ddd
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The smog lifts
Bill Callahan: Chronicling the lives of the desperate, deluded, and downtrodden. Courtesy photo. Bill Callahan has been making music for more than 20 years, though his name is less familiar than Smog, the pseudonym he’s long hidden behind. Like Drag City labelmate Will Oldham, Callahan has engaged in the name game, apparently deciding that now…
The smog lifts
Bill Callahan: Chronicling the lives of the desperate, deluded, and downtrodden. Courtesy photo. Bill Callahan has been making music for more than 20 years, though his name is less familiar than Smog, the pseudonym he’s long hidden behind. Like Drag City labelmate Will Oldham, Callahan has engaged in the name game, apparently deciding that now…
Siam so-so
More spice, please, and don’t make us wait for lunch
Letters to the Editor
mail On the Cover Members of the U.S. World Cup Polocrosse team line up for a scrimmage in the Hill Country, their home base. Photos by Alexis Souza. WebMail UP IN SMOKE Re: Kahuna on the run Added: Monday April 09, 2007 at 04:18 AM EST The Dailey Crapper Elaine Wolff … you should be…
Free Will Astrology
By: Rob Brezsny ARIES (March 21-April 19): “‘Don’t look before you leap!’ is a Zen saying that contrasts with what many in the West consider wise counsel,” writes Christopher Moors in his article “Magical Buddha Nature” at tinyurl.com/34swxd. “If everything is premeditated, we never have the naked brilliance of a truly new experience. Though…
last words
Puzzlemaster Dave Maass So, you think you’re running for City Council. Well, candidates, are you boned up on the news? Who’s giving you the scoop? Frankly, you ought to be reading us, as well as the institutionalists over at the Express-News, and you’ll need us both to finish this candidate crossword. The first candidate to…
The Queque
11
Aural Pleasure
Macy’s Parade Macy Gray is gifted with the ability to climb inside a conventional R&B track and breathe life into the whole moribund enterprise. Yet even her boundless idiosyncrasies are not enough to save the over-produced, half-baked banality that afflicts the balance of this album. Gray’s talent is such that you could seemingly wind her…
The Queque
11
Aural Pleasure
Macy’s Parade Macy Gray is gifted with the ability to climb inside a conventional R&B track and breathe life into the whole moribund enterprise. Yet even her boundless idiosyncrasies are not enough to save the over-produced, half-baked banality that afflicts the balance of this album. Gray’s talent is such that you could seemingly wind her…
The Queque
11
Aural Pleasure
Macy’s Parade Macy Gray is gifted with the ability to climb inside a conventional R&B track and breathe life into the whole moribund enterprise. Yet even her boundless idiosyncrasies are not enough to save the over-produced, half-baked banality that afflicts the balance of this album. Gray’s talent is such that you could seemingly wind her…
Faculty feathers, ruffled
Now is the spring semester of our discontent. Because the educators plowing fertile minds at Northwest Vista College, at Our Lady of the Lake University, and at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Department of Earth and Environmental Science are not merry. In the case of the institution within the five-college Alamo Community Colleges…
Sound and the Fury
Up From The Underground Growing up in the border town of Tijuana, Mexico, Julieta Venegas easily absorbed the richest elements of Mexican and American pop culture, and over the course of four solo albums, she’s managed to become increasingly accessible without sacrificing her idiosyncratic impulses. With her moody accordion work and bright, radio-friendly voice, Venegas…
The smog lifts
Bill Callahan with Bill Baird, and Marcus Bubio 9pm Sun, Apr 22 Limelight 2718 N. St. Mary’s 735-7775 Bill Callahan has been making music for more than 20 years, though his name is less familiar than Smog, the pseudonym he’s long hidden behind. Like Drag City labelmate Will Oldham, Callahan has engaged in the name…
The smog lifts
Bill Callahan with Bill Baird, and Marcus Bubio 9pm Sun, Apr 22 Limelight 2718 N. St. Mary’s 735-7775 Bill Callahan has been making music for more than 20 years, though his name is less familiar than Smog, the pseudonym he’s long hidden behind. Like Drag City labelmate Will Oldham, Callahan has engaged in the name…
The smog lifts
Bill Callahan: Chronicling the lives of the desperate, deluded, and downtrodden. Courtesy photo. Bill Callahan with Bill Baird, and Marcus Bubio 9pm Sun, Apr 22 Limelight 2718 N. St. Mary’s 735-7775 Bill Callahan has been making music for more than 20 years, though his name is less familiar than Smog, the pseudonym he’s long hidden…
last words
Puzzlemaster Dave Maass So, you think you’re running for City Council. Well, candidates, are you boned up on the news? Who’s giving you the scoop? Frankly, you ought to be reading us, as well as the institutionalists over at the Express-News, and you’ll need us both to finish this candidate crossword. The first candidate to…
Letters to the Editor
mail ON THE COVER Haley Scarnato’s American Idol run is over, but it was grand while it lasted. Story. Cover illustration by James Yamasaki. MAIL Your recent guest column, “Public Access Fight Brewing,” `The Say-Town Lowdown, April 11-17` may have given some readers the mistaken impression that AT&T does not want to provide PEG (public,…
The smog lifts
Bill Callahan: Chronicling the lives of the desperate, deluded, and downtrodden. Courtesy photo. Bill Callahan has been making music for more than 20 years, though his name is less familiar than Smog, the pseudonym he’s long hidden behind. Like Drag City labelmate Will Oldham, Callahan has engaged in the name game, apparently deciding that now…
last words
Puzzlemaster Dave Maass So, you think you’re running for City Council. Well, candidates, are you boned up on the news? Who’s giving you the scoop? Frankly, you ought to be reading us, as well as the institutionalists over at the Express-News, and you’ll need us both to finish this candidate crossword. The first candidate to…
The smog lifts
Bill Callahan: Chronicling the lives of the desperate, deluded, and downtrodden. Courtesy photo. Bill Callahan has been making music for more than 20 years, though his name is less familiar than Smog, the pseudonym he’s long hidden behind. Like Drag City labelmate Will Oldham, Callahan has engaged in the name game, apparently deciding that now…
last words
Puzzlemaster Dave Maass So, you think you’re running for City Council. Well, candidates, are you boned up on the news? Who’s giving you the scoop? Frankly, you ought to be reading us, as well as the institutionalists over at the Express-News, and you’ll need us both to finish this candidate crossword. The first candidate to…
The Fast Foodie
Ilsong Garden 6905 Blanco Road 366-4508 11am-10pm Mon-Fri; noon-10pm Sat I hadn’t eaten Korean food in eons. The last time was in a steam-bath-like haze in L.A.’s K-town, the atmosphere abetted in part by several Korean beers as well as the smell and smoke of grilling meat. The memory is distinct only for its boozy…
Haley’s comet
Randy Jackson tends to be the only helpful American Idol judge. While Paula Abdul mumbles useless bonbons such as “You looked like you were having fun out there,” and Simon Cowell plays the bitchy bad cop, Jackson assumes the role of motivational coach. But after Haley Scarnato labored her way through a none-too-spicy take on…
last words
Puzzlemaster Dave Maass So, you think you’re running for City Council. Well, candidates, are you boned up on the news? Who’s giving you the scoop? Frankly, you ought to be reading us, as well as the institutionalists over at the Express-News, and you’ll need us both to finish this candidate crossword. The first candidate to…
Siam so-so
Siam Delight 5152 Fredricksburg 524-9019 11am-2:30pm Mon-Fri; noon-10pm Sat & Sun Credit cards Entrées: $6.95-10.95 Accessible It’s 1 p.m., 30 minutes after my lunchtime arrival at Siam Delight, and I have yet to see so much as a glass of water. Tick, tick, tick … I finally manage to snare a waiter — though the…
The more things change …
The Madwoman of Chaillot 7pm Wed & Thu, 8pm Fri & Sat Through Apr 21 $8 adult; $6 senior; $4 student Jane & Arthur Stieren Theatre Trinity University One Trinity Pl. 999-8515 Trinity.edu Sometimes there’s a good reason to dust off an old play and take a look at it with fresh eyes. When in…
The sound of soy
Have you ever wondered why the edamame appetizer at sushi restaurants is so expensive? It’s just a small pile of steamed and salted soybeans, still in their pods, and yet can cost $4 to $5. Soybeans — America’s second-largest cash crop behind corn — are currently selling for 7.7 cents per pound, according to the…
The sound of soy
Have you ever wondered why the edamame appetizer at sushi restaurants is so expensive? It’s just a small pile of steamed and salted soybeans, still in their pods, and yet can cost $4 to $5. Soybeans — America’s second-largest cash crop behind corn — are currently selling for 7.7 cents per pound, according to the…
The more things change …
The Madwoman of Chaillot 7pm Wed & Thu, 8pm Fri & Sat Through Apr 21 $8 adult; $6 senior; $4 student Jane & Arthur Stieren Theatre Trinity University One Trinity Pl. 999-8515 Trinity.edu Sometimes there’s a good reason to dust off an old play and take a look at it with fresh eyes. When in…
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The sound of soy
Have you ever wondered why the edamame appetizer at sushi restaurants is so expensive? It’s just a small pile of steamed and salted soybeans, still in their pods, and yet can cost $4 to $5. Soybeans — America’s second-largest cash crop behind corn — are currently selling for 7.7 cents per pound, according to the…
A critic’s dream come true
I have to admit that I generally approach the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber with a degree of apprehension that borders on fear and loathing. I can only think of one of his musicals with more than three-and-a-half good songs and that would be Cats. In fact, I would rate Cats as Webber’s supreme masterpiece.…
Armchair Cinephile
This week Warner Bros. enters territory usually left to indie DVD studios, using the 50th anniversary of Pedro Infante’s untimely death to launch the Pedro Infante Signature Collection. Eleven films hit stores this week, with 12 to follow in September; extra features are slim, but surely the budget price ($14.98 each retail) and sheer number…
Mambo is my business
Our Lady of the Lake University 2007 Literary Festival: An Evening with Oscar Hijuelos 7 pm Wed, Apr 18 Free Thiry Auditorium OLLU Campus 434-6711 Ext. 2091 Ollusa.edu After his critically praised debut novel Our House in the Last World, Oscar Hijuelos wrote his masterpiece, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. His marvelous portrait…
A man without a country
“It’s surely my last book,” said Kurt Vonnegut from his Manhattan home about what would be A Man Without a Country. Sure, Vonnegut (author of Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five) often insisted that he had retired from writing. But the Bush Administration forced him back into the open, he said. And so he began contributing short…
Armchair Cinephile
This week Warner Bros. enters territory usually left to indie DVD studios, using the 50th anniversary of Pedro Infante’s untimely death to launch the Pedro Infante Signature Collection. Eleven films hit stores this week, with 12 to follow in September; extra features are slim, but surely the budget price ($14.98 each retail) and sheer number…
The Queque
11
Aural Pleasure
Macy’s Parade Macy Gray is gifted with the ability to climb inside a conventional R&B track and breathe life into the whole moribund enterprise. Yet even her boundless idiosyncrasies are not enough to save the over-produced, half-baked banality that afflicts the balance of this album. Gray’s talent is such that you could seemingly wind her…
Sticks and Studs
Rob “The Commodore” Shuttles is returning captain of the USA World Cup Polocrosse Team and the highest-rated player in America. Photos by Alexis Souza. The dirt forms a fine cloud as the horses pivot and dodge. Racquets crack as the riders fight for the ball and fake out opponents on the way down the field.…
A Vamp Slayer Returns
Our favorite vampire slayer is back and intact, with a posse of new slayers to help fight the black-op Initiative. Courtesy image. Buffy the Vampire Slayer enjoyed a seven-year television run during which the Chosen One died twice before UPN staked the show permanently. But you can’t keep a good slayer down, especially one imbued…
The Bar Tab
The famous sign is back, and so are the cold drinks and kozy atmosphere. Photo by Mark Jones. Tucker’s Kozy Korner 1338 E. Houston 231-8277 Top shelf: circa $4.25 Tucker’s Kozy Korner is back. For those who already know the bar, its return should feel seamless. For those who have never been, joy awaits. Tucker’s…
‘April’ May Enchant
Clockwise from left: April flowers enshroud Enchanted’s Theresa Bishop, Heather Kelley, and Emily Spicer. Enchanted April 8pm Fri, 7pm Sat, 2:30pm Sun Through April 7 $20 general, $18 seniors and military, $12 students The San Pedro Playhouse Cellar Theater 800 W Ashby 733-7258 www.sanpedroplayhouse.com Enchanted April is a rather misleading, expectation-building title if you don’t…
Ask the Chef
Chef Boy Ari. Courtesy photo. Dear Chef Boy Ari, I like spicy food, to a point. Too much spice and I feel the pain at both the “import” and “export” ends, if you know what I mean, as well as in the middle. But without a little heat, it isn’t a meal. The problem is…
No Company Man
Literary giant and passionate environmentalist Peter Matthiessen speaks at the Empire Theatre Thursday. Gemini Ink’s Spring Autograph Series: Peter Matthiessen Reading and Q&A 7pm Thu, Mar 22 Free Charline McCombs Empire Theatre 226 N. St. Mary’s Luncheon & Colloquim Noon Fri, Mar 23 $50 Pearl Stable 312 Pearl Parkway Master class 6:30-9pm Fri, Mar 23…
The Fast Foodie
Thai Dee 5307 Blanco 342-3622 11am-9pm Mon-Sat For those who like to eat a LOT of Thai food for fairly little money, Thai Dee is a good choice. If your priorities for Thai food are otherwise, well … at least you’ll have leftovers for your friends. I met a person who said this is their…
A Routine Job, A Routine Execution
Photo by Dave Maass Vincent “Flaco” Gutierrez is all smiles and charm despite his imminent execution. In 1998, Gutierrez and Randy Arroyo were sentenced to death for the murder of Air Force Captain Jose Cobo, who was based at Lackland AFB. Arroyo, 17, needed a part to fix his Mazda RX-7’s power windows, and Cobo…
Green With Mild Envy
Green’s vegetarian delights, clockwise from left: Sweet-potato gnocchi, an appetizer sampler, and portabella steak. Photo by Antonia Padilla Green 1017 N. Flores 320-5865 7am-9pm Mon-Thu; 7am-7pm Fri; 8am-9pm Sun Entrée price range $6.99-$7.99 Accessible Any list of civilized amenities that the seventh-largest city in the United States ought not to do without has to include…
Aural Pleasure
Costello Music The Fratellis (Interscope) Broken Glasgow Hooks are very important to The Fratellis. In fact, it’s hard to think of an album released in this decade that possesses more do-do-do’s and la-la-la’s than the debut release from this Glasgow, Scotland band. In some quarters, the group is being hyped as a tartan second coming…
Sound and the Fury
Cool Chicks for Hazel Hazel Anderson celebrated her first birthday on March 1. But that festive occasion was tempered by the heartbreaking medical obstacles Hazel has battled over the last two months. In January she was diagnosed with an extremely rare (it only affects one in 15 million infants) and highly aggressive brain tumor and…
Heavy Rotation
Illustration by Chuck Kerr If you’ve glanced at the Billboard charts in recent weeks, you might have noticed that 2007 is shaping up as a watershed year for independent music in America. Within a span of two months, the Shins’ latest release on Sub Pop and Arcade Fire’s new album for Merge both debuted on…
Page Turner
Reader: Simultaneously defying genre and noise restrictions. Courtesy photo. It was a winter night, pre-Christmas, and I was fulfilling a manic creative compulsion to make thousands of homemade magnets to give away as holiday gifts. While working, the soft sounds of piano jazz played in the background from my stereo’s default station, 91.7 FM. Suddenly,…
The Say-Town Lowdown
The United States is entering the fifth year of its violent, failed occupation of Iraq, longer than the U.S. was involved in World War II. Through the grimly deepening quagmire, a strengthening, pervasive U.S. anti-war movement is emerging. An increasingly powerful voice comes from soldiers and their families, turning grief into action. Take the Arredondo…
TYC: Can You See the Elephant?
Amid the human drama of the saga of physical and sexual abuse, cover-ups, and gross mismanagement that continues to unfold at the Texas Youth Commission, few are turning to look over their shoulder at the proverbial elephant stomping through the room: Who knew what, and when did they know it? It doesn’t take a Leon…
The Queque
It ain’t no easy trick for the Queque to escape not only the office, but the city for a couple days mid-week. Especially if our main goal is to check out the hottest new Nordic indie-rock outfits. But even political bloodhounds can’t resist the scent of SXSW blowing in from the 35: armpit patchouli, flat…
The Mashup
From the Editor “Hereditary democracy” should be a non sequitur, a Push-Me-Pull-You conundrum that only Dr. Doolittle would appreciate — and hopefully sail far away with in a giant pink snail. But rather than disappearing over the European horizon with the red coats, this oxymoron (which produces two asses, rather than two heads) has become…
Home on the Range – A former New Yorker’s guide to the Texas adjustment
I like several of my compatriots, have the glorious fantasy that maybe, just maybe, some day I will be on a transcontinental flight in which the entire crew systematically falls ill to food poisoning and the flight can only be saved when a stewardess asks if any of the passengers know how to fly a…
Locostyle at the Museo Alameda
Posted by Keli Dailey at 6:25 PM, 04.13.2007 “It’s the Mexican tuxedo,” Cynthia said when she noticed my date at last night’s Museo Alameda del Smithsonian pre-opening gala event at Market Square matched hers: the black guayabera with crisp khaki pants, black shoes. The guy(abera) on my arm was decade-plus friend Beto Gonzales, one of the featured…
Bread or Roses?
Two of the artworks the Tobin Endowment is selling to meet its $5-million pledge to the McNay: Charles Demuth’s Study for “I Saw the Number 5 in Gold” (1925-26), top, and Georgia O’Keeffe’s 1916 watercolor, “Blue I.” “The more she stared, the more she felt at home. Then she was crying, and the two of…
Moderately Priced Speech
Those activist City Councilwomen in District 5 (Patti Radle) and 7 (Elena Guajardo) were the ones who pulled the consent item developed in the troll-dark cellar of the City Manager’s office from the March 1 agenda. Radle said she has had just a few chances to protect the Constitution in her seat at the Council…
