Daytrips
Barbecue Cookoff, sponsored by the Llano Chamber of Commerce in a town famous for barbecue, will provide a good chance to sample the local efforts, May 20. 915/247-5354. Texas Natural Festival in San Marcos combines an Indian Powwow, western swing concert, and locally produced goods for a weekend of fun, May 19-21. 800/782-7653. Kactus Kick…
Trust for Tressed
It only takes one glimpse ofDebbie Taunt to understand the importance that Sheelah Murthy places on a strong visual image.Taunt is probably Murthy’s best-known character in Austin performance circles: a 10-foot tall, sweet-princess socialite in a blue prom dress, white gloves, and striking blonde wig. As Taunt, Murthy led audiences at last fall’s X/XX Fringe…
The Austin Chronicle
by Kate X. Messer p. 36 The Straight Dope 8 Letters at 3AM 10 Public Notice, Benefits 12 News of the Weird 13 politics Zero Tolerance Texas schools get tough on discipline by Andrea Barnett 15 Council Watch 15 Naked City 15 The High Cost of Flying Playing the numbers game at Bergstrom by Dave…
The Kids in Ed Hall
“It’s a sad and beautiful world, and life is not a movie, and I am not a star.” – Ed Hall, “Sad and Beautiful World” It may be fashionable for the artists of today to act as if they don’t care whether the audience responds to their work, but Ed Hall has persevered for too…
Agee in the Air
That summer feeling’s gonna haunt you the rest of your life. – Jonathan Richman When I lived in Knoxville,Tennessee, I belonged to a strange cult – the cult of James Agee. Agee was a Pulitzer Prize winner, a critically acclaimed writer, a hard drinker, and as far as I can tell from mentioning him outside…
Window to Paris
Window to Paris 1994, PG-13, 87 min. Directed by Yuri Mamin, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Serguei Dontsov, Agnes Soral, Victor Michailov. Immediately charming with its first images of a lively Russian parade, this whimsical comic fantasy from director Yuri Mamin manages a lightweight mood while exploring the mutual prejudices and misunderstandings that…
Night of the Living BCCP, Part 37
It was a day many people thought would never come. And yet last week, after nearly seven years of wrangling, the City of Austin and Travis County finally agreed on a framework for the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan (BCCP). They agreed to prepare and submit a 10(A) permit application to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife…
Public Notice
RECEPTIONIST WNTD, PREF. SELF-STARTER W/ OWN FLAK JACKET: When it comes to oxymorons, the phrase “spare cash” may well top the list. Even Howard Hughes never said to himself: Geez, what am I gonna do with all this leftover money, moldy old fivers cluttering up the place, useless dustcatching sawbucks… Well, maybe he did, but…
Forget Paris
Forget Paris 1995, PG-13, 101 min. Directed by Billy Crystal, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Billy Crystal, Debra Winger, Joe Mantegna, Cynthia Stevenson, Richard Masur, Julie Kavner, William Hickey, Robert Constanzo, John Spencer, Cathy Moriarty. Wave au revoir and then do like the movie says: Forget Paris. (On general principles, I hate titles…
Film
RECO #37 This week’s new reviews represent the calm before the storm. Two of this summer’s big, brassy action hopefuls, Crimson Tide and Die Hard With a Vengeance, have now been launched. In other quarters, there appears to be a deluge of things French: this week’s new openings of Forget Paris and Window to Paris…
Live Music Recommendeds
Electric Lounge, Friday 19 Weep, O Austin, for our beloved bard departs come the tears of the next sunrise. Off to the musical crusades in New Yorkshire, goes he, leaving behind sorrow in the streets, and a pall cast over our parish of Austin. Mothers hold your children close to the breast, explain to them…
A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora’s Box
A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora’s Box 1994, NR, 115 min. Directed by Jeff Lau, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Ng Man Tat, Stephen Chow, Kit Ying Lam, Karen Mok. Wildly ambitious and structurally frustrating, yet quite funny and entertaining, Jeff Lau’s first film since the disappointing Chow Yun Fat vehicle Treasure Hunt…
Freeport Wins Small
“They left off some zeroes.” That was the reaction of FM Properties attorney Roy Minton immediately after the Wednesday verdict in the company’s federal lawsuit against the City of Austin. FM Properties (FMP), a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan, filed the suit last October under the Federal Civil Rights Act, claiming that the city had violated their…
Road Shows
MAY FRI 19 Nathan & Zydeco Cha-Cha’s, Antone’s FRI 19 Fight, Monster Voodoo Machine, Back Room SAT 20 Compulsion, Low Pop Suicide, Latimer, Electric Lounge SAT 20Buttrumpet, Black Angels Death Song, Emo’s SUN 21 Thirteen, Fibulator, Hole in the Wall TUE 23 Wayne Kramer, Electric Lounge WED 24 Archers of Loaf, Three Mile Pilot, Emo’s…
Die Hard With a Vengeance
Die Hard With a Vengeance 1995, R, 128 min. Directed by John McTiernan, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons, Graham Greene, Colleen Camp. Continuing the unlikely adventures of beleaguered NYPD cop John McClane (Willis), this third installment unfortunately forsakes much of the occasionally clever, somewhat wry dialogue…
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Where I grew up in Detroit, spring commenced every year with reports about the Tigers’ spring training camp in Lakeland, Florida. Their record didn’t matter so much, but we watched closely to see what kind of pitching they had and who had shown up out of shape, who had been injured or traded. At the…
Dinner on the Ground
I’ll have to admit that for several weeks the picnic assignment really had me stumped. Research didn’t help; I discarded the idea of “great picnics in literature,” and I was finally reduced to looking through the file cabinet in my office to take my mind off picnics. That’s where I found my inspiration. The first…
Ed Hall Projectionist Luke Savisky
Luke Savisky and Ed Hall area perfect fit: The artist’s film montages, a staple of the band’s shows, are as recognizably unique to him as the music is to them. Of course, you can’t stretch your full wingspan if you limit yourself to one band. Savisky has pushed optic frontiers for local bands ranging from…
About AIDS
Helper volunteers are very special people making a tremendous difference in the quality of life for people living with AIDS. When people come to me and ask for a Helper volunteer, there are many things going on in their lives and with their health. In order to continue working even part time, people living with…
Food-O-File
Leora Wilson runs the housewares department at Callahan’s General Store and she calls White Mountain Ice Cream freezers the “Cadillac” of ice cream freezers. Wilson admits that they are expensive, but says that you should consider them a lifetime investment. I know I’m awfully partial to mine. I’m considering one of those countertop, one-quart gelato…
Scanlines
HBO Video D: Stephen DeJarnett; with Anthony Edwards, Mare Winningham. Produced by The Termi nator’s Gale Anne Hurd, this riveting thriller, released in 1989 without much fanfare, has recently become a cult favorite in Britain, and with that in mind, coupled with Edwards’ current success on the hit series ER, this seems as good a…
Austin Music Network Schedule
THURSDAY, MAY 18 10pm Tex Mix #22 10:30 Marcia Ball, Armadillo Sunday 11pm People’s Picks #56 11:30 EPKs: Tragically Hip, Bad Brains MID Todd Snider, Sincola, Idaho 1am Hooshmand & Ives, AAMF 1:30 Alternative 15 #55 FRIDAY, MAY 19 10pm Tex Mix #44: Jazzy Blues Mix 10:30 Malachi, AAMF 11pm Mariachi Estrella, AAMF 11:30 Tex…
“If Texas’ value drops, we can just sue the Lege.”
What follows is the full text of the column that the Austin American-Statesmandeclined to run in their May 7 editorial page (see “Environs,” last item). The column is reprinted here courtesy of Molly Ivins and Creators Syndicate. AUSTIN – In this rapidly changing and uncertain world, is it not grand to know that we can…
Show Times
Showtimes listed below start Friday, May 19 and cover the week ending Thursday, May 25. *An asterisk (*) before a title means that no passes or special admission discounts (apart from matinee discounts) will be accepted for any screening. *Parentheses indicate weekend showtimes for Saturdays and Sundays only, unless otherwise noted. *Changes may sometimes occur,…
Onward Through the Mud
Most literary magazines are a nice, tidy size – the sort of thing you can buy at a bookstore, dump into a book bag or backpack, and get back to a day or a month later. Buying a copy of Mississippi Mud, on the other hand, feels more like a commitment. At 11 1/2″ x…
An Urban Wilderness
Through the gates on the west side of the parkway, past the visitor’s centers, picnic areas, and comfort stations, and across the stream-etched lava flows and old ocean floor, a pair of food-focused little blue herons splash past a logy turtle hanging on to a steeply sloping rock face. His head, which rotates mechanically at…
Slow Pitch Under the Influence
Memories of summer are, for me, memories of youth. I moved here in the spring of 1970. It doesn’t sound that long ago, but god, there was no ESPN, TNT, ESPN2, CNN, or Headline News. Television was a fuzzy KTBC. Barton Springs was just a cool place to swim; if a horny guy was lucky,…
Awake in the Dark
After months of wan comedies and workmanlike dramas – typified, respectively, by the recent While You Were Sleeping and Kiss of Death – the arrival of pulse-pounding summer potboilers comes not a moment too soon. Bruce Willis, put on your undershirt and go to work. One could argue endlessly about whether American films over the…
Lagniappe
Around our office, the noun “trifle” has been bandied about recently. Like this: “Did you finish your record review?” “Yeah, but it’s a trifle,” meaning that – love it or hate it – the writer is aware that he has written something of little significance. A trifle is also a dessert, a sponge-cake affair with…
Summer Bugging
It’s already begun. It’s barely May and I can hear a bug out there in the dark, no doubt some relative of the little bastard that is chewing up my green beans as soon as they peek out of the dirt. It starts out an innocuous, barely-noticeable screeeeeee in the background, something I certainly wouldn’t…
A Parent’s Guide to Vacation Activities
Here we go again. The temperature is already rising, and so will tempers if you don’t hurry up and decide what to do with the young ones this summer! This is part two of our summer fun guide for the kids, which features the latest updates on cool and exciting activities for Austin’s youth. While…
Ed Hall
La La Land (Trance Syndicate) “With our music and our economic changes we plunder the unsuspecting straight world for money, and the means to carry out our program.” The red manifesto brainwash at the beginning of this disc knows where the truth hides. Subversion is forever. Were there any justice in this Republikan police state,…
Of Dogs and Beer
Whenever the evening breeze was warm enough and damp enough to hug us, when it was strong enough to thwart ardent mosquitos but not so stiff it would blow my sundress over my head, Richard and I would head to the nearby golf course with our dogs. We had no use for the place in…
Bonus Tracks
JOE KING CARRASCO Dia de los Muertos (Rio’s Royal Texicalli) In some ways, it’s really cool that Joe King Carrasco, like the Ramones, created a sound and stuck to it. Yet on his latest, Dia de los Muertos, he’s taken a 90-degree turn toward reggae, and it’s not until the samba-like crowd-pleaser “Tocam�” or the…
Leading the Charge
The Glory of Being Glen: Leading what he calls a “rag-tag army of environmentalists, consumers, women, children, gays, and lesbians,” Rep. Glen Maxey (D-Austin) is finishing what may be his most successful term so far. Though he’s been around the Lege since 1981, first as a legislative aide, then as a lobbyist for gay and…
Twilight is Twine Time
The transition of day to night during Austin’s summer months is best experienced on Saturday evenings, with a flick of the radio switch. It’s Twine Time on KUT, maybe the most singularly perfect soundtrack to darkening skies over the cityscape. The sun is still high at 6pm, when Twine Time starts. At my home on…
Elvis is Everywhere
Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralnick Little Brown, $24.95 hard Sinking into the first pages of Last Train to Memphis is like getting reacquainted with a long absent friend – and I’m not even talking about Elvis. Peter Guralnick is that rarest of species, one of the few contemporary music writers whose work is…
Live Shots
Antone’s, May 3/Austin Music Hall, May 4/Antone’s, May 9/Austin City Limits, May 11/Austin Music Hall, May 12 When you tap a vein, the warm blood instantly gushes into the hollow of the needle like floodwaters during a heavy rain. Guitarists look for that vein every night they’re on stage. They look to tap into a…
Mad Naked Night
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s night? Thou art more lovely and more temperate but I’m afraid that’s not saying much. These nights are thick and heavy as black velour, hot and formfitting against our bodies, over our faces. A humid landscape through which we plod like testy zombies, arms outstretched, eyes blank, returning…
Coach’s Corner
I’m sick of Dave Barry! It’s Dave damn Barry this, and Dave that. Every female I know says, “Oh, I just love Dave…” They don’t know Dave. Maybe Dave has a vodka problem. Maybe Dave’s a transvestite. Now, Dave’s written another book, precipitating another Davefest. It’s about “guys.” From what I can tell, Dave’s a…
Media Clips
If you haven’t read your fill of articles about the evils of talk radio during the last month, pick up the May/June issue of Mother Jones. Austin’s own Molly Ivins pens the cover story for this one – her “Bustin’ Rush” essay attacks the mean-spiritedness and intentionally misdirected anger of the top voice on the…
Another Roadside Attraction
Those signs by the side of the road never fail to pique your interest: “World’s Largest Killer Bee Ahead” boasts one, “See the Gun That Killed Billy the Kid!” blares another. Barring the philosophical discussion over whether guns kill people or people do, curiosity takes the fore as each billboard informs you how much closer…
Brack Lease: The Fine Print
Just before the Austin City Council’s Wednesday work session last week, the release of the long-awaited Seton Medical Center/Brackenridge Hospital lease agreement brought out a crowd of angry hospital employees, women’s health advocates, and minority groups for a heated press conference. Speakers accused the city of shortchanging Brack employees and of putting women’s health programs…
Naked City
edited by Louisa Brinsmade, with contributions this week from Roseana Auten, Andrea Barnett, and Chris Walters COPS II, THE INVESTIGATIONS: Ira and Charmaine Bedford were among several people at last week’s Austin City Council meeting who complained about a rumor that the police department’s Internal Affairs division, the FBI, and the Department of Justice were…
Sweat Symphony
Sitting on the floor, talking on the phone. Hmm, this looks interesting: The Full-Custom Gospel Sounds of the Reverend Horton Heat. Lean over, plop it into the the CD player. Whoa! Holy shit, this is cool. Really badass. Wait. What’s today? What time is it? He’s at Liberty Lunch right now. Steve, gotta go, I’ll…
Dancing About Architecture
It’s amazing the lengths that some bands at Emo’s will go to in order to not get paid. Anal Cunt didn’t do anything to lessen the tensions at the club last week when, barely a minute into the set, the singer managed to knock his own guitarist out cold. Soon after he returned to consciousness,…
Summer Calendar for Outdoor Music
Austin’s balmy weather and outdoor music seem to naturally gambol hand in hand through the summer months here in Central Texas. Many’s the time that this writer has lifted his eyes to the nighttime sky as the music plays and thought: “It doesn’t get much better than this.” Here’s a partial listing of what’s happening…
Country Glow
Sometimes I feel guilty because I moved to the country, just another refugee in the urban flight from big-city problems. Then something will happen to remind me that I’m not here fleeingfrom something; I was drawn irrevocably toward something. Something like watching the two great blue herons return to the sycamore to nest this spring.…
