Runoff Roundup
After a take-no-prisoners campaign from both sides of the ballot, election night for the Place 6 runoff managed to outdo even the dramatics of the past several weeks. While many were already predicting that dark horse Willie Lewis would walk away with the seat, no one could have predicted either the overwhelming margin of Eric…
Benefits
Mostly Music Marathon to benefit AIDS Services of Austin, at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover, noon-midnight. 472-9443 or 345-3152. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the theme of Astart�’s party to benefit Faith Home for babies with AIDS, at Astart� Salon, 318 Colorado, 10am-1pm. Cost is $5 if you come attired glamorously, $10 if you…
A Chef in Love
A Chef in Love 1996, PG-13, 95 min. Directed by Nana Djordadze, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Pierre Richard, Micheline Presle, Nino Kirtadze, Teimour Kahmhadze, Jean-Yves Gautier. A French-Georgian co-production with international assists from Germany, Belgium, and Ukraine, the much-lauded A Chef in Love is truly a labor d’amour, gastronomical and otherwise. Spanning…
Mitchell’s Speech
The following is the full text of the remarks Councilmember Eric Mitchell made at the City Coliseum after the runoff returns made it clear that he would not be reelected. He was surrounded by 30 supporters, including members of his family, his campaign manager Preston Irvin, local Nation of Islam leader Cedric Muhammed, and the…
Coach’s Corner
by Andy “Coach” Cotton Were I President of the Sportsfan’s Union, and you claimed, as a card carrying member, you just didn’t get hockey because you can’t follow the puck or you don’t like Russians and, “Really, Jason, all they do is fight,” I’m afraid I’d tear up your card and send you back to…
Drunks
Drunks 1997, R, 88 min. Directed by Peter Cohn, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Richard Lewis, Dianne Wiest, Faye Dunaway, Amanda Plummer, Parker Posey, Liza Harris, Spalding Gray, Howard Rollins. The great insight of 12-step programs is that chronic substance abuse is less about thrills than finding a system for living and a…
Zuniga’s Letter
The following letter was issued by Manuel Zuniga, three days after his Place 5 loss to Bill Spelman: [An open letter to the Hispanic community of Austin, Texas] Dear Friends, Having lost to Bill Spelman in the May 31 run-off, I cannot sit back and allow my silence to be compared to Eric Mitchell’s outrage,…
day trips
photograph by Gerald E. McLeod Krause Springs, 34 miles west of Austin in Spicewood, is possibly the most beautiful swimming hole in the state. It definitely ranks among Texas’ top 10 swimming spots. Situated on a bluff overlooking Cypress Creek, Krause Springs is actually two swimming holes in one. As the rolling ranch land begins…
’til There Was You
’til There Was You 1997, PG-13, 114 min. Directed by Scott Winant, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jeanne Tripplehorn, Dylan Mcdermott, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Aniston. A professor of mine once told me that a paper I wrote seemed to have 75 thesis statements. A similar charge could be made against Scott Winant’s…
Single Member Greens?
The victories of Willie Lewis and Bill Spelman proved once again the power of Austin’s Green vote. But will those victories help or hurt the Greens in the long run? By winning all seven seats on the council, the Greens may have helped pave the way for another referendum on single member districts (SMDs). If…
Page Two
Eric Mitchell is a racist. There. We’ve said it. Political correctness be damned. We’re just surprised that the Chronicle has to be the first to say it. Especially in the aftermath of Mitchell’s hate-filled attack on the Austin electorate Saturday night, when, in a speech that was the height of narcissism and paranoia, Mitchell declared…
Central City Seizure
May 31 Council Runoff Election Results, by District Total vote Turnout Spelman Zuniga Spelman Margin Lewis Mitchell Lewis Margin TOTAL 43045 0.1166 23293 19306 3987 23184 19453 3731 CENTRAL 13919 0.1597 9805 4043 5762 9909 3882 6027 EAST 4816 0.1379 2137 2486 -349 1664 3111 -1447 NORTH 7018 0.0936 3629 3338 291 3558 3408 150…
Public Notice
Chic shoppers, mall walkers, and mall rats alike have a convenient opportunity to come to the aid of our neighbors suffering from the shock and aftermath of one of the most devastating storms in Central Texas history. Salvation Army has set up a Tornado Relief Fund at Highland Mall during regular mall hours, now through…
A Pivotal Year
Harold McMillan photograph byKenny Braun Last year, in a similar space, in the same, corresponding issue, Harold McMillan, whose DiverseArts organization stages the annual Clarksville-West End Jazz and Arts Festival, talked about 1996 being a pivotal year for the local event. What made it pivotal was the festival’s previous year, in which the heart of…
TV Eye
Rosanne in 1989’s She-Devil, one of her few forays into film. That breeze ruffling the back of your neck is not the last bit of spring that lingered until Memorial Day but the collective breath of relief from TV-watching audiences: The annual May sweeps are over. Nowhere was that more evident than in the most…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
Bob Newhart used to be a bookkeeper. According to one Kerrville auto dealer, accepted rules of the road in 1916 included: “Keep to the right, don’t cut corners but circle all the way, use your horn, when you see a broken bottle in the middle of the road, stop and pick up the pieces.” The…
Slouching Towards Gomorrah
illustration by Nathan Jensen At Cedar Street you can enjoy a Thelonious Monk any night of the week. No, not the Thelonious Monk, but a Thelonious Monk. It’s a drink — vodka, butterscotch schnapps, and frangelico — one of about a dozen on the bar’s martini menu. And theirs isn’t the only place in town…
The Madness of King Geek
Harry Jay Knowles at home with friends photograph by Bruce Dye Two quick questions: How do you explain someone like Harry Jay Knowles, and the corollary, should you even try? You might as well try to explain the allure of the Martian canals, or the wind, or George Lucas’ Star Wars release schedule. (Actually, Lucas’…
Drastic Space: Part II
illustration by AJ Garces There’s a glowing thing in the house. Turn the volume down and hear it hiss. You had your reasons for buying it, you have your reasons for submitting your time to it… but it’s a powerful presence, takes a lot of attention. We say it’s “entertainment,” “information,” “news.” What clap-trap. It’s…
Recommended
edited by Christopher Gray WAYNE KRAMER, THE HORMONES Electric Lounge, Tuesday 10 After kicking out the jams for all time in the MC5, Wayne Kramer inhabits the aggro-jazz territory of Helmet and Clawhammer on his recent Epitaph solo albums. His latest, the spanking-new Citizen Wayne, goes even further than that, flirting with funk and ragged…
Scanlines
PC/Mac Highway One Media Entertainment The length to which Elvis Presley has been immortalized reached new heights (depths?) with the CD-ROM tour of Virtual Graceland Three little initials — E.P.E. — are all you need to know about Virtual Graceland. E.P.E, for Elvis Presley Enterprises, means that this double CD-ROM is more of a disappointingly…
Food-O-File
A reader’s e-mail query a few weeks back prompted me to investigate one of Austin’s newest restaurants, Pacific Moon (2712 Bee Caves Rd., 328-8888), and what a story. Collin and Donna Liu were successful Hot Springs, Arkansas restaurateurs looking for a new menu direction when they discovered the award-winning cookbook by Philadelphia chef/restaurateur Susanna Foo.…
Record Reviews
RON BROWN From My Eyes Only (Discovery) The paradisiacal environs of Altadena, California have become home to a tight community of smooth jazz musicians, and they’ve found a new representative in East Austin’s Ron Brown. Brown’s first solo release for Discovery is jazz at its most streamlined and contemporary. There’s no question that the man…
Short Cuts
One year short of a quarter-century… 24 years of life is what ACAC (Austin Community Access Center) will be celebrating this weekend. (Technically, ACAC will be celebrating less than a year of life this weekend since, until very recently, ACAC was known as ACTV… but a rose is a rose is a rose is a…
Southern Comfort
cover photograph by John Anderson No matter how many new businesses may occupy the quaint little frame building at 2809 S. First Street, in my heart it will always be Virginia’s Cafe. It had been Virginia’s for nearly 10 years when I discovered it in the early Seventies and remained so for almost 20 years…
Roadkill
One of the great treasures of my jazz collection is a long out-of-print album titled Duke Ellington’s Jazz Violin Session, featuring Ray Nance and Stephane Grappelli dueting string-style on such classic Ellingtonia as “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “In a Sentimental Mood,” and “Take the `A’ Train.” For those that never considered the violin a…
El Matador
photograph by John Anderson Austin is not a city that comes to mind when you think boxing. No, you think of Las Vegas or Atlantic City. In Texas, you think San Antonio or Brownsville. But Austin? Oh sure, Austin has its share of novelty boxing events used as fundraisers. Like the Real Estate Council of…
Dancing About Architecture
Okay, so I’m winding up a lovely weekend at a beach house with some members of the Horsies, Sincola, and such, and I phone the office to say I’ll be running a little late getting back to town on Monday. “Fine,” says the Music Editor. “Just get back by 10pm, because you’re set up to…
Road Shows
JUNE FRI 6 Chip Taylor, Cactus Cafe FRI 6 Continental Drifters, Continental Club FRI 6 Funeral Oration, Blue Flamingo FRI 6 Blount, Emo’s FRI 6 Michael Martin Murphey, Saxon Pub FRI 6 Jughead’s Revenge, Voodoo Lounge FRI 6 George Porter Jr., Antone’s FRI 6 David White Group w/Valery Ponomarev, Elephant Room FRI 6, SUN 8…
Articulations
Austin photographer Martha Grenon is one of three artists to be awarded a Texas Photographic Arts Society Members grant to help defray the costs of the exhibit “The Bringing of the Bones: Politics and Religion in Albania,” opening this week at Pro-Jex Gallery, 109 E. Fifth. The show combines Grenon’s images with text by Albanian…
Bitten by the Bug
Leading an 11-piece band of internationally renowned musicians through a two-and-a-half month tour takes righteous mettle of the rarest sort, especially for someone still in his mid-20s. Perpetually ahead of the curve, trumpeter Roy Hargrove remains remarkably nonplused about the whole affair. “I’m sure it’s going to be chaotic,” says Hargrove, “but at the same…
Fonte’s Inferno
New ACC president Richard Fonte With his nervous laugh, pronounced tic, and wonky demeanor, Dr. Richard Fonte seems badly cast in his new role as the savior of the perennially mixed-up Austin Community College. But if the post of ACC president is above all a sales job, he has the rap down pat. “One of…
Exhibitionism
Savage in Limbo: Balls in Search of a Cue Hole in the Wall, June 7 & 8, June 21-July 6 Consider the cue ball. It’s different from the other balls used in the game of pool: It is the only pure white ball and the only one that bears no number. And when the balls…
Clarksville-West End Jazz & Arts Festival Schedule
SUNDAY, JUNE 8: SEBASTIAN CAMPESI (VICTORY GRILL) San Antonio’s Sebastian Campesi might not be well-known to local jazz scensters, but those who caught the 76-year-old violin virtuoso at this year’s South by Southwest will definitely be in attendance — as well as a local rhythm section comprised of pianist Rich Harney, bassist Edwin Livingston, and…
Meanwhile, Back at the Salt Mines
While Austin Community College is bearing most of the local workforce development burden, other community groups and agencies are also shouldering their share of the load. The following directory can be found in its official form on the city’s Austin City Connection website at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/health/hlysdir5.htm. (It’s in the “Youth Services Directory,” although not all of…
Haitian Vacation
Birds, Flowers, and Pink Basket, Oil on Masonite, c. 1947, by Hector Hyppolite Summer stretches ahead like an uncharted desert, shimmering with the promise of a brilliant, slow death. You pray for an oasis, respite from the heat and boredom and the “I don’t have anyone to playyyy with” chants from the children. If you’re…
The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep 1945, NR, 152 min. Directed by Howard Hawks, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone, John Ridgely, Regis Toomey, Elijah Cook, Charles Waldron, Sonia Darrin, Louis Jean Heydt. Not reviewed at press time. Discovered and restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, this…
Christopher House Anew
When it came time last week to choose a new owner for the beloved Christopher House, its board of directors faced an agonizing decision. Should the non-profit facility go to the city — the buyer that would focus, as Christopher House had, on AIDS patients exclusively, but without the restful, residential touch? Or, instead, should…
Literary Guisado
Three years ago, the book editor of this paper handed me a thick paperback book to review. Its cover featured an oil painting in shades of purple and melon of a Latina woman at a cafe table under the intriguing, half-absurd title, The Long Night of White Chickens. I accepted it, little knowing I was…
Buddy
Buddy 1997, PG, 84 min. Directed by Caroline Thompson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Rene Russo, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Cumming, Irma P. Hall, Paul Reubens, John Aylward. Just because an 800-pound gorilla can sit anywhere he wants to doesn’t mean it’s going to be an interesting affair. This directorial debut from screenwriter Thompson…
Funny Money
illustration by Doug Potter Campaign finance laws in Texas have changed since chicken magnate Bo Pilgrim handed out $10,000 checks to a number of senators inside the Texas Capitol. But they haven’t changed very much. Texas is one of a handful of states that do not limit the amounts that individuals and political action committees…
Postscripts
Fellow Austin writer Susan Rogers Cooper finds Susan Wade’s debut Walking Rain “So compelling you will be waking up in the middle of the night just to read one more chapter.” If you already own the book and have fallen victim to the above occurrence, muster the energy to join Wade at Borders for their…
Gone Fishin’
Gone Fishin’ 1997, PG, 94 min. Directed by Christopher Cain, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Joe Pesci, Danny Glover, Rosanna Arquette, Willie Nelson, Lynn Whitfield, Nick Brimble. Once you rule out the notion of ancestral destiny for an actor named Pesci, it’s hard to figure how Gone Fishin’ got made in this day…
Naked City
Coming soon to a neighborhood near you, the city planning department is starting to make house calls. At a May 21 work session, city council approved a new pilot program with an aim to take the business of planning out of city hall and into the neighborhoods. “Zoning cases now come before the planning committee…
Twisted
My great aunt Pearl watched her West Texas home wiped out by tornadoes three times in as many years. So she moved permanently into her storm cellar. She had it fixed up pretty nice, but still, it was just a hole in the ground without windows. As much as I like windows, however, if I…
Bitter Sugar
Bitter Sugar 1996, NR, 92 min. Directed by Leon Ichaso, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring René Lavan, Mayte Vilán, Miguel Guitiérrez, Larry Villanueva, Luis Celeiro, Teresa María Rojas, Orestes Matacena. Gustavo (Lavan of TV’s One Life to Live) is the portrait of Cuba’s “new man.” This young believer in the Revolution is a…
