Liberty Bar Hosts At War with Dust for September Residency
At War with Dust Kevin Sanchez, nom de plume At War with Dust, will be the September artist of the Liberty Bar’s excellent monthly residency series. Most artists this year have had an evolving act for the 7pm slot, varying week-to-week in both lineup and style. For his Tuesday night gigs, Sanchez is taking this performative…
Spurs Vie for Ray Allen
Ray Allen over Tony Parker (via Facebook) After securing the roster from the 2014 championship team, the Spurs are interested in signing veteran sharp-shooter Ray Allen. The 39-year-old shooting guard has yet to announce if he will play his 19th season, but if he does, the Spurs, Clippers and Mavericks have expressed interest in signing…
5 Things You Have to Do This Week
Mon 9/1 Lolipop Records Caravan Tour Based in Los Angeles, Lolipop Records knows how to hit the garage rock sweet spot. One of a growing number of like-minded label/stores across the country, Lolipop has been cutting jangly, guitar-driven tunes since 2006. Presenting some of their finest in SA, the Lolipop Caravan tour is a delight…
Perry Deletes ‘Unauthorized’ Tweet Mocking ‘Drunk Democrat’
Governor Rick Perry poses for his mugshot after being indicted for two felony charges. What the hell happened on Governor Rick Perry’s Twitter account last night? The recently indicted Republican was quick to distance himself from a disparaging tweet sent out from his verified Twitter account Sunday evening. Perry, who is facing two felony counts…
Have Your Say in the Hemisfair Civic Park Design
Artist concept for The Shallows in the planned Hemisfair civic park. Courtesy of Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation. The folks behind the Hemisfair redevelopment are seeking public input on the three concepts drawn up for the urban park district. An online survey has been set up to collect citizen feedback and opinion regarding the downtown…
Do Medical Pot Laws Curb Fatal Opiate Overdoses?
This photo shows marijuana that has been designated for medical use. The picture was taken by Heather Fazio, political director for the Marijuana Policy Project in Texas, at Medicine Man, a marijuana store in Colorado. A new study reveals that there are almost 25 percent fewer opiate overdoses in states with medical marijuana laws than…
Judge Rules Parts of Texas’ Abortion Bill Unconstitutional
Whole Woman’s Health in Austin closed earlier this summer in the wake of House Bill 2. Photo via Facebook Update September 1, 2014, 5:25 p.m. Late Sunday, Attorney General Greg Abbott filed an appeal with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to overturn District Judge Lee Yeakel’s ruling that provisions of House Bill…
North St. Mary’s Venue White Rabbit to be Sold
A signature marquee on the North St. Mary’s strip, the White Rabbit is currently in talks to be sold. The current owners, the Sciaraffa family, intend to sell the 1,484 capacity venue to restaurant owner Chad Carey, whose real estate group owns and operates Barbaro, The Monterey and Hot Joy (a recent addition to Bon Appetit’s…
Where to Eat and Drink Before a Night Out at the Tobin
The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts’ grand opening is right around the corner (September 4)! So we’ve compiled a list of restaurants and bars for a pre-show dinner and post-show libations. Did we mention that you can walk everywhere on this list within nine minutes? You’re welcome. What’s not to love about a steak…
Greg Abbott Bails On One of Two Gubernatorial Debates
Photo by Mary Tuma Update: 4:55pm, August 29, 2014 Greg Abbott has accepted an invitation to participate in a statewide televised debate hosted by KERA, NBC5/KXAS-TV, Telemundo 39 and The Dallas Morning News. The new debate is scheduled September 30, 2014 at 8pm. The Wendy Davis campaign has yet to respond as of this time.…
3 Ways to Get Your Drink/Grub on This Week
Brew school is in session. (Via) Friday, August 29: Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling will team up with SA Girls’ Pint Out for Beer 101: A Back to School extravaganza and school supply fundraiser. Admission includes a souvenir pint glass and three pours. Educational stations will be set up to school folks in ingredients, styles…
Lolipop Records’ Garage Rock Shakes Loose at Limelight
Courtesy of Lollipop Records Perhaps more than any other genre of rock ‘n’ roll, garage rock is a music of attitude and items. Of fuzz pedals and Orange amps. Of dressing like Mad Max and plugging into a fat stack of tube-driven power. Of weird-breasted coats, stripped-down drum kits and holy, everlasting denim in blue,…
Picking a Fight: San Antonio’s Ultra Arcade
via On Blanco Road, not far from the Oblate School of Theology, you can find San Antonians who are itching for a fight on any given day. Like the UFC, these gladiators go toe-to-toe for up to three rounds, winner-take-all. But there’s a very important difference with these fights: they happen in the virtual arena…
6 Shows to See this Weekend
Fri 8/29 – Sun 8/31 Art of War Datpiff.com is awesome and free, but their most-listened-to mixtapes currently include five from Lil Wayne and three from Wiz Khalifa, so those seeking the newest thing in hip-hop might be better off going outside. Art of War challenges MCs and beat-makers to deliver the goods live in…
45 Friday Brings Reissue Numero Group to Faust
With Travis Buffkin and Rae D. Cabello spinning every other Friday at Faust Tavern, 45 Friday has become one of the best DJ nights in the city, taking a listen into SA’s rich musical history. This weekend, Cabello’s fellow vinylphile in the stellar Numero Group joins the pair for a spinning set. Founded in 2003, the Numero…
Judge Rules Texas School Finance System Unconstitutional. Again.
Texas State Capitol website On Thursday, State District Judge John Dietz in Austin ruled for the second time that Texas’ school finance system is unconstitutional, almost 18 months since he made his first unconstitutional ruling against the system. Nearly three years ago, more than 600 school districts sued the state after the 2011 Texas Legislature cut $5.4 billion…
Tour ‘Dinosaur Highway’ at Government Canyon
Photo by Kevin Femmel “I bring the scientists, you bring the rockstar.” The late Richard Attenborough’s classic quote from the 1993 film Jurassic Park rings true for a new partnership between the Texas Parks & Wildlife (TPWD) and Witte Museum. The two organizations have teamed up to document and research the only known dinosaur…
Shot of the Week: The Flatliner
(Via Dustin Dooling) There are many different reasons people decide to do shots. There are celebrations and mourning shots, there are seasonal and locational shots and then there are the shots you take just because you have to experience it. As the author of this blog for some time now, I rarely need any other…
Fiesta Texas Unveils New Batman Roller Coaster
Six Flags has recently announced a slew of new attractionsto be added to its parks by the summer of 2015. Fiesta Texas is set to get the biggest, baddest attraction on the list, Batman: The Ride, and let me tell you, this shit looks terrifying. The promotional images released for the Batman coaster show it…
San Antonio One of Many Seeking MLS Team
Major League Soccer logo via Photobucket Earlier this week District 10 Councilman Mike Gallagher submitted a request for a resolution that would announce San Antonio’s intention to bring Major League Soccer to the Alamo City. “By having a Major League Soccer Team in San Antonio, our community could yield significant economic impacts as fans from…
San Antonio’s First Free Day of Yoga
(via) Houston has it. Dallas has it. Austin’s is the original. This Labor Day, San Antonio is having its first ever Free Day of Yoga. Free Day of Yoga is an opportunity for experienced yogis to explore new styles of yoga and to try out a class or two with new instructors. It’s also a…
10 Things You Have to Do This Weekend
Thu 8/28 “Somos San Antonio” The Alamo by Brandon Carrillo While the vast majority of Fotoseptiembre’s wide-ranging offerings land on gallery walls with some sort of curatorial slant in tow, “Somos San Antonio” comes together in a refreshingly organic fashion. Inviting community involvement via submissions from local photographers of all ages and skill levels, the…
First Course: Anniversaries for The Block and Big Bob’s Burgers
Burger-versary at Big Bob’s H-E-B (multiple locations) held its first H-E-B’s Primo Picks Quest for Texas Best contest and Nanette Watson’s Frio Farms (just up the road in Concan) was tapped to receive the top $25,000 prize and a chance to have their extracts on the shelves of H-E-B in 2015. We can’t wait to…
12 Must-See Celebrities Coming To Alamo City Comic Con
FRI 9/26 – SUN 9/28 Alamo City Comic Con (ACCC) via Attention nerds: Alamo City Comic Con (ACCC) is one month away. Celebrities galore will be attending this three-day event. Considering this is only the con’s second year, they have an impressive line-up. Stan Lee via Co-creator of iconic comic book characters, including Spider-Man, The Incredible…
Locals Gather This Week to Speak Out Against Police Brutality
A small group of San Antonians carried a cardboard coffin to SAPD headquarters this week, symbolizing victims of police brutality. Photo by Alexa Garcia-Ditta Community organizers, advocates, students, and concerned San Antonians came together at three different gatherings this week to honor victims of police brutality nationwide like Michael Brown of Ferguson, Miss., and Trayvon…
SA’s Vetter Kids Release Single, Announce New EP
SA trio Vetter Kids Having already released their debut EP earlier this year, SA punk trio Vetter Kids announced a new EP, Logan, for an impending October release. Due out October 14 on the San Antonio-based Texas Is Funny label, Logan should expand on Vetter Kids’ bloodthirsty mingling of punk and post-hardcore. Thanks to Brooklyn Vegan, the first taste…
Chill vibe at Leon Springs’ Silver Fox
The Silver Fox has a motto; “The Best Kept Secret in Leon Springs.” After seven years of living in the immediate area, with countless trips past this place and nary a thought to stop in, I’d say that is pretty accurate. As far as I knew it was exactly what it appeared to be: a…
On the Rocks: A rum chat with NAO’s Tim Bryand
This is the only time rum and Coke will be mentioned. We will not discuss mojitos because enough already. Nor will tiki drinks be touched upon as they are a subset unto themselves. However, as this is a piece about rum, we will dwell on the daiquiri. But first a word from our sponsors. Just…
Phô Nguyen Woos Phonatics
I don’t expect much from Vietnamese restaurants in the way of decor; it’s more not Chinese and not Japanese than anything. I certainly don’t expect Greece’s azure seas and trailing bougainvilleas. But that’s exactly what you get at Phô Nguyen. They have unabashedly occupied a former Greek restaurant, mural-emblazoned walls and all, and, having added…
Market Eats: LocaVore dishes up worldly eats
The Quarry Farmers & Ranchers Market has seen its fair share of food trucks come and go, but it may have finally found a mobile vendor that gels with the market’s local-local-local mantra. After launching in early June, LocaVore has settled into making tasty and varied farm-to-table eats that pair with local market finds. Chef…
Flavor File: Good news for Hot Joy, new owner for Cockasian Food Truck and how to audition for MasterChef
Getting into Hot Joy (1014 S Alamo, (210) 368-9324) these days will be slightly trickier. The Southtown eatery was named the No. 7 best new restaurant in the country by Bon Appetit food and drink editor Andrew Knowlton for being part of a “growing subgenre of ethnic cuisine (see: Mission Chinese Food and Mott Street)…
Texas Law Leaves Abortion Out of Reach for Many Women
Texas’ sweeping abortion law has already eliminated all abortion clinics south of San Antonio, and the last clinic west of the city is expected to close once the final piece of the law takes effect September 1. Under the new regulations, physicians who perform abortions must obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and abortion facilities…
Mayoral Horserace
Once elected next spring, San Antonio’s new mayor will have just a few months to prepare for the 2016 budget. During a recent council meeting, District 6 Councilman Ray Lopez (a former mayoral hopeful) asked the prospective council appointees for District 2 and 7 whether they would support raising the property-tax rate—a move Alamo City…
Cityscrapes: A race to the convention floor
“Conventions go to the city which exerts the greatest efforts to secure them. San Antonio can get any convention that it goes after.” That was the position of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce in April 1920. With the prospect of a grand new auditorium, local business leaders were confident that, “They will come…
How Rebates Have the Texas Film Industry Playing Catch Up To its Neighbors
See if you can spot the common thread that is pulling at the seams of the Texas film industry. On NBC’s The Night Shift, a stock-written staff populates the halls of San Antonio Memorial Hospital, dealing with the tendrils of bureaucracy, sexual tension and a non-stop chain of outlandish injuries. Recently picked up for a…
Savage Love: Working Out the Kinks
My boyfriend of two years cannot climax or maintain an erection unless his testicles are handled, squeezed, pulled, or pressed on (preferably with my stockinged foot or knee). Needless to say, intercourse does not work very well, and our sexual repertoire is rather limited, which is frustrating for both of us. His doctor says his…
‘Land Ho!’ Gets Friendship Right, and it’s a Short, Sweet Ride
Note to makers of films such as The Bucket List, the recent Michael Douglas stinker Last Vegas, and the even more recent Michael Douglas stinker And So It Goes: Land Ho! is the template for movies about older people at pivotal points in their lives. It’s sharp, funny and barely dips into sentimentality, with a…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the coming weeks it will be important for you to bestow blessings and disseminate gifts and dole out helpful feedback. Maybe you already do a pretty good job at all that, but I urge you to go even further. Through acts of will and surges of compassion, you can and…
Lost in Bonkers: The Vex revives Kesey’s vision of mental health as tyranny
When Ken Kesey published his first novel, in 1962, madness was the rage. A disordered mind marked brave defiance of a regimented society. In The Divided Self (1960), R.D. Laing had railed against the categories of mental health by which his own profession, psychiatry, coerced and controlled. In Catch-22 (1961), Joseph Heller captured the lunacy…
‘CHIFLADAzine’: Bratty New Publication Is Inclusive and Important
“Chiflada means ‘crazy’ or ‘bratty’ in Spanish,” explains Claudia Cardona, editor-in-chief of the recently established CHIFLADAzine. In January, when the St. Mary’s student and aspiring filmmaker decided that she wanted to create a new zine, she had difficulty deciding on a title that was wholly inclusive. Several months later, while brainstorming with co-founder and co-editor Laura Christine Sinner,…
Watered-down Mad Decent Block Party hits WhiteWater Amphitheater
Deep into his brilliant six-part essay “How Hip-hop Failed Black America,” Roots maestro Ahmir Khalib “Questlove” Thompson dropped a zeitgeist idea on EDM culture. Thompson compared the wildly popular electronic music to that of commercial disco in the ’70s, when labels pressed a marketable, production-by-numbers sound to meet the high demand for party music. “The…
Inaugural Float Fest Offers Bun B, STRFKR, Grouplove and Day-drinking
This weekend will bring the inaugural Float Fest, a semi-novel marriage of music festival, tubing and camping, all bound together by the glue of day-drinking. Although relegated to a single day event, FF aims to be a rather ambitious affair, one that may require a bit of coordinating to take advantage of. Here are a…
Oaxaca’s Lila Downs Bends Gender, Politics and World Music
Swaying side to side with a child in his arms, Texas Rep. Mike Villarreal nodded politely in my direction before returning his captive attention to the Laurie Auditorium’s main stage where the hypnotizing Grammy-winning singer Lila Downs continued to fervently croon about immigration issues and “the strength that women have in the face of adversity.” Like a televangelist or…
10 Free Events Happening This Week
Tue/ Aug 26 Imitation of Matisse via “Imitation of Matisse” will explore Matisses’s internalized process of representation which allowed his own desires and imagination to shape his subject matter. Distinguished art historian Dr. Richard Shiff from the University of Texas at Austin will offer insight into one of Matisse’s greatest contributions to Modern art during…
Planning Diego Bernal’s SA-centric Nuptials
(Via Louis Cintron) It’s not that we’re wedding-obsessed here at the Current…but after District 1 City Councilman Diego Bernal shared the news of his engagement to Elyse Alaniz, his girlfriend of approximately two years, on social media…well, we got a little carried away thinking of the possibilities. The following Pinterest board contains some muy San…
RUI: Nonprofit nears third anniversary, gets robbed
This RUI vehicle has some nice rims, doesn’t it? Don’t drink and drive, call RUI. Photo via RUI’s Facebook page. A local nonprofit that’s given rides home to nearly 1,750 weekend warriors could use a morale boost. RUI, an organization that will drive an intoxicated weekend reveler (and their vehicle) home from bars on…
Pecan Pie Unofficially Declared Official Dessert of Texas
Image via Wikimedia Commons. This week, Slate undertook the heretofore ignored, but very necessary task of designating the official desserts for all 50 states in The Union in what they call “The United Sweets of America.” Surprisingly, this is not a thing that each state has taken the time to do, which should be viewed…
Wendy Davis’ Ambitious Education Plan Sounds Expensive
Sen. Wendy Davis, Democratic gubernatorial candidate, released her education plan at San Antonio’s Palo Alto College. Photo by Alexa Garcia-Ditta Today, Wendy Davis, a Democratic senator from Fort Worth who is running for Texas governor, unveiled her education plan, which includes doubling dual credit options for high school students, boosting technical and vocational training, making…
Kawhi Leonard Too Busy to Celebrate With NBA Championship Trophy
Kawhi Leonard with his eyes on the prize (via Getty) As part of the off-season celebration for the NBA title-winners, each member of the champion Spurs receives the Larry O’Brien trophy to party with as they see fit. Patty Mills took the Tiffany & Co.-designed trophy on a seven-day, Down Under tour of his native Australia. Matt…
