Cover Story
The Staff of Life
The Food staff enlightens on where to find bread so crusty and warm, and how to make it at home
Naked Boys Ticket Give-Away!
Free Naked Boys! Singing!
Down From the Mountain
More good news from Sundance
Time Warner Subscribers Miss Out on Packers/Cowboys Game
I’m sure you’ve heard by now. The second-biggest regular-season matchup of the season (following the Colts/Patriots tilt earlier this year) will not be available to Time Warner customers. Both teams are 10-1 and this is a huge game in the NFC playoff picture. Unlike local Texans fans, Cowboys fans are unaccustomed to their team not…
‘Tis the Season …
Austin sees some Sundance lovin’.
Closer, Ever Closer to the 81st Session
Speaker Craddick releases second chunk of House committee interim charges.
Gallo Humor
His actions and words toe so close to ludicrous, one hopes that Vincent Gallo as we know him – wildly talented, largely objectionable – is all some kind of performance art piece à la Andy Kaufman.
Horns, Lions, Out
It’s “wait until next year” for the UT Longhorns, who crashed out of the NCAAs with a 4-0 drubbing at Florida State on Friday. The Horns were out-shot by a 29-5 margin, capping a postseason in which they were out-shot in all six games, including a 110-38 margin in the last four. It’s worth noting,…
Dais Dispatches
The story at City Council this morning
But We Would Like This Under Our Tree (Bush)
Be careful when you get between those thighs. They’re sharp!
Well, I’m Not the Dolly Lama
Oh, would that I could: Amy & Dolly, together, make the perfect woman.
Olsen Fired in Kevin Brown Shooting
This afternoon, police chief Art Acevedo terminated Sgt. Michael Olsen for his fatal shooting of fleeing suspect Kevin Brown.
Leffingwell’s (Yawn) Re-Election Announcement
Incumbent plans on staying put – if that’s OK with you.
TYC Staff Gets Christmas Surprise
Youth jails end suspension of staff overtime pay
Greg Abbott’s Cash for Kids
Attorney General Office sets new record in child support payment collection
Demolish, Revive, Reuse
Architect Michael Antenora talks about how saving rubble from going to the landfill changed his designs for Penn Field.
City Council Notebook
For the Thursday, Nov. 29, council meeting
Just a Family Thing
Some of you are going to snicker, but I’ve grown fond of Avenged Sevenfold for much the same reason that I’ve been listening to a lot of 101X lately: Teenagers have invaded my house. That means Linkin Park’s “Bleedin’ Out” and Rihanna’s “Shut Up and Drive” rank way up on my current Top 10 (which…
Rush Hour 2
What did Will Wynn say about traffic at council the day of his meltdown?
Maldonado on Krusee Retirement
Democrat responds to state rep’s announcement
Rainy Weekend Reading: Two Off the Stack
I don’t know how many of us eventually found time last weekend for the big Thanksgiving payoff after hunting and gathering and then gathering again: gettin’ down like a raccoon in your favorite socks with some groovy new books. I begged for, borrowed, and stole the time. Rain was welcome. It seemed appropriate for a…
Will Wynn: Call the Waaahmbulence
Breaking news: Mayor discovers traffic Downtown
Krusee’s Retirement Announcement
Round Rock state rep announced his retirement today
No Humbugs Here
Ways to pitch-in around the city this holiday season
Wide Stance Under the Mistletoe
Something surprising under the Christmas tree!
Krusee to Retire
Round Rock rep since 1993 has weathered transportation storms
McKinney Goes Green
Former Georgia congressional rep coming to Austin
College Students Drink More on Game Days?!
Not to any great surprise, a study done at the University of Texas shows that football game days have students boozing harder and longer than any other days of the year, including holidays such as New Year’s Eve and Halloween. Kim Fromme, psychologist and director of UT’s Studies on Alcohol, Health, and Risky Activities Lab,…
Voter Certificates – Check Your Mailbox
New certificates are being delivered, beginning today
Three Trees Traveled
Christmas arrives early and horse-drawn at the Capitol.
I Am ‘Beowulf’!
Another bare-chested epic of mildly homoerotic proportions.
Erwin Center Unveils ‘Inside the Arena: Three Decades of Legends’
The Frank Erwin Center is inviting the public to help them celebrate 30 years of hosting cultural and sporting events in their facility with the photo exhibit “Inside the Arena: Three Decades of Legends.” The exhibit debuts Wednesday, Nov. 28, at the Texas vs. Texas Southern men’s basketball game, and Thursday, Nov. 29, at the…
Hyde Park Baptist Church Goes Two for Two
From one White House to another
The Toros: Season Three Preview (First Less-Than-Successful Attempt)
OK, now that the professional basketball season has started again and I can finally put aside reading books and feigning interest in conversations with my friends and get back to what’s really important in this life, I have a few comments on the NBA I feel I should make before I get down to business…
Hannukah Wish List!
Hannukah is fast approaching (December 5th, I think), and my only question is: Who’s going to buy me this? or this? or this? or this? or this? or this? (awwwww so cute! and sad!) Send all donations to Andy Campbell c/o the Austin Chronicle!
At Palm Beach Community College, Queers Have It ‘Ruff’
Pets are people too! But gay people probably aren’t, according to this junior college.
Texans Excommunicate Saints, Enter the Playoff Hunt
Mario Williams and the Texans D kept the Saints and Reggie Bush in check while Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson didn’t miss a beat after Johnson’s seven-game absence and connected on six passes for 120 yards and one TD – including a 73-yard beauty off a play-action fake that had Saints cornerback Jason David trailing…
The Common Law
Holiday purchases – cash or credit card?
Inhuman Resources
City HR employees rebel over director’s actions, city response
The Staff of Life
Ficelle, Central Market More than a loaf of bread, Central Market’s prosciutto-peppercorn ficelle is an addiction. Introduced to the CM bakery around 1996 by French master baker Edouard Damez, it has remained one of their most popular breads, and for good reason. I hardly ever go there and leave without one of these treats. Be…
Texas Platters
The Flood Power to the Sheeple The culmination of a six-month-long public smear campaign, the Flood’s debut, Power to the Sheeple, assumes the role of the evil empire, polluting feeble minds with a lethal dosage of sludge metal. Modeled after the Melvins’ Gluey Porch Treatments, the local trio layers on the riffs thick as a…
Commuter Rail on Track for Test Runs
MetroRail to make tracks through Austin neighborhood
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The real meaning of the word ‘dork’ is ‘a whale’s penis,’ the first Beatle to visit America was George Harrison, and more
A Key to Sources
Because this story concerns confidentiality among city employees as well as private medical information, several of the principal sources have asked to remain anonymous, hoping to keep the personal matters private, at least for the present. Whether they will be able to do so if the controversy persists is another question. In the interest of…
The Staff of Life: Fannie ‘Ma’ House’s Biscuits
Almost as good as your grandmother used to make
Texas Platters
Corruption is King The Karmic Debt (Crustacean) Sonically speaking, The Karmic Debt casts its lot with the first stone hurled. “Creeps Are Coming” is an ear-splitting, bottom-heavy sound-bomb capped with bloodcurdling, throat-shredding vocals. Corruption Is King’s key delineating factor is the fundamentally pop structures that often gird their songs. Once you’ve weathered all the surface…
Second Street Snafu Clarification
After allegations from 2nd Street District retailers of mishandled utility billing by property managers Urban Partners, firm says it isn’t trying to force stores out and remains committed to local shops
Letters @ 3AM
I’d never met anyone so different in private from what Norman Mailer appeared to be in public
Readings
Shooting War, writer Anthony Lappé and illustrator Dan Goldman’s glossy, all-color graphic novel, is a political satire focused on the business of corrupt journalism, wars on terror, and networks shaking hands with governments
The Staff of Life
La Brea Loaves, Grape Vine Market Nancy Silverton’s La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles was one of the prime movers in the American artisan-bread movement of the 1990s. After several years of baking success, Silverton developed a process whereby her exemplary breads could be partially baked, flash-frozen, and packaged for wholesale to stores and restaurants.…
Texas Platters
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Pride and Joy (Epic/Legacy) Stevie Ray Vaughan & Friends Solos, Sessions & Encores (Epic/Legacy) Posthumous releases, both great (The Sky Is Crying) and small (Blues at Sunrise) now outnumber Stevie Ray Vaughan’s initial Texas flood, 1990’s Pride and Joy VHS, one of the first to hit the market months…
AG’s Office Warned Against Filing ‘Punitive’ Appeals
Warning stems from pending whistle-blower lawsuit against Gary Grief and the Texas Lottery Commission, for which the AG’s office is serving as the defendants’ co-counsel
Event Menu
Nov. 23-26
Readings
Disco doesn’t have much to do with anything in Clane Hayward’s memoir of her late Seventies, peripatetic preteens, which were spent shuttling between a hippie mom, redneck dad, and anybody else with an open space – but not necessarily an open heart – in which Hayward could crash
The Staff of Life: Grandma Dottie’s Oatmeal Bread
Step-by-step, foolproof instructions
Texas Platters
With any EP, there’s a fine line between too little and too much. Zykos’ Keep It Light EP (Cult Hero) is too long overdue for a mere four songs to suffice, however good they may be. “What You Know” balances jumping piano rhythms and fuzz-box guitar like Bowie circa ’73; “Keep It Light” capitalizes on…
@ Chronic
Thirsty? Here, Suck on My Shoe.
Food-o-File
Local businesses churn out holiday fare, and more
And the Loser Is …
The biggest winner in the Chronicle‘s Bacheloser contest
The Staff of Life: Aunt Ruby’s Cinnamon Rolls
Yeasty, sweet, and buttery
Texas Platters
… limited to 500 copies all across the board here, beginning with the Strange Boys’ stellar EP, Nothing (Dusty Medical). The slow, dusty back-porch blues of the title track and “Happily in Disbelief” crackle and pop like Smithsonian Folkways recordings from the 1950s. “We Both Know” adds woozy organ, guitarist Ryan Sambol’s slurred vocals consistently…
Happenings
Nov. 22-28
Thanksgiving Wines
Chameleon wines for your Thanksgiving spread
After a Fashion
DOWNSTAIRS Model Marco Fiorilo of Aviary home decor is wearing the Your So Vain vest ($110), the I Am Bored jacket ($225), the Your Meds shirt ($110), all by Howe. He is also wearing the Fillmore sunglasses by Initium ($185), Victory fit straight-legged denim by Kasil ($190), and the Lisa Ivy hat by Electric Line…
The Staff of Life
Bolillos, El Fénix Honestly, I am not much of a bread person. In fact, I rarely serve bread with meals, and I hardly ever eat it, unless it’s in sandwich form or as the vehicle for something tasty like pâté or homemade marmalade. But I am, after all, a Mexican, and we Mexicans love our…
Arts Review
This French clown show by RoHo Theatre Company aims to entertain, and it does just that, more often than not
Perry Inc. Responds to Suit With Characteristic Smirk
Just another day at the governor’s office: questionable campaign contributions
2007 ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot
Chameleon wines for your Thanksgiving spread
Entranced
Remembering one who fascinated us all: Karen Kuykendall, 1937-2007
Texas Platters
Broadcasts Vol. 15 (107.1 KGSR Radio Austin) The 15th installment of KGSR’s coveted series benefiting the SIMS Foundation veers from the dominant singer-songwriter dynamic that typically characterizes the releases. Instead, a heavy dose of blues and jams provide the backbone of the two discs, led by cover boy Jimmie Vaughan’s double offering with the swinging…
Arts Review
The multiform troupe went multicultural for its season opener with some captivating rhythms
Two of a Kind
Jesse Dayton & Brennen Leigh, Austin’s new George and Tammy coupling, more or less
Page Two: Searching in Dreamland
Where music takes us
Texas Platters
Wendy Colonna Old, New, Borrowed, & Blue: Live at Antone’s Wendy Colonna’s extensively packaged Old, New, Borrowed, & Blue is an ambitious undertaking: two CDs and a DVD recorded live at Antone’s. It’s also a risky one with a touch of overkill in the DVD, where she’s styled like a Mucha nymph, since Colonna is…
Arts Review
Jonathan Marshall’s artwork and video illustrate a mythic journey that’s *cough* Star Wars *cough* strangely familiar
This Christmas
The film has the perfect formula for holiday cheer: redemption through sentimentality, salvation through schmaltz.
Jesse Dayton & Brennen Leigh Reviewed
Jesse Dayton & Brennen Leigh “Holdin’ Our Own” and Other Country Gold Duets (Stag) Male-female duets in country music include such legendary pairings as George and Tammy, Conway and Loretta, June and Johnny, and Porter and Dolly, no last names necessary, thank you. Some day we might add Jesse and Brennen to the list. There’s…
Day Trips
Bearly Making It isn’t your ordinary chain-saw sculpture operation
Texas Platters
Mark David Ashworth Viceroy (Autobus) A local singer-songwriter with a unique vision is extremely rare these days. That’s what makes Mark David Ashworth’s debut a thrill. Recorded during his travels in Central and South America, Viceroy comes across as a warped travelogue that envelopes the listener with its eccentricities. That Ashworth performs the multi-instrumental arrangements…
Beside the Point
The process that netted us Police Chief Art Acevedo – held up as exemplary for all future “critical hires” for the city – is starting to look like a happy accident
August Rush
August Rush is a rather prosaic, oddly anxious, contemporary take on Oliver Twist, with Robin Williams – in nasty-man twee mode – thrown in for bad measure.
The Hightower Report
Bush’s Deepest Health Care Shame; and The All-Natural Flimflam
Soccer Watch
The Houston Dynamo win their second straight MLS Championship, and more
Texas Platters
The Texas Sapphires Roadhouse Gems: Live at John T. Floore Country Store (Stag) After last year’s excellent local debut, Valley So Steep, a live album capturing the Sapphires’ honky-tonk attitude would seem an ideal follow-up. Unfortunately, Roadhouse Gems, recorded at the John T. Floore Country Store, offers rough cuts at best. Sounding like an open-mic…
Point Austin: Fierce Urgency
While presidential candidates are asking for votes – where are they now?
Enchanted
Romance, dry satire, and musical comedy blend in this new Disney film, which stars a delightful Amy Adams.
DVD Watch
I Am Cuba is a remarkable marriage of technical experimentation, artistic innovation, radical storytelling, and left-wing politics
Playing Through
The Longhorn volleyball team is winning and having a great time doing it
Texas Platters
Thor Harris Fields of Innards (I Eat Records) Most ambient music operates under the philosophy that less is more. Tones and textures need adequate space to reveal themselves before easing into the subconscious. Such is not the case with Thor Harris’ debut, Fields of Innards, a disorienting, densely layered 12-song instrumental suite of textured percussion…
Developing Stories: Park Once, Invest Twice
Two new city-owned parking garages would pay for themselves under enterprising proposal
Hitman
Like the video game that inspired this film, Hitman is a brain-dead pleasure bomb.
TV Eye
Letterman’s writers find a new home on the Internet, plus gifts to give yourself and others
Texas Platters
The Chris Vestre Group Suburban Life It’s been two years since Chris Vestre’s maiden voyage, Jazz Camp, debuted with its alluring front line of guitar and vibes. That infrequent combination can still be heard on this sophomore effort, but it hardly dominates as before. Instead, the Austin guitarist takes a more adventurous tack with an…
TYC Shows Little Evidence of ‘Reform’ at State Schools
Five months after the Texas Youth Commission reform bill was crafted to protect youth inmates, TYC is massively understaffed, with a third of all posts empty
The Mist
There’s “something in the mist,” and it’s not only the beasts that bite but also the dark things that reside within.
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
Has Todd Haynes reinvented the biopic? Or has he reinvented the Todd Haynes film?
The Staff of Life
Varied Delights, Texas French Bread and Whole Foods Texas French Bread baker Ben Wilcott’s passion for baking reveals itself with every “I’m really excited about,” and then he’s off describing a loaf or a recipe. Not surprisingly, Wilcott plans on having several bread offerings at his holiday meals. “We’ll have rustic rolls, small individual versions…
Texas Platters
ContraNova Infinity in All Directions (Diabolical Genius) The project of Elgin’s Sean Craypo, Contranova reassembles the band Craypo began eight years ago on its debut, adding a collection of artists to contribute sparsely arranged strings and horns. It’s appropriate, then, that Infinity in All Directions purportedly presents the tale of a time-machine experiment gone awry.…
Allegations Involving Axes, Bombs Follow Rumbo to TYC
While the Texas Youth Commission is concerned about the quantity of new staff, there are also concerns about their quality. One major hire has already sparked great controversy. Early in October, Brent Rumbo became the new principal at Crockett State School, after passing the new background and fingerprint checks. However, just because Rumbo had no…
I’m Not There
This meditation on Bob Dylan is infused with love – not the slavish kind but a true-eyed tribute to the artist who belongs to nobody and everybody at once.
365 Days/365 Plays: After 52 weeks, a sense of accomplishment and a blessing
On Nov. 10, Austin’s part in a national theatrical event came to a close a stone’s throw from where it started a year before
The Intersection of Personal and Political
AFS Essential Cinema presents a miniretrospective of the films of Philippe Garrel
The Staff of Life
Sun-Dried Tomato and Mozzarella Bread, Mandola’s Italian Market All the breads that emerge from the Italian stone-hearth oven at Mandola’s Italian Market are exceptional, but in my opinion, the best (and certainly the most unusual) is the amazingly flavorful, beautifully textured sun-dried tomato and mozzarella loaf ($5.25) developed by Mandola’s head baker, Jesus “Chuy” Guevara.…
Texas Platters
The Normans Stereo Savant (Brief Planet) Following up their (very) full-length debut, 2004’s 16-song Dreams of Autocrashes, the Normans’ Stereo Savant EP retains the expansive wall of sound in a more condensed and manageable burst. With former God Drives a Galaxy guitarist Cory Butler at the helm, the Normans reflect aspects of the former group’s…
Messy Investigation of a Mess
Did Austin Police Sgt. Michael Olsen use excessive force when he shot and killed 25-year-old Kevin Brown? According to Internal Affairs, the answer is “inconclusive.”
Bubba and Babe’s Backwoods Texas Wedding
Dinner-theatre nuptials, Texas-style
‘No Country’ for Squash Fruit
Promoting No Country for Old Men, resident Alamo mad professor Edwin Wise whipped up a hand-held, pneumatic cow-killer that drove a steel bolt through strawberry-and-banana-filled pumpkin “heads”
The Staff of Life: My Blue Ribbon Carrot-Nut Bread
Not best in show, but pretty darn close
Texas Platters
Magnet School Tonight We Drink … Tomorrow We Battle the Evil at Hand (Arclight) Last year’s debut Magnet School EP, Crush, had punch and power, maneuvering through melody, riff, and echo like only veteran rockers could. Tonight We Drink takes that EP (in its entirety) and adds a dose of At the Drive-In sensibility, Foo…
Wal-Mart Case Could Take Several Weeks to Decide
Complexity of Wal-Mart case, not to mention Thanksgiving, could delay judge’s decision
Vitality: A Baroque Thanksgiving: Music to give thanks by
Opening your concert season on Thanksgiving weekend might seem odd, but it’s worked out well for Chamber Soloists of Austin
Off the Record
James White goes on location at the Broken Spoke, Marky Ramone defends his namesake and Phil Spector’s innocence, and the Summer Wardrobe gives Roky Erickson a makeover
The Staff of Life
Schiacciata All’Uva, Sweetish Hill While I generally prefer breads to be simple and unadorned (the better to pair with cheeses, meats, or spreads), I absolutely love the Tuscan flat-bread called schiacciata all’uva (flat-bread with grapes) prepared by Sweetish Hill co-owner Jim Murphy, who firmly describes himself as “a baker – not a pastry chef, a…
Texas Platters
Coma in Algiers This Is Your Justice Man-as-animal punk has included some great species: the Jesus Lizard, Electric Eels, Flipper. Austin fourpiece Coma in Algiers isn’t quite there yet, but its 13-song debut sure is agitated. This Is Your Justice comes at you convulsing and flailing, from the pavement-splatter of opener “Johnny Come Home” to…
Naked City
Quote of the Week “Although individuals from all faiths are welcome to worship with us at Hyde Park Baptist Church, the church cannot provide space for the practice of these non-Christian religions on church property.” – HPBC statement explaining its last-minute cancellation of a Thanksgiving prayer service at its Quarries location, four months after Austin…
Luv Doc Recommends: Wayne Hancock’s Annual ‘Dance Yer Stuffing Off’ Turkey Trot
The Thanksgiving turkey is a perfect metaphor for the way you inevitably feel after indulging in America’s No. 1 feast: like someone covered you with butter and rammed some starch up your ass. Too bad the Pilgrims couldn’t order Chinese takeout. Of course, the turkey the Pilgrims brought to the table was a far cry…
