Brides Against Breast Cancer Tour of Gowns stopping in SA Town
Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to granting wishes and memory-making events for men and women battling stage IV breast cancer, has kicked off its 2011 Brides Against Breast Cancer™ Nationwide Tour of Gowns. The event will be stopping in San Antonio on Saturday, July 16 – Sunday, July 17 at the…
Attention aspiring designers: enter the “Oh So Zoe” contest
Neiman Marcus has announced the launch of the “Oh So Zoe” interactive challenge to coincide with the introduction of the Fall 2011 Rachel Zoe Collection at NeimanMarcus.com. The winner of the challenge will meet Rachel Zoe and Ken Downing, Neiman Marcus Fashion Director at our Los Angeles store, and will receive a $2,500 gift card…
Political Art Month? Sign your event to the online calendar
We’re not sure what Political Art Month is, but it seems to be happening in July. Brainchild of local art gadfly Gene Elder, PAM was marked last year by a special edition of the now seldom published Voices of Arts Magazine and lots of emails. Here’s a message from a recent post: “Homeland…
Photos: SA Pride Parade
Main Avenue exploded with cheers Saturday night as the city’s 7th annual Pride Parade passed hundreds crowded at Crockett Park. Among Saturday’s notable marchers: newly-elected District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal, District 6 Councilman Ray Lopez, State Senator Leticia Van De Putte and 11-year-old gay-rights advocate Will Phillips. – Michael Barajas, mbarajas@sacurrent.com
The Wicked Stage goes to Corpus Christi
My goodness. After a rather quiet year in San Antonio theater, the Cellar’s production of Corpus Christi—a re-imagining of the Christ story with a gay Jesus and his twelve flaming disciplines—has at last provoked the community into talking about theatre as an art form and vehicle for social thought. Predictably, it only took a nanosecond…
Interview with real-life horse whisperer Buck Brannaman
One has to witness the work horse trainer Buck Brannaman does with his animals to appreciate it as an art form. In the documentary Buck, filmmaker Cindy Meehl paints a portrait of Brannaman, who is considered by many in the industry to be a real-life “horse whisperer.” Using techniques in the field of natural horsemanship,…
TipsyTexan joins forces with The Esquire Tavern for Tito’s themed blow-out
It’s only been 3-months since Chris Hill threw open the doors of his newly designed Esquire Tavern. In celebration, he (along with bar manager Jeret Pena and chef Brooke Smith) decided to join forces with TipsyTexan.com blogger David Alan to bring San Antonio native Tito Beveridge (Tito’s Handmade Vodka) back to town. The idea for…
Happy Birthday, Whitley Strieber: denizen of ‘unknown countries’
To most San Antonio residents, the month of June symbolizes blazing heat, family holidays, and an occasional Spurs championship. But, it also represents the birth month of San Antonio native Whitley Strieber, best known as an author of top-selling horror and science fiction novels, as well as non-fiction books that address his alleged experiences with…
Monterey reverses course, drops Brown Coffee after offensive tweet
First Brown Coffee Company owner Aaron Blanco put his bigotry over same-sex marriage on display on Twitter hours after same-sex marriage was legalized in New York state (see “Mea Gulpa” in this week’s QueQue), writing: No human law can ever legitimaze what natural law precludes #SorryFolks #NotEqual #WhyBoth #ChasingAfterTheWind #SelfEvident. Then he utterly bombed on…
First Friday picks: dark, grisly & brightly winsome
Here are a few suggestions for tonight’s art hike: UTSA Satellite Space Black Sites / Black Sounds An ominous dark throbbing tone like a waiting locomotive’s pulse hits you before you enter the gallery, and once inside, continues to tap impatiently at the back of your neck. “Black Sounds,” made by Justin Boyd, is…
Liberate Your Breathing
With This Simple Spinal Twist “Freedom is strangely ephemeral. It is something like breathing; one only becomes acutely aware of its importance when one is choking.” ~William E. Simon In celebration of Independence day, I thought I would share this simple yoga posture (because I realize it’s a holiday and most of you are relaxing) called Jathara…
“Fake Driver’s License” by Julian Ramiro Coronado Villarreal
Introduction Voice encompasses story. And dialogue is one of the best ways to hear a character’s voice. But this dialogue is completely one-sided. You don’t hear the other character because the story suggests that she’s exploited (though not nameless) and therefore inherently silent. But it’s not so bleak. Humor breaks up the story nicely, though…
Lemongrass struggles with identity and high ‘carbon clawprints’
Thai Lemongrass Restaurant 16666 San Pedro (210) 490-3636 The Skinny Thai in search of an identity Best Bets Queen of Duck and green papaya salad Hours 11am-3pm & 4:30-9:30pm Mon-Thu; until 10pm Fri; 11am-10pm Sat; 11am-9pm Sun Prices Lunch entrées: $6.99-$7.99 Dinner entrées: $11.99-$23.99 It’s hard to know exactly what Lemongrass’s…
How will Perry donations pay off for givers like Spurs CEO Holt?
Perry wasn’t made of much when he came into the Governor’s mansion, but through a series of informed business deals he’s built himself up into an honest-to-good connections millionaire. But fatter than his sizable personal bank account is his political treasure box. More than the “evil genius” owner of the soon-to-be national low-level nuke dump…
What’s going on First Friday? Now “there’s an app for that”
Where can you find an interactive google map of First Friday? Any happy hour specials you should know about off South Alamo? Shane Broussard from Ped-ads bring you the MySouthTown app. A free application downloadable to both iPhone and Android handsets. Some of the application features include self-guided walking tours, happy hour specials, and currently…
Potter-Belmar Labs at the McNay tonight only
Check out the San Antonio premier of Potter-Belmar Labs’ production San Antonio Casts a Spell tonight at the McNay, with incantations by local art folk Nina Hassle, Mike Casey, David Shelton, Bettie Ward, Chuck Ramirez, Amy Austin, Ben Judson, and many more. The spells are cast to rain good stuff on SA. PBL artists Leslie Raymond and Jason Jay…
Texas ‘de-funding’ of Planned Parenthood to shutter women’s health centers
An ideological clash at the Capitol this year wreaked havoc on state-funded measures to prevent unplanned pregnancies. While the clear goal was to punish Planned Parenthood, they’re not the only ones who are going to feel the pain. The 2012-2013 state budget effectively guts state family planning money to the tune of some $70 million…
Senior sex: the rise of HIV infections in the 50+ age group
If you are in the age group 50+, you might be thinking your risk of catching HIV/AIDS is relatively low. Well, think again. While this insidious disease did show up first in gay men and intravenous drug users, HIV/AIDS soon spread its ugly tentacles into any and all population groups, including children. Nowadays, statistics show…
A Saytown Gay Theater sampler
The Push Pens: Last Call for Truth The barrio lives of three Chicano compas — a fierce gay R&B singer, a DJ, and a hip-hop MC under the pitch-perfect direction of Steve Bailey. Jump-Start’s next generation of Latino, gay, and straight playwrights — Manuel “Cros” Esquivel, Dino Foxx, and Billy Muñoz — perform this engaging…
Ask a Mexican
Dear Mexican: Just suppose that all of the southwestern United States had remained in Mexican hands. Would the Mexicans have done any better with it than they have with the present confines of Mexico? — Reversible Reconquista? Dear Gabacho: The gran parlour game! If we turned back the clock and changed a couple of…
Ozploitation in the Outback
Australian cinema rarely registers with people as a distinct entity. Does anyone really think of Mel Gibson as being Australian at this point, or is he just a talented and offensive Hollywood madman with extremely bad taste? With that thought in mind, consider the documentary Not Quite Hollywood. It chronicles a moment in Australian cinema…
Bad Teacher
Bad Teacher Dir. Jake Kasdan; writ. Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg; feat. Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake (R) Bad Teacher’s one joke is right there in the title. Cameron Diaz plays Elizabeth Halsey, quite possibly the sluttiest woman to ever lead a seventh-grade classroom. After her fiancé dumps her, Elizabeth tries to snag the nerdy…
Viva La Vegetable
Does San Antonio need more Southwestern cooking? It seems like we’re already pretty saturated. Whether or not we need it is immaterial — we’re inevitably going to get it — but the latest spot at least promises to be a good one. Lauded chef Stephan Pyles of Stephan Pyles Restaurant and Samarin Dallas will be…
On coming out and staying strong in a not-always-welcoming culture
The queer subculture that exists within San Antonio and other heavily concentrated Latino communities maintains itself despite cultural stigmas associated with being gay. The strong sense of familia that penetrates the core of queer Latino life among friends and allies, however, does not always diffuse the inner conflict we grapple with because our sexuality collides…
Esquire brings speakeasy feel back to the River Walk
The Esquire 155 E Commerce (210) 222-2521 esquiretavern-sa.com The Skinny Oldest bar on the River Walk with well-done small plates of bar food and a substantial libations menu. BEST BETS Fried pickles and chili salt fries if you’re looking for a nosh, shrimp poboy and jalapeno bean burger for heavier fare. Hours 11am-late daily PRICES…
Yucca root, market of your choice
A bite of what we’re eating here at the Current
Preteen lightning rod to lead SA’s Gay Pride parade
A simple act of classroom disobedience turned 11-year-old Will Phillips into one of the country’s youngest — and targeted — gay-rights advocates. Two years ago, despite repeated urging from teachers in his West Fork, Ark., fifth-grade classroom, Will refused to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. “There are those parts about ‘liberty and justice…
DVD explores Le Tigre’s informed electro-punk
“Who Took The Bomp?” Le Tigre on Tour Dir. Kerthy Fix; feat. Johanna Fateman, Kathleen Hanna, JD Samson. (NR) Who Took the Bomp? follows feminist electro band Le Tigre (Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman, and gender-bending mustachioed JD Samson, now lead singer of MEN) on their 2004-2005 final tour across four continents and 10…
Shades of Pride
A former nurse from McAllen, Shady Lady entered the world of drag queendom on a dare (one that involved several friends forking over $100 each to witness the transformation). This yellow brick road began at a “titty bar in Brownsville” called Camichín, where Shady emceed for more than 50 dancers, emerged as the club’s main…
An unofficial history of our struggling gay theater scene
Corpus Christi $15-$25 (No one under age 18 admitted.) 8pm Fri-Sat, 2:30pm matinee Sun Special Thursday performances: 8pm June 30 & July 7 Cellar Theater @ San Pedro Playhouse 800 West Ashby (210) 733-7258 sanpedroplayhouse.com Through July 10 “Oh Mary! It takes a fairy to make something pretty!” — Emory in The Boys in the…
Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On: 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition
It’s arguably the finest soul album ever recorded. After a decade as Motown’s premier hit maker, Gaye wanted to tackle themes of urban decay, war, and our mortgaged future. When Motown’s Berry Gordy balked at releasing the titular single (written from the soul-searching perspective of a returning Vietnam vet), Gaye refused to record anything else.…
Yes, Inferno: Yes, Inferno
Yes, Inferno call themselves a progressive instrumental rock band. This is only partially true. Their moody, staccato hard rock is wordless, but it doesn’t take us anywhere the interludes on Minus the Bear’s Highly Refined Pirates haven’t already. However, the band’s debut EP shouldn’t be dismissed as verse/chorus rock with the vocals down and pretensions…
Never A Dull Beer
There is nothing wrong with a basic meat-and-potatoes meal (or black beans and rice, for my vegan friends), but variety makes the world a brighter place, and Texas brewers are doing their part to bring a little light to our corner of the universe. The travels and tastings of this humble correspondent last week brought…
Artist Wesley Harvey on homoeroticism, dinnerware, and bunnies
In the last two years, locally-based ceramic artist Wesley Harvey — who hails from Van Buren, Ind., the “popcorn capital of the world,” and has work in the permanent collections of the Shanghai Museum of Arts & Crafts and the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction — has made a splash by…
Live & Local: Egshan at The Mix
Just an hour after the house lights at The Mix went up and the moderate Thursday night crowd shuffled out, Egshan’s Twitter feed reads: “thankx fo comin out. much luv … thank u all.” The late-night shout-out, grammatical snafus aside, is representative of the band’s spirit — family and friendship are prized at their shows,…
The QueQue, June 29, 2011
Municipal Auditorium work cleared State District Judge Victor Negrón on Tuesday shot down a request to block Bexar County from moving forward with its plan to gut Municipal Auditorium. Plans for the new Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, to be built atop the standing auditorium, would essentially demolish the landmark building, opponents contend. Sharyll…
White Denim: D
With the release of their fifth studio album, Austin’s White Denim has cleaned up its act. Their punk roots have matured with the influence of styles from earlier eras of rock (especially Dark Side of the Moon-era Floyd). The opening track, “It’s Him!” features James Petralli’s dream-like voice over frantic acoustic guitar, bass, and drums,…
Despite targeted challenges, time (and public opinion) is on the side of equality in Texas
At the start of this year’s legislative session, LGBT groups braced themselves for a bumpy ride. With an overwhelming Republican majority in the House and the Senate’s conservative edge, advocates knew prospects weren’t rosy. But despite a few heated battles, one of which nearly derailed a crucial state budget bill, LGBT groups claim the 82nd…
The Apoca-List
AKA The “We’re Fucked” Index
Best of Flash Fiction, June 2011
This is a lovely story about the end of summer and everything that means. The events, as they are told, sound coincidental but are bound up in the very fabric of the environment and season. I think what I enjoy most about this piece is the animated jauntiness, but clarity, of what happens: a story…
Artifacts
There is a lot of performance in SA, and thankfully, not all of it entails sitting down an hour or more. Last Sunday night Justin Parr wrapped up his exhibit “Wait at the Best Destination” with a blow-out barbeque at Sala Diaz, with smoked wurst, chicken, beer, and more side dishes than I could count.…
Critic’s Pick: The Harder They Come
The Harder They Come Dir. Perry Henzell; writ. Perry Henzell, Trevor D. Rhone; feat. Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley, Carl Bradshaw. (R) Free 8:30pm Thursday, June 30 Kings Court Frankfurter Express 111 Kings Court (210) 737-7774 The Jamaican and Italian success of The Harder They Come paved the way for the worldwide success of Bob Marley.…
Chucha Santamaría y Usted: Chucha Santamaría y Usted
Representing Oakland by way of Puerto Rico and New York, Sofía Córdova and Matthew Kirkland (aka Chucha Santamaría y Usted) are all about the mezcla. Fusing elements of Latin freestyle, ítalo disco, and progressive politics, their new synth-driven mini LP is a soulful blend of Debbie Deb and Anita Tijoux, with hints of early M.I.A.…
Cars 2
Cars 2 Dir. John Lasseter and Brad Lewis; writ. Ben Queen; feat. Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro, Joe Mantegna. (G) After 16 years of smooth sailing down a highway of animation bliss, the check engine light is officially blinking at Disney/Pixar with their newest feature film…
RX Bandits guitarist Steve Choi reflects on 16 years and one final tour
RX Bandits Final Tour, with Maps and Atlases $13/$15 7pm Thurs, June 30 The White Rabbit 2410 N St. Mary’s (210) 737-2221 sawhiterabbit.com To hear Steve Choi of RX Bandits tell it, there was never a proper sit-down about changing the sound of the SoCal third-wave ska group formed in 1995. There was no mission…
Chasing that neon rainbow
2015 Club 2015 San Pedro Ave, (210) 733-3365 Vibe Neighborhood bar that’s LGBT-friendly — and friendly in general Best Use Low-key unwinding after a long workweek before getting your groove on Prices $2.75 wells, $5.25 duck farts Even though I drive past it all the time, I never really realized 2015 Club was there. Maybe…
Pop Pistol is back, Melissa goes to Nashville and Radiohead wants your TV set
Pop Pistol is back from touring (for a while) and the Melissa Ludwig Band is going to Nashville (but not for good). Pistol’s all-ages Disappearing Edges EP Tour Homecoming Show will take place at Jack’s Bar on Saturday, July 2. The music starts at 10 p.m. with Viet-Ruse and Blackbird Sing, and you need $7…
Ruby Dee & The Snakehandlers: Live From Austin Texas
Walking bass lines. Check. Quaint lyrics alluding to a bygone era. Check. A song about slick hair. Check. Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers have compiled a “best of” collection for this live album, but it comes off more as rockabilly paint-by-numbers. Originally from Seattle, Dee and Co. are attempting to break into a genre where…
The best thing about Transformers: Dark of the Moon is that it should be the last
Transformers: Dark of the Moon Dir. Michael Bay; writ. Ehren Kruger; feat. Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Frances McDormand, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, John Malkovich. (PG-13) Textbooks be damned. The use of alternative histories has been such a go-to fad in cinematic curriculum recently that no one should be surprised if impressionable movie-going kids…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): When astronaut Buzz Aldrin flew to the moon and back on the spacecraft Apollo 11 in 1969, he was paid less than $8 a day. That has to stand as one of the most flagrant cases of underpaid labor ever — far worse than what you’ve had to endure in your…
George Nelson retrospective at the McNay
George Nelson: Architect, Writer, Designer, Teacher $8 adults, $5 students, seniors, and military, children under 12 and members free 10am-4pm Tue, Wed, Fri; 10am-9pm Thu; 10am-5pm Sat; Noon-5pm Sun McNay Art Museum 6000 N New Braunfels (210) 824-5368 mcnayart.org Exhibit on view to Sep 11 One of the largest and most significant design careers of…
Southern cans to rival Malbec
Many in the wide world of wine consider cabernet king. With the exception of the occasional wedding, VV isn’t much given to royalty; besides, cabernets are simply often too expensive, too full of themselves, too long to come to maturity. We’re also a little annoyed that so many winemakers think they need to hang their…
Supreme Court asked to halt Mexican’s execution
Attorneys for death row inmate Humberto Leal, along with the Mexican government, have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block his lethal injection scheduled for July 7, saying the execution could jeopardize a crucial international agreement that protects Americans abroad. Leal, a Mexican national convicted in the grisly rape and murder of a Southside teenage…
