Spiral Jetty update
If you’ve never heard of Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty by the end of this blog you’ll know all you’ll need to — and probably send a letter of protest to save its existence. Created in 1970 in Utah, Smithson’s earthwork creation is 1,500-feet long and 15-feet wide — it’s a masterpiece that has gained worldwide…
Spiral Jetty update
If you’ve never heard of Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty by the end of this blog you’ll know all you’ll need to — and probably send a letter of protest to save its existence. Created in 1970 in Utah, Smithson’s earthwork creation is 1,500-feet long and 15-feet wide — it’s a masterpiece that has gained worldwide attention. However,…
On the Street
Letters Sent to OST’s Penthouse Suite The Spurs lackluster play has countless sleeper cells of Spurs fans across the country in a state of shock. Here is one example of this, from a reader named Rocco. Letter Number 1: Rocco writes, Title: Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck Dat Noise “I go out for some burgers. Have a few beers. …
On the Street
Letters Sent to OST’s Penthouse Suite The Spurs lackluster play has countless sleeper cells of Spurs fans across the country in a state of shock. Here is one example of this, from a reader named Rocco. Letter Number 1: Rocco writes, Title: Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck Dat Noise “I go out for some burgers. Have a few beers.…
The Golden Boys
Release Date: 2008-01-30 The Golden Boys, Austin’s psychedelic-country demigods, are southbound this Friday to promote their new album, Whiskey Flower. Originally formed in Spring Branch, this dirt-rock transplant band has kept audiences buzzing no matter the locale, garnering spots on various “Best of…” lists around the country since its formation five years ago. Whiskey Flower…
Black and Blue: Four Hundred Years of Struggle and Transcendence
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Kick off Black History Month with a performance that’s enlightening, entertaining, and educational. Gemini Ink Dramatic Readers Theater will perform Sterling Houston’s Black and Blue: 400 Years of Struggle and Transcendence; the performance includes dramatic readings of historical documents from the slavery era, musical interpretation, and more. Free, 7:30pm, The Carver, 226…
San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo
Release Date: 2008-01-30 This year’s Rodeo kicks off with the Randy Rogers Band and packs a country and rock lineup until February 17. The Stars of Texas concert on February 7 brings local Texas country artists to the stage, while Los Tigres Del Norte adds some Latin spice on February 10. Also stop by the…
Fin Del Mar w. the Transfers
Release Date: 2008-01-30 A recognizable name on the local scene for nearly five years, Fin Del Mar is a unique instrumental rock quintet characterized by melodic and thought-provoking tunes. The talented quintet strays from convention and that’s their strength — without relying on a frontman, their songs unfold naturally within the listener’s mind, heightening the…
Girl Fight
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Kate Gilmore is artist, masochist, and social critic at once. One of her most memorable works depicts a smiling performer being pelted with rotten tomatoes (With Open Arms, 2005). Girl Fight, Gilmore’s first major solo exhibition, debuts a new video and sculptural installation that keeps pace with her self-sacrificing, performance-based practice. Free,…
POParazzi: A Pop Muzik Dance Party w. DJs Dogbone & ElectroSexual
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Music, booze, and film all laced with an aesthetic touch of violence? This could get interesting. ATOMIX presents ULTRAVIOLENCE: a film tribute to Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange by Imaginary Heros and the Partywolves. A Clockwork Orange shot specials at the bar and DJs Dogbone and Electro:Sexual on the decks. No Cover…
POParazzi: A Pop Muzik Dance Party w. DJs Dogbone & ElectroSexual
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Music, booze, and film all laced with an aesthetic touch of violence? This could get interesting. ATOMIX presents ULTRAVIOLENCE: a film tribute to Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange by Imaginary Heros and the Partywolves. A Clockwork Orange shot specials at the bar and DJs Dogbone and Electro:Sexual on the decks. No Cover…
Inchoero, Zavala, The Offbeats, & Lions
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Big Soy is a staple on the city’s indie front, playing honest, energetic rock in the dives of San Antonio. Originally a duo of John Edds and Adam White, the group’s local fan base points to an infectious sound that packs a punch. Also on the talented bill is Austin three-piece AM…
The Otherness w. DJs Fell & Malediction
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Music, booze, and film all laced with an aesthetic touch of violence? This could get interesting. ATOMIX presents ULTRAVIOLENCE: a film tribute to Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange by Imaginary Heros and the Partywolves. A Clockwork Orange shot specials at the bar and DJs Dogbone and Electro:Sexual on the decks. No Cover…
It’s all in the cut
Kirby’s Steakhouse gets the meat and the wine right
The Metro w. DJ Dogbone & DJ Open Eyes
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Music, booze, and film all laced with an aesthetic touch of violence? This could get interesting. ATOMIX presents ULTRAVIOLENCE: a film tribute to Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange by Imaginary Heros and the Partywolves. A Clockwork Orange shot specials at the bar and DJs Dogbone and Electro:Sexual on the decks. No Cover…
She’s leaving home
Persepolis Director: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi Screenwriter: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi Cast: Gabrielle Lopes, Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Simone Abkarian, Danielle Darrieux Release Date: 2008-01-30 Website: http:www.sonypictures.com/classics/persepolis/ Rated: PG-13 Genre: Animation It’s a good time to be a comic-book fan and movie lover. There was a time when adapting comics for the big screen was…
The Metro w. DJ Dogbone & DJ Open Eyes
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Music, booze, and film all laced with an aesthetic touch of violence? This could get interesting. ATOMIX presents ULTRAVIOLENCE: a film tribute to Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange by Imaginary Heros and the Partywolves. A Clockwork Orange shot specials at the bar and DJs Dogbone and Electro:Sexual on the decks. No Cover…
There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood Composer: Jonny Greenwood Conductor: Jonny Greenwood Label: Nonesuch Release Date: 2008-01-30 Rated: NONE Media: CD Length: LP Format: Album Genre: Chamber We all knew the tall, mop-headed dude in the Astro Boy T-shirt was a hell of a guitar player. But the first major hint of Jonny Greenwood’s orchestrating genius came…
Puppy Jet
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Big Soy is a staple on the city’s indie front, playing honest, energetic rock in the dives of San Antonio. Originally a duo of John Edds and Adam White, the group’s local fan base points to an infectious sound that packs a punch. Also on the talented bill is Austin three-piece AM…
Kick It!
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Big Soy is a staple on the city’s indie front, playing honest, energetic rock in the dives of San Antonio. Originally a duo of John Edds and Adam White, the group’s local fan base points to an infectious sound that packs a punch. Also on the talented bill is Austin three-piece AM…
POParazzi: A Pop Muzik Dance Party w. DJs Dogbone & ElectroSexual
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Music, booze, and film all laced with an aesthetic touch of violence? This could get interesting. ATOMIX presents ULTRAVIOLENCE: a film tribute to Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange by Imaginary Heros and the Partywolves. A Clockwork Orange shot specials at the bar and DJs Dogbone and Electro:Sexual on the decks. No Cover…
POParazzi: A Pop Muzik Dance Party w. DJs Dogbone & ElectroSexual
Release Date: 2008-01-30 Music, booze, and film all laced with an aesthetic touch of violence? This could get interesting. ATOMIX presents ULTRAVIOLENCE: a film tribute to Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange by Imaginary Heros and the Partywolves. A Clockwork Orange shot specials at the bar and DJs Dogbone and Electro:Sexual on the decks. No Cover…
Amuse Bouche
The lifesize voodoo doll might have been memorable enough, but Pete Barnstrom made a case for art-show immortality at his Saturday-night reception, which brought the concept home to our stomachs with spicy jambalaya from Bernard’s Creole Kitchen. You can find Bernard’s hearty Creole cooking, from Louisiana by way of Katrina, at 509 Palo Alto at…
Dear Uncle Mat
In this week’s column we will discuss the world of “Internet dating.” I have received many emails and engaged in countless conversations that express a curiosity or interest in this topic, so I’m going to discuss my advice, opinions, and experiences from the last year in a short series of columns. I will begin by…
It’s all in the cut
Steakhouse chains may be reporting slimmer profits nationally — their fat-of-the-land margins trimmed by rising oil and corn prices and, in some places, shrinking consumer appetite — but you wouldn’t know it by an evening at Kirby’s, the small, Dallas-based chain that opened a Northside location here late last year. The exterior is strip-mall bland,…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Onion newspaper reported on a South Carolina man who was so grateful for what God had done in the previous week that he put an extra $5 in the collection plate at church on Sunday. Brad Thaden was especially pleased with the nice weather and how well his kids had…
First Friday preview
February marks the beginning of all things lovey-dovey. Yes, roll your eyes but First Friday won’t completely bog you down with cutesy art. (But if you are in need of cheesy gifties then stop by street-side vendors for that one … there’s plenty to grab up from ’em.) Here’s a sampling of what’s in store…
ARTifacts
I’m by no means a dancing queen, but today when I strolled into work I noticed I had a slight skip to my stride. Maybe it was from watching the latest version of Hairspray last night? (Which is nothing in comparison to the John Waters original.) But anyway … I think I’ve caught the dancing…
Architecture is anything but frozen
For more than 10 years, the Big Enchilada has occupied the San Antonio skyline with an unmistakable silhouette created by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta — with its bold design, the Central library is among the most interesting looking buildings in the world. “You look at the Main Library here, and through the use of very…
Fool’s Gold
Fool’s Gold Monday, February 04th 7:30pm at Santikos Palladium 17703 w. IH-10 We are out of passes for this screening
‘Full Monty’ nearly bares all
First, let’s get the most important artistic consideration out of the way: Just how much dick can you see during the climax of The Full Monty? Sadly, opening night’s strip tease was inconclusive on this crucial point; one suspects that some coy legerdemain with policemen’s caps was intended to put the kibosh on our ethnographic…
The shadow of Tet
Forty years ago this week, the American public realized that the United States was not going to win the Vietnam war. Lulled by assurances that “progress” was being made in the fight against the insurgents, Americans had patiently borne five years of growing military casualties in Vietnam, but the Tet offensive shattered their illusions. Could…
The Oscars as blood sport
Like bullfighting, bear-baiting, fox hunting, and other sadistic pastimes, the annual quest for an Oscar is blood sport. After all, the stars who (may) arrive at the Kodak Theater on February 24 will enter on a carpet that is stained crimson. They represent an industry of dreamers and schemers in which violence on screen is…
A little tattoo-art love
Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of watching D. Dominick Lombardi’s work being installed for his show over at Blue Star — The Post Apocalyptic Tattoo: A ten year survey. It was as if I walked into a comic book. Lombardi is an artist, writer, and curator who has a knack for capturing abstract characters.…
Two Tickets To The Asian Festival
The Institute Of Texan Cultures of UTSA February 9th, 2008 10am – 5pm To qualify: Please send an email to freebies@sacurrent.com Include your name and email address where you can be reached. One winner will be picked by The Current on Wednesday, Feb. 06 and notified by email.
Critical Darling
In lieu of adding to the empty grieving noise (and Brokeback 2 jokes), a fond recollection: The first time I saw 10 Things I Hate About You, I was babysitting. (Who would trust Critical Darling with the safety of their child? Shrug.) Moving on: The infant brat was asleep. The household had Showtime — joy!…
The Damage Done
They look like little pieces of confetti in San Antonio’s parks, vacant houses and empty lots. Look closer. The colors resolve into small toxic booby-traps — discarded heroin balloons and orange-tipped, used syringes, waiting for a passerby to step on them. It’s a good bet the discarded needle and syringe will carry HIV and hepatitis…
Short and sweet
Local filmmaker A.J. Garcés says if you want to see filmmaking at its purest, look to an independent short. “There is no product placement,” Garcés, 47, said. “This is the director and his vision with a shoestring budget. He’s not trying to sell you something; he’s trying to tell a story, which is what it’s…
The Que Que
Any port in a storm Demolition’s already well underway at the Westside Haven for Hope luxury social-services campus for the dwelling challenged, but neighborhood activists haven’t thrown in the trowel. Their new tack, backed by former zoning commissioner and not-a-snowball’s-chance-in-Texas ’07 mayoral candidate Eigenio Rodriguez, is environmental toxins. Perhaps not coincidentally, Rodriguez was present at…
P.S. I’m dead
Immortal beloveds are Hollywood’s must-have accessories for the season. Seriously, we’re done with babies — adopted-from-Africa, L. Ron Hubbard-spawned, surrogated, unwanted-but-carried-to-term, whatnot. Done. Finito. We’ve transcended the cradle and succumbed to the grave. I don’t care if Angelina Jolie does try to reverse the trend by pooping out twins. Haunting honeys. I’m telling you —…
Greased tracks in Goliad?
GOLIAD — So, do you think they’re sleeping together? That’s where the mercenary minds in the second row have strayed. We’ve been packed in this Catholic meeting hall with several hundred disgusted Goliad County residents, listening to the back-and-forth of accusation and denial, for hours. A spitball’s shot in the distance is the villainous panel…
Armchair Cinephile
PICK OF THE WEEK: Watching Larry David stumble through every disaster of decorum known to modern man may sometimes be unnerving, but it never gets old. Remarkably, at six seasons, the show has now lasted two-thirds as long as the mega-hit, Seinfeld, in whose shadow it dwells. It’s true that this latest Body Snatchers remake…
Warming hits home
“It got so that some old cows wouldn’t eat anything but warm prickly pears,” one rancher told me. “They followed me and my butane flame around like puppy dogs.” — Farewell to Texas When researching a 1967 book about threats posed to the natural riches of Texas, former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas found…
Techsploitation
I’m looking forward to eating my first clone hamburger. I mean, why not? I eat cloned plants all the time, and I admire cloned flowers. Clone meat seems like the next logical step. And yet I can’t tell you how many bizarre conversations I’ve had with people over the last few days about the apparently…
Kiko and the brains
Communicating with Bob Bevard, president of the South Texas Mensa Chapter, via email for the last few weeks, I found myself proofreading my messages to him very meticulously before clicking the send button. Bevard is one of more than 100,000 Mensa members worldwide. Mensa is an organization made up of individuals whose IQs are in…
Apollo mission
Before Valerie Fernandez learned to form words, she somehow knew how to sing on pitch. Her earliest memories, from her toddler years, involve family friends and relatives asking her to favor them with a song. She’d inevitably comply with a spot-on version of “The Windmills of Your Mind,” or some other ridiculously complex pop song…
Clothes-minded
In the heart of scarf weather, you need something classy, cheerful, and unexpected around your neck — the usual passé pashmina and Mary Poppins-style chunky beginner knit will not do. Enter ikat. A weaving technique that relies on resist dyeing (like tie-dye) to create its designs, ikat has been practiced by cultures from South and…
The sound and the fury
Bombasta has concentrated on recording and out-of-town performances lately, but the group will play its first local gig of the season at a First Friday After Party on Friday, February 1, at Café Revolución (527 El Paso). The gig will allow the band to introduce new trumpet player Tony Romero and new keyboardist David Moreno…
Ask A Mexican
Dear Readers: Mucho feedback from ustedes regarding recent questions about archetypical Mexican dogs and the propensity of wabs to D.U.I. Let’s empezar with the doggies: You’re right about Chihuahuas. Crazy, tough dogs. I’m a dog rescuer (www.geocities.com/st-roch), and we once found a Chihuahua in a box by the side of the road with his right…
Miranda law
Four years after placing third on Nashville Star, 24-year-old Miranda Lambert is able to say, once and for all, that she’s glad she failed to win. After all, the debut album of 2003’s big winner, Buddy Jewell, only went gold and Sony dropped him after his follow-up did poorly. Subsequent show winners got stiffed even…
A little tattoo-art love
Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of watching D. Dominick Lombardi’s work being installed for his show over at Blue Star — The Post Apocalyptic Tattoo: A ten year survey. It was as if I walked into a comic book. Lombardi is an artist, writer, and curator who has a knack for capturing abstract characters.…
The Omniboire
The question on everybody’s lips — at least those with fairly loose lips — is this: Should Texas winemakers bother trying to produce cabernet sauvignon, or should they throw in the towel and go for grapes that have a better hot-weather track record? Say tempranillo or granache, just to name two. Rising to the challenge,…
Playback
Last week’s announcement of the 2007 Oscar nominees confirmed what the observant have long known: The Best Song category is the cesspool of the Academy Awards. Three songs from Enchanted(!)(?), a pseudo-inspirational hunk of slop from August Rush, and a pleasant but inconsequential Cat-Stevens-ish ditty from Once. Is that the best we can do? Part…
Remember Goliad?
What can I say? The day grows shaggy. The chair too stiff. And even public hearing aficionados start to talk trash: So, apologies in advance to any person of reasonable (or noble, even) character I besmudge in this week’s review of the uranium mining hearing down Goliad way. So let me talk at you a…
Your straps are showing: A sneak peek at how the city’s PR folks keep it together
Why, it’s worth asking, does a democratically elected government need spinmeisters? It’s a question the Current poses in light of this Friday’s City of San Antonio Media Open House, where our government will introduce us to the new Public Information Team (aka the people who have to call other people before they call you back…
Remember Goliad?
What can I say? The day grows shaggy. The chair too stiff. And even public hearing aficionados start to talk trash: So, apologies in advance to any person of reasonable (or noble, even) character I besmudge in this week’s review of the uranium mining hearing down Goliad way. So let me talk at you a…
Your straps are showing: A sneak peek at how the city’s PR folks keep it together
Why, it’s worth asking, does a democratically elected government need spinmeisters? It’s a question the Current poses in light of this Friday’s City of San Antonio Media Open House, where our government will introduce us to the new Public Information Team (aka the people who have to call other people before they call you back…
