Study: Talent of young, dead celebrities rapidly declining
BOSTON, Mass. – Researchers at the Institute of Pop Culture released a study this week showing that the quality of celebrities dying young have diminished year after year since a peak of such deaths 40 years ago. “We’ve been studying this phenomenon for a long time, charting the quality of the dead, young and famous,”…
Backyard Teatro Fundraiser tonight
Not sure what to do this Monday night? How about backyard theater? Celebrate Marisela Barrera’s acceptance to La Pocha Nostra’s Summer Performance Art Institute in San Francisco under the esteemed mentorship of internationally-acclaimed Guillermo Gomez-Pena. Tons of entertainment, but this is backyard theater–please bring a chair to sit on and your favorite beverage and comida. Your…
The festival that needs no help?
I confess: I have been spoiled. After enriching, inspiring experiences covering the French Film Festival, the Jewish Film Festival, and CineFestival, all held in SA, I was expecting that when the time came I’d have everything I needed to do a proper preview of the San Antonio Film Festival — my mistake. I should not…
Gardening as a form of political protest in San Antonio
Four years ago, there was nothing more than an empty lot behind the buildings at 1416 East Commerce and a convenient spot for illegal drug use and prostitution; an open plot of land just begging for use and purpose and transformation. In 2007, the land’s potential was realized when the Southwest Worker’s Union (SWU), an…
Amy Winehouse and RIP Tweets
“When a celebrity dies the whole Internet turns into a battleground of one-up-man-ship” via @jsmooth995
Amy Winehouse, 27, found dead in London
British police informed retro soul singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her home in London. As of this posting, the cause of her death is still unknown.
Marvels newest superhero movie wins with old-fashioned action and heart
As much as Captain America: The First Avenger wants to look like old fashioned cinema, complete with a clean-cut, “aw shucks” hero going up against a dastardly villain, it eventually proves to be far from the traditional movies it emulates. Most films have a beginning, a middle, and an end (what screenwriters will sometimes refer…
4 to Know review here, closes tomorrow at David Shelton Gallery
Gallerist David Shelton is taking chances. He has moved his gallery from the affluent northern suburbs to Southtown. His first public show, “Up and Coming: 4 to Know,” features Megan Harrison (seen at the McNay in “San Antonio Draws”) and newcomers Gabe Bernal, Nicholas Hay, and Corbin Spring. Now, Shelton usually promotes mid-career artists who…
Reading getaways: ‘Book’ your Book Getaway now
Summer comes and our minds turn to escape: sand, surf, and siestas; long, winding hiking trails, granola bars, and communing with nature; wine, tasty choice bits, and leisurely walks. I could devise different vacation plans all day long. Some vacationers are water babies while others prefer fecund forests and still others may be drawn to…
“Las Flores y El Juego” by Nevolena Pena
Some things in life are harder than they need to be. Relationships can be like that. We are nothing if not insecure, jealous and bad tempered (if we’re lucky) and when you put two of us together there are bound to be rough spots. This story shows that it’s not necessarily something we outgrow. How…
San Antonio’s very haunted downtown
Disembodied whispers and phantom footsteps, doors open and close by themselves, the lights flicker as a ghostly apparition appears… With a rich history that spans over three centuries, it should come as no surprise that San Antonio ranks as one of the most haunted cities in the United States, and the downtown area hosts the…
Obama’s Twitter town hall, Google+, and municipal Facebook pages
Ugh. How long has it been since I posted anything? The church of blogging makes me feel guilty sometimes. Last week I intended to blog about Obama’s Twitter town hall meeting. Then my attention shifted to the launch of Google+. After losing interest I moved over to a somewhat enthralling conversation with District 1 Councilman…
TXDMV Approves San Antonio Spurs License Plate
Eighty-two days ago, the San Antonio Spurs (prematurely) began their offseason, dismissed in six games by the upstart Memphis Grizzlies. Still hurting? Starving for basketball? Worried the NBA lockout will lead to the cancellation of some, even worse, all of the 2011 – 2012 regular season? MyPlates wants to help. The Texas Department of…
Radiohead’s “From the Basement” special, this Saturday on Palladia
Check your local listings for times, but you are warned: Radiohead’s intimate live-in-studio performance Radiohead: The King of Limbs–From The Basement, filmed for BBC Television, will premiere this Saturday on Palladia and seven days later it will re-run on MTV2. No host, no audience: just Radiohead performing The King Of Limbs material for the first…
Will efforts to revitalize the city core draw locals back or simply extend the Disneyfication of the River Walk?
Justin Arecchi remembers brainstorming with local developers and pioneers like Hap Veltman and downtown jazz staple Jim Cullum for hours at a stretch at the long-since shuttered Kangaroo Court restaurant and bar along the River Walk. A popular topic was how to make downtown world-class, a vibrant place for locals to live, work, and play.…
If life is making you lonely, pop into one — or all — of these inviting sipping spots
As a college student in New York, my first job was at the Penny Whistle, a high-end toy store in SoHo. Something I’d read while researching Andy Warhol lingered in my head a lot in those days — “Success is a job in New York.” Warhol fans might know this as the title of an…
Mila and Justin go (almost) bare in a movie that does too
After three sequels, two green comic book heroes, and a whole bunch of penguins, Hollywood’s rounding out its summer releases with director Will Gluck’s romantic comedy Friends with Benefits. It’s essentially a reimagining of When Harry Met Sally… and, y’know, every other romantic comedy ever made, but its witty dialogue and cameos keep the proceedings…
Fast Foodie: Meat Market Barbecue
Downtown barbecue is a suspicious concept. Where, we ask, is there a place for a proper, smoke-belching pit, a prodigious pile of oak, or other acceptable fuel? The good folks at Meat Market Barbecue, recently installed in a handsome historic building just off Main Plaza (and right across from a Bill Miller’s outlet, most of…
Our critic’s take on Queen’s re-mastered first five albums
On May 17, and as part of Queen’s 40th anniversary, Hollywood Records reissued the band’s entire 15-disc catalogue. Along with a remastering from the original source material by legendary American engineer Bob Ludwig, a bonus disc with bootlegs, rarities, and live tracks aplenty is included with each album to keep diehard fans salivating. While original…
The QueQue: Children’s climate crusade, Intelligent design on the march, Principals are the real school bullies?, A lot of frackin’ water
Children’s climate crusade Commissioners with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality uniformly (3-0) rejected a petition by a (adult-aided) children’s movement calling on the state to take action on climate change, but watch for an appeal to hit this week. The petition led by Kids vs. Global Warming, founded by a 12-year-old Californian, and Our…
Tastes of tongue, intestine, and ear prove city has Imperial fare to fawn for
Sliced pig’s ear in hot chili oil? Bring it on. Duck tongues showered in jalapeños? Can’t get enough. Crispy pork intestine with dried pepper? Where have you been all my life? Chinese cuisine is one of the world’s greats, right up there with French. But you wouldn’t know that from the selection in San Antonio.…
Rochefort’s Texas return
For lovers of Belgian ales, particularly those rare sippers from the Trappist monk-run breweries of Belgium and the Netherlands, the rumors of Rochefort 8 and 10 returning to shelves and bars in Texas is good news. There is no word on just when this abbey-made beer will arrive, but the U.S. importer of Rochefort, Merchant…
Hyperbubble’s silent, invisible movie coming to a radio near you
Why be a slave on the road when you can be Hyperbubble instead? The electronic duo of Jeff and Jess DeCuir records when they want to, and don’t feel the pressure to support their albums with grueling tours. When they work, they do it on their own terms and at their own pace. Both Jeff…
New venue for local musicians, Country Mice at Limelight, and Low Fi at The Raven
Attention bands and songwriters: There is a new venue in town willing to let you show us what you have. OK, the venue is not new, but the opportunity is. The IAMA Coffee House (located at 1627 Broadway and owned by the International Academy of Music and the Arts) opened last November and is the…
Sepultura: Kairos
If you know of Sepultura, it’s probably for their fast, angry, and decidedly political early-to-mid-’90s output. But that was a different Sepultura, one that featured brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, who left the band in 1996 and 2006, respectively. The rest of the band morphed into the modern, oft-eschewed Sepultura, whose detractors need to get…
Live & Local: Chacho and Brance at Saluté International Bar
Chacho and Brance came out of nowhere to steal a spot in the upcoming Troubadour, TX television series that begins airing in September on the CW network and NBC affiliates. The production, a docu-reality show, will follow the duo, as well as local singer-songwriters Nicolette Good, Little Brave, the Texas Ladybugs, and Stephanie Urbina Jones.…
¡ASK A MEXICAN!
Dear Ask a Wetback: You and your fellow law-breaking wetbacks don’t like Arizona’s SB 1070? Too damn bad. Trot back to Make Sick o and protest there, see where it gets you. If you’d work half as hard cleaning up your dump nation as you do sneaking in here, your nation would be worth staying.…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I dreamed you were in a cake store. Every delicious kind of cake you could imagine was there: carrot cake, strawberry cheesecake, gooey butter cake, rich chocolate cake with four layers of cherries and whipped cream, birthday cakes that must have been baked in paradise. Sadly, there was a problem: You…
Sublime with Rome: Yours Truly
It’s hard to fairly judge Sublime’s first album in 15 years against the records the band put out with the late frontman Brad Nowell. New singer/guitarist Rome Ramirez, a 23-year-old who joined original members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh in 2009, ain’t no Nowell; he lacks the latter’s edge and sense of danger, though is…
Wheatpaste invitation inspires range of results at Guadalupe Gallery
Poster art, often abetted by a healthy addition of stencil work and free-hand painting, has taken over the streets and gained press worldwide — well-known practitioners like Banksy and Shepard Fairey have gained notoriety and wealth. But here on the streets of SA, it’s still mostly a graffiti and old-school mural town. A group show…
Alamo Brewing could lure downtown traffic to the Eastside, if the city cuts a deal
The view from the Hays Street Bridge tells stories for those willing to see them. To the north and west are views of the former Pearl Brewery with its 120-year-old castle-like tower and the original Lone Star Brewery. Those historical locales tell the tale of a once-proud industry that put San Antonio on the map…
GO TEXAN Restaurant Round-Up
Restaurants across the state will be participating in the GO TEXAN Restaurant Round-Up next week, July 25-31, when a portion of participating eateries will donate a portion of their proceeds from this week to local food banks. Local restaurants participating include Auden’s Kitchen, Bistro Vatel, Cappy’s, La Gloria, Los Barrios, Lüke, Tre Trattoria, Vela, and…
![Josie Faz, the First Lady of Chicano film [1948-2011]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sacurrent.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/1177394.webp?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1)
Josie Faz, the First Lady of Chicano film [1948-2011]
It’s never too late to recognize a pioneer. On July 4, Josie Faz (co-star, camera woman, and executive producer of some of Efráin Gutiérrez’s films) passed away of heart failure in her home in San Antonio. “She was a true pioneer, and she should be acknowledged as such,” Mirasol Riojas, a UCLA Ph.D candidate writing…
Hyperbubble: Drastic Cinematic
Hyperbubble’s fourth release is a creative U-turn from 2010’s Candy Apple Daydreams. It veers away from pop structure, instead venturing into concept-album territory (and San Antonio will not produce another album as thoroughly imagined as this one in 2011). But the electro pop duo of Jess (vocals, keys, percussion) and Jeff DeCuir (vocals, sequencers, synths)…
In pursuit of a ‘better’ city, less tangible values become paramount
What makes a city great? Travel magazines thrive on tourist recommendations that puncture popular myths about seemingly familiar places. In San Antonio’s rapid transformation across a number of sectors, today’s mapmakers can be excused for mostly missing the boat. In a way, we’re victims of our own marketing. “San Antonio has the reputation of a…
The Apoca-List
AKA The “We’re Fucked” Index
Out on the Big Ranch and Tito Guízar, the movie and star that changed it all for Mexican cinema
Media folks, including yours truly, are very quick to point out deficiencies and shortcomings of our most prestigious organizations. We’re not nearly as fast with our praise when these same organizations score big time. Such has been the case in film and the Guadalupe, the Alameda, and the McNay Art Museum (to name three), who…
‘The future of music’ — with dozens of bands in tow — promises to wear out local headbangers
The package tour has become a successful way of filling concert venues even during this four-year-long economic dip. In rock, for example, we recently saw a tour featuring Mötley Crüe, Poison, and the New York Dolls for a ticket price that would be exorbitant for a single band but wasn’t unreasonable for all three. Yet…
Critic’s Diss: Zookeeper
Deep inside the ferocious land of Hollywood, gazing around the talent pool like a fat warthog at a watering hole, a stumpy beast hunkers down waiting for a screenplay too weak to defend itself. His eyes dart back and forth as other more agile predators pick off the meatier scripts one by one. Suddenly, the…
Local review of Bad Breaks: KRTU Plugged In Session
There is no escaping the specter that looms over Bad Breaks, the recently re-invigorated project helmed by drummer/songwriter Chuck Kerr (art director for the Current). Bad Breaks sound a helluvalot like Spoon, from the minimalist arrangements and earwormy hooks to Kerr singing like a bassier Elvis Costello. In this "mission statement" release of a single-take…
The Wicked Stage in NYC: Turn off the Spider-man
[The Wicked Stage made a whirlwind tour of NYC over the weekend. Some ruminations below.] I’d normally say “better late than never,” but in the case of Spider-man: Turn off the Dark, I’m not so sure. Originally, I had tickets for a January performance (i.e. during the ill-fated, perilous run of Spider-Man 1.0), but the…
