That’s A Wrap
Once in a great while, there comes a film that causes folks to invoke the severely hackneyed “Once in a great while, there comes a film … ” joke construction. Snakes on a Plane:You’re gonna see it. Need more motivation? Check out a bootlegged sneak peek at the in-progress script (real? Who knows?) for the…
The Least of Our Brothers
William Bradford, who led the Pilgrim settlement during its first decades in Massachusetts, was no champion of animal – or human – rights. In Of Plymouth Plantation, he recounts how in 1642 an adolescent named Thomas Granger was “detected of buggery, and indicted for the same, with a mare, a cow, two goats, five sheep,…
Sound and the Fury
BLUE CROON Jazz saxophonist/vocalist Kris Kimura hasn’t lived in San Antonio for a decade, but the Alamo City is never far from the bandstand when he and his quartet are playing. Kimura picked up his first horn at a local pawn shop and learned the basics while attending junior high in SA. He credits several…
The Least of Our Brothers
FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY: THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISM IN THE UNITED STATES By Diane L. Beers Swallow Press $19.95, 368 pages William Bradford, who led the Pilgrim settlement during its first decades in Massachusetts, was no champion of animal – or human – rights. In Of Plymouth Plantation, he…
Sound and the Fury
BLUE CROON Jazz saxophonist/vocalist Kris Kimura hasn’t lived in San Antonio for a decade, but the Alamo City is never far from the bandstand when he and his quartet are playing. Kimura picked up his first horn at a local pawn shop and learned the basics while attending junior high in SA. He credits several…
The Least of Our Brothers
FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY: THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISM IN THE UNITED STATES By Diane L. Beers Swallow Press $19.95, 368 pages William Bradford, who led the Pilgrim settlement during its first decades in Massachusetts, was no champion of animal – or human – rights. In Of Plymouth Plantation, he…
Counting Down From 911
What can you say about a day that left 2,973 people dead? Not much, which is why the date’s shock, grief, fury, and frustration have been digitalized, compacted into the telephonic equivalent of SOS: 9/11. (The shorthand is a distinctively American take on time as well as trauma, since Europeans, who write the month before…
A Tonic For August
Herbs are a garnish in many summer drinks, but they’re front-and-center in this recipe for an herb-lemonade spritzer adapted from The New York Times. It helps to have an herb garden. Start a day ahead. 2/3 c sugar 1 1/2 c basil leaves and sprigs 1 c mint leaves and sprigs, plus more for garnish…
Counting Down From 911
What can you say about a day that left 2,973 people dead? Not much, which is why the date’s shock, grief, fury, and frustration have been digitalized, compacted into the telephonic equivalent of SOS: 9/11. (The shorthand is a distinctively American take on time as well as trauma, since Europeans, who write the month before…
A Tonic For August
Herbs are a garnish in many summer drinks, but they’re front-and-center in this recipe for an herb-lemonade spritzer adapted from The New York Times. It helps to have an herb garden. Start a day ahead. 2/3 c sugar 1 1/2 c basil leaves and sprigs 1 c mint leaves and sprigs, plus more for garnish…
Counting Down From 911
What can you say about a day that left 2,973 people dead? Not much, which is why the date’s shock, grief, fury, and frustration have been digitalized, compacted into the telephonic equivalent of SOS: 9/11. (The shorthand is a distinctively American take on time as well as trauma, since Europeans, who write the month before…
History Train
These days, the fastest way to establish your credibility as an authentic country artist is to depict yourself as a deadly threat to the countrymusic establishment. The underground club scene is rife with honky-tonk purists who like to pretend that they’re scaring the Stetson out of Nashville by playing music that would have enticed their…
Counting Down From 911
What can you say about a day that left 2,973 people dead? Not much, which is why the date’s shock, grief, fury, and frustration have been digitalized, compacted into the telephonic equivalent of SOS: 9/11. (The shorthand is a distinctively American take on time as well as trauma, since Europeans, who write the month before…
History Train
These days, the fastest way to establish your credibility as an authentic country artist is to depict yourself as a deadly threat to the countrymusic establishment. The underground club scene is rife with honky-tonk purists who like to pretend that they’re scaring the Stetson out of Nashville by playing music that would have enticed their…
Counting Down From 911
What can you say about a day that left 2,973 people dead? Not much, which is why the date’s shock, grief, fury, and frustration have been digitalized, compacted into the telephonic equivalent of SOS: 9/11. (The shorthand is a distinctively American take on time as well as trauma, since Europeans, who write the month before…
History Train
CURRENT CHOICE WAYNE HANCOCK WITH SEAN REEFER AND THE RESIN VALLEY BOYS 9:30pm Sat, Aug 19 Casbeers 1719 Blanco Rd. 732-3511 These days, the fastest way to establish your credibility as an authentic country artist is to depict yourself as a deadly threat to the countrymusic establishment. The underground club scene is rife with…
Counting Down From 911
What can you say about a day that left 2,973 people dead? Not much, which is why the date’s shock, grief, fury, and frustration have been digitalized, compacted into the telephonic equivalent of SOS: 9/11. (The shorthand is a distinctively American take on time as well as trauma, since Europeans, who write the month before…
Cd Spotlight
Sometimes it’s fun to consider what-ifs, like, “What if Ani DiFranco had signed with a major record label rather than opting to record and release her albums independently?” Once millions of dollars and videos of her looking all hot and sexy – riding on a hog or rolling around on a beach or dry-humping some…
Spice In Twilight
Chef Jesse Varela, representing Morningside Ministries Menger Springs campus in Boerne, serves New Zealand lamb chops, strawberry and feta spring-mix salad, and baklava to residents and visitors during Morningside Ministries’ 45th-anniversary celebration. Convention and clinical wisdom sadly seem to coincide in the assessment that we lose appreciation for food as we age – a contention…
Counting Down From 911
What can you say about a day that left 2,973 people dead? Not much, which is why the date’s shock, grief, fury, and frustration have been digitalized, compacted into the telephonic equivalent of SOS: 9/11. (The shorthand is a distinctively American take on time as well as trauma, since Europeans, who write the month before…
Cd Spotlight – Ani DiFranco
Sometimes it’s fun to consider what-ifs, like, “What if Ani DiFranco had signed with a major record label rather than opting to record and release her albums independently?” Once millions of dollars and videos of her looking all hot and sexy – riding on a hog or rolling around on a beach or dry-humping some…
The Last Exhibition
Six years and innumerable breakfast tacos later, Artpace Executive Director Kathryn Kanjo is packing her moving truck for Santa Barbara, where she’ll assume directorship of UC Santa Barbara’s University Art Museum. In addition to an ocean view and a more liberal political climate, Kanjo also gains the excitement of being part of a collecting institution.…
Counting Down From 911
What can you say about a day that left 2,973 people dead? Not much, which is why the date’s shock, grief, fury, and frustration have been digitalized, compacted into the telephonic equivalent of SOS: 9/11. (The shorthand is a distinctively American take on time as well as trauma, since Europeans, who write the month before…
Chasing First
The San Antonio Missions went into their recent home stand against the Tulsa Drillers on a six-game slide, yet still only a half-game out of first place in the Texas League’s Southern Division. During the losing streak, the team was out-scored 34-12, and their frustrations finally surfaced on the diamond in the bottom of the…
Handle This
The story of how Ruby Dee Philippa met Jorge Harada is a fitting introduction to the saucy singer and her band, Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers. While passing through San Antonio, the two Seattle-based musicians recounted the story of their first encounter. They met at a dive called Little Red Hen. As Ruby Dee describes…
Counterpoint – The Final Solution, Part II
As the Current goes to press, a UN peacekeeping force is preparing to step into the fragile cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel, news that ironically may lie like a lead weight in the heart of a certain Texan. On July 18 and 19, John Hagee, pastor and founder of San Antonio’s evangelical Cornerstone Church, led…
Chasing First
The San Antonio Missions went into their recent home stand against the Tulsa Drillers on a six-game slide, yet still only a half-game out of first place in the Texas League’s Southern Division. During the losing streak, the team was out-scored 34-12, and their frustrations finally surfaced on the diamond in the bottom of the…
Dancing In Their Footsteps
Dancers perform the dream scene from “Noticias de Mamá,” in the Guadalupe Cultural Art Center’s Historias y Recuerdos, which was choreographed with the memories of Westside residents. Near the beginning of Historias y Recuerdos, the Guadalupe Dance Company’s new dance-theater piece, one of the characters admonishes his friends and family to stop chismeando. The advice…
Map Quest
Santiago Escobedo should have been pleased when the Historic Design and Review Commission recently informed him that his home was in the much-coveted King William Historic District. One problem: He knew it wasn’t true. Escobedo, a resident of the South Saint Mary’s and South Alamo Historic District, went before the HDRC seeking approval for nine…
Chasing First
The San Antonio Missions went into their recent home stand against the Tulsa Drillers on a six-game slide, yet still only a half-game out of first place in the Texas League’s Southern Division. During the losing streak, the team was out-scored 34-12, and their frustrations finally surfaced on the diamond in the bottom of the…
Food That Fights Back
He’ll cut ya: Be wary of the pincers, and taunting cries of “Who’s your craw-daddy?” The rocks at my favorite swimming hole just outside of town are hot in the summertime. While lounging on them one afternoon, I was attacked. My usual riverside ritual is to ease in and swim around until I’m finally cold.…
Clothes Minded
The stereotype is that men don’t swap out their wardrobes until something itches or the weather changes. Luckily, San Antonio is full of modern guys who don’t mind shopping for themselves in the several outstanding menswear collections in town. If I only have your attention for one column, here’s what you need to know to…
Map Quest
Santiago Escobedo should have been pleased when the Historic Design and Review Commission recently informed him that his home was in the much-coveted King William Historic District. One problem: He knew it wasn’t true. Escobedo, a resident of the South Saint Mary’s and South Alamo Historic District, went before the HDRC seeking approval for nine…
All Ears
Nick Cave: Not goth, just kind of morose. I never knew I’d been a goth kid back in high school. Sure, I was pale, but I never wore black lipstick; my clothes were trendy, but they didn’t look like bondage gear. I smiled at strangers. Then I got a peek at the track listing for…
All You Can Eat
NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE SAN ANTONIO FOOD SCENE All you can eat It’s a week of give and gluttony in old San Antone and environs. If you’re not satiated when the last glass is cleared, you’re not trying. Let’s start with the giving, Thursday, August 17, at Whole Foods at the Quarry (255 E.…
That’s A Wrap
Once in a great while, there comes a film that causes folks to invoke the severely hackneyed “Once in a great while, there comes a film … ” joke construction. Snakes on a Plane:You’re gonna see it. Need more motivation? Check out a bootlegged sneak peek at the in-progress script (real? Who knows?) for the…
All You Can Eat
It’s a week of give and gluttony in old San Antone and environs. If you’re not satiated when the last glass is cleared, you’re not trying. Let’s start with the giving, Thursday, August 17, at Whole Foods at the Quarry (255 E. Basse, 826-4676). The store will donate a percentage of that day’s net sales…
Waiting for a Primo Park
Rainey Beres, 14, performs a trick using the concrete skate facility at Lady Bird Johnson Park. Rainey is the son of Raegan Beres, vice president of the San Antonio Skatepark Association. If you had asked San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department projects manager Scott E. Stover what an ollie or a grind was 10 years…
How to Beat the High (Emotional) Cost of Childcare
Works and plays well with others. If you can reach the brassy latch at the top of the door, the party awaits. Even if you are not an average-sized adult, can’t extend your arm its full length to click and unlock the child-safety latch top-right of the door, and you have to wait until some…
Snakes on the Brain
Get outta here with your Brangelina ringtones. Sucks to your Razr phone and your video-ready iPod. If you haven’t yet caught wind of the moderately rapacious frenzy that is Snakes on a Plane, then, friend, you just ain’t plugged in. But it’s cool — lay low and maybe no one’ll notice. Briefly: The title inspired…
Thank You for Not Snitching
Artist Richard De La O envisioned a different outcome for Big Kahuna owner Jason Weaver, who is headed to jail next month. When you’re truly in a narcotic task force’s crosshairs, they might give you a signal in the form of a simple rhyme: “Give us three, and we’ll set you free.” This couplet, most…
