Cover Story
The Fire at AFD
Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr leads a department flaming with labor, race, and gender politics
Texans Flirt With Success, Bandwagon Jumpers Sure to Follow
Fan loyalty is like a marriage, for better or for worse
Austin Film Festival: ‘Godspeed’
AFF film review
Help Ian MacDougall
The Riverboat Gamblers guitarist’s close call
D Sends Horns Toward Imperfectly Perfect Season
While the offense remains quiet
Austin Film Festival: ‘Calvin Marshall’
A wannabe shortstop goes through the ringer in this baseball comedy.
Anyway
Live at the Amy Farris tribute
Crew Deep
Crew54’s reality bytes
This Week’s Waste of Time
Two free online games, one creative mind
Early Disinterest
In-person turnout for constitutional amendment elections plummets from prior years
Williamson Primary Plans
Expect some red-on-red action to the north
Big 12 Power Rankings: Week 7
Texas/Oklahoma border battle continues after the game
AIA Homes Tour 2009
Local architects shine on 24th annual AIA Homes Tour
McDonald Beating McCaul on Fundraising
Challenger for TX-10 says he’s serious
It’s Kevin Durant Day
Mayor Leffingwell and Sen. West proclaim Tuesday as such
High School Homecoming
The nation’s best runner, that guy from Spoon, and me
Crack Busters
The pieces are finally in place to end the crack cocaine sentencing disparity
The Chef’s New Mix
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx redux
HD 48 GOP Primary a Race
Second Republican planning to challenge Rep. Donna Howard
More Pot Up in Smoke
DPS narcos take down three more grow operations in Austin
Quilt of Memories
A special tribute at checkout #9
The Lineup
Recommended music for the week of Oct. 16-22
Shapleigh Not Running in 2010
El Paso state senator stepping away after 12 years in the Capitol
Gagnon First Star Promoted to Dallas
Texas Star becomes Dallas Star
Big 12 Power Rankings: Week 6
Or ‘how to throw a college career away, pt. 2’
The God’s Heaven Truth
Rev. Gean West & the Relatives add another chapter to Texas funk history
Capricorn Jesus
Sometimes outlaws walk on water
Texas Platters
James McMurtry Live in Europe (Lightning Rod) Documenting his first tour of the UK, James McMurtry cut Live in Europe specifically as a collector’s edition LP/DVD. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions of the vinyl format – roughly 42 minutes – that equals a significantly truncated set. Wrapping up at about half the running time of…
Deep in the Art
Bob ‘Daddy-O’ Wade’s 40-year road trip through all that is Texas
Where the Wild Things Are
This very special film is the rare children’s offering that isn’t coded for adults or made corny and flip for kids.
Record Review
Kris Kristofferson Closer to the Bone (New West) “This album is dedicated to the spirit of my soul-brother Stephen Bruton,” writes Kris Kristofferson in the liner notes of Closer to the Bone, and indeed the late Austin guitarist’s spirit touches everything here. Whether in his high twang ringing against Kristofferson’s leathered drawl on the opening…
Texas Platters
Next up With debut From Soldiers to Warriors, the Cipher heralds the rise of homegrown hip-hop out of high schools and ‘hoods and onto Austin stages. It’s message music of the finest kind, exhorting listeners to participate within their community over smooth beats. The crew includes three young women whose “Give me what I need,…
Soccer Watch
The Aztex continue to build (and win) in the offseason, and more
Law Abiding Citizen
Vigilante justice may be just what the law requires in this film starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx.
Chorus Austin
With choral conductor Ryan Heller, Austin’s gain is not necessarily Portland’s loss
Texas Platters
Guy Clark Somedays the Song Writes You (Dualtone) Craftsman, the title of a 1995 compilation of Guy Clark’s early work, comes to mind when listening to Somedays the Song Writes You. Like everything he’s put out over the course of a nearly 40-year career, not a note or word is out of place, crafted with…
Roadblocks
Transit agency’s self-evaluation report reflects frustration over impediments
All the Best: Fun Begins
In this Bollywood film, comic events unfold in an effort to cover up an initial lie.
In Print: Texas Book Festival Authors
Atwood’s latest is a remarkable parable of a world ruined by corporate tyranny, reckless technology, casual violence, and utter disdain for the natural order
Texas Platters
Ola Podrida Belly of the Lion (Western Vinyl) David Wingo’s music streams in nostalgia, spilling out somewhere between night’s tussled memories and day’s soft break against gray skies. His voice lulls with a hypnotic power, like David Bazan left alone to quietly muse back into himself. Wingo’s sophomore album as Ola Podrida surges with more…
City Sorting Through Web of Options
Website redesign process still in the works
Blue
This new Bollywood film is an underwater action thriller.
In Print: Texas Book Festival Authors
In this comic novel set in the underworld, Butler swings for the fences but creates little more than a breeze
Texas Platters
Jess Klein Bound to Love (United for Opportunity) On Jess Klein’s latest, the recent Boston-to-Austin transplant takes a levelheaded approach, embracing her new city and finding footing in the singer-songwriter mountain, with some help from the locals. Scrappy Jud Newcomb and Mark Addison produce, Slaid Cleaves and Matt the Electrician guest, and songs like clear,…
Appeals Court: Patterson Looking for Escape Hatch?
Justice’s departure from court would tilt the political balance
A Serious Man
The Coen brothers deliver one of their best and most personal movies, a kind of cockeyed Jewish fable that urges us to embrace life’s mysteries.
After a Fashion
Are eight arms enough to hold Stephen in fringed buckskin?
The Hightower Report
A New Day for the EPA?; and Rich Boors in Fancy Drawers
Texas Platters
Brownout Aguilas and Cobras (Six Degrees) Brownout comes out guns blazing on “Con el Cuete,” the opening shot from sophomore album Aguilas and Cobras. Its crushing Mandrill-inspired rock guitars signal a break from instrumental debut Homenaje, as do the chanting group vocals, led by James Petralli of White Denim. The sweaty Latin funk workouts that…
So Over Grover
Norquist, Perry join anti-tax forces
Coco Before Chanel
Before she became a world-renowned brand, Coco Chanel was a girl of few prospects but with lots of pluck.
The Common Law
Eminent Domain – Can the Government Condemn My Property?
A Rocky Road to Recovery
The lights are still on at ME TV, but is it a new dawn?
Texas Platters
Robert Earl Keen The Rose Hotel (Lost Highway) After more than 20 years of delighting live audiences, Robert Earl Keen has become a highly respected Texas singer-songwriter. So naturally he does a rock album next. The Rose Hotel mirrors the Band – it even contains “The Man Behind the Drums,” a tribute to Levon Helm…
‘Junk Science’ Emerges in Graves Case
Refusing to throw in towel, prosecutors take another stab at death row inmate
TV Eye
A new six-part IFC documentary cracks the code on that wonderful crackpot Monty Python troupe
Shannon Sedwick
The once and future queen of Esther’s Follies receives a special B. Iden Payne award
AFF Amuse-Bouche
A taste of the Austin Film Festival
Cool Cities: Dispatches From Copenhagen
Climate change, clean energy … and bicycles
Saint Elias Church 77th Annual Mediterranean Festival
Saint Elias Church shows Austin for the 77th year that it knows how to party
Arts Review
If dancing zombies and blood by the gallon appeal to you, this may be your dream musical
‘The Austin Chronicle’ Endorsements
Early voting begins Monday, Oct. 19, for the Nov. 3 election on state constitutional amendments. This year there are 11 proposed amendments for a document that a long series of cowardly legislatures have thoroughly transformed from a statement of basic governmental principles into a confounding laundry list of miscellaneous regulation that should instead have been…
Point Austin: Clinton’s Wars, Bush’s Wars, Obama’s …
A peace prize, a peace rally, and more of the same
Culture Flash!
Salvage Vanguard scores a prestigious R&D grant, and Jenny Hart goes Gallic
Arts Review
A gorgeous and meaningful musical experience that again showed Conspirare’s mastery
Nov. 3 General and Special Elections
Early Voting: Oct. 19-30
City Hall Hustle: Everybody Join In!
Participation is an Austin thing … except at Capital Metro
Event Menu
Foodie events around town for the week of Oct. 16-21
Arts Review
A show offering a wonderful variety of strong art, but grouped by an unnecessary theme
Headlines
• As Cap Metro considers a proposed fare hike (See “Res Publica” for hearing dates), Cap Metro board Chair Margaret Gómez aims to leave the board Dec. 31, stating, “I would like to share this fun with somebody else.” Cap Metro Vice President Doug Allen steps in this week as interim president and CEO, replacing…
Food-o-File
The beloved Gourmet magazine dies as cooking TV expands
Day Trips
The Dabbs Railroad Hotel in Llano isn’t a cookie-cutter chain hotel; it’s an experience
Accommodating Women: The AFD vs. Nona Allen
It’s been a little more than a year since the Austin Fire Department’s only African-American female firefighter, Nona Allen, filed suit against the department, claiming that she’d been discriminated against on the basis of her gender and race and that she’d been forced to endure a hostile work environment while assigned to Station 15 on…
Res Publica
Citizens’ calendar, Oct. 15-22
In Print
Chef Braux presents a collection of recipes that combine his 30 years of knowledge as a chef with his newfound interest in nutrition
Gay Place
Honoring the passing of United Court’s Mona littleMore
Contract Kumbaya: The City and the Firefighters
Last November, when the Austin Firefighters Association voted overwhelmingly to reject the labor contract negotiated between its union team and the city, it was the culmination of several months of tension, primarily over the question of “diversifying” the Austin Fire Department – how to make department personnel be more representative of the community they serve.…
Naked City
New briefs from Austin, the region, and beyond
Restaurant Review
Gumbo’s Michael and Yoli Amr are back!
Off the Record
Slow, Stoned, Rugged: A tribute to Austin’s original cosmic soulman Rusty Wier
How AFD Ranks
AFD RANK Male Female Caucasian Hispanic African-American Other Assistant Chief 5(100%) – 3(60%) 1(20%) 1(20%) – Division Chief 4(80%) 1(20%) 5(100%) – – – Battalion Chief 33(100%) – 32(97%) 1(3%) – – Captain 69(100%) – 64(92.8%) 4(5.8%) 1(1.5%) – Lieutenant 175(98.9%) 2(1.1%) 152(85.9%) 18(10.2%) 5(2.8%) 2(1.1%) Specialist 187(94.4%) 11(5.6%) 163(82.3%) 25(12.6%) 10(5.1%) – Firefighter 508…
Restaurant Review
The student chefs at Ventana offer gourmet food at deli prices
Sealed With the Sigh of a Commiserating Spirit
Adam Elliot on Mary and Max, his Claymation film about unlikely pen pals
Oops!
Following publication of last week’s issue, we were informed that although some members of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations and Social Agencies support the Downtown Austin Alliance effort to ban panhandling in central Downtown, the Cluster is included in the DAA list of supporters in error. Wrote spokeswoman Susan Morris: “the Downtown Cluster’s executive committee…
Afghan Star
In Afghanistan’s version of American Idol, there’s a lot more at stake than the glory.
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Helen Keller, Guinness, and more
I Can Watch What Where?
Finding films for cheap on the Internet
Page Two: Haters and Promises
Whether it’s in or it’s out, the right twists reality to suit its own views
From Mexico With Love
An illegal migrant worker dreams of becoming a boxer but suffers setbacks in this film shot in San Antonio.
Luv Doc Recommends: Evil Dead: The Musical
Really, why shouldn’t Evil Dead be made into a musical? After all, death is quite a showstopper. It worked for Romeo and Juliet. Remember the closing scene where Leonardo DiCaprio eats it (well, drinks a vial of it) and then Claire Danes wakes up, gets all emo, and blows her brains out with Romeo’s custom-made…
