Feature Life at the bottom — Part 2
Its been nearly 160 years since the first institution for people with mental retardation opened in the wing of a state school for the blind. Over the next century, families who could not, or would not, care for their mentally retarded children sent them to these facilities, which were initially thought to protect the vulnerable…
Feature Scott: the best of both worlds
When Scott draws, he pushes the ballpoint pen nearly through the paper, scribbling vicious circles or blanketing the yellow legal pad in blue ink, as if he were sketching the seizures that strike him nearly every day. Intractable epilepsy has caused Scott’s mental retardation and psychosis, which, combined with his size 6 feet and 200…
Food & Drink Pretty in pink
Beady-eyed bottom-feeders, wild Gulf shrimp are back Big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp eggs. And we Texans – even the newly transplanted – are more than happy to eat the shrimp that survive their infancy, blossoming into bottom-feeding teenagers in the shallows of estuaries and bays, and emigrating as beady-eyed adults…
Arts Let them eat cake
Artist Gene Elder tries to save the future and the past with ‘amusing little e-mails’ and a gay liberation front Gene Elder’s unblinking amber gaze is unsettling, news that’s probably of little surprise to recipients of his frequent e-mails. “The Scent of Cake: Gotta Have It,” and “The Former Supreme Court; New Gay Disco,” are…
Music Used up
Utah rockers helplessly watch as their lead singer slowly destroys himself The Used’s guitarist Quinn Allman just got back from having butt sex with his neighbor, or so he claims. There’s always a smirk in his voice, like he’s not taking anything seriously, whether he’s pontificating about why Mormons “are really fuckin’ stupid” or cracking…
Arts The art capades
Downtown, everything’s waiting for you: Magritte, African-American scions, sleek industrial design When planning to visit art shows on your bike, the shade of downtown’s tall, classically beautiful buildings is inviting. This week I went looking for art in and around the city’s center, where San Antonio’s choicest architecture could be my aesthetic pitch whistle. I…
Music CD spotlight
Classic porn Why is it that some pop music is called art and some is called something much less flattering? Why is it that the Beatles’ “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” isn’t trite, mindless, and deserving of ridicule, but New Kids on the Block’s “Hangin’ Tough” is? The truth is, there’s an impulse inside us…
Arts Chipping away at the veneer
Artist John Pilson imagines the rich emotional lives of corporate drones and buildings Artists have pictured themselves in ambivalent contrast, if not pitched battle, with the industrial and corporate world since long before poor George Banks had to relearn the pleasures of flying a kite from chimney sweep and performance artist Bert. Dark suits, gray…
Music Current Choice
Jimmy Eat World at the SBC A few weeks ago, while doing an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, the members of Sleater-Kinney were asked if they ever considered themselves part of the ’90s Riot Grrrl movement. The awkward, uncomfortable silence that followed spoke volumes. The members of Jimmy Eat World probably feel that same discomfort…
Arts Left hooks
Sportswriter Dave Zirin argues that athletes should put the political punch back in professional sports In her 2003 book, Shut Up & Sing, talk-radio personality Laura Ingraham excoriated celebrities for poisoning American society with their elitist political views. With the provocative What’s My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States, Dave Zirin very…
Music Original synth
You can accuse the St. Louis duo Femme Fatality of being retro or campy, but you can’t deny that they have an unambiguous philosophy: “Dance or Die.” It might be a bit extreme, but these dapper, original synthers – who answer to the names Octavia Leito and Monanani Palermo – take their electro-pop seriously. Even…
Arts A border made of words
Two new books reveal the suspicion, wonder, and hope with which Mexicans and Americans have viewed one another Mexico Other Wise: Modern Mexico in the Eyes of Foreign Observers Edited and translated by Jürgen Buchenau University of New Mexico Press $22.95, 285 pages ISBN: 0826323138 Journey to the United States of North America Lorenzo de…
Music Sound and the Fury
A week on the scene House rules Local house-music titan Eddie Spettro launched a monthly Saturday-night residency on July 23 at the Austin club Barcelona with a performance that also served as a birthday celebration for the DJ/producer. The debut of his Barcelona residency came on the heels of Spettro’s highly successful European tour, which…
Arts Classical attitude
News and notes from San Antonio’s other music scene Ah, the arts in San Antonio. There are times when artistic quality seems at an all-time high and stability is just on the horizon, and others when it seems no good deed goes unpunished. Inadequate funding is usually labeled the primary culprit, quickly followed by audience…
Food & Drink Hit or miss
At Mina & Dimi’s Greek House, every other plate is smashing If cinema culture is any clue, Americans love to blow up things. With the exception of an occasional food fight (the one in Animal House is classic), eating and explosive encounters rarely coincide (except, of course, for Mr. Creosote in Monty Python’s The Meaning…
Screens The 25th grizzly
Grizzly advocate Jewel Palovak talks about why Timothy Treadwell loved the most dangerous bear In the fall of 2003, self-taught grizzly-bear expert Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, died at the paws of the animals to whom Treadwell had devoted his life. A co-founder of Grizzly People, Treadwell spent his last 13 summers with…
Screens Prisoner of lust
It’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for a lonely asylum-keeper’s wife The son of its superintendent, Patrick McGrath grew up on the spacious grounds of Broadmoor, Britain’s largest mental institution. Since it was young McGrath’s home, asylum must have meant sanctuary. Asylum is what refugees seek, not flee. However, for those…
Screens Special screenings
Movies on the Slab King of Bluegrass Dir. George Goehl (2004) The Sundowners Dir. George Goehl (2005) In case you missed last month’s half-dozen screenings, Straight 6 Films presents King of Bluegrass, a documentary about Jimmy Martin, bluegrass’ rebel child, and his lifelong quest to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry cast `see…
News Come fly with me
Its hard to resist a man in uniform It was a dog-day afternoon at the San Antonio International Airport in mid-July. Airline passengers were stripping off their shoes before entering the search-a-trons beefed up to satisfy post 9/11 Homeland Security regulations. The airport cops were monitoring travelers comings and goings, and the skycaps were ferrying…
Screens That’s a wrap
The low-down on this week’s premieres Never having experienced the pleasures of the flesh, electronics-store employee Andy Stitzer (Steve Carrell) is The 40 Year-Old Virgin, in a comedy by first-time film director Judd Apatow. When Andy’s buddies find out their friend has never been laid, they make it their personal mission to help their chaste…
News Party lines
Hell hath no fury like Helotes Helotes Mayor Jonathan Allan wobbled in a few places during the City Council meeting last week, and leaned heavily on City Attorney Steve Arronge as the contentious council crafted a plan to open talks with Wal-Mart. The big-box chain plans to build a superstore at the intersection of Bandera…
Food & Drink All you can eat
News and notes from the San Antonio food scene Homework and a wholesome meal On August 16, the San Antonio Food Bank will celebrate a new ConAgra Foods Kids Café at the Wesley Community Center, 1406 Fitch, with a grand opening from 3:30-5 p.m. During the work week, the Kids Café will provide up to…
News Speed reads
Got a Council beef? Post to the blog City Hall Steps, a new blog for Council pundits, government watchdogs, and the discontented, is online at http://sanantoniocitycouncilblog.blogspot.com/ Two-time mayoral candidate Julie “Mama Bexar” Oldham and perennial itch that City Council can’t scratch, is sponsoring the blog, which went live on August 11. You can comment on…
Music Destiny super-sized
With deferential ballads and a McDonald’s sponsorship, Destiny’s Child goes out with a purr, not a roar In the mid 1970s, a young lady from East Texas named Tina Beyonce met Mathew Knowles, a singer from Alabama, at a Houston party. The musically inclined couple married in 1979 and two years later their first child…
Feature A great divide
Parents and advocates have reached an impasse over whether state institutions for the mentally retarded should close. Yet, while families try to do the best for their loved ones, Texas has abandoned its responsibility to care for its neediest citizens. Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series about the social and fiscal…
Screens The face of the enemy
A young Vietnamese in search of his GI father becomes an emissary for reconciliation in The Beautiful Country The release of The Beautiful Country could not be better-timed. The 2004 tale of a young Vietnamese man’s search for his GI father touches poignantly on two current hot-button issues: military occupation of a country with a…
Feature Kenny: the state-school ambassador
Kenny is a ladies’ man. Or used to be, until he met the love of his life, Dawn. He saw her for the first time in the dining hall, informally known as the canteen. “I said, ‘Look at that female that just walked in.” She had short hair and wore a blue shirt and white…
Screens Armchair Cinephile
Shall we dance? The big news of the week for all sorts of constituencies – fans of Hollywood’s golden era, comedy buffs, dance lovers, et cetera – is The Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol. 1, yet another splendid reissue project from Warner Bros. As has become routine with these Warner sets, a bargain price (under…
Food & Drink Family tree
In a twig, memory and good figs are passed down through the generations “Today, the fig tree you planted in my yard, born of a single magical stick, child of your own enormous tree, towers over our clothesline. White shirts billow forth beneath it. I pinch my eyes shut, sailing to the old country of…
