Nacho ordinary taqueria
For late-night taco attacks, you can’t top Las Brazas
Artifacts
Artifacts Compiled by: Elaine Wolff News and notes from the San Antonio art scene Aeroart San Antonians Meg Langhorne and Rolando Briseño are among the five artists who will enhance the planned new terminals at the airport. The San Antonio International Airport Terminal Expansion Artist Selection Panel also gave the nod to Donald Lipsky of…
All Ears
All Ears By John DeFore Reissue Roundup, Part 1 — Landmarks and Second Looks There are an awful lot of places to mark the birth of Rock and Roll, but one of the most common is 1954, the year of Elvis’ first single and Bill Haley’s epoch-ushering “Rock Around The Clock.” Universal has picked this…
The Lesser of the Two
The Bride, played by Uma Thurman The Lesser of the Two By John DeFore Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Vol. 2’ doesn’t talk the talk Last fall, Quentin Tarantino calmed anxious fans by promising that, while the first half of Kill Bill contained hardly a whiff of his famously clever dialogue, the conclusion would be full of it.…
A Coma Splice In East Berlin
Katrin Sass plays Christiane Kerner in Good Bye Lenin! A Coma Splice In East Berlin By Steven G. Kellman Freedom and security are grand illusions A German Rip Van Winkle, Christiane Kerner (Sass) collapses into a coma on October 7, 1989. She awakens, eight months later, to a world utterly transformed. The Berlin Wall has…
Ban, Ban, Taliban
Marina Golbari poses as a boy named Osama in Siddiq Barmak’s film. Ban, Ban, Taliban By Steven G. Kellman A girl in boy’s clothing seeks work in ‘Osama’ No, he is not that Osama. And he is in fact a she, a girl who tries to pass for male in the cruel androcracy of the…
Armchair Cinephile
Armchair Cinephile John DeFore on DVD Limited Run I’ll be the first to admit that my practiced disdain for television sometimes works to my disadvantage. Since I generally refuse to watch any new series until everyone else in the world acknowledges its worth, I miss the best things entirely – you know, those shows that…
Special Screenings
Special Screenings By John DeFore Light, Shadow, and Music There aren’t easy categories for what Austin film artist Luke Savisky does with celluloid. He shows material in galleries and in movie theaters, stages his own events, and collaborates with friends, but the event never quite seems to match the usual expectations of the venue hosting…
The Ultimate Quest
From hand-made to machine-made, tortillas are the backbone of San Antonio’s culinary palette. Fidensia Sanchez, 56, creates handmade tortillas at James’ Café on Woodlawn. Sanchez’practiced hands have been creating tortillas for 17 years. The Ultimate Quest By Ron Bechtol Searching for the best tortillas in San Antonio With Mexican restaurants on every other corner, it’s…
Rise of the Machine
Machinery cuts disks from sheets of thinly rolled dough to create San Antonio’s staple tortilla. (Photos by Mark Greenberg) Rise of the Machine By Ron Bechtol SA’s Sanitary Tortillas is the oldest tortilla manufacturer in the U.S. “Delgaditas or gruesas?” This is the kind of question you might get if you decided to forego making…
Nacho Ordinary Taquería
A plate of chorizo con papas and picadillo tacos served up hot and cheap all night and day at Las Brazas. (Photo by Michael Salas) Nacho Ordinary Taquería By Laura Fries For late-night taco attacks, you can’t top Las Brazas No examination of tortillas would be complete without sampling them cut, fried, and heaped with…
The Long Year Ahead
Carroll Schubert (Photo by Laura McKenzie) The Long Year Ahead By Michael Cary Carroll Schubert is winning the mayoral money race This is the first of a two-part story about the 2005 mayoral candidates. With the mayoral election a year away, South Side businesswoman Reba Malone says it’s too early to predict who will be…
Ancient Eating
Ancient Eating By Ron Bechtol “Flour or corn?” It’s a question that might draw quizzical looks in Sheboygan, but no San Antonian would give it a second thought. For all of its ubiquity, though, the query is a come-lately one in the history of the tortilla: Cortez’ troops were not faced with the dilemma on…
Pipe Down
Pipe Down By Laura Fries Local head shops and glass artisans pay the price of a new law Tom Roland is a charming man: articulate, politically passionate, and out of work, because he can no longer practice his craft without fear of spending three years in federal prison. (Roland asked that the Current not use…
Heavy Duty
Robb Chavez’ 2nd Annual Metal Works Showcase features ’80s underground band WatchTower. (Photo by Mark Greenberg) Heavy Duty By Gilbert Garcia Robb Chavez ups the ante with his annual dose of metal mayhem Robb Chavez is a master of networking. You get the feeling that if all metalheads were as dogged and resourceful as this…
Hellbilly Hoedown
Ghoultown: a warped mix of Rob Zombie and Johnny Cash Hellbilly Hoedown By Wayne Ansell Dallas’ Ghoultown puts the twang in goth-metal At a recent Ghoultown show in the band’s hometown of Dallas, the crowd’s sartorial splendor said it all. Uniformly dressed in black, with cowboy hats, tattoos, and heavy makeup, they were a tortured…
Toothless in Texas
Phipps Plating, 301 E. Grayson Street, is a Texas Superfund site, one of the most polluted properties in the state. The TCEQ is revamping its enforcement division to more effectively penalize the state’s polluters. (Photo courtesy of TCEQ) Toothless in Texas By Lisa Sorg Conference examines enforcement at TCEQ For the watchdogs of the Texas…
Sound and the Fury
Sound and the Fury a week on the scene Bad Break Local jazz beatmaster and popular KRTU DJ Gerry Gibbs continues his slow, painful recovery from a February road accident in which he broke his arm. At 5 a.m. on February 15, Gibbs was driving on Hwy 281 near Basse Road when his car hit…
Breaking the Law
Ozomatli Breaking the Law By Alejandro Pérez Los Angeles-based genre-defying Ozomatli plays equally well with party animals and political activists, both of which San Antonio offers in abundance. Their multi-ethnic, progressive sound seamlessly combines their diverse influences – from salsa and samba to hip-hop and funk – and, on their recently released EP Coming Up…
Ministering to the Postmodernists
“Uncle Sam holds the world in his hands getting oil for blood,” reads the description on San Angel Folk Art’s website for this image by New Mexican santero Nicholas Herrera. Herrera’s work, which applies traditional carving and painting techniques to current events, is on view at San Angel at Blue Star through the end of…
News Flash
News Flash By Dawn Pomento What are the Flaming Lips doing on the newest Modest Mouse album, Good News For People Who Love Bad News? And why is Modest Mouse singer Isaac Brock impersonating Tom Waits on “The Devil’s Workday”? Before pondering those questions, remember that Modest Mouse has for more than a decade been…
