5 Things You Have to Do This Week
1. Action Pack: Totally ’80s Sing-Along Among the recurring features of Alamo Drafthouse’s Summer of ’83 celebration, the Totally ’80s Sing-Along is an interactive guilty pleasure that’s fun to watch even if you’re too cool to dork out and sing. As if two hours of back-to-back music videos starring Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Whitney Houston,…
Mid-Year Music Roundup: The Top 5 Albums of 2013…So Far
Happy July, San Antonio! This week, five of our music writers will be taking turns listing what they believe to be the top 5 albums of 2013…so far. We begin with M.R. Brown. Let us know in the comments what your favorite new music of 2013 is! Check in tomorrow for the next installment. 1.…
A Q & A with ‘Dirty Wars’ director Rick Rowley
If it were up to filmmaker Rick Rowley, the U.S. government would conduct all business in an open field with bullhorns. It’s especially vital, Rowley says, when it comes to letting the American public know about the covert missions carried out under the veil of the U.S. military. In his new documentary Dirty Wars (opening…
TEDxSanAntonio **Still** Looking for Speakers
**UPDATE: TEDxSanAntonio speaker applications now being accepted now through July 15.** Think you’ve got something important to say? Applications for speakers to present at the 4th TEDxSanAntonio are being accepted through July 1. The event is Saturday, October 12, 2013 at Rackspace Global Headquarters, San Antonio. Application is free at TEDxSanAntonio.com/speak TED, a nonprofit focusing on technology, entertainment, and…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In his book The Fisher King and the Handless Maiden, Robert Johnson says many of us are as much in debt with our psychic energy as we are with our financial life. We work too hard. We rarely refresh ourselves with silence and slowness and peace. We don’t get enough sleep…
Mac Miller: 'Watching Movies with the Sound Off'
If you have Mac Miller pegged as nothing more than a highly-skilled weed-rapper — a more lyrical but equally vapid version of fellow Pittsburgher Wiz Khalifa — you might be largely right. However, consider the following. Watching Movies With the Sound Off is only the 21 year old Miller’s second actual LP. It’s a follow…
Steve Earle: 'The Warner Bros Years'
After not writing or recording anything for four years, Steve Earle came back with a vengeance. A month after getting out of rehab, he recorded the acoustic (“Not unplugged… God, I hate MTV,” he said) Train a Comin’ (1995), thus beginning a new, clean, and prolific chapter in his career. This superb box set includes…
Sunday Comic: The Adventures of Pizza and Myrtle
Click image to enlarge.
ANALOG IS NOT DEAD #3: Estate Sales, Islands and Tigers EP release at the Ten Eleven, Troller at Essentials Studio, Instagram Hunting, Scrotongues at Limelight
Hi — so, here we go again. For those of you viewing this blog for the first time, my name is Bryan De La Garza (but everyone calls me brain), and I have always wanted to do a photoblog where I only post photos shot on film. I have been trying to shoot a roll…
Ask Aliyah: The Office Slob is Not Your Problem
Dear Aliyah, I work in a professional field, yet a casual office atmosphere. I enjoy my job and appreciate my co-workers but a couple of people’s choice of clothing is getting under my skin. In fact, the pair in question happen to be married and each wear atrocious attire to the office. They are sloppy.…
SA Scorpions win 4-1 at Ft. Lauderdale, and could win it all
SA Scorpions’ defender Blake Wagner (#13) being marked by Ft. Lauderdale Strikers’ Jesús Chávez (photo courtesy of nasl.com) Just a few games ago, the SA Scorpions were near the bottom of the North American Soccer League standings. After soundly beating last-placed Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 4-1 at St. Petersburg, Fl. in their fourth straight victory, the…
A History of Pride Celebrations in San Antonio
Cheer Dallas at San Antonio Pride Parade, 1998 This year’s Pride month has pretty much been the best ever for the LBGTQ community, with the striking down of DOMA and California’s Prop 8 being dismissed, but it’s also a landmark year for Pride San Antonio as they celebrate 10 years in operation. LGBTQ Pride Month…
Digitizing UTSA’s LGBTQ Collections
Like any great civil rights movement, there is a rich history behind the LGBTQ community’s ongoing fight for social acceptance. With the events of the past week, these issues are, now more than ever, an open topic for discussion in almost any social setting, but this wasn’t always the case. For a long time, any…
Mitote Records: Pop Pistol’s amazing “No New Years Know” video
The Mitote Records week at the Current continues with this gorgeous, Daniela Riojas-directed video off Pop Pistol’s Animal Prisms, the first Mitote release. Remember that today and tomorrow are Mitote’s big nights, with Bite Lip Bleed and Secrets & Irises presenting their respective new recordings.
Brazilians pissed about the 2014 World Cup
Shortly before the start of the Confederations Cup (the soccer tournament with the champions of the different continents one year before the World Cup), Brazilian filmmaker Carla Dauden posted a short video that went viral: No, I’m Not Going to the World Cup. Shortly after, Brazil exploded: reportedly, about two million Brazilians took to the…
Hugh Laurie (‘House’): new album in August, U.S. Tour In September
Besides playing a sarcastic physician in Fox’s House, Hugh Laurie is also a critically acclaimed pianist and singer who has played at the Montreux and Cheltenham Jazz Festivals. He recently released Didn’t It Rain on May 6 in the U.K. (tentative U.S. release August 6), which served as a follow-up to Let Them Talk, his 2011…
Pixies Release first New Song In Nine Years
It’s been a long nine years, but it’s been worth the wait as the Pixies finally released a new song: “Bagboy.” Earlier this month it was announced that Kim Deal left the band. And while many people questioned whether it was her on the backup vocals for “Bagboy,” Pitchfork confirmed (through a band’s publicist) Frank…
5 Great Places to Buy Real Food from Real People in San Antonio
Summer squash from Southtown Farmers and Ranchers Market. (Courtesy photo) For hardcore foodies, there are a few things more exciting than scoring first dibs of fresh produce at their local farmers market. Tangible produce, sans the bar code, sold by the very same person that harvested it – what’s not to love? Here’s a quick…
Watch the Trailer for ‘White House Down’ “Sequel,” ‘Waffle House Down’
White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, opens today at Santikos everywhere. But, as Jimmy Kimmel said on his show last night, “audiences are so excited about it they’re already releasing a sequel.” Watch: The hostage waffle lady is my friend Natasha Pérez, an L.A.-based Venezuelan singer-songwriter/comedian who recently auditioned for the Spanish…
San Antonio Chefs Shine (in) The Big Apple
It was easy to spot the San Antonio contingent at the Jesse Perez’s formal dinner in the dining rooms of New York’s James Beard House — no, they were not the ones wearing big hats and even bigger buckles. They were, instead, the ones sneaking looks under the table at iPhones and other devices for…
The Pride Issue: Behind the Scenes of Our Cover Shoot
Behind the scenes time lapse video of Josh Huskin shooting Tencha La Jefa for the cover of our Pride issue. Photographer: Josh Huskin Art Director: Eli Miller Model: Tencha La Jefa Dress Designed by: Dakota Whitney Video: Steve Starnes Music: Stegosaur Read our Pride issue here.
Perry Attacks Davis At Anti-Abortion Convention
Standing before his anti-abortion cadre, Gov. Rick Perry took the opportunity to bash Sen. Wendy Davis and the hundreds of Texas citizens who came to the Capitol to protest a dead (for now) abortion bill. As everyone with an Internet connection knows, Davis successfully launched an epic 13-hour filibuster earlier this week, killing a bill…
Meet and Geek with Geekdom
Geekdom is a new kind of collaborative coworking space where entrepreneurs, technologists, developers, makers & creatives help build businesses and other cool things together. It has 500+ members, and has the goal of improving networking among members. For this reason, Geekdom is hosting a Meet and Geek! Think speed dating for networking. Geeks and geeks…
Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson Return for Zoolander’s Animated Sequel
Ben Stiller’s fashionable alter ego, Derek Zoolander, dazzled runways and charmed audiences with his iconic Blue Steel pose in 2001’s film, Zoolander. Nearly a decade later in 2010, Ben Stiller discussed with the The New York Times the model’s forthcoming reprisal in an animated “Zoolander” series titled “Billy Glimmer: Entertainer of the Century.” While plans still…
10 Things You Have to Do This Weekend
1. Heather Go Psycho Following on the footsteps of Lonely Horse, Piñata Protest and a growing list of local touring bands, Heather Go Psycho is ready to explore strange lands. Power singer-guitarist Jacklyn Alexandra, Cristal Anette (bass, vocals) and Diana Marie (drums, vocals) are a fun pop-punk trio that knows how to have fun while…
FLAG, Daniel Johnston, Big K.R.I.T. & More Added to Fun Fun Fun Fest Lineup
Fun Fun Fun Fest has released it’s second wave of festival acts. Announced today were Flag, Big K.R.I.T., Star Slinger, Deerhunter, Daniel Johnston, and Kyle Kinane. They join the previously announced Ice-T, The Walkmen, Bonobo, Judge and The Julie Ruin on the bill. FFF8 will take place this fall, Nov 8-10 at Austin’s Auditorium Shores. Tickets will be on sale here on…
Mitote Records: Langton Drive
As part of our Mitote Records Week (which started Monday and culminates with the CD release parties of Bite Lip Bleed and Secrets & Irises), here’s an early video of Langton Drive performing at the now defunct Saluté. The band has plans to release its second EP in August and a full-length album in late…
War (“Low Rider”) Coming To SA for a free show
To kick off the 4th of July celebrations, War will be coming to San Antonio on Saturday, June 29 to play a free show from 7 to 10PM at the Wonderland of the Americas Amphitheatre. Before War’s two-hour set, the event will kick off with the San Antonio Symphonic Band performing a catalogue of American patriotic…
This is What Happens when You Google the Word ‘gay’ Today
DOMA was struck down by SCOTUS and Prop8 was dismissed this morning. Celebrate with our Pride issue, out today!
Anti-Abortion Bill Dies After Senate Filibuster
Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Forth Worth) successfully filibusters a sweeping anti-abortion bill. Photo by Mary Tuma. *UPDATE* This afternoon, Gov. Rick Perry called a second special session to take up abortion- related legislation once again Related: Filibuster by Democratic Senator Kills the Anti-Abortion Bill Live Tweeting #TXLege Abortion Bills #SB5 #HB60 House Approves Anti-Abortion Bill Despite…
Drag's New Dawn in SA
At first, it’s the bone structure that tips me off. Then, the thick, full lips. But ultimately, it’s the way he walks with unmistakable precision through Lulu’s crowded restaurant on Main that finally confirms that this man in a Spurs t-shirt could be none other than the singular Tencha La Jefa. When he joins our…
Rassle up some LGBT fun at SA Country Saloon
SA Country Saloon can be summed up by its most striking feature: a boot-shaped disco ball, which spins on a floor alternately used for line dancing and drag shows. Housed in what used to be Bermuda Triangle, the Saloon outwardly blends in with its corporate blah surroundings just off San Pedro Avenue’s northern-most reach. Open…
Day Trips 2013: Five Ways to Get Outta Here
1. Krause Springs and Hamilton Pool: Krause Springs Krause Springs (Spicewood) (830) 693-4181 krausesprings.net Opie’s BBQ 9504 Hwy 71 E (Spicewood) (830) 693-8660 opiesbarbecue.com Hamilton Pool Preserve 24300 Hamilton Pool (Dripping Springs) parks.traviscountytx.gov/find-a-park/hamilton-pool When the temperature gauge starts sweating bullets and the world begins to slowly melt around you, a cool way to beat the…
Seven Key Summer Concerts You Can’t Miss
Seven key summer events you can’t miss, depending on your level of coolness. June 29 // BARRY MANILOW After the originally scheduled May 18 show was cancelled due to Manilow’s bronchitis, the “Copacabana” icon returns to San Antonio. Tickets bought for the May show will be honored, and instrument donations are still being accepted for…
Joss Whedon Updates ‘Much Ado About Nothing’
Is it an attempt to force some culture onto the Comic-Con nerds? William Shakespeare did, after all, invent the notion of meeting-cute. And who better to appreciate Beatrice and Benedick’s smart-alecky badinage than Joss Whedon? Shot over 12 days at his Santa Monica mansion, The Avengers director’s let’s-put-on-a-show Shakespearean house party is stocked with so…
Rising Band Dirty River Boys Burst the El Paso Bubble
Science of Flight — the 2012 sophomore release from El Paso-bred, Austin-based quartet the Dirty River Boys — is constructed from just about every type of music made in America on an acoustic guitar before the Vietnam War. Folk, blues, bluegrass, country, and gospel (not to mention Dixieland jazz, traditional Mexican, and Roma music, plus…
Texas House Approves Anti-Abortion Bill Despite Hundreds of Protestors
“Are you against science?” asked Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Forth Worth), encapsulating Sunday evening’s Texas House debate over a bill that would eviscerate abortion access in the state. As of press time, the House preliminarily passed the legislation 97-33. The bill is expected to move back to the Senate and be met with a filibuster from Democrats.…
Blue Star’s Kopriva Retrospective Questions Catholicism
Influenced by two millennia of Catholic guilt and the ancient mummies of Peru, Houston artist Sharon Kopriva’s ghastly figures — wretched priests, beastly bishops, conniving cardinals, naughty nuns, and masochistic worshippers — are made with animal bones, teeth, fabric, clay, wood, and papier-mâché. Maybe it’s a typo, but another ingredient listed for her Stations of…
Summer Chlorination
On the list of ways to cool off in SA (below “air conditioning,” above “ice bath”) is hitting the pool. Lucky for you, San Anto boasts several free or dirt-cheap pools open to the public, even if most of their seasons are far shorter than our mercury-busting heat. Here’s the details on seven worth diving…
Local Food Truck makes U.S. Top 10 Lists
I used to think gluten-free foods were like fat-free cheese: why would you eat something that’s had its very essence removed? But for those who suffer from gluten intolerance or Celiac disease, gluten-free is the only way to roll. Jason Dady’s Tre Trattoria on Broadway is offering a variety of gluten-free pastas, like the signature…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I’m a U.S.-born Mexican that grew up part of my life in Tijuana. Why do Mexican-Americans from Santa Ana and South Gate always think they’re harder than the rest of us Mexicans, yet their neighborhoods are like a hundred times better than the colonia I grew up in? I mean, they have the Santa…
San Antonio's Glacial Progress on LGBT Rights
One by one, activists, family members, and allies of LGBT San Antonians stood before their councilmembers, demanding the gay community be treated as more than second-class citizens. Recounting emotional, first-person stories of victimization and intolerance, testifiers urged council to pass a measure that codifies their societal equity by granting them the same protections as their…
Southtown Farmers and Ranchers Market opens at Blue Star
The landscape changed two weeks ago when the Southtown Farmers and Ranchers Market debuted at Blue Star Arts Complex. With scads of chef-driven restaurants about, Southtown isn’t exactly a food desert, but there’s been a shortage of opportunities to purchase nourishment in the raw. Operated by Heather Hunter and David Lent, founders of the Sunday…
New Kids on the Dais
With the drama of campaigning and pomp of swearing-in ceremonies over, San Antonio’s newest City Council members officially took their seats last week. We get down to the nuts-and-bolts of what to expect from your District 5 and District 8 runoff election winners: District 5 Rush Limbaugh does not endorse Shirley Gonzales. In fact, he’d…
Lively ‘Funeral’ for Bite Lip Bleed
I had been hearing a lot about Bite Lip Bleed, and I caught a glimpse of them at last year’s Lennon Lives tribute at Boneshakers — I was hooked immediately. To be fair, that was only a trio version of the septet, but as soon as I heard Jennifer Cavazos nail down a ska version…
Minnie’s Tavern Offers ‘Tres Bon’ French Brasserie Fare
Andrew Weissman achieved national acclaim with Le Rêve, and the shock of its closing in 2009 after an 11-year run is, I am told, still rattling some local foodies. Now, three months after opening The Luxury next to San Antonio Museum of Art, the James Beard Award-nominated chef continues to expand his empire from its…
Happy Hour Hound: Atomar
I arrived around 5 p.m. — plenty of time to have a couple of drinks, explore the snacks menu, and split before the 6 p.m. deadline. At 5:15, the sky opened up, the street outside downtown’s Atomar was instantly slick with rain … and nobody was going anywhere. It made for an interesting dynamic. Those…
Beat the Heat with Cooling Ayurvedic Foods
If you are anything like me, having grown up in the hellish conditions of summers in South Texas, you are probably thinking something along the lines of “the weather this summer has been great!” But I was recently reminded that summer didn’t actually begin till June 21. Bummer. July and August are still to come,…
4 Aguas Frescas Recipes to Make You Forget the Heat
Unbearable heat, droughts, and suffocating humidity — yes, San Antonio summer is finally upon us. This time, why drag yourself out and fight the mosquitos for ice cream, soda, or Kool-Aid mix when you can skip the pain and enjoy a healthy alternative to those artificially flavored summer treats? Aguas Frescas, translated in English as…
Review of the Revamped Luther’s Cafe
Luther’s Café has been around since 1949. I came upon it much later, thank you very much, when it was still the kind of greasy burger joint where you could sit at the counter and watch your very own patty being poked and prodded. And I watched the place itself morph in many ways —…
Can SA’s “Gay Dollar” Make Policy Impact?
Money talks, but does it make a sound if no one is listening? San Antonio LGBT consumers pack enough buying power to bankroll the entire city budget for a year and a half. Yet in many cases here, they’re still fighting for full citizenship in both the workplace and public policy. Washington D.C.-based Witeck Communications…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “To know when to stop is of the same importance as to know when to begin,” said the painter Paul Klee. Take that to heart, Aries! You are pretty adept at getting things launched, but you’ve got more to learn about the art of stopping. Sometimes you finish prematurely. Other times…
Artpace International Artist-in-Residence Series 2: Holy Worship Clubs
The Current is pleased to partner with Artpace to present a weekly series of work by International Artist-in-Resident Pak Sheung Chuen. Read more about the Hong Kong-based artist in this interview with Ben Judson. Click on the image to the left to expand. We have reproduced Pak’s text below. Check back next week for the…
A Story and a Study of Queer Realities
Sighs Too Deep For Words By William Jack Sibley CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform $15, 314 pp. Lester Briggs has just finished a five-year prison sentence for stealing, of all things, a church, and travels to Rockport, Tex., to find the love of his life: Laurel Jeanette, a woman he has never met, but who corresponded…
Out, Loud and Proud
1 Multi-colored Necklace Apricot Lane: $21 • 2 Pride-themed Sunglasses Case Zebraz: $8.95 • 3 “Cowboy Dreams” Apron On Main Off Main: $48 • 4 Qupid Wedge Platforms Apricot Lane: $39 • 5 Polo Ralph Lauren Floral Print Shorts Neiman Marcus: $98 • 6 Supergoop! Antioxidant-infused Sunscreen Mist Amar Cosmetics: $12 • 7 M Missoni…
Summer Movie Preview 2013
Summer is a grim reminder of San Antonio’s arbitrary — and unfair — status as a “secondary market:” some of these films won’t open here on their official release date. In case we get lucky, here’s my quick, personal, subjective take on the films to watch in the summer. June 28 A Band Called Death,…
Secrets and Irises’ Debut EP ‘Seasons’ Packs Plenty of Change
As Joshua Barrera — the current bassist and former lead singer for Secrets and Irises — attests, change has defined the band’s existence. Formed four years ago, the band has had several lineup switches: multiple bassists and singers, and they went from being a trio to a quintet. But all the roster changes haven’t been…
This Bytes: Floating Peach Cobbler Recipe
Summer is finally here, and you know what that means! Raspas, drinks by the pool and, of course, ice cream floats. These aren’t just root beer floats — they’re peach cobbler floats! This ice cream float recipe is amazeballs (yup that’s a real word). It’s a fruit cobbler with a scoop of ice cream, only…
Filibuster by Democratic Senator Kills the Anti-Abortion Bill
**UPDATE** 3:05 a.m. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst officially tells Texas Senate that “Senate bill 5 cannot be signed in the presence of the senate.” He adds, “See you soon.” 2:20 a.m. Lt. Gov., in the Capitol rotunda, says #SB5 has died. It did not pass the Senate. Still awaiting an official statement to the press.…
Live Tweeting #TXLege Abortion Bills #SB5 #HB60
Follow Current staff writer Mary Tuma as she reports from the Texas State Capitol. Related: Filibuster by Democratic Senator: Did it Kill Anti-Abortion Bill? House Approves Anti-Abortion Bill Despite Hundreds of Protestors Tweets by @TumaTime // !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:’https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+”://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”); // ]]>
Bobby Flay Taste Tests Armie Hammer’s Bird Bakery on Good Morning America
The raincloud that is the Spurs’ Game 7 loss to the Miami Heat was somewhat dissipated Monday, and all it took was a Mexican chocolate brownie. Seriously, though, Bird Bakery owner Elizabeth Chambers brought some sweet publicity (pun intended) to our city on Good Morning America yesterday during a segment with Food Network star Bobbie…
