Captain America under military investigation for alleged homosexuality
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Military Tribunal has been formed this week to investigate recent allegations that Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, is gay. Members of the secret agency S.H.E.I.L.D. refused to comment, but one anonymous source said it does not look good for the super hero. “Bright blue spandex tights, red boots, and an angel…
Even Though It’s Free, Vindictus is Worth the Money You’ll Spend Anyway…
Most gamers will agree that the phrase “free to play” is intentionally misleading. Sure, you can download the game, set up a character and have it running without paying a penny, but within a few hours you’ll start to see what else you didn’t pay for—non-existent story, unbalanced combat mechanics, and incredibly buggy gameplay. Fortunately,…
Beware the Elmendorf Beast!
While most Texans are now familiar with the weird, dog-like ‘Chupacabras’ that have been turning up around the state over the past seven years, many are unaware that the affair had its origins just south of San Antonio in sleepy Elmendorf. It was during the Spring of 2004 that a colorful and cultured poultry farmer…
RAM LIVES: The sixth annual Ram Jam …
… another puro pinche party in memory of Taco Land’s Ram Ayala Sons of Hercules take the stage at 11:40 pm. Along with Jerry Clayworth, the Hickoids’ Jeff Smith has organized the previous five editions of the Ram Jam, which honors the legendary Taco Land owner gunned down in 2005. Smith played at the venue…
A&R Rep thinks the Red Hot Chili Peppers need more Heroin
Los Angeles, CA – With the departure of guitarist John Frusciante, a rep for the band’s label says he believes the group can carry on only if they agree to go back to using opiates. “Their best work is still in front of them.” says Warner Records agent Robert Peel. “We feel that the right…
Your 2011 Fiesta Fashion Calendar
Fiesta and fashion go hand in hand. From the elaborate jewel-encrusted Coronation gowns, to the Folklorico float dresses, and even Miss Fiesta’s dramatic Miss America diamond crown, one thing’s for sure: San Antonio loves celebrating the occasion at volume ten, with loud—and even tacky—colors, a little bling-bling and a lot of big hair. But whether…
Art opening: TRANS/ACTION
Release Date: 2011-04-07 Missouri-born Artpace archivist and Unit B (Gallery) director Kimberly Aubuchon stands out as the only SA-based artist featured in TRANS/ACTION, a group show that tackles art’s undying love-hate affair with commerce. Accompanying Aubuchon, whose Self Portrait as Chicken with Awesome Pumps you may have seen in the Current’s glossy, useful, and still-available…
Avalanche Tour with Stone Sour, Theory of a Dead Man, Skillet, Halestorm and Art of Dying
Release Date: 2011-04-07 Mere months after it was raucously inaugurated by Disturbed, Korn, Sevendust, and In This Moment, the million-dollar Illusions Theatre ? designed and billed as a more “intimate” space within the Alamodome ? is at risk for natural disaster: The Avalanche Tour, which blows into town this Friday with high-voltage acts Stone Sour,…
Main Plaza’s 4th Annual Corazon de San Antonio Fiesta
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2011-04-07 “Augie’s my man,” Bob Dylan — a man not known for giving away praise — said of former Sir Douglas Quintet and current Texas Tornado Augie Meyers. “He’s the shining example of a musician, Vox player or otherwise, who can break the code … He can bring a song, certainly…
Art opening: Moctezuma’s Table: Rolando Briseño’s Mexican and Chicano Tablescapes
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2011-04-07 Moctezuma’s Table: Rolando Briseño’s Mexican and Chicano Tablescapes, is both book and art exhibit. Both were on view last year at SAMA, and have traveled from SA to the Instituto de Mexico in Montreal. Now back in town, the show is being reprised at Galeria Ortiz with 17 of the…
Fiesta: INCOGNITO: Fiesta’s Masked Ball
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2011-04-07 Produced by URBAN-15, a local non-profit that celebrates music, movement, and media via performance and educational programming, INCOGNITO invites Fiesta-goers to “come as they aren’t” to an “electrifying, costumed event.” Set to live music by Grammy-winning quintet Brave Combo (whose musical style encompasses everything from salsa, rock, and polka to…
Frames
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2011-04-07 Making its world premiere at the Overtime on Friday is Sharon Argo’s new drama Frames, which according to director Morgan Scharff, “isn’t heavily plotted.” Described as a “collection of scenes,” Frames explores the human condition, focusing sharply on the role memory plays in our lives. Set in an Alzheimer’s ward…
Sol y Canto & Sweet Plantain String Quartet
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2011-04-07 Although it’s not tied to Fiesta, pan-Latin ensemble Sol y Canto’s signature program Sabor y Memoria: A Musical Feast in Seven Courses couldn’t serve SA at a better time. With support from Latin fusion ensemble Sweet Plantain String Quartet (the mission of which is to “give voice to a contemporary,…
Fiesta Arts Fair
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2011-04-07 This weekend, more than 100 artists from across the country will gather on the historic grounds of the Southwest School of Art for one of the most anticipated events on the Fiesta calendar. Thirty-nine years strong this year, Fiesta Arts Fair offers a truly unique shopping experience (browse for works…
Fiesta: A Day in Old Mexico & Charreada
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2011-04-07 The first of two Fiesta-approved charreadas is set to kick up dust at Charro Ranch on Sunday. An organized tradition in Mexico since 1921 (when the preservation-minded Asociación Nacional de Charros was founded) charreadas typically include nine scored equestrian events for men and one for women (the escaramuza, which translates…
Chair Dan Ramos holds his own gathering as Bexar Dems move to boot him
By Michael Barajas mbarajas@sacurrent.com As members of the Bexar County Democratic Party voted Tuesday night to put their embattled chair on trial, Dan Ramos and a small group of his supporters hunkered down for their own parallel meeting across town. “I’m still here and I’m not going anywhere,” Ramos declared while continuing to blame the…
Deanna Lee and AAPAW helping move SA toward ‘no kill’
When I began my nonprofit blog at the San Antonio Current, one of the things I wanted to do was introduce my readers to some of the people behind the causes and nonprofits making a difference in our community. So, let me introduce the current Board President of Alamo Area Partners for Animal Welfare (AAPAW),…
LOCAL REVIEW: Education’s Age Cage
LOCAL REVIEW: Education’s Age Cage Label: Self-released Release Date: 2011-04-06 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the fabulous Education. These are heartbroken local Texas boys who spew lament with buzzsaw guitars and raw ballads that define the very beginnings of staggering rock ’n’ roll. Think Iggy Pop without the flailing around or Donovan’s…
LOCAL REVIEW: Pop Pistol’s Disappearing Edges
LOCAL REVIEW: Pop Pistol’s Disappearing Edges Label: Texas is Funny Records Release Date: 2011-04-06 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Some make EPs and call them albums; Pop Pistol do just the opposite. Disappearing Edges is a portable rock opera. Recalling recent work by Jeff Beck, Pop Pistol utilize grandiose classic rock conventions but coat them in…
Robbie Robertson: How to Become Clairvoyant
Robbie Robertson: How to Become Clairvoyant Release Date: 2011-04-06 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording In order to enjoy this album, it helps to have followed Bob Dylan’s career since his “Judas!” era (or if you’ve seen Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz, which chronicles the last show of Dylan’s infamous, superb backing band). But such preparation isn’t…
Eternal Tapestry: Beyond the 4th Door
Eternal Tapestry: Beyond the 4th Door Release Date: 2011-04-06 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Portland, Oregon’s Eternal Tapestry isn’t easily slotted. There’s a mystical, hypnotic bent, but it’s not quite stoner rock; there’s an anti-metronomic ooze to their pacing, but it’s not neo-Krautrock by any stretch of the imagination; a proto-metal heaviness is implied, but it’s…
Deco-licious: Koffee Kup
I am dubious of any restaurant that changes spellings to be cute and twee. But however ridiculous they spell it, the Koffee Kup is doing well in a run-down stretch of strip malls on Donaldson Ave. Folks in the area are trying hard to revive the Deco District, and with the help of local eateries…
Hop aint hip: When the Easter Bunny wants to escape, so do we
While Easter may never be referred to as a Hallmark holiday (the whole Christ resurrection thing usually trumps marshmallow Peeps), it’s not very difficult to point out the shamefully obvious marketing strategy a family flick like Hop has planned for the month of April. If Universal Pictures could assure God-fearing consumers wouldn’t scream blasphemy, the…
Cinco Vodka: Fiesta’s new spirit
Fiesta A-listers should plan on seeing (and/or drinking) locally distilled Cinco Vodka at some of the season’s most exclusive celebrations ? The King’s Ball, The Queen’s Ball, The Order of the Alamo Garden Party, and The Town Club Party among them. But according to Trey Azar, Cinco’s CEO and co-founder, his company’s only in the…
Death row inmate protests new Texas cocktail, saga of the tree canopy bill continues, digital billboards exempt from local control, and Texas sued over foster-care nightmares
Death row inmate gets chance to protest new Texas cocktail Unless a retributive God pokes a finger through the temporal screen and stops the heart of death row inmate Cleve Foster Hisownself, the man that would have been the first to be put to death with a killer new state cocktail last night will live…
Let’s avoid having CD releases on the same night, Fantasy Fest Rave and Bad Breaks not to be missed, and corrections to last week’s Live & Local
I know it’s a wonderful problem to have, but, folks, we’ve got to figure out a way to avoid having two major CD release parties taking place at different venues on the same night. It’s easy for me to complain about this from my desk, but I really hate missing a great show. It happened…
Jennifer Ramos cleared of worst charges against her, but questionable choices mark three seeking reelection
At a Monday night hearing, a seemingly disengaged Ethics Review Board found that District 3 Councilwoman Jennifer Ramos violated the city’s ethics code by sending off emails to her employer from city computers, but the city board dismissed the most egregious allegations brought forward in a complaint earlier this year. The lengthy complaint filed in…
The first local Gordon Raphael-produced album is Education’s moment of truth
When producer Gordon Raphael (the Strokes, Regina Spektor) started working with local bands Education, Tangible Green, and Ill Prospekt last December, no one was happier than the bands themselves. Since then, more local bands and some out-of-towners have joined Raphael in the studio built by local supporters, but it is only now that we have…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): When he was three years old, actor Charlie Sheen got a hernia from yelling too much and too loud. I definitely don’t encourage you to be like that. However, I do think it’s an excellent time to tune in to the extravagant emotions that first made an appearance when you were…
12-bar Fiesta: Sunset Station becomes the House of Blues for a day
Outside of ugly kings, cancer-causing foods, never-ending parades, and huge crowds, Fiesta San Antonio is all about music. But go ahead and try to find out, exactly, who plays where and when. It’s no easy task. After investigating each event, however, I’ve been able to excavate my top three musical picks for the revelry. There’s…
For the Spurs, now is Money Time
The San Antonio Spurs limped into their contest against the Portland Trailblazers last Monday in the middle of their longest losing streak of the season, which was at a remarkably low three games at the time. With starters Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, and Antonio McDyess watching from courtside in sports coats, the skid…
Live & Local: Pop Pistol’s Disappearing Edges EP release at Jack’s (with video)
Pop Pistol may be the most nationally qualified band in Saytown right now. Their music is expertly derivative of rock old and new, but it’s also defiantly moody, unclassifiable, and still uncannily accessible. At their Disappearing Edges EP release party April 1, the group was already achieving synergy with the crowd on opener “Skyscrape the World.” It’s…
Live & Local: The Offbeats Lights Out In The City CD release party at Pedicab (with video)
Though the venue was built for a capacity of 150, there were easily over 200 that flocked to the Pedicab on a humid but breezy Friday night to catch the Offbeats second CD release, Lights Out In The City. Judging from the turnout on April 1, I doubt the band’s fans would have minded packing…
Finding a decent beer at Fiesta is possible, and a sober moment to talk about drinking while intoxicated
Finding a decent beer at Fiesta is possible There are a few things that can ruin any festival: tight crowds, long lines for food, volunteers inflated with the power to screw with your day, and boring beer. In a nutshell, this describes many of the major Fiesta events. But there are some tips and tricks…
Beer, song, and bratwurst: Beethoven Maennerchor — and neighboring ice houses — are Fiesta best bets
First Fridays at Beethoven’s may be the closest one can come to Fiesta spillover crowds pre-Fiesta. I’d never flown solo at the bar, which doubles as the home to one of the oldest German singing societies in the state, but I quickly latched onto a guy in a German flag cowboy hat and a bowling…
Kelly D. Morton: A man with many hats
The first time I met Kelly Morton was in a bar in Bulverde, where he was headlining a showcase featuring a variety of brand new comics. It was terrible. Act after act tried their first 5 minutes in front of bands of drunken rednecks. (One highlight involved a kid trying to explain hip-hop and desktop…
Win Win scores another victory for humanist filmmaker Thomas McCarthy
While most sports-themed films focus on the game-winning shot at the buzzer or a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth, none are as emotionally rich as the ones that revel in the post-game celebration. Even then, winning isn’t everything if the narrative is brimming with spirited drama like in Rocky, A League of Their…
Source Code is solid, but no stunner
Sir, I knew Scott Bakula. I used to watch him regularly in Quantum Leap, wedged in somewhere amid the wondrous, swirling storm of ’90s awesomeness that gave us Unsolved Mysteries, America’s Funniest Home Videos and Doogie Howser, M.D. You, sir, are no Scott Bakula. All right, let’s back it up a moment. That was disingenuous.…
Critic’s Pick: Jane Eyre
“A plain tale with few pretensions” is the way Charlotte Brontë, writing under the pseudonym Currer Bell, described her 1847 novel, but that phrase more aptly describes Jane Eyre than Jane Eyre. Emotionally lush, Brontë’s histrionic, gothic melodrama is raw rather than plain, which is why more than two dozen directors, eager for malleable material,…
Blanchett’s dark side: Hanna is entertaining but offers few surprises
The most apt cocktail party description of Hanna might be The Bourne Identity meets Blue Velvet — but that makes it sound enticing, doesn’t it? Sixteen-year-old Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is a towheaded Jason Bourne, Jr., the unwitting result of a government program intended to breed super-soldiers. Hanna’s CIA operative creator, Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), is…
WEBB Party comes to Historic Sunset Station to raise funds for the San Antonio AIDS Foundation
On Friday night, Supernova, this year’s WEBB Party, comes to Historic Sunset Station with tastings provided by top chefs, a bevy of DJs, definitely “alt” performance, an auction, and plenty of booze. It’s a see and be-seen glam event. The pre-sale ticket price of $75 is steep ($90 at the door), but the party is…
No need to chew Niki’s Tokyo Inn’s exquisite cuts
You don’t go out for deep-fried catfish in Honolulu. You don’t order Mexican food north of Waco. (Overheard somewhere in Pittsburgh tonight, as a native Steelers fan tries to deceive a visiting Texan: “The food is really good — real Mexicans own the place!”) And you don’t order sushi in Texas. That’s what I thought…
New Image Sculpture at the McNay digs into consumer culture
New Image Sculpture at the McNay brings together the works of 13 artists and collectives in a survey of sculpture that realistically portrays the often unnoticed world of mass-produced furniture, packaged food, and designer ware that is consumer culture. But the way this baker’s dozen goes about their tasks diverges from fanatically realistic craftsmanship that…
Beer and food: How to have both during Fiesta
It’s now April, so you know what that means — rain, chocolate bunnies, the beginning of the hell that is South Texas’ summer, and Fiesta. Fiesta is not exactly a time for fine dining. It’s a time to swill overpriced beer in cups and eat foods on sticks. A word to the wise, Fiesta-goers: You…
Mixed messages: Fiesta yard signs
During last July’s Political Art Month, ART SA Gallery’s Darryl Mix remixed “No Socialism” and “No Selfishness” yard signs by cutting them apart and reassembling them. One such sign read, “i seens los signs so now what?” Mix seems to have answered this question with a new series of limited-edition Fiesta yard signs. The proposed…
