Tip of Hat and Wag of Finger for Cornyn
Texas Sen. John Cornyn has been working hard to position himself as the GOP’s top attack dog now that Dick Cheney is off to Dr. Evil’s Retirement Home for Used-Up Despots. Cornyn single-handedly sought to hold up Hillary Clinton’s confirmation as Secretary of State, calling for more transparency on foreign donations to the foundation headed…
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans turns away press
Fans of the first two Underworld flicks could be justifiably skeptical of the latest entry in the franchise, seeing as how lead actress Kate Beckinsale and director Len Wiseman (also Beckinsale’s hubby since they fell in love while shooting the original film) are absent from those roles in this prequel that purports to tell the…
Live & Local Preview: The Vultures
We’re heading to Limelight tonight to see local hip-hop crew The Vultures, who claim to be “feasting on rotting hip-hop.” Those not cool with cannibalism can probably rest assured that’s some kind of clever metaphor. The last time we saw them perform, they put on a high-energy show full of sci-fi-referencing stream-of-consciousness flows and dirty…
Judge Fred Biery inherits free-speech lawsuit
Following last week’s surprise exit by Federal Judge Xavier Rodriguez, the Free Speech Coalition’s suit to overturn the City’s new parade ordinance has been assigned to Judge Fred Biery, who will set a new trial date. That means Monday’s court marshalling of free-speech forces is postponed, as is the January 25 vigil. Rodriguez ruled last…
On the Street: Hegemony of Molten Pits of Hellfire, Seeking: Sexy Garbageman, The Fuel, Estate Sale Dialectics, and Other Important Discussions of Our Time
“Moving On Up” Letters (to the On the Street Penthouse Suite) #1 The Hegemony of Cycloptic Mountains Lady Vicki writes in with news of an art opening tonight at Sala Diaz (Stieren + St. Mary’s) for local DJ and provacateur John Mata. What follows seems to be a statement from the artistâ?¦ â?¦ For his…
proof of the New Hope era! FOR REAL THIS TIME
Proof of the New Hope era! FROM THE CURBLOG MINNEAPOLIS BUREAU You didn’t know we had a Minneapolis Bureau, did you? While I am, of course, first and foremost interested in all things local, I also keep an eye out for interesting goings-on in the para-San Anto world. To this end, I got friends Up…
Point of impact
Ken Stewart’s Lodge is a dimly lit upscale restaurant and bar in Bath, a favorite haunt of local Republican bigwigs and businessmen. On the evening of December 19, 2008, a strange crowd filtered in: skinny guys with bashful smiles, pudgy dudes with pale skin, accompanied by the occasional female. An IT herd. These particular techies…
CPS Takes Next Step on Nuclear Path
A pattern is starting to develop at the board meetings of CPS Energy. Spend two hours on self-congratulatory chatter and presentations about the company’s so-called commitment to sustainability and renewable energy, and only then deliver a unanimous vote to move the company and San Antonio further along toward a financially and environmentally risky investment on…
White flights of fancy over Chocolate City
A young child carried at this year’s MLK March in San Antonio enters a world changed dramatically both demographically and politically. Welcome to Obama Day. Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com Despite myself, I am a product of white privilege. Let’s just put that out there. As such, I know that even in this remarkable age of our…
Still More on the Suspicious Death of GOP IT Guru Mike Connell
From the National Affairs Desk – The Current’s sister paper in Cleveland (a fine journalistic outfit that I freelanced for while in grad school at Kent State a few years ago) has an in-depth cover story today investigating the death of Republican IT guru Mike Connell: Point Of Impact If There Was A Plot To…
State of Texas versus Yvonne Garcia: Dismissed
Who loves you Ralphie? Lots of folks â?? including the judge, it seems. Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com For a woman who is allegedly ruthless with area home health care providers, Yvonne Garcia sure has a lot of supportive family and friends. The group packed one side of Bexar County Children’s Court today, as lawyerless Garcia defended…
At last … that song is over
By Gilbert Garcia To borrow one of Barack Obama’s favorite phrases, let’s be clear: I found yesterday’s inauguration to be exciting and inspiring; I love Etta James; and I consider “At Last” to be a perfectly fine ballad (even if Christina Aguilera and co. have run it into the ground over the last few years).…
Maneaters of Tsavo, Split Hoof, & Bastard Wolf
Release Date: 2009-01-21 Easily one of the most talented and respected acts in San Antonio, the Man-Eaters of Tsavo is San Anto-style stoner metal at its finest. Guitarist Eddie Hernandez, also of percussive Latino soul outfit Sexto Sol, effortlessly leads the instrumental trio down the hatch with his sonically expansive acid-rock jams, while their wall…
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Release Date: 2009-01-21 Relive the gore and grandeur of the splatter film with a special drive-in-style screening of Tobe Hooper’s 1974 original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Hooper’s low-budget exploitation film became an overnight cult classic, cementing the genre in addition to spawning a number of sequels, prequels, and remakes. Augie’s Barbed Wire Smokehouse will be…
Artslam!: 3rd Anniversary Show
Release Date: 2009-01-21 After three years of non-stop growth, Artslam! founder Deadbeat Hero (above) continues to test the limits with his live art and music mashup event, creating a homegrown outlet for San Antonio’s burgeoning creative talent. Artists Fletch, Shaggy, Craig Patterson, ZAIUS, and more take to the canvas, while DJM spins music synchronized to…
The Mother Truckers w. Devil’s Hollow
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2009-01-21 Some bands are simply born in the wrong place. Consider the case of the Mother Truckers. They formed in San Francisco and were ultra-popular with Bay Area music fans. But even when they were a band from San Francisco, they were never truly a “San Francisco band.” Their honky-tonk raunch…
Raw and untarnished
Most of Samurai Sushi’s catches are keepers
Sandra Cisneros
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2009-01-21 Renowned Chicana author Sandra Cisneros takes the podium once again at Our Lady of the Lake University, this time presenting a free public lecture titled “Tell Me a Story Even If It’s a Lie.” Cisneros has been a longtime friend to OLLU and has embraced the university even more strongly…
The Crying Light
The Crying Light Composer: Antony & the Johnsons Conductor: Antony & the Johnsons Label: Secretly Canadian Release Date: 2009-01-21 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Bad news for those Antony Hegarty converts indoctrinated by his hauntingly sexy guest vocals on last year’s hipster dance party Hercules and Love Affair. The androgynous angelic quality still abounds in his…
On Screen at Artpace: Guillermina Zabala
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2009-01-21 Guillermina Zabala, whose video installation “State of Disunion” at UTSA Satellite Space conveys political theater through powerful, Noh-style choreography `see “Girls on film,” January 7, 2009`, is the latest artist-curator of the Onscreen at Artpace film series. On January 22 she’ll screen Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour (1960), a love…
Blood Bank EP
Blood Bank EP Composer: Bon Iver Conductor: Bon Iver Label: Jagjaguwar Release Date: 2009-01-21 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording To be honest, I only moderately enjoyed For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver’s 2007 debut with the too-good-to-be-possible back story that for some reason made nearly every critic’s best of 2008 list. Justin Vernon’s vocals are beautiful,…
A Promise to the Dead (Canada)
Release Date: 2009-01-21 An exploration of exile, memory, and justice as Ariel Dorfman, former cultural advisor to Chilean president Salvador Allende, travels to Chile in the dying days of Augusto Pinochet. One of the top ten films of 2007, as selected by the Toronto International Film Festival Group. Talkback leader: Professor Viviana Rojas, dept. of…
Fantasy Black Channel
Fantasy Black Channel Composer: Late of the Pier Conductor: Late of the Pier Label: Astralwerks Release Date: 2009-01-21 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Last year’s Echoclistel Lambietroy EP introduced this English quartet as noise-loving, racket-making hooligans with 40 years of rock-’n’-roll history in their arsenal. Late of the Pier’s weapon of choice on their full-length debut…
Irish/Chicano
Release Date: 2009-01-21 Irish/Chicano returns to the Jump-Start stage as a staged reading with new material and an original score by Los Crawdaddies. Set during the Mexican/American War, the play is the true tale of the San Patricio Battalion, a predominantly Irish group who had immigrated to America, but was met with religious persecution and…
Maestro
Maestro Composer: Taj Mahal Conductor: Taj Mahal Label: Heads Up Release Date: 2009-01-21 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Taj Mahal, according to Maestro’s publicity material, “doesn’t just stand at the crossroads. He is the crossroads,” and it is truly hard to think of anyone else who blends as many musical traditions as the 66-year-old bluesman. “Dust…
Cuba libre is just a drink
Che: Parts One and Two Director: Steven Soderbergh Screenwriter: Steven Soderbergh Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Demián Bichir, Santiago Cabrera, Catalina Sandino Moreno Release Date: 2009-01-21 Rated: R Genre: Film Like Byron, the English poet who went off to Greece and perished in the struggle to overthrow tyrants, Ernesto “Che” Guevara is a prototype of the…
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Paul Blart: Mall Cop Director: Steve Carr Screenwriter: Steve Carr Cast: Kevin James, Keir O’Donnell, Raini Rodriguez, Adhir Kalyan, Jayma Mays Release Date: 2009-01-21 Rated: PG Genre: Film Ultra-low expectations are crucial to even mildly enjoying this movie, so here’s some extra fuel for the Blart-hate bandwagon. Mall Cop not only stars bumbling sad sack…
Pre-siesta time
Release Date: 2009-01-21 I’ve always enjoyed El Mirador’s food — conscientiously prepared and delivered — and they’ve now expanded their restaurant to include a lounge, also conscientiously prepared and delivered. It extends the Caribbean feel of the restaurant — builds on it. From the brilliant green and fuchsia of the bougainvillea that lines the orange…
The Band of Heathens
Release Date: 2009-01-21 2008 was a big year for the Band of Heathens — after releasing their eponymous studio debut last spring, the Austin quintet jumped into extensive touring and has subsequently been approached by some of the top names in alt-country. The group made their first trip overseas in December, played amid the best…
The Action Design (Agent M of Tsunami Bomb), Killola, Of My Redemption, Uptown Creepers, & Say Revenge
Release Date: 2009-01-21 Named one of Alternative Press’s “100 Bands To Watch” in 2008, The Action Design delivers fresh, melodic, indie-rock that makes for a veritable dance party. Formed after the abrupt dissolution of Petaluma, CA, pop-punk outfit Tsunami Bomb, the quartet is fronted by spunky vocalist Emily Whitehurst — she’s not really Agent M…
Irish/Chicano
Release Date: 2009-01-21 Irish/Chicano returns to the Jump-Start stage as a staged reading with new material and an original score by Los Crawdaddies. Set during the Mexican/American War, the play is the true tale of the San Patricio Battalion, a predominantly Irish group who had immigrated to America, but was met with religious persecution and…
SAMA Soiree: Night of the Red Dragon
Release Date: 2009-01-21 SAMA Soiree packed in so many young professionals during its October incarnation, Party on the Nile, that the Musuem decided to extend the arty networking shindig into a quarterly themed event. This installation, Night of the Red Dragon, celebrates the Year of the Ox with hors d’oeuvre, drinks, fortune-telling, music, and a…
Second life
I’m not big on resolutions, but when I found myself alone with my credit-card statements a few days into the New Year, I realized it was time to usher in a New Austerity Plan. I will stop hemorrhaging money. I will not shop anywhere except the supermarket. When at the supermarket, I will give wide…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In The Devil’s Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce defines history as follows: “an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.” Bear that in mind as you interpret what I mean by the following: You won’t make history in the coming weeks.…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Mi hermano y yo tenemos un dispute. We all know that Mexicans love their bistec sliced muy thin, but why? My brother is adamant that the diet of free-range vacas mexicanas results in tough meat, necessitating a thin slice for easy mastication. I think the reason is purely an economic one, since Mexicans…
Amuse-BOUCHE
Ever since it opened nearly a decade ago, Bolivian-born Gonzalo Pozo’s restaurant at Pershing and Broadway has been a favorite for tasty, reasonably priced regional Mexican food. You could count on wonderful pibil, chicken mole, and other specialities prepared by Gonzalo’s Mexican wife. Tortillas were always hot, chips fresh, and service friendly. The margaritas were generous pours. For whatever…
Dear Uncle Mat
I am in a rut. I finished school about a year and half ago. I have a job and a decent apartment. I am single, but don’t really care about that since I don’t feel lonely. I do, however, feel dissatisfied. I don’t really love my job, but I think it is too early to…
Nobunny loves us
My friend Ben called me up in the morning (read: afternoon) to tell me we’d missed what was undoubtedly a fantastic show in Austin the night prior, headlined by one Nobunny. You may or may not be familiar with this artist. Nobunny plays what amounts to the mutant child of the Ramones, the New York…
THE SOUND & THE FURY
Last week’s announcement of the 2009 SXSW band roster included highly familiar San Antonio names such as Mojoe, Question, Boxcar Satan, The Krayolas, Mitch Webb & the Swindles, and DJ Jester the Filipino Fist. It also featured emerging artists such as the roots-rocking Hacienda, hardcore machine Bitter End, and Chicano punks De Los Muertos. At…
Bombasta
There’s a place you can go, in San Antonio, in 2009, where you can hear Spanglish rap spat over congas and saxophones. Where every song still concludes with a big-rock ending and every instrument gets a solo, with the musician’s name, naturally, announced mid-noodle to an applauding crowd. Where a straight-faced singer can still instruct…
“Pieces and Pieces and Pieces and Pieces” — Sohns
At first all that screaming in “”Pieces, et al.” sounds violent. Some of the lines shrieked (think Sam Kinison moments after being forcibly castrato-ed sans anasthesia) over the incongruously laid-back guitar pulse sound more than menacing. Is that a “die motherfucker”? A “six six six”? But a quick review of the lyrics posted on the…
S’Nuff film
Local filmmaker Laura Varela’s As Long as I Remember: American Veteranos begins with this statistic: 20 percent of the casualties in the Vietnam War were Latino, even though they made up only 10 percent of the general population at the time. And in Hollywood’s version of the war, the film doesn’t say, they get virtually…
Why we still love Che
Those who are weak don’t fight. Those who are stronger might fight for an hour. Those who are stronger still might fight for many years. The strongest fight their whole life. They are the indispensable ones. — Bertolt Brecht `Spoiler alert for those living in a jar: this column will reveal the fate of the…
Ring master
Toe to toe with Mickey Rourke at center ring, director Darren Aronofsky fired off a list of demands that the actor would have to follow if he wished to return to leading-man status after 15 years of semi-obscurity. The film in question, The Wrestler, is appropriately enough the story of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a…
Cinema Obscura
To be perfectly honest, I don’t really want to tell you anything about Primer — except that you should find a copy, eliminate as many distractions as possible (no phones, internet, pets, babies, etc.) and watch it immediately. I know this sounds paradoxical coming from a column that gives you the scoop on obscure and…
The QueQue
Last known address What makes a house a home? According to the City, a voter-registration card will do. In which case District 2 Council candidate Byron Miller is probably in the clear, despite fellow contender Ron Wright’s call for Miller to withdraw from the race. Wright alleges Miller really lives with his (ex)wife on a…
Dust Mights
Fred Perry knows something about environmental-health issues. For five years he lived near Houston’s Brio Refining Superfund Site, where his wife suffered one of many local miscarriages, and where the entire Southbend subdivision he lived in was eventually razed. He also spent four years selling and servicing respiratory-protection equipment to the hazardous-materials industry. So when…
Take me out to the ballroom
Oh, I learned so many fascinating things by attending the Texas Star Ball Pro-Am Dance Competition this past Sunday afternoon, I could never enumerate them all. For starters, I learned that there are numerous local Marriotts in the downtown area alone, each with its own ersatz personality. In search of the Marriott hosting a ballroom-dance…
ARTIFACTS
A month of deliciously high-brow drama fun gets under way at the McNay this week with a reading Thursday evening of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie, a tight drama of yearning, class conflict, and lust set on the estate of a Swedish Count. Limning the characters will be SA’s newest thespian troupe, the Classic Theatre, whose…
Expressionist with needle
Bettie Ward’s large-scale, collaborative threaded drawings are the star of her Blue Star retrospective, which opens this week, and rightfully so. While her abstract paintings are assured and accomplished, they’ve never been adventurous enough for my taste (it’s all too easy to imagine them hanging in the drawing room of a moneyed but conservative ranch…
