Texas can look to Louisiana for coastal destruction clues
A&M researchers project increased flooding for Corpus Dean of coastal corruption* (see note, bottom), Dr. Asbury Sallenger. Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com Al Gore’s decision to hang An Inconvenient Truth on the fear-inducing hurricane whorl hasn’t served the prophets of climate change very well. While researchers across the planet have reached deep consensus on issues of planetary…
West Sideswipes
By Gilbert Garcia Simple logic should tell us that District 5 Council member Lourdes Galvan is in deep trouble in her runoff rematch against David Medina. This May-December grudge match (Galvan is 39 years older than her challenger) comes in the wake of a general election that found Galvan only 90 votes ahead of Medina.…
blog4reel announces contest winners
Local website blog4reel has announced the winners of its inaugural most filmable web journal competition. Local artist and UTSA grad Tom Trevino took home top honors for his blog chocolate mojo, beating out second-place winner Alex Pollack’s Writing the Ship, which chronicles his experiences as an English teacher in South Korea, and Connecticut resident Tina…
Nia Vardalos talks My Life in Ruins
Nia Vardalos — My Life in Ruins By Kiko Martinez San Antonio Current contributing writer kiko@cinesnob.net In her new film “My Life in Ruins,” Nia Vardalos, star and Oscar-nominated screenwriter of 2002’s “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” returns to her Greek roots as Georgia, a down-on-her-luck tour guide who leads a group of diverse tourists…
Hutto: LULAC’s Corrections Corporation of America connection
As a growing coalition of activists prepares for what they hope will be the most high-profile protest yet at the immigrant-family detention center in Taylor, Texas, fellow activists are challenging LULAC over sponsorship monies received from the private company that runs the prison. Corrections Corporation of America, the private-prison vanguard and government partner — which…
Chaléwood No. 11: Kristina Guerrero
Kristina Guerrero — The Daily 10 and E! News By Kiko Martinez San Antonio Current contributing writer kiko@cinesnob.net It hasn’t been so long since Kristina Guerrero graced the studio of Great Day S.A. on KENS-TV where she hosted the local morning show for nearly three years. At the end of 2007, Guerrero made a jump…
Kids on the streets
By Gilbert Garcia It’s been 18 years since SA last addressed the issue of youth curfews, and by most accounts (including those of Police Chief William McManus and City Manager Sheryl Sculley) the city’s existing ordinance has not worked particularly well. One reason cited by Sculley: Officers have been reluctant to pick up apparent violators,…
Council talks Lege
By Gilbert Garcia Yesterday’s Council B-session was notable primarily because it marked the tentative unveiling of the shiny new 2009-2011 model, with new Council members Ray Lopez and Elisa Chan, and Julian Castro taking his rightful seat in the mayor’s chair. Having said all that, the session was essentially dominated by outgoing District 8 Council…
A Texas TV Wasteland
Bill HB 821 designed to increase recycling of televisions in the state of Texas Haylley Johnson hjohnso2@uvm.edu With the date of the analog to digital television signal switch looming closer, reality has become more prominent – millions of unused analog televisions have the potential to wind up in Texas landfills. Alongside this threat, recycling has…
D2 Runoff: Ivy Taylor picks up endorsements
Tommy Calvert, Byron Miller’s runoff press officer, has coined the nickname Poison Ivy for their June 13 opponent, which is one sign that they’re taking their challenger very seriously despite a 10-point lead at the polls in the general election last month. At first, it seemed all things were swinging Byron, despite charges from general-election…
Three Day Throwdown: Part 1
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2009-06-03 Pop quiz: Which of these is not the name of a band performing at Three Day Throwdown, the White Rabbit’s showcase of the “finest local metal and hardcore bands”? A) Blessed Agony, B) Perish the Land (above), C) Let’s Calmly Discuss Our Feelings. If you’re waiting for the answer, please…
Up
Up Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson Screenwriter: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson Cast: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, Paul Eiding, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger, Delroy Lindo Release Date: 2009-06-03 Studio: Disney Pixar Rated: PG Genre: Animation Our Rating: 4.00 Ultimately, Up is probably going to be viewed as one of Pixar’s minor works, more Finding Nemo than…
gray and blue. period.
Release Date: 2009-06-03 Four paintings. That’s all, but it’s enough. The late Rudolf de Crignis (1949-2007) was a profound color tactician, who employed numerous, thin, hand-applied layers of pigment, from the white gesso foundation up through delicate gridlike cross-hatchings of aquamarines, silvers, and even reds, each layer alternating between horizontal and vertical brushstrokes. The resulting…
Private Cuban club
Release Date: 2009-06-03 Lost among the secondhand stores on Hildebrand Avenue’s antique row is the dream-like Bruno’s, a Cuban/Puerto Rican café, nightclub, and informal space-time portal to a world we may never fully comprehend. Outside, a wooden sign declares “Now Open,” but Bruno’s has been in business for 37 years — at least according to…
Toxic avenger
Release Date: 2009-06-03 After a mini-facelift in 2007, the bar formerly known as Iguana Bay has reopened as Retox. I decided to retoxify myself on a Friday night, and invited a few friends to check out Circle of Fifths, a local cover band that plays there on a regular basis. At first glance, the cleverly…
Kneel before Neil
Neil Young Archives, Vol. 1 Composer: Neil Young Conductor: Neil Young Label: Reprise Release Date: 2009-06-03 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording First off: These archives, if you opt for the Blu-ray set, cost $280 at Amazon.com. And if you’re a real fan, that’s the way to go. The lesser sets, the DVD or the upcoming CD…
None more black
Anvil! The Story of Anvil Director: Sacha Gervasi Screenwriter: Sacha Gervasi Release Date: 2009-06-03 Rated: R Genre: Film There’s a scene in the classic-rock mock-umentary This is Spinal Tap that perfectly captures the pathos and accidental humor that is the life of a fading rock star. “Filmmaker” Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) asks guitarist Nigel Tufnel…
Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane
Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane Composer: Elvis Costello Conductor: Elvis Costello Label: Hear Music Release Date: 2009-06-03 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording At this stage of his career, Elvis Costello is most convincing when he goes Americana. His best album of this decade, The Delivery Man, found him recording in Oxford, Mississippi, and harmonizing with Lucinda Williams,…
Bitte Orca
Bitte Orca Composer: Dirty Projectors Conductor: Dirty Projectors Label: Domino Release Date: 2009-06-03 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Bitte Orca is a strange creature. The Dirty Projectors’ newest is like some kind of awkward yet beautiful bird, seemingly incapable of flight due to its Frankensteinian anatomy (displaced rhythms, off-kilter guitar picking, stretched-out vocal harmonies, and then…
Crossing the Rubicon
Crossing the Rubicon Composer: The Sounds Conductor: The Sounds Label: Original Sound Release Date: 2009-06-03 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Somewhere a major-labor record exec is snoring. The Sounds’ third album is a dozen 3-minute synth-driven stencil pop songs deserving some serious airplay on modern-rock radio. Take that for faint praise, but there’s no reason songs…
Crime Pays
Crime Pays Composer: Cam’ron Conductor: Cam’ron Label: Diplomatic Man/Asylum Release Date: 2009-06-03 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Cam’ron has spent most of the three years since his last album beefing with hip-hop heavyweights like Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and Jim Jones. That may explain why Crime Pays sounds so dated. Since he’s pretty much excluded from rap’s…
Wicked
Release Date: 2009-06-03 This is the prequel to the Wizard of Oz, which focuses on the witches, and for good or bad, that’s about all you need to know. Also: it’s won a boatload of Grammy and Tony awards. It’s a spectacle and a behemoth, waiting to bludgeon you with lively ditties. That fact that…
Merle Haggard
Release Date: 2009-06-03 Like Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard is part of the old-school outlaw-country generation and somehow has a similar way of appealing to a variety of listeners, who, if together in the same room, would probably try to kill each other. The “silent majority” adopted several of his 1960s country songs as anti-anti-war protests,…
Art Opening: Quit the Neighborhood
Release Date: 2009-06-03 Artist and UT Austin lecturer Sara J. Frantz presents her recent collection of drawings based on the spartan landscapes of West Texas and Iceland. There is something about these drawings of coin-sized homes isolated on white paper that is alluring. How she manipulates scale and perspective should prove quite interesting. Not to…
Art Opening: Invisible Threads
Release Date: 2009-06-03 Consider this a monumental quinceañera. For the celebration of its 15th anniversary, SAY Sí presents Invisible Threads, a curated exhibition of former students’ artwork and films, with featured alumni artists David Cordero and Gabriel Garcia (’02), and spoken-word artists Amanda Flores (’05) and Antonio Rodriguez (’07). Since its inception, SAY Sí has…
Child Bite, Sohns
Release Date: 2009-06-03 Let’s be honest: These are the dog days for San Antonio music. But that means we just have to look a little further to find a new or interesting band. Consider the Child Bite show at the Ten Eleven. Their sound at first “screamos” electro-clash, but they’re more interesting than that. They…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I’m betting that in a couple of months the fates will give you license to play with boisterous gambles and exhilarating risks. But at this particular moment I recommend that you confine yourself to tame gambles and sensible risks. I realize that may be a bit deflating to your rambunctious all-or-nothing…
She’ll put a spell on you
The Current was going to grill the Wicked Witch of the West (née Elphaba), the star (star!) of Wicked — a putative tale of Oz’s goings-on before that Kansas twister dropped Dorothy, and her little dog, too, smack on top of the WWE — which opens this very week at the Majestic downtown. I mean…
Kitty kitty bang bang
That seemingly useless cliché, “write what you know,” appears to have inspired Stephanie Bonham and Art Silva to create works that reflect, well, what they know. And just what do these two quirky artisans cognize? Drums. And cats. Silva explains that the concept for their joint Sala Diaz exhibit, Drums and Cats 4ever, popped out…
ARTifacts
Missionsunknown.com is a new blog covering San Anto’s artmakers of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, and whose cover story awesomely features the Carlos Cortés Museum Reach Grotto (which yours truly co-reviewed in last week’s big river-art feature, online at sacurrent.com). Blog co-founder John Picacio says about Mr. Cortés’s opus in situ: “it takes a special town…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I am a Chicano in Connecticut. I moved from Arizona to the East Coast for my dream job. I have to admit that I’m still homesick. Connecticut is a completely different world. To sum it up in one phrase, vale madre. It took a while for me to find a Mexican restaurant close…
Now that’s meat on a stick
When talk turns to local dining, you may have heard something like this: “What about that steak place out on Loop 1604? I can’t say the name, but … you know, they bring the meat out to your table on swords.” This is, of course, a Brazilian steakhouse or “churrascaria.” SA’s newest and best is…
Amuse-BOUCHE
Whenever I’m out of San Antonio for a while, I get to missing the 410 Diner on Broadway, just inside Loop 410. So, coming back from a month in Greece and more moussaka and octopi than a man should eat, we headed for the 410. Around since the early 1980s, and a gas station in a previous…
Die, reggaetón, die
Die, reggaetón, die Daddy Yankee has two daddies. They’re also Puerto Rican, call themselves Residente (rapper, writer) and Visitante (programming, instrumentation), are known worldwide as Calle 13, and are responsible for killing reggaetón dead. For that, we thank them. Actually, to compare Daddy Yankee to Calle 13 at this point is meaningless: Calle 13 only…
Happy warrior
The Texas House of Representatives is beginning the most tense, nerve-fraying day of the 81st Legislative Session, and Trey Martinez Fischer has a red tie wrapped around his forehead. Facing a midnight deadline to pass critical statewide legislation, the House is headed into its fifth and final day of a mind-numbing process known as chubbing,…
The QueQue
Trivial pursuits There’s not much you can say about your administration when you’ve only been in office for a few hours, but Mayor Julián Castro was determined to hit the ground running on June 1 with a busy schedule and loads of media fodder (we counted four first-day-in-office releases), culminating in an afternoon “First Day…
The Sound & The Fury
If you’re going to put together an unplugged show, it’s always more intriguing when the participating bands typically rely on extreme volume. After all, who would you be more fascinated to see without amplification: Black Sabbath or Bread? The Melvins or Jewel? That should explain the impetus behind Mike Chapa’s counterintuitive but compelling “SA Unplugged”…
Piñata Protest
An accordion is not, by nature, an angry instrument. It’s tough enough to keep the wheezy thing from dressing a perfectly respectable track in leiderhosen and a feathered hat, but actual aggression seems out of the question. This may explain why few punk types pick up the squeezebox, and makes it all the more impressive…
Mid-‘Bloom’
There’s a scene in the classic-rock mock-umentary This is Spinal Tap that perfectly captures the pathos and accidental humor that is the life of a fading rock star. “Filmmaker” Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) asks guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) what he would do if he wasn’t in the band Spinal Tap. Tufnel suggests he might…
Love ‘Hangover’
Everyone has to learn how to spell Zach Galifianakis’s name … now. Galifianakis, as if you couldn’t tell by who he is/what he looks like, has the Will Ferrell/Tom Green idiot man-child role in the latest film from director Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School), and get ready to get sick of hearing your friends…
Dear Uncle Mat
On Easter I started sleeping with a guy who is on the rebound. We were acquaintances before with a few mutual friends and found ourselves drunk and in the sack. He had just broken up with his boyfriend the week before. At the time he was still calling the guy and driving by his house…
