Cover Story
Building Buzz, One ‘Bag’ at a Time
The Duplass Brothers buck New York and Los Angeles to premiere ‘Baghead’ here in the town where they started it all
Black Dog Blues: WilCo Shelter Flap Goes National
Before sending it out, perhaps the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter brass should have read aloud its press release advertising “Black is Beautiful” week
Earache in My Eye: Episode One
The Austin Chronicle’s new music video blog, “Earache in My Eye” (Episode One), showcases Charles Potts Magic Windmill Band, including a performance at Mohawk and outtakes from a fireside chat with the group.
Cute Band Alert!
I recently asked Harlem guitarist Michael Coomers to describe what his band sounds like. “When kids are jumping on the bed playing tennis rackets like guitars. We are the music that is playing in their brains.” If you’ve seen them live yet, you know that really kind of nails it. For most of its history,…
Gays + Bikes = Blue Oyster Bar?
Oh boy! It is that time of year that I look forward to every year, the unique clash of the Pride Texas Weekend and the Republic of Texas Biker Rally. Where else but in Austin would you find a collection of people from such seemingly different cultures landing in one place for a weekend of…
‘Inning by Inning’ Debuts Sunday on ESPN2
Richard Linklater’s loving doc of UT baseball coach Augie Garrido, Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach, will make its nationally televised debut Sunday night, June 15, on ESPN2 at 9pm. Austinites were treated to its regional premiere and a Q&A with Linklater and Garrido at the Paramount Theatre Tuesday, June 3. Garrido sports…
World Cup Qualifying Around the Corner
I didn’t catch the U.S. Men’s 0-0 draw against world No. 1 Argentina, but by all reports it was a solid performance, with especially high marks going to Freddie Adu, said to be finally living up to the hype. (Well, he did just turn 19 last week.) Still, a third straight game without scoring a…
A Learning Experience: Aztex Fall Just Short in U.S. Open Cup
Wow! Great game Tuesday night up in Round Rock, as the Austin Aztex U-23 amateurs held their own against the pros of the United Soccer Leagues First Division Atlanta Silverbacks before succumbing in a penalty-kick shootout, thereby exiting the U.S. Open Cup in the first round. The Aztex twice had the lead, on beautiful goals…
The Euro Championships: What We Know So Far …
The first days of the 2008 European Championships in Switzerland and Austria have been a treat; below are some notes on each group, and the remaining schedule. Group A: Portugal has beaten the other two group favorites by two goals each; maybe Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world. Sunday’s Turk-Czech match will…
How Much is that Doggy in the Window?
WilCo gets unexpected criticism over animal adoption effort
‘And Then the Feeling Fades Away/ But You Sort of Wish It Would Have Stayed’
The New York Times’ Books blog, Paper Cuts, has a recurring thread called “Living With Music,” in which authors write about their perfect playlists.
No Cameras, Possible Molotov Cocktail at Guv’s Mansion
Investigation into fire continues
The Texas-L.A. Connection
Tremoloco’s vida loca
Cap Metro Convo
Transit company to discuss fare increases
Wynn Weighs In
Mayor talks about Green Home Tax (and how there’s no such thing)
Documenting ‘Danger’
Professor with a camera in a warzone
A Word With RZA
“Peace.” RZA answers the phone emphatically in his Houston hotel room. After spending much of Monday playing phone tag – let’s call it shadowboxing – with the Wu-Tang producer and swordsman, Bump & Hustle finally connected when he touched down in Texas. Playing the role of alter-ego Bobby Digital, RZA performs tonight at Emo’s in…
War Stories
Vets take their war stories to the web
Damn I Love YouTube
I’m voting Republican!
Austin Wranglers on the Verge of a Monumental Turnaround
Could this be a turnaround for the ages? In the history of sports, there have been many failures of drastic proportions. Those monumental collapses include some unbelievable turn of events. Some meltdowns were individual performances that make you want to give the perpetrator a hug, while others were team collapses that have resulted in coach’s…
A Night of Un-Taxed Cyn
How the Texas courts helped Cyn shake again.
The Language Expands, and the Heart of a Crank Contracts
OMFG: We’re nearing the million-word mark
Gonna Let It Shine
Odetta in Austin
Last Day for Early Voting
Turnout is low so far. Your democracy needs you!
Astonishingly Easy Access to Agents and Editors
You better shop around
Big in Texas, Bigger in L.A.
Austin, CA
Mere Baap Pehle Aap
Mere Baap Pehle Aap 2008, NR, 154 min. Directed by Priyadarshan, Starring Paresh Rawal, Genelia D’Souza, Om Puri, Akshaye Khanna. A widower looks for a mate in this new Bollywood comedy.
Aztex Cruise in League Play; U.S. Open Cup Tonight
The Austin Aztex U-23s started a new win streak on the weekend, running their record to 6-1-1 with a pair of shutout wins, leading up to tonight’s U.S. Open Cup showdown against the First Division Atlanta Silverbacks – the first time a full professional team has played in Austin since … well, I don’t know…
Ron Paul Fall-Out
Texas GOP teaches the Dems something about disunity.
TXRG: Big Night Out at the Tiniest Bar
Texas Rollergirls holding fundraisers for travel teams
Jo Jo’s Jonesing for New Naughty Tots
Jo Jo wants to help
Hammerin’ in Harris
TDP has momentum and rhythm
Democrats on YouTube
Videos of the convention speeches
Hey, Loretta!
Everything but the kitchen sink with Loretta Lynn
The Loved One
The Loved One 1965, NR, 116 min. Directed by Tony Richardson, Starring Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Rod Steiger, Dana Andrews, Milton Berle, James Coburn, Robert Morley, Roddy McDowall. This mordantly funny satire of both the funeral-home business and the British invasion of Hollywood was scripted by Terry Southern, based on a novel by Evelyn Waugh…
Pictures From the Floor
Images from the floor of the Texas Democratic Party state convention
The End of the Beginning?
Will the sun ever set on the TDP conference?
Challenge to Richie
Brooks and Van Os seek to unseat incumbent
Afternoon on the Convention Floor
Part three of the live-blogging experience
Plugging Local Business
Continuing a tradition of hard-drinking state legislators
Richie Says Clintonites Must Back Barack
Party chair says he has mixed feelings about party’s dual primary/caucus system
Fighting Voter ID Laws
Activists and lawmakers give tips on how to stop “voter suppression” laws
Life on the Floor, Day 2
Day two of the Texas Democratic Party State Convention
The Numbers Game
Final presidential primary numbers from the TDP convention party
More From the Floor
Chelsea Clinton makes it to the convention
First Views from the Convention Floor
Live blogging from the Texas Democratic State Convention floor
More Photos from Convention
It’s like the society page!
Rick Noriega’s Speech to the Texas Democratic Convention
Blasts Cornyn, calls for end to Iraq War.
Here Comes the Thunder
The Dems come blasting into the convention
Richie Speaks
An excerpt from the party chairman’s speech to the Young Democrats at the TDP convention
Texas Democratic Convention Picture Gallery
The sights from Austin
Outlaws Host Blaze on Saturday
The Austin Outlaws have three games left in the regular season. This Saturday, they play the New Orleans Blaze, whom they killed 42-6 during their home opener. Rested from a week off, the Outlaws should be ready for their first away game against the Blaze. Austin currently sits in third place, one game behind second-place…
Master of Puppets
Ozzfest rolls out the black carpet for Texas metal
Superdelegate Declares
Leader of Young Democrats of America switches from Clinton to Obama
Where in the World is Rick Noriega?
Multiple sightings of senate challenger at convention
Summer in the City
Live hip-hop in the ATX
Let Them Eat Cake
The real view from the press room at the Democratic convention
Follow the Excitement of the Texas Democratic Party Convention!
Donkeys from around the state converge on the blue island.
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and Irish whores, exfoliate before application, and more
Off the Record
There’s a whole lot of shaking going on thanks to Johnny Walker, the Pachanga Latin Music Festival, Return to Forever reunion, and Breakaway Records
The Hightower Report
Aging Agitators; and the Price of Imported Shrimp
Happenings
For more details and events, see Community Listings. Thursday 5 LEADERSHIP AUSTIN’S BEST PARTY EVER 6pm. Austin Music Hall, 208 Nueces, 499-0435. $150. www.leadershipaustin.org. Saturday 7 ECOLOGICAL COLLAPSE TALK 8pm. MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop, 407-6925. $5-10 suggested donation. HARVEST OF JUSTICE CONFERENCE 8am-6pm. Ragsdale Center at St. Edward’s, 3001 S. Congress, 442-3602. $30.…
You Don’t Mess With the Zohan
As far as we know, this Adam Sandler movie is the first Hollywood-made Jewish/Palestinian/immigrant comedy that also doubles as a surprisingly trenchant analysis of the Middle East’s perpetual bloodbath.
Letters @ 3AM
We have become a space-faring species and are discovering that the universe is stunningly gorgeous and implacably dangerous – like us
Absolutely Dan Dyer
If Dan Dyer couldn’t sing, being ‘easy on the eyes’ wouldn’t matter
Who Will Preside Over Parks?
Austin Parks and Rec searches for a visionary new director
Sarkar Raj
Bollywood sequel is a political drama that further explores episodes in the lives of the powerful Nagre clan.
Campus Restaurant Roundup, Summer 2008
The choice campus eateries this summer are close to UT, easy on the wallet, and fast
Trouble in Mind
Hayes Carll got a guy sent back to prison!
Paper or Plastic?
A short, unreliable survey of the bag in recent cinema
Harris County Death Penalty: Race matters
New study shows race a factor in capital sentences
Mister Lonely
Oddly, Harmony Korine’s film may be his most accessible as a director, featuring characters and images that are unforgettable – even if they don’t add up to a complete narrative or visual whole.
Campus Restaurant Roundup, Summer 2008
Cuatros 1004 W. 24th, 243-6361 Sunday-Thursday, 11am-11pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-12mid www.cuatrosaustin.com Cuatros is the brainchild of “Cuatro” Kowalski, a UT grad and Texas Culinary Academy alum, who managed at Hula Hut for a few years before embarking on his own. At first glance, it appears to have limited parking, but there are 40 spaces available in…
Texas Platters
Shearwater Rook (Matador) It’s almost Homeric in scope, the story of Shearwater. After five years and three LPs, the Austinites came out to the rest of the world in 2006 on Misra with their accomplished fourth album, Palo Santo, which was then re-released last year in a deluxe edition by Matador Records. With that, it…
Enter the Funnyman
Danny McBride’s improbable ascension via a bootlegged, no-budget tae kwon do comedy
Newsdesk
The Sunset Advisory Commission calls out TxDOT’s lack of accountability
Surfwise
This documentary is a revealing portrait of Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, the spiritual father of Israeli surf and the corporeal father of a nine-child surfing dynasty in California.
Campus Restaurant Roundup, Summer 2008
Mellow Mushroom 2426 Guadalupe, 472-6356 Daily: 11am “until it gets slow at night” www.mellowmushroom.com Mellow Mushroom is a chain with a hippie Sixties and Seventies vibe that originated in Atlanta. The menu features pizzas, calzones, hoagies, salads, and a respectable selection of microbrews. This is not an intimate dining location; when we were there, the…
Texas Platters
T Bone Burnett Tooth of Crime (Nonesuch) T Bone Burnett’s name has become so synonymous with Oscar-winning films and big-name production credits that his own life now plays like a movie. In fact, the Fort Worth-raised singer-songwriter’s latest solo outing is a soundtrack he wrote for the production of a Sam Shepard play of the…
Tragedy on the Border
AFS Documentary Tour| Kieran Fitzgerald|The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez|Tommy Lee Jones
Quote of the week
“Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for America.” – Barack Obama, Tuesday night, claiming the Democratic nomination for president
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
While examining steroid use and abuse, this documentary discovers that enhancement drugs permeate our culture. Who’s to say which ones should be illegal?
Honor Roll
The 2007-2008 Austin Critics Table Awards
Campus Restaurant Roundup, Summer 2008
Mings Cafe 2604 Guadalupe, 476-8888 Daily, 11am-10pm www.mingscafe.com Chef/owner Fai Jow has opened a branch of Houston’s Ming’s Cafe on Guadalupe, with a shaded, Zen-like patio out front if you want to brave the heat and traffic noise. Inside, you’ll order at the counter, with staff delivering your order to the tables (the tip bucket…
Texas Platters
Justin Trevino Take One as Needed for Pain (Heart of Texas) Justin Trevino possesses one of the purest voices in Austin, his smooth tenor hearkening classic country crooners Ray Price and Webb Pierce. Following last year’s collaboration with Johnny Bush, Texas on a Saturday Night, Trevino’s latest lays down such soothing honky-tonk heartbreak that there…
Pop Goes the Culture
The SAMOPC hosts a night of music and a movie
Headlines
• Barack Obama claimed the Democratic nomination for president: “Tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another – a journey that will bring a new and better day to America.” • Texas Democrats are poised to meet this weekend at the Austin Convention Center and are anticipating a major…
Stuck
Stuart Gordon tells his own creepy version of the story about the Fort Worth woman who locked her car in the garage for days with the mangled-but-still-living body of a human victim stuck in her windshield.
Big Range Austin Dance Festival
Choreographer Ellen Bartel is stirring up the local dance scene again with a bigger, more sophisticated dance fest
Campus Restaurant Roundup, Summer 2008
Bambino’s New York Style Deli 2716 Guadalupe, 482-9225 Sunday-Thursday, 11am-11pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-3am www.myspace.com/bambinosaustin Jay Ditta, local made-man transplant from NYC, has opened a true New York-style deli on Guadalupe, across from the Villas condos. The ambience is mob, with photos of the famous old gangsters and a startling mannequin that glares “the look.” The menu…
Texas Platters
The Krayolas La Conquistadora (Box) After nearly two decades of dormancy, San Antonio pop quartet the Krayolas sprang back to life last year with retrospective Best Riffs Only. Teenage brothers Hector and David Saldaña formed the group in 1975 on a foundation of Rickenbacker riffs and British Invasion harmonies, but their hometown’s musical bouillabaisse is…
Film News
Whip It? More like a ‘Blew It’: Drew Barrymore pic finds better incentives in Michigan
Naked City
• Only in Texas would a blind person be allowed to hunt if she so desired yet not be allowed to practice acupuncture. Juliana Cumbo was denied her license to practice last October and has been appealing the decision ever since. The Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners argues that her blindness is both a…
Standard Operating Procedure
The great documentary filmmaker Errol Morris delves into the notorious photographs taken at Abu Ghraib to discover the “truths” they contain and whatever culpabilities they might reveal.
Pecha Kucha
Watching local artists, designers, and filmmakers show 20 slides for 20 seconds each can be either illuminating or excruciating
Campus Restaurant Roundup, Summer 2008
El Greco 3016 Guadalupe Ste. C-200, 474-7335 Monday-Thursday, 10am-9pm; Friday-Saturday, 10am-10pm; closed Sunday www.elgrecoaustin.com Austin’s new Greek restaurant is owned and operated by chef Jake Konstantinidis, with help from his mother, Athina Konstantinidis; his aunt, chef Kiki Vasiliadou; and a treasure trove of generations-old family recipes. The space takes a modern approach to Greek…
Texas Platters
The Mother Truckers Let’s All Go to Bed (Funzalo) On third album Let’s All Go to Bed, the Mother Truckers come out smokin’ dynamite. Actually “Dynamite” is just the lead track, and like most of what follows, it’s an in-yer-face assault of rowdy Southern twang. With loud guitars, greasy beats, and the clamorous harmonies of…
TV Eye
The Starz network digs into the history of comic books
Beyond City Limits
• Don’t look for U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega on the campaign trail until after June 14. The Democratic state representative from Houston is also a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard, and he reported on Sunday for the Guard’s mandatory annual training exercises, a two-week affair. This is not the first time his…
Review: Penfold Theatre’s ‘Art’
The first production by the new Penfold Theatre Company reveals a company of fine actors capable of very fine work
Campus Restaurant Roundup, Summer 2008
Potbelly Sandwich Works 2316 Guadalupe, 477-0300 Sunday-Thursday, 11am-9pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-10pm www.potbelly.com Potbelly started in 1977 as a small antique store and over time added sandwiches. Now they are a chain operating in nine states. The location on the Drag features sandwiches ($4.19, served warm on white or wheat), salads ($5.29), soups ($2.69/3.99), chili ($2.99/4.29), and…
Texas Platters
Adam Carroll Old Town Rock n Roll In a weathered, comfortably rough and worn line drawn from Butch Hancock or Guy Clark, Austin’s Adam Carroll possesses a sense for detailed narratives that unroll effortlessly behind a sing-talk style pushing against his limited range. A song like “Hi Fi Love,” meanwhile, leans toward Sam Baker in…
The Common Law
Clinton, Obama & the Texas State Convention
Their Reputations Precede Them
Run-off rivals Galindo and Morrison set the record straight
Arts Review
ALO’s hometown take on Die Fledermaus with wit, affection, enthusiasm, and style from all parties
Campus Restaurant Roundup, Summer 2008
WeFuse 2025 Guadalupe (Dobie Mall) #152, 236-0207 Monday-Friday, 11am-6pm during summer session (until 8pm during regular session) www.wefuse.net Inside Dobie Mall, chef-owner Jon Gaboric has opened one of the more creative venues around the 40 Acres. WeFuse features fresh, healthy French-Asian fusion dishes served in bento boxes. A separation from a business partner caused the…
Texas Platters
Green Mountain Grass As the Crow Flies (Zone) Originally from Champaign-Urbana, Ill., Green Mountain Grass has called Austin home since 2006. The quartet’s third disc, As the Crow Flies, is its first since moving to Texas, steadfast bluegrass with a skilled mix of American music styles, from jazz to country to Native American, done with…
Day Trips
Jeannie Ralston’s new book, The Unlikely Lavender Queen, is all about life, and love, and lavender, of course
Going Negative: Galindo vs. the ‘Green Home Tax’
In the latest Place 4 campaign exchange, Cid Galindo has embraced an inflammatory new slogan – “Stop the Green Home Tax” – disseminated across the city in mailers and automated phone calls in the past week. A mailer headlined “Pay a big tax just to sell your home?” attacked run-off opponent Laura Morrison as being…
Arts Review
Torok’s contrasting images of realism and cartoon abstraction show us both his life and his constructed idealized self
Campus Restaurant Roundup, Summer 2008
Milto’s Mediterranean Cafe 2909 Guadalupe, 476-1021 Monday-Thursday, 11am-10:30pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-11pm; Sunday, noon-10:30pm George Milto opened Milto’s in 1977, and they were the first place in Austin to sell pizza by the slice. We’ve eaten there through the decades and driven by it probably 10,000 times, but it was only lately that we rediscovered it. Milto’s…
Texas Platters
Late last decade, when the Sword’s J.D. Cronise swung an axe in Those Peabodys, antipodal high voltage bolted the brand. On rock-solid third LP Animal Saturday (Little Mafia), the Austin trio packs a concrete beating while shading its monochromatic wallet-chain rawk with black and purple tonal concussions. Adam Hatley and Clarke Wilson bang and mash…
Playing Through
Some people are destined to compete in triathlons, and some to watch
AG and Dems Settle … Then Fuss
Voting fraud lawsuit ends in ‘victory’ for both sides
How Soon Is Now?
William Gibson talks about the short shelf life of cyberpunk.
Campus Restaurant Roundup, Summer 2008
Spicy Pickle 404 W. 26th, 473-8441 Daily, 11am-9pm www.spicypickle.com Spicy Pickle is a chain involved in 16 states, featuring hot focaccia panini, subs, thin-crust 11-inch pizzas, salads, and soups, with veggie options in each category, using high quality meats, cheeses, toppings, and spreads on fresh Italian breads. You order at the counter and, with all…
The Webberville Conundrum
Austin’s plans for an eastern landfill hit a little obstacle – the people who live there
(Further) Beside the Point
Admiral Dunkerley ships out; anchors aweigh for the new council
New Study Raises Specter of Helmet Law
This just in: booze and bikes don’t mix
Readings
Sarah Bird skewers Austin society in the days of George and Laura and the Dellionaires.
Event Menu
Event Menu: June 5-12
The New Council Weighs In
Expect a mix of opinions from the new council on the proposed landfill in Webberville
It’s Party Time at the State Convention
There’s still plenty of fun to be had �
Developing Stories: What’s Wrong With the Super PUD
The proposed PUD amendments won’t fix the problems without a plan
Readings
Blanco County’s crime-solving game warden John Marlin is back.
Food-o-File
Sarah Rowland benefit shows Austin’s big heart and local eats
From Prairie to Settlement to Village
And you thought Webberville was just a spot on the map
Those Pesky Superdelegates
Who will they pick? And who are they, for that matter?
Readings
A war journalist’s time in Iraq proves food for novelistic thought.
Wine of the Week
The 2005 Becker Vineyards Cabernet Reserve Sauvignon is a Napa-worthy Texas Cab
‘Chronicle’ Endorsements
The June 14 municipal election run-off will decide City Council Place 4, between Laura Morrison and Cid Galindo. Early voting runs through June 10. Here is our updated endorsement. Place 4: Laura Morrison As we pointed out in our initial endorsement, former Planning Commissioner Cid Galindo and former Austin Neighborhoods Council President Laura Morrison are…
Texas Supreme Court Backs FLDS Mothers
Children reunite with parents in wake of Supremes’ decision
The Foot Fist Way
Faux documentary about a strip-mall kung-fu sensei without the sense to come in out of the pain has moments of laugh-out-loud greatness but also much dopiness.
After a Fashion
Stephen finally gets to use the phrase “porn star and welfare-mother-turned-singer-and-social-activist” in a column
The SXSW of Hooch: Tales of the Cocktail
Tales of the Cocktail, held each July in New Orleans, is a must-attend festival for professional foodies and mixologists
Travis Co. Early Voting
Through June 10
A Parting Plan for Austin’s Downtown Parks
Dunkerley pushes new plan to preserve Austin’s open spaces
Kung Fu Panda
Jack Black’s animated Po may be an animated panda bear, but deep down, he’s really just a nerd with a pop-culture obsession.
Luv Doc Recommends: Great Guitars Rock for Van Wilks and Prostate Cancer Awareness
Austin is a guitar town. You can’t throw a pick into an audience without hitting a guitar player – and he’ll probably just toss it back because it’s not his brand or thickness. Anyway, nice throw because he was standing in the back of the room with his arms folded thinking, “This guy isn’t such…
