Air Jordan
By Gilbert Garcia Last night offered a glimpse of the kind of vibrant gathering place that Main Plaza could become, with a little luck and the right coaxing. In celebration of the first anniversary of Main Plaza Conservancy, accordion titans Esteban Jordan and Flaco Jimenez played back-to-back sets in front of the largest crowd I’ve…
Keep San Antonio Lame: What It Is
Here’s the write-up I did for this year’s San Antonio Owners Manual issue about one of my very favorite Beuysian underground (non-) movements, Keep San Antonio Lame: Keep San Antonio Lame: A rose by any other lame would smell as sweet San Antonio visual artist Aaron Forland, contributing writer to emvergeoning.com (billed as “America’s most…
Fast-tracking water for nuke power while the state withers and burns
Worth talking about water? Bucolic South Texas `Nuclear` Power complex. Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com With Congress and the EPA closing in on greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, some electric utilities â?? including City-owned CPS Energy in San Antonio â?? are returning to nuclear power as an apparently low-carbon alternative to traditional coal power. CPS, competing for…
Bay City Blues
QueBlog recently caught up with District 7 Councilmember Justin Rodriguez and he had some interesting things to say about the South Texas Project’s effort to build two new nuclear reactors at their plant near Bay City. Rodriguez, who is currently seeking re-election in District 7, said he has yet to make a decision on whether…
Obama, guns, and Eloisa Tamez
Eloisa Tamaz behind her house on an earthen levy a year ago. Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com Eloisa Tamez, who you may remember from the Current’s border series, is headed back to South Texas today. She had been presenting at a conference in Albuquerque about the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border when she got word that back…
Chaléwood No. 4: Efren Ramirez
Efren Ramirez — Crank: High Voltage By Kiko Martinez paperboy5456@yahoo.com Best known for his role as the Mexican, wig-wearing, cake-building, class-presidential-nominee Pedro Sanchez from the surprise 2004 comedy hit Napoleon Dynamite, actor Efren Ramirez has slowly but surely made it a point over the last five years to stray away from being typecast as a…
Water under the bridge?
By Gilbert Garcia Phil Hardberger is so quick on his political feet that even when he’s on the defensive, he still ends up controlling the agenda. This morning’s City Council session provided the latest example of Hardberger’s impatience with an open governing process. With three all-important SAWS Board positions opening up (for four-year terms), the…
Gene Elder, Free Speech Artist
Gene Elder at the GayBLT archives at the Bonham, November 2008 Gene Elder is a CurBlog hero. You may remember Gene Elder from his very entertaining and informative Chartreuse Couch interview of City Council hopeful Chris Forbrich. Or from his hilarious conceptual art correspondence with e-mail scammers. Or from this feature I wrote about him…
Screwed by bureaucracy? Planned Parenthood’s foes exploit a paperwork SNAFU
Right-wing conservatives in the Texas lege are putting Planned Parenthood on the hot seat this week, and the timing couldn’t be worse. Allegations that the South Central Texas chapter of the nationally respected organization was administering the abortion pill without a license follow the near (and by no means final) death of a budget rider…
Picture imperfect
Everlasting Moments Director: Jan Troell Screenwriter: Jan Troell Cast: Mikael Persbrandt, Maria Heiskanen, Jesper Christensen, Callin Ohrvall, Ghita Norby Release Date: 2009-04-15 Rated: NOT RATED Genre: Film If there’s a truism to Swedish cinema, it’s that Swedes sure know how to brood. The cliché of poetic but stoic Scandinavian suffering is so ingrained in art-house…
Charley Pride
Release Date: 2009-04-15 “Is anyone going to San Antone?” Charley Pride once sang. The answer: HELL, YES. His next question should be — is anyone going to the Lila Cockrell Theater? We think they should. Pride might be one of the more unlikely figures in country- music history, being a top-selling African-American artist. Though he’s…
Fiesta: Esteban Jordan and Flaco Jimenez
Release Date: 2009-04-15 This is an amazing collection of talent for one evening: Esteban Jordan (the “Jimi Hendrix of the accordion”) with Flaco Jimenez (no comparisons needed). Though Main Plaza reminds us of more of an existential litter box than a real zócalo at this point – and the lack of shade makes our head…
Zoe, Motel
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2009-04-15 The problem with these frivolous scotch-company-sponsored “private parties” is that nobody knows shit. All we know is that the doors open at 8 p.m. and, eventually, things will start rocking. Mexico’s Latin Grammy-nominated Zoé will be opening for fellow countrymen (and nominees themselves) Motel, and it won’t get much better…
Linda Pace Foundation Presents: Old Man Hill
Release Date: 2009-04-15 To celebrate Linda Pace’s birthday, her foundation will screen Edgar Arceneaux’s short film Old Man Hill at the barren Mission 4 Drive-In. The film is a sublime sentiment commenting on the devastation of Sarajevo and the protracted post-Yugoslavia conflict. The abandoned Mission Drive-In, oddly, might just be the perfect location. With the…
Distinguished Lecture Series: John Cleese
Release Date: 2009-04-15 John Cleese, one of the comedic geniuses behind Monty Python’s Flying Circus, comes to Trinity’s Laurie Auditorium to discuss his legendary film and television career. Monty Python was the original skit comedy group, inspiring Saturday Night Live with their surreal approach. Possibly the highlight of all of Trinity’s special events for the…
Del the Funky Homosapien
Release Date: 2009-04-15 The Warehouse continues to bring interesting hip-hop acts to town. (Granted, most of them are from the ‘90s, but were not complaining.) Del first caught attention because he’s Ice Cube’s cousin. In the late-’90s golden era of hip-hop Del was a key member of the Oakland scene, rising to prominence with the…
Fiesta: Webb Party
Release Date: 2009-04-15 The WEBB Party is the San Antonio AIDS Foundation’s largest fundraiser of the year, with Moulin Rouge being this year’s theme – did you expect something modest? This is a huge event with a few thousand people packed into SAMA’s courtyard. At least 24 top restaurants in town provide food. Loud music,…
Star-gazing
Release Date: 2009-04-15 Wednesday evening offered a full moon, yet there was no energy in the night. Looking out a window from Hotel Valencia’s Vbar one could see horse-drawn carriages moving listlessly down the street in search of tourists and a purpose. I’m no horse whisperer, but I took a hint. More evidence of the overwhelming…
Observe and Report
Observe and Report Director: Jody Hill Screenwriter: Jody Hill Cast: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Michael Pena, Ray Liotta, Collette Wolfe Release Date: 2009-04-15 Rated: R Genre: Film The recent comparisons Rogen’s been making to Taxi Driver aren’t doing this film any favors. Neither for that matter is the fat-guy-BO aftertaste still lingering in filmgoers’ mouths…
Fantasies
Fantasies Composer: Metric Conductor: Metric Label: 02. Records Release Date: 2009-04-15 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Emily Haines should probably go in for a chest X-ray. According to Fantasies opener “Help I’m Alive,” she can hear her heart “beating like a hammer” — a possible symptom of cardio-related illness. We can safely rule out arrhythmia, however,…
Now We Can See
Now We Can See Composer: The Thermals Conductor: The Thermals Label: Kill Rock Stars Release Date: 2009-04-15 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Few Bush-bashing rock albums confronted the president’s legacy of dumbfuckery as directly or poetically as 2006’s The Body, the Blood, the Machine, but the Thermals’ follow-up finds the Thermals living in the New Hope…
Bromst
Bromst Composer: Dan Deacon Conductor: Dan Deacon Label: Carpark Release Date: 2009-04-15 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording With 2007’s Spiderman of the Rings, Baltimore oddball Dan Deacon went from underground noise nerd to Pitchfork darling. Two years later, he returns with Bromst, an album that’ll likely earn him just as much attention. It’s hard to grasp…
Grace/Wastelands
Grace/Wastelands Composer: Peter Doherty Conductor: Peter Doherty Label: Astralwerks Release Date: 2009-04-15 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Pete Doherty has been reduced to tabloid fodder over the past few years, as the former Libertines and Babyshambles frontman’s exploits have overshadowed his musical talent. But Doherty has always been a skilled musician with something to say, even…
Gladiator journalism
State of Play Director: Kevin MacDonald Screenwriter: Kevin MacDonald Cast: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, Billy Ray, Peter Morgan; feat. Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren Release Date: 2009-04-15 Rated: PG-13 Genre: Film Whether you flipped to this review with an ink-smudged finger or you simply opened a new tab, State…
S’Nuff film
Filmmakers of San Antonio, retreat while there’s still time. The City’s Cultural Collaborative initiative is funding the 2009 Artist Professional Development Retreat, a weekend-long workshop intended to help you become a self-sustaining creative professional, instead of the pouty drain on society you most likely are. There’s no application fee, and if you’re accepted, the actual…
Lies that bind
Suzan-Lori Parks’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog, playing now at the Cellar Theatre, is the most interesting piece of theater I’ve seen in San Antonio this year. It weaves a postmodern tragedy out of three distinctly American strands of performance: intricate rhythmic language, infused with jazz, the blues, and hip-hop; fascinating character relationships, which are as fraught…
ARTIFACTS
Two grand San Antonio institutions — Mission 4 Drive-In and the late Linda Pace — will unite a congregation this Thursday to celebrate and mourn them on the anniversary of Pace’s birthday. The venerable outdoor theater, now fallen into disrepair and soon to be demolished by the city (though, somewhat thankfully, to make way for…
The six-point buck and the oobleck
Out of the mouth of a stuffed deer head spews a giant pink plastic inflatable that fills a traditionally furnished Hill Country living room, evoking a horror-show expulsion of guts and vomit, a sickeningly sweet tidal wave of cupcake frosting, and everything in-between. French artist Anne Ferrer, a visiting artist at UTSA, began with a…
The QueQue
Partial science San Antonio Metro Health says it’s trying to “cover all the bases” when it comes to analyzing the health issues that plague the Kelly Air Force Base Toxic Triangle. And by “cover,” they mean “bury.” (Or so it seems to us.) Metro Health Director Fernando Guerra admitted this week that he hadn’t yet…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: In an earlier column, you mentioned that conservatives can’t have an argument against illegal immigration without it degenerating into a diatribe against culture. Here’s an argument that has nothing to do with culture: In California, we now have a severe water shortage. I work for a municipal water agency. We are asking that…
Greening CPS Energy
Revolutions have a way of moving history along by chapters at a time. They also tend to leave more than a few bodies in their wake. Despite the cautious pace of our local utility, the green-energy revolution now underway — the so-called Third Industrial Revolution championed by economist and sustainability guru Jeremy Rifkin and subscribed…
The Nosferatu Effect
Three years ago, after reading one too many copies of Cosmo, I decided to go and get one of those full-body spray-on tans one day before the King William Fair. The chipper 18-year old girl at the CausticTan made it sound so easy. Turn around several times in the tan booth, rub the excess into…
The rematch
Five years ago, Justin Rodriguez observed then-District 7 Councilman (and current mayoral frontrunner) Julián Castro at City Council meetings and felt sorry for him. “I remember thinking, ‘What a poor guy, man. That job sucks. I would never do that,’” Rodriguez says with a hearty laugh. “Because he would just never be able to make…
Dear Uncle Mat
My ex-boyfriend just moved back to town with his new boyfriend. He dumped me when he went away to graduate school three years ago. I was devastated and haven’t had a decent relationship since. I ran into them two weeks ago at a local bar. They were both drunk and made a pass at me.…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): One of the casualties of the recession has been grooming and primping. Many people are devoting less time and money to maintaining their appearance at peak levels. Make-up sales are down, and I’ve definitely been seeing more unkempt — or should I say raw and unadorned? — people lately. If you’ve…
The Serene Dominic Show
Originally scheduled as Lucky Episode 13, this vidcast finds Serene Dominic LIVE from an IC unit at Arrowhead Hospital, recuperating from a heart attack he suffered after performing a Valentine Night set. Serene recounts the events leading up the "CLEAR!" paddles, then brings you a subdued "heart-safe" Lightning Round with Cris Kirkwood of the Meat…
Low-emissions eating
Discovering Mark Bittman can be revelatory. I was so taken upon stumbling across the Minimalist, his aptly titled New York Times column, that I set about printing and binder-clipping my favorites as “books” — even sharing them. Then I realized (duh) that the Bittman fans are, if not legion, sufficient to keep fat tomes like…
Amuse-BOUCHE
From 2:30-3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 18, A-B will be scarfing tamales at Our Lady of the Lake’s first Tamalada Throwdown, likely in front of an audience of salivating spectators. We aren’t all that into overt displays of public gluttony, but it’s all for a good cause. The competition is part of Tamale Fest @ the…
History repeats
Our cities grow in size, our awareness of the world around us increases, technology steadily advances, but some things remain immutable, chief among them human nature. The cliché says those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it, but perhaps it’s less a problem of knowledge than our own inherent failings and short-sightedness. Though…
THE SOUND & THE FURY
Although they’re based in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the brutal hard-rock quintet Chapstik has deep SA roots. Vocalist-guitarist Leighton Mann put the original lineup together here in 1994, with Kick It! beatmaster Ernesto Olivo on drums. Even after moving to Michigan, he maintained a long-distance, free-floating version of the San Antonio band for touring purposes. Last April,…
Sohns
Like the bands that played before them, Sohns set up on the floor. The two extra man-high amplifiers they wheel out, however, warn that this won’t be rock ’n’ roll. This will be nerve-ending genocide. Sohns’ songs are noisy acts of violence spurred by singer Alex Mendez’s helium-inflated Sam Kinison shrieks and drummer Lawrence Mercado’s…
“Void 2 Fill” — OBX
The genre doesn’t seem in any danger of going away, but every MC, sucker or otherwise, claims to be hip-hop’s next savior. OBX’s claims are slightly more modest than, say, Lil Wayne. Rather than claiming to resurrect hip-hop from its death bed, OBX simply suggests he’s the missing ingredient. And “Void 2 Fill” — matching…
Making a ‘Nombre’
The dude seated to my right wasn’t quite what I’d anticipated, but neither did he come as a total shock. Of course, he could’ve been a candy-powered android with four ding-dongs and still not have thrown me all that much. Now, that last bit’s probably not all that accurate, but I employ it to hyperbolically…
21st Century BC: out of committee Thursday?
That most useful of all 12th-century hobbies, science, is sparking another renaissance in a medieval, cloistered culture: the Texas lege. Advocates for fact-based sex-ed are optimistic about the chances of a comprehensive sex-ed bill (which you’ll recall from last week’s QueQue) authored by Representative Joaquin Castro and currently working its way through the Public Education…
MAYORAL CANDIDATE FORUM AT SAC TONIGHT!
Tuesday’s event at SAC: LET’S HAVE BODIES THERE! 6 pm at the San Antonio College RTF Hall, room 101, on Courtland Place off of Main Street. Free parking in lots 5, 7, and 9 on Courtland. Or tune in online atsa4mayor.com and sacurrent.com, and text or emailing questions. Gilbert Garcia of the Current, and Patricio…
Corn: Global Warming’s latest canary
Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com When it comes to Global Warming, it seems that everything is the “canary in the coalmine.” One week, we’re told that as the Artic sea ice goes, so goes the world. The next, drought-stricken Australia is the planetary harbinger. Now, it’s corn. Before we could even wash off the ink of our…
