Feature Demolition derby
Preservation Texas designates five SA neighborhoods as threatened On a recent humid afternoon in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, Mountain Laurel trees atomized a grape mist from their blooms. It was shortly before 5, and a rush-hour train whistled from the west, overpowered by a bass guitar booming from megawatt speakers inside a house and a…
Food & Drink Mining for gold
You don’t have to dig too deeply into Oro’s menu to find something good to eat Located in the Emily Morgan Hotel, Oro has one of the city’s most handsome dining rooms. With dark wood floors, high-backed booths, chairs upholstered in fabric the color of smoked salmon, and subtle lighting that includes custom-made fabric cones…
Music Sound and the Fury
A week on the scene Aural alchemy Turntable wizard Mix Master Mike cut his musical chops spinning at San Francisco weddings and house parties before joining Q-bert and the Triple Threat DJs in the mid-’90s to form the Invisible Skratch Picklz. The legendary quintet went on to become perhaps the most influential crew in the…
Food & Drink Souper man
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … the Soup Peddler! One dull workday, David Ansel let a songbird, perched just outside his office window, talk him into quitting his soul-sucking job as a computer engineer. After a few months of casting about for a source of income, Ansel took stock of his assets —…
Media Bring aspirin and caffeine
Web Exclusive Straight talk about SXSW’s best bets Any film buff looking for proof of Robert Altman’s Oscar-night claim that his career is far from over can drive to Austin tomorrow night, when the auteur’s A Prairie Home Companion will make a star-studded opener for the nine-day 2006 South By Southwest film festival. The Garrison…
Culture Two thumbs down
On the buttons, that is, as Bill Carlton battles his way into video-arcade history Jeremy Mack fell in love with filmmaking when his parents purchased a video camcorder to record family vacations and outings. He was a student at San Antonio’s Krueger Middle School at the time. Video-arcade gamer Bill Carlton stands next to the…
Food & Drink Toro toro
Value Vino – Great wines for under $15 Miguel Torres Jr., fifth-generation scion of Spain’s famous winemaking family, was recently in town to tout the wines of their far-flung enophilic empire, and he had some surprises up his Catalonian sleeve. We should probably start with Sangre de Toro, a wine to which many of us…
Food & Drink All you can eat
News and notes from the San Antonio food scene Former San Remo owner and chef Robert Riddle has a new restaurant in the works, reportedly opening under the name Riddle’s. At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 16, Riddle will talk about his new project and “Creative Ideas for Using Culinary Herbs” at the San Antonio Herb…
News Best interest
Council argues over which lobbyists should represent the City Partisan politics flared up in the City Council chambers recently when the City’s external-relations department introduced its lobby team for the upcoming special and regular sessions of the Texas Legislature. The special session, which Governor Rick Perry called to resolve the state’s public school financing policy,…
News Counterpoint
Top secret – Sunshine Week stresses importance of open government If you’ve ever wondered about the number of alligators on Cherokee property that have been sold, how much money the Texas Lotto generates, the subjects of Texas Alcohol Beverage complaints, or the levels of air pollutants emitted by coal-fired power plants, the information is available…
Music Soul mates
Indie-pop’s favorite couple ‘Bring It Back’ home When bands and relationships mix, there’s usually a divorce lawyer lurking behind the drum riser. Consider the romantic dysfunction that made Fleetwood Mac everyone’s favorite arena-rock soap opera of the late ’70s. What about the “I’m leaving you, what time is Thursday’s gig?” dynamics of the White Stripes…
Arts The art capades
Finesilver gushes back onto the SA scene The drought has finally ended. Finesilver Gallery opened its first exhibition in nearly a year at its San Antonio location on Camaron Street. While we hunkered down against the dreary gray skies outside, Finesilver’s opening offered a mood-elevating antidote with lush color and surface explorations by Mark Flood…
Music All ears
Around the world in 80 minutes It’s been a long time since this column went globe-hopping (aside from that quick trip to Ethiopia), and the world-music shelves are now heavy with new titles. On the contemporary front, plenty of relatively new names are angling for crossover status: Brazil’s Badi Assad, who on Verde (Edge Music)…
Arts The doobie lovers
The Cellar takes Gilbert & Sullivan’s Patience on a truly groovy trip At this point, it’s hard to do something original with a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. I’ve seen a Mikado with cell phones, Pirates with light sabers, a Brothers Grimm Iolanthe, and the world’s gayest Princess Ida. Since Gilbert and Sullivan’s works are so…
Music CD Spotlight
Well-respected man In 1966, Ray Davies wrote “Holiday In Waikiki,” a song that depicted Hawaii as a tourist trap replete with hula dancers from New York City and grass skirts made of PVC. On Other People’s Lives — the legendary Kinks frontman’s first studio solo album — he revisits the subject of tourism with a…
Arts Framed – John DeFore on comix
Just enough Moore The publicity machine is revved for V For Vendetta; as one of the few Texans to have previewed the movie, I’m happy to say it’s a bang-up job. And although the writer disavowed the project early on, this is the best film yet to adapt the work of pioneering comics auteur Alan…
Music Current Choice
Out of their gourds The Gourds are obsessed with food. Well, maybe it’s more accurate to say that the Gourds are obsessed with anything that can be consumed. Consider “Burn the Honeysuckle,” in which Kevin Russell sings of marrying a woman “raised on mustard green and beer” and blessed/cursed with “skin like tobacco and eyes…
Arts Classical attitude
News and notes from San Antonio’s other music scene In music schools and concert halls, hundreds of performances take place every day. Skills are honed through rigorous practice, interpretive nuance through thoughtful engagement with the music. Yet there is another quality that clearly defines a successful performer: stage presence. Some come by it naturally, others…
Arts Picture me and you
If the mirror that is part of the San Antonio Museum of Art’s Retratos: 2,000 Years of Latin-American Portraiture exhibit doesn’t fulfill your desire to localize the show, this week you can visit two related community projects. Mírame: See Me opened March 4 at the San Antonio Central Library, 600 Soledad, featuring physical and web…
Media Babe in the ’wood
Giant egos! PR snubs! It’s all in a day’s work on the film-festival circuit Day 1 11:56 a.m.: Depart Los Angeles for Santa Barbara, where today begins the 21st annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. It’s not Sundance, that’s for sure — but it is my first festival. Very excited. 1:44 p.m.: Arrive at Motel…
News Party lines
FEMA deadlines loom Saturday marks two very important deadlines for victims of Hurricane Katrina. First, anyone who needs help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, even if they are staying with relatives, have jobs, or otherwise have their lives back together, should sign up with FEMA by calling 1 (800) 621-3362. Saturday is the registration…
Media No rival in debauchery
The Libertine makes John Wilmot a man who merely wallowed in life’s tragedy “Allow me to be frank at the commencement,” John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester announces to the camera at the commencement of The Libertine. “You will not like me.” The man understands his audience, if not himself. There is almost nothing likeable about…
News Briefs
A clearer vision for Main Plaza Mayor Phil Hardberger appears set to turn back the clock with plans to reinvigorate Main Plaza; approximately 100 residents turned out last week to view preliminary sketches of a renewed Plaza de las Islas that could again be the heart of the City, a place that caters to people,…
Media Game theory – Aaron Delwiche on digital culture
Girls will be boys and boys will be girls Bit by bit, the mainstream is waking up to the existence of digital worlds that bring together players from all walks of life. Just last month, Fox Trot poked fun at massively multiplayer games on the pages of the Sunday comics. Even celebrities are not immune…
News Speed reads
To mow or to grow, that is the question When does a yard transform from wildflower haven to wayward weed patch? Natural vegetation helps wildlife, but it can engender the wrath of your neighbors. Learn how to balance code compliance with an eco-friendly yard Thursday, March 9, when the Bexar County Audubon Society sponsors a…
Media Special Screenings & That’s a wrap
Special Screenings Women’s History Week at San Antonio College: Women and Art San Antonio College celebrates Women’s History Week by featuring films about fabulous females. Wednesday, March 8, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, will show at 10 a.m., and Frida will screen at noon. Juanita Luna-Lawhn will introduce and discuss Frida at 11 a.m.…
