PLUS: Summer Camps

Cover Story

8-Bit Artisan

There’s an unspoken communication between the two people needed to play Track+Feel II. One person dances on a pad placed on the floor, creating tones with each step, while the other regulates the backbeat and the timbre of the notes with a controller. To make anything resembling a catchy tune, you have to look for…

by James Renovitch

How To Get Your Game Onto an NES Cartridge

Not that we recommend trying to learn Assem­bly and creating your own 8-bit freak-out, but here’s how Party Time! Hexcellent! gets it done: 1) Start with a blank text document. 2) Type in all your code from scratch. 3) Input the code on a compact flash drive. 4) Put the drive in a special development…

by James Renovitch

The Luv Doc: The Stockholm Syndrome

Dear Doc of Luv, Due to a recent change in fortune, I’m soon leaving Austin and a job I love to pursue my dream of writing the Great American Novel – or at least, hopefully, a pretty decent one that doesn’t get pulped within a year. Anyway, in spite of weekly deadline stress at my…

by The Luv Doc

Live Shots

The Black Keys Frank Erwin Center, April 25 Arenas suit the Black Keys, another unlikely feat for the onetime niche band on a big winning streak. In front of massive pop art projections, they broke out “Howlin’ For You” and “Next Girl” off 2010’s Brothers before hitting pay dirt in the heavy grooves of “Gold…

by Kevin Curtin

The Raven

John Cusack plays Edgar Allan Poe in this historically imaginative but dull and off-putting detective story set in old Baltimore.

by Marc Savlov

Live Shots

Austin Psych Fest 5 Emo’s East/Beauty Ballroom, April 27-29 Psych Fest begins Friday on a traffic-clogged freeway exit pointing toward East Riverside Drive. Cars are populated with commuters in rush-hour hell and a vast cross-section of Austin eccentrics hoping for a weird weekend. You can tell who’s who by the bumper stickers. Last year, the…

by Luke Winkie

My Way

This South Korean epic is a gory and realistic portrait of the horrors of war.

by Marc Savlov

Arts Review

The audience came seeking cult icon Ron Swanson, and that’s who Nick Offerman gave them

by Dan Solomon

Live Shots

Feist Stubb’s, April 26 Promises of love, sex, and fulfillment are heady ones indeed. Pregnant with imagination, they’re often rendered flaccid by the pinprick of reality. Similarly, when you land a sold-out Feist show, you expect to feel it all, as it were. She’s a deft performer, gracious and generous with her audience, engaging fans…

by Melanie Haupt

Monsieur Lazhar

In a Montreal classroom, adolescent students and their Algerian substitute teacher help one another cope with grief. The film was an Oscar nominee.

by Marjorie Baumgarten

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

Marilyn Monroe got pregnant while filming Some Like It Hot. Some cooks believe food items cooked with wine or liquor will be nonalcoholic because alcohol evaporates quickly when heated. However, a 1992 study found some of the alcohol remains: after one hour of baking or simmering 25% remains, and 10% after two hours. The “Carbon…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

Live Shots

Jeff Mangum ACL Live at the Moody Theater, April 29 No one knows why Jeff Mangum left stage and studio behind after Neutral Milk Hotel’s 1998 opus In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Or, for that matter, why he’s back. The inscrutable indie songwriter launched a reluctant return in late 2010, booking a couple dozen…

by Austin Powell

Oops!

We misspelled the surname of Callier Creedle in last issue’s Quote of the Week.

by Chronicle Staff

Playback

Q: What do you get when you combine the Continental Club, Trophy’s, and the Rome Inn? A: C-Boy’s.

by Kevin Curtin

Civics 101

Thursday 03 NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER PICKET Join activists trying to keep church and state separate. 11:45am-1pm. South steps of the Capitol, Congress & 11th. PROJECT CONNECT Discuss options for updating high-capacity transit in Central Texas at this informal open house. 5-8pm. Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center, 808 Nile, 478-7695. Friday 04 GENTX DAY Wear a…

by Chronicle Staff

Quote of the Week

“Texas is reaching beyond the scope of the government program and penalizing [Planned Parenthood] for their protected conduct.” – from U.S. District Judge Yeakel’s April 30 ruling, later suspended by a 5th Circuit judge

by Chronicle Staff

Second Helpings: Mother’s Day Brunch, Sunday, May 13

Barton Creek Resort & Spa Let Mom rock out to a live pianist and strolling musicians, 10:30am-2:30pm. $58.95, $21.95 for children. 8212 Barton Club Dr.; 329-7923 for reservations. BC Tavern promises “no cattle-call buffet or prix fixe,” just your favorites, such as eggs Benedict, migas, waffles, and the famous BC Burger, 11am-3pm. 11715 Bee Caves…

by Chronicle Staff

Gay Place: Queerzy Springs

Surely it’s some kind of unicorn promised land, this Krause Springs. The main pool seems unchanged since we began dipping our horn over two decades ago. Frozen in time (and in your skivvs), Krause’s preeeeetty chilly. So if you go to Sunday’s Queer Swim Takeover, bring a coupla towels – or cutie pies to pat…

by Kate X Messer

Headlines

› With the May 12 election looming, City Coun­cil’s next regular meeting is not until May 24 – but with a spate of public work sessions in the meantime, addressing departmental budget previews, urban rail planning, and the ever-popular Austin Energy rate proposals. For more, see “Council Rings the Changes.” › Unofficial totals for the…

by Chronicle Staff

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