5 Things You Have to Do This Week
Mon 5/12 – Wed 5 / 14 San Antonio Beer Week Highlights Coinciding with American Craft Beer Week, the fourth annual San Antonio Beer Week (SABW) comprises a variety of events (pub crawls, tap takeovers, beer dinners, seminars and special releases) that celebrate the “ever advancing beer culture here in the U.S.” Among the highlights…
House Speaker John Boehner’s San Antonio Visit Draws Immigration Protest
While Republican House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) visited San Antonio today to speak before a roomful of business and professional groups at a chamber of commerce-hosted luncheon, dozens of local community members rallied outside the Marriott Rivercenter calling on Boehner to get comprehensive immigration reform on track. Speaker John Boehner talks immigration reform in San…
No Sriracha For You–Factory will stay in California
If you somehow got your hopes up that our great State’s lax business/environment rules were going to woo David Tran, CEO of Huy Fong foods, into leaving California, you can let go of those chile-fueled dreams now. NPR is reporting Tran is not moving his facility any time soon, instead choosing to work with the…
Merle Haggard Returns to SA in November
On Monday, November 10, outlaw country icon Merle Haggard will return to San Antonio to perform at the Majestic Theatre. At 77-years-old, Haggard’s telecaster twang is as biting as his first days on the country scene. As a touring musician, Haggard is maturing like an oak-aged whisky, his tours as powerful as they are frequent.…
Sloan/Hall: Birthday Cards, Baubles and Then Some
Baubles from Sloan/Hall (Photo: Deirdre Stevens) The Current came out with their “Best of San Antonio” list in April, and while I normally don’t pay attention to the rankings, there is a category I want to address: “Best Place to Find a Birthday Card,” and the winner Sloan/Hall (5424 Broadway). Located inside one of the…
What I Ate: Getting my fill of ramen
I’m kind of a soup fiend. I can eat it anytime even in the dead of summer when the sidewalks have squiggly heat lines and every paleta cart looks like a mirage. I visited Kimura and Niki’s Tokyo Inn for two wildly different bowls of ramen, both quite good in their own regard. Otherwise, I…
‘Mad Men’ Recap: Things Get Out of Control in “The Runaways”
Stan Rizzo has a laugh at his asshole boss’ expense in “The Runaways.” ‘Mad Men’ Season 7, Episode 5: “The Runaways” In last week’s powerful episode, “The Monolith,” Don’s episodic alcoholism and Freddie’s good council led him to finally accept his new position as a virtual nobody at SC&P. Meanwhile, Margaret Sterling (Marigold is her…
Sunday Night Sound Bite: Conchita Wurst: “Rise Like a Phoenix”
Starcrush suggests Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst could pass for Kim Kardashian with a beard. Despite a petition claiming she’d turn this year’s Eurovision Song Contest into a “hotbed of sodomy,” bearded Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst (born Thomas Neuwirth in 1988) competed in and won the 59th annual event Saturday night, performing “Rise Like a Phoenix” at Copenhagen’s B&W…
Taxi Drivers Accuse Lyft Ridesharing Community of Barbaric Disregard for Safety
Annabel Chang is a public policy manager at Lyft, based in San Francisco. The San Antonio Police Department along with the City Transportation Committee and taxi companies were introduced to the phenomenon of ridesharing in April. Ridesharing is a service that provides shared rides on a short notice. It can be likened to match.com, in…
Aural Pleasure Review: Damon Albarn’s ‘Everyday Robots’
Damon Albarn, Everyday Robots (Parlophone) **1/2 Nobody does the side project quite like Damon Albarn. It’s worth arguing even that he’s eclipsed his fame as frontman for Blur, primarily with history’s most popular cartoon alt-rap group Gorillaz, and eventually with his one-off Afrobeat project The Good, the Bad & the Queen and the two opera…
Celebrity House Flipper Armando Montelongo Takes Credit For All The House Flipping
Armando Montelongo, former reality star of A&E’s ‘Flip This House’ San Antonio ranked number one in something. No, not teen pregnancy. The local real estate market saw the largest growth in house flipping in the first quarter of this year. According to Armando Montelongo, former reality star of A&E’s Flip This House, a show people watched…
Election Results for COSA District 9, ACCD Trustees y Mas
District 9’s Joe Krier Joe Krier sailed into a relatively easy victory on Saturday, May 10, for a permanent seat he once told Council he wasn’t interested in. Krier was appointed by San Antonio’s City Council last November to fill the vacant District 9 council seat left when former council member Elisa Chan decided to…
Paula Deen Coming to Majestic Theatre
From Paula Deen Riding Things Tumblr. Uh…Paula Deen, former Food Network star, cookbook author, caterer, restaurateur and alleged racist is coming to San Antonio’s Majestic Theatre on Wednesday, August 6. Deen will be joined by husband Michael during “Paula Deen Live,” an interactive show where she’ll teach the audience how to make her favorite seasonal…
Bonehead Quote of the Week: Rick Santorum on Lawrence v Texas
Former Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Rick Santorum is playing anti-LGBT prophet lately. During a recent interview with a conservative talk show host, Santorum proclaimed his predictions about the consequences following a historic Texas-based LGBT rights case have come true, Right Wing Watch reported. The 2003 U.S. Supreme Court case Lawrence v Texas struck…
Mayor Castro, SARA Joke Back Against Charles Barkley’s “SA Women Are Overweight” Shtick
Update: May 5, 2014, 3:50 p.m. In yesterday’s playoff coverage, Barkley told his dissenters to “turn off your damn television. I’m not gonna change…They want me to apologize and that’s not gonna happen.” Our original post continues: Charles Barkley Proudly Showing Off His Championship Rings In the past few weeks, Charles Barkley has been…
Shot of the Week: Bomb Pop
Childhood memories are flooding back. (Dusting Dooling) One of the many joys and tortures growing up, was hearing the sound of the ice cream truck coming down the road and frantically running home, smashing your piggy bank and trying to track down that hauntingly delicious sound. When you were lucky enough to flag him down…
7 Ways to Get Your Grub/Drink on this Week
Feast with the Beasts at the San Antonio Zoo. (Courtesy) Friday, May 9: Party with the little birdies and the little kitties at Zoo-la-la. Don your fave Hawaiian ensemble and nosh on food and beer from around town during this year’s 19th annual Feast with the Beasts. Zookeepers will be on-hand to answer questions. $45…
5 Shows You Need to See this Weekend
The Toadies In 1993, after being noticed by Interscope Records on the strength of their debut EP Pleather, Texas post-grunge rock band the Toadies began recording their debut full- length. The album, named Rubberneck for its pervasive sense of disaster watching, would prove to be one of the most enduring and definitive rock albums…
First Course: Two Book signings, Dinner at NAO and a Full Moon Dinner at Tuk Tuk
Chef Dean Fearing. (Courtesy) First Course Fodder brings in exciting food news to you in tiny, digestible bits. Nao Restaurant (312 Pearl) and The Twig Book Shop (306 Pearl) will host a book signing, reception and three course dinner with Chef Dean Fearing for his cookbook, The Texas Food Bible on Thursday, May 8 at…
Dining Al Fresco: Options for road trip, pool party and picnic snacks
It’s almost summer and with it comes road trip vacations, pool parties and outdoor picnics. Since we’re all about food, we’ve compiled a few ideas and recipes to get your outdoor dining done right. Road Trip Snacks Trail Mix Quality car snacks via Use Real Butter Recipe via Use Real Butter Beef Jerky It’s like…
10 Things You Have to Do This Weekend
Thu 5/8 Vincent Valdez: “The Strangest Fruit” Vincent Valdez, The Strangest Fruit, 2013. Image by Mark Menjivar. Named after the Abel Meripool poem and song “Strange Fruit” (which was written in protest to 1930s-era lynchings and popularized by Billy Holiday’s recording in 1939), local artist Vincent Valdez’s large-scale portrait series The Strangest Fruit brings the lost/erased…
Marvel and DC Comics Launch Two Hot Series Just In Time For Summer
Just like summer has its blockbuster movies, comics have their own much anticipated series runs. Wednesday, Marvel debuted Original Sin #1 and DC Comics releases its first issue of New 52 Future’s End. In Original Sin, Uatu, the space-god, dies under mysterious circumstances. To catch the culprit, Nick Fury and his team of select superheroes must…
SAWS Fee Increase Debated At City Hall
The public had a chance to comment on the San Antonio Water System’s request to increase ‘impact fees’ by 116 percent during City Council’s Thursday morning meeting. The one-time charge covers the cost of new development to water and wastewater systems and, according to SAWS, prevents existing ratepayers from subsidizing new customers, ensures growth “pays…
10 Free Things Happening This Week
Art: Vincent Valdez & Cathy Cunningham-Little Opening Reception 6-9 pm, Thu, May 8 San Antonio-based artists Vincent Valdez and Cathy Cunningham-Little will discuss their work at the opening of their exhibitions. Artpace’s Hudson (Show)Room will feature Valdez’s work, Strangest Fruit, sponsored in part by Belinda Valera Molina. Cunningham-Little’s work, Encounter, will be displayed in the…
Long Road Ahead For Uber and Lyft
Photo by Albert Salazar Dozens of Lyft and Uber supporters gathered at a City Council Public Safety Committee meeting today to express support for rideshare mobile apps. The show of strength was outmatched by the over 100 Yellow Cab drivers and employees who came to protest the transportation startups’ foray into the San Antonio market.…
20 Unique Art Events Happening This Weekend
Thursday, May 8 1. Art opening: Cathy Cunnigham-Little: “Within the Angles of Incidence” Opening in tandem with Vincent Valdez’s exhibition in Artpace’s Hudson (Show)Room, local artist Cathy Cunnigham-Little’s Window Works project “Within the Angles of Incidence” transforms from a quiet installation, which is barely noticeable during daylight hours, to an unexpected environment with a vivid…
Not So Fast: Former Liberty Bar stays
Courtesy Wikipedia Fans of the Boehler House’s iconic lean can rest easy for now. The Historic and Design Review Commission denied the motion to relocate the former Liberty Bar as applied for by Bill Shown, managing director of real estate for Silver Ventures, the developers behind the Pearl complex. The item, initially slated within the…
Chef and TV Host Lidia Bastianich Visits Luce Ristorante e Enoteca
Fresh wild Alaskan halibut fillet with braised fennel, sautéed celery, Yukon gold potatoes and grape tomatoes. Chef, author, television host and restauranteur, Lidia Bastianich visited Luce Ristorante e Enoteca (11255 Huebner) for lunch sponsored by the KLRN Chef Series. Chef Joe Buonincontri of Luce prepared a four-course meal of recipes from Bastianich’s book Lidia’s Commonsense Italian…
Barbaro Guest Bartender Takeover
(Courtesy) While Miss Speed Rack Texas, aka Elisabeth Forsythe, gears up for speed rack nationals tomorrow in NYC, Barbaro is having a series of guest bartenders take over here duties this week from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. through Saturday. Yesterday, Roy Guerrero of Esquire Tavern took over and tonight is Andy Hack of Minnie’s Tavern (aka our Best…
City Hosts Art Exhibit Aimed At Teen Pregnancy Prevention
This morning, a room within the San Antonio Central Library turned into a mini-exhibit hall for artwork, created and presented by local teens, showcasing their visions for the future: college, a career and a life unencumbered by early parenthood. High school junior Shalon Lewis shows off her life goals through artwork as part of the…
We Doodley Do: Kurt Vonnegut estate compiles author’s visual art
Despite the natural flow and comedic gait of Kurt Vonnegut’s prose, writing didn’t come easily for the author. Vonnegut called his profession “clerical,” a frustrating task of compressing narrative and style into the confines of the page. But drawing in felt-tip offered an escape for the novelist, an instant outlet from the toil of his…
Extended Q&A with City Council District 9 Candidates
After council member Elisa Chan vacated her District 9 seat for a (failed) shot at the Texas Senate, the Mayor and Council ushered in former chair and CEO of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, Joe Krier, to fill the temporary void in November. Now, the city is holding a special election on May…
Road Food: Beer-battered fish tacos from Duke’s Seafood & Grill
A mild spring means area food trucks are out and about in droves. Any downtown resident and/or worker can attest to the new draw of Travis Park, which recently underwent a $500,000 makeover that includes new picnic tables, teal plastic bistro tables, a dog run and infrastructure upgrades. The improvements make it a great space…
Aural Pleasure Review: Swans’ ‘To Be Kind’
Swans, To Be Kind (Young God) **** In 2012, Swans hit a hard second stride with their critically-deified The Seer. While most 30-year-old bands are shilling their Greatest Hits CDs, Swans are forging new paths in experimental, percussive, abrasive and industrial experimental rock. To Be Kind, while not as much of a life-changing aesthetic experience as The…
Bar America gets a facelift
At 31, Brian Correa is far from an old man, and as the new owner of Bar America (723 S Alamo, (210) 223-1285), he’s actively working against the former image while trying not to lose its essence. For any nay-sayers out there, Correa is one of the few people that should take over the joint…
Op-Ed: Racism is Alive and well in America
Soon after candidate Barack Obama was elected president, becoming the country’s first commander in chief, commentators declared an end to racism in America. These pundits informed the country that it had entered a new post-racial phase and there was no longer a need to place civil rights atop of the country’s political agenda. Black Americans…
Artist Vincent Valdez, the anti-James Franco
It would be so easy to merely catalog Vincent Valdez’s very real triumphs, mark him as a kind of apotheosis of “Chicano Art”… and to leave it at that. Branded, and therein ghettoized, a terrible tendency among art critics and patrons. For a little while, I was afraid that could happen. In quick succession, Valdez’s…
Flavor File: Pearl hopes to move former Liberty Bar, new growler station opens and free cone day
Minnie’s Tavern may be closing, and the leaning building that was built in the 1890s, survived the flood of 1921 and once housed Liberty Bar, might be moving down the street. The Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC) released its agenda for this Wednesday’s meeting, which featured a consent item for relocating the buildingat 328…
The New Americana: M. Ward and Mount Moriah
Drop M. Ward’s name among the bearded, flannelled folk types and you’ll witness a Homer Simpson-like pining for the singer-songwriter, co-founder of super group Monsters of Folk and the male component of twee-folk outfit She & Him. Mmm… Ward. But don’t fear the hype. Ward’s certainly earned the esteem in his 15-year career, renovating the…
Savage Love: Noise Makers
I’m a 26-year-old lesbian 18 months out of an eight-year relationship. She was my first girlfriend. I do not want to be in another monogamous relationship. I want to have a couple of sex buddies or, preferably, a couple of friends with benefits. In the last 18 months, I have had three FWB “arrangements” with…
Happy Hour Hound: Crawdads Sports Bar & Grill
Crawfish are having a moment. It seems every bar, truck or restaurant is touting some sort of boil throughout the week. As the namesake for Crawdads Sports Bar & Grill (12333 West, (210) 314-2339), these mudbugs are available more often than not, and for good reason. My fellow Happy Hour Hound and I made the…
Jarmusch’s ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ Proves Humans are the True Monsters
Potential viewers, upon hearing that Only Lovers Left Alive is a vampire movie, can rightly feel blasé. Another vampire movie? In the last decade, there have been seemingly countless entries in an apparently immortal genre: the awful Twilight movies; the Fright Night remake; the excellent Swedish Let the Right One In and its so-so American remake…
The Toadies’ Deliciously Malicious ‘Rubberneck’ Turns 20
In 1993, after being noticed by Interscope Records on the strength of their debut EP Pleather, Texas post-grunge rock band the Toadies began recording their debut full- length. The album, named Rubberneck for its pervasive sense of disaster watching, would prove to be one of the most enduring and definitive rock albums of the 1990s.…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Fireworks displays excite the eyes and lift the spirit. But the smoke and dust they produce can harm the lungs with residues of heavy metals. The toxic chemicals they release may pollute streams and lakes and even groundwater. So is there any alternative? Not yet. No one has come up with…
Weissman’s New Take on Sip
Let’s get this out of the way—I’m a fan of Andrew Weissman’s work. Minnie’s Tavern & Rye House elevated the former Liberty Bar space and makes for a solid date night (get there ASAP!). The Luxury is literally down the street from us here at the Current and we’d live off those fries if we…
Alamo Colleges Board of Trustee Candidates Focus on Chancellor’s Leadership
Five minutes into a sparsely attended candidate forum at San Antonio College last week, it became clear that the upcoming Alamo Community College District board of trustees race is as much about strengthening the direction of the five academic institutions as it is a referendum on Chancellor Bruce Leslie’s leadership style. Embroiled in controversy, the…
The State of SA’s Craft Brew
The history of this country is filled with stories of how beer brings communities together. Towns were often built with a brewhouse planned as a key component right alongside government entities. It has also long been speculated (with some actual support) that the Mayflower landed in Plymouth as they were running out of the ales…
Glitter Political: Timothy Wilson, Kirby’s ‘Medium’ Republican and ‘Die Hard’ Candidate
When I walk into Lupita’s Mexican Restaurant in Kirby, Bexar County Commissioner (Precinct 4) candidate Timothy Wilson is already seated at our table with a serious look on his face. Scheduled to go blockwalking right after our interview, he’s dressed in brown khaki shorts, a white campaign T-shirt and a gray baseball cap. He’ll no doubt don…
Despite Appearances, Turturro’s ‘Fading Gigolo’ Charms
Fading Gigolo is a tough sell. It stars Woody Allen, who, in case you forgot, was in the news again over child molestation claims from the 1990s. A large part of it is about sex, and few probably want to think about sex and Woody Allen right now. It has the word “gigolo” in the title,…
Lunchtime Snob: Beto’s brings the flavor to the other end of Broadway
For me, Beto’s Comida Latina (8142 Broadway, (210) 930-9393) embodies the San Antonio culinary experience–it’s delicious, filling and not too serious. The restaurant sits on Broadway, just inside 410. I feel sorry for that area, since the Lower Broadway and Pearl folks steal all of the attention. It’s a shame too, because local food is…
District 9 Candidates Q&A
After council member Elisa Chan vacated her District 9 seat for a failed shot at the Texas Senate, the mayor and City Council ushered in former chair and CEO of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Joe Krier to fill the temporary void in November. Now, the City is holding a special election on…
Tragedy Unfolds As San Antonio Taco Obsession Falters
If you know anyone from Austin, you know they go on and on about breakfast tacos like they invented the damn things. And as they prattle on about the virtues of chorizo and egg, you roll your eyes and think to yourself, “Yeah, yeah.” Now our neighbors to the north have a weapon in the…
‘The Amazing Spiderman 2’ Spins its Mettle from Absent Fathers
Father-son relationships are often complicated and influential. In the Amazing Spider-Man 2, that relationship accounts for not only creating a superhero, but a super villain. By the end of the first movie, Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Peter Parker has a lot of issues. He’s part spider, his uncle died, his girlfriend’s father died, and he had…
Nerds Unite for San Antonio’s Wookiee Walk
On May 4, the unofficial Star Wars holiday, fans of the franchise came out to walk from Hemisfair Park to the Alamo to celebrate their nerdiness in the first annual San Antonio Wookiee Walk. Photos of the Coolest Star Wars Nerds at the SA Wookiee Walk Joseph Devine, the founder of Wookiee Walk, has loved…
Turntable Tuesday: Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s Volunteered Slavery
Though we spend most of our time in the music section writing about new material, Turntable Tuesday allows us to look back, and look closely at some captivating albums in our catalog. This week’s column hones in on Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s Volunteered Slavery, a freaky, funky medley of live and studio recordings from the…
