Cover Story
Let Me Show You Something You May Have Missed
Sean Perry’s photographs offer to show you familiar settings in a whole new light
Astros Down the Stretch: To Dream the Impossible Dream?
Here it is the last week in September and, although the chances they’ll miss the playoffs for the first time since 2003 are still pretty good, the Astros are playing meaningful games for the fourth year in a row. That sentence is as bizarre to write as it was to consider even two weeks ago.…
Wells to Rockets at Bargain Price
Bonzi Wells, the prize of the late free-agent pool, agreed on Wednesday to a two-year, $5-million deal with the Houston Rockets. Wells, a ninth-year swingman out of Ball State, turned down the Sacramento Kings’ five-year, $36-million offer earlier this summer, apparently finding it insufficient compensation for his 23 and 12 performance against the mighty San…
‘Madden 2007’ for the Xbox 360
Madden 2007 EA Sports Xbox 360 $59.95 EA Sports is reportedly a video game sweatshop, pushing programmers to churn out next year’s title before the current game hits shelves, working hard to ensure each new Madden offers more than just improved graphics and roster updates. The work shows. This is the best looking Madden ever,…
‘Soccer Watch’: Lady Longhorns UpdateChampions League Game Day Two Results
The Lady Longhorns have two big home games this weekend: Oklahoma State at 7pm Friday, and Oklahoma at 1pm Sunday. The Sooners are the big rivalry game, of course, but OSU is the better team this year – they expect to challenge UT and A&M for the Big 12 title. Both games are at Myers…
‘Friday Night Lights’: Reagan-McCallum, Westlake-Austin High Top Local Slate
Program note: NBC’s Friday Night Lights, filmed in Pflugerville and based on the Buzz Bissinger book and Peter Berg film (and not, sadly, this column), premieres 7pm Tuesday, Oct. 3 on KXAN. UT head coach Mack Brown has a cameo in the pilot. (See “TV Eye” for more.) Meanwhile, most area high schools open district…
Some People Are Allergic to Peanuts …
Terrell Owens is reportedly allergic to his pain medication. According to this AP story T.O. entered the hospital for what his publicist called an “allergic reaction” to the pain killers Owens was taking for the broken bone in his hand. The publicist failed to mention, however, that Owens had taken 33 of them. Looks like…
Welcome to Toros Country
These are the dark and quiet days. Days when the basketball gods retreat to their beds, pull down the shades, and leave us mortals down on earth without even an exhibition game to watch. Until October 31st and the start of the NBA season, we, like existential man, are alone in the universe. And to…
The Losses Pile Up for the Texans
The Texans’ promising 3-1 preseason record and almost-complete offseason overhaul of their roster and coaching staff has failed to show any improvement over last year’s horrid outing. Houston’s record stands at 2-17 over the past two seasons, and they’ve failed to even put up a fight in their three games in the ’06 campaign. The…
T.O.’s Nashville Bike Tour
The Cowboys did pretty well for a bye week. Though a miraculous loss for either Washington in Houston or Philadelphia in San Francisco would’ve been sweet, fans have to be happy about the Seahawks’ “hope they paid for dinner first” embarrassment of the Giants at home. At this point of the season, the ‘Boys are…
‘Pig Skinny’: Oklahoma/Oregon, the Final Word
There are conflicting accounts of what happened in the final minutes of the Sept. 16 football game between Oklahoma and Oregon in Eugene. But those with knowledge of the controversial decisions and the replay process said it appeared to unfold this way: 1. Oregon scored a touchdown to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 33-27 with 1:12…
Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival 2006
Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival 2006 The Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival is celebrating its 19th year as the Southwest’s biggest and best-known gay and lesbian film festival. This nine-day-long event screens scores of features and shorts, narratives and documentaries, and hosts a number of visiting filmmakers. Advance tickets may be…
Videodrome
Videodrome 1983, R, 87 min. Directed by David Cronenberg, Starring James Woods, Sonja Smits, Deborah Harry. Cronenberg’s most viscerally successful film shows a world in which TV seduces and kills its consumers.
The Science of Sleep
Michel Gondry’s film is messy, confusing, painful, and ultimately, thanks in no small measure to the unfettered talents of Gael García Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, utterly rewarding.
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
No feeding the poor in Vegas, and a history of the avocado
ACL Fest Live Shots
Sparklehorse Everyone loves a comeback: Sparklehorse frontman Mark Linkous took the stage in a straw hat adorned with a pink plastic tiara to respectful cheers. The band then launched into the sweet and poetic “Gold Day,” followed by “Spirit Ditch” and “Sad and Beautiful World.” The rather slow and sleepy tone of the opening three…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Rodney Hayden Rodney Hayden is a damn fine country singer. Although he currently calls Nashville home, his Texas roots make it difficult for him to compose pop songs, and as this too brief set proved, he’s twangy to the bone. Or as someone said as they left the BMI stage to catch another performer, “He’s…
Cease-Fire Ends in Southwest Road Wars
Environmentalists charge that Daugherty has been working backroom deals for southwest roads
DVD Watch
Not all is well in the City, but it’s good to be back
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Everyone complains about the perceived shortcomings of the MPAA, Hollywood’s movie-ratings board, but nobody does anything. Nobody, that is, until activist documentarian Kirby Dick.
Oops!
An article in last week’s “Naked City” regarding former Austin Clean Water Program Director Bill Moriarty incorrectly stated that an investigation found he had awarded an ACWP contract to his girlfriend, Diane Hyatt, leading to his firing. In fact, Moriarty has maintained that he had no hand in awarding the contract, and furthermore, according to…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Sufjan Stevens ‘Tis a cruel, cruel thing to inflict a crappy-yet-earnest opening act on the faithful. My Brightest Diamond inflicted a too-long set upon those naive enough to arrive early to the second performance of a two-night stand thinking that the headliner was the only group of the night. Singer Shara Worden has a gorgeous…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Damian Marley As an obvious veteran of the summer festival circuit, Damian Marley situates himself at every turn as a direct descendent of his late father’s legacy. Kicking off his Sunday afternoon set with an instrumental medley of Bob Marley classics including “Natty Dread” and “Jammin’,” the self-proclaimed Jr. Gong kicked the hippy-fication of reggae…
Naked City
Headlines and Happenings from Austin and Beyond
TV Eye
Lost in Translation
Confetti
Even if it’s not quite an affair to remember all year, this BBC Films mockumentary about three wacky weddings is pleasant and enjoyably diverting.
Batini III
The official drink of Austin contest
ACL Fest Live Shots
Federico Aubele Why is club music difficult to stage? Translation. Samplers don’t sweat, drum machines don’t strut, and loops can’t crack wise about the heat. Live, electronic music can be as hair-raising as trampled grass. Wisely, Federico Aubele takes a cue from Thievery Corporation – producers of his 2004 debut Gran Hotel Buenos Aires –…
ACL Fest Live Shots
José González It only made sense for it to start drizzling during José González’s set. The dark clouds had been approaching, and soon the sun disappeared. It’s here that González asks, “What would Nick Drake do?” His spare, slightly foreboding guitar and vocal drawl is the meat of latest Veneer, a dish of Tropicalia with…
Report: Arrests Up, Use of Force Down
While there was an overall increase in arrests made by Austin Police last year, the overall rate of police use of force declined, according to a recent APD report
Edwards Aquifer in Critical Stage Drought
Combination of reduced supply, lower than average rainfall in watersheds, and increased demand has caused both flow at Barton Springs and measured water levels to fall below critical indicators for first time in Edwards Aquifer Conservation District�s 19-year history
The War Tapes
As raw and disturbing as it is wry and satirical, this film gives voice to U.S. National Guard soldiers in Iraq.
BAM! Performing Arts Festival: What’s that sound?
Pro Arts Collective gets your attention with BAM!, a new performing arts festival bringing dancers, actors, poets, and musicians to Austin to display the surge of creativity among African-American artists
Restaurant Jezebel
An ambitious menu, and it all works
ACL Fest Live Shots
Phoenix “This is Phoenix from Paris, France, coming to Texas,” announced frontman Thomas Mars after the first song. “Bon soir.” Goodnight? In the southwest dayroom of the Inferno, 1:30pm? Well, yes – oui – the Frenchmen shown as bright as the Sun King. Live, the instant nostalgia of opener “Long Distance Call” coalesced into the…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Matisyahu “Me no want sensimilla,” Matisyahu chants on his hit single, “King With No Crown.” Playing before a massive, pungent crowd that was more than ready to burn one down, the Hassidic boy wonder, who styles himself an old-school Jamaican toaster, sounding pretty elevated nonetheless. “The King is here,” he declared, “in the stripes of…
Let Open Gays in Military
Small, local effort to call attention to discrimination against gays in military recruiting under way with sit-in
Time to Leave
This oddly dispassionate film about a young man dying of cancer is the French antidote to those Hollywood weepies in which the heroine courageously faces her own mortality with every hair in place.
Gary Payne: Man of mystery
While he’s best known for producing murder mystery dinner theatre, this month sees Gary Payne in a more traditional mystery: Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth
Byblos Falafel and Deli
Attention to detail, excellent flavors, and authenticity
ACL Fest Live Shots
Ghostland Observatory Any lingering hopes of a midafternoon nap harbored by the kiddos were obliterated almost as soon as Ghostland Observatory took the stage. In a tight pink muscle shirt and circulation-threatening jeans, Aaron Behrens looked not a little feminine sweating away under a humid sun – which is not to say that even with…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Los Amigos Invisibles Los Amigos Invisibles, an accomplished dance band from Caracas, Venezuela, are touring veterans, but they must have been heartened to see the first dozen or so rows in the Washington Mutual tent populated by fans standing and watching the party machine soundcheck before launching their disco parade. The place was just about…
Immigration Injustice
Local family has been on its own ever since mother was arrested and charged with transporting undocumented residents
Arts Review
The Celtic Cultural Center and Renaissance Austin Theatre Company bring O’Neill’s ‘A Moon for the Misbegotten’ to life with an authentically dark and droll Celtic sensibility
Wine(s) of the Week(s)
Tasting American wines with French winemakers
ACL Fest Live Shots
The Blue Van Any time a European act plays ACL in the middle of the afternoon, it’s a sure bet they’ll mention the heat. The Blue Van was no exception, but their declaration was more polite than most. “I must say it’s a bit hot up here,” singer/guitarist Steffen Westmark remarked gently. Warmth aside, the…
ACL Fest Live Shots
The New Orleans Social Club Now more than ever, New Orleans isn’t just a geographic locale. It’s a state of mind. When a displaced musician such as Henry Butler or Ivan Neville yells, “Take me back,” he’s not talking about an airplane ticket or a friggin’ FEMA trailer. It’s a call for those who have…
Weed Watch
Fight to “equalize” penalties associated with the use of booze and pot in Colorado continues
Arts Review
With his new series of collages, Austin printmaker Ken Hale trades in his flatbed press for a flatbed scanner with intriguing and sometimes luscious results
Food-o-File
Come and get it!
ACL Fest Live Shots
TV on the Radio A TV on the Radio show is combustible: always simmering, powder keg lit, the explosion inevitable. At Emo’s last spring, there was alchemy, and it was louder than love. In a festival setting, that’s not always transferable, but hell if the Brooklyn quintet didn’t light the match. Sparking off the feral…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers The Heartbreakers are still a couple of hours off, but the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne is explaining to an enormous, anticipating crowd how the rain has a way of disappearing for the Lips only to return moments later. Unfortunately for Tom Petty, he was right. Before the clouds rolled in,…
One Doc’s Medicine: Serve God, save the planet
Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth believes he has the metaphysical medicine to heal the largely disjointed relationship between the country’s environmental and religious communities.
Arts Review
Eric Zimmerman’s “Simplon Pass” plays off utopian visions of the past in ways that are beautiful and painful in their longing for release from spatial bounds
Event Menu
Hungry for what’s happening?
ACL Fest Live Shots
The Long Winters “I don’t want it said that those Seattle bands don’t care about their tuning,” stated Long Winters frontman John Roderick in the Washington Mutual hard-shell tent while adjusting his guitar. “Those days are long gone.” Judging from his appearance, T-shirts worn inside out and tucked in is the new flannel. Perhaps in…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Best ACL Set Greg Beets: The Flaming Lips Christopher Gray: Palm School Choir Jim Caligiuri: Matisyahu Robert Gabriel: Thievery Corporation Melanie Haupt: Matisyahu Raoul Hernandez: Explosions in the Sky Andy Langer: Sam Roberts David Lynch: New Orleans Social Club Dan Oko: Ghostland Observatory Austin Powell: Wolf Parade Audra Schroeder: Massive Attack Darcie Stevens: The Secret…
Changes at Air America
Viability of two-year-old liberal talk network under scrutiny
Culture Flash!
The influential artwork of Micael Priest blesses the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture, and ACT wants State Theatre patrons to come to the cabaret – for free
ACL Fest Live Shots
Reviews and photos from all three days
ACL Fest Live Shots
Aimee Mann It was the perfect way to begin winding the day to a close. Aimee Mann took the stage with just her guitar to sing her cleverly literate, melancholy, and melodic songs with the sun going down at her back. She was soon joined by Jamie Edwards on keyboards and Paul Bryan on guitar…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Best Cover Beets: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Oh Well” (Fleetwood Mac) Gray: Flaming Lips, “Firebird (Finale)” (Stravinsky) Caligiuri: Marah, “Baba O’Riley” (the Who) Gabriel: New Orleans Social Club, “Tipatina’s” (Professor Longhair) Haupt: Biscuit Brothers, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” Hernandez: Cat Power, “Naked, If I Want To” (Moby Grape) Langer: Jack Ingram at Austin…
Point Austin: Austin Girl
Ann Richards was as contradictory as life in Texas
TCB
Lightning, humidity, Tom Petty, and a few other elements converged on Zilker Park for Austin City Limits’ annual musical orgy
Truth and Inconsequences
Chuck Klosterman on his life and his latest
ACL Fest Live Shots
Paolo Nutini Anyone even remotely familiar with both Paolo Nutini’s MySpace page and Friday’s ACL lineup knew to expect an acoustic rendition of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” The surprising part wasn’t just that the 19-year-old Scottish songwriter actually pulled it off, digging deep into some Van Morrison-like soul, but that Nutini, who has yet to release…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Iron and Wine A reunion of Sam Beam and Calexico, from last year’s magical joint-effort In the Reins, happened Wednesday night on the Austin City Limits soundstage but not in Zilker Park. Still, Beam’s tight sixpiece helped the recent Texas transplant put together a tremendously rewarding set, his crystal vocals and unparalleled song-stories carrying the…
The Hightower Report
The Privatizer President; and Steinbrenner’s Foul Deal
Election 2006
Bell Plans to Rein In Extremist SBOE Democratic candidate for governor Chris Bell introduced a four-point plan Wednesday that seeks to bring some sanity to the school textbook debate. Bell vowed to block the ideologically driven agenda of the State Board of Education by appointing a watchdog chair over the SBOE, installing a Texas education…
Page Two: Tearing It Up
Tearing It Up: Smart, committed, and usually the funniest person in the room, Ann Richards kicked down doors and prepared us all for the future
ACL Fest Live Shots
The Dears Dressed in black but looking remarkably cool, Montreal’s Dears are a melodramatic bunch. The sun and open air do little for the group’s symphonic quality as mushy harmonies initially bounced over the midday crowd with opener “Ticket to Immortality” from their upcoming Gang of Losers. By the second song, “Bandwagoneers,” the mix flushed…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Massive Attack As the pulsing tempo of “Teardrop” replicated the beat of a forlorn heart, the sinister intent of Massive Attack began breathing new life, like that of Grant “Daddy G” Marshall’s newborn, whose birth the day before kept the sonic shaman at bay from ACL. No matter: Elizabeth Fraser’s divine vocal projections adorned the…
The Forgotten Storm
One year later, Rita’s invisible evacuees still wait in the shadow of Katrina
Unbelievably Incredible
Fantastic Fest II is for real
Everyone’s Hero
Everyone’s Hero displays its heart firmly on its sleeve as the pedestrian animation celebrates the pursuit of one’s dreams.
After a Fashion
Your Style Avatar defines “tarantism,” to which we might add, “obsequious”
ACL Fest Live Shots
Wolf Parade Fair-skinned Canadians, Wolf Parade looked somewhat discombobulated as they walked onstage. Though light a member – guitarist Dante DeCaro apparently had a touch of the E. coli – the first few songs sounded relatively full. Guitarist Dan Boeckner and keyboardist Spencer Krug looked like a comedy duo, the former in a muscle tee,…
ACL Fest Live Shots
The Raconteurs The benevolent order of broken boy soldiers, better known as the Raconteurs, emerged from the harrowing battlefield of “supergroup” hype and expectations triumphant. Backed by the rhythm tandem of Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler from the Greenhornes, General Jack White actually sounded like the leader of a “Seven Nation Army” Saturday afternoon. His…
‘Not for Rita’
Some cases in which Rita evacuees haven’t received the same level of help as Katrina’s survivors include: • Katrina evacuees received six months of free medical insurance after the hurricane. Rita evacuees did not. • Unlike the thousands of Katrina evacuees who stayed at the Austin Convention Center and the Toney Burger Center, none of…
The Fantastic Five
To a genre fan, this year’s Fantastic Fest lineup – 58 films, 30 shorts, buckets of industry ephemera, directors, stars, producers, and Greg fucking Nicotero – is akin to diving headfirst into Ringu’s gaping maw and doing the dirty-girl grapple down in the dark with Sadako-san. Or it could be like tidying up with Mickey…
The Black Dahlia
Brian De Palma returns with a new crime thriller drawn from James Ellroy’s fictional account of the notorious Los Angeles murder of a would-be Hollywood starlet dubbed the Black Dahlia.
To Your Health
Is 7-keto-DHEA any better or safer than DHEA?
ACL Fest Live Shots
Cat Power & the Memphis Rhythm Band Two songs in, and Chan Marshall hasn’t yet appeared onstage. Is she pacing backstage? Hell no. This is the refurbished Cat Power, off the bottle and on the level. She creeps onstage, smiling and looking gorgeous. “The Greatest” emphasizes the talent behind her Memphis Rhythm Band as Marshall…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Brazilian Girls As the sun set on day two of ACL 2006, a large, enthusiastic tent full of fervent party-down devotees greeted New York’s Brazilian Girls. The crowd gave themselves willingly even as the quartet never quite secured a place of musical distinction. Performing with her eyes concealed, vocalist Sabina Sciubba sings a bit like…
Big, Bright Eyes of Texas
Celebrating the life of the bigger-than-life Ann Richards
Fantastic Fest Schedule
Admission (from www.fantasticfest.com): “Tickets for individual shows will be available in person at the door 15 minutes before each showtime, subject to availability. Regular badge holders will still be able to attend almost everything they want to see at the fest (VIP badge holders are guaranteed a seat at any show as long as they…
Jackass: Number Two
Strange as it may be to say, Jackass: Number Two is just the kind of vicarious excitement for which the movies were invented.
The Common Law
Student Looking for Work Visa
ACL Fest Live Shots
Van Morrison Sure he’s a legend, but after a long hot day, Van Morrison seemed more worn out than the immense audience that gathered to see his appearance. Maybe he left it all on the Austin City Limits soundstage the previous night, or perhaps it was his band, which included three backup singers, a couple…
ACL Fest Live Shots
The Stills It wasn’t too hard to get a bunch of drowned rats – the drenched, devout fans that braved Sunday’s late-morning rain – excited when the Stills took the stage. “Are you ready to watch us get electrocuted?” they hollered as they strapped on their guitars. The Montrealers then launched into the rollicking, confident…
Ann and Bob: What happened?
Ann Richards loved to tell stories. But the one she refused to tell, at least publicly, could have provided an entire juice-fueled chapter for a book Dave McNeely is co-writing with Jim Henderson on another Texas giant: Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock. It’s no secret that the relationship between Richards and Bullock turned sour not long…
No Limits
Austin at the Toronto International Film Festival
All the King’s Men
Despite an A-list cast and director, it’s astonishing how bad this movie is.
Day Trips
The Tower of the Americas shoots 750 feet into the air and has helped to establish San Antone as a desired tourist destination
ACL Fest Live Shots
Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits “For those of you who have never been to Zimbabwe, we’re here to take you to Zimbabwe.” The spacious Afropop of Oliver Mtukudzi spreads itself across dusty plains and teeming jungle thickets as it resonates the aura of a natural place. “Where we’re from, music is like sunshine. It can…
ACL Fest Live Shots
The Black Angels Taking the stage right after a brief downpour, hometown psych-rock sextet the Black Angels blasted through a solid set of blues-infused drone custom fit for the dazed, bedraggled mood of a muggy Sunday afternoon. The Black Angels specialize in dark-hued lysergic journeys to the center of the mind powered by a tribal,…
Snapshots of Ann Richards
Photos and remembrances
Parallax View: The Political Economy of Images
Friday-Sunday, as part of Cinematexas 11
A/k/a Tommy Chong
Chong cuts a hugely sympathetic figure in the story of his legal troubles after Operation Pipe Dreams, an anti-paraphernalia sweep that specifically targeted his bong business.
Soccer Watch
The Lady Longhorns improve their record 6-2 and open conference play this week on the road, and more
ACL Fest Live Shots
Ghandaia Seasoned local performers, Ghandaia (gahn-die-ah) came out swinging. Not like a Muhammad Ali, like Duke Ellington. It’s easy to make a racket with 10 people, but it’s something else to open with flowing rhythm and sweet melody. Then again, Ghandaia’s got a lock on diversity-in-unity, writ large on 2003’s appropriately titled UNO (Xochipili). Ghandaia…
ACL Fest Live Shots
Sam Roberts Legend has it that Sam Roberts was Born to Run – that he’s Canada’s long-awaited answer to Bruce Springsteen. Though the 31-year-old songwriter has made quite a name for himself elsewhere, his performance Sunday afternoon still felt like it was make-or-break time. For the most part, the comparison proved sufficient. Roberts specializes in…
Past ‘Chronicle’ Coverage of Richards
Below are links to some of the Chronicle’s coverage of Richards: Nominations for naming of new AISD schools, “Naked City,” Nov. 11, 2006 Naming of Young Women Leadership Academy, “Naked City,” April 16, 2006 Texas Film Hall of Fame coverage, “After a Fashion,” March 17, 2006 “Rembembering Ruthe Winegarten,” June 25, 2204 Naked City item,…
Film News
Ninja-pirate-supermodels, the Austin Polish Film Festival, and zombies (of course)
Luv Doc Recommends: Fantastic Fest 2006
One of the great things about becoming an adult is that you can fully embrace your nerdiness. You don’t have to live in fear that some musclebound meathead will yank your tighty whiteys over your head just because you occasionally like to pretend you’re Luke Skywalker. In fact, if you pop your head up out…
