From the borderlands
Hacienda Los Barrios puts a twist on the familiar
From the borderlands
From front: classic enchilada assortment – enchilada ranchero, mexicana, verde, poblano, and Tex-Mex cheese served with beans and guacamole; a dish called “Mofofo” – marinated pork and beef grilled and served on a flaming grill and accompanied by Spanish rice, beans, pico de gallo and diced avocado. (Photo by Mark Greenberg) From the borderlands By…
Veggie in unlikely places
Fat Burger, a San Antonio knockoff on the California chain, caters to veggies with Erika’s Veggie Sandwich – grilled zucchini, bell pepper, and mushrooms topped with Monterrey Jack and avocado. (Photo by Laura McKenzie) Veggie in unlikely places By Alejandro Pérez A group of us were standing outside of Fat Burger, in view of the…
To Be Young, Gifted, and Mayor?
District 7 City Councilman and mayoral candidate Julián Castro greets Mayor Ed Garza, whose term expires next year. Garza is also from District 7 and served as councilman until he was elected mayor in 2001.(Photo by Mark Greenberg) To Be Young, Gifted, and Mayor? By Michael Cary Mayoral candidate Julián Castro positions himself as the…
Fruits of the season
Stacks of tangelos, oranges, and lemons await a buyer in the sun at Chicho Boys Produce Market. A sliver is missing from a ripe watermelon, exposing pink flesh, and onions, purple and white, nestle in a nearby cardboard crate. (Photos by Laura McKenzie) Fruits of the season By Laura Fries Chicho Boys brings fresh fruit…
Reality Bites
Erin Zayko, 28, is a UTSA senior and co-founder of the Progressive Student Union. (Photo by Laura McKenzie) Reality Bites By Abraham Mahshie UTSA’s Progressive Student Union tries to plug the campus into reality “All right, let’s talk about this ‘campus life’ thing,” announces Mary Virginia Watson as she presses another cigarette into her ashtray…
Tex-Fests
Tex-Fests April rain brings May food festivals across the state Sugar Land opens its doors to the wine community with the first Fort Bend Wine & Food Affair, scheduled for Wednesday, April 28 through Sunday, May 2. The anticipated event will feature tastings, pairings, and seminars as experts from around the nation descend on Sugar…
Green’s blues
Al Green: The last great soul man has already written a follow-up to his acclaimed 2003 album, I Can’t Stop. (Photo by Clay Patrick McBride) Green’s blues By Gilbert Garcia Al Green returns to the uneasy realm of love and happiness In the late 1970s, Al Green abandoned secular music and established his own church…
Sound and the Fury
Sound and the Fury a week on the scene Uplift Mojoe Party Plan Hip-hop soul group Mojoe recently underwent a major lineup shuffle, with MCs Charles “Easy Lee” Peters and Treson “T.R.E.” Scipio and guitarist Michael “Mesquite” Johnson now joined by drummer De’Rick “Funky Genius” Hendry, bassist Jason “Bishop” Stiggers, keyboardist Robert “Cooley High” Cockfield,…
Pulling the Trigger
According to an intelligence memo, Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, Coalition Provisional Authority Adminstrator L. Paul Bremer, and the Pentagon have mishandled the situation in Iraq, possibly instigating a civil war. (Photo by R.D. Ward) Pulling the Trigger By Jason Vest A Coalition memo reveals that even true believers see the seeds of civil war…
B-real deal
Cypress Hill: a Los Angeles trio that pushed Latino hip-hop to global heights B-real deal By M. Solis It’s hard to believe that 13 years have passed since Cypress Hill emerged from Los Angeles to push Latino hip-hop to global heights. With more than 15 million albums sold worldwide, the trio of B-Real, Sen Dog,…
Overeducated and Underplayed
Tres Navarre, the Alamo City-based PI of Rick Riordan’s mysteries, brings fear and mayhem to familiar landmarks, including the pedestrian bridge at the San Antonio Museum of Art. (Photo by Mark Greenberg) Overeducated and Underplayed By Susan Pagani Rick Riordan’s San Antonio PI is one smart, self-deprecating sonofabitch A famous author once said that the…
Battle tested
Eyedea & Abilities Battle tested By Gilbert Garcia In a way, it’s fitting that the St. Paul, Minnesota, underground hip-hop duo known as Eyedea & Abilities cut their teeth on the hip-hop battle circuit. Four years after MC Eyedea won the HBO-televised Blaze Battle, he’s still at war with his contemporary hip-hop peers, albeit not…
Of Orphanages and Grandmas
Of Orphanages and Grandmas By Alejandro Pérez Poet Jimmy Santiago Baca’s prose shines in a collection of short stories I admire writers who try new things. Although, realistically, most writers are versatile, dabbling in half a dozen different genres, by and far they rarely share their experimental work with audiences, wide or insignificant. How many…
Cee-Lo Flow
Cee-Lo Flow By M. Solis Thomas Callaway is not your typical hip-hop MC. As part of Atlanta’s acclaimed Goodie Mob, the man also known as Cee-Lo Green established himself as a soulful, raspy voiced tenor who possessed wisdom beyond his years. His commercially slept-on debut, Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections made top-ten lists across…
Word on the Street
Word on the Street Compiled by: Jenifer Hamilton News and notes from the San Antonio literary scene Fiesta 2004 is officially over, but there are still plenty of excuses to celebrate. For one, Sandra Cisneros’ Caramelo has been shortlisted for the International Dublin Impact Literary Award. Nominees for the prestigious award are chosen by libraries…
Coalition Provisional Authority Memo
Coalition Provisional Authority Memo CPA memo written in early March, 2004 `Below is the full text of the redacted memo upon which Jason Vest’s April 20 article prepared for the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) is based. AAN’s original intention was to withhold the release of the full memo, as it includes a section with…
A visionary’s nightmare on Elm Street
Chloë Sevigny as Liz Hensen in Dogville A visionary’s nightmare on Elm Street By Gregg Barrios The first part of an American trilogy makes a masterful beginning Dogville isn’t Kill Bill, Vol. 2, but Nicole Kidman could certainly show Uma Thurman a thing or two about the correct way of exacting vengeance. No one goes…
All Ears
All Ears By John DeFore Reissue Roundup, Part 2 Of the various bands left off that British Invasion box set discussed last week, one is getting its due elsewhere. Come See Me (Shout Factory) is a big, tough testament to The Pretty Things, a band as nasty and threatening, and just about as great, as…
Get a fire extinguisher
Denzel Washington plays an alcoholic ex-military man who becomes a child’s bodyguard in Man on Fire. Get a fire extinguisher By John Defore Revenge is a dish best served cold — not stale Outside the meta-cinematic funhouse of Kill Bill, vigilante movies generally want to be as quick and to-the-point as a garrotting. The mother…
Armchair Cinephile
Armchair Cinephile John DeFore on DVD Quests, portraits, and vicarious kicks One documentary genre that never seems to get old is the Quest Movie – the film in which a curious soul strikes off to answer a question, find something, or accomplish a task. Almost always, the filmmaker’s personality plays a big part in the…
Recent Reviews
Recent Reviews The Alamo, Dawn of the Dead, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Goodbye Lenin!, Hellboy, Kill Bill-Vol.2, Kitchen Stories, The Ladykillers, Osama The Passion of the Christ, The Same River Twice, Spartan, and all the rest… The Alamo Dir. John Lee Hancock; writ. Leslie Bohem, Stephen Gaghan, Hankcock; feat. Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob…
Delivering pizza in Tehran
Emadeddin as Hussein in Crimson Gold Delivering pizza in Tehran By Steven G. Kellman Farsi film is the portrait of an ordinary man who can no longer abide the merely ordinary In A Taste of Cherry, Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami told the story of one man’s urgent search for a stranger willing to bury him…
