5 Things You Have to Do This Week
Wed 5/16 The Cutting Edge Save for Fashion Week San Antonio and Una Noche en la Gloria’s eccentric Runway en la Calle (which moves this year to coincide with Diez y Seis de Septiembre celebrations), solid fashion shows are pretty scarce in these parts, which makes the official Fiesta event The Cutting Edge all the…
SA Woman Will Run to Her Own Tune in the Boston Marathon This Weekend
These lovebirds will run the Boston Marathon this weekend. Ask runner Meredith Hein what’s on her playlist, and you’ll get nothing. She will run the Boston Marathon this weekend, and she can run for hours without any music boost at all. Absurd. How else does she keep out the 75 Thoughts Every Runner Has While…
Rich Hands release video for “Teenager”
Garage boosters and Fullerton, Calif. badasses Burger Records have released “Teenager,” the Rich Hands’ latest music video, on their vowelless, early MTV style Youtube show BRGRTV. A no-frills take on the music vid, the Rich Hands power through ‘Teenager” in what looks like their practice space, splicing over to Eisenhower-era clips of teen dancing. It’s…
Second Oil Spill From Calumet Refinery Creates ‘Troubling’ Track Record
It’s environmental hazard déjà vu for folks living near the SA River. Just weeks after an oil spill from Calumet Specialty Products Partners refinery seeped into a creek connected to the San Antonio River, over the weekend a second spill—from Calumet again—polluted the same river. Screen shot via Calumet San Antonio Refinery While transferring jet…
Report: San Antonio Leads in Solar Power
San Antonio is one of nation’s leading cities for solar power, according to a new study from Environment Texas Research and Policy Center. SA came in sixth based on a ranking of total installed solar PV [photovoltaic] capacity and also came in seventh among the cities with more than 50 watts of installed solar PV…
Uber Offers Free Rides During Fiesta 2014
Now you can drink responsibly all you want during Fiesta because uberX, an on-demand car service, is offering free rides during Fiesta. Uber is an app driven car service that works much like a cab. If you download their app from iTunes, or Google Play, you can order a car to pick you up almost anywhere…
A Short History of the Newest Spur Damion James
Damion James taking a free-throw against Texas A&M on Februay 18, 2008. Photo by Aaron Vazquez The San Antonio Spurs announced yesterday that Damion James has joined us for the year. But what do we really know about Damion James? Does he understand the rules of basketball? Could he explain them to me? I scoured…
The Perfect Prom Accessory–The KFC Corsage
It’s prom season, kids. Whenever I reminisce about my proms (usually while watching 10 Things I Hate About You or She’s All That), I rarely remember the corsage. That’s not to say my corsages weren’t fabulous, I’m sure, but they probably would have made more of an impact on my teenage memory if they’d…
Lunchtime Link: Paper Crane Precision
One down, 999 to go Perhaps you’ve heard this ancient Japanese legend: anyone who folds 1000 paper cranes will be granted a wish by a mystical crane, or granted eternal good luck, as some stories say. On page 29, of this week’s Current magazine, there is a painted square of paper and illustrated instructions to…
What I Ate: Fiesta Fiesta and my run-in with Henry the Puffy Taco
I’m a fan of mascots. Coyote? Awesome. Ballapeño? Great. VIA’s Buster? Too cute! But when it comes to Henry The Puffy Taco…I’m just a little creeped out. He doesn’t have a face! Just add a pair of googly eyes and we’re golden, but until then, he’s just kinda strange. Anyway, here’s a bit of #whatIate…
Awesome New Car Engine is 15% More Efficient Than The One You’re Driving
Those of you rolling around San Antonio in your Prius and other Hybrid cars, science is making a new car engine and it gets better gas mileage than you. Southwest Research Institute (SwRi) has developed a prototype engine. According to the SwRi press release, the engine is 15% more efficient than mainstream car engines of…
‘Mad Men’ Returns with “Time Zones”
Megan Draper (Jessica Paré), looks ready to split in this promo shot for Mad Men’s final season. Photo Credit: Frank Ockenfels/AMC. “In the heartland of wealth and liberation, you always hear the same question: ‘What are you doing after the orgy?’” – Jean Baudrillard, America For the first episode of its seventh and culminating…
Sunday Night Sound Bite: Selena featuring David Byrne: “God’s Child (Baila Conmigo)”
Since 1995, April 16 has been observed as Selena Day in the Lone Star State—an observance George W. Bush (then governor of Texas) established in the wake of the passing of the Queen of Tejano. With what would’ve been the native Texan’s 43rd birthday coming up on Wednesday (which Hi-Tones will celebrate with a bring-your-own-vinyl…
Do as Don Says, Not as Don Does
Smoker, drunkard, pomade user. Don Draper is a triple-threat when it comes to royally screwing up his own life. But it doesn’t mean Draper doesn’t have any good advice to pass on to his boozy successors. With the final season of Madmen just days away, here are some choice quotes that span the lifetime of…
Two Very Cheesy Recipes for National Grilled Cheese Day
One cheese is not enough. It may be National Grilled Cheese Day today, but its also National Grilled Cheese MONTH. Soak that in for a minute….and then get in the kitchen and make these two ridiculously tasty and almost too cheesy (is there such a thing?) creations. Margherita Grilled Cheese (modified from Host the Toast)…
FL!GHT’s Last Show at 1906 Opens Tonight
For years Justin Parr and Ed Saavedra’s FL!GHT Gallery has been among the major draws of the Second Saturday scene in the South Flores/Lone Star arts district. As you may have already heard, the show opening at FL!GHT tonight will be the gallery’s final offering at 1906 South Flores. Presented by Alternative Studio (“an ongoing collaborative…
Aural Pleasures: The Black Angels, ‘Clear Lake Forest’ EP
After taking us through a journey to the acid-drenched Indigo Meadow in 2013, The Black Angels have set April 19th (Record Store Day) as the departure date for fans to travel to the Clear Lake Forest. Just in time to play their new tunes for the Angels’ own Psych Fest, the Austin psych revivalists have cut six new tracks…
PAX Gaming Convention Coming To San Antonio 2015
Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), one of the largest gaming conventions in the US, is coming to San Antonio, Texas January 23-25, 2015, as PAX South, according to a recent announcement by PA President Robert Khoo. “Since its launch in 2004, PAX events have doubled in size almost every year, and our Seattle and Boston events…
San Antonio Ranked Second Most ‘Country’ City in the Nation
San Antonians have another reason to giddy up and celebrate, besides Fiesta, that is. The city has been named the second most “country” city in America, a quantifiable declaration of our affinity for the boot scootin’ boogie and outdoor sports. Estately, a real estate website that has a blog about things like the most country…
Fiesta Oyster Bake: Our 5 Favorite Artists
Girl in a Coma: Friday 5:30pm, Bud Light/Magic 105.3 Stage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIL6P2_B3gA Resident SA favorites Girl in a Coma open up Oysterbake with one of the most capable rock sets of the weekend. Signed to Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records, the Diaz sisters (drums, guitar) y bassist Jenn Alva have released…
Bonehead Quote of the Week: Pastor John Hagee on the ‘Blood Moon’ Prophecy
Our resident megachurch pastor, John Hagee, recently issued an ominous warning to his SA congregation, beware of: Via John Hagee Ministries “[A] world-shaking event that will happen between April 2014 and October 2015,” said Hagee. And according to the Daily Mail, Hagee explains: “[The Bible] just says ‘when you see these signs’ – and four blood moons is a very…
Mental Graffiti: a Q&A with Mr. Composition
The prolific emcee Kevin Prince, better known as Mr. Composition, is a San Anto native with a sharp wit, an open mind, and an uncanny creative drive. This month’s Saytown Beatdown column reflected on the 23-year-old’s upcoming (May 2) fifth release, Graffiti the Mind, and included a tiny bit of a recent interview Prince did…
Paula Owen’s ‘Vague Chatter’ Finds Beauty in Ordinary Chaos
Paula Owen is best known as the calm, cool, collected president of the Southwest School of Art, but at heart she’s an artist. During her 18-year tenure, the art administrator has more than doubled the operating budget, total assets, enrollment and facilities of the newly BFA-granting institution she heads, but she has never abandoned…
Tone L?c’s “Wild Thing” The Untold Story
I like to mute the sound on music videos and watch them. Sometimes, I just can’t concentrate on the video’s narrative with all that loud music playing. When I recently watched Tone L?c’s “Wild Thing” with the sound muted, I saw a heart-breaking story of a frustrated man with a troubled relationship with women. At…
Spurs Manu Ginobili Inspires Frogging Meme
Back in March, Aussie basketball player Patty Mills posted a hilarious photo of Manu Ginobli “frogging” and now, one month later, we have a quickly developing #frogging meme on our hands. But what exactly is frogging? All you have to do is put your hands in an downward position and squat in place. You should…
Shot of the Week: Liquid Sun
Bring on the burn If there is one thing about Texas even native Texans can’t stand, it’s the unpredictable weather. Just as we were bracing for the heat to hit, here comes the Fall–round three. Well, I’ve had enough. With the sun tucked away behind the clouds and falling leaves, I sought summer the best…
Five Slick Rick Essentials
Hip-hop rapper Slick Rick, age 49, may not be a young buck anymore, but that’s all the more reason why this MC can school you in ways of the rhyme. Slick Rick is one of the most influential rappers of our time. His career spans back 30 years, he’s inspired the likes of Jay-Z, Snoop…
State Sen. Wendy Davis Meets The Admiral
Looks like candidate for Texas governor Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Forth Worth) recently got a chance to pow-wow among the greats—President Barack Obama, former president Jimmy Carter and The Admiral himself! But seriously, Davis seemed pretty pumped to meet San Antonio Spurs legend David Robinson at the Civil Rights Summit held in Austin this week. In…
10 Things You Have to Do This Weekend
Thu 4/10 Jean Jean I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure progged-out Parisian rock band Jean Jean wins the award for the act that has traveled farthest to grace the stage at 502 Bar. Thursday, the instrumental three-piece (Sebastien Torregrossa, Jean Mass and Edouard Lebrun) brings its own gritty yet pastel-hued brand of post-rock…
First Course Fodder: Sing for your supper, new cevicheria and a Chefs-for-Chefs pop-up
First Course Fodder brings in exciting food news to you in tiny, digestible bits. The fiesta burger. (Courtesy) In benefit of the Chefs for Chefs scholarships that help families in the food and beverage industries, Culinaria is having a pop-up in the park. On Monday, April 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. Jason Dady of…
10 Free Events Happening This Week
Art: “Return noon-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, Sundays; noon-8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays Three of Texas’ most established and popular artists that were instrumental in the development of Cinnabar Return to San Antonio for a highly anticipated show. George Krause returns to Cinnabar after his solo show San Miguel Exposed received the choice award for Foto Septiembre 2013. This…
Tobin Center Announces Eclectic First Season
The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, the soon-to-be center stage for San Antonio’s arts community, has unveiled its inaugural season. From comedic legend Bill Cosby to the Scottish Ballet’s “A Streetcar Named Desire,” a total of 33 productions, performance groups and artists are set to liven up the quiet, tucked-in corner of downtown where the…
6 Ways to Get Your Drink/Grub on this Week
Ram Jam is back. (Courtesy) Friday, April 11: Ram Jam is back at Taco Land, kids. This year’s festivities will feature chingos of bands including Los #3 Diners, Disco Wasteland, The Stand Alones, Pinche Desmadres and Micro Missile Attack among others. Proceeds from this year’s all-ages event will benefit KSYM’s scholarship fund. $5, 6pm-2am…
San Antonio Syphilis Cases ‘Alarmingly High’
SA has an STD problem. The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District recently announced the syphilis rates in the Alamo City are growing for the ninth consecutive year. The sexually (or congenitally) transmitted disease can cause, “long-term complications and/or death if not treated correctly,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Described by the…
Castro Talks Immigration Reform at Civil Rights Summit
Mayor Julián Castro defended immigration reform during the Civil Rights Summit in Austin this week. Castro, an honorary co-chair of the summit, and former Republican Governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, discussed immigration policy with Brian Sweany of Texas Monthly. Castro talks immigration reform at Civil Rights Summit. Screen shot via Statesman When asked if he…
Hot Rolls, Bitchin’ Bento Boxes at Sushi Seven
There’s some sort of coming culinary renaissance for SA lands north of 1604. Aldaco’s and La Gloria are both headed up the 1-10 corridor past the loop, while Zoko replaces Auden’s Kitchen. Now, Sushi Seven is cranking out eye-catching sushi rolls inside the former Cool Café. Opened by a handful of the same chefs and…
Lunchtime Snob: Homeruns at Wrigleyville Grill?
Baseball season is upon us and some of us are dreaming of hotdogs at our desks. A history of unique, consistently amazing hotdogs has stamped Chicago as the wiener capital of the world. In fact, I think it is considered a crime to attend a ball game at Wrigley Field without eating a hotdog ……
SA’s Branchline Brewing to Offer Evil Owl in Cans this Spring
To can or not to can? That is the question—though one craft brewers are increasingly answering in the affirmative. Rewind just 10 years even and it was quite a different story for the craft industry. That all changed when Colorado-based Oskar Blues Brewing began to release their products solely in cans. From there it spread…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Freedom is the most important kind of joy you can seek right now. It’s also the most important subject to study and think about, as well as the most important skill to hone. I advise you to make sure that freedom is flowing through your brain and welling up in your…
SA Sound Returns with News on Flower Jesus Quintet and the Rich Hands
As 2014 rolls along, we’ve seen an abundance of stellar releases from SA artists and our expatriates in Austin. Though it’s been a broken border for some time now, the I-35 divide between San Anto and Austin seems to be more fluid than ever, as confirmed by Flower Jesus Quintet’s split release Cosmic American Music…
Glitter Political: Tommy Calvert’s political rebirth
Tommy Calvert, candidate for precinct 4 Bexar County commissioner, says his love of reading has dramatically sharpened his skills in the art of debate. One of his current favorites—for its plethora of “life lessons”—is Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, And The Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives by Dr. Brian…
Foodie Finds: San Diego’s beating us in artisanal sauerkraut?
There are a lot of things about San Diego that I wouldn’t mind having more of in my life: the gorgeous ocean views; the effortless light rail system; the 75-degree (más o menos) year-round weather. Barring a cataclysmic tectonic or climatic event, SA is unlikely to find itself the beneficiary of seaside property or perfect…
Fiest-aah!: Will 18 days of party madness kill us or make us stronger?
I had just moved to San Antonio when one day I noticed a bunch of bleachers stacked beneath the highway underpasses near Downtown. I asked my roommate if she knew what they were for. “Probably Fiesta-related,” she answered. “Fiesta?” I asked, “What’s that?” My roommate, originally from New Orleans, home of multi-day party standard-bearer Mardi…
Savage Love: Thrills and Spills
I’m an old guy, fast approaching geezerdom. After 45 years of marriage to the same woman, the sex has fallen off to zero. We otherwise have a great and comfortable relationship. If I want any at all these days, the only options are masturbation or professional service providers. I was very nervous the first time…
Demitasse’s ‘Blue Medicine’ is a Cathartic Debut from Buttercup Spinoff
With Blue Medicine, Joe Reyes and Erik Sanden’s debut as Demitasse, patience has paid off. It’s been more than 11 years since Reyes and Sanden began playing together in the SA quartet Buttercup, but the pair feels like they’ve reached new heights in songwriting and performance. “Joe and I just rounded a corner in our…
Slick Rick: A cautionary tale of hip-hop and hard knocks
As rap legends go, Slick Rick is as unlikely as they come. For your consideration: The London-born, Bronx-bred emcee sports a British accent; his best known song is the adorably titled “Children’s Story;” and, blind in one eye, he made the blinged-out patch a thing in hip-hop fashion. This unlikeliness, of course, has been the…
Nudes, Oracles and Glow-in-the-dark Paint in Cinnabar’s ‘Return’ Exhibit
“Return” unites three distinguished Texas artists who made their international reputations in the world’s art capitals and came back to join the Hill Country artists’ colony centered in Wimberley. Gallery owner Susan Oliver Heard opened Cinnabar with brutally frank, real-people nudes in “San Miguel Exposed” by George Krause, founder of the University of Houston’s photography…
Hot, Buttered Rummy: Doc ‘The Unknown Known’ puts Rumsfeld in hot seat
During the course of Errol Morris’ fascinating Donald Rumsfeld documentary The Unknown Known, Rumsfeld, in an interview setting, tries to expand on some of his linguistic peculiarities. For example, there’s the “known known,” which is a thing that we know we know. Then there’s the “known unknown,” which is something we don’t know but we…
Slackers Nails Sports Arcade Bar Concept
I can’t remember the last time I broke a sweat while at a bar. Unlike other Texas cities from Austin to Ft. Worth, which have embraced the concept of “arcade bars,” which marries boozin’ with classic arcade games, SA has been slower to take. Until now that is. Slackers, the brainchild of partners Mike Salinas…
Spoiler Alerts!: The Maddest of the Men Returns
If you have been tuning in to AMC’s Mad Men, you are surely and most anxiously awaiting the return of the epic décolletage, cocktail slinging and Pinterest-worthy wardrobes that we watchers enjoy season after season, and now, for the last season. Perhaps most appealing is the return of the seductive advertising executive Don Draper (Jon…
Sweet Toof: Almond toffee crunch cookies from Lily’s Cookies
Stepping into Lily’s Cookies (2716 McCullough, (210) 832-0886) is like being transported to a real-life Keebler tree. Mobile tray racks line the space with just about every step of the sugar cookie process from blank canvases to delicately piped works of art that can take the shape of a googly-eyed owl, a Mexican dress or…
Saytown Beatdown: Big local rap releases bookend April
For this month’s Beatdown, hip-hop events take a backseat to two important SA releases: Itzli y Chimalli’s TXAMX (released March 29) and Mr. Composition’s Graffiti the Mind (out May 2). The rappers represent excellent, self-released, socially conscious and original works from starkly different pockets of hip-hop activity in the 210. Itzli y Chimalli fuse cultures…
Flavor File: Earth Burger’s 40K Kickstarter, Thai New Year at Tuk Tuk, Mid-Point Grill debuts in Five Points
Earth Burger, SA’s soon-to-be first vegetarian fast-food joint, was finally approved for its $40,000 Kickstarter campaign last week. Brought to you by the same folks behind two San Antonio Green Vegetarian Cuisines (and one in Houston), Earth Burger will open at 722 NW Loop 410 inside the Park North shopping center with an array of…
A Plea to Stop Staging Roadside Bluebonnet Photo Shoots
photo by Mike Billington Springtime in Texas is characterized by tolerable temperatures, replenishing thunderstorms and roadsides awash in color. Bluebonnet season is upon us, the time of year the entire state looks like a Blue Bell Ice Cream commercial. Highways are bordered by motley displays of picturesque natural beauty. The annual bluebonnet bloom is definitely…
Finding Empanadas in SA
Today marks National Empanada Day, a day to celebrate the delicious pastry delicacy. Here are five places around town to fill that empanada craving. 1. Betos on Broadway (8142 Broadway) Sweet and savory. (Courtesy) 2. La Fogata (2427 Vance Jackson) Empanadas de pescado. (Courtesy) 3. Gus’ Empanadas Empanada de pollo y queso. (Courtesy) 4. Sofrito Food…
Steve Silbas, Former Owner of Casbeers, Has Passed Away
Steve Silbas, former owner of Casbeers, passed away this week at 51-years-old. With his late wife Barbara Wolfe, the couple ran the iconic SA venue Casbeers, known for its amiable service and treatment of performers. Steve and Barbara ran the original Casbeers on Blanco Road from 1999 to 2008. From 2008 until closing in 2011,…
Turntable Tuesday: Nas’ Illmatic
Though we spend most of our time in the music section writing about new material, Turntable Tuesday allows us to look back, and look closely at some captivating albums in our catalog. This week’s column hones in on Nas’ Illmatic as it approaches its 20th anniversary on April 19. Reading about Illmatic doesn’t stray that far…
Jay Leno Brings His Shtick to the Majestic
the seasoned stand-up Jay Leno may have hosted The Tonight Show for 22 years, but that doesn’t mean he left his standup comedy roots behind. Leno has the track record to prove it. According to Dead Frog, he’s written four comedy books and released four comedy specials to date. While hosting The Tonight Show, he…
