20×2
Monday night’s participants in SXSW Interactive’s 20×2 event offered hilarious, provocative, and simply odd ideas about what is and is not real.
Learning to Play Nice
SXSW Interactive panelists discuss the future of the tech industry. A lot.
The Bruce & Cory Show
Sterling and Doctorow debate scarcity, or the lack of it.
Road Movies
Road Movies NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Films are all “road movies” related to El Paraiso (formerly called The Marfa Project). El Paraiso began with a road trip to Marfa, Texas, during which the Rude Mechs sat around in bars with rodeo cowboys and other fascinating locals to…
Wave It in the Air Like You Just Don’t Care
Derek Powazek’s Fray Café storytelling event, held this year at the Hideout, is the most human and most entertaining couple of hours in the whole SXSW Interactive Festival.
Punks Get Paid
Heavy.com founders Simon Assaad and David Carson tell their success story in a SXSW Interactive Conference keynote conversation.
SXSW 2002 Web Awards
This year’s Earl Award winners
Free the Mouse!
Constitutional lawyer Lawrence Lessig spoke at SXSW Interactive Saturday about the need to keep big corporations from indefinitely extending copyrights so that we can create a “creative commons.”
And the Dewey Winburne Award Goes to …
Knowbility.org’s Sharron Rush was rewarded at SXSW Interactive Saturday for her contribution toward making the Web accessible for people with disabilities.
Latitude Zero
Latitude Zero 2000, NR, 85 min. Directed by Toni Venturi, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Claudio Jaborandy, Debora Duboc. A woman who is eight months pregnant and abandoned by her lover, a colonel in the military police, owns a forgotten bar in the vast Brazilian backlands. Then a stranger on the run from…
Geeks of Iron
Ten Web geeks and one hour. Could they do the impossible?
Comin’ at Ya!
Comin’ at Ya! 1981, R, 91 min. Directed by Ferdinando Baldi, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Tony Anthony, Victoria Abril, Gene Quintano, Ricardo Palacios. This EuroWestern is best known as the movie that revived the 3-D movie phenomenon. Its 3-D effects are constant – the movie goes no more than five minutes without…
Clandestino Destino (A Clandestine Destiny)
Clandestino Destino (A Clandestine Destiny) 1987, NR, 81 min. Directed by Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Alfonso Téllez, Rafael Monroy, Magnolia Rivas, Denis Montiel, Arturo Villaseñor. Hermosillo tackles futurism in this film that shows his darkly comic forecasts for Mexico in the year 1999 – a time when the boundaries…
Communication Breakdown
Communication Breakdown NR, 60 min. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . These films from Brooklyn’s Ocularis Cinema traveling program focus on the age of misinformation in which the media transmits mixed signals. The program includes “Dark, Jailed Rhinocerous” by Juan Carlos Ccremata (Cuba, 18 min.), “Special Report” by Brian Boyce…
Demons
Demons 1985, NR, 88 min. Directed by Lamberto Bava, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Karl Zinny, Natasha Hovey, Urbano Barberini. Directed by the son of legendary Mario Bava and co-written and produced by Italian horror maestro Dario Argento, Demons is something of a cult favorite. There’s tons of gore and a storyline about…
Articulations
Despite the economic downturn, Arts Center Stage is moving forward in its campaign to build the Long Center for the Performing Arts, and two of Austin’s gay playwrights have cause to be happy.
Food-o-File
For all of Austin’s March visitors — SXSW participants, rodeo fans, basketball parents, relative newcomers, or just plain curious foodies — Food Editor Virginia B. Wood gives the lowdown on local dining.
Phases and Stages
CruiserweightThis Will Undoubtedly Come Out Wrong At first glance, it’s tempting to cite mid-Nineties staples Letters to Cleo and Eve’s Plum as primary influences on Cruiserweight’s sweet power pop. A closer listen reveals that the Austin quartet’s hefty punch is more musically aligned with such late-Seventies bands as X-Ray Spex. Indeed, lead singer Stella Maxwell’s…
Endorsements
For a full version of the Chronicle endorsements, see the Feb. 22 issue onaustinchronicle.com. We urge all of our readers to vote in the primary of their choice. Early voting in Travis County continues through Friday, March 8. U.S. Senate (Dem): Ron Kirk The candidacy of Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk represents a historical payback for…
Short Cuts
Your Cheesecake Tastes of Sorrow Dept.: Updating the ongoing debacle out at Regal Cinema’s beloved arthouse theatre, the Arbor 7, the news is that property owners Simon Property Group Inc. have bumped up the move-out date to Sunday, March 17, from the originally scheduled date of March 31. No specific reason was given, but a…
Exhibitionism
If the Department of Environmental Protection hired someone to explain New York’s City Water Tunnel #3, the largest non-defense public works project in the Western Hemisphere, that someone couldn’t do a better job than performer Marty Pottenger, who delivers the truth of the project, as plain and raw as the earth that’s being tunneled, as…
Twenty Years Ago Today
“Set the Way Back Machine, Sherman.” “Where are we going today Mr. Peabody?” “We’re headed for 1983. March. Austin, Texas. We’re going to see what participants in this year’s Austin Music Awards were doing the night of the very first such soiree …” Okay, okay. One time-travel piece per publication per, uh, century is probably…
The Banker vs. the Prosecutor
As the primary campaign winds to an abrupt close, what do we know about Sanchez and Morales?
Naked City
March Haiku: Savor the magic: Severe Weather Awareness Week — it’s almost gone. Nearly twice as many local Democrats as Republicans have participated in early voting for the March 12 primary, according to the Travis County Clerk’s Office. As of Tuesday, 8,600 Democrats and 4,534 Republicans had cast ballots. Two years ago, Travis GOP turnout…
Video Reviews
Dame Maggie Smith won an Oscar for her work here as a flinty, flamboyant Scottish schoolmarm who inspires a dangerous hero worship in her young students.
The Time Machine
The Time Machine 2002, PG-13, 96 min. Directed by Simon Wells, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Guy Pearce, Jeremy Irons, Samantha Mumba, Orlando Jones, Mark Addy, Yancey Arias. It’s rarely a good sign when a production’s original director calls it quits 18 days before the end of shooting and has to be replaced.…
Exhibitionism
We’ve all got ’em, crushes on celebrities. At least, that’s the premise of Refraction Arts’ Celebrity Crush, and a bunch of talented artists reveal theirs in some quite entertaining ways.
2001-02 Austin Music Awards Lineup
8pm Snobs 8:30pm Supergirls, featuring Lord Douglas Phillips and Patrice Pike 9:05pm Spoon 9:35pm Sixpence None the Richer 10:15pm Champ Hood Tribute, featuring Warren Hood, Toni Price, and very special guest 10:55pm Asleep at the Wheel, featuring Johnny Gimble and Jimmie Vaughan
Tony and Dan Go Mano a… Hand?
Dem gubernatorial debate less than meets the eye
Starbucks County
Perhaps in line with a Starbucks policy prohibiting free publications in its coffeehouse locations, Travis County Commissioners are now considering imposing a similar ban in all county buildings. The commission was scheduled to take action on the matter at its Tuesday meeting, but postponed voting for another week after consulting with attorneys. Attorney Bill Hines,…
TV Eye
Spin City: How the media manipulates truth into something very different.
SXSW Film Festival Reco 2002
SXSW Film Festival Reco 2002 Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . The SXSW Film Festival 2002 has arrived. The Festival begins today, March 8, and continues through next Saturday, March 16. Premiering around town over the next nine days will be a wide selection of narrative features, documentaries, short films,…
Exhibitionism
Like a (Canadian) figure skating pair, actors Kirk Burg and Katie Brock provide the most entertainment in town, but in Christopher Durang’s Laughing Wild, they don’t get to work with the most fulfilling piece of art.
Dan Morales v. Harry Potter
Louis Dubose examines Dan Morales’ “Rule 202” filing against a former colleague in the Texas tobacco litigation.
Appeal for Reed?
On March 6, Texas Defender Service Deputy Director Greg Wiercioch confirmed that the agency is close to deciding whether it will take up death-row inmate Rodney Reed’s defense as the case wends its way through the federal appeals system. The news pleased Reed’s family and friends. “We are very excited,” said Reed’s mother Sandra. “We’ve…
SXSW Film Festival 2002
SXSW Film Festival 2002 Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . The SXSW Film Festival 2002 has arrived. The Festival begins today, March 8, and continues through next Saturday, March 16. Premiering around town over the next nine days will be a wide selection of narrative features, documentaries, short films, music…
Honor Among Thieves
James Carlos Blake demystifies A World of Thieves and the world of writing.
SXSW Picks & Sleepers
WEDNESDAY PICKS All showcases subject to changeAREAOLA 51: This unruly Sangre De Toro spinoff features Max Brody, Brett Bradford, and Jeff Pinkus. Yes, that means you’ve got current or former members of Ministry, Scratch Acid, and the Butthole Surfers sharing the same stage. Add Pong’s Jason Craig for a set-within-a-set gig by Insect Sex Act,…
The Sun Also Sets
Activist / artist / teacher / political candidate Susan Lee Solar is remembered by friends.
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large: Mixed Signals
Why is the City Council trying to undercut single-member districts?
Remembering Huff
Albert Huffstickler, who died last week, displayed the human heart and soul in all its naked neediness. We’ve gleaned some comments from the memories of poets and friends who knew Huff and his work — poetic impressions that speak to a deeper truth than the facts.
SXSW Picks & Sleepers
WEDNESDAY SLEEPERS SWITCHHITTER: This jaw-droppingly jagged endeavor out of Austin combines the roar of Big Black with the psychotic energy of the Birthday Party. Guitarist David Uskovich (Distorted Pony, Sweet Pea) leads Switchhitter on a scorched-earth mission that rivals Sherman in aural intensity. Now playing under the Perverted Son Records’ umbrella, the group’s last LP,…
Developers for Sonleitner, Parents for Heckler
In the race for campaign dollars, Karen Sonleitner raised more and spent more than her Pct. 2 County Commissioner opponent, Jeff Heckler. Sonleitner collected $19,403 — with large donations from development interests — and spent $23,553, according to campaign finance reports filed this week with the Travis County Clerk. Heckler raised just over $14,000 and…
The Hightower Lowdown
Dubya lets polluters make messes, but we pay for the clean-up; the computer industry isn’t as clean as it would like us to think; and the National Academy of Scientists calls for closer scrutiny of biotech.
George Pelecanos Coming to BookPeople
If the strain of being poised for greatness for most of the last decade doesn’t get to him first, George Pelecanos just might go over the top with his new crime thriller, Hell to Pay (Little, Brown $24.95). Ever since his debut with A Firing Offense from St. Martin’s in 1992, Pelecanos has looked like…
Dancing About Architecture
Steamboat returns, SXSW looms closer.
Battle on Town Lake
A union-organizing battle over work in progress at the new Town Lake Community Events Center has boiled over into a lawsuit. On Feb. 28, Austin’s International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (Local 520) sued Titus Electrical Contracting Inc. for defamation, libel, and slander. Union spokesman and assistant business manager Michael Murphy charged the contractors with falsely…
Scary Stories for the Thinking Man
Director Guillermo del Toro keeps company with the undead in two new films, Blade 2 and The Devil’s Backbone.
Recommended
Neal Pollack is funnier than anyone. That’s right: anyone. So funny that although the original McSweeney’s Books publication of The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature, in which Pollack skewers high-minded journalists and authors of all sorts, garnered a sizable readership, HarperCollins has picked it up in paperback and is also publishing a spoken word…
Stretching the Limits
How long have you been wringing your hands and gnashing your teeth wishing you could see a classic edition of Austin City Limits that you forgot to tape — or that aired in the days before you got one of them newfangled VCRs (or even that you only have on a Beta tape)? Well, fret…
Winter Heat Wave at ACC
The heat is on Austin Community College President Richard Fonté.
Bullish On Comics
Guillermo del Toro gets serious about the funny papers.
Page Two
A cornucopia of delights await you at the South by Southwest Film and Music Festivals and Austin Music Awards this year.
Second Offense
What a lineup Emo’s is having this weekend! There’s the Dictators on Saturday and a reunion of Austin’s hardcore legends the Offenders the night before, Friday. For those unfamiliar, the Offenders started in Killeen in 1978 and for a while had a young Mick Buck on vocals before musical differences set in. The “permanent” lineup…
Free(PAC) Radicals
Spottings of Liberalis Republicanus, a species formerly thought to have died with Nelson Rockefeller (and perhaps in the same manner), have occurred across Texas — and State Sen. Jeff Wentworth is one of the specimens! Or so it goes in GOP primary land, as the ultra-conservative FreePAC uses lurid direct-mail pieces to charge half a…
Encore!
The second annual Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards honors Texas’ finest contributors to cinema.
Beijing Bicycle
A newcomer to Beijing has his bicycle (and livelihood) stolen by a teen desperate to impress his pals in this Chinese variation on The Bicycle Thieves.
Mr. Smarty Pants
The Chinese invented the thought bubble and the speech bubble.Larry Czonka popularized the football helmet with a bull ring protector, which helps prevent opponents from reaching into the helmet with their fingers.In Somalia, it’s considered a big insult to show someone the bottom of your shoes.Researchers from the University of Wales College of Medicine found…
Phases and Stages
Neil Finn & Friends7 Worlds Collide: Live at the St. James (Nettwerk) His voice barely reveals the rasp of 20 years. It’s still clear and bright, one of the prettiest of our generation, a crooning troubadour with a boyish grin along the lines of Bono, Morrissey, or that guy from Squeeze. And he’s been busy,…
‘Adventure in Stupidity’
A threatening phone call to the Chronicle
Disarming Dubya
First-time director Alexandra Pelosi discusses Journeys With George, her surprising and fascinating documentary on George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, viewed from the back of the press plane.
Life and Debt
Set in Jamaica, this is an eye-opening documentary and primer on why the IMF and the World Bank are not to be trusted by emerging third-world countries.
Day Trips
Hill Country nurseries seem to be playing a siren song this time of year. As the occasional summer-like day leads us to believe that winter has passed, it is hard resist the urge to put some roots into the earth. Mix a drive in the country with a visit to a plant dealer for an…
Phases and Stages
Cory MorrowOutside the Lines (Write On) The first impression given off by Cory Morrow’s latest release, Outside the Lines, is pleasant singer-songwriter fare. There’s nothing to distinguish it, though Morrow’s tenor is reminiscent of Paul Kelly without the Australian’s superior writing ability. Plus, a sturdy, if not particularly inspired take on the Grateful Dead’s “Friend…
Social Studies
The Austin Men’s Project turns three — and says goodbye to one of its original coordinators.
Troma Ward
Troma Films co-founder Lloyd Kaufman: indie maverick, gross-out artist.
After a Fashion
THE RAVE After experiencing the sickening feeling of having my car die in the middle of Friday evening traffic on Lamar, I learned two things. The first, which I should have already known, is that even when you think you’re just going to run out for a minute, you should plan your outfit with the…
Phases and Stages
Champ HoodBon Haven (South Congress) When Champ Hood passed away in November 2001, he left an enormous hole in the Austin music scene. No one will ever replace the outstanding talent and personal charm he lent to Uncle Walt’s Band, Toni Price, Lyle Lovett, the Threadgill Troubadours, and so many more as a guitarist and…
Murder Most … Peculiar
A rogue’s gallery in the Gregory Steen murder case
Lone Star
Independent film visionary John Sayles revisits his past in a SXSW retrospective.
Casual Fine Dining Guide
Kaya Blue 621-A E. Sixth, 478-8788 Lunch: Monday-Friday, 11am-2:00pm; Dinner: Monday-Saturday, 5:30-10:00pm Appetizers only: Thursday, 10:30pm-2am Closed Sunday There’s no doubt about it, Kaya Blue must be one of the most romantically hip dining venues in town. Once your eyes adjust to the dim, they fall on the enormous faux-Baroque mirror that campily reigns over…
To Your Health
I consider myself quite healthy at age 42. I have been a strict vegetarian (vegan) for more than 10 years, I exercise and meditate regularly, and have never smoked tobacco. I have two healthy children and I am still having regular, uncomplicated menstrual periods. Is there any reason for me to consider taking food supplements?
Phases and Stages
Del Castillo Brothers of the Castle (SCP) There’s a simple reason why this new Austin band sells so many CDs at their shows. They kick serious ass. Founded as an organic Latin guitar project between brothers Mark and Rick del Castillo, their surnamed band draws on western classical, flamenco, and symphonic rock guitar pyrotechnics to…
Endorsement Wars
Flying accusations about deception and intimidation make for two very controversial primary races.
Through a Lens Lovingly
A SXSW retrospective honors the work of legendary documentarian Albert Maysles.
Second Helpings
Food Editor Virginia B. Wood surveys Austin’s downtown Thai establishments.
About AIDS
Project Transitions Offers Volunteer Opportunities, Brief or Ongoing Project Transitions provides hospice care and supportive living facilities for people with AIDS, and like most AIDS service organizations, PT lives by its volunteers! While there are always ongoing things to do during business hours, extra volunteers are needed for major bulk mail projects on Thursday, March…
Phases and Stages
EelsSouljacker (Dreamworks) Sing along, “Odelay … Odelay …” Jesus, when did Gus Van Zandt get to E? Or did nobody learn that shot-for-shot remakes are a bad idea? Souljacker, Eels’ fourth studio record, ain’t quite that blatant since there’s just not enough stuff being tossed around, but it’s definitely the same brand of tricked-out and…
Dog Park Redux
At least 100 people showed up at the Old West Austin Neighborhood Association’s March 5 meeting to discuss the future of West Austin Park, which many neighborhood dog owners have used as an off-leash area for 20 years. In June 2000, the City Council approved a neighborhood plan for Old West Austin that included a…
Sparkle and Shine
Lisa Ades’ new documentary, Miss America, follows the storied history of a national institution.
Pick of the Litter
Highlighting what the South by Southwest Film Festival has to offer.
Coach’s Corner
Poor Nolan Richardson. Why’s everybody always pickin’ on he?
Phases and Stages
The BrewLatin Brew The sounds on Latin Brew are as clean, flowing, and downright gorgeous as anything digitally etched into recent memory. Guitarist Michael Rodriguez, the leader of this long-running Austin ensemble, is astoundingly fluid on his acoustic instrument, offering melodic lines and solos that take flight at every turn. Starting out in Brownsville, Texas,…
Welcome to the Primaries
A roundup of the Travis County primary races
Alternate Fests
As if SXSW weren’t enough to logjam your schedule for the next couple of weeks, there’s a brace of upstart special screenings, micro-fests, and happenings running concurrently to the official SXSW Film Festival. If all those barbecue spreads around town leave you with a hankering for more dead meat, chances are you’ll dig the flesh-eater-themed…
A Land Shaded in Melancholy Hues
The Austin Museum of Art exhibition “Visualizing the Blues: Images of the American South, 1862-1999” connects the blues aurally and visually, and reveals how the South, like the blues, is full of contradictions: dark and woeful yet beauteous and jubilant.
Letters at 3AM
Michael Ventura observes the great John Cassavetes at work on the set of his next-to-last movie Love Streams.
Phases and Stages
The Cancer ConspiracyThe Audio Medium (Big Wheel Recreation) Beginning with a gentle repeating piano motif joined by guitar, opening track “…To Sleep” belies the intensity and complexity of the debut album by Burlington, Vermont’s Cancer Conspiracy. The trio, Brent Frattini (bass, radio manipulation), Daryl Rabidoux (guitars), and Greg Beedle (drums, keyboards, saxophone), are Seventies progressive…
Democratic and Republican Joint Primary: March 12, 2002
The joint primary election allows the Republican and Democratic parties to nominate candidates to represent their parties in the November election. (Other parties, e.g. Libertarian Party or Green Party, generally nominate candidates in conference or at a convention, and do not appear on the primary ballots.) You can vote in either the Republican or the…
Celebrity Call Sheet
To paraphrase Poltergeist’s Carol Anne: “They’re heee-re!” That would be this year’s SXSW Film panelists, filmmakers, and attendees of note, not the spooky visages emanating from your television (those are probably just ghosts of impartial network journalism past). To keep you informed of who’s holding up the queue at the restroom, here’s a partial list…
