Cover Story
The Hells Angels Hit
Anthony Benesh was shot down by a sniper – the suspects, and theories, are legion
Cream of the Crop
Nominations for the 2005-2006 Austin Critics Table Awards
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Simian septuagenarians
Place 5
Brewster McCracken trounces his challengers
DVD Watch
The former, an arthouse darling, was lauded at Cannes and numerous international festivals; the latter received scant attention during its meager release
The 24th Day
Naughty Austin may not be known for dramatic fare, but its production of the thought-provoking thriller The 24th Day could change that perception
Power Surges
The 2006 ‘Austin Chronicle’ Restaurant Poll
AISD
School board changes could set new tone
TV Eye
Mediocrity rises
UT Symphony
After a season of auditioning conductors to find a new Director of Orchestral Activities, the UT School of Music has named Gerhardt Zimmermann to the post
Fortunate Son
Bass player to the stars, past and present, Mark Andes
ACC
Victors list funding and facilities as top priorities
Place 6
Lawyer promises promotion of affordable housing
Conspirare
Conspirare has just been awarded $75,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts to explore the question: What in American music makes it American?
Phases & Stages
Neil YoungLiving With War (Reprise) In May 1970, within days of the National Guard killing four student protestors at Kent State University, Neil Young wrote “Ohio,” cut it with Crosby, Stills & Nash, and had it on radio and in stores immediately thereafter. At SXSW 2006, someone suggested to Young that these equally war-torn times…
(Don’t) Take Them out at the Ball Game
At Dell Diamond, there’s more than one kind of boob to be found in the stands.
Mario DiGiorgio
Mario DiGiorgio, Austin stand-up comic and author of ‘A Cynic’s Guide to a Rich and Full Life,’ shares tips on looking at life through coal-colored glasses
Phases & Stages
James Brown Stubb’s, May 10 At age 73, James Brown is still the star of the James Brown show. Veneration-minded fans would forgive the Godfather if he just came out and waved, ceding all the heavy lifting to his teeming ensemble of musicians, backup singers, and dancers. Yet even as he took a frequent back…
War of Words – and Tacos – on Airport Boulevard
On Tamale House turf at E. 51st. and Airport, a taco is a taco … or is it?
Arts Review
One really gets the full abysmal experience of being clinically depressed in the 48 minutes of Vortex Repertory Company and Renaissance Austin Theatre’s 4:48 Psychosis
Phases & Stages
Scott WalkerThe Drift (4AD) In the past 40 years, American expatriate Scott Walker has managed to resonate from the outskirts, erasing the sugar pop past of his Sixties group the Walker Brothers with a series of increasingly grand and eccentric solo albums. The Drift continues in the experimental throes of his last release, 1995’s Tilt,…
Naked City
Headlines and Happenings from Austin and Beyond
Arts Review
Risa Puleo’s concept for her new gallery The Donkey Show and the paintings by Ali Fitzgerald in it are provocative in a way that only the strongest incitements to thought can be
Phases & Stages
Shooter JenningsElectric Rodeo (Universal) The king and queen of outlaw country, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, oozed sultry, sexy charm and were graced with two-of-a-kind talent. That they spawned son Shooter is merely icing on the johnnycake. Waylon’s death four years ago laid another rebel to rest, but Shooter fills the rowdy void with strutting…
Weed Watch
Texas Longhorn football running back Ramonce Taylor arrested for possession of marijuana
Arts Review
The Texas Moratorium Network’s juried exhibition Justice for All? Artists Reflect on the Death Penalty is a must for anyone with feelings about capital punishment
Phases & Stages
The StreetsThe Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (Vice/Atlantic) Is Mike Skinner having a midcareer crisis? The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living sure makes it sound that way. Whereas his 2004 rap opus, sophomore album A Grand Don’t Come For Free, was a snarky day-in-the-life narrative dressed in working-class grime and Skinner’s…
Strayhorn to Investigate Accenture
Among other things, Texas Access Alliance, a private consortium led by Accenture, has come under recent fire for sharp decline in number of children enrolled in state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program
Readings
Cheryl Strayed’s debut novel, while addressing autobiographical themes, performs the old-fashioned magic of fiction – it builds a town, fills it with people, reveals their hearts and minds, lets loose upon them the forces of death and lust – and sees what happens
Phases & Stages
James HunterPeople Gonna Talk (Go/Rounder) People gonna talk all right, and their first question is gonna be “Where did this guy come from?” A few might recognize England’s James Hunter from his work in the Nineties with fellow blue-eyed soulster Van Morrison, on whose A Night in San Francisco and Days Like These he appeared…
‘Operation Crackdown’ Update
Court grants appeal rehearing to one of 29 black residents in Edna, Texas, charged with drug dealing in connection with a 2002 undercover sting operation
TCB
TCB is away on vacation, but not before leaving readers with (hopefully) a couple of laps – and this year’s ACL Fest lineup
Readings
In short, this is a joyous book
Phases & Stages
Cheikh LôLamp Fall (World Circuit) Three’s a charm for multi-instrumentalist Cheikh Lô. Honing harmonic and percussive skills in his native West Africa before hanging his shingle in Paris in the late Eighties, Lô is a vox-guitar-drum triple threat. Senegal superstar and Peter Gabriel collaborator Youssou N’Dour recognized the dreadlocked composer’s talent, producing his fine 1995…
Point Austin: Green Fallout
Picking up the parties and the pieces, there remains much work to be done
2006 Election by the Numbers
Prop. 2 vs. Prop. 1: Percentages Prop. 1 got hammered even harder than Prop. 2, which was expected; the Open Government amendment managed to out-perform the SOS measure in only four boxes, while tying in five others. But given that both sides more or less consistently campaigned for or against the two measures as a…
Page Two: Original Intentions
What the framers talked about when they talked about democracy – plus, how to put your money where your vote is
Beside the Point
The tentative bond election starts solidifying this week
Sir! No Sir!
The GI anti-war movement during the Vietnam war is recounted in this revelatory documentary whose current implications cannot be underestimated.
After a Fashion
Stephen suggests cross-stitching to a crusading mom, recommends various philanthropic weekend endeavors, and scouts for a talented costume designer
The ‘One-Percenters’
A short history of motorcycle clubs and the Bandidos
On the Lege
Lawmakers accomplish what they failed to do so many times – approve a new education funding package that doesn’t look half bad on paper
Over the Hedge
Canny casting and a sly anti-consumerist message give this animated feature extra adult appeal, but like a lot of animated fare it’s overly busy and splashy.
To Your Health
What kind of magnesium is most tolerable and what foods are richest in magnesium?
2006 City Election Results
CITY COUNCIL Mayor Will Wynn: 41,498 / 78.1% Danny Thomas: 8,093 / 15.2% Jennifer Gale: 3,560 / 6.7% Place 2 Mike Martinez: 26,024 / 56.6% Eliza May: 12,069 / 26.3% Wes Benedict: 7,880 / 17.1% Place 5 Brewster McCracken: 34,272 / 72.2% Mark Hopkins: 6,578 / 13.9% Kedron Jerome Touvell: 4,046 / 8.5% Colin Kalmbacher:…
The Hightower Report
Pity for CEOS; and the Granny Peace Brigade
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
This Oscar nominee from Germany chronicles the last desperate hours of Sophie Scholl, a real-life German university student who, in 1943 Munich, ran afoul of the gestapo while distributing anti-Nazi leaflets.
The Common Law
E-Mail Privacy–Can My Boss Read My Emails?
Props. 1 & 2 Supporters Lick Wounds, Ponder New Strategies
Bunch and Maxey admit strategic failures
Home Grown
Down on Pioneer Farm with KLRU’s ‘The Biscuit Brothers,’ ready for season two but still struggling for funds
Kinky Boots
One man’s ailing boot factory and a transvestite’s need for extra-large thigh-highs become a perfect match in this British comedy about tolerance.
Day Trips
The Cockroach Hall of Fame Museum in Plano offers all things buggy, if you’ve got the stomach for it
Wynn Again
Incumbent mayor retains his seat decisively
The Big Pitch
A horror film starring UT students aiming for the big screen
Somersault
This Aussie coming-of-age film features a mesmerizing performance by stateside newcomer Abbie Cornish as the 16-year-old lead.
Soccer Watch
Exciting finishes in FA Cup and European Champions League finals, and more
Place 2
Former firefighters union chief wins spot on council
Notes From a Few Minutes With ‘Over the Hedge’ Creator Michael Fry
Austinite sees his comic strip hit the big screen
Luv Doc Recommends: Strings Attached Performance of the White Album
If you’re not already sick of the Beatles, pay attention. You’ll get your chance. Sooner or later you’re going to hear “Love Me Do” or “Yesterday” or “Let It Be” for the millionth time and you’re going to snap. You’re going to completely lose your shit and blaspheme the most sacred pop cultural icons of…
