Video Recap: The SA MLK March
(photo by Jaime Monzon) A sunny day with perfect temperature (about 75 degrees) was an ideal setting for the 2014 Martin Luther King march, which drew anywhere between 175,000 (according to Bishop David M. Copeland, chair of the San Antonio Martin Luther King Commission) and 200,000 (early unofficial SAPD estimates gathered by the Current). Click…
5 Things You Have to Do This Week
Mon 1/20 Martin Luther King Jr. March & Commemorative Program More than 100,000 are expected to attend San Antonio’s 27th annual Martin Luther King Jr. March. Themed “Realizing the Dream: Jobs, Justice and Freedom,” the march steps off from MLK Academy (3501 MLK), continues through the East Side and culminates at Pittman-Sullivan Park (1101 Iowa)…
Watch Ernest Gonzales’ “Peaks and Valleys” Video
(photo by Erik Gustafson) It was worth the wait: “Peaks and Valleys,” a song included in Ernest Gonzales’ 2012 album Natural Traits, now has a video directed by Roger Scott: “The story for the clip was basically that my producer and I had really enjoyed Natural Traits,” Scott told the Current on Sunday via email.…
‘Sherlock’ Returns To PBS This Sunday
Photo Courtesy of PBS For two years, fans of Sherlock had to rely on their powers of deduction to determine what happened to the eponymous detective after his presumably fateful fall at the end of the second season. Soon, that mystery will be solved. This Sunday marks the return of everyone’s favorite hyper-observant sociopath as…
SACC Photo Diaries: Opening Night Recap
It might be a futile effort to recap a booze-filled evening, but I’ll give it a go. I find the best way to remember the previous evening’s festivities is taking numerous photos…so let’s piece together Thursday’s Opening Night Party, shall we? (Disclaimer: The Majestic is dark and I have an iPhone 4S, so grainy photos…
Bonehead Quote of the Week: U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert On Marriage Equality Rulings
With the battle for same-sex marriage waging across the country, some politicians aren’t doing a stellar job of veiling their homophobia. When asked if any of the elected representatives wished to comment on the marriage equality debate during conservative think tank Heritage Foundation’s Conversations with Conservatives event, Republican U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, sitting on a panel alongside Rep. Steve…
Shot of the Week: Straight Mount Gay Rum
Shoot it or sip it, either way it goes down smooth. Not usually one for straight shots (they only lead to mayhem and destruction), I couldn’t pass up this particular one. Tucked away on the marquee awning of the Majestic during the San Antonio Cocktail Conference’s opening night party, the sampling of Mount Gay Rum’s…
‘The Nut Job’: Cartoon heist movie refuses to make sense
You’d hardly expect to find civics lessons in third-rate kids animation, but they are scattered about willy-nilly, like hastily buried acorns. Set in what appears to be a 1950s medium-sized American city, though with bits of contemporary dance music scattered on the soundtrack, The Nut Job contains chewed-up bits of PoliSci 101 curriculum that are…
Ranger Creek Releases .44 Texas Rye Whiskey
100 percent rye whiskey (Courtesy) Whiskey and guns go together like a cowboy and his horse. Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling (4834 Whirlwind) has released their newest Texas rye whiskey as a part of their limited edition Small Caliber Series of whiskey. Each whiskey in the series is named after a firearm and the .44…
Grand Hyatt to Host “Must Love Pets” Happy Hour
Don’t leave your pup alone on Valentine’s Day. Via doggiesmyle Take your four-legged best friend to the “Must Love Pets” Valentine’s Happy Hour at the Grand Hyatt’s Bar Rojo (600 E Market) on Thursday, February 6 from 5 to 7 p.m. Both dogs and cats are invited to attend a a night out with their…
3 Area Bars Get Nods from Southern Living
(Courtesy) As the San Antonio Cocktail Conference kicks it into high gear this Thursday, it’s only fitting that Southern Living release its list of the 100 Best Bars in the South with three mentions of San Antonio-area bars. Helotes’ John T Floore Country Store (14492 Old Bandera), The Esquire Tavern (155 E Commerce) and The…
10 Things You Have to Do This Weekend
Thu 1/16 ‘Crickets for Solo and Ensemble’ In a 2013 article about the SITE Santa Fe exhibition “Time, People, Money, Crickets,” the weekly Pasatiempo wrote, “Just try to stereotype Mungo Thomson. You really can’t do it, because his artistic goals and mediums are so wide-ranging.” As true as that may be of the Los Angeles-based…
5 Can’t-Miss Cocktail Conference Events
Into cocktails but an all-access pass isn’t in the cards for you? Here are five events for budget-conscious boozers. Thursday, January 16 Courtesy When do you ever get the chance to dress up and sample more than 20 cocktails in the same building? The Opening Night Gala at the Majestic Theatre allows attendees access to…
Texas Republicans Decry San Antonio’s ‘Promise Zone’ Designation
Last week, the White House gave San Antonio and five other cities ‘Promise Zone’ classification, granting the city’s East Side neighborhood a needed boost in education, jobs, affordable housing and upgrades to public safety, as the Current reported. While those familiar with the area, like U.S. Congressman Joaquín Castro, Mayor Julián Castro and District 2 council member Ivy Taylor,…
YOLO of the Day: Ganja Cooking Tips from Express-News
How’s this for I-Really-Wish-I’d-Thought-Of-This news: The San Antonio Express-News is giving readers weed cooking tips. Writing about weed in food is nothing new, the NYT did it here in 2010, and GQ’s Jesse Pearson did it here in 2012, and the trend will likely increase as Colorado’s (and soon Washington’s) stoners seek out elevated munchies.…
5 Dishes to Celebrate National Hot and Spicy Food Day
January 15 is National Hot and Spicy Food Day and what better way to celebrate than getting your hands on a three pepper hamburger, a pizza deemed the Diablo, El Bucanero’s three sauces or a tamal packed with ghost peppers. If you’re brave, try any of these fiery tastings: 4 Horsemen Burger (Courtesy) 1. Chunky’s Burgers…
Las Ramblas Hosts a Spanish Valentine’s Dinner
Patio dining on the River Walk. (Courtesy) It’s never too early to start thinking about Valentine’s Day. Hotel Contessa’s restaurant, Las Ramblas (306 W Market) on the the River Walk, will serve a three-course menu created by executive chef Jordan Mackey on Valentine’s Day, Friday, February 14. The dinner which runs from 5 to…
Stella Public House Unveils Winter Menu
A serving of the colorful Roasted Butternut Squash (Courtesy) The Alamo City’s first and only farm-to-pizza restaurant, Stella Public House (1414 S. Alamo) has created a new seasonal menu using the seasonal ingredients butternut squash mushrooms and locally-sourced meats. We know that Stella Public House did wonders with the pizza and beer combination and…
Glitter Political: Meet Carlton Soules, SA politics’ own honey badger
High up on the sixth floor of the Catholic Life Insurance Building, an apocalyptic mist drapes over the city’s northeast side like a shimmering, silver cloak. Directly across from me, former City Council member (D-10) Carlton Soules takes a sip of his hot coffee from behind a hefty, wooden desk. Soules, now 47, recently resigned…
A Drinking Pro’s San Antonio Cocktail Conference Survival Guide
Related: The Style Dossier on How Not to Get Sloppy Drunk Here’s some useful advice right out of the gate: Take both an aspirin and a potent multi-vitamin at night following each day of shameless cocktail consumption at the San Antonio Cocktail Conference or others. This particular palliative may not provide total relief; dead brain…
Celebrate the Villain: Rooting for Texas hip-hop’s likable bad guys
“The raw intensity of hip-hop is electric. You have the freedom to speak on very powerful subjects that are not normally addressed so bluntly in other genres of music. It is a tool, a voice for the unheard and overlooked, a bond that unites strangers to connect and spread love.” —Truth (Brad Kleinfelder, Celebrate the…
Behind-the-Scenes at the San Antonio Cocktail Conference
Area cocktilians can puff up their chests a little more this week as we go into the third annual San Antonio Cocktail Conference. The brainchild of Bohanan’s Prime Steaks and Seafood chef and owner Mark Bohanan, this year’s SACC is a four-day affair that features three kickoff dinners, more than 30 seminars, three major parties,…
Comedian Brian Regan Doesn’t Want to Hurt You
Mormons love Brian Regan. In 2012, he had a record setting 10-night run in Salt Lake City, reportedly based on the popularity he gained from LDS missionaries passing around his albums. Your grandma who complains that Jack Benny never had to work blue to be funny would also love Regan, but decidedly dirtier comics such…
Want a Real Horror Movie? Watch ‘Freedom Riders’
“Who the hell is Diane Nash?” I know it’s Martin Luther King Jr.’s week, but let’s pause to acknowledge Nash. As detailed in the impressive documentary Freedom Riders, Nash, a young black college student, stood up not only to segregation in the South, murderous racist mobs and nay-saying from within the Civil Rights Movement, but…
DreamWeek Seeks To Promote MLK Jr.’s Legacy Of Diversity, Equality
As Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaches, San Antonio—home to the largest MLK Day March in the nation—will be buzzing with events aimed at modernizing the late civil rights leader’s teachings. The 12-day summit dubbed “DreamWeek” features more than 60 speakers, screenings, mixers, youth events, workshops and parties centered on preserving the legacy of King.…
Mother Nature Fools Us in Southwest School Photography Exhibit
A gloomy gray winter’s day is the perfect accompaniment for eco-artists Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison’s “Selections from the Counterpoint Series,” but don’t expect their rather bleak meditation on the interaction of humans, technology and nature to cheer you up. This grimly beautiful show of surreal, large-scale photographic images in somber, muted colors is suffused with…
Explore SA’s Ethnic Markets with These Seven Tips
If 2014 is the year we leave our culinary bubbles, having an intimate knowledge of global ingredients might be the next necessary step: Enter ethnic markets. As it turns out, there’s plenty of them to choose from. Small Korean markets on the East Side to the mega Ali Baba International Market (9307 Wurzbach), which carries…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Whose enemy are you? Are you anyone’s adversary or obstructionist or least favorite person? Answer honestly, please. Don’t be in denial. Next question: Do you derive anything useful from playing this oppositional role? If your answer is yes, that’s fine. I won’t try to talk you out of it. Continue to…
Chris Sauter Ends Artistic Pilgrimage with Bold Conclusion
Communion, an elegant wood-and-paper scale model of a radio telescope which echoes the fretwork of exposed wooden beams in the narthex of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, marks the final chapter and perhaps the culminating take-away of visual artist Chris Sauter‘s four-part pilgrimage. Communion, together with its podium is about the size of the kind of…
Savage Love: Quickies
My friend is in her late 20s and married, and she has two little kids. Her husband had a rough childhood and has some issues. Since their most recent child was conceived, they have not had sex. He says he believes there is a difference between a lover and a mother, and he refuses to…
‘Las Marthas’ Documents the Weirdest Fiesta Ever
“Laredo is mostly Mexican-American, and here we are celebrating George Washington’s birthday. It’s kind of crazy. Why do we do this?” —Laura Garza Hovel At the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, Texas and several other full or partial territories became part of the U.S.A. When Mexico’s Nuevo Laredo was founded on May 15…
Passafire, the U.S.’ hottest reggae band (sorry, Snoop!), returns to SA
Life is good for Savannah, Ga.’s Passafire. The four-piece reggae, dub and prog rock band’s fifth album (and first with Easy Star Records), Vines (2013), debuted at No. 1 on iTunes’ and Billboard’s reggae charts, the latter feat involving knocking Snoop Lion’s Reincarnated to the second spot. At the time of this writing, the album…
Flavor File: National spotlight on Cured’s Steve McHugh, Chefs for Chefs brunch helps former Casbeers owner
Let’s start things off and bid good luck to Blue Box (312 Pearl Pkwy, (210) 227-2583) bartender Elisabeth Forsythe as she competes in Speed Rack Austin. Forsythe, the only San Antonio tender to compete on Wednesday, will go head-to-head with 20 other female bartenders for a chance to make it to the finals in NYC.…
Market Eats: Buddha’s Brew
Last Sunday was a cold and sunny day in San Antonio, with a biting wind slicing through the crowds of people and dogs visiting the Quarry Farmers & Ranchers market. Reluctantly pulling myself away from the Humble House Foods booth (that cilantro pesto, though!), I fixed my course toward a colorful booth with psychedelic branding:…
Culinary Calendar: 5 ways to get your drink/grub on
(Courtesy) Friday, January 17 The San Antonio Cocktail Conference heads to the Pearl Brewery for a night of Texas-based spirits. The event will showcase area bartenders as they mix drinks with 11 Texas brands. The night starts at the Weston Centre with cocktails hosted by Remy-Cointreau where attendees can hop on a river barge…
State Sen. Wendy Davis Outraises Greg Abbott in Texas Gov Race
In the battle to replace outgoing Texas governor Rick Perry, totals show state Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) has outraised her GOP opponent Attorney General Greg Abbott during the last six months of 2013, raking in a reported $12.2 million. State Sen. Wendy Davis during a stop in SA. Photo by Mary Tuma. Rather than lump…
Texas Cooks’ Co-Op Releases Details for February Dinner
(Courtesy) The Texas Cooks’ Co-op is back with another dinner for all you foodies. TCCO is providing the snacks for the competition portion at this year’s San Antonio Cocktail Conference on Sunday, January 19. The Westin Riverwalk’s Zocca (420 W Market) will be the host venue for the group’s 12-course tasting menu on Sunday,…
Brooklynite Celebrates Motown Monday for MLK Day
Old Fashioned (Courtesy) In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 20th, The Brooklynite (516 Brooklyn) is hosting an MLK Motown Party. From 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. The Brooklynite is serving up sophisticated cocktails and Motown tunes in honor of the humanitarian. Happy hour pricing is all night with $5 Old Fashioneds…
Phillip Luna Reveals Song From Please Help!’s Upcoming Album
Phillip Luna (photo by Blanca Luna) As mentioned in the January 7 edition of SA Sound, Phillip Luna is getting ready to release an album with his new band, Please Help! Here’s the one-take Noah Peterson-directed video for the unmastered version of “What I’m Hoping,” the self-titled album’s opening track. He’s still planning a CD…
San Antonio Welcomes Meat Week 2014 on January 26
It’s a meat party! (Courtesy) The meat is on this month with Meat Week 2014. On Sunday, January 26, Meat Week is coming to San Antonio for eight nights of classic American BBQ. Each night brings in a new venue with fresh smells and tastes of pork, brisket and ribs. This year’s hosts for the…
Pork U & Slider Provider Share Award-Winning Chili Recipes
When does the weather not scream chili? Sure, the sun’s out and you can’t find a cloud for miles, but that doesn’t mean the temperature will always play nice. For those chilly, miserable days, we present the two winning recipes from last weekend’s chili cook-off at The Point Park & Eats (24188 Boerne Stage). Pork…
