Breakfast All Day
The Omelettry 4811 Burnet, 453-5062 Breakfast served 7am-9pm daily. Before there was Magnolia or Kerbey Lane, there was the original Omelettry, beloved for its eggs, flapjacks, and home fries. Same as it ever was. Magnolia Cafe 2304 Lake Austin Blvd., 478-8945, 1920 S. Congress, 445-0000 Breakfast served 24 hours a day. That’s 24 hours a…
Naked City
Offering to “restore integrity, responsibility, and maturity” to Austin City Council’s Place 6 seat, community activist Willie Lewis made official Tuesday his decision to challenge strong-man incumbent Eric Mitchell. “I think a lot of people see him as a person who hasn’t done as much as he could for the people,” Lewis said of Mitchell.…
1% for Soul
Ceramic Quilts at South Austin Senior Activity Centerphotograph by Minh Carrico The entry room at the new South Austin Senior Activity Center hums with activity. Men and women sit at round tables and play dominoes and gossip; others mill about, refilling coffee cups, visiting with friends. Several stop and talk to me, wanting to be…
A Bunch for Brunch
Gospel brunch at Stubb’s BBQphotograph by Kenny Braun Here in Austin, weekend mornings will usually find a definitive assortment of hometown types — old hippies, slacker/musicians, aspiring screenwriters, West Austin yuppies, salamander-protecting environmentalists, perpetual students, computer nerds, and real estate developers alike — out on the town for a leisurely mid-day meal. Whether it’s migas…
Telling…
State Senator Florence Shapiro “Kids don’t ask us before they smoke their first cigarette, drink their first alcohol, even have their first kiss,” pleaded Rep. Debra Danburg (D-Houston) to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Although a House member making the trek across the hallway to speak before the Senate is extremely rare, Danburg…
Articulations
Sure, you know that UT Austin extends far beyond the 40 Acres that originally made up the campus, but did you know it stretches all the way to the heart of Japan? Well, it will for a few weeks, while a professor from the UT Department of Theatre & Dance is directing a production at…
Food-O-File
by Virginia B. Wood The pie-covered counters at the Central Market Cooking School evoked visions of the county and state fair pie competitions of yesteryear. There were shiny fruit pies, cream pies under clouds of meringue, a few pies whose presentation was elegant and sophisticated, and many more that looked homey and rustic. These pastry…
Telephone Hangups
illustration by Doug Potter Bored with your routine city government? You, too, can take part in an ongoing debate that’s spawned personal recriminations, thwarted careers, and stoked political firestorms all over town for months! And it’s as easy as picking up your phone. In fact, it’s all about picking up your phone, and how much…
Exhibitionism
MAMMALIA: ANIMAL MAGNETISM Martin Brothers Cafe, through March “Storm’s a Coming” by Sarah Higdon �1996 If an artist claims Lewis Carroll and Dr. Seuss as two of her strongest influences, you can pretty much count on finding some playful animal iconography in her work. But while Sarah Higdon does give animals human qualities in her…
Street Cred to Burn
Two things happened to Austin music in 1996: Minus a single transcendent, galvanizing band to rally around, Austin’s edgier outposts lost a measure of cohesion and splintered into any number of indie and psych-rock permutations. On top of that, traditional sounds — specifically country, blues, and swing — came roaring back with a vengeance, to…
Turning the Internet on its Ear
Thomas Dolbyphotograph by George Lange Fourteen years after playing the adorably disheveled and bespectacled lab jockey of his 1983 music video “She Blinded Me With Science,” Thomas Dolby has indeed become the mad scientist of his own fantasy. And though we haven’t heard him on the radio in years, this icon of the MTV generation…
Behind the Tall Tales of Lester Bangs in Texas
“Lester’s Last Stand: Behind the Tall Tales of Lester Bangs in Texas” is an excerpt from a longer chapter in Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs. Author Jim DeRogatis describes the book as “an ongoing project and a labor of love.” He would like to thank the 30 or so Austinites…
1996-97 Austin Music Awards Wednesday, March 12 Austin Music Hall, 7:55pm sharp
Pre-show entertainment by Gerry Van King and Kerry Awn 7:55 Showtime with Paul Ray 8:00 81/2 Souvenirs 8:35 Texas Tornados with Roy Head 9:10 Sexton Bros. Sextet 9:45 Townes Van Zandt Tribute with Jimmie Dale Gilmore 10:30 Townes Van Zandt Tribute II 11:05 Lou Ann Barton featuring Jimmie Vaughan All times subject to change
Creative Plundering with Mark Hosler
Mark Hosler spends a lot of time with lawyers. No, that doesn’t mean he’s rich; in fact, the truth is just the opposite. As a member of the social commentary-rich prankster collage band Negativland, he’s been part of a scheme to falsely implicate its own music in a mass slaying, pranking the media all the…
Postscripts
The SXSW Multimedia/Interactive Festival is upon us, and naturally, the proceedings will feature many prominent writers as speakers. Included among the panelists at press time: Jamais Cascio, who writes about technology issues for the Global Business Network and has been published in Time and Wired, Mikki Halpin (editor of the online zine STIM), Charles Ostman…
Dancing About Architecture
Wooo! When I said wristbands were going fast for South by Southwest, I wasn’t kidding. Following the announcement that wristbands were going off sale last Saturday, more than a thousand of them flew out of the ticket outlets that day. As promised, a few more (less than a thousand) will be available at Waterloo Records…
No False Moves
Paxton in his Apollo 13role Whatever else is said or written about the actor Bill Paxton — the almost painfully nice guy in such films as Twister, Apollo 13, and the great One False Move — I will foremost remember him as the man who flies coach for the movie he loves. But, of course,…
In Person: David Foster Wallace
“I’m really nervous, so you don’t have to be nervous for me,” David Foster Wallace explains. “I’m nervous enough for all of us.” He’s here, at Book People, to hype his new books. One, Infinite Jest, set in a future unified Canada/U.S. and a tennis academy, is a disjunctive, funny, chatty, impossibly long novel (over…
This Magic Moment
Fifteen years ago Lou Ann Barton and Paul Ray opened the first Austin Music Awards at Club Foot by presenting a batch of honors to Austin music’s Class of 1982. Next week, at the Austin Music Hall, Paul Ray will again emcee, while Barton is due to perform with Jimmie Vaughan (a previous winner as…
The View From Here
John Pierson talks with Spike Lee A friend of mine called last Saturday night to ask if I could settle a film question that was bugging another friend of his. This friend of my friend had just finished watching a videotape of Fargo and, having dutifully read the tag at the beginning of the Coen…
About AIDS
We’re on Cable! In an effort to disseminate accurate and up-to-date information regarding HIV/AIDS, AIDS Services of Austin is now producing monthly segments for “Open Studio,” a 30-minute program on Austin Community Access Center (ACAC — cable channel 16). In doing this, it is also the aim to raise awareness in the Austin community regarding…
Cast of Characters
Bill Bentley: Warner Bros. Records vice-president, former Music Editor, Austin Sun Lou Ann Barton: Five-time performer, multiple winner Louis Black: Austin Chronicle Editor, Awards show executive producer Bill Carter: Performer, member of P, and multiple winner Michael Corcoran: Former Chronicle music columnist, current Austin-American Statesman music critic, multiple winner Jody Denberg: Co-emcee ’83-’85, multiple winner…
Scanlines
D: Tim Fywell; with Mira Sorvino, Ashley Judd, Josh Charles, Ron Rifkin, David Dukes. Vulcan Video, 609 W. 29th St. The juxtapositions and duality of Marilyn Monroe’s life are illustrated with chilling literalness in HBO’s Norma Jean & Marilyn. Judd, as Norma Jean Baker before her Hollywood makeover, and Sorvino, as the actress after the…
Hearth & Soul
Bad Boys, Bad Boys When Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, suddenly every man with two arms and most of his fingers went into the roofing business. They were not all experienced or honest. Now that they got most of the shingles barely tacked back in place so they’ll blow off in the next big wind, it…
Xenophobia?
Atari Teenage Riot Feeling Boutros Boutros-Gali? Well, here’s the world, or parts of it anyway, represented by 90-some-odd international acts playing South by Southwest; and this is your Baedecker. It’s rife with reference points (other band names) to clue you in because, hey, you’re an American, you know, the people who can’t be bothered with…
Seven in Focus
Real Stories of the Donut Men It would seem that the pairing of producers Elizabeth Avell�n and Rana Joy Glickman is a match made in indie film heaven. In an American independent scene which has of late been turning out more and more “calling cards” for Hollywood, their commitment to daring and challenging cinema is…
Benefits
2nd Annual Circle of Friends: Celebration of Women in the Arts to benefit The University YWCA, at Mexic-Arte Museum, Fifth & Congress, 8pm-midnight. Cost is $5. 326-1222. SUN 9 Glover Gill, Dee McCandless & more perform to benefit Bear Belmares (for medical expenses), at Electric Lounge, 302 Bowie St., 7pm. Cost is $5. 476-4596. SUN…
Picks & Sleepers
Lullaby for the Working Class You always hear the rumble just before the avalanche, and this week’s “Picks & Sleepers” section, limited to Wednesday South by Southwest showcases only, is just a faint rolling sound compared to next week’s pull-out section, which will have a couple hundred more “Picks & Sleepers” covering the rest of…
Shortcuts
by Jen Scoville We’ll be in the dark over the next few days — watching lots of independent films, to be sure. The SXSW Film Festival and Conference opens this Friday with screenings at the Dobie, the Paramount, and the Alamo — our new drafthouse/cinema located at Fourth and Colorado. More than 60 programs of…
Coach’s Corner
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…” go the words to a popular Yuletide tune. It’s also the hourly mantra chanted by my brother, my brother’s very own prosperous personal injury attorney from Philadelphia, and myself, as we gazed out into the crystal clear skies of Winter Park, Colorado. Winter Park is an…
Also Playing
Friday: Gary P. Nunn, Broken Spoke Saturday: Storyville, Lisa Tingle, Stubb’s; Toni Price, Bill Carter, Gwil Owen, Antone’s Sunday: Slaid Cleaves, Ginger Man Monday: Guitar Wolf, Enduro, Reclusives, Emo’s Tuesday: Walter Salas-Humara, Michael Hall Hole in the Wall; Flirtations, Planet Theatre Wednesday: Iguanas, Gulf Coast Playboys, Continental Club; Derailers, Broken Spoke
Rev. Ivan Stang and Techno-Spirituality
Rev. Ivan Stang aka Douglass St.Clair Smith has spent time as a filmmaker, animator, music video director, and advertising lackey. He found his true calling, however, as the founder of the world’s first admittedly for-profit religion, the tongue-in-cheek Church of the Subgenius. Built around the iconic image of J.R. “Bob” Dobbs, whose smiling, pipe-smoking visage…
Day Trips
Outdoors Austin, an easy-to-maneuver reference guide, can help you discover the treasures of Austin. The third edition of the Sierra Club’s popular guide book is one of the best resource collections ever assembled of the who, what, and where of outdoor recreation in a 100-mile radius of Austin, whether you’re looking for water recreation, a…
Record Reviews
The following are albums by artists playing the 1997 South by Southwest music conference. Each review is tagged with the day, venue, and time the artist is playing, but all information is subject to change, so please check your SXSW schedule. Lots more reviews next week in the Chronicle’s special pull-out section. THE DROPOUTS Come…
Collective Projections
Debra Zimmerman “We believe that women have something special to say about women,” says Debra Zimmerman, executive director of Women Make Movies. Her statement sums up the guiding principle of this pioneering producer and distributor of films and video by and about women. Women Make Movies celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with an international…
Public Notice
You’d think with a subject this sexy, we’d invest a little more energy and come up with a snappier headline. Well, we wanted to get your attention and geeez, how can one compete with Bob Newhart for funny? We are beside ourselves knowing that the Uhlan of Understatement himself will be here for a Benefit…
Road Shows
MARCH FRI 7 Royal Crown Revue, Continental Club FRI 7 Long Hind Legs, Blue Flamingo FRI 7 Joshua Bell, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Bates Recital Hall FRI 7 Chris Smither, Cactus Cafe FRI 7 Rosie Flores, Antone’s FRI 7 Six Finger Satellite, Thee Hydrogen Terrors, Emo’s SAT 8 Trout Fishing in America, La Zona Rosa SAT 8…
Page Two
In “Page Two” of last year’s equivalent issue, I talked about all the upcoming SXSW events with a special emphasis on the Austin Music Awards. In the course of the editorial, I reveled in SXSW Film’s world premiere of a new John Sayles film. Rarity of rarities, where many films have multiple world premieres, this…
All Roads Lead to Bergstrom
Veronica Perez, president of the Patton Ave. neighborhood associationphotograph by Jana Birchum Veronica Perez calls it “living under the belly of the beast.” Perez is president of the Patton Avenue Neighborhood Association, whose members live just east of US183, about a mile north of the former Bergstrom Air Force Base. Patton Avenue residents anticipate with…
Suits or Citizens: Who Gets the Prime Parking?
There were two major issues before the Airport Advisory Board (AAB) on February 25: whether the parking garage at Bergstrom should be expanded, and whether rental car companies should be given prime space in the garage. Some board members argued that rental car lots should be located at more remote sites connected to the terminal…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
King Henry VI’s aunt Eleanor confessed to using witchcraft against him so that her husband could have become king. A “vara” is a unit of measurement used by land surveyors. According to Texas statue, it is equal to 1/3 of 100 inches (331/3 inches), but it may vary from 32 to 43 inches. Radio’s original…
Pony Shows and Horse Trading
East Austin residents turned out in force to tell councilmembers their concerns about crime in their neighborhoodsphotograph by Alan Pogue Last week’s was one helluva cramped agenda agenda. The long-awaited unveiling of the sordid police audit, Jackie Goodman’s $25 million corporate welfare check to FAIR, Ronney Reynolds’ politically convenient crusade against the garbage sticker fee,…
Out-of-Town Barbecue
We’ve all suffered enough. After nearly two weeks of harsh winterlike conditions, it’s finally springtime in Central Texas. Pretty soon the trees will sprout new leaves, the hills will look like Crayola boxes, and every Austinite will make this year’s obligatory “drive in the country.” It’s the perfect chance to see the land outside the…
Business as Usual?
illustration by Doug Potter How did Freeport- McMoRan Copper & Gold win the contract to mine Busang, a gigantic gold deposit on the island of Borneo worth at least $25 billion, that virtually every other gold company on earth wanted? Securities analysts are crediting Freeport’s experience in Indonesia and their proven ability to operate a…
