Let Me Die a Woman
Let Me Die a Woman 1978, NR, 78 min. Directed by Doris Wishman, Starring Leo Wollman (M.D.), Deborah Harten, Lisa Carmelle, Frank Pizzo, Harry Reems. It’s a mondo-style documentary about surgical sex change and other fun stuff.
Hell Is for Heroes
Hell Is for Heroes 1962, NR, 90 min. Directed by Don Siegel, Starring Steve McQueen, Bobby Darin, Fess Parker, Harry Guardino, James Coburn, Mike Kellin, Nick Adams, Bob Newhart. Great WWII drama by the flinty-eyed Don Siegel focuses on an undermanned American platoon that holds off a German advance through tactical bluffs and iron will.…
Heathcliff: The Movie
Heathcliff: The Movie 1986, G, 73 min. Directed by Bruno Bianchi, Voices by Mel Blanc. The fat TV cat leaps to the big screen.
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
There are 800 million bicycles in the world today, of which 300 million are in China.Reggae artist Bob Marley’s mother was an 18-year-old black woman named Cedella Booker; his father was Capt. Norval Marley, a 50-year-old white quartermaster attached to the British West Indian Regiment.The design movement known as “Art Deco” got its name from…
Phases and Stages
Jefferson TruettLacuna For the uninitiated, Jefferson Truett is a band. They’ve been gigging around Austin for the past three years at places like Ego’s and the Carousel Lounge, wisely building their skills before getting it down on tape. Lacuna is a simile for respite, a break, something almost every band in town is searching for.…
Naked City
Last November, environmentalism and religion merged with the Evangelical Environmental Network’s “What Would Jesus Drive?” anti-gas-guzzler campaign. On Wednesday, May 28, the campaign will hit Austin to kick off a road tour promoting cleaner transportation. The Rev. Jim Ball of Washington, D.C., will proselytize throughout the Bible Belt as he drives a fuel-efficient Toyota Prius…
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Cinemark Summer Movie Clubhouse A pass for the entire series may be purchased in advance for $5; individual tickets are $1 per show. Refreshments are available for purchase. All films are rated G. Cinemark Discount Cinema 8 (3407 Wells Branch Pkwy.) Mondays-Thursdays at 10am. 6/2-6/5: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius 6/9-6/12: The Rugrats Movie 6/16-6/19: Rugrats…
After a Fashion
CHARITY ALFRESCO At the top of the social heap, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Gala turned out to be a big splashy affair in a beautiful setting. The food and liquor were from the Four Seasons (hello to my favorite waiter/bartender, Bryan, and his wife), and the fabulous Margaret Wright was at the piano…
Phases and Stages
CerronatoDe Músico, Poeta, y Loco… Cerronato takes its inspiration from the Vallenato tradition of coastal Colombia, but that’s not necessary knowledge to bask in the joy of De Músico, Poeta, y Loco… All you really need is an able body to keep pace with the earthy caja and guacharaca rhythms and the laughing accordion. Interspersing…
Naked City
The reputation of the Texas Dept. of Public Safety for effective hot pursuit may not survive last week’s Great Texas House Breakout. The DPS posse could hardly be blamed for allowing the Ardmore 51 to escape to Oklahoma; the fugitives were already out of state when Speaker Tom Craddick put a call on the House…
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Splash Party Movie Nights 2003 The Aquatics Division of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department presents its Splash Party film series at Deep Eddy Pool (401 Deep Eddy Dr.) each Saturday until August. Movies begin at 9pm; cost of admission includes pool entry fee ($2, adult; $1, children 12-17; 50 cents, children 11 and under).…
Day Trips
Arc Ridge Guest Ranch exemplifies the great things that can be done on a private nature preserve. With three cabins and three campgrounds spread out along the shore of a 25-acre lake, the former cattle ranch between Canton and Tyler protects valuable East Texas wetlands while offering the public a scenic respite from city living.…
Phases and Stages
Rich Harney & Alex CokeSoul Prayers As pillars of the Austin jazz scene, pianist Rich Harney and saxophonist/flutist Alex Coke have a long and prolific history together. They’ve joined forces over the years in stellar groups like Countenance and the Worthy Constituents, and locals can find them playing duets together virtually every week at the…
Naked City
Texas Republicans last week attacked Rep. Patrick Rose in a series of radio ads, claiming the Dripping Springs Democrat “failed to execute his responsibilities on legislative business” while holed up in Oklahoma with 50 other House reps. Rose and his comrades managed to thwart, at least for now, a last-minute GOP maneuver to secure House…
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Regal Free Family Film Festival Admission is free to all screenings. First feature listed is rated PG, second is G. Refreshments are available for purchase. Westgate 11 (4477 S. Lamar) Tuesdays & Wednesdays at 10am. 899-2013. 6/3-6/4: The Rugrats Movie & Lassie 6/10-6/11: Rugrats in Paris & Harriet the Spy 6/17-6/18: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius…
To Your Health
Is it true that women with osteoporosis should not supplement with more than 6,000 IU daily of vitamin A? What about the vitamin A in food?
Phases and Stages
7 & 7 Is Back before the Bush oil barons seized control of the world’s fossil-fuel reserves, there were these little records called singles — just a gob of petroleum splat flat 7 inches across, with a song on each side, maybe two. Primitive, but effective. Same goes for the ear-bleeding buzz-saw blues of John…
Naked City
Last week, in an interview with the Chronicle’s Amy Smith, City Council Place 5 candidate Margot Clarke supported Mayor Gus Garcia’s campaign for a tougher indoor-smoking ordinance — but “when we have local club owners holding on by their fingernails, I think it’s going to be a very hard sell. I don’t think pushing it…
Short Cuts
The last in the Chronicle and Alamo Drafthouse’s Eat, Drink, Watch Movies series.
About AIDS
Garage Sale Benefits HIV-Poz Women on May 31 Doing some spring cleaning? The Women Rising Project needs your stuff! Yes, it’s almost time for the fourth annual Women Rising Spring Garage Sale, with proceeds supporting the project’s activities for HIV-positive women and their families. Items in useable condition will be greatly appreciated. Especially sale-worthy are:…
City Hall’s Bumpy Road
Can Austin planners and the City Council ever bring an end to the local transportation wars?
Naked City
If the Bush administration’s renomination of former Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit — currently derailed by a U.S. Senate filibuster — eventually goes down for good, much of the credit will be due to a grassroots coalition of Texas groups. Calling themselves the Texas…
TV Eye
UT professor Nancy Schiesari presents a moving portrait of Hansel Mieth.
TCB
The Hole in the Wall and the Motards return, and things get smoky at City Hall
Designated Drummer
Drummer Ernie Durawa’s Way of Knowledge.
Bikes on a Road to Nowhere?
It takes a lot more than just a paintbrush to install a bicycle lane. Like many other city projects, local bicycling initiatives typically involve planning gridlock between city staff, City Council, and the community, which on occasion stalls projects for years on end. As the following examples show, communication breakdowns between involved parties can derail…
Naked City
On May 15, the Texas Senate passed SB 1678 by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, which reorganizes and redefines the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles — and also approved an amendment offered by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, that would change the way the board handles decisions in death-penalty cases. Ellis’ amendment would mandate that the…
Naked City
Many cyclists about town were distressed last week at news that $1.9 million in annual federal funds used for local bike-and-pedestrian projects could instead be redirected to car-centric improvements to roads and streets. News had trickled out that the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board, made up of local officials, was to consider at its…
Sergei’s Big Score
Austin Symphony conductor Peter Bay has tremendous regard for both Sergei Prokofiev’s score and Sergei Eisenstein’s images for the 1938 film Alexander Nevsky, and as he prepares for a live performance of the score as the film is being shown, he talks about this remarkable fusion of image and music and what’s involved in performing…
Los Jazz Vatos Reviewed
Los Jazz Vatos(Vague Ideas) There doesn’t seem to be much that drummer Ernie Durawa hasn’t done in a prolific musical career that dates back to the late Fifties. While he’s never found a beat he couldn’t groove to, Durawa has always held a special passion for jazz, one that’s been actualized in recent years through…
Who Does What
You can’t tell your transportation players without a scorecard. Try this one:Boards and Commissions Of the 66 boards and commissions appointed to advise the City Council, at least five weigh in routinely on transportation projects. Urban Transportation Commission: The nine-member UTC considers projects and plans related to safety, public transit, streets and highways, and other…
Naked City
Last week featured more fallout from the infamous 1999 Tulia drug busts, including a move by the federal government to review U.S. Dept. of Justice programs that feed the war on drugs. On May 13, Gov. Rick Perry asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to review 38 remaining Tulia cases — beginning with…
Academy Award-Nominated Shorts 2003
Academy Award-Nominated Shorts 2003 2003, NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This compilation features seven shorts nominated for Academy Awards in the past year: “Inja” by Steve Pasvolsky, “The Cathedral” by Tomek Baginski, “I’ll Wait for the Next One …” by Philippe Orreindy, “Fait d’Hiver” by Dirk Beliën, “Das…
Building a City on a Stage
Epic is not something often attempted in the theatre, much less by small arts groups, but with Orange, Refraction Arts Project is telling the epic history of a fictitious city across three time periods in four overlapping storylines, with the participation of 15 playwrights and 25 actors.
Phases and Stages
ÜnlocoBecoming I (Maverick)HeKill Three3.0 (Cardinal Zen) Metal for the morning after, Ünloco’s sophomore set for Maverick nearly drowns itself in a sea of self-loathing. Try on some of these song titles (just don’t pull the noose too tight): “Failure,” “Empty,” “Drowning in It,” “Watching Me Slip.” Or this sample lyric from “Fold”: “I feel like…
Campaign Money Shuffle?
The GOP’s capture of the Texas House may have been accomplished with less than scrupulous campaign fund dealings.
Naked City
It wasn’t as dramatic as The New York Times’ self-flagellation in the Jayson Blair mess, but it will do. Last Sunday, down at the bottom of page E1, Austin American-Statesman Managing Editor Fred Zipp acknowledged that the daily’s controversial coverage in January and February of a supposed toxic crisis at Barton Springs was flawed. Of…
Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty 2003, PG-13, 105 min. Directed by Tom Shadyac, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, Morgan Freeman, Lisa Ann Walter, Steve Carell, Lou Felder, Sally Kirkland, Philip Baker Hall, Catherine Bell. In a nutshell, Bruce Almighty is about a funny guy named Bruce – a reporter covering quirky “special…
Articulations
A pair of dancing Hungarian sisters led to a trio of Obie Awards for sometime Austinites Katie Pearl and Lisa D’Amour and their friend and collaborator Kathy Randels.
Phases and Stages
Lust Murder Box It’s not often you come across a Lust Murder Box these days — Clive Barker harvested most of them off eBay ages ago. Luckily, Austin has its own jack-in-the-tomb holding down occasional nights at industri-Goth cornerstone Elysium, and their long-delayed first release is a slap in the face with a barbed-wire glove…
Wal-Mart or No, Council Defers to Endeavor’s Domain
Only Daryl Slusher votes against the city’s $37 million tax rebate for a North Austin “urban village.”
Naked City
On May 8 Texas’ 3rd Court of Appeals reversed and remanded to district court the case of a juvenile found with marijuana near Travis High School, in a case that further defines when police can conduct “routine” pat-down searches. “The officer must be able to articulate specific facts giving rise to a reasonable suspicion,” the…
The In-Laws
The In-Laws 2003, PG-13, 95 min. Directed by Andrew Fleming, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Michael Douglas, Albert Brooks, Robin Tunney, Ryan Reynolds, Lindsay Sloane, David Suchet, Maria Ricossa. Mention Arthur Hiller’s 1979 film The In-Laws to people of a certain age, and you’ll likely get to see otherwise sane folk run around…
Exhibitionism
Multitalented Rob Nash has reshaped his “Holy Cross Quadrilogy” — tracking three friends through four years at a Catholic high school in Houston — into the evening-length Holy Cross Sucks!, and while the abridgment causes too much to happen too quickly, the result is still as funny and memorable as the best and worst of…
Phases and Stages
Attic Ted(Pecan Crazy) San Marcos fourpiece Attic Ted (get it?) seems entirely based on the Violent Femmes’ “Country Death Song,” or the notion that every Southern family tree has a few branches that don’t fork. Their 12-song, self-titled debut brings to mind what might happen if some of William Faulkner’s characters got loose and started…
Killer D’s Come Home, But the Saga Goes On
The Ardmore walkout reverberates at the Capitol.
Capitol Chronicle
Where was the Legislature when the D’s walked out? Just like Moses in the old joke: in the dark. In the heady wake of the Democrats’ breathless run for the border, it would be lovely to believe that the rebellion and solidarity of the Ardmore 51 on congressional redistricting is a turning point in Texas…
XX/XY
XX/XY 2003, R, 91 min. Directed by Austin Chick, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mark Ruffalo, Kathleen Robertson, Maya Stange, Petra Wright, David Thornton. The clever title of this vaguely insightful film about the vagaries of modern romance suggests, with a degree of facetiousness, that the primary difference between men and women –…
Exhibitionism
Ballet Austin’s original adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream delivered two ballets, really — a highly accessible story-driven first act, followed by a more traditionally balletic second — which offered an easy way into his clever and fanciful yet intricate work.
Phases and Stages
Forty Second ScandalsComplement (Missy’s Room) What can you say about the Forty Second Scandals in 40 seconds? 1) They’re an Austin band that sounds a lot like Chicago. 2) They have six members and switch instruments a lot. 3) They’re intimate with the discography of experimental/emo scion Tim Kinsella (Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc, Owls,…
Council Eyes Neighborhood Plan Changes — Again, and Again, and Again
Some things about neighborhood planning never change — even when you want to change a neighborhood plan. Nearly six years after creating the NP program, and more than three years after adopting its first plan, the City Council has yet to settle on a process for amending them. Today (Thursday), the council is set to…
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large
The mayor-elect faces opportunities and awkward options
Nowhere in Africa
Nowhere in Africa 2001, NR, 141 min. Directed by Caroline Link, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Juliane Köhler, Merab Ninidze, Lea Kurka, Matthias Habich, Sidede Onyulo, Karoline Eckertz. Thrust into an alien environment and bereft of creature comforts, cultural commonalties, or even basic language skills, most people will either seek to flee or…
Anthony Orum on Austin
“In Austin, a city of changes, a book like Anthony Orum’s Power, Money & the People: The Making of Modern Austin, is always relevant,” writes Michael Erard. “It’s the only urban history of Austin, tracing the early decisions that fixed the city’s economy, politics, and sense of itself. Unfortunately, the book’s availability has been spotty…
Phases and Stages
Alcorn/ChadbourneAn Afternoon in Austin (Boxholder)Dr. Eugene ChadbourneTexas Sessions: Chapter Two (Boxholder) Words like “experimental” and “eccentric” have long defined multi-instrumentalist/singer Eugene Chadbourne. The North Carolina-based former Shockabilly frontman has also played with John Zorn, Fred Frith, Henry Kaiser, Elliott Sharp, and Camper Van Beethoven, and with that pedigree, one expects good things from the good…
Neighborhood-Plan Amendment Process
Plans will be reviewed (and rewritten) every five years. Plans cannot be amended for one year after adoption. Thereafter, plans can be amended once a year, in February or in July, depending on the neighborhood. Neighborhoods formally designate “contact teams” (an outgrowth of their original planning teams) to review and react to proposed amendments. NP…
The Hightower Report
McCarthyism rears its ugly head; and taxpayers pay for a Bush campaign commercial.
Man on the Train
Man on the Train 2002, R, 90 min. Directed by Patrice Leconte, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jean Rochefort, Johnny Hallyday. A man gets off a train in a sleepy French village and goes into a pharmacy to get some aspirin for his headache. While leaving the shop, another customer offers him a…
The Latest in Paper
“The Minotaur, half-man, half-bull, offspring of King Minos’ wife Pasiphaë and an ivory bull gifted by Poseidon, doomed to wander the Labyrinth until felled by Theseus’ sword, has one of the more interesting lineages in a myth cycle full of obscurantist wild cards,” writes Marc Savlov in reviewing Steven Sherrill’s debut novel. “The Minotaur Takes…
Phases and Stages
Songs for Blaze, A Friend of Ours: BFI Volume 4 (Deep South) As the liner notes to the latest Blaze Foley tribute proclaim, “It’s rare for someone to influence others, 10 years after their death. … [I]t’s even rarer when four tributes are produced in someone’s honor.” The fact that that person is relatively unknown…
Ten Years Later, Police Misconduct Case Goes Public
Austin’s police-review panel hears Lucy Neyens’ allegations of “official oppression” against Detective Howard Staha.
Hot Fun in the Summertime
It’s not even official for another month, but we all know it’s here. Summer. It’s easy enough to spot the warning signs: The ceiling fan’s on heavy rotation, the drive home from work requires a change of clothes afterward, and the sound of ice clinking in glass coupled with the happy hum of the air-conditioner…
News/Print
This humidity’s making me hot.
Phases and Stages
Gina Lee Where Ya Been? (Glee Club) One thing you can’t say about Gina Lee is that the Austin twanger’s a one-trick pony. Eschewing the Wanda Jackson/Janis Martin rockabilly routine for a more varied palette of styles and influences, Lee pulls together top-notch local talent (Cindy Cashdollar, Redd Volkaert, Floyd Domino, Slim Richey) for her…
Naked City
Quote of the Week: “We wish the work had been perfect, but [our] misjudgments and mistake did not materially affect our conclusions.” — Statesman Managing Editor Fred Zipp, in the closest the daily is likely to come to a retraction of its controversial and widely criticized Barton Springs coverage. See Daily Cops to Springs Sins.…
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Paramount Summer Film Classics Films screen at the Paramount Theatre (713 Congress) through August. Regular admission is $6.50 for adults ($5.50 for features before 6pm); $4.50 for kids under 12, students, and seniors. Flix-Tix, good for 10 admissions, may be purchased for $38 (available through the Paramount box office). Flix-Tix and passes not applicable for…
In Person
BookPeople employees put down the books and, as it turns out, pick up Steve Martin pretty quick.
Phases and Stages
Greater Southbridge Soundtrack(Tight Spot) Like so many absurd little outposts in America, Southbridge, Mass., is defined by its yokels — the town jokers, derelicts, and uh, Abe Lincoln look-alikes. Having grown up in Southbridge, Rod Murphy is more than familiar with the town’s collection of endearing oddballs, and his award-winning documentary Greater Southbridge stands for…
Naked City
A health care district bill may still be headed to the House floor. Senate Bill 1796 would allow Travis Co. voters to create a uniform tax-financing district to improve public health and regional trauma care services. The companion House bill stalled after anti-tax opposition from Austin GOP Reps. Todd Baxter and Jack Stick, and Rep.…
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Riddle Me This, Batman A long time ago, in a Gotham far, far away, Batman and Robin wore muslin long johns and drove a really lame car. Kevlar chest appliances hadn’t been conceived of yet (nor had decent cowls, to judge by Batman’s dishrag headdress, with its fuzzy, Peter Cottontail-meets-Satan ears), and Robin, the Boy…
Page Two
By the time you read this, the City Council may have passed the anti-smoking ordinance. The following is from “Bar closures blamed on smoking ban,” an article in the May 11 edition of the Arizona Republic: “Nearly one year after Tempe enacted the state’s toughest smoking ban, sales revenues from downtown bars and restaurants have…
Phases and Stages
Cory MorrowFull Exposure Live (Write On) Considering how hugely successful Cory Morrow has been here in Texas and how powerful a draw he is for audiences, a live album was inevitable. Too bad the 2-CD Full Exposure Live doesn’t convey much in the way of excitement or chemistry. Morrow’s songs have always been by-the-numbers affairs…
Naked City
Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn — out of the headlines for a whole week — on Monday added a $1-a-pack cigarette tax to her list of proposals to save the state budget. The latest “significant and negative” fiscal news: As of May 15, franchise tax collections had declined 17.8% from fiscal 2002, a rate nearly three…
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Austin Film Society’s Summer Free-for-All: Europe’s Emigré Directors Films screen Monday nights at 7:30pm at the Paramount Theatre (713 Congress). Free admission for card-carrying AFS members; $4 admission for nonmembers. Tickets available only at the Paramount box office. For more, see www.austinfilm.org. 6/2: The Big Heat (D: Fritz Lang, 1953) 6/9: Human Desire (D: Fritz…
