Cover Story
Everything Old Is New Again
A Texan’s in the White House, we’re in a quagmire war – and ‘The Rag’ returns to Austin
Parallax View Benefit: Resuscitate Resistance III
Parallax View Benefit: Resuscitate Resistance III The event is a benefit to help sustain Parallax View, the media-based artwork sidebar of the annual Cinematexas film festival, which occurs next weekend. The event will showcase art installation, an art auction, Cinematexas short films, music by the Black Angels, DJs, dancing, and more. The featured short film…
Palm Pictures Directors Label DVD Release Party
Palm Pictures Directors Label DVD Release Party The next four volumes in the series – Mark Romanek, Stéphane Sednaoui, Anton Corbijn, and Jonathan Glazer will be released worldwide and Palm Pictures and the Alamo Drafthouse are providing a first look at the new series with this two-hour screening of the best short films and videos…
Las Lloronas
Las Lloronas 2004, NR, 89 min. Directed by Lorena Villarreal, Starring Elizabeth Ávila, Raúl Adalid. New film from Mexico follows the story of a family and their struggle to break the curse of the legendary Weeping Woman (La Llorona), which has been passed on from generation to generation.
QT Six
QT Six Directed by Various. He’s baa-ack! Quentin Tarantino returns to Austin for his sixth originally programmed film festival. The movies have been chosen from his own collection, and he will introduce each film (except on September 11) with his distinctive blend of erudite information, passionate showmanship, and geeky panache. Two shows a night on…
Ennio: Fine ‘Tooning
Austin gets its first look at Ennio, the ‘living cartoon’ whose life-sized paper-doll impressions have made him a comedic sensation around the world
911, We’ve Got a Smoker
Austin’s new smoking ordinance takes effect today
‘Rag’ Reunion Happenings
• “Backward Through the Fog: RAGfotos,” an exhibition of Rag “staff photographer” Alan Pogue’s images from the late 1960s through mid-1970s, is Thursday, Sept. 1; 6-10pm at the Old School, 1604 E. 11th. An opening reception, during which the Melancholy Ramblers will perform and lead a protest and labor song sing-along, will commemorate Pogue’s work.…
Naked City
Nightclubs aren’t the only things for which smoking will be banned
Junebug
With this film built on a host of remarkably nuanced Southern characters, first-time filmmaker Phil Morrison announces himself with assurance and uniqueness of vision.
Arts Review
Zach’s spirited revival of ‘Shear Madness,’ that audience-interactive murder mystery-comedy, just might be the kind of confection your dayjob-wearied mind could use
Four Rules: The New Paradigm
1) While the three-strike rule is no longer written into the new ordinance, the Health Department has committed to following those guidelines. However, as enforcement is still unclear, don’t assume that the first two smoking violations will go unnoticed. 2) The sidewalk isn’t your responsibility. The 15-foot rule applies only to property owned by the…
Workers Tell Council: ‘It’s Our Turn’
AFSCME reps want raise, official recognition, and broader definition of ‘public safety’
Naked City
The city is planning to plan
Underclassman
Nick Cannon from Drumline plays a smart-aleck LAPD bicycle cop in this movie awash in clichés.
Arts Review
The exhibition of photographs George Krause and Sean Perry at D Berman Gallery explores a spiritual territory within the pragmatic
Texas Platters
JandekAustin Scottish Rite Theatre, Aug. 28 The myth encasing the Houston musician known as Jandek has evolved into different beasts: He’s a recluse, he’s mentally unstable, he doesn’t really exist, he’s a hologram beamed from space. He’s done one face-to-face interview and his career (or anti-career) has spanned 40 albums since 1978. His music is…
How to Keep Water in Central Texas
Long-range planning tries to cover multiple bases, but some say environment is left out
Point Austin: Budget Frenzy
It ain’t where they live
Asylum
In this adaptation of Patrick McGrath’s novel, Natasha Richardson and Ian McKellan wonder if the patients have taken over the asylum.
Culture Flash
The Paynes peregrinate to the Parish and choreographer Allison Orr returns to Venice
Texas Platters
Jimmie Dale GilmoreCome on Back (Rounder) Before you spin Come on Back, Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s first solo album in five years, read the liner notes he’s written. They depict not only the love Gilmore had for his father, who died in 2000, but also how his father handed down his love for music. The emotions…
Preying for Votes: The Governor’s Preachers
Perry and religious conservatives get together to bash gays
Point Austin: Beside the Point
A look at this week’s City Council agenda
November
November, starring Courteney Cox, is a dense, dark head-trip of a movie that seems like the bastard offspring of Memento and Mullholland Dr.
Readings
Studiously neither pro-war nor anti-war, this ‘anti-sending-me-to-war-book’ rather too appropriately evidences reluctance to see actual combat, expending nearly two-thirds of its length establishing Ayers’ coward credentials before setting off on the road to Baghdad.
Texas Platters
NickNack Broken (Extensive Research) Oddcomplex Padded Wall Parade Route (Landmine) Deepspace5 Unique, Just Like Everyone Else (GTD) Assasyn Dynasty The Classified Mix Tape (Culture Sound) Designed as a resource for turntablists, NickNack’s latest record offers the utility of skipless drums and vocal phrases for those with a fetish for scratching. Stripping instrumental tracks from 2004’s…
Craddick in Dewhurst’s School Finance Prayers
The Lege can’t solve school finance; maybe Jesus will
The Hightower Report
Standing up for working families, the middle class, and the poor; and National Guard preying on the desperate
The Cave
A crack team of cave divers encounters untold horror in the form of bloodthirsty sea slugs.
Readings
Jill Soloway takes no pains to appear politically correct or ponderously deep in talking about her life, which can be very refreshing. She makes it clear that she doesn’t take herself terribly seriously, but at times she laughs at herself a bit too hard.
Texas Platters
Guy Forsyth Love Songs: For & Against (Small and Nimble) Love’s converse is not hate. It’s fear, which engenders ignorance, hatred, et al. A challenging theme, but Guy Forsyth ain’t the passive kind, even if he could release a standard blues rock disc and tour Europe until his visa expired. But the Austin Music Award-winner…
Weekend at Casey’s
Thousands converge in the president’s back yard to make a stand with Cindy Sheehan
Good For Your Blood
Dozens of starry-eyed dreamers queued up at the Frank Erwin Center on Thursday, Aug. 25, in hope of having their lifelong dreams of cathode notoriety eviscerated before noon, only to discover themselves caught up in George A. Romero’s idea of a good time
Undiscovered
A musician and an actress circle and sniff, and generally run through every cliché in the why-can’t-we-be-together playbook.
Page Two
‘Austin Chronicle’ 24th anniversary redesign; and the politics of Katrina
Texas Platters
Banjo & SullivanThe Ultimate Collection 1972-1978 (Hip-O) Beatlemaniacs have the Rutles, headbangers have Spinal Tap, and now sister-screwing NASCAR fans have Banjo & Sullivan. Straddling – and I do mean straddling – the fine line between parody and tribute, B&S’s Ultimate Collection is a randy “Dick Soup” of X-rated twang so lasciviously convincing it hardly…
Naked City
Headlines and happenings from Austin and beyond
AFS Essential Cinema
Wild Reeds: Moving Images of Growing Up
The Constant Gardener
City of God director Fernando Meirelles makes his English-language debut with this bracing, heartbreaking conspiracy thriller set in AIDS-ravaged Kenya.
Letters at 3AM
Are the Panhandle’s many roadside monuments to Christ testaments of faith or unadmitted doubt, or some of both?
Texas Platters
Honky Balls Out Inn (Small Stone) Honky’s been about one thing in the 10 years since their journey down the birth canal: straight-between-the-eyes, amped-up, boogie-down, chicken-fried Southern rock. This recipe is best savored on stage, as their four previous platters lose some flavor due to lineup changes and/or muddied documentation. From the opening syncopated salvo…
Naked City
Clubs and bars confused and wary about enforcement
Fantastic Fest
Badges go on sale Sept. 9.
No Entry
An exotic dancer tests the strength of two couples in this entertaining Bollywood romantic comedy.
About AIDS
Since 1997, The OZ Parties has provided poz people with comfortable and fun social events where HIV is not an issue
Texas Platters
Moonlight TowersLike You Were Never There (Spinster) Austin’s Moonlight Towers has never been a band that challenged listeners, and that only gets you about as far as one album. Like You Were Never There is the band’s second LP. Upbeat, assured, and unflinchingly safe, Like You Were Never There ends up having a title perhaps…
Naked City
Market for renewable energy continues to grow
Film News
Prepare for Pepe Serna; plus, the fall slate and Dallas’ counterpunch
Forged in Fire
The 15th annual ‘Austin Chronicle’ Hot Sauce Festival results
Day Trips
Exhibits new and old at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco will keep patrons of all ages dazzled and delighted
Texas Platters
Naugahyde Dream Sequence(Frumunda Musick) Austin’s Naugahyde Dream Sequence was pieced together through various practice sessions over the span of about two years, and it definitely lives up to its peculiar name. The band, which features the late and sorely missed Randy “Biscuit” Turner on vocals, J.D. Fanning and Josh Chalmers of Oh, Beast! on guitar…
Naked City
Fugitive fundamentalist Mormon leader possibly spotted in Florida
TV Eye
Fox’s ‘Reunion’ is the latest wannabe.
TCB
Put those cigarettes out and try to enjoy news on Single Frame, Bavu Blakes, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Snake Eyes Vinyl, and more
To Your Health
Why are the amounts of vitamins in most pills so much higher than the RDA?
Texas Platters
The Iron KiteNo Eyebrows (Twilight Flight Sound) For those who know (but don’t want to reveal themselves), the term “Iron Kite” is taken from a Dungeons & Dragons-esque online video game called RuneScape; an “iron kite shield” is a type of armor that’s supposed to ward off harm. In musical terms, that translates into this…
Naked City
A longtime government statistician crosses the Bush administration and loses his job
DVD Watch
‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete Second Season’ and ‘Too Close for Comfort: The Complete Second Season’
ImproviNation
Our fair city is once more in the grip of the fever. No, not cedar fever, although this condition can seize one just as suddenly and be every bit as all-consuming. But rather than dragging one down with congested nasal passages and energy-sapping fatigue, this fever inspires animated activity, typically seeking out a stage, asking…
The Common Law
Does an arbitration clause mean I have to arbitrate?
Texas Platters
Friends of Dean MartinezLive at Club 2 (Aero) Anticipating studio LP No. 7 cascading into a tidal pool near you come October, Dino’s Austin-based crew primes the pump of its own new imprint with a vaulted classic. Cut in Munich in 2001 and later released through stalwart German indie label Glitterhouse, Live at Club 2…
Naked City
Despite massive money and law enforcement energy, people are still toking up
Hurricane Relief Efforts Under Way in Austin
An estimated 5,000 hurricane evacuees are expected to arrive in Austin this weekend
Schedule
The Out of Bounds Improv Festival runs Sept. 7-10, Wednesday-Saturday, at the Hideout, 617 Congress. Tickets are $10 each per block of shows. A festival pass is $50. For more information, visit www.outofboundsimprov.com.Wednesday, Sept. 7 8pm Downstairs: Mild Dementia (Dallas) Gag Reflex (Austin) Think Tank (Austin) 8pm Upstairs: Wooden Nickel (Austin) French Club Dropouts (Dallas)…
Soccer Watch
A smattering of fútbol fun from near and far-flung places
Texas Platters
Bob RodriguezCorridor (CreOp Muse) A gifted pianist now based in NYC, this former Austinite is perhaps best known for his supporting status with capital city vocalist Tina Marsh and her Creative Opportunity Orchestra. Now with Corridor, which appears on Marsh’s CreOp Muse imprint, Rodriguez is out front leading a seasoned trio that includes veterans Mike…
Naked City
Important new laws take effect today (Sept. 1)
Katrina Through the Eyes of an EMT
Philipp Meyer, a fellow at the Michener Center for Writers at UT and an EMT, drove to New Orleans and spent 24 hours working with a local police department as an EMT.
Can’t Tell the Players Without a Scorecard
Home TeamsThe Foolish Mortals – new troupe of accomplished improvisers, including several Heroes of Comedy “gone rogue” Gag Reflex – local incarnation of a Windy City sketch troupe founded by suburban Chicago theatre veteran Dale Roe with journalist Joe Stafford; stages original revues of songs and sketches Get Up – longform from improv vets Shana…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
A state treasure, gas theft, and sexual favors
Texas Platters
Eric Johnson, Adrian BelewHogg Auditorium, Aug. 27 Adrian Belew and Eric Johnson: doppelgangers? Both six-string savants are 50-ish, both first evoked tongue-wagging in the Seventies, both are touring behind new albums with their trios, and – unfortunately given Hogg’s cavelike acoustics – both have a reverb/echo fetish. On hiatus from prog-masters King Crimson, Belew sampled…
Naked City
Public outcry convinces TPWD to nix purchase offer
Sparking a Prairie Fire: Cindy Sheehan at City Hall
The founder of Camp Casey and her “Bring Them Home Now” Tour arrives to a big Austin welcome
Austin at FringeNYC: Big Apple Bouquets
Austin’s three entries in this year’s New York International Fringe Festival earned some real attention, ranging from the respectable to the rave
Oops!
Last week’s lead art in our Calendar section was of a beautiful chair with wings, designed and built by sculptor Chris Levack (whom we neglected to credit). We regret the error.
Naked City
Witness says student was in love with Pitonyak
Long Center: Hustle and Flow
Oct. 31 is the target date for completion of the deconstruction of Palmer Auditorium and the deadline for the Long Center to match a $2.5 million challenge grant from Debbie and Kevin Rollins
Food-o-File
Lake Travis gets more Interior Mexican; plus, the Bitter End bounces back, and Jo’s and Threadgill’s expand
Rag Recollections
Former ‘Rag’ staffers remember the old days, when a Texan was in the White House and America was stuck in a quagmire war
Naked City
Pro- and anti-war factions faced off during the final weekend of Camp Casey in Crawford
9 Songs
Michael Winterbottom creates scenester porn in which he records the evolution of a man and a woman’s relationship through sex and music – exclusively.
15th Annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival Contest Winners
Individual Category Red Sauce 1st Place: Justin Altman 2nd Place: Shawn Muncy 3rd Place: Lance Brauckman Green Sauce 1st Place: Michael Rypka 2nd Place: Marvin Perez 3rd Place: Jonathan Hemmeter Special Variety 1st Place: Karen Peterman 2nd Place: Chris Buslett 3rd Place: John Dever III Restaurant Category Red Sauce 1st Place: El Caribe 2nd Place:…
Luv Doc Recommends: Austin Bat Fest
Here’s an idea: Maybe Austin would still be weird even if we didn’t have all the bumper stickers and T-shirts. Maybe there’s something in the water … or maybe the Balcones Escarpment isn’t just a geologic fault zone but an actual tear in the fabric of reality, a rift in the space-time continuum from which…
