Beer and Loafing ’08
By Gilbert Garcia I’m heading out to Denver on Sunday afternoon for the Democratic National Convention, which should be a pretty exciting experience for reasons that have nothing to do with personal ideology and everything to do with the fact that this will be the first national-convention experience for this lifelong political junkie. (As a…
Perry is a hole
By Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com Now I know Lone Star politicos aren’t traditionally the cheerleading sort â?? especially when it comes to entering into “entangling alliances” (lest they be petrol-based), suspicious treaties (only “free” trade for our bannana growers), or â?? heck â?? abiding by international law (does sovereignty mean nothing?). How many disappointments must we…
On The Streets
“The Tide Is Turning…” Letters (to the OntheStreet Penthouse Suite) This version of OTS is somewhat of an experiment. New technologies have created new problems. The usual over-indulgence of images is kept in check this week while all the bugs are exterminated, hopefully. #1 Big Soy Farewell/OrBlack Sabbatical Hey peeps….Big Soywill be playing their last…
When a house falls in an urban jungle …
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has taken note of SA’s rash of historic demos, documented here, here, and here by the Current. We’re not alone, of course, so the Trust offers this guide to blocking the wrecking ball.
Got that old-time religion
Picking up tacos at Tito’s today, I ran into a friend who said, apropos of this week’s cover story that he “used to be the poster boy for voter apathy,” but this year, he said, he registered, plans to vote for Obama, and move to Mexico if “that other guy” wins. It’s not that he…
Headbanger’s ball
The Rocker Director: Peter Cattaneo Screenwriter: Peter Cattaneo Cast: Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Jane Lynch, Josh Gad, Jeff Garlin Release Date: 2008-08-20 Rated: PG-13 Genre: Comedy Rainn Wilson, surely known best (to anyone not having spent the past few years literally sewn up within a sturdy burlap sack at the bottom of a vast and…
Spicy in name only
Where’s the Achiote we were promised?
Hiding in plain sight
Release Date: 2008-08-20 Fellow natives of Touristan TX, I’m not ashamed to admit that I occasionally feed the beast, sneaking down to River Walk level (sometimes even the chain-polluted Bend) for a slap ’n’ tickle. Er, rather, a drink and a snack. Primarily to avoid you, because as we frequently boast/complain to each other, Mayberry…
Henry Poole Is Here
Henry Poole Is Here Director: Mark Pellington Screenwriter: Mark Pellington Cast: Luke Wilson, Adriana Barraza, Radha Mitchell, Cheryl Hines Release Date: 2008-08-20 Rated: PG Genre: Drama Someone invite debut screenwriter Albert Torres over for Bible study. The scribe’s got a lot to say about faith and spirituality and isn’t shy about forcing it down the…
Concerts Under the Stars
Release Date: 2008-08-20 Don’t miss the final night of the Botanical Garden’s summer concert series. Catch the breezy, upbeat pop stylings of local favorite Buttercup, who always throw in a little South Texas flair. They’ll be playing tunes from their latest album, The Head Sits Upside Down on the Top of the Head. Bring lawn…
I.O.U.S.A.
Release Date: 2008-08-20 This documentary explores rising gasoline, food, and health-care costs, while discussing the implications for the nation and U.S. citizens. I.O.U.S.A. echoes the “Fiscal Wake-Up Tour” and tells the story of America’s four key deficits — budget, savings, balance of payments, and leadership. After the screening, theaters become community town halls as five…
Darkest Hour, As Blood Runs Black, Misery Signals, Winds of Plague, Stick to your Guns, Arsis, & more
Release Date: 2008-08-20 The Thrash & Burn Tour is set to destroy the White Rabbit this Friday, headlined by the frenetic mayhem and chaotic melody of Darkest Hour. Their strong foundation of Gothenburg-style Swedish death metal, hardcore song structure, and punk-rock attitude points to a fierce band with extreme, yet mature, material. As Blood Runs…
Ian Axel
Release Date: 2008-08-20 Ian Axel jump-started his music career in a New Jersey suburb as a precocious 3-year old when he began composing original pieces on his grandmother’s piano. He cut his teeth delivering soulful performances with a shy indie quirk at legendary New York City venues such as Joe’s Pub, The Cutting Room, and…
Flesh Electric, Muncy’s Nurse, & The Living Strategy
Release Date: 2008-08-20 Flesh Electric are a tireless bunch, able to succeed at keeping the near-forgotten image of the traditional rock band relevant — they can turn it up, slow it down, and break it down with the ease of any national. Hailing proudly from Southside S.A., alt-Mexican folk rockers Muncy’s Nurse employ good old-fashioned…
Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell, Motorhead, & Testament
Release Date: 2008-08-20 Legends Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell, Motorhead, and Testament unite for a special 15-date U.S. trek. Judas Priest is supporting their epic concept album, Nostradamus, which follows the tale of a renowned 16th-century prophet. Heaven & Hell promotes their five-CD box set, The Rules of Hell, while perennial road rats Motorhead offer…
Guitar Shorty
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2008-08-20 Take off your good hat before searching for Guitar Shorty on YouTube, because your brain’s about to be blown. Crudely shot amateur footage (of which there is plenty) reveals Shorty to be a sort of Cris Angel of guitar, popping out in everyday situations like a guerilla assassin, freaking innocent…
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Release Date: 2008-08-20 Even if you’ve seen Tom Petty a handful of times, don’t let his Summer Tour turn into a mere blip on your arena-rock radar. Evidenced by an electrifying halftime performance during Super Bowl XLII in February, Petty and his exemplary Heartbreakers just might be hitting their musical stride after a three-decade, roots-rocking…
The itinerant playhouse
Like many an actor before — and after — them, Asia and Tony Ciaravino once left San Antonio to pursue full-time stage work in another major metropolitan area. The couple aspired to support their family (the Ciaravinos have two children) on their respective stage wages, and simply felt that San Antonio’s performing-arts scene wasn’t conducive…
A match made in Madden
Greg Brady could have told them, and the long-suffering fans of the Chicago Cubs might have had a thing or two to add, but it basically comes down to this: The more you try to avoid a curse, the more certain it is to overwhelm you. Electronic Arts surely thought they had finally found a…
How to draw (and why)
A sweet suite of drawings by turn-of-the-last-century master George Bellows closes, prophetically, August 31, just ahead of FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA, the month-long celebration of the machine-captured image. Its location, in SAMA’s cave-like, ground-floor gallery behind the gift shop, does nothing to dispell a prejudice against museums as custodians of the past. But it’d be a shame…
‘Mr. Chertoff: Tear down this wall.’
Walls are rising in the Rio Grande Valley. Contractors are sharpening their shovels downstream of El Paso. Texas is finally seeing what many dismissed as an unlikely event: The start of construction on hundreds of miles of hulking walls, fences, and barriers running along the Rio Grande. In one week, what could be the last…
Dear Uncle Mat
I’m a teenager living in Florida, and it’s starting to suck more than a Vegas hooker on Friday night. I’m entering my senior year of high school, and I’ve yet to have a serious girlfriend other than a long-distance one who lasted for about two years. I’m still a virgin, but willing to live with…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your next assignment is to inject more fun into your job — or into anything that feels like work, for that matter. You’ve got a head start because lately you’ve been playing harder than usual. That should give you creative momentum as you reinvent your approach to activities that push you…
Flying the (kid) friendly skies
On an overnight flight to Paris several years ago, I experienced what I considered to be an odious breach of the delicate social compact that exists between airline passengers. After the dinner trays had been removed and everyone was settling in for a bad Sandra Bullock movie, the gentleman (I use the term loosely) next…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I am the proud uncle of five Mexican-redneck kids who recently moved to Wausau with their mamá wisconsiana after living in la Capirucha all their lives. I’ve talked to them on the phone several times a week since they left for la tierra de los sueños materializados, and I’ve noticed slight changes in…
Amuse-BOUCHE
Chasing news that googlers will soon outnumber emailers online comes a website that makes tuning into the flesh-and-blood domain even less compelling. After all, you can sip a brew while you’re surfing craftbeerandfood.org, which provides handy food-pairing suggestions, but even better, a searchable guide to seasonal and special-edition releases by state and time of year.…
Hiding in plain sight
Fellow natives of Touristan TX, I’m not ashamed to admit that I occasionally feed the beast, sneaking down to River Walk level (sometimes even the chain-polluted Bend) for a slap ’n’ tickle. Er, rather, a drink and a snack. Primarily to avoid you, because as we frequently boast/complain to each other, Mayberry had nothin’ on…
Wax works
Converse’s Chuck Taylors are continually fashionable. Poison frontman Bret Michaels stars in one of cable television’s most popular reality programs. Hell, even once-forgotten teen heartthrobs like Jason Bateman are relevant again. So the resurgence of records shouldn’t be altogether surprising — Americans, after all, are notorious for embracing favorites of yesteryear. But seriously, vinyl? In…
Man in the mirror
Barack Obama, it is true, is a transformational leader. But he needs a transformational movement to become a transformational president. He is transformational because of his charisma and brilliance, but also because he embodies the possibility of an African-American being chosen president in the generation following the civil-rights movement. Whether he wins or loses, the…
THE SOUND & THE FURY
Earlier this month, local pop-punk quartet the Offbeats celebrated the release of their new album, Standards, with a show at Limelight. On Friday, August 22, the band returns to the club as part of an acoustic package called San Antonio Unplugged. They’ll be joined by Venomous Heartbeats, George & Jeff, Erica Gutierrez from Ledaswan, and…
The QueQue
Police barricade If that Roman who said that things that are hard to live through are “sweet to remember” is to be believed, these most surgical of days at the San Antonio Police Department will be recalled with many perfume-scented sighs in the coming years. It’s been more than a month since Police Chief Bill…
Aural Pleasure
You & Me The Walkmen (Gigantic) Guess that track-for-track remake of Lennon/Nilsson collab Pussy Cats paid off after all. Studying that Lost Weekend classic apparently helped the Walkmen perfect their own stripped-down post-bender-rock. The bare-bones drone that defined previous albums’ least accessible tracks still forms the basis for many of the songs on their latest…
Follow the money
What a difference four months make. In April, we learned that San Antonio would be looking at a $13-million deficit in fiscal-year 2009, with a more worrisome $58-million projected shortfall looming the following year. But what looked to be a cruel summer for City numbers crunchers took an unexpected turn last week with the announcement…
Dance Like Robots
DLR’s name suggests frantic machine-man antics, but their music is slow-burning mechanized naturalism better suited to soundtrack Grand Canyon dam ruptures than the dance stylings of the Funkatron 5000. What passes for “dancing” tonight is less robotic than arboric; audience members stand rooted to the floorboards, swaying in time with the beat. And even that’s…
No, really: Drop out
I don’t own a cell phone, and I work in the IT field. Odd, but true. There are several reasons I don’t own a cell phone, ranging from practical to personal. Here are a few: They’re modern-era tracking devices. I’m big on conspiracy theories, and people really are not aware of how much their privacy…
“The Strangler” — Sik Sinik
Horrorcore generally fails not to suck (i.e., probable antichrists the Insane Clown Posse) because of its heavy-metal vamping and Monster Mash flow. “The Strangler,” by contrast, achieves a legitimate creepiness with relatively low-key guitar loops, late-late-show samples, and — most importantly — Sik Sinik’s drawling, deadpan delivery while conflating inner and outer monstrosities and describing…
The tourist-town B team
Marketing often multiplies exponentially — a good ad campaign leads to coverage and recommendations in those generic city guides littering hotel lobbies and downtown pickup boxes. Which is why you think first of Fiesta Texas, Sea World, the Alamo, and god help you, Ripley’s incredible-money-evaporating machine when you think of local large-group entertainment. Perhaps PR…
Not a muse
Her bio would call her an actress, singer, and humanitarian. Magazines and cynics might label her a media creation, even an urban legend (remember the one about her and Benicio del Toro getting it on in an elevator?). But Scarlett Johansson might just be all of these things while still holding something back. For example,…
ARTIFACTS
Dress Artifacts in sackcloth and ashes. Ashamed that she fell for the old “part of Fotoseptiembre” gambit last week (& tagged the John William Keedy Galería Ortiz show as such), as atonement she reprints in part a reprimand from Mr. FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA himself, Michael Mehl:“As you know, FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA is open to all. But the…
S’Nuff film
The Cuban air force shot down two American civilian planes in 1996, killing four men. The Cuban government contends these aircraft, piloted by members of the anti-Castro organization Brothers to the Rescue, were violating Cuban airspace in an attempt to incite political unrest. Five Cuban agents who had infiltrated the organization were then arrested in…
Practical propaganda
The first two books released in the Magic Propaganda Mill’s new Fast Furious Free downloadable book series live up to their promise of “quick and sketchy” material “written, researched, illustrated, designed and published” in less than two weeks. The facts seem decently checked and the topics are valid, but typos and hastily thrown-together drawings keep…
Cinema Obscura
This no-holds-barred look at the seedy world of race-car driving, brain-surgery performing, gunslinger rock stars is, upon repeated viewing, a little bit childish. Not childish like “Rob Schneider as a talking hemorrhoid” childish, but as in “guitar-playing samurai cowboy doctor” seems like an unrealistic career choice to a 5-year-old. The story itself — Buckaroo (Weller)…
