Feds give Texas 3 months to save the Women’s Health Program
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday shot down Texas’ request to ban certain family planning providers – namely Planned Parenthood – from its widely successful Women’s Health Program, which provides contraception and general reproductive health care, like cervical and breast cancer screenings, to thousands of uninsured Texas women. In a conference…
The Cure’s premieres live video of “A Forest”
Here’s the live video of “A Forest,” a song included in the Cure’s latest album, Bestival Live 2011, released December 6. All proceeds from the album, recorded live at the festival in Isle of Wight, will benefit the Isle of Wight Youth Trust, a charitable independent organization that counsels, advices, informs, and support services to…
Pepe the King Prawn talks ‘Muppets,’ tapas
Not only one of the most debonair and attractive of all the Muppets, Pepe the King Prawn is also the only one of the group who is bilingual. Originally from Madrid, Spain, Pepe, whose was born Pepino Rodrigo Serrano Gonzales, moved to Hollywood to become the most famous prawn this side of the Atlantic. As…
San Antonio’s Jennifer Espinoza chosen by Roger Taylor for “The Queen Extravaganza Tour”
By Enrique Lopetegui elopetegui@sacurrent.com Since February 2010, 18-year-old Jennifer Espinoza (a student at the San Antonio School for Inquiry and Creativity) sings and plays bass at the Latin stage of Six Flags, but all that could change quickly: she’s one of two singers selected for The Queen Extravaganza Tour, a superproduction that will feature a…
Report shows deportations hinge largely on immigration – not criminal – violations, despite White House claims
There seems to be an information gap when it comes to the Obama administration’s claims about immigration enforcement. Despite insistence from White House and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials that the priority is now to deport undocumented immigrants with a criminal record, data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research arm of Syracuse University,…
San Antonian Dan “Bee” Spears, bassist for Willie Nelson, dead at 62
Dan “Bee” Spears (1949-2011) (photo by Master Sgt. Lee Roberts, USAF) San Antonio-born Dan “Bee” Spears (Dan Edward Spears), who joined Willie Nelson’s band as a bassist when he was 19, died in Nashville yesterday. Austin’s KXAN reported that “he stepped out of his motor home late Thursday evening when, according to his friend, Dee…
Equality Walk Processional to Occur on Riverwalk Tonight
Friends, please take a moment to read this press release (as posted by Richard Noble on Facebook) and join Richard as he makes his way through San Antonio tonight. As we move into the weekend marking the 63rd anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and…
3 strong shows at Southwest School
Three shows opened last night at Southwest School of Art. Above, Chinese Butterfly, photocollage by San Antonio artist Marie Swartz. Red Riding Hood, by Swartz. Above, Black Hair Flag and Cornrow Chair by Sonya Clark. Clark’s portrait Madame CJ Walker above a vast expanse of black combs. Poor Kid Trust Fund, paper collage by Shannon Brock. 300…
Jump by Alex Layman
Jump by Alex Layman is a declinist story. Anarchy and violence and a vast ocean of cleansing nothingness. America tomorrow?America today. Send in your stories of 500 words more or less. I’m looking for whatever you gots lying around. Everything comes back with either a “hell yeah,” or a “no thanks and here’s why.” Where…
48 Hour Film Experience (SA) is a triumph
By Enrique Lopetegui elopetegui@sacurrent.com Director Rod Guajardo and producer Ralph López during the shooting of the gorgeous-looking Aftermath. The films for the 7th Annual 48 Hour Film Experience (SA) were shown Wednesday night at the Guadalupe, and I had a blast. If you don’t know what this is, here’s a crash course: filmmakers are divided…
Group claims Macy’s fired Rivercenter employee over LGBT-friendly policy
Macy’s has drawn the anger of a Florida-based conservative Christian group claiming the chain’s Rivercenter store fired an employee who refused to let a transgender shopper to use its women’s fitting room. The Florida-based Liberty Counsel, a which represents people claiming they were fired for religious beliefs, is crying religious discrimination, saying Macy’s fired former Rivercenter…
Review: Fiddler on the Roof
The eternally-touring production of Fiddler on the Roof has now parked itself at the Majestic for a one-week run, with John Preece celebrating his 1800th (!) performance as Tevye, everyone’s favorite dancing milkman. And while the sheer longevity of this tour had me worried about the production’s freshness, the opening strains of “Tra-di-tion!” soon put…
America gets a ‘fro at Southwest School
Sonya Clark is Africanizing Americana, sewing dreadlocks on the Confederate battle flag and putting Old Abe in a ‘fro. You can see her work tomorrow when her new exhibition opens at the Southwest School of the Art at 5:30pm. Also on view: “Constant Churning,” digital-collage by Marie Swartz and “Shannon Brock: Gene Pool Therapy,”…
‘Skyward Sword’ is the king of the Zelda franchise
Video games are, like other media, diverse and fascinatingly engaging. They are about telling stories, about paralleling reality, about imbuing power in the hands of the player. But underneath all of that, there is a common element among all games — having fun. In the interest of said fun, cast aside what prejudices you have…
Spotlights fail National Theatre in ‘Collaborators’
The good news is that the National Theatre Live’s broadcasts of selected theatrical performances — analogous to the Metropolitan Opera’s popular broadcasts in HD — have now arrived in San Antonio. Broadcasts are generally one-night stands on Thursdays at Regal Entertainment’s Fiesta Stadium (12631 Vance Jackson) and Cielo Vista (2828 Cinema Ridge) locations for $20…
Taste this: Lemongrass bun with tofu and broccoli, $6.95
A warm bowl of bun, when the air is chilly and sky dim, is a friend indeed. Saigon delivers a luscious pile of rice noodles beneath steamed and raw ingredients. Across the top, a dusting of crushed peanuts, green onion (squared white onion deeper below has recovered its sweetness in the fire), shredded carrot, and…
Maria Rita: Elo
Four-time Latin Grammy winner Maria Rita is not only the daughter of the late Elis Regina (arguably Brazil’s greatest singer ever) and legendary pianist/composer Cesar Camargo Mariano — she’s a star on her own, and deservedly so. For her fourth studio album (her first in almost three years), she returned to her minimalist blend of…
Enough with the woodland creatures, it’s time for Criterion and TV bests
Somebody has to say it, so I will: nobody cares about sweaters with deers and shit, OK? Mom, auntie, whoever you are: if you’re reading this, there’s a reason all the neighborhood windows glow blue at night (and it’s not the Christmas lights) — they’re getting off on someone else’s drama! So do us all…
Mickey Moonlight: And The Time Axis Manipulation Corporation
This album is branded as the score for your favorite college parties. While EDM pitches are seldom more generic, Moonlight’s debut fits the description quite well. The record won’t replace your Top 40 Pandora stations or your dubstep playlists, but it’s perfect for brewing coffee in your skivvies and headphones while rummaging for Advil the…
San Antonio families returning to traditional food practices with ‘One Bite at a Time’
Industrial pizza interests passed under Congress’s rod with flying colors last month and corporations like Del Monte Foods and ConAgra must be celebrating the decision to allow pizza to be considered a vegetable in the government’s school-lunch program. The problem is that canned tomato products are notoriously contaminated with Bisphenol-A — the endocrine disruptor that’s…
Reliance on high-tech and high-turnover leading to lawsuits in ‘hospitalist’-heavy San Antonio
Olga De La Zerda went into Metropolitan Methodist Hospital on February 16 to determine if a bit of congestion was a sign of a more serious infection. It should have been a simple day of observation in the hospital, her family alleges, but care for the 87-year-old was transferred over to a “hospitalist” doctor tasked…
The new Hendrix app for your iPhone, iPad, and iPod
Every year fans from all over the world travel to Greenwood Memorial Park to celebrate Jimi Hendrix’s birthday November 27. Sony Music Entertainment and Experience Hendrix LLC have teamed up to commemorate the epic artist’s birthday with the Jimi Hendrix — the Complete Experience App. The iOS 5 application, developed for the iPad, iPhone, and…
Dinner can be a Special Project
Pop-up restaurants are popular in Los Angeles and New York City. Chefs create makeshift restaurants with limited or fixed menus and open and close whenever they want. An offshoot of the pop-up restaurant is the pop-up dinner series, where guests buy tickets to attend and are informed of the location right before the dinner. The…
Live & local: Mitch Webb and the Swindles
Midway through Mitch Webb’s set at Salute, a guy opened the door, took a quick look inside, grabbed his head in amazement, and left. I couldn’t hear what he said, but I could read his lips: "Damn!" For a few seconds, he had been a witness to one of the most explosive local shows of…
I scream, you scream… we all scream over Stephen King’s ‘Bag of Bones’
Stephen King’s Bag of Bones (8 pm Sunday, A&E) The miniseries wastes no time scaring you to death. With horror movies I can usually keep my wits about me at least through the credit sequence, but not this time, thanks to merciless music, editing, and imagery. Pierce Brosnan plays Michael, a bestselling author who loses…
The QueQue: SA sex trafficking exposed, Texas killing Women’s Health Program quietly
SA sex trafficking exposed Most of the young girls told similar stories: each started young, somewhere around 13-years-old, sold into sex slavery on San Antonio’s streets, often kept in line with violence, fear, and drug addiction. Over the course of just two months this summer, UTSA professor Bob Ambrosino and two dozen of his social-work…
The Apoca-List
AKA The “We’re Fucked” Index
‘Codename Doomsday’ makes a splash (and other curiosities)
There’s something about a single-painting show that drives people nuts. When Albert Alvarez’ Codename Doomsday was shown for the first time last Friday at Sala Diaz the crowd on the front lawn chatted and drank beer as usual, but a steady stream of viewers continued to pour through the tiny gallery’s door till late to…
The Black Keys: El Camino
Have the Black Keys been making the same record for the last 10 years? It’s a question that invariably crops up after every new Keys’ release, and one that seems to form most listener’s opinions of the band as either impressively consistent or tediously unoriginal. El Camino, the Akron-duo’s seventh full-length, won’t escape this debate…
‘Threads for Hope’ raises funds for the San Antonio AIDS Foundation
River Walk trees danced along the water outside in reflections of their blue, red, green, and white Christmas lights. Inside, a spectacular 22-foot Christmas tree stood at the edge of the runway, but even it was eclipsed by the electrified models strutting down the catwalk. To benefit the San Antonio AIDS Foundation on World AIDS…
Sushi, pigtails, and hops
Sushi, pigtails, and hops Who puts wasabi in beer? Brewers who are trying to pair their creations with those of a top San Antonio sushi chef. You’ll find it at one of two mouth-watering (and perhaps eye-watering) beer dinners this month at Freetail Brewing Co. and at Lüke Restaurant on the River Walk. The Freetail…
Melancholia
Melancholia opens with a series of dramatically lit, startling dream-like images: falling birds rain during the day, a collapsing horse falls painfully slow in the dark. Wrapped in a wedding dress, Kirsten Dunst floats down a stream like a waking Ophelia. She stands silently in a field, electricity flickering from her fingertips. Engulfed by a…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): What’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your life? To answer that question is your first assignment. It’s OK if you can’t decide between the three or four most beautiful things. What’s important is to keep visions of those amazements dancing in the back of your mind for the…
¡ASK A MEXICAN!
Dear Mexican: I read in your book that Mexico is due for a revolution about every 100 years or so. The last one was in the first part of the 20th century and you said they are about ready for another one. Do you think the drug war presently being fought between the cartels and…
Blended dispassion at Bharmacy
So, fine, I didn’t try the beer milkshake with Guinness — but think you should. I did try the Bharmacy Flu Shot with Sapporo and sake and think, ehh, maybe you shouldn’t bother; the sake makes the beer a little more floral, but otherwise… "Ehh" is also my considered critical opinion of the café’s marginal…
Musical gifts you can’t go wrong with (though it won’t do much for global warming)
If you want my opinion on what single musical gift you can give for Christmas, the answer is easy: the complete works by the Beatles (either the physical $200 box set or the iTunes $149 version). But if your loved one is the “I prefer the Stones” type, you can get the newly released Some…
Contempt, desire boil over in Weller’s ‘Fifty Words’
Why do couples stay married? Love? Devotion? Obligation to children? Or are they held together by habit reinforced by the fear of being alone? AtticRep’s production of Michael Weller’s Fifty Words travels through a long night of questions, confused passions, and painfully physical action to reach a desolate morning. The only questions remaining then are…
They shoot donkeys, don’t they? Texas Parks pleads for goodwill (and donations)
Just a few weeks after earning a fresh black eye with much of the public for its renewed policy of shooting donkeys inside Big Bend Ranch State Park, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is launching a full-court press to drum up support for the parks system. Parks, as you may have guessed, are suffering…
