Cover Story
Man With the Light Touch
Peter Bay leads the Austin Symphony with the finesse of Astaire
Power Playbill
Imagining what the city manager search is looking like?
On Thanksgiving
Some seasonal positivity about the state of America.
Jive Turkey
152 executions? No sweat. One minute in jail for a Bush crony? Uhh …
Massive Garage Rock Fest Invades H-Town
It’s gonna be a good month for garage rock. Hot on the heels of Beerland’s upcoming Ground Zero Texas Fest (Dec. 6-9), Houston holds its own with the Texas Gone Garage Showcase Friday-Sunday, Dec. 14-16, at Rudyard’s. Most notable is the reformation of Houston’s the Mirrors, Greg Ashley’s band before the Gris Gris. Go here…
Ghosts in the Machine
The Police conclude their North American tour in San Antonio
Ethically Unchallenging
Chris Bell’s attorney explains why they’re taking Perry to court, instead of to the Texas Ethics Commission.
Stock Giftography
The holidays are here, my friend – and if you’re anything like me, you’re pulling the covers over your head and wishing for spring. (Though not before cursing at the television, which is airing that Zales commercial for, like the 40th time.) Luckily for us, the shopping part of the season can be accomplished entirely…
Smells Like Team Spirit
Last week, the Texas School for the Deaf Rangers came from behind to beat Beaumont Legacy Christian Academy, 20-18. They’re now into the second round of the state playoffs, hosting the Regent Knights Saturday, Nov. 24, 7pm, 1102 S. Congress. $6 adults, $4 students. The Rangers are 10-2 on the season, having won four straight,…
New Jersey Might Nix Death Penalty
“I think it is part of this bigger picture where the death penalty is on the defensive.”
1-2-3-4!
Marky Ramone defends the Ramones, Phil Spector.
McClellan’s 121 Words
When it comes to Plamegate, what did the son of Austin know, and when did he know it?
Dynamo Win Their Second Straight MLS Championship, and More
The UT women seem to be peaking at just the right time: They beat Brigham Young University in the NCAA first round, 2-0, on two early goals from freshman striker Alisha Ortiz – her first multigoal game – and then ousted host Texas A&M in the second round, beating them for the second time in…
Coal News: Sierra Club Still Watching TXU, Ranks of Greenhouse-Gas Reduction Accord Grow, and Coal-Fired Power Plant Investments Protested
That’s a mouthful. The Lone Star Sierra Club is prodding Dallas utility TXU, now doing business as Luminant, to solidify its commitment to cancel applications to build eight new coal-fired power plants – made as part of its private-equity buyout deal earlier this year – by changing the permits’ dismissal status at the Texas Commission…
The Perfect Storm of Wingnuttery
Ron Paul and Alex Jones: Together again for the first time.
When Privatized Equals Socialized
How putting more money into private health care is getting Romney and Clinton labeled as socialists.
McMurrey Challenges Noriega From the Left
Corpus Christi schoolteacher files on the Democratic side
Hey, $25 Is Cheap for This Crowd
Local activist irked City Hall mixer open to the public – for $25.
Barrett Vs. Shelton, Round Two
Gov. Perry confirms District 97 run-off date.
Another Dem for U.S. Senate
Ray McMurrey challenges Rick Noriega for the Dem nomination
Democratic Donor in Deep Doo-Doo
Accused has strong connections to former Senate candidate Mikal Watts.
Milkin’ It
Penn to play Milk.
PUC Plays Musical Chairs
Smitherman to head up state-wide electricity regulators.
Thirsty? Here, Suck on My Shoe
Nordstrom pulls flask flip-flop.
Walking EAST
One last chin stroke for the East Austin Studio Tour.
Being There
“Where is the show again?” asked my mother over the phone. The Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, I’d thought, where last November free jazz maverick Charles Lloyd had huffed and puffed and blown a San Francisco Jazz Festival audience down, down to the ground. “Legion of Honor, 34th and Clement – the Florence Gould Theatre,”…
NFL Teams Already Looking to Rebuild for ’08
I am a bad colleague. Sitting in my Old Navy boxers, watching missed field goal after missed field goal in the Kansas City-Indianapolis yawn fest, I should have put a pair of pants on (I hate pants) and cruised down I-35 to San Marcos where fellow Austin Chronicle pigskin writer Joe O’Connell is signing his…
‘Until That Eagle Grins’
A blast from the municipal past.
Chris, This Bud’s for You
It used to be Robert E. Lee’s plantation (or at least, he was the custodian for a time). Lee left when Virginia became part of the Confederacy. Then, the Union began to bury dead soldiers there, rendering the property unusable should the Lee family ever come back to reclaim it. Damn Yankees. This is Arlington…
Eight Reasons to Watch the Saints/Texans Game This Sunday
This Sunday the Houston Texans will host the New Orleans Saints in the first head-to-head battle between the No. 1 pick in the ’06 draft, Mario Williams, and the second, Reggie Bush. While Williams and the Texans have yet to beat the third pick and his Titans in their three meetings, the game this weekend…
RG4N Verdict Will Be Slow in Coming
Probably mid-December, judge says.
1,599,604 Kilowatt Hours …
That’s how much electricity the Kill-a-Watt Challenge’s 1,152 participants saved this summer, and it translates into 799.8 tons of avoided carbon-dioxide emissions. To find out more, check out the Progress and Winners page, which also has all kinds of interesting details about the August, September, Overall Summer, and Interfaith Mini Challenge winners and runners-up. Thank…
At the Cactus With McCue
The world is seemingly filled with sensitive singer-songwriters agonizing over lost love and metaphorical rivers that are wide and deep. Anne McCue isn’t one of them. OK, she occasionally writes of romance and the mundane parts of life, but the Nashville resident’s ace up the sleeve is her guitar playing. Where most folkies are content…
City Manager Selection Details Emerge
What does the timeline for installing a new city manager mean for the candidates?
Methadone for ‘Daily Show’ Junkies
John J. Viacom Jr. III is tearing shit up.
UT Prof Awarded Conservation Honor
The National Wildlife Federation has honored University of Texas professor Camille Parmesan with its National Conservation Achievement Award “for exemplary leadership in protecting the environment and natural resources.” Parmesan specializes in researching how climate change is causing many species to begin mating earlier or shift their habitat range – the latter of which could render…
DVD Watch
An 85-minute tribute to erotic confusion, the locally made Dear Pillow is both fascinated by and hostile to the absurdities of our culture’s Puritanism and takes obvious joy in poking holes in them
Arts Review
Though at times long-winded, Jean Anouilh’s farce still has enough charm and humor to entertain
Texas Platters
Connie Jo Kirk Never Met Nobody Austin native Connie Jo Kirk has been singing since she was a child attending Blackshear Elementary School, and she pours a lifetime of experience into this debut release. Kirk comes from a musical time when the boundaries that allegedly separate jazz, R&B, gospel, and soul didn’t exist. Consequently, the…
Executed Inmate’s Wife Sues Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Keller
Suit argues Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller violated Michael Richard’s due process rights by refusing to hear his appeal only because it was filed after 5pm, an arbitrary deadline set by Keller
@ Chronic
Several high-ranking Dems received donations from right-wing HillCo Partners PAC, now coming back to haunt them
TV Eye
The first casualties of the writers’ strike.
Arts Review
Each artist in this group show brings together disparate elements and, like patchwork, creates a larger whole
Texas Platters
Trae Life Goes On (Rap-a-Lot) Texas rap is stuck in a mess of candy-painted gangsta grills? Trae would argue otherwise. Channeling the ghetto gospel of Tupac Shakur, the Houston rapper’s fourth LP reaches out to the troubled and forgoes the diamond-studded, pushing an album that strives to refocus his hometown scene with lyrics concerning redemption…
Sustainable Transportation Tidbits
A Yellow Bike Project update
Toy Story
Toy Story 1995, G, 81 min. Directed by John Lasseter, Voices by Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger. The film that launched an enduring franchise – and put Pixar on the map.
East Austin Studio Tour
Art-savvy locals offer tips for where to go and who to see when you go EAST this year
Oops!
Travis Co. 200th Civil District Court Judge Gisela Triana does not intend to run for appeals court’s chief justice seat
Texas Platters
Patty Griffin Live From Artists Den (ATO) On a frigid February 2007 night, Patty Griffin held a private concert for the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York City to celebrate the release of her latest LP, Children Running Through. The local singer-songwriter extraordinaire explains in an introductory interview that the converted synagogue, populated with “the…
War Drums
To help forge peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Americans must learn more about the facts on the ground than the heavily U.S. foreign-policy-influenced mainstream media typically make available
East Austin Studio Tour Map
NOTE: This story was published in 2007. Check out our current East Austin Studio Tour coverage. The East Austin Studio Tour takes place Saturday & Sunday, Nov. 17 & 18, 10am-5pm. For more information, visit www.eastaustinstudiotour.com. 1: Piercarlo Abate Photography 81 San Marcos 2: Caroline Wright 1200 Garden 3: Liliana Wilson 1404 Canterbury 4: Arte…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Marijuana arrests in the U.S. set all-time record, Louisiana has more bridges than any other state, and more
Texas Platters
Kim Miller doesn’t believe in rushing things: It’s been almost a decade since her last album, Child of the Big Sky. The local singer-songwriter is less about chasing fame than being completely satisfied with her sonic output, and her long-anticipated Risk of the Roar proves the wait was well worth it. Miller’s confident vocals flow…
Texas Platters
Austin 10-piece Boombox ATX has been packing Lucky Lounge with their mix of funk and hip-hop every Tuesday for more than two years, but their formula doesn’t translate in the studio. Freestyle rhymes that keep the live show moving come off as fluff and filler on Feel the Boombox. The album sounds as if MC…
Double Standard?
Federal Emergency Management Agency bars employees from entering stored travel trailers – the same ones it gave tens of thousands of hurricane evacuees in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas to reside in
‘Footprints’
In the multiform company’s new production, the dancers move between cultures as well as dance styles
Day Trips
Canyon Lake Gorge opens a wide crevice along the Balcones Fault, exposing layers of an ancient seabed
Texas Platters
Bukka Allen Confidante (Bloodline) Best known as the son of Lubbock mafioso Terry Allen, Bukka Allen has long been an in-demand sideman who’s worked with the Bodeans, Joe Ely, and Jack Ingram, while anchoring Austin instrumental trio and label Screen Door Music. Being this busy doesn’t allow for much time as a solo artist, and…
Point Austin: Whose City Is It?
Northcross Wal-Mart fight is about a lot more than a site plan
Happenings
Nov. 15-21
Arthouse Texas Prize
Ireland native and naturalized Texan Katrina Moorhead was awarded the 2007 Arthouse Texas Prize
Soccer Watch
Houston Dynamo plays for their second MLS Championship, and more
Texas Platters
Jade Day Of Waking … Having stripped down the sound from 2005’s Chimera, Jade Day’s fourth release allows the Colorado native’s swooning falsetto to carry his songs with a delicately passionate force. The emotive trill of this Austin singer-songwriter’s voice soars with the grace of Jeff Buckley, yet Of Waking …, also evokes Thom Yorke’s…
Beside the Point
Council takes long, slow journey into night
Readings
Author Kelly DiNardo recounts the fascinating life of ‘the queen of striptease’
Playing Through
Justin Perez and Toj Mora represent the Platonic ideal of their high school football team, except they’re deaf
Texas Platters
Zookeeper Becoming All Things (Belle City Pop!) Becoming All Things finds former Mineral/Gloria Record principal Chris Simpson moving forward by reaching back. As a rotating cast ensemble with Simpson as the only constant, Zookeeper invites structural comparisons to Bright Eyes, but a deeper musical touchstone might be found in Al Kooper’s on-the-fly organ parts on…
Energy Savers
Meet the winners of our Kill-a-Watt Challenge
P2
Horror overtakes a woman on level P2 of a parking garage, and the film’s suspense plays on our collective unease with being alone, at night, surrounded by concrete and rebar.
Readings
If you think you know everything about how America is viewed by the people whom our troops are meant to be protecting, there is much in this volume that will surprise you
Event Menu
Nov. 16-17
Texas Platters
Masonic Things I Am Guilty Of As the tide of indie rock changes from shoegaze to post-punk to bar rock, local fivepiece Masonic remains a staple of the good stuff. Fourth LP Things I Am Guilty Of finds the Mason brothers (keyboardist and songwriter Kevin, guitarist John, and drummer Brian) plus new bassist Trey D’Amico…
‘Chronicle’ Kill-a-Watt Challenge: The winners
Homeowners 1) Rainer Blunck: 86.4% 2) Joep Meijer: 83.4% 3) Carmen Kennedy: 77.6% 4) David McGough: 75.76% 5) Aldia Bluewillow: 75.15% Renters 1) Haley Mack: 85.0% 2) Taryn Hall: 82.8% 3) Corinne Wong: 79.9% 4) Sarah Wees: 77.8% 5) Barbara Nugent: 76.4% Neighborhoods (by % savings) 1) Old West Austin: 34.0% 2) Hyde Park: 33.9%…
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and Jason Bateman, and directed by the writer of Stranger Than Fiction, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium has whimsy coming out of its ears.
After a Fashion
Why is Stephen suddenly interested in bed jackets and catheter cozies?
Food-o-File
We heard from Marci Wilson of the American Cheese Society with a correction to MM Pack’s recent profile of global cheese-buyer Cathy Strange. Wilson informs us that the American Cheese Society was formed in 1983 and that there were 1,208 cheeses entered in their 2007 national competition. We regret the errors… My absolute favorite sweet…
Texas Platters
Aliens Head First (Misc. Music) The cover of Aliens’ debut shows a young diver about to hit her head on a diving board, and that’s an appropriate introduction to 14 somewhat disorienting songs. First things first: Head First was mastered by Kramer, renown producer for the likes of Daniel Johnston and White Zombie, so there’s…
Cutting Back: Doing it your way
During the Kill-a-Watt Challenge, the greatest reductions in energy use came from sensible use of air conditioning and lights. Nevertheless, many contestants came up with innovative and even unique solutions in their quest to cut their consumption. Large windows can mean great views, but they can also mean soaring room temperatures. Renter Grant Rutherford hung…
No Country for Old Men
The Coen brothers display magnificent form with this Cormac McCarthy tale about intransigent evil in the modern West.
The Common Law
There goes the neighborhood – Can they park cars like that?
Sweet Scottish Surprise
Drambuie tries to restore its place as a restorative
Texas Platters
Lions No Generation Lions ringleader Matt Drenik points at you, then he points toward the sky. Riff for riff, the local quartet’s working-class rock & roll improves upon its first entry, last year’s Volume One EP. No Generation offers tighter production, heavier hooks, and the grooves, particularly in the psychedelic trance of “White Angel,” are…
Cutting Back: Don’t mess with TPWD
With two migrants to Austin winning the overall challenge for biggest-saving renter and homeowner (Rainer Blunck and Haley Mack, respectively), it might seem that Texans themselves are lagging on energy conservation. But it’s hard to get more Texan than the Texas Parks & Wildlife Depart-ment, whose Austin headquarters came second in the commercial kilowatt-reduction challenge…
Beowulf
The irony inherent in using 21st century motion-control technology to tell a tale approximately 1,400 years old is just one of many bizarrely entertaining aspects of Beowulf.
Restaurant Reviews
Bombay Express presents a cornucopia of exotic spices to transform mundane vegetables into works of culinary street-food art
Holiday Magic Baking Contest
Cookie baking contest tests holiday mettle
Texas Platters
Baby Robots 10 Year High (Bunkhaus) It’s no lie. Former Floridian locals Baby Robots reached a decade of swilling, schizophrenic jams, and they were definitely high the entire time. From the opening ambient confession of “Psychedelic Potential” to trippy closer “Should I Walk You to the Door,” the Robots hit rock, hip-hop, Devo-esque electronics, and…
APD Pot-Hunters Are Data-Mining at AE
Are you using ‘too much’ energy? Inquiring drug cops want to know.
Southland Tales
Six years after Donnie Darko, filmmaker Richard Kelly returns with this incomprehensible, self-indulgent mess of post-apocalyptic anxiety, political paranoia, and pop-culture references.
Resturant Reviews
This old-timey-style diner satisfies with true American comfort food
Terrible Beauty
The first day that Sam Baker could hear again
Texas Platters
The Story Of The World’s Affair (Leroy Godspeed) This Austin-via-Ohio quintet is nothing if not ambitious. From the moniker on down, one gets the sense that the Story Of seeks to translate its arty, home-cooked indie-pop pedigree into an album full of universal meditations on the human condition. Problem is not even U2 can pull…
Travis Co. Vote
A mere 50.29% of Travis voters supported Proposition 15, the state constitutional amendment creating the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
The District!
This animated Hungarian feature is equal parts South Park and Magyar-inflected hip-hop, and an altogether smart, urban riff on Romeo and Juliet.
The Hightower Report
Save the GOP From Socialism; and $2.4 Trillion and Counting
A Little Help From His Friends
Sam Baker is the first to admit his musical limitations. “It’s not like I’m going to come out with a different voice or play guitar much better,” he laughs. “It’s all I got, and I’m grateful that people have responded.” As a natural songwriter’s songwriter, Baker’s work has attracted contributions from an expanding number of…
Texas Platters
Dysfunkshun Junkshun Suga-Water-Purple-Groove-a-Listic (Bad Fun) Automakers have race teams because research and development is the best way to learn what works. Ditto with bands. Groups who hone their craft at weddings, private events, etc., know how to move a crowd while deftly switching styles – like Dysfunkshun Junkshun, led by composer and lead vox Brother…
Data Riches
A data nerd’s dream come true, the Central Texas Sustainability Indicators Project’s latest report is out
Love in the Time of Cholera
Funny when it’s supposed to be serious and awkward when it’s supposed to be romantic, every twist in this Gabriel García Márquez adaptation is a near miss, except for the performance of Javier Bardem.
The End of the World as He Knows It
Richard Kelly does decadence plus dystopia in Southland Tales
Off the Record
The renovated Austin Music Hall breaks new ground; Brown Whörnet goes digital; and Roky Erickson rocks Austin City Limits with a little help from his friends
Texas Platters
Jane Bond & Chad Tracy Come Hell or High Water On Come Hell or High Water, Jane Bond steps away from her blues chanteuse persona for a set of country-flavored duets with singer-songwriter Chad Tracy. No one will mistake this pairing for George Jones and Tammy Wynette, but the results are still highly listenable country…
Dumped by County, BFI Takes Landfill Plan to TCEQ
County rejects BFI deal but isn’t willing to fight landfill proposal at state level
The Big Squeeze
The writers’ strike hits close to home
Media Watch
Freedom Communications Inc. closes its one-reporter Capitol bureau, progressives rally behind Air America, and the last of the tacky deejays
Texas Platters
Roger Wallace It’s About Time (Natchez Street) The title just about says it all. It’s been more than five years since Roger Wallace graced Austin with new music after releasing three discs in successive years earlier this decade. His sultry vocals are still as powerful as ever on It’s About Time, but this time he’s…
Austin Bishop Checkmates ‘Dark Materials’ in Schools
Trilogy’s anti-religious themes and author’s beliefs get books banned from local Catholic schools
Film News
Casting news for Terrence Malick’s new film, meet the new AFS communications manager, and more
Arts Review
In this new play, the infamous tale of a circus elephant that was hanged is recounted in heartbreaking fashion
Texas Platters
Ana Egge Lazy Days (Grace) For some artists, releasing an entire disc of covers signals a holding pattern. Ana Egge’s Lazy Days is a collection of others’ tunes, but she’s stretching herself in ways that perhaps she couldn’t on her own. It’s as varied a set of choices as these things get, the local singer-songwriter…
Naked City
Quote of the Week “This city, to the point of distraction sometimes, loves a conspiracy theory. And if all you hear about this case was what was on RG4N’s website and what you read in the Chronicle and what you heard in the media, you would believe that this site plan was approved because the…
I See, You See, We All See UCC!
Gay-friendly churchy peeps host a benefit.
Luv Doc Recommends: Wash Hamilton Tribute and Benefit Concert
Sometimes it’s so hard not to sweat the little stuff. No matter how many times your grizzled old geezer relatives try to tell you the only important things in life are your friends, your family, and a rigorous regime of dental hygiene, you never seem to get the message. What do they know anyway? They’re…
