Current Seeks Firsthand Accounts of Racial Profiling in Balcones Heights
Greg M. Schwartz gschwartz@sacurrent.com Allegations of racial profiling continue to dog the Balcones Heights Police Department, despite a denial of such activity from Police Chief Bill Stannard following a rally outside the department on February 9 where over 40 protestors gathered to accuse officers there of racial profiling in order to apprehend unauthorized immigrants. Carlos…
Chavez: I am the State
Brian Thompson bthompsoe@gmail.com Historically, the line between voter suffrage and outright stupidity has been a thin one. Although crowds casting their vote may be the ultimate expression of a democratic government, large gatherings of people are also unpredictable, rash in their decision-making, and easy to manipulate. Even a rather mediocre president was able to extend…
Reverend Seymour Perkins Funeral information
The stove at Reverend Seymour Perkin’s “New” house, early December. Viewing 5-8 pm Monday evening 2/16 Carter Taylor Williams Mortuary 601 N. Center St 227-7311 Funeral 11:30 Tuesday morning, 2/17 Bright and Morning Star Baptist Church 547 K St (210) 333-8614
SAHA’s Partners Admit to Digging Up Toxic Soil and Letting it Sit Around Uncovered
The controversy surrounding the San Antonio Housing Authority’s low-income housing project on San Marcos Street continues to grow, with SAHA’s partners now admitting that they dug up some other contaminated soil,in addition to the coal ash they excavated, and let that highly toxic soil sit around uncovered for several days before they carted it off.…
Nuclear sweetheart ditches San Anto, leaving us with the bill
Austin backs out, billions in loans are yanked, adding pressure to San Anto’s nuke daydreaming. Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com Austin made it official yesterday: Our 16-percent nuclear sweetheart ain’t coming along for this nuclear expansion. That leaves the city of San Antonio and NRG Energy essentially 50-50 partners on a proposed doubling of the South Texas…
Tesla Rages Packed Scout Bar
Tesla rocked the jam-packed Scout Bar last night with a charged show demonstrating that the band is still going strong some twenty-two years after their sensational debut album dropped at the end of 1986. The band sounded fantastic and it was strange to comprehend that it had been that long since they first hit the…
Urine trouble
A tale of ignoble pursuits and silence at Bexar Probation Scrubbing the trail as suits mount, an Open Records response from Bexar Probation. Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com Each day seems to bring new revelations about how much (as opposed to how little) titular officers at Bexar County Probation knew about bad drug-test results coming back from…
COSA wins in Foddrill case
The jury came down in favor of the City of San Antonio in John Foddrill’s whistleblower case, answering “no” to the question: Did John Foddrill make a good-faith report of a violation of law? I’m not surprised, I’m sorry to say, not because expensive hijinks weren’t taking place in the Information Technology Services Department, but…
Mosh Pit Mayhem (of the undesirable sort)
This weekend a mosh pit altercation escalated drastically, resulting in a shooting outside the Rock Bottom Tattoo Bar early Saturday morning. Police said the shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. after a punk rock show by Lower Class Brats and Complete Control. According to the police report, a man drove up to the victim, Eric Scheese,…
RIP Reverend Perkins. And may you be in heaven an hour before the devil knows you’re dead
Artist, social provocateur, and American mystic Reverend Seymour Perkins died yesterday evening about 7 p.m. — sad news relayed by San Angel Folk Art, which represented Perkins. We’ll miss his unannounced office visits, his revelations and instructions — written in longhand — about his underground cities and the divine retribution headed this way with his…
Rifkin bashing, open government, and saving the world collide in SA
Hardberger’s vision for Mission Verde has entered choppy waters. Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com First things first. I may not agree with Councilman John Clamp about the proper place of cheeseburgers in a post-GMO society, but I like the man’s commitment to bringing transparency to CPS Energy. No other councilmember has openly taken the powerful step of…
Push
Push Director: Paul McGuigan Screenwriter: Paul McGuigan Cast: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Djimon Hounsou, Nate Mooney Release Date: 2009-02-11 Rated: PG-13 Genre: Film The new sci-fi action thriller Push introduces a whole new army of “gifted” human beings. Watchers can see the future, but they’re not always accurate—and sometimes just talking about it…
The Walls Symposium
Release Date: 2009-02-11 The obscenity rising on La Frontera isn’t the only Wall that needs tearing down: The Walls Symposium, a free public event which will take place at Trinity University, sponsored by several other area universities as well as AtticRep, U.S. Justice and Peace Committee, Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, and peaceCENTER,…
Fool me twice
The Pink Panther 2 Director: Harald Zwart Screenwriter: Harald Zwart Release Date: 2009-02-11 Music Score: Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jeremy Irons Rated: PG Genre: Film It’s so dispiriting to remember when Steve Martin was actually funny. The eccentric things he did during his stand-up act with…
American Concepts and Global Visions
Release Date: 2009-02-11 This week the McNay unveils a two-part blockbuster show of works from the AT&T corporation’s impressive collection of 20th and 21st-century art, which is invested in the national gold standard (Warhol, Johns, Kline, Rauschenberg, Rosenquist, Bearden*, and Robert Longo, whose “Denise” is at left, as well as the art coin of the…
Working on a Dream
Working on a Dream Composer: Bruce Springsteen Conductor: Bruce Springsteen Label: Columbia Release Date: 2009-02-11 Rated: NONE Media: CD Format: Album Genre: Recording Not too many recording artists can pull off the whistle solo. John Lennon used it to charming effect on “Jealous Guy,” and Peter Gabriel’s pucker-riff heightened the creepiness of “Games Without Frontiers.”…
Cradle of Filth w. Satyricon & Septicflesh
Release Date: 2009-02-11 British extreme metallers Cradle of Filth kicked off their North American tour with Satyricon and Septic Flesh on January 19; they’re back on the road in support of their new album, Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder. The follow up to Thornography, GOTDT is a conceptual album based on the well-documented, true-life fall…
Hold Time
Hold Time Composer: M. Ward Conductor: M. Ward Label: Merge Release Date: 2009-02-11 Rated: NONE Media: CD Length: LP Format: Album Genre: Recording M. Ward, aka the “Him” of indie duo She & Him (not to be confused with HIM — the god-awful goth band from Finland), had a long, steadily growing career before hooking…
The Walls Symposium
Release Date: 2009-02-11 The obscenity rising on La Frontera isn’t the only Wall that needs tearing down: The Walls Symposium, a free public event which will take place at Trinity University, sponsored by several other area universities as well as AtticRep, U.S. Justice and Peace Committee, Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, and peaceCENTER,…
Never Better
Never Better Composer: P.O.S. Conductor: P.O.S. Label: Merge Release Date: 2009-02-11 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Never Better’s opener “Let It Rattle” bites a line off Nas (“They’re out for presidents to represent them”), then quickly spits it out, demanding, “You really think a president will represent you?” practically pronouncing the “Yes We Can” era dead…
Burn Halo
Burn Halo Composer: Burn Halo Conductor: Burn Halo Label: Rawkhead Records Release Date: 2009-02-11 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Former 18 Visions singer James Hart has a new band and the guitar-driven vibe smolders with an energy that recalls the pop-metal heyday of the ’80s, yet with a modern-rock sound that leaves that annoying big reverb…
‘So Long’ fares well
Iâ??ve Loved You So Long Director: Philippe Claudel Screenwriter: Philippe Claudel Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius Release Date: 2009-02-11 Rated: PG-13 Genre: Film No one in Léa’s circle of acquaintances is even aware that she has a sister until Juliette Fontaine (Thomas) suddenly moves in with Léa (Zylberstein), her husband Luc (Hazanavicius),…
Crevice
Release Date: 2009-02-11 Local underground psychedelia legends Crevice present a Valentine’s Day freak out in conjunction with heavy Denim and Fl!ght Gallery, which will also feature an exhibit of ready-mades by local visual artist Beto Gonzales. Characterized by creative light projections, acid-rock meanderings, and audiences splayed on the floor, the freak out was a staple…
Texas: The State of Flowing Water
Release Date: 2009-02-11 Everything old is new again — as if economic depression isn’t enough, TPWD’s new documentary warns of water shortages similar to those faced during the Dust Bowl. Texas: The State of Flowing Water examines current threats to the Lone Star State’s water supply. In addition to examining human impact on water sources,…
Snowbyrd, The Dirty Hearts, Fin Del Mar, & Viet-Ruse
Release Date: 2009-02-11 Inventive lap-steel-pop quartet Snowbyrd (below) soldiers on despite losing their beloved drummer, Manny Castillo, to a battle with cancer last month, but his flamboyant style will always be inherent in the band’s diverse, mind-expanding sound. Drummer Johnny Hernandez will pull double duty behind the kit, playing with his own experimental quintet Fin…
On and Off Fredericksburg Road Studio Tour
Release Date: 2009-02-11 The On & Off Fred Studio tour features two full days of leisurely, self-guided tours that offer visitors the rare opportunity to interact with more than 40 local artists in their workspaces. From reclaimed former neighborhood grocery stores to intimate backyard sanctuaries, the studios in SA’s Deco District offer a window into…
Bust This!
Release Date: 2009-02-11 Celebrate Valentine’s a day early with gut-bustin’ comida, piñatas, and brown-baggin’ festivities — Bust This! brings the Southside style of barbecue, drinking, and drama to some other part of SA. Loteria games, pony pictures, and mini-taco plate performances start off the night, while DJ Lenyard Spinyrd rolls out the beats between performances…
Murder Mystery Players Valentine’s Day Performance
Release Date: 2009-02-11 “I suggest it was Mr. Green, in the library, with the rope!” Sounds like V-Day to us — celebrate amor and its occasionally deadly fallout in untraditional fashion with Murder Mystery Players, the comedic dinner-theater troupe that leads guests in the hunt to solve a mysterious crime. The interactive murder-mystery performance includes…
Friday the 13th (1980) & My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Release Date: 2009-02-11 SiNema 13 follows up a successful Texas Chainsaw Massacre screening with a double feature for Valentine’s Day — original ’80s versions of slasher faves Friday the 13th and My Bloody Valentine. Alamo Drafthouse will be handing out free tickets to see Friday the 13th’s 2009 remake (opening on Friday) and there will…
Nothing but blue sky
Watel’s northern light
Tesla w. The Leo Project
Release Date: 2009-02-11 It’s hard to believe it’s been 22 years since Tesla issued their stellar debut, Mechanical Resonance. With a dynamic twin-guitar attack and bluesy vocals from Jeff Keith that owed more to classic rock than metal, the band won an instant following among those who like both genres. The band’s lyrics also tackled…
Cerveza-thirty
Release Date: 2009-02-11 Sanchez Ice House is a different place on a cool, breezy winter day than it is in the heat of a late summer afternoon when there’s loud Tejano music from a jukebox connected to outside speakers, dancers, and lots of steel buckets filled with ice and beer. I’ve been there in all…
American Concepts and Global Visions
Release Date: 2009-02-11 This week the McNay unveils a two-part blockbuster show of works from the AT&T corporation’s impressive collection of 20th and 21st-century art, which is invested in the national gold standard (Warhol, Johns, Kline, Rauschenberg, Rosenquist, Bearden*, and Robert Longo, whose “Denise” is at left, as well as the art coin of the…
‘Gene’ therapy
Treson Scipio and Charles Peters are ready to come clean. Better known as Tre and Easy, the MCs of Mojoe have matured and evolved their sound since 2003’s classic.ghetto.soul. With their new album, Dirty Genes, they hope to offer something unheard of in hip-hop music — emotional honesty. “Before digging into this project we talked…
THE SOUND & THE FURY
Valentine’s weekend should be especially exciting for rustic SA quartet Hacienda, which will back up Black Keys guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach on Late Night With Conan O’Brien on Friday, February 13. Auerbach has been a strong advocate for Hacienda’s music, even inviting them to record their debut album at his Akron, Ohio, studio. For his current…
“Holding it Down” — In Ovo
In Ovo frontman Scott Wisecarver sings like he just caught his vocal chords sleeping with his fiancée. Guitarists Joshua Stetz and Colin Varville gang up to bully your eardrums. Galen Miller alternates between the Woody Woodpecker school of drumming and simply attempting to bludgeon his kit into submission. “Holding It Down” is pure S&M metal,…
Forever-ever?
It was a disorienting First Friday weekend, what with Henry Rayburn’s memorial, and Blue Star Contemporary Arts Complex changing its hours, and the crazy wind, then the first rain in what seems like years — all on top of watching a guy circle Sala Diaz while lying tummy-down on a wheeled mirror. Maybe it was…
ARTIFACTS
Artifacts loves the Deco District. Bihl Haus Arts is a Jazz Age gem of a gallery (nestled surrealistically in an active-seniors’ apartment complex ) and presided over by community-minded curator Kellen McIntryre, who’s orchestrated a fun and enlightening self-guided tour of artist studios in the surrounding Deco District. The 2nd Annual On and Off Fredericksburg…
Rewards patience
A handful of books about the work and life of superhero legend Jack Kirby have been released in recent years, but few hold as much interest to me as a new tome about an artist working in his shadow. The long overdue Daniel Johnston (Rizzoli) will be an eye-opener to anyone who only knows the…
Killer moves
The hype selling the latest Friday the 13th film as a franchise reboot starring a more humanized version of killer Jason Voorhees is mostly bullshit. In comparison to earlier Fridays, the new film features immaculate acting and uncompromising production values (and that’s not saying much of anything worthwhile), but Jason remains mythic, an unkillable but…
S’Nuff film
Hey, procrastinating filmmakers — get ready to start thinking about starting to get off your ass to begin filming your entry for the 2009 Marfa Film Festival (marfafilmfestival.org), because the submission deadline is Wednesday, February 25, as in TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY. (Begin panicking now.) Those of you who’ve gotten your act together and your…
Cinema Obscura
The seven stages to coping with the fact that you’re watching Repo! The Genetic Opera: Initial shock and disbelief: “Whoa, they’re singing right from the get-go, and a lot of it’s just sing-talking like in elementary-school music class. I guess they weren’t joking about the opera thing. Wait, that would mean this is actually an…
Solid Gold Eagle (formerly Fuck City USA)
The woolly, sweat-slicked men in Tel Aviv’s Monotonix spit beer and dump the trash can on the floor. Drummer Haggai Fershtman sets up his kit on the bar, and singer Ami Shalev swings from the rafters and ends the show crowd-surfing on top of the bass drum. In other words, the only thing that might…
The QueQue
Minefield Representatives of CPS Energy, which has invested $276 million in a possible two-plant expansion of the South Texas (nuclear) Project, were in the audience for a February 5 brown-bag lunch with Edwards Aquifer Authority board member and noted hydrologist George Rice. The packed room was filled out by a number of locals interested in…
Buck off
If you don’t have kids or if you don’t live in San Antonio or if you live here and have kids but somehow manage not to do the majority of your grocery-shopping at H-E-B, then you’re probably not familiar with our local currency, the Buddy Buck. Buddy Bucks are funny money, play money — you…
Selling Verde
Mission Verde, Mayor Phil Hardberger’s ambitious vision for transforming Alamo City into an international renewable-energy leader, introduced itself to the city coffers for the first time last week, making off with a little more than $200,000. Not a tremendous amount of money, but it signals the beginning of San Antonio’s fiscal entanglement with a vision…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I have a question from one Mexican to another: Why do gabachos think we know everything about plants? During conversations with the estadounidenses, I will get asked about plants, pruning, how to keep roses alive, etc. I understand many of my compatriotas working over here are gardeners (and the best at it!), but…
SAHA’s coal-ash residue
Is a toxic contaminant still toxic if tests say its presence is below state regulatory protection levels? The San Antonio Housing Authority and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality say no. But Pendleton Street residents on the city’s near West Side still worry as they continue to spar with SAHA about whether dust from the…
Dear Uncle Mat
I am a teenager, British, and have been, for about the past nine months, in love with my closest online friend, who is Australian. The problem isn’t that he doesn’t know — the feeling is, happily, mutual, and we spend vast amounts of time together: He is the only person I can imagine having a…
Short shorts
You may have noticed that we’ve cut back the frequency of the flash fiction section. The submissions dropped off precipitously over the holidays, so we’re trying a once-a-month format. Please consider submitting a short piece and I will do my best to respond to your work as well as possibly have it published. This month’s…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I invite you to get all the mind-blowing sex you can this Valentine season, Aries. The entire cosmos will be on your side if you generate erotic wonders that rearrange your thought processes. For best results, cultivate the attitude described by the philosopher Voltaire in a letter to his partner Marie…
Tru dat
Being a poser is a type of currency in Tru Hustla’s world, and everyone uses it. But occasional Current contributor Beto Gonzales is offering a slightly bitter, tragi-comic observation in his one-man Fl!ght show — not a judgment — fueled by a certain amount of self-loathing and a signature Gonzales front: The work is presented…
Amuse-BOUCHE
Food at art galleries can be as predictable as it is lamentable — carrot sticks and raw broccoli with a side of ranch dressing. Healthy, yes, but not really a crowd pleaser. Artpace is taking a more populist approach, sure to increase its street cred and midday foot traffic. From noon to 2 p.m. each Friday…
Valentine vino
Valentine’s Day brings out the silliness in some, and this writer is no exception. Some winemakers, alas, are goofy year ’round, and one such is Bonny Doon’s Randall Grahm — who would counter that his wines are entirely serious, even if he isn’t. We can start with his Syrah Le Poseur. Potentially emblematic of…
Alamo RMA goes panhandling for toll roads
Thanks for breaking the ice, Lou. How does rolling in the RMA help VIA? Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com Wastrels at the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority went panhandling last week, hitting up the VIA board for bus fare to build toll roads. That’s how an innocent-sounding suggestion to merge the two agencies twisted itself in my mind…
Cornyn: Not present
By Gilbert Garcia During the 2008 presidential campaign, Republicans delighted in mocking Barack Obama for his numerous “present” votes in the Illinois State Senate. But a “present” vote still constitutes participation in the process, and that’s more than we can say for Texas Senator John Cornyn, who skipped out on yesterday’s cloture vote on the…
Zombies del Sur
Brian Thompson bthompsoe@gmail.com In response to fears of a zombie Pancho Villa, some Texas lawmakers have proposed crafting a plan to address the potential collapse of the Mexican government and what that would mean for the state. “You hope for the best, plan for the worst,” said Katherine Cesinger, a spokesperson for Governor Perry’s office.…
