Texas Writers Month Events
The Center for the Study of the Southwest and SWTSU hold a Katherine Anne Porter Symposium May 15, 9am-4pm, Aquarena Center. Registration is $35 by May 1; $40 at the door. Call 512/245-2232 for more info. Robb Walsh and David Garrido, Nuevo Tex-Mex: Festive Recipes From Just North of the Border, May 16, Noon, Book…
Road Shows
MAY FRI 15 The Iguanas, Continental Club FRI 15 Matthew Ryan, Stubb’s FRI 15 Charlie Hunter & Pound for Pound, Galactic, Antone’s FRI 15 Union, Atomic Cafe FRI 15, SAT 16 Ishmael & the Peacemakers, Flamingo Cantina SAT 16 Clint Black, Michael Peterson, The Kinleys, Frank Erwin Center SAT 16 String Cheese Incident, Stubb’s SAT…
The Horse Whisperer
The Horse Whisperer 1998, PG-13, 164 min. Directed by Robert Redford, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Neill, Dianne Wiest, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Cooper, Cherry Jones, Ty Hillman, Kate Bosworth. I detect the scent of a golden statuette wafting in the breeze. Redford’s adaptation of Nicholas Evans’ bestselling…
About AIDS
Overnight, the prescription drug sensation is the new anti-impotence drug Viagra (sildenafil), constituting a staggering percentage of all new scrips being written. But a warning from AIDS Treatment News needs to be taken seriously: Sex use of poppers (nitrate inhalants) while taking Viagra could lead to dangerous hypotension (abnormally low blood pressure). Pfizer, Viagra’s manufacturer,…
Bumpy Road
Mark Kamburis of Flipnotics favors the left-turn lane option for Barton Springs Road. photograph by Jana Birchum The future of Barton Springs Road, in theory, is rather simple and concrete: By 2001, that strip of funky, frenetic road known as restaurant row will have undergone a major transformation to accommodate the 30,000 cars that travel…
Quest for Camelot
Quest for Camelot 1998, G, 88 min. Directed by Frederik Du Chau, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jessalyn Gilsig, Andrea Corr, Cary Elwes, Gabriel Byrne, Gary Oldman, Bronson Pinchot, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Perry, Eric Idle, Don Rickles, John Gielgud, Jane Seymour, Celine Dion, Jaleel White. This may be misconstrued as a comment best…
Benefits
THU 14 Sunset at the Oasis to benefit Austin’s Gay Games V athletes, at the Oasis, 6550 Comanche, 6pm. Cost is $20. 476-1309. Evening at Umlauf to benefit Austin Metropolitan Ministries, at Umlauf Garden, 605 Robert E. Lee, 6-9pm. $35. 472-7627. Piano Recital to benefit Any Baby Can, at Capitol Lodge, 6809 Guadalupe, 7-9:30pm. Cost…
Barton Design Options
A continuous 15-foot raised median from Lamar to Robert E. Lee, broken only by three left/U-turn lanes, and a roundabout in the middle for cars wanting to double back to restaurants. This plan is all but scrapped because the roundabout would force the city to buy the Good Eats Cafe and demolish it. The Modified…
Underground
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, this is a sprawling, epic, comic tale of life during Yugoslavian wartime.
Coach’s Corner
In the face of disaster, how do you stay alive? Good thing for most of us, it’s not a question we’ll ever have to answer. In the hyperbole-filled little world of the games we play, metaphors relating to staying alive to fight another day are commonplace. Is it so hard to think of another way…
Heavy Pedal
llustration by Doug Potter Texas is a wide open state. From the comfort of your car, you answer the call of sinewy stretches of blacktop leading you out toward adventure: windows down, stereo on, you celebrate your unlimited speed and mobility. Until you near Austin, and then reality sets in – with lots of starts…
Chinese Box
Chinese Box 1998, R, 110 min. Directed by Wayne Wang, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, Ruben Blades, Michael Hui. In the new movie by Wayne Wang (Chan Is Missing, The Joy Luck Club, Smoke), you can’t scratch yourself without knocking elbows against the enigmatic metaphors crowding in…
Day Trips
San Solomon Springs in Balmorhea State Park is just one of several ancient springs still active and still attracting swimmers during the Texas summers. photograph by Gerald E. McLeod Swimming holes around the state are as important to Texans as oil wells, longhorns, and Cadillacs. Even the mega-theme parks realize that you can’t attract vacationers…
Freeport Meets Its Critics
Sister Madonna Kolbenschlag, a member of the Sisters of Humility of Mary, standing in front of Freeport headquarters in New Orleans. photograph by Robert Bryce It’s not as fun or entertaining as the Jazz & Heritage Festival, but it has become a rite of spring in the Crescent City: religious and environmental activists from different…
Woo
Woo 1998, R, 80 min. Directed by Daisy V.s. Mayer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jada Pinkett, Tommy Davidson, Duane Martin, Michael Ralph, Darrel Heath, David Chappelle, Ll Cool J, Girlina. Try as I might, I just can’t seem to figure out what the original story pitch for Woo could have been: “A…
Page Two
The election is over. The 20,000+ core environmental voters once again triumphed. The apathetic majority stayed away from the polls, thus ceding control to the zealots. Or so goes the radio talk show analysis. Let me throw out a ridiculous notion – that what we see here is not the failure of democracy, but its…
Breaking the Code
illustration by Doug Potter Like our highly involved citizenry and our staggering bond debt, Austin’s onerous Land Development Code has become the stuff of local folklore. Unlike those other sacred tenets, however, this one is actually true. We haven’t had a turnout of over 20% in a local election since 1994, and our per capita…
Public Notice
Unless you’ve been vacationing in Irkutsk, you already know about the Triangle, 22 acres of state-owned land, bordered by 45th, Guadalupe, and Lamar, that has been the focus of a heated development debate. The Planning Commission has already voted a strong denial on the proposed mega-development for the site; a City Council vote is scheduled…
Changes on the Table
It’ll take a lot longer than five months – the fast-track Smart Growth time frame – to fix all that needs fixing in the Land Development Code and the city’s approval process. So the Smart Growth Focus Group and city staff have set their sights on making a handful of key changes with the greatest…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
The production company for Alan Brady (The Dick Van Dyke Show character) was named Scoobie Doobie Productions. The Flare Group, a London-based company, is developing a type of concrete that conducts electricity. The London Underground is interested in the innovation so that it can defrost frozen points along its line. According to one medieval commentator…
Altered States
illustration by Doug Potter Just because we’re spending a lot of money doesn’t mean it’s a boondoggle.” Words like that from the mouth of a councilmember could easily have elicited an entire column, replete with an avalanche of facts and figures to the contrary, from Daryl Slusher back during his muckraking journalist days as politics…
Rants of a Technological Primitive
illustration by Jason Stout The poet Wallace Stevens said it elegantly: “One cannot spend one’s time being modern when there are so many more important things to be.” Today being modern means being technological, which in turn means being linked umbilically (plugged in!) to the corporations. My resistance to technology isn’t an aversion to the…
Naked City
Kirk Mitchell’s independent bid for the Precinct 3 County Commissioner’s post became virtually official Tuesday, when Mitchell filed his petition to be placed on the November ballot to run against Democrat Nan Clayton and Republican Todd Baxter. The same day, Mitchell appeared on the John Doggett radio show to chat up conservative county residents -…
Articulations
Following two weeks of items involving architecture and the arts scene in Austin, with another architectural tidbit – make that two – to add to them this week, I’m starting to think I should rename the column. But of course, two Chronicle columns with “Architecture” in the title would be two too many, wouldn’t it?…
Food-O-File
The recently relocated Texas Folklife Resources (1317 S. Congress, 441-9255) continues its fascinating and educational series on The Art of Food with a program titled “Jewish Holiday Cooking in Central Texas.” The program, curated by respected folklore scholar Suzanne Seriff, Ph.D., is sponsored by Central Market (4001 N. Lamar, 206-1000) and will be presented in…
Nada About Yadda
That show is over to-night (5/14, 8pm NBC). See? I don’t even have to say the name and you know what show it is. To that end, you have many options to say goodbye. 96.7 KHFI and the Copper Tank are holding a big-screen watching party hosted by morning show deejays Allen Price and Karen…
Exhibitionism
B. Iden Payne Theatre UT, May 2 I am always delighted by the way each new cast of dancers brings a facet of individuality and personal style to the well-established Sharir Dance Company. Yacov Sharir’s technique is distinct � with its slicing arm movements; seamless, inventive partnering; focus on leg extensions with flexible, rolling torsos;…
Rave Over JAVA
JAVA Noodles Restaurant photograph by John Anderson JAVA Noodles Restaurant 2400 E. Oltorf, Ste. #14-15, 443-5282 Mon-Fri: 11am-10pm; Sat, 6-11pm; Sun, noon-3pm It’s hard to say just how many messages it takes to be officially considered a deluge, but after receiving menus and tips from one Chronicle ad representative, two Chronicle contributors, two friends, and…
Scanlines
(“Scanlines” wishes to thank Encore Movies & Music, I * Video, and Vulcan Video for their help in providing videos and laser discs.) Portly documentarian Michael Moore, always hoisting corporate America on its oh-so-large petard. TV Nation, Volume 2 1994 with Janeane Garafolo, Steven Wright TV Nation, Volume 2 1995 Roger & Me 1989 D.…
Austin Theatre Critics’ Table Nominations 1998
The Austin Theatre Critics’ Table have announced nominations for their sixth annual awards for achievement in theatre. The participating critics � Michael Barnes, Jamie Smith, and Anna Hanks, Austin American-Statesman; Jerry Conn, West Austin News; and Robert Faires, Adrienne Martini, and Sarah Hepola, The Austin Chronicle � honored work produced on Austin stages during the…
Dancing About Architecture
The above is of course the answer to Q: What do you call Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore if their careers all tank at once? That’s not to suggest that they all have; Ely, for instance, has a brand-new album out on MCA that’s destined for rave reviews and a lengthy tour…
Short Cuts
One of the things which makes Austin the unique place we call home is that The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been playing in town now for 22 consecutive years. (Talk about time warps!) To celebrate the anniversary, Austin Rocky Horror fans will be embellishing the usual weekly activities with a costume contest (dress as…
Trip to Bountiful
Joe Sears (left) as Aunt Pearl Burras and Jaston Williams as Vera Carp. “The old home town looks the same,” croons Tom Jones in “The Green, Green Grass of Home,” and as I once again “set foot” inside the city limits of the humble village of Tuna, Texas, I know just how ol’ Tom feels.…
God’s Own Clothesline
photograph by Christopher Hess Did you see Butch? He was just here,” said Zenna through the whiny strains of an acoustic guitar coming from the tape deck behind the bar and the blue haze of a hand-rolled cigarette. “You should meet him, he’s a wonderful guy. A great guide, too.” I hadn’t seen him. That…
No Stone Untenured
“Deep in the heart of technolopolis Austin, Sandy Stone is the vibrant theoretical force of UT’s ACTlab, where technicians, scholars, and artists shape globally recognized projects as expanding interconnectivity forces new configurations of creativity, futurity, and power.” – artist Honoria, one of Sandy’s students Allucquere Rosanne Stone (aka Sandy) is to academia as Jimi Hendrix…
Borderlands Party
When a new issue of a literary magazine comes out, it’s not unusual to hold a reading. However, holding simultaneous readings in eight cities, spread out over a state that is larger than France, is a little less commonplace. Yet that’s exactly what Borderlands, the Austin-based poetry journal, plans to do as they unveil issue…
Live Shots
Edith Frost at Emo’s May 10. LOUISIANA MUSIC NEW ORLEANS PRIDE MUSIC FESTIVAL Ponchatrain Hotel, New Orleans, April 27 Can one review a conference attended only on its final day? Sure, why not. The day included panels, the trade show, a cocktail party, schmoozing and being schmoozed, showcases, and the closing party. Besides, it was…
Character
Character 1997, R, 125 min. Directed by Mike Van Diem, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Fedja Van Huet, Jan Decleir, Betty Schuurman, Victor Low, Tamar Van Den Dop, Sting. Character, this year’s Oscar winner for best foreign picture, is a Dutch epic about a son’s struggle with his tyrannical father. It’s a good-looking,…
Postscripts
$60,000 – that’s the amount organizers of the Jan Reid Rescue Fund have raised in an amazingly short timespan to benefit Reid and his wife Dorothy Browne while Reid recovers from bullet wounds suffered in Mexico City last month. Much of that money was raised last Saturday night at a Four Seasons benefit that Browne…
Recommended
Friday: Ingrid Karklins, McKinney Falls State Park, Matthew Ryan, Cotton Mather, Stubb’s Saturday: Missing Ingredient, Sleepwalkers, The Mollies, Dillie, Liberty Lunch; Mittens, Deadweight, Carolina Ghost Queen, Blondie’s; String Cheese Incident, Stubb’s Sunday: Clay Baker, Jim Lauderdale, Alejandro Escovedo, Continental Club Monday: Yanni, Frank Erwin Center Tuesday: Los Gusanos, The Crackpipes, Emo’s Wednesday: Zeke, Atomic Cafe…
Chocolate Babies
Chocolate Babies 1997, NR, 83 min. Directed by Stephen Winter, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Suzanne Gregg Ferguson, Dudley Findlay Jr., Jon Lee, Michael Lynch, Claude E. Sloan, Bryan Webster. (This is a reprint of The Austin Chronicle review that ran in the March 21, 1997 issue after this film premiered in Austin…
The Texas Gamut
I was sitting at the kitchen table with coffee in hand and The Essential Hank Snow on the CD machine. As “Rumba Boogie” boogied in the background I wondered if ol’ Clarence E. aka “Hank” Snow would enjoy the Kinkster’s latest literary endeavor. I figured he would, given the subject matter and the fact that…
Roadkill
Emo’s Monday, May 18 “If you try to build a house with a sponge and a broomhandle, you’d build a different house than if you had a hammer and nails,” explains John McEntire, who plays drums, marimbas, vibes, and keyboards for Tortoise, a band from Chicago which effortlessly and efficiently defies any labels attached to…
The Gingerbread Man
The Gingerbread Man 1998, R, 114 min. Directed by Robert Altman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kenneth Branagh, Embeth Davidtz, Robert Downey Jr., Daryl Hannah, Tom Berenger, Robert Duvall. The Gingerbread Man is Robert Altman’s best film in many a season, and certainly his best genre piece since The Long Goodbye. The Gingerbread…
