29 released a proposed budget for the 1997-98 school year of $457.5 million,…
Twin Town
Twin Town 1997, NR, 105 min. Directed by Kevin Allen, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dougray Scott, Dorien Thomas, Rhys Ifans, Llyr Evans, Sue Roderick, Rachel Scorgie, Brian Hibbard, William Thomas, Jenny Evans. Produced by Andrew MacDonald and Danny Boyle — the pair who brought us Trainspotting and Shallow Grave — this feature…
Page Two
Summer, as you read this (and based on the Friday publication date), arrives tomorrow. We are in the midst of it here at the Chronicle, and fully aware of the contradictions between this slow, lazy season that was designed for long naps and little work and the relentless pace of weekly publication. It is also…
Aisd Figures
Proposed AISD budget for 1997-98: $457.5 million Preliminary tax rate: $1.40 per $100 property valuation Estimated tax relief owner of a $100,000 home will see: $54.60 Projected student enrollment: 78,299 Total Spending per Pupil: $5,843 Major initiatives: focus on literacy, elementary and middle school mathematics, library funding, technology, employee pay raises Amount of revenue each…
My Best Friend’s Wedding
My Best Friend’s Wedding 1997, PG-13, 104 min. Directed by P.J. Hogan, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett. The Philadelphia Story is 57 years old, George Cukor lies a-moulderin’ in the grave, and the theory prevails in some quarters that Hollywood has forgotten how to make…
Public Notice
For any of you who have been searching for an update on Jennifer Harbury’s story, keep your eyes peeled on future “Public Notice”s and the Chronicle’s Books sections. Harbury is the dedicated attorney whose husband, Mayan resistance leader Efrain Bamaca Velasquez, was captured, detained, tortured, and assassinated by the Guatemalan army in 1992. Harbury’s diligent…
What Price Baseball?
by Robert Bryce Photos courtesy of the Texas Observer George W. Bush loves baseball. And why not? After all, baseball has been very very good to the governor. When it comes to power, the governor is a true triple-threat. Consider his record: (1) His initial baseball investment of $600,000 carries the current potential of a…
Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival
Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival 1997, NR, 128 min. Directed by Murray Lerner, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . We want the world and we want it now. When did the Woodstock generation start believing its own hype and, what’s more, when did it quit? Message to Love: The Isle…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
Jack Paar’s German Shepherd was named Leicha. Body measurements of Playboy models and Miss America contestants from 1979-1988 revealed that their body weight has significantly decreased to 13-19% below what is considered expected weight. They all meet at least one criteria for anorexia nervosa. Volcanoes can create lightning. “Wild Bill” Hickock’s name was James, not…
Taxing the Fans
Blame Judge Roy Hofheinz. He started it. His vision for the Eighth Wonder of the World, Houston’s Astrodome, began the mad scramble for increasingly opulent sports palaces. Now, three decades after the Harris County judge saw his dream become a reality, the lust for spiffy sports stadiums looms as an additional burden for millions of…
Articlulations
After only 13 months at the helm of the Austin Museum of Art, Chief Executive Officer Sid Mallory has decided to move on. Mallory, the first person ever to hold the post of CEO for AMOA, has taken a development position with the Dallas Opera and will be heading to Big D in August. While…
Human-Headed Flies
illustration by A.J. Garces There’s a glowing thing in your home, a drastic space, the drastic encased in plastic. Turn the volume down, hear its true sound: a barely audible hiss. The glow-hiss-thing-that-talks-and-kills-and-kisses, it always circulates just a wee current, as quiet as the whisper of a fly. Remember the end of The Fly, that…
The ARA Myth
Eric Mitchell wasn’t very good at his job. Had this not been true, no amount of rock-star money and Green Machine support would have unseated him. If Mitchell had given the Eastside even a fragment of what he said he alone could deliver, and in doing so had refrained from using and abusing both sides…
Exhibitionism
Planet Theatre through June 28 Running Time: 1 hr, 15 min One drop of water can be a flood on parched ground. One misplaced cigarette can be a flash fire in dry grass. One sip of alcohol can be the beginning of the end for an alcoholic. And one stranger’s kiss can transform a marriage.…
These Are a Few of Our Favorite Rings
Burger eaters don’t need to think twice; they assume that their sandwich of choice will come with an order of French-fried potatoes. Rare is the burger served sans fries, thanks to the trusty deep-fat fryer next to the grill. Making fries even from scratch is a relatively easy process (slice potato, fry, salt, drain, repeat),…
Gotta Wear Shades
Ronney Reynolds’ seat sat conspicuously empty, Eric Mitchell’s $1100 Relax-the-Back chair was wheeled off the dais for the last time, and Bruce Todd did not have anyone escorted out by the police. Even if these anomalies did not clue in the casual council observer, the Connect Four permagrins on the remaining progressive councilmembers were enough…
“My Uncle Has a Barn….”
illustration by Robert Faires Who needs a theatre for puttin’ on a play… when wyou’ve a perfectly good generator room in an old feed mill, that is. What’s wrong with staging your Streetcar there? Or mounting your Macbeth in a 19th-century cedar barn? Or opening Oklahoma! in an old church hall? Not a dadgum thing,…
Hot Dogs
photograph by John Anderson Last spring when I was in Connecticut visiting family, my parents treated me to lunch at Carol Peck’s, a distinguished fusion-food restaurant about an hour’s drive from the house. We ate. About 10 minutes into the drive back home, my dad asked if anyone thought we should stop at Blackie’s, a…
Unsettling Settlement
On May 29, city attorney Andy Martin signed an agreement which ends a lawsuit brought against the city last year by the developers of a project called Deerfield. But by settling with Deerfield, the city now faces a lawsuit from the Save Our Springs (S.O.S.) Alliance. The Deerfield case is the latest legal battle over…
The Lowdown on These Centex Shows
Wild Flower Theater presents Quilters through Jun 29, Fri & Sat, 8pm, Sun, 2pm, at the Feed Mill Complex, Hwy 290 W & Nugent Ave in Johnson City (from Austin: Hwy 290 west to Johnson City; Nugent Ave. crosses 290; the feed mill is on the left). Tickets: $10. The season continues with Dona Rosita’s…
photograph by John Anderson
French Fries In the early days of burgerdom, the traditional accompaniments of French-fried potatoes were hand-cut and fried in the cheapest grease available. As burgers became the quintessential American fast food, the demand for consistent quality in a low-cost, labor-saving side dish brought great innovation in the potato processing business. Today, potatoes are peeled, cut…
Naked City
With a new mayor and two new councilmembers, so too comes a shifting around of chairs on the Titanic. That means new responsibilities for assistant city managers Jim Smith, Marcia Conner, and Joe Lessard — and the promotion of Toby Futrell to assistant city manager. Smith, who some councilmembers believe was too closely alligned with…
Order on the Court
illustration by Ben Plimpton Basketball season is over. Yeah, okay, the NBA Finals are — as of this writing — knotted at two games each, but the real season ended a few minutes before 11pm Thursday, May 29, when Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz, this year’s league MVP, set a flagrantly illegal pick on…
Food-O-File
Fans and friends of internationally acclaimed chef Miguel Ravago have waited more than a year for news of a new local restaurant from him. The good news is that Buckner Hightower and Gregg Schnurr of the Bertram’s Group have chosen the popular Ravago as the new executive chef and partner in Bertram’s Restaurant & Bar…
Turning On
That “Max for Me” do-it-yourself schedule I played with for last week’s column really got me hooked on the notion of customized TV schedules available on the Internet. The best one I have found yet is TV Guide’s: http://www.tvguide.com/ . It is very tedious to assemble your own viewing guide but ultimately very rewarding. (It…
in person
James Hynes Writer James Hynes loves cats — he has three. But after reading “Queen of the Jungle” in his new collection Publish and Perish: Three Tales of Tenure and Terror (Picador, $24 hard) of three novellas, the theme of man versus cat reads even more clearly. In the story, Paul and Elizabeth are married,…
Dancing About Architecture
It’s always something, isn’t it? With Antone’s finally moved to a better location and their christening celebration taking place this weekend, Clifford Antone’s troubles with the law have returned. A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice named Antone as one of five Austin and El Paso defendants indicted on federal drug charges. Specifically, Antone…
Scanlines
D: Mark Lewis (1987) I’ve watched a lot of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom in my time, but Cane Toads delivers what Marlon Perkins never could: a bucket of laughs. Indeed, Cane Toads is a contradiction in terms: a hilarious nature documentary. Imported into Australia in the 1930s to attack the cane grubs that were…
Postscripts
Book Fair: Don’t forget that on Sunday, June 22, the Austin Book Workers will be holding a free Book Arts Fair from 1-5pm at the Art School of the Austin Museum of Art at Laguna Gloria, 3809 W. 35th Street, providing information on how to produce a book from start to finish, among other topics…
Jingles With Hair
illustration by John Keen Dale Watson and his brand of country music may be a lot of things, but Top 40 radio isn’t one of them. Or so you thought. Nationwide, a scan of the dial reveals that Watson is indeed sharing the airwaves with the likes of Hanson, the Spice Girls, and Sheryl Crow.…
Shortcuts
Count producer Robert Kuhn as one of those baffled by Columbia/TriStar Home Video’s contractual failure to release his film of a couple years back, The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Those of you lucky enough to have caught the screening of this Austin-made horror cult sequel when it unveiled at the 1995 SXSW Film…
