Cover Story
Iraq Comes Home
Wounded Warriors return to the Thin Blue Line
Hope
As folks return to the Bolivar Peninsula, hope is a valuable commodity.
And They Will Call it Lettermangate
McCain’s Letterman fall-out continues
No Wonder McCain Called for a Time Out
Polls show former Republican lock states have become battlegrounds
Hutchison Will Step Down From Leadership Post
Increases speculation that she will run for governor
‘Hell on Wheels’ Gets Two-Disc DVD Release
Locally produced Roller Derby doc ‘Hell on Wheels’ gets a fancy two-disc DVD release
Now You Shouldn’t Be Scared
Del tha Funky Homosapien wakes up for ACL
ZOMG! ACL! ACL! ACL!1!!1
Yes it’s that time of year again, Austin City Limits Music Fest is upon us yet again. We here are the Chronicle are doing all we can to keep you informed about all of the goings on and good-stuff-happenings throughout the fest. Be sure to check out our ACL Music Fest Preview issue on stands…
Sunday in Pictures: Galveston
Kate and Chronicle contributor Dacia join Mobile Loaves & Fishes on another relief trip to the Texas Coast. Here are pictures from day 2.
And This Guy Knows Marys!
Barney Frank cracks our asses up, even if the country is falling apart…
Can’t Tell the Flix Without the Pics
Fantastic Fest’s pictograph reference guide to the films is an endlessly fun diversion
Fire up for the Aggies
The UT women got an exciting 2-1 comeback win over California on Sunday, with Courtney Gaines assisting on two second-half goals, and Kasey Moore hitting the winner with just 40 seconds left to play. The 7-0-1 Longhorns open Big 12 play this Friday, Sept. 26, hosting No. 10 Texas A&M at 7pm at Mike A.…
GayGayGay Financial Crisis Beckham’s Package GayGayGay
Getty’s back with some lavender media analysis.
McCain, You Got Some ‘Splainin’ to do
Obama accuses McCain of going back on joint statement agreement.
Rainin in Paradize 2
Manu Chao speaks
The Biggest Filibuster
McCain tries to cancel presidential debate.
Five Loaves & Two Fish
Here’s a picture gallery of the relief effort along the gulf coast.
Keep On Chooglin’
John Fogerty talks past, present, and future
Austin Film Festival Announces Full Lineup
AFF’s finalized lineup
Make Sure You’re Registered to Vote
And make sure your address is correct
Saturday in Pictures: Bayou Vista
Kate and Chronicle contributor Dacia join Mobile Loaves & Fishes for another relief trip to the coast. Here are pictures from the first day.
ACL 4 Beatheads
Where to find the beats at Zilker Park
Danny Boyle to Accept Award at AFF
Austin Film Festival’s 2008 Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award goes to Danny Boyle
Crime Writer James Crumley Passes Away at 68
Native Texan James Crumley dies
Fantastic Fest Award Winners Announced
Audience and jury award winners at Fantastic Fest 2008
Keep the Kryptonite From Colt ‘Superman’ McCoy
OK, I’m slow to comment on the Longhorns victory over Rice this past weekend. Consider it an homage to Texas, which is perennially late to its own party. But it didn’t take the Horns too long this time to wake up down 3-0. Thanks, Colt McCoy. You are the heart and soul of the team.…
UPDATE Barr’s Lawsuit Denied
Attempt to throw Obama and McCain off Texas ballot rejected
Sweatin’ to Thee Ohsees
The garage rock masters were worth spending two nights with
Rep. Doggett on the Financial Bailout
We thought Bush was supposed to stay away from the liquor cabinet
No CD 10 Debate
McCaul says he’s just too busy to face Doherty and Finkel
Black Rat Swing
The twentysomething, punky girl hesitated at the corner of 27th and Guadalupe, waiting for the light to change. Her modified mohawk lay like a white fur pelt on her cropped hair. She appeared blissfully unaware that her once-rebellious hairstyle made its Austin debut more than a quarter-century ago in a building that stood about 50…
Perry and the Fine Art of Hardship
Governor somehow compares living in three-storey home in West Austin to Ike evacuee experience.
This Is Not Kansas
We had no intention of making a movie, but then we couldn’t help ourselves.
Fantastic Fest: The Good, the Bad, and the Nacho
Fantastic Fest
Austin Film Festival Announces Preliminary Lineup
Slumdog Millionaire, Synedoche, New York confirmed
Porno Presented at the Paramount
Kevin Smith at opening night of Fantastic Fest
Rough Road Ahead for the Texans
The Texans roll into Nashville against the Vince Young-less Titans looking for a much-needed victory
Popular Chef Returns to Austin
Popular Chef Roberto Santibanez will be in Austin in October for the opening of Maria Maria Cantina
The Young Ones
Youth group joins MLF’s relief efforts.
Rollin’ Out
Kate and Dacia hit the road with the second run of Mobile Loaves & Fishes relief efforts along the Gulf Coast.
Haynes Headlines Hills Hurricane Hullabaloo
Let the Hurricane Ike benefits begin.
McCainEnomics
Republicans explain financial collapse: Apparently some big kids did it.
The Grand Dame
Galveston’s Grand Opera House survived Ike. Here’s a dispatch from one of the staff.
Burying the Lede
Council members at odds over Cap Metro top spot
License & Registration: The Black Angels
The Black Angels take on Fox’s ‘Fringe’
After a Fashion
Barbara, Jenna, and Ranch dressing? What do you think this week’s column is about?
Texas Platters
Rocking the Boat: A Musical Conversation & Journey
Wounded Warriors
The national numbers
UT Students Ignite Streetcar Passions
A UT forum on light rail got heavy last week
The Edge of Heaven
This Turkish film is a transgenerational, transborder microcosm of modern cultural melding.
Slow Food Nation ’08 Photo Gallery
Victory Garden in front of San Francisco City Hall, Slow Food Nation, August 2008 Victory Garden 2, near City Hall, Slow Food Nation, San Francisco, August 2008 Slow Food Nation, San Francisco, August 2008 One of many free tap-water stations, Slow Food Nation, San Francisco, August 2008 Primavera of Sonoma CA prepares huaraches made with…
The Common Law
Homeowners’ Associations – What Gives Them the Right?
Texas Platters
The Hot Club of Cowtown The Best Of (Shout Factory) Recently regrouped after a two-year break, Hot Club of Cowtown returns with a hit comp courtesy of formidable vault imprint Shout Factory. Bookended by stomping live cuts of “Ida Red” and “Orange Blossom Special,” the 20 tracks cull magnificently from the local trio’s previous five…
Wounded Writers
Austin soldiers have discovered unexpected benefits of blogging
Bus Drivers Cry Foul Over ‘Union-Busting Tactic’
Bus drivers don’t like StarTran’s ‘final offer,’ but they’re still on the job
Lakeview Terrace
By-the-book domestic thriller about the consequences of moving into a neighborhood lorded over by a rules-happy sociopath with a gun and a badge.
The Bike Stuff
The traveling 2008 Bicycle Film Festival rolls into Austin
New in Fiction
Paul Auster’s 14th book provides a small window into the terrors of aging and the intricate, personal search for meaning
Texas Platters
Josh Allen Orpheus Going solo from his hellbent outfit the Whiskey Brothers, local songwriter Josh Allen’s debut LP weaves an impressive set through his weary drawl, recalling late-era Townes Van Zandt in sound and spirit. The mythic recasting of the title track and poignant ache of “You and Me” utilize Allen’s rugged vocals best, lifted…
TV Eye
The presidential debates are coming, and so are the Emmys
Outlook Good for Police Contract
Both sides appear satisfied with the recently negotiated employment contract for Austin police
Up the Yangtze
Canadian documentary effectively personalizes the effect of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River and the 2 million it displaced.
Beware: Bigfoot Ahead
The homegrown horror of The Wild Man of Navidad
Something the Grackles Made
The life and works of Mr. Pants
Texas Platters
Rob Roy Parnell Let’s Start Something (Blue Rocket) With his first album in eight years, Rob Roy Parnell unloads choogling blues boogies bolstered by his ferocious harp. His backing band rolls free and easy, with cameos from brother Lee Roy (“Long Distance Love”) and Stephen Bruton (“That’s All She Wrote”), though “Sorry as They Come”…
Arts Reviews
Austin Shakespeare’s staging is strong but at times is lost in its own sound and fury
Bike Lanes: Not Just for Bikes Anymore
Road work on Exposition highlights difficulty of preserving safe road space for bicycles
Stealing America: Vote by Vote
This documentary account of Election Day 2004 thinks it has the answer: conspiracy and treason, Republican-style.
Film News
Carolyn Banks makes her directorial debut in Bastrop
Texas Platters
Bruce Robison The New World (Premium) On the strength of Bruce Robison’s continued Nashville successes (most recently “Wrapped,” a 2007 George Strait single) and his way with a phrase, it’s tempting to consider this Bandera boy and Austin resident a songwriter’s songwriter. One spin across the sawdust-coated dance floor of his latest, The New World,…
Texas Platters
Brandon Rhyder Every Night (Reserve) Austin’s Brandon Rhyder offers a capable effort with fourth album Every Night, his subtle but powerfully trembling croon coloring the edges of country soul. The Radney Foster production opens on the swelling, epic rock edge of “Have I Waited Too Long,” but Rhyder’s at his best on the softer numbers…
Arts Reviews
At the opening of this Austin Playhouse show, some actors hadn’t done the work
The Sad Case of the Cactus Planter
Judge Sam Sparks ruled against Planet K in its attempts to save its beloved junked car (aka Ralph)
Ghost Town
A sweet, old-fashioned kind of picture content to burrow into the quiet spaces, where boring, ordinary adults live and fitfully try to love again. Oh, and occasionally talk to dead people.
They’re a Little Odd and Don’t Know It
Randy Newman likes Billy Joel?
Texas Platters
Eve & the Exiles Blow Your Mind (Serpent) The next generation of Austin blues has already been inaugurated with Eve Monsees and Gary Clark Jr. at the helm, both guitarists having expanded the local sound with their impressive styles. If Monsees has been somewhat pigeonholed by the blues, however, Blow Your Mind blows those conceptions…
Texas Platters
Roger Creager Here It Is (Thirty Tigers) Roger Creager’s fourth studio album drives hard into Texas country, his deep, scratchy vocals burning into a mix of honky-tonkers and ballads. “I’m From the Beer Joint” delivers the typical bar-burning party, while “I’m Missing You” wakes to the morning after. The Houstonian shows some growing versatility, but…
Arts Reviews
This show of political art by Robert Levers and Chris Reno is as timely as it gets
KXAN Airs Its Time Warner Laundry
KXAN broadcasts its disgust with Time Warner
Lunacy and Sorrow
David Berman pokes the Silver Jews out of his shell
Texas Platters
Drew Smith’s Lonely Choir (Fat Caddy) Any release from Austin’s Fat Caddy Records is worth notice these days, because, among other notable reasons, they’re intimately connected to the remarkable wellspring of talent bubbling out of Momo’s, the newest singer-songwriter scene in A-Town. That includes acts like Dan Dyer, the unstoppable Band of Heathens, and up-and-comers…
Texas Platters
Jason Allen The Twilight Zone (Smith Entertainment) Jason Allen’s aptly titled third LP is full of unexpected turns, effortlessly melding touches of Roy Orbison (“I Can’t Let You Go”), Marty Robbins (“I Can’t Hide This Heartache”), and even rockabilly Elvis (“Elvis Tonight”). Most surprising is the honky-tonked version of Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to…
Day Trips
NatureFest in Bastrop’s Fisherman’s Park will celebrate the opening of Wilbarger Paddling Trail on Sept. 27
Healthcare District Budget, New Clinic Get Green Light
County commissioners sign off on building new Braker Lane clinic, despite neighborhood opposition
Suffering Jukebox
Starlite Walker (Drag City, 1994) Following two lo-fi EPs that seemingly anticipated Pavement’s future sound more than Silver Jews, the debut LP introduces Berman’s solemn, languid drawl and askance lyrical narrative. Subdued and reflective, “Trains Across the Sea” wanders lazily while Malkmus’ backing vocals and guitar add an anxiety and urgency to “Advice to the…
Texas Platters
Susan Gibson New Dog, Old Tricks (For the Records) Writing “Wide Open Spaces” for the Dixie Chicks in 1998 gave Susan Gibson carte blanche into the rough-and-tumble world of songwriting but didn’t guarantee it would be easy. Ten years and three solo albums later, New Dog, Old Tricks balances the Central Texan’s dizzying success with…
Texas Platters
Honeybrowne Mile by Mile (Smith Entertainment) Though Honeybrowne has emerged as a formidable alt.country force since 2005’s Something to Believe In, the local quartet’s fifth studio disc, Mile by Mile, unfortunately keeps safely to the middle of the road. Fred Andrews still wrings songs like the title track with genuine emotion, but aside from the…
Gay Place
Hurricane relief in a hurricane glass
Barr Too Big for His Libertarian Britches
In snubbing Ron Paul, Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr may have lost his base
Restaurant Reviews
The Mansion’s intimacy and opulence are hard to top
Texas Platters
‘Doves,’ ‘Silent Grips,’ the Young, Camp X-Ray, and Country E.P.
‘Pressure’: Pedaling Art
Lance Armstrong shows off his cultural side with an exhibit of bike art
City Hall Hustle: What Would Sarah Do?
Railin’ on Palin’s veep credentials
Bolton’s Thick Blue Line
Bolton wins law enforcement endorsements, despite opponent’s law-and-order ties
Restaurant Reviews
Galloway’s isn’t about sandwiches but delicious, Southern soul food
Texas Platters
It’s Possible, Medical Cures for the Chromatic Commands of the Inner City Blue Canoe, Ghosts
Ben Aqua and Faith Gay: Bound for Big D
Two Austin artists will do residencies at Dallas’ new Centraltrak art facility
Point Austin: Charlie Wilson’s Chair
When the legend becomes fact, endow the legend
Ike Won’t Spike the Vote
The show must go on: Storm damage won’t stop people from casting ballots
Continental Drift
Scenes from the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Texas Platters
Bubba Hernandez Dancing en Fuego (Moon Zero Bird) Two-time Grammy winner and onetime Brave Combo member Bubba Hernandez headlines his second solo disc, a high energy, mostly cumbia, pop-rock disc, with 14 tracks that “loosely follow a love cycle.” The timeless, multifaceted subject of love should be an easy sell, and the tempos are danceable…
Austin Symphony Orchestra: The Music Goes ‘Round and ‘Round
ASO’s first commissioned work uses Dell Hall to envelop the audience in sound
Headlines
• Hurricane Ike’s come and gone, leaving devastation on the Gulf Coast and a couple of thousand evacuee-guests still in Austin. At press time, Galveston’s still closed to citizens and reporters. • No City Council today (Thursday), leaving council members free to imagine life at the top of the ticket: see “City Hall Hustle.” •…
GOP Oil Spiel Not So Slick
Contrary to what John Cornyn would have us believe, speculators are to blame for the oil price spike, says new report
The Hightower Report
FDA Gives In to Food Torturers; and Protecting the Integrity of Our Votes
Texas Platters
Steam Heat Austin Funk (Fable) In the 1970s when cowboys were cosmic, Austin Funk was an unlikely word pairing. In the heart of outlaw country, funk renegades Steam Heat packed dance floors at the Armadillo World Headquarters and Soap Creek Saloon with Tower of Power-styled grooves. The eightpiece released its lone LP in 1975 before…
Event Menu
Sample sausages and wines on the Kiolbassa & Kab trail, bourbons at Jasper’s, and spa treatments at the Belmont
Res Publica
Your civic agenda, Sept. 18-25
Officials’ Silence Speaks Loudly at Hutto Forum
A forum on the T. Don Hutto immigrant-detention center will go on despite no participation from Hutto supporters
New in Fiction
Philip Roth’s latest is a detail piece rather than a panorama
Texas Platters
The Van Buren Boys Planet Kickass The Van Buren Boys cram square miles of rambling lyrics into mere acres of sloppy punk rock. Planet Kickass touches on a number of different styles, including cow-punk, rocksteady, and folk, all spiked with the deadly cocktail of half-assed execution and verbal diarrhea that is the Boys’ signature and…
Slow Food Nation ’08
Slow Food Nation works to support local food tradition, and it tastes good, too
Page Two: Theatre of Cruelty
The backdrop of reality that belies the McCain-Palin pageant
Playing Through
The ladies of the Austin Valkyries women’s rugby team will lay you out on the field and then buy you a beer an hour later
Artists as Developers
A symposium gives creative types a new role in rebuilding neighborhoods
Texas Platters
Redd Volkaert Reddhead (Telehog) Redd Volkaert is arguably the best guitarist in a town overflowing with them. Every once in a while, when he’s not anchoring one of the many bands he’s a member of or backing some new talent, the stubby genius cuts an album to remind us of just how amazing he is.…
Food-o-File
Big Brother puts the squeeze on more than just juice
Naked City
News briefs from Austin, the region, and elsewhere
Real Community Is Real Art
FRIDAY, SEPT. 19 6-8pm Film Screenings George Washington Carver Museum & Cultural Center, 1165 Angelina Third Ward TX – documentary about Project Row Houses in Houston, the unlikely home of cutting-edge art and visionary thinking about inner-city renewal. Meet the unforgettable residents and extraordinary artists breathing new life into their historic but struggling community. The…
Texas Platters
Pimpadelic She’s Dead (Down Rite Rotten) Roll the tires, and light the fires, boys! She’s Dead may not be rhythmically fit in the way 2000’s Southern Devils coalesced Easy Jesus Coe’s Pimpadelic with other trailer-park rap thrashers in Kid Rock mold. This time David Allan’s nephew gets his hair metal on, ciphering Mötley Crüe crunch…
Off the Record
Charlie Sexton and Stephen Bruton hang with the Dude, and Haunting Oboe Music’s calender year
Aquifer Board Seeks to Expand Its Regulatory Reach
Groundwater agency wants to tighten its grip in western Travis County
Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys
One-man moviemaking machine Tyler Perry drops his usual cross-dressing comedics for this melodrama about two family dynasties – one black, one white – rocked by scandal.
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Hurricanes, typhoons, and hemophobia
Texas Platters
Toadies No Deliverance (Kirtland) Arriving a mere seven years behind its predecessor, No Deliverance is a concordant entry in the Toadies’ sparse but unvaried discography. The guitars are a little heavier; Vaden Todd Lewis’ voice is a little deeper and just a little choked. Yet by and large, the Fort Worth quartet delivers the same…
Let the Super Search Begin
Twelve upcoming forums give the public a large role in finding AISD’s new superintendent
Righteous Kill
There’s nothing righteous about this tired and tiresome good cop/bad cop NYPD procedural.
Major Ursa
Hurricane Bear is baaaaaaaaack!!!
Luv Doc Recommends: Fantastic Fest Rolling Roadshow Screening of ‘The Road Warrior’
There are a variety of ways the apocalypse could go down: We could be smashed … by a giant asteroid. We could particle accelerate ourselves into a black hole. We could catch a nasty virus, fry in a solar flare, or get a wobble in our axis. There is also the possibility that aliens could…
