Cover Story
Save as We Pave?
The latest trend in environmentally sensitive planning tiptoes into Travis County
Stay the Course?
On the heels of W’s recent assertion that he’s “never been stay the course” comes this bruising campaign commerical from the Democratic National Committee.
District 31 on PBS’s ‘Now’
Mary Beth Harrell’s campaign tells us that PBS’s excellent political news program Now will be focusing in on Congressional District 31 in its Nov. 3 episode. It’s easy to see why Now would be interested, given the dynamics of the race: In a district that revolves around Fort Hood (and reaches all the way down…
There Will Be No Run-Off for Governor!
And we put it in the headline because, based on some questions we’ve fielded, several of you apparently aren’t clear on that point. Only Primary, Municipal, and Special Elections have run-offs. General Election races do not. Whoever gets the most votes on Nov. 7 will be our new governor – period – even if that…
Finally!
Leave it to the Travis County Republican Party to piss in the punchbowl. Stacked against Sysiphean odds this election, they recently came out against the bulk of the city’s seven bond propositions. As the Statesman reports today, the TCRP statement reads “Austinites should be concerned about the City Council’s excessive and frivolous spending and pressure…
Coming to You Live From the Drinking Town With a Baseball Problem
So, I’m in the great city of St. Louis, writing from my mom’s toasted-ravioli plantation in a rural enclave about 45 minutes from Downtown. Downtown is where Busch Stadium is; Busch Stadium is scheduled to host game 4 of the World Series tonight, after game 4 was postponed on Wednesday. Busch Stadium is scheduled to…
Fire Up for the Aggies!
If you go to just one UT Lady Longhorns game this year, Friday is the one. Here’s why: 1) It’s the Aggies, people. We must defeat them. 2) (Well, it’s also the last home game; ergo, if you’re only going to one, well …) 3) The Horns will be trying to set a school record…
MLS PlayoffsFirst Round
An I-45 series in the MLS playoffs? We’ll find out this weekend, as both Dallas and Houston try to advance out of the first round. FC Dallas got a good jump on that in last week’s first leg on the road, while the Houston Dynamo got stoned by Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who saved…
More ‘Esquire’ Endorsements
The Chronicle reported last week that Esquire, the famed national men’s magazine, endorsed Chris Bell for Texas governor, despite incumbent Rick Perry clearly being more in line with their square-jawed, perfect-hair ideal. But Esquire didn’t stop there: they also endorsed in every Congressional race, as well. They gave the nod to incumbent Republican Kay Bailey…
‘The Sporting Life’: … or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Start Loving to Lose
I must destroy Happy Jack. I am a sporting man, a gambler, and man of leisure. I am a gentleman. All the same, I must destroy Happy Jack. The game is shuffleboard, an elegant game played by proud warriors in bars all across this land, and, perhaps not so surprisingly, on the lido deck of…
The Fever Builds?
This press release was singled out for much-deserved derision here at the Chron: Texas has a fever – and the only prescription is more Chris Bell. I mean, come on! But it was a welcome bone for yellow dogs – it heralded Bell’s pull from the pack into a firm second place. A second survey…
Worst Press Release Headline of the Campaign
“Texas has a fever – and the only prescription is more Chris Bell” No, seriously – they really sent out a release with that as the title. Is it a headline, or a bad come-on in a singles bar?
Of Austin Bondage
Those crabgrass reactionaries at the Austin Neighborhoods Council are hosting a review of the city’s bond election tonight. Planning Commission chair Dave Sullivan will describe how $90 million for a new, central Las Manitas is money well spent, while Carl Tepper will argue it just isn’t enough. (Disclaimer: None of the above arguments will actually…
Bush Approval Stuck Below 40%
The conventional wisdom is that, although he’s not up for re-election, voter disapproval of President Bush is killing the GOP’s congressional candidates. If that’s true, then Sunday’s Washington Post poll on Bush’s ratings didn’t improve their mood: He dropped down to 37%, and hasn’t been above 50% since January of 2005. This actually isn’t his…
Early Voting, Day 2
After a strong start Monday, early voting in Travis County picked up even more on Tuesday – 5,753 voters, about 700 more than Monday. Throw in the mail-in ballots received, and that makes 13,488 total, or 2.43% of the county’s registered voters. The current pace points to a possible 40%-45% turnout by the end of…
Best Campaign Slogan Ever
Or at least for this election: “Vote Twice for Bob Smither” No, the Friendswood Libertarian doesn’t want you to break the law. It’s just that Congressional District 22 in the south Houston area has a weird circumstance – the seat is on the ballot twice. Because disgraced former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay resigned the…
A Win Is a Win Is a Win
When Nebraska wide receiver Terrence Nunn hauled in that third-and-three pass from quarterback Zac Taylor with a mere two minutes remaining in Saturday’s game at Lincoln, he held the fruition of a significant upset in his hands. The Cornhuskers were then leading 20-19 and all they had to do from that first down on was…
Lundy Leads Texans to Second Victory
Houston 27, Jacksonville 7. Those are really the only numbers that count at the end of the day, but if you were to glance at the box score you would see that the final score accurately reflects Houston’s utter statistical dominance of the visiting Jacksonville Jaquars with the Texans playing their best all-around game of…
Hell Freezes Over (or: Hutchison Admits Bush Got Iraq Wrong)
The senator has joined the GOP rats who have jumped from the ship
Perry looks over his shoulder
Gov. Rick Perry must put more stock in public opinion polls than he’d like us to believe. Stumping in East Texas on Tuesday, Perry blasted the “liberal vision” of Democratic opponent Chris Bell, who moved within 10 points of the gov in a new SurveyUSA poll released early this week. Perry, at 36%, even gained…
Bobkats Terrorize Bouldin Creek
Sure, we could tell you to attend tonight’s fundraiser for prop-pushers Yes on 2 and 3 for the beer and food, plus the chance to get your elbows greasy with the likes of Perry Lorenz and Bill Bunch. But for us old hands, the real draw is the music. The Bouldin Creek Bobkats feature none…
Tracking the Polling Numbers
If you’re as fascinated by polling and maps as I am, these are my two favorite sites for trying to predict how the battle for Congress is shaping up: For the Senate, I like Electoral-Vote.com, which posts the results of the most recent poll in each race and plugs in the new numbers daily into…
Congressional District 21 Candidates Forum
Candidates for Congressional District 21 will answer questions from a panel of news reporters (including yours truly) on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 7-8:30pm, at the LCRA Board Room in the Hancock Building, 3700 Lake Austin Blvd. Because it is a special election open to anyone, necessitated by a Supreme court decision, Dist. 21 is a crowded…
Early Voting Is Off and Running
Day one of early voting in Travis County was quite impressive. A total of 5,009 people went to the polls Monday, a very solid turnout. Combined with the 2,471 mail-in ballots received, that makes 7,480 total, or 1.37% of Travis’ registered voters. Multiply that number over the 12 total days of early voting, and then…
Friday the 13th: Part 2
Turns out Jason didn’t drown in Crystal Lake after all
Well …
It’d be so easy to sit here and type angrily about what the Cowboys did wrong Monday in their 36-22 loss to the Giants, but I’ve been doing that all season. Today, I’d like to talk about a positive aspect of being a Cowboys fan, the underappreciated asset we’ve been staring at on the sidelines…
Bye-Bye, Republicans?
In this section of our new Election Blog, we’ll be watching to see whether the pundits’ and pollsters’ predictions of the GOP being swept from congressional power come true.
Look Here for Important Statewide Results
For important Texas Congressional and statehouse races outside of the Austin area, keep checking here. We’ll keep an eye on everything from Tom DeLay’s old Congressional District 22 to the four-way (oops, sorry, five-way) mud bath in the goobernatorial race.
Welcome to ‘The Austin Chronicle’ Election Blog
Keep hitting your “refresh” button between now and on through November 7. We’ll be updating frequently with our latest dispatches from the campaign trail. On Election Night we’ll be posting live coverage with the latest returns. Rather than bouncing all over the Net looking for various race results, just stay here and let us do…
‘Pig Skinny’: Games of October 21
Pig Skinny knows Pig Skinny hates the Texas Longhorns, but sometimes Pig Skinny forgets for about a half a second, and is reminded of just how much. One such a moo-ment occurred on Saturday afternoon at around 2, when the Nebraska Cornhuskers took a 20-19 lead on a halfback pass and Piggy’s wiggly corkscrew tail…
Thumbs Up to ‘Horns Down’
I knew Texas would beat Nebraska the moment I saw a Cornhuskers fan in the stands do the “Horns down” sign for the television camera. Oh how the mighty have fallen. There was a day not too long ago when Big Red looked down on Burnt Orange in a nice, condescending, Midwestern kind of way.…
Toros Tryouts: Day One, Part Two
Halfway through the first day of Toros open tryouts last weekend, I had a long conversation with a man named David Thompson. A retired electrician originally from Jamaica, Thompson had made the long trip down from his home in the Bronx with his son Devin, a lanky forward who was on the floor killing himself…
Technically Speaking
Every year the NBA feels the need to muddle with its product a bit. The big changes this year are two-fold: there’s the new basketball in use, and the ban on players bitching at the refs. In the Spurs-Heat preseason game on Saturday, it was the latter that had the most impact. The new ball…
Toros in San Antonio and Murcia
My fellow basketball blogger Dave Mann and I just returned from San Antonio, where we saw the preseason battle between the Spurs and last year’s NBA champions, the Miami Heat. It was a decent preseason game, one that Dave will tell you all about, but I’d like to focus for a moment on an element…
Ice Bats Vs. Mudbugs Tonite
Yes, I know, pro and college football is in full swing and the Detroit Tigers are preparing to win the World Series in six over the least-worthy world championship contender in years, the St. Louis Cardinals. I’m sure many casual sports fans aren’t even aware that the NHL season started about 10 days ago and…
You Can’t Script October (Cough-Cough)
St. Louis and Detroit – two honest-to-god sports towns, for the simple reason that without sports they would still be unsurveyed forestland with Native Americans and westward settlers doing battle atop bluffs and amid inlets, all quivers and gunpowder instead of beer and cars, preindustrial jerks instead of postmodern ones whose skirmishes would serve as…
Mr. Mojo Kickball Rising
The last time I played kickball was in Brooklyn, N.Y., as part of a friend’s pre-wedding bonding; only to find out that kickball had come in vogue. What else can a hipster do with all those headbands and gym shorts that are no longer acceptable in the clubs? Exercise? Hardly. If you break a sweat…
‘Best of Austin’ Oops!
Readers Arts & Entertainment, Best Composer, Graham Reynolds Reynolds’ Web site is www.grahamreynolds.com. Readers Media, Best Author, Sarah Bird Bird’s e-mail address is dontsellmyaddres@earthlink.net, and the name of her new book is The Flamenco Academy. Readers Politics & Personalities, Best Elected Official, Will Wynn The mayor’s correct contact information is 301 W. Second, 974-2250. Readers…
Video Rewind: 7 X 5
Rock & Roll Circus (1968) Scrapped magical mystery tour starring the Who, Lennon’s supergroup with Clapton and Richards, and Brian Jones’ slide on “No Expectations.” One-time only (“Parachute Woman”), plus v.1’s last gasp (“Salt of the Earth”). DVD. Gimme Shelter (1970) The Maysles brothers’ seminal account of the tour and studio sessions that ended in…
Minimum Wage Murmurs
Hundreds of economists sign on to “manifesto” urging Congress and state policymakers to raise the minimum wage, an act of defiance that is apparently generating some disconcerted murmurs
The Image Formed
SpecialW-D: Hal Haberman, Jeremy Passmore; with Michael Rapaport, Jack Kehler, Alexandra Holden, Paul Blackhorne Since his screen debut as one of the young leads in the 1992 indie film Zebrahead, Rapaport has been relegated to the sidelines as a supporting actor in most of his subsequent work (his lead in the current TV sitcom The…
The Big Move
Blogging revolutionary Mena Trott outlines her company’s latest advance
TCB
Saying adios to Texas music titan Freddy Fender, and bienvenidos to a little band called the Rolling Stones
Beyond the Blockbuster
With “Luca Cambiaso, 1527-1585,” the Blanton bucks the trend toward superstar exhibitions and spotlights a lost Renaissance master
Young and Hungry
ACC offers students two restaurants’ worth of opportunity
Box Sets
A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box (Rhino) Perhaps the most mocked, maligned, and misunderstood of rock subgenres, goth’s gloomy aesthetic encompasses a host of different styles: glam, punk, metal, disco, New Wave, industrial, psychedelia, murder ballads, classical, and endless permutations thereof. Stranger still, it has thrived outside the mainstream for nearly 30 years even…
Sound Walls Coming to MoPac
Details to be discussed at final noise-education forum this week
The Image Formed
Steel CityW-D: Brian Jun; with John Heard, Thomas Guiry, America Ferrera, Clayne Crawford, Laurie Metcalf, Raymond J. Barry As winter sets in around a dilapidated Illinois mill town, PJ (Guiry) and his brother (Crawford) face the incarceration of their father (Heard) for vehicular manslaughter. It’s an event that sets into motion the seemingly inexorable cycle…
DVD Watch
Michael Haneke’s first two films
Election 2006
November Election roundup
Bass Concert Hall: Renovation elaboration
New information from the UT Performing Arts Center about the $14.7 million makeover of Bass Concert Hall and what the PAC will be doing during the 18 months that it’s dark
It Ain’t Cafeteria Food
Gourmet lunch at Bowie High School culinary program
Box Sets
Tori AmosA Piano: The Collection (Rhino) Tori Amos wasn’t the first classically trained pianist and minister’s daughter who radiated sexuality. She borrowed a bit of Patti Smith’s fuck-off and Kate Bush’s come-hither, but her female gaze looked straight into the subject. This 5-CD box set houses eight releases’ worth of material, alternate mixes, rarities, and…
Bicycle Helmet Headbutting Resumes
Feud over whether city should require adult bicyclists to wear cranial protection resumed last week when proponents of a mandatory helmet ordinance announced that Brackenridge Hospital and St. David’s HealthCare will soon undertake a Bicycle Data Collection Initiative studying head injury severity correlated with helmet usage on patients involved in bicycle-related accidents
The Image Formed
Third Monday in OctoberD: Vanessa Roth Imagine Vote for Pedro: The Documentary, and you’ve got half the appeal of this lively and insightful chronicle of middle school class elections, backdropped by the 2004 presidential elections. The film follows 11 candidates from four schools as they vie for student-council leadership – creating their platforms (“We all…
TV Eye
The Panel Channel
Long Center: Halfway home, a peek at what’s to come
Midway through Palmer Auditorium’s transformation into the Long Center for the Performing Arts comes a new image of the center’s crown jewel:2,300-seat Dell Hall
New and Noteworthy
CKC Farms’ farm-fresh goat cheese
Box Sets
Waylon Jennings Nashville Rebel (RCA/Columbia Legacy) There are those who will never get enough of the Outlaw Country served up by Littlefield’s Waylon Jennings, who, along with Lone Star homeboys Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver, more or less created the genre. The 4-CD, Texas-sized Nashville Rebel will have these fans beside themselves with pleasure.…
Point Austin: Endorsed!
Take a long look at the ‘Chronicle’ opinions – and then leap
The Image Formed
Urban ScarecrowD: Andrew McAllister; with Peter Richards, Charles Leggett, Benjamin P. Garman, Debra Pralle Stuck in a limbo between city and suburbia, teenage antihero Wesley (Richards) aimlessly explores his environs: a world where boredom translates to huffing, drinking, and other such vagaries. Underneath the surface, as a barely literate high school dropout, Wes’ prospects seem…
Film News
Here a Studio, There a Studio Austin Studios celebrated its sixth anniversary last weekend with a party touting a city of Austin bond proposal that would provide $5 million for full soundproofing and air conditioning for two of its five stages, improved security and safety, and state-of-the-art digital infrastructure. The Austin Film Society, including founder…
You’re Gonna Miss Me: A Film About Roky Erickson
Detailed here is the long, tangled saga of Erickson, the visionary lead singer of the 13th Floor Elevators, whose trip to fame detoured though mental institutions.
Eeyore’s Birthday: A statue where the party started
The Eastwoods Neighborhood Association is raising funds for a sculpture of Eeyore to commemorate the park’s part in the launch of that Austin rite of spring, Eeyore’s Birthday Party
Bull in a Kitchen Stadium
David vs. Iron Chef
Box Sets
Fats WallerIf You Got to Ask, You Ain’t Got It! (Bluebird/Legacy) In a career that spanned just 39 years from cradle to grave, Harlem-born pianoman Thomas “Fats” Waller penned what you thought was a Willie Nelson tune (“Honeysuckle Rose”), what sounds like a Gal’s Panic title (“Panic Is On!”), and the crushing ode to both…
Beside the Point
City Hall’s Colossal Cyber Scandal
The Image Formed
Program 1 Yes, brevity is the soul of wit, but in the compact environs of the short film, weirdness trumps all. To wit: a pretty cult leader channeling Linda Ronstadt, a blood debt to a pasty-faced samurai paid out in piggyback rides and pedicures, and a blockbuster franchise built on the happy accident that the…
KXAN News Director Quits
Two weeks after proclaiming the KXAN news department was �headed in the right direction,� news director �Wild Bill� Seitzler resigns after 10 months on the job
The Grudge 2
Japanese director Shimizu may be the only director in history to have helmed a pair of Hollywood remakes of his two biggest hit films and managed to screw up both of them.
Arts Review
The Zachary Scott Theatre Center revival of ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ provides Austin, and especially fans of all that is Rocky, with an experience worthy of the word classic
In Memoriam
Former Austin chef Ron Brannon, 41, was killed in a car crash in Asheville, N.C., on Oct. 7. A longtime fixture on the local dining scene, Brannon worked at the Backyard, Hudson’s on the Bend, Central Market, Ciola’s Italian-American Restaurant, and Tuscany Cafe & Wine Bar. He relocated to North Carolina two years ago to…
Box Sets
The ByrdsThere Is a Season (Columbia/Legacy) In the pantheon of American rock bands, the Byrds remain near the top. Whether melding Dylan and the Beatles into folk-rock, studio excursions into psychedelia, or creating a vital touchstone in the birthing of country rock, the group’s importance and the glory of their soaring harmonies and jingle-jangle guitars…
The Hightower Report
Cleaning Up Congressional Corruption; and The Blockhead in Charge of Whistle-blower Protection
The Image Formed
Program 2 The narrative shorts here all seem to revolve around a similar theme: momentary, quirky human interactions. “Holidays With Heather” recounts the story of young love birthed in an unlikely situation between Steve and Heather. In nonlinear sequence, director Todd Berger comically illustrates how the pair continues to let their love grow despite a…
Man of the Year
Instead of being the hippest kid on the block, this comedy plays like a schizophrenic exercise in shrill cinematic politics.
Arts Review
The play ‘Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back’ seeks to honor the New Orleanians affected by Hurricane Katrina, but the level of intensity in the UT staging often makes it hard to connect to
Food-o-File
In memoriam: Ron Bannon; and other news and events from the culinary world
The Image Formed
Previewing the 12th Austin Film Festival
The Image Formed
Program 3 Nothing is ever quite what it seems. This collection comprises narrative short films that focus on the worldwide universality of humanity. UT graduate Keith Fraase’s ode to the Atomic Age, “The Trinity Test,” captures a World War II photo: prisoners hog-tied to poles, two soldiers balancing right and wrong. But from the imprisoned…
The Marine
WWE wrestling champion John Cena makes his film debut in this action film.
Culture Flash!
Still time left to get some free theatre, laurels for historian Oscar Brockett and director Don Toner, and a new baby for the first couple of Salvage Vanguard Theater
Event Menu
Ciola’s Italian-American Restaurant (1310 RR 620 S., 263-9936; www.ciolas.com) invites you to one of its biannual Big Night celebration dinners with food, wine, and music from the popular foodie cult movie. Cost is $75, and reservations are necessary; Thursday, Oct. 19, 7pm. Waterloo Uncorked offers a wine tasting, silent auction, and dance complemented by a…
One Site, Two Designs
1) Site before development. An ecological assessment of the land, performed at the start of a conservation development, identifies the specific areas of the site that are most important to conserve. Prioritized areas include those of special beauty, historical or cultural value, and environmental sensitivity. 2) Site with conventional subdivision design. The land is fragmented…
The Image Formed
Abduction: The Megumi Yokota StoryD: Chris Sheridan, Patty Kim In 1977, 13-year-old Megumi Yokota was returning home from school in Niigata, Japan, when she seemingly vanished into thin air. While Megumi was initially thought to have run away or to have been the victim of a sexual predator, through her devastated parents’ unending devotion to…
The Image Formed
Program 4 The teenager is a mysterious thing here: Program 4 investigates the world of high schoolers and those who attempt to understand them. Michael Greene’s “Hey Mister” is a familiar story of three kids begging for beer and the power-hungry cop they encounter. Phillip Van’s hilarious “Dunny” – at only five minutes long –…
One Night With the King
Despite a title that makes it sound like a tell-all about a one-night-stand with Elvis Presley, this movie is actually about the Jewish heroine, Queen Esther.
Readings
Tony Hoagland’s book of essays doesn’t waste a second on justifying himself or poetry
Streets of Love
Stalking the Stones across Europe
Passionate Pioneers
Last month at the fifth annual Conservation Development Symposium, organized by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, speakers from around the country came to Austin to share experiences, convictions, and hard-learned lessons. Both speakers and participants were an idealistic bunch. As progressive developer Jim Heid of UrbanGreen in San Francisco noted, “The people involved in…
The Image Formed
The GarageW-D: Carl Thibault; with Gabriel Marantz, Corby Griesenbeck, Xander Berkeley, Tania Raymonde Taking multiple reins, writer/producer/director Thibault doesn’t break the coming-of-age mold but instead fills it out adeptly. Centered on a family-owned automotive shop in the late Seventies, The Garage’s professional production values don’t seem long for the festival circuit. Age comes to Matt…
The Image Formed
Program 8 Some of the animated shorts in this year’s festival deal with the art of animation itself. “Dragon” (Troy Morgan) combines stop-motion clay with traditional animation to tell the story of an artistic orphan and her unique revenge on the man who exploits her abilities. “Some Analog Lines” (David Lowery) is a short documentary…
Flags of Our Fathers
The first half of the film continues Clint Eastwood’s ongoing deconstruction of America’s hero myths but then detours into some uncharacteristically sentimental mulch.
Readings
Pamela Ribon’s second entry into what might be a “Weird” franchise, a Sweet Valley High for the savvy Internet set
Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan is motoring through Pennsylvania on his way to Chicago, but the crisp connection and his chipper, English-accented voice make it sound like he’s calling from his Manor country abode just outside Austin. Which is where he’ll be again in a few days because he and his Bump Band have scored the opening gig…
What the Ordinance Says
The current draft of the proposed Travis Co. Conservation Development Ordinance defines two things: the incentives available to landowners and developers who enter into a CD agreement and the minimum conservation standards they must meet to earn and keep incentives. Electing to do a project under the CDO is voluntary. But once developers go down…
The Image Formed
The Hip Hop ProjectD: Matt Ruskin, Scott K. Rosenberg Making the case for artistic creativity as survival strategy, this inspiring documentary follows the life and works of Chris “Kharma Kazi” Rolle, a reformed troublemaker from the streets of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, who discovered himself in hip-hop and then set out to help other at-risk kids…
The Image Formed
Duncan RemovedW-D: Peter Livolsi; with Ken Marino, Mackenzie Astin, Mina Badie, Dean Welsh Ken Marino (Wet Hot American Summer) and Mackenzie Astin (The Last Days of Disco) have a particular chemistry as the man and the-man-behind-the-man, respectively. Questions surface faster than they can be answered: Why is one man unable to speak without the help…
Jaan-E-Mann
Not reviewed at press time. Bollywood film about two men in love with the same woman.
After a Fashion
Stephen weighs in on the Belmont and what Dubya might be reading these days…
Blondie Chaplin
He’s the singer of choice from the Beach Boys to the Band, the man Ron Wood calls, “[the Rolling Stones’] secret weapon.” He’s Blondie Chaplin, and when he steps up to the microphone, it’s heaven on Earth. A native of Durban, South Africa, Chaplin’s career spiked in 1968 when his band the Flames hit No.…
The ‘Chronicle’ Endorsements
Our picks for the Nov. 7 election
The Image Formed
Mario’s StoryD: Jeff Werner, Susan Koch “I know how the system works, and I want to believe that it can deliver justice,” says California State Prison inmate Mario Rocha. “It’s just a simple thing like that is utopian.” Convicted of murder and attempted murder and tried as an adult at 16, Rocha was sentenced to…
The Image Formed
The Land of Shadowed SandD: Austin Hice; with Hice, Wylie Maercklein, Marta McGonagle, Roland Uribe, and Ken Edwards Think of it as West Texas Confidential. In what has to be the first gangster noir flick filmed in Marfa, Frank (Maercklein), returning from the Korean War, heads to a desert ghost town in search of a…
Marie Antoinette
Don’t fear the film’s early reviews from Cannes, which too often slighted it for being fluffy (it isn’t, though its heroine is) or ahistorical (it isn’t, though it is contemporary).
To Your Health
What is the best kind of air purifier to use in my home to help reduce allergens?
Bobby Keys
Bobby Keys’ drawling laugh is 100% Texan as he talks on the phone from his hotel room in Seattle. It’s also colored by nearly 40 years of performing at the left hand of Keith Richards, which makes the Slaton, Texas, native the longest-standing member of the Rolling Stones’ auxiliary musicians. Keys’ tenor sax punched brassy…
Election Info
Dates, voting locations, and ballots
The Image Formed
No Problem Mike Akel and Chris Mass on ‘Chalk’ When Mike Akel and Chris Mass were laboring over their first feature, waking at dawn to write during the only shared hours the two full-time teachers could manage, they never conceived that this film, a mockumentary-style comedy about public high school teachers, would secure them an…
The Image Formed
Total DenialD: Milena Kaneva The evils of oil companies go much deeper than we can imagine. Milena Kaneva’s poignant Total Denial tells the horrific story of the construction of a gas pipeline in Myanmar (Burma) by a company conglomerate comprised of American oil giant Unocal and France’s Total. Led by human-rights advocates Ka Hsaw Wa…
Don
Not reviewed at press time. Bollywood film about a widowed father in need of cash who is recruited by the police to masquerade as the leader of an international gang of thieves.
The Common Law
Can I smoke in bars? – The latest on Austin’s smoking ban
Sweethearts Together
Mick’s Mix (by M.M.) “The Singer Not the Song” December’s Children “Under My Thumb” Aftermath “Miss Amanda Jones” Between the Buttons “Citadel” Their Satanic Majesties Request “No Expectations” Beggars Banquet “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” Let It Bleed “Stray Cat Blues” Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out “Memo From Turner” Performance “Sister Morphine” Sticky Fingers…
Developing Stories
A developer offers to extend the Town Lake trail in exchange for a variance to build closer to Town Lake. Is it worth it?
The Image Formed
Military Intelligence and YouD: Dale Kutzera; with Elizabeth Ann Bennett, Eric Jungmann, Mackenzie Astin, Patrick Muldoon This elegant satire presented as a World War II military-training film would be amusing enough had it settled for the obvious, cornball laughs. Thankfully, writer/director Kutzera’s delicious wit avoids the easy gags. By cleverly weaving selected scenes from B-grade…
Double Life
Director Douglas McGrath on the other critically acclaimed Truman Capote biopic, ‘Infamous’
Day Trips
The Atkinson Candy Company of Lufkin still makes its delicious Chick-O-Sticks and Peanut Butter Bars the same way Grandpa did back in 1932
Discography
Biggest Bang Beggars Banquet (1968) Let It Bleed (1969) Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out (1970) Sticky Fingers (1971) Exile on Main Street (1972) Some Girls (1978) Tattoo You (1981) Stone Age: Prehistoric goldEngland’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) “Cheek to cheek” took on new meaning with Andrew Loog Oldham’s vainglorious LP title for the anti-Mersey act with no…
On House-Arrest Soirees and Fabulous Thighs: Martha Speaks!
An underwhelming Martha Stewart was a keynote speaker at the sold-out, fem-lite Texas Conference for Women last Thursday at the Austin Convention Center
The Image Formed
Pirate Radio USAD: Jeff Pearson, Mary Jones Driven by the ingenuity that DIY conditions demand, this subversively cheery documentary gives an A-to-Z primer on low-power radio broadcasting. But as the filmmakers would readily admit, they are not out merely to entertain but to provoke viewers to action. By charting how radio started as an open…
What Is This Miracle Called Movie Music?
Making movie-music magic ‘Infamous’
Soccer Watch
Catch the Lady Longhorns while you still have a chance, and more
Exile on Main Street: A Season in Hell With the Rolling Stones
Exile on Main Street: A Season in Hell With the Rolling StonesBy Robert Greenfield Da Capo Press, 258 pp., $24 If Robert Greenfield’s Exile on Main Street: A Season in Hell With the Rolling Stones were a batch of drugs at the Villa Nellcote in France during the summer of 1971, not even Keith Richards…
Naked City
Headlines and Happenings from Austin and Beyond
The Image Formed
Runners High D: Alex D. da Silva, Justine Jacob Take a group of high school teenagers from the wrong part of Oakland, Calif., with quotas statistically aimed at economic and social failure, and enroll them in a four-month marathon-training program. The experiment that unfolds is the subject of Runners High, a sincere documentary that demonstrates…
Young Blood
Growing Up as the ‘Living Dead’
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The origins of the Purple One and Clark Kent’s raison d’être
Tattoo You: Print Ink
Up and Down With the Rolling Stones (1979) By Tony Sanchez, 309 pp. (paper) The first tell-all, and whatever the truth, its lurid mythology remains lore. The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones (1984) By Stanley Booth, 535 pp. (paper) Booth’s poetic rhythm oil about the ’69 tour goes down like Southern Comfort. Stone Alone:…
Bond Booty: Fantasy and Reality
Striking a balance among the various interests wanting a slice of the city bonds pie
The Image Formed
Sounds of SilenceD: Amir Hamz, Mark Lazarz In a country alienated from the rest of the world by governmental restrictions, music becomes a saving grace. Hamz and Lazarz’s engrossing Sounds of Silence documents the maturing music industry in Tehran, Iran. For all alt-rock, rap, traditional, and “combined music,” Iran’s Ershad, the government organization that oversees…
‘SXSW Presents’: ‘The Dreams of Sparrows’
‘The Dreams of Sparrows’
Luv Doc Recommends: Rock & Roll Free-for-All
Here’s the good news, kids: You pretty much know where everybody’s parents are going to be Sunday night. Your first clue should have been when your dad asked you where his friend could score some “weed.” Or maybe you figured something was up when he dragged his Rick Perry-style leather bomber jacket out of the…
