Art About Texas
Various Artists Gallery of the Hills through July Don’t be put off by the name. Yes, Texas is an inspiration for numerous artists, many of whom too often produce stereotypical, yawn-inspiring rodeo scenes and tumbleweed portraits. (Will we ever get past that?) As Austin folks know, there’s a lot more to Texas than glittery red…
This Ain’t Brain Surgery
Somewhere between a sliced beef sandwich and another mouthful of Iron Works beans, Roy Heinrich has a revelation. It’s not quite as shocking as the Seattle Supersonics’ 107-86 skunking of the previously do-no-wrong Chicago Bulls the night before, but considering Heinrich’s line of work, it’s as insightful as all get-out. “It ain’t brain surgery,” Heinrich…
An Entertaining Thought
How that the big wigs downtown recognize entertainment as a legitimate growth industry, what’s the next step? “We don’t know,” is the response from Darrell Glasco, vice president of economic development at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. “We’re on a big learning curve here. Right now we’re at step one.”As a volunteer business organization…
Postscripts
by Lee Nichols and Margaret Moser * THU, JUN 20: Short-story writer Laurie Drummond will share her Ruminations on the Writing Life at the Austin Writers’ League meeting at 7pm at the First Unitarian Church; open to the public. * FRI, JUN 21: Dr. Ed Hallowell, in town for an Attention Deficit Disorder workshop at…
Inevitably Texan
To me the story has never been `Us versus Nashville,'” says Cornell Hurd. “The story is that we exist at all. A town that has Asleep at the Wheel, and Jerry Jeff Walker, and the Geezinslaws, and Junior Brown, and Wayne Hancock, and Dale [Watson] and Don [Walser]; maybe Dale could exist in another town,…
Learning the Business
Continuing Education at the University of Texas is expected to enter a new dimension this fall with the first of a series of non-credit courses on the entertainment industry. The new format is still in the works, but in hammering out a program, UT administrators are using as a model the non-credit offerings of the…
Rock, They Wrote
In 1989, author Steve Erickson suggested that the great American novels of the past 35 years were to be found not on the printed page, but rather, in the grooves of records by Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye, Bruce Springsteen, and Little Richard. Seven years later, little has changed: In the post-modern…
The Spectre of Swing
I don’t know. What do you think it is?” queries Don McCalister with a sharp, inquisitive expression shooting out from behind his unusually thick wire-framed glasses. There’s an air of challenge in his subtle squint and gentle drawl. He’s answered a question with a question — a question that has no simple answer. But searching…
Can’t Get It Out of My Head!
It waits out on the open road: a circle approximately 1,000 miles in diameter, with its broadcast center somewhere near Salina, Kansas. Radio Hell is a place where no cool airwaves can find their way down your car’s antenna. You’ve driven the empty miles of Radio Hell on the way to Better Places. In Radio…
Want to Talk About Sex With a Stranger?
Now is your chance; AIDS Services of Austin will be training new volunteers to work the information line. Many of the calls we get are about sexual transmission of HIV. The anonymity of the phone allows callers to speak freely with a stranger. The phone line volunteer gives information about local testing sites, what to…
Also Playing
Friday: Mermen, Sandblasters, Electric Lounge Saturday: Iguanas, Continental Club Sunday: Rich Harney, Elephant Room Monday: Loose Diamonds, Steamboat Tuesday: Roky Erickson, Antone’s Wednesday: Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Cactus Cafe Thursday: Ray Wylie Hubbard, La Zona Rosa
Can’t Get It Out of My Head!
It waits out on the open road: a circle approximately 1,000 miles in diameter, with its broadcast center somewhere near Salina, Kansas. Radio Hell is a place where no cool airwaves can find their way down your car’s antenna. You’ve driven the empty miles of Radio Hell on the way to Better Places. In Radio…
Double, Double Boiling Trouble
Dear Suzy, For reasons too complicated to explain — but which involve four dogs, my husband’s allergies, and a pair of wild kittens we rescued from campus — we are considering ripping up our wall-to-wall carpet and going with stained concrete through much of our small house. The sticking point is, of course, what’s under…
Record Reviews
GO TO BLAZES Waiting Around for the Crash (ESD) By noon it’s too hot to hunt. The sea of strawcolored hills is as hopeless and unforgiving as any desert. Animals rest in the shadows, hidden, so you go back to the crooked boards masquerading as a cabin. There’s nothing to do except drink, but you’re…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The word “episcopal” rearranged spells “Pepsi Cola.” Parents who want to spank their children in Charleston, South Carolina can call the police ahead of time to come and witness the event to ensure that no child abuse is taking place. The lower-case “t” in serial killer Ted Bundy’s signature indicates he had a very low…
Sun 23
KOOP Summer Series Pt. 1 to benefit KOOP Radio, at Continental Club, 1315 S. Congress, 8pm. Cost is $5. 472-1369. WED 26 “Hispanic Leaders Support the Arts” Reception to benefit Mexic-Arte Museum, at Mexic-Arte, 419 Congress, 5:30-9:30pm. Cost is $10. 480-9373. SUN 30 Esther’s Follies will perform to benefit Edna Gladney Foundation, at Esther’s Pool,…
Dreaming It Alive
She’s a person who dreams her future and makes it happen,” is what Joe Gracey offers in way of a character sketch of his wife, West Texas singer/songwriter Kimmie Rhodes. “She doesn’t let things happen on their own,” continues the veteran bassist/producer/engineer. “She envisions what she wants. She’s always moving towards her vision.” There’re a…
7 & 7 Is
Only yesterday’s newspaper are going out of print faster than most singles, and case in point is Drop-O’s “Green Eggs and Sam the Man,” a one-sided Austin artifact recorded at a Tower Record in-store for the Beat Generation Box Set, featuring a couple Waterloo Records guys wailing on sax and Dr. Seuss’s children’s classic like…
Coach’s Corner
by Andy “Coach” Cotton Ever since Chicago blew past the ’72 Lakers and their best ever record of 69-13, the debate has raged. Are the Bulls (72-10) the best team ever? Statistically, their record says yes. Is it so? Let’s look at five other teams: the ’66 Sixers (68-13); ’72 Lakers; ’86 Celtics (67-15); and…
Tragically Hip
The Backyard Saturday, June 22 Sure, the Tragically Hip have made a half-dozen astonishingly underrated records and proven themselves as can’t-miss live showmen. But when you’ve got a real live Canadian like Hip frontman Gordon Downie on the phone, can there be any more relevant topic than hockey? “Whether we like hockey or not isn’t…
The Cable Guy
The Cable Guy 1996, PG-13, 91 min. Directed by Ben Stiller, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, George Segal, Diane Baker, Jack Black, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick, Eric Roberts. You know, the more Ben Stiller movies I see, the more I miss his old television show. That brilliant…
Daytrips
by Gerald E. McLeod Joe Garcia maintains a constant presence watching over the mobile kitchen parked behind the Manchaca Volunteer Fire Department. Joe’s job on Friday nights is to be sure the serving trays are full of cole slaw, french fries, hush puppies, and, of course, the special of the evening — all-you-can-eat fried catfish.…
Unsung Heroes
It’s funny how one story can spin off into another. As I was writing “Same Train, a Different Time,” the Chron’s roundup of Austin’s revived country scene (May 10, Vol. 15, No. 36), I received a call from Cornell Hurd. “Oh hell,” I thought. “I’ve interviewed all these people and completely overlooked Cornell.” Then I…
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1996, G, 95 min. Directed by Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, Narrated by , Voices by Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, Kevin Kline, Jason Alexander, Charles Kimbrough, Mary Wickes, Paul Kandel, Heidi Mollenhauer, Starring . Paradoxically, The Hunchback of Notre Dame may illustrate both the best and worst of what…
Page Two
by Louis Black I’m standing in the back of a ballroom in the cellar of the Toronto Hilton this past weekend in Canada, during the second North by Northeast Music and Media Conference (NXNE) watching the songwriters panel. It is not really a panel, as each songwriter performs a few songs. Even those who are…
The Final Curtain
There’s a mood that’s unique to council meetings — a kaleidoscope of moods really — spun by surges of hope and failure, of regret and relief, and propelled by sundry other passions that escape comprehension. Life-or-death importance is attached to things quickly forgotten, and the preferred order of business is progress. But at times the…
From the Journals of Jean Seberg
From the Journals of Jean Seberg 1996, NR, 98 min. Directed by Mark Rappaport, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mary Beth Hurt. French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard supposedly described film history as a history of boys photographing girls. For American actress Jean Seberg — herself one of the girls photographed by boys…
Public Notice
by Kate X Messer Chain of Fools We don’t mind telling you that we almost made hee-haw jackasses of ourselves. Yup. See, we received a locally generated chain letter about a little seven-year-old kid named Craig who is suffering from a brain tumor and collecting business cards for a Guiness Book of World Records listing…
Work Stops on Ghost Town
The Meadows at Trinity Crossing, the city’s most ambitious low-cost housing project, appears to be gasping its last breath. The city has turned off the electricity to the contractor’s office because of an overdue bill of $627.20. The workers, who used to number more than a hundred, have gone home. The sales office is closed.…
Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam
Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam 1995, NR, 107 min. Directed by Nick Broomfield, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Heidi Fleiss in her own words, and everybody else’s. Broomfield, who three years ago directed the startling documentary Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, is back in fine form here with this charitably…
A Slight Silence at a Small Gathering
A casual lunch among friends and acquaintances at a cafeteria on a campus in Los Angeles. Two authors, a well-known editor, a sculptor and producer of commercials, a translator, a playwright, a young writer (slightly published) who is also studying to instruct the blind, and the playwright’s friend — don’t know what she does because…
Statesman Watch
The Austin American- Statesman deserves constant scrutiny as it turns into a credible urban daily, its fish-wrapper era consigned to boxes of microfilm. Once a newspaper is no longer terrible, the possibilities multiply whereby it can evolve into a multifaceted threat, a more complicated animal than the rag of yore. Each new edition gives off…
The Monster
Begnini is mistaken for a sex criminal and murderer by the Italian cops. Hilarity ensues.
Food-O-File
Rumors have been swirling about Central Texas chefs from award-winning restaurants with national reputations who have recently found themselves unemployed. The best news is that San Antonio chef Jay McCarthy, formerly of Cascabel restaurant in the Sheraton Fiesta Hotel, will become an executive at our own Central Market… Speaking of Central Market, their cooking school…
Naked City
Here’s a chance to foster sensible development: The Community Vision Project — a partnership of the City of Austin, Capitol Metro, and UT’s architecture school — will hold an all-day workshop, on Saturday, June 22, 8am-5pm at the City Coliseum, for the community to generate design guidelines for future development in Austin. The workshop’s findings…
Culinary Presents
Gilligan’s 407 Colorado, 474-7474 Lunch: Mon-Fri, 11am-2pm Dinner: Mon-Thu, 5-10pm; Fri & Sat, 5-11pm; Sun, 5:30-9:30pm Austin’s only Caribbean restaurant, Gilligan’s has been a favorite place for quality seafood for the past four years now. And considering the downtown location’s consistent reputation, the announcement of additional menu items (made in celebration of the restaurant’s fourth…
Beware of Failing Rock
Suddenly last summer, bubbly, nine-year-old Ronee Larivee changed into a scared little girl who didn’t want to go out of her house. Before, she’d always been an outdoorsy, gregarious kid who made friends easily. Then, all at once, Ronee couldn’t bear to be away from home, couldn’t stand to be separated from her parents, Tommy…
Who Are the Hittites?
Founded in 1987 during Los Angeles’ “rock house wars,” the Hittite Empire has its roots in drugs and violence. “Crack was takin’ its toll,” founder and artistic director Keith Antar Mason says. “A lot of young men we knew were winding up dead, and we didn’t have a way of grieving. So the core group…
El Pastor Restaurant
1911 E. Riverside, 442-8402 Mon, 8am-4pm; Tue-Thu, 8am-10pm; Fri- Sun `til Midnight I checked out this unassuming little spot on the edge of the Riverside apartment city on a tip from knowledgeable friends. Now I need to thank them. The specialty at El Pastor is the popular street food from Northern Mexico, carne al pastor…
Imprudent Choices?
Is there any way for families like the Larivees to compare insurers before signing on? “There’s no easy way,” according to the June 24 cover story of Newsweek magazine. Consumers are mostly in the dark, Newsweek reporter Ellyn Spragins writes, because managed-care groups like HMOs “didn’t take off until the 1980s, when employers began relying…
Worthy Causes
Mexic-Arte Museum brings together over two dozen Hispanic community leaders in a show of support for the arts Wednesday, June 26, 5:30pm, at the museum, 419 Congress. Consul General of Mexico Roberto Gamboa Mascare�as, Texas State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos, Ricardo Hern�ndez of Texas Commission on the Arts, and city councilmembers, teachers, and civic leaders will…
Sallie’s Down-Home Cookin’
1401 Rosewood, 474-8185 Mon-Thu, 10:30am-10:30pm; Fri-Sat `til 1am; Sun, 2-10:30pm For some reason, most Austinites will opt to eat meals outside when given the choice. They’ll routinely pass up a climate-controlled dining room for bulbous plastic lawn furniture, even during the blast furnace days of summer. At Sallie’s Home Cookin’ on the east side, you…
Scanlines
D: Abel Ferrara; with Lili Taylor, Christopher Walken, Edie Falco, Annabella Sciorra, Michael Fella. Waterloo Video, 1016 W. Sixth Director Ferrara (King of New York, Bad Lieutenant) is on familiar ground in this stylized, modern-day vampire film starring Lili Taylor as the NYU grad student literally sucked into the philosophy of evil after an undead…
Black & White
On an unseasonably warm night in March, people are gathering at an old pink house in the shadow of I-35 in East Austin. A gentle breeze blows through the open doors and windows. The dining table is spread with casseroles and macaroni dishes. The gathering is composed mostly of white artists, although some black neighbors…
Dancing About Architecture
Well, I for one was not prepared for the debacle that was the Butthole Surfers’ big U.S. tour kickoff last Thursday at the Austin Music Hall. I knew that Paul Leary’s mother was very ill and that he was not in the cheeriest of moods, but talking to new bassist Owen McMahon the previous night…
Shortcuts
News of the landmark victory for free speech in cyberspace seemed to pass with much less fanfare than when the controversial Telecom Bill (of which the Communications Decency Act is a provision) was signed into law last winter. Nevertheless, last week’s ruling by a special judiciary panel in Philadelphia that the “overly broad” CDA violates…
