Living, Breathing Americana
It’s very interesting because every interview I do starts out like this,” says Steve James, “with an extensive discussion of Mississippi John Hurt. If I was a sax player in an R&B band, would the discussion of my playing start with Frankie Trumbauer or Coleman Hawkins? No, those guys never get asked about that stuff,…
Coach’s Corner
I’m thinking of writing a book. Its working title: The Most Hated Team in the World: The Story of the Dallas Cowboys. You may think I’m flogging a beaten horse, but hardly a week goes by without another outrageous example of this most peculiar national phenomenon. And it is strange. And it is a national…
Links about… Jackie O.
Reinforced by a media frenzy of florid phrases and treacly sentiment over her 1994 death, zipping through cyberspace in search of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was, as they say, a trip. Sadly, I did not find what I was hoping for: tacky websites dedicated to Jackie devotion. Actually, let me re-phrase that: tackiness abounds in many…
Boxes With a View
The University of Texas will soon have some of the most expensive skyboxes in college sport. Earlier this year, the university announced that it will build 54 skyboxes at Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium, and preliminary figures provided by UT officials indicate that the new luxury suites will cost more than three times as much…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
>A CAR master is lingo for Computer Assisted Reporting guru. It is illegal to spit, carry live animals, eat, drink, smoke, or operate cellular technology on the Washington, D.C. subway. The kid on the Encyclopedia Britannica ads of a few years back — the one who keeps interrupting the announcer — is the son of…
Makes Me Wanna Shout!
One of the fall’s most exciting events is underway. The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center is sponsoring a look at the last 40 years of British theatre and is pulling out all the stops for it. Titled Shouting in the Evening, the program includes: a major exhibition exploring the extraordinary drama of this era and…
Terror Twins
Sadly for our mayor, last Thursday’s council meeting dealt another rude awakening to his privatization dreams. On the bill was the emancipation of the Austin Convention & Visitors’ Bureau (ACVB) from a city agency to a non-profit corporation of some 20-odd tourism representatives. But the drama was thick behind the scenes, what with some councilmembers…
Food ‘O File
Talk about your win-win situations. It’s time for the fourth annual Dining for Life AIDS fundraiser, benefiting AIDS Services of Austin and several other AIDS-related organizations. On Monday, October 7, over 100 local restaurants will donate a portion of their receipts to support AIDS care, education, and related services. “Imagine being able to donate to…
Ain’t That Good News
The sound is unmis- takable: voices united in glorious harmony, directed toward heaven, singing with fervor the praises of its divine ruler, a forceful beat as steady and insistent as wings in flight. There’s no other music that sounds like this. It has to be gospel. But hold on here! These sounds aren’t coming from…
Off the Desk:
Chalk up another court win for the Save Our Springs Alliance. The 3rd Court of Appeals last week kicked the group’s lawsuit against Austin Community College back to the courtroom of District Judge Pete Lowry, who previously threw out the case for lack of standing. In the appeal, S.O.S. attorneys Philip Durst and Pam Baron…
Buffet Palace North
1012 W. Anderson Lane, 458-2999 Mon-Thu, 11am-9:30pm, Fri ’til 10pm; Sat, 11:30am-10pm; Sun ’til 9:30pm. Lunch buffet, $5.99, Dinner buffet, $7.99 Buffet Palace North probably began life as a noble vision — an Asian utopia free from the constraints of portion control. Multi-course banquets reserved for rites of passage would be adapted to the nearest…
Serie `95-’96
Various Artists Coronado Studio ongoing If you’ve yet to check out Coronado Studio and its immense collection of silkscreen prints by mostly local artists, shame on you. If I have failed to convey how glad you’ll be when you do check it out, shame on me. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and…
Let’s Make a Deal
Baby’s second birth- day is never as exciting as its first. Last year, as this column’s first anniversary came around, I was feeling, as I wrote then, in a valedictory mood, and christened this Austin Neighborhood Appreciation Week. This time, as “Corner to Corner” enters its terrible twos, I’m in a more legato frame of…
Cafe Spiazzo
5416 Parkcrest Dr, 459-9960 Sun-Thu, 11am-10pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-11pm. When I was a kid, my mother, an avid cook, refused to make anything too ordinary for dinner. Alfalfa sprout- and green chile-topped “dobe burgers” with spicy mayonnaise were served in place of hamburgers, and one of my earliest encounters with pasta was spaghetti smothered with clam…
Musings on Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
Hopelessly Devoted to Jackie by Stephen McMillan Moser For those of us hope- lessly devoted to Jackie, strap on a feedbag because it’s dish-o-rama time. While Jacqueline Bouvier: An Intimate Memoir (John Wiley & Sons, $24.95 hard) is ostensibly about Jackie, the author, John H. Davis (who happens to be Jackie’s cousin), evidently has a…
Royal Pain
by Scott Cobb and Daniel Rodriguez Darrell Royal became head football coach at the University of Texas in 1957, but no black athlete played for UT until 1970. The UT Board of Regents voted on November 9, 1963 to allow integration of all sports at the University, yet another seven years passed before Royal sent…
Ween
Liberty Lunch Tuesday, October 8 “I’d feel like a bastard answering that question,” says Dean Ween when pressed to explain the country songwriting process. “I’m no way an authority. It would be like saying I’ve mastered the Renaissance arts style.” No less authorities than Rolling Stone, SPIN, Entertainment Weekly, and Details agreed by brutally panning…
Oh, Jackie…!
I’d like to take a ninety-degree turn from this review with a personal note about Jackie Devotion. Worshipping at the altar of Jacqueline is tricky business. One risks losing all credibility and perspective, and yet, like the Macarena, even respectable people find themselves drawn in. This was proven by the circus-like atmosphere surrounding the auction…
Separation Anxiety
Whether they are at UT’s football stadium or at the United Center in Chicago, skyboxes have become a fact of life in American culture. They played a prominent role at the Democratic and Republican conventions. During the Olympic Games in Atlanta, skyboxes at the track venue were renting for more than $100,000 per day. Skyboxes…
Steve James
Art and Grit (Antone’s/Discovery) This Seventies revival sure is precious, ain’t it? No, not platform shoes, coke spoons, and mirror balls: That shit was more precious than a Mentos ad the first time. I’m talking about the 1870s. Just tighten up them steel strings, trade yer amps for a banjo or two, start pickin’ and…
Ten Darn Good Reasons to Be Tested for HIV
10. It’s AIDS Awareness Month. 9. You’ve been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. 8. You’ve shared dirty needle works. 7. You’ve had unprotected oral, vaginal, or anal sex. 6. Advances in HIV/AIDS research are taking the disease into a chronic manageable state. 5. You’re starting a new relationship and want to know the status…
Archers Deluxe
They called themselves the Archers, the director from Canterbury and the Hungarian-born screenwriter whose partnership resulted in Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, The Tales of Hoffman, and many other movies now seen as touchstones of exotic cinema. Why the name was chosen is no longer well-remembered, but from 1939 to 1956 the Archers’ witty logo…
Texas Platters
RICK TREVINO Learning As You Go (Sony) In the early Nineties, when Round Rock’s Rick Trevino was making a notable splash on the wave of country music’s renaissance, the distinction of being a Hispanic country singer, the critics said, made his potential for meteoric stardom that much more assured. But in so far as Trevino…
Safe at Home
Early in the morning of September 24, my lawyer and friend, Will Hampton, was shot and killed in his home by a masked intruder. His wife escaped, but the murderer also shot and killed one of the Hampton’s dogs. I can hardly think of anything else except Will’s murder and the incredible violation he suffered…
British Playwrights Series
In tandem with “Shouting in the Evening,” a series of seminars and exhibits presented by the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, the Austin Film Society will also present the following titles this month. All screenings are on Tuesdays in the Texas Union Theatre at 6pm. Admission is $3. For more…
Fri 4
St. Thomas Fashion Fundraiser to benefit AIDS Services of Austin, at Four Seasons Hotel, 98 San Jacinto, 7pm. Cost is $75. 406-6175. First Annual Walk & Run for Dystonia to benefit Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, at Camp Mabry, 4-8pm. 329-8720. SAT 5 Hilltop Madness Party to benefit COTA for Emma (who needs a bone-marrow transplant),…
The Write Place
Every writer knows what simple joy the graceful waltz of fingers across the lettered keyboard can bring. For the screenwriter, when words flow like milk and honey, the creative process is a joy. It spills forth new worlds, parallel realities, and characters as comfortable as good neighbors — all with the intention of someday realizing…
Page Two
Early last Friday afternoon, I was, at least conceptually, lost in the middle of Kansas City. I had just landed at the airport, rented a car, and was driving downtown with map in hand. The differences between Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, soon confused me and I ended up driving around in circles…
AHFF Film Festival Schedule
Paramount 7:15pm Cowgirl (short)Deep in the Heart (followed by Q & A) 10:10pm Albino Alligator Dobie Screen 2 7:00pm Paul Mcall (short) To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday 9:20pm Clinic E (short) Restless of Water (followed by Q & A) Austin Music Hall 8:00pm Underworld 10:25pm 84 Charlie Mopic (followed by Q & A) Driskill…
Public Notice
Get Yer Mind Outta the Gutter! Between the groovy bowling shirts bearing loopy embroidered names like “Helga” and “Sheckey” and the tacky Hawaiian shirts of many colors, this year’s Hula Bowl benefit Bowl-a-Thon to raise dough for the Crohn`s & Colitis Foundation, should be the fashion event of the season, Sat, Oct 5 at the…
12 Monkeys
D: Terry Gilliam; with Bruce Willis, Madeline Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer. VHS Home Video Waterloo Videom, 1016 W. Sixth Time travel movies are infuriating, especially good ones. With 12 Monkeys, Gilliam keeps his audience from experiencing continuity anxiety by providing a decent mystery and allowing a semblance of deductive reasoning — the information is…
Motel Meals, Strip Mall Trips
Marco Polo Restaurant 3200 South I-35 (at the Quality Inn), 445-5563. Open Daily. Lunch, 11am-2pm; Dinner 5-10pm The trusted friend I’d invited along on this particular restaurant expedition finally arrived at the table and said “I drove by this place four times because I just couldn’t believe you’d ask me to a motel restaurant.” I…
Pushing Boundaries
Just as the fall schedule of season and series premieres kicks off on network television, the same holds true for KLRU-TV’s The Territory, now in its 21st season as the longest-running showcase for independent film and video work broadcast on public television. This fall, The Territory expands its borders both literally and metaphorically. Beginning with…
Police Blotter
Larry Manale with the Lubbock Police called the Chronicle this week in hopes of finding some information about a Mr. Paul Wilkins. Well, indeed you can, Officer. Wilkins, you may recall, was the man who ruffled feathers with his “Best of Texas” and Bob Marley music festivals a few of years back. He’s apparently up…
Letter From Waco
Race, religion, death, and football: Put ’em all together and they spell the word Waco. At least that’s what Don Howard convincingly demonstrates in his fascinating and very personal documentary about his hometown, Letter From Waco. Howard’s hour-long film is an impressionistic portrait that blends “found” footage and new material shot over the course of…
This Is Not for You
by Michael Bertin You’re driving around listening to KVRX and you hear “Destroy All Enemies of the Wannabes,” a previously unreleased song on the Wannabes new EP, I Am God. You’re a Wannabes fan, so you promptly pull into your favorite record store, buy the EP and leave a happy person. On your drive home,…
Overdue Bill
In March of 1994, everything was going gangbusters for the career of comedian/social commentator Bill Hicks. He had two albums of funny, penetrating material in the can and ready for release, two previous albums and a pair of HBO specials under his belt, a relentless touring schedule, and a growing UK fanbase that was making…
Also Playing
Friday: Wayne Hancock, Roy Heinrich, Stubb’s Saturday: Johnny Rodriguez, La Zona Rosa Sunday: Gospel Sunday Revue, Continental Club Monday: Ted Roddy’s Tearjoint Troubadors, Ego’s Tuesday: Patty David, Broken Spoke Wednesday: Wookie, Orange Mothers, Do It Now Foundation, Hole in the Wall Thursday: Cornell Hurd Band, Jovita’s
“Another Dead Hero”
Andy Langer “This is a Bill Hicks interview, not a Tool interview,” declares Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan over the phone. Although California’s progressive metalists have imposed a press blackout in order to protect the lyrical integrity of their brand new album, Aenima, Keenan has reluctantly made an exception to discuss Bill Hicks. After all,…
