It’s raining art
While rain poured on our First Thursday (and First Friday) experiences last week, we managed to dry off and check out some of the galleries down in Blue Star, here’s a glimpse of what you missed. PS. Don’t worry. Contemporary Art Month has barely begun, plan your month accordingly and check out the comprehensive schedule…
It’s raining art
While rain poured on our First Thursday (and First Friday) experiences last week, we managed to dry off and check out some of the galleries down in Blue Star, here’s a glimpse of what you missed. PS. Don’t worry. Contemporary Art Month has barely begun, plan your month accordingly and check out the comprehensive schedule or…
Opening today: The Children of Huang Shi
For all of its gorgeous production values, The Children of Huang Shi is held back by the stiff performance of its leading man Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tutors). His one-note, sort of upbeat, idealist portrayal of George Hogg, an English journalist who led tens of children out of Huang Shi to safety, only makes sense…
Opening today: The Children of Huang Shi
For all of its gorgeous production values, The Children of Huang Shi is held back by the stiff performance of its leading man Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tutors). His one-note, sort of upbeat, idealist portrayal of George Hogg, an English journalist who led tens of children out of Huang Shi to safety, only makes sense…
PERF-RATED
The race to the bottom has begun. The delayed release of the requested study of the San Antonio Police Department’s use-of-force policies and procedures was posted on the City’s website today. Now the anti-authoritarian hordes are diligently chewing their way to the bottom of the 98-page document. (To wash it down, we have the SAPD’s…
On the Street
“We Are What We Are” Letters (to the On the Street Penthouse Suite) #1 Viking Rollcall (sin permiso) Mark, I just moved here from Hollywood, currently live in King William, and just read your Farmers-Market Proposal. I too have been lamenting the lack of freash, convenient produce downtown. How can I get involved in helping…
A different ‘Vista’
As I entered C-Art Studio, I was greeted by Richard Martinez, who was downing a cold brew on the porch. Martinez and Ricky Armendariz’s show Hybrid Vistas: Two South Texas Painters, officially kicked off my CAM reviewing season last night. Armendariz and Martinez, both professors at the University of Texas at San…
The real Odd Couple
We must be in some sort of theatrical bizarro-world when Broadway Across America announces an innovative, exciting season — and the Vexler does exactly the opposite. Yes, the same company that brought us last season’s The Rimers of Eldritch and Metamorphoses turns back the clock for some truly retrograde programming. The Vexler starts off with…
Climate Heroes
Climate Protection Award winners have been announced and Texas is deep in the mix, with both Austin Energy and former Dallas mayor Laura Miller receiving recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There is a lot of Deep Green Think happening in and around San Antonio’s City Hall these days. Will 2009’s climate awards find…
PERF-RATED
The race to the bottom has begun. The delayed release of the requested study of the San Antonio Police Department’s use-of-force policies and procedures was posted on the City’s website today. Now the anti-authoritarian hordes are diligently chewing their way to the bottom of the 98-page document. (To wash it down, we have the SAPD’s…
On the Street
“We Are What We Are” Letters (to the On the Street Penthouse Suite) #1 Viking Rollcall (sin permiso) Mark, I just moved here from Hollywood, currently live in King William, and just read your Farmers-Market Proposal. I too have been lamenting the lack of freash, convenient produce downtown. How can I get involved in helping…
A different ‘Vista’
As I entered C-Art Studio, I was greeted by Richard Martinez, who was downing a cold brew on the porch. Martinez and Ricky Armendariz’s show Hybrid Vistas: Two South Texas Painters, officially kicked off my CAM reviewing season last night. Armendariz and Martinez, both professors at the University of Texas at San Antonio, joined forces…
The real Odd Couple
We must be in some sort of theatrical bizarro-world when Broadway Across America announces an innovative, exciting season — and the Vexler does exactly the opposite. Yes, the same company that brought us last season’s The Rimers of Eldritch and Metamorphoses turns back the clock for some truly retrograde programming. The Vexler starts off with…
Climate Heroes
Climate Protection Award winners have been announced and Texas is deep in the mix, with both Austin Energy and former Dallas mayor Laura Miller receiving recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There is a lot of Deep Green Think happening in and around San Antonio’s City Hall these days. Will 2009’s climate awards find…
Seeing Sounds
Seeing Sounds Composer: N.E.R.D. Conductor: N.E.R.D. Label: Star Trak/Interscope Release Date: 2008-07-02 Rated: NONE Media: CD Length: LP Format: Album Genre: R & B Five years ago, Pharrell Williams was the go-to man for any pop musician seeking hipness-by-association. The Neptunes, his production team with Chad Hugo, created seven tracks for Justin Timberlake’s massive debut…
@#%&*!Smilers
@#%&*!Smilers Composer: Aimee Mann Conductor: Aimee Mann Label: SuperEgo Release Date: 2008-07-02 Rated: NONE Media: CD Length: LP Format: Album Genre: Singer/Songwriter (Rock/Pop) With her sixth studio album, @#%&*! Smilers, Aimee Mann tries to liven up her increasingly predictable music by stretching herself vocally and abandoning almost all guitars in favor of keyboards (pianos, Wurlitzers,…
Reprise
Reprise Director: Joachim Trier Screenwriter: Joachim Trier Cast: Espen-Klouman Holner, Anders Danielsen Lie Release Date: 2008-07-02 Website: http://www.reprise-themovie.com/ Rated: R Genre: Foreign At the beginning of director Joachim Trier’s quick-witted but slow-moving Reprise, two young Norwegian novelists, Erik (Espen Klouman-Høiner) and Phillip (Anders Danielsen Lie), meet at a post-office box to submit their manuscripts. In…
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Director: Patricia Rozema Screenwriter: Patricia Rozema Cast: Abigail Breslin, Willow Smith, Julia Ormond, Jane Krakowski Release Date: 2008-07-02 Website: http://www.americangirl.com/movie/ Rated: G Genre: Children Slated to open alongside the likes of Hancock (on Will Smith’s self-proclaimed “Big Willy Weekend”), Kit Kittredge: An American Girl proposes to challenge that big box-office…
The Heroine Tour Kickoff w. The Conflict, Pop Pistol, & more
Release Date: 2008-07-02 San Antonio indie rock troupe The Heroine hits the road with a tour kick off show that doubles as a birthday party for lead singer Isaac Benavidez. The band heads to the Midwest for two weeks and will be playing shows in and around the Chicago area in support of their latest…
Kevin Max, Chris Taylor, Tim Phillips, Chris Cruz
Release Date: 2008-07-02 The former front man of DC Talk, Kevin Max headlines Cigar Club’s Fourth of July Kick-Off Bash. Max is supporting his third solo album, The Blood, which is reminiscent of the soulful gospel music of the south, but still bears the blues influences of Max’s rock background. Max is joined by San…
Powderburn, Our Envy, The Farewell Memory, Stimple, Co-Lab, & Nimbus
Release Date: 2008-07-02 A respected band in both the SA and Austin underground metal scenes, Powderburn is set to rip up a headlining slot at the White Rabbit just over a month after they opened for Hatebreed and Otep on the Jägermeister Music Tour. They’re a heavy-hitting, technical band backed by talent — their versatility…
Willie Nelson’s Family Picnic w. Merle Haggard, Pat Green, Ray Price, Los Lonely Boys, Asleep at the Wheel, & more
Release Date: 2008-07-02 Outlaw country fave Willie Nelson gathers up a gang of friends and ventures down to Verizon for a huge Independence Day celebration. Fellow country music legends Merle Haggard and Ray Price will be joining Shotgun Willie on the Selma stage, as will Texas Country icon Pat Green, Tex-Mex rockers Los Lonely Boys,…
Third Eye, Goodnight Goddess, & Nancy Silva Project
Release Date: 2008-07-02 What happens when you pair the androgynous vocals of Circa Survive and the musical backing of Cobra Starship? You get the body moving, head-bopping, I-can-still-rock-out-to-this sound of Austin natives Goodnight Goddess in a live show that promises flailing limbs and gyrating hips. Opening for Third Eye, a live tribute to Tool, with…
Gay Pride San Antonio Block Party & Parade
Release Date: 2008-07-02 Celebrate with the finest members of our GLBT community to close out Gay Pride Month. The parade & block party intends to kick you out of your seat despite that Fourth of July hangover and make you flaunt your stuff in the patriotic pride-themed event. Run in the Queens’ High-Heel Race —…
Warped Tour Afterparty w. Culture Shock Camp, Dante, LOTUS TRiBE, & more
Release Date: 2008-07-02 If you haven’t had enough after rocking out in the blazing heat of Verizon’s parking lot, head out to Blue Bubble Ballroom. SA hip-hop collective Lotus Tribe brings their unique rhyme structures and jazz-filled beats to the Skull Candy Warped Tour stage during the day, then teams up with Cali’s Culture Shock…
Olmos Italian
True love and indifference meet at Valentino’s
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Here’s the first rule of panning for gold: Go to a slow-moving stream where flecks of the precious metal have been found by others in the past. The second rule is this: Although gold is carried along by the current, it’s heavier than water and thus rarely appears right on the…
Opera buff
David O’Dell was named executive director of the San Antonio Opera in late May, and as the opera’s first executive director in its 11-year history, he is still growing accustomed to a job that, until recently, did not exist. O’Dell talked to the Current a week into his newfound role on topics ranging from his…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Whenever I have an immigration debate with my Chicano hermanos who support open borders and get angry at any type of immigration control, they don’t seem to understand the basic laws of economics, such as the fact that migrant workers who pick fruit, work in construction, and do other blue-collar jobs can never…
‘Season of Love’ ends in woe
The San Antonio Opera’s Season of Love wrapped up under close watch as the curtain fell for the last time before David O’Dell takes over as executive director. For Friday night’s finale, the Opera chose an established and ambitious production, Giacomo Puccini’s emotional rollercoaster, Tosca. Cast and crew hit home runs on every count (the…
Clothes-minded
As you may remember from last week’s column, we’re kicking off a two-month moratorium on new fashion acquisitions via the Wardrobe Refashion Challenge. For eight weeks, I’ve sworn that all additions to my closet will be recycled, rejuventated, handmade, or thrifted. I hope in the name of the economy and the environment, some of you…
First Friday fallout
During June’s First Friday, Current contributing photographer Justin Parr and I were on a mission — to spot the notorious peeing dude who leaves his mark during post-First Friday festivities. We wanted to capture him flagrante delicto for this story, so we waited at the corner of East Johnson and Madison … and waited. As we were…
Amuse-BOUCHE
Amuse-Bouche was putting the final touches on a column about the changing landscape of food journalism — i.e., Will stories that recognize economic realities begin to take precedence over articles that sing the virtues of $100 balsamic vinegar and five-star restaurants? — when our editor forwarded us a press release about the aphrodisiacal qualities of…
Summer re-runs
May(or)berry Queque got an invitation (OK, it was secondhand; we’re not proud) for a fundraising breakfast at the Barn Door for the mayoral candidacy of defense contractor and Dominion homesteader Fernando Reyes. While the Old SA staple is awaiting a recessionary post-Del Frisco’s renaissance, the restaurant’s name certainly invokes Texas, beef, and money — and…
Berry me now
Whoever coined the idiom “as easy as pie” probably never made one. Or if he or she did, the dirty cheater used one of those detestable, pre-made crusts and filled it with 19th-century instant pudding. Or `shudder` … bought one. Clearly, the coiner never experienced the pain of shrinking meringue, the agony of overworked dough,…
AARP-sponsored employee charges McNay with discrimination
“Excuse me, do white legs suffer more pain than brown legs?” is the central phrase in an EEOC complaint filed June 27 against the McNay Art Museum for wrongful termination. Former Security Guard Gloria Vasquez, a Native American of Mexican descent, says she uttered those words in frustration after being denied a stool to sit on, while another…
The Genius of Leonardo: Machines in Motion
Making its United States debut at the Witte Museum, this exhibit takes visitors into the magical world of Leonardo Da Vinci’s mastermind machines, built from his original drawings. The exhibition is a spectacle in which knowledge and entertainment are entwined. Like a theatrical performance, the materials artfully take on a life of their own. Sound,…
Warped speed
If, as some suggest, punk is the 20th century urban blues, it’s because it speaks a universal language of disaffection and frustration while preaching hope, solidarity, and resilience. When you think about it, “We Shall Overcome” isn’t so far from “World Up My Ass,” even if much of that original anger has been diluted and…
Big Brother’s cool sibling
Texas Representative Charlie Gonzalez stuck to his promise to oppose the FISA reform legislation that the House passed last week if it contained a retroactive immunity provision to protect the telecoms (including SA ex-squeeze AT&T) suspected of aiding the Bush Administration in its illegal post-9/11 warrantless wiretapping program. The Senate failed to approve the House…
THE SOUND & THE FURY
Local hip-hop collective Lotus Tribe will perform this week on the Van’s Warped Tour for the second time, anchoring the alt-rock festival’s Skull Candy/Code of the Cutz Hip Hop Stage on Saturday, July 5 at Verizon Wireless (they’ll also participate in the Dallas show two nights earlier). Those who can’t make it to Selma would…
National Bio- & Agro-Defense Facility Foot-and-Mouth Disease Tour 2008!
The Texas Research Park Site in San Antonio, Texas, extends over the Bexar County line into a portion of Medina County. The 100.1-acre site is located west of Lambda Drive, south of the proposed extension of Omicron Drive, and is currently vacant, undeveloped land covered in dense vegetation comprised of trees, shrubs, and tall prairie…
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Journey to the Center of the Earth Tuesday, July 08th 7:00pm at Regal Cielo Vista 18 2828 Cinema Ridge Pick up your tickets at the San Antonio Current Mon.-Fri. between 8:30am-5:30pm
The strange world of Gary Wilson
You Think You Really Know Me: The Story of Gary Wilson (Plexifilm) When I first heard You Think You Really Know Me, the rescued-from-oblivion record by Gary Wilson, I thought it must be the work of some New York downtown hipster who palled around with Arto Lindsay, lived in a ratty loft, and eventually got…
Failing grade for border wall
It’s a strange time to be alive. We lobby aggressively for a federal germ lab that the Feds themselves say would pose less risk if it were kept on the other side of the country. We practically build ourselves out of our own economy by threatening the military with encroaching suburbs that gas prices will…
Space Chimps
Saturday, July 12th 10:00am at Santikos Silverado 11505 W Loop 1604@Bandera Rd. Limited amount of tickets available at the San Antonio Current Mon.-Fri. between 8:30am-5:30pm Passes also available Saturday, July 5th at CD Exchange 6900 San Pedro
Playback
My first reaction to hearing Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” on the radio was pure annoyance. Maybe it was the “look at me, I’m so naughty” gimmick at the core of the song, precisely calculated to stir the hormonal activities of teenage boys everywhere. Maybe it was the fact that the song stole a…
How to win friends and inebriate people
So you’re 12, and your plan was just to play in the cul-de-sac with your kid friends (like every other night of the week), but for some reason when you get there, there’s a moon bounce and popsicles, and with your pint-sized pals are their parents. You suspect they’re responsible for all the yums and…
Ain’t no mountain high enough
They’re climbing mountains, but they might as well be moving them. As you are reading this, the 10-member climbing team known as “The Regulars” is scaling 11,239 feet to the summit of Mt. Hood, the highest peak in the state of Oregon. This is the third of 10 mountains in a campaign to raise awareness…
Blooming gardens invade concrete jungle
If the Vision of St. John, that Book-concluding acid test crowded by multi-eyed beasts, oceans of blood, and a Lamb with a crown of horns, scared you away from the Holy Church, perhaps the vision of July Moreno de Lopez will draw you back again. The tomato-popping executive director of the Basilica of the Little…
CRITICAL Darling
Stepping in for a vacationing Critical Darling this week, is — a sweetheart in his own right — the CineSnob, who just returned home from a screening of local filmmaker Brett Mauser’s independent film The Innocent Killers at the Alamo Drafthouse. Innocent Killers is the first of 10 films that will make up the Innocence…
Rise of the recessionista
I didn’t see the Sex and the City movie, not having been a huge fan of the television show. But more than that, the whole premise — the hyper-exaggerated glam of Manhattan’s Manolo and Vogue obsessed — just seemed so dated. Who lives like that anymore? Who consumes that way? The fashionista has been replaced…
Love to Hate
 
Landa of beer and brisket
In venturing out to Landa Park on a few occasions since the summer season unofficially kicked off over Memorial Day weekend, it’s rather apparent that park officials are not lost on the notion that San Antonio ranks among the cheapest — and, yet, most good-timing — cities in the nation. How else can one explain…
The new privacy
It’s shocking how quickly we’ve all gotten used to the idea that the government can and will listen in on everything we say on our telephones, as well as everything we do on the internet. Case in point: The FISA Amendments Act passed in the House last week, and is predicted to pass the Senate…
Failing grade for border wall
It’s a strange time to be alive. We lobby aggressively for a federal germ lab that the Feds themselves say would pose less risk if it were kept on the other side of the country. We practically build ourselves out of our own economy by threatening the military with encroaching suburbs that gas prices will…
Deep chill
No matter how many summers you’ve spent in South Texas, you’ll never tire of finding new ways to beat the 100-plus degree heat. Surprisingly enough, Texas is home to more than 2,000 known caves, most of which are located in the limestone and gypsum rich areas of central and west Texas. Though Natural Bridge Caverns…
The morning after
Every once in a while a work pops up out of the depths of the art world and sweeps through mass-media channels, shocking and mystifying a general public unaware of the arcane value system possessed by artists. In 1971, Chris Burden had an assistant shoot him in the arm in a gallery space. In 1989…
The Current-approved Summer Reading List
Untitled Document Fiction Gods Behaving Badly Marie Phillips A jokey mash-up of classical myth and chick-lit, Gods Behaving Badly details the shenanigans of Apollo and Cupid as they rearrange the sex lives of mortals in modern London. More giggles than Gilgamesh, and the quickest of summer reads. — TJ The Waitress Was New…
ARTIFACTS
Not only has the personal-invitation renaissance completely jumped the tracks, creating a slew of unsolicited obligations and an infinite number of ways to slight people you barely know (thanks effin’ eVite), but the registry, once reserved for brides ’n’ grooms (grooms ’n’ grooms, etc.), has also been commandeered by etiquette-indifferent heathens for everything from high-school…
Dear Uncle Mat
In 2005 an art patron saw a piece of mine that was in a show in Houston, and decided to buy it. He kept in touch, I’d see him at different art openings in the city, and he’d invite me to parties he had at his place (very NICE, and my piece is still very…
CAM 2008: ‘Playing With Time’ at Blue Star
The challenge in presenting a group show of (mostly) established local artists in this gallery-rich town is finding a theme or perspective that makes well-known work newly exciting — achieving the equivalent of a makeover or a getaway vacation for a couple with the seven-year itch. San Antonio Museum of Art curator David Rubin succeeds…
Plum Site
“We continue to stand firmly opposed to placing a BSL-4 facility on Plum Island due to its close proximity to major metropolitan areas.” U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and U.S. Representative Tim Bishop, regarding the possible expansion of anti-bio-terror research off Long Island. `Plum Island Animal Disease Center, 107 miles from New York City` One year…
Plum Site
“We continue to stand firmly opposed to placing a BSL-4 facility on Plum Island due to its close proximity to major metropolitan areas.” U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and U.S. Representative Tim Bishop, regarding the possible expansion of anti-bio-terror research off Long Island. `Plum Island Animal Disease Center, 107 miles from New York City` One year…
