Whither the Finger?
Each July San Antonio’s downtown political scene gets a little quieter, especially around the Main Plaza area on Thursdays. City Council typically adjourns for the entire month as the City Manager’s office navigates the murky budgetary waters of the upcoming fiscal year (hear all about it in August!). Journalists who cover municipal governance often feel…
Bill White at Woodlawn Lake for Fourth of July
Well stripe my stars, Democrat Texas gubernatorial candidate Bill White will be maxin’ and relaxin’ at Woodlawn Lake tomorrow. Don’t know if he’ll stick around for the fireworks, but according to local White field manager Jorge Urby, White will take part in speeches slated to start at 1:00 p.m. Meanwhile, across downtown, current Gov. Rick…
Gulf dispersants, oily rain, and total freakin’ destruction
Not horrendous enough for some. Toxics taking wing? Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com Fifteen years ago, I was in a dark Dallas theater watching the conclusion of two hours of drugs, predatory sex, and rampant teenage adriftness play out on the big screen. Kids was the sort of movie that left audiences winded and mopey and trying…
TCEQ swallows poop plan, throws Las Brisas coke plant a lifeline
Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com So, the Texas Consortium for Environmental Quandries decided that upping the state’s allowable poop ratio in our “first-tier” Texas rivers and lakes â?? those especially smiled-upon water bodies close enough to influential voters to be deemed worthy of “primary recreation,” ie. bellyflops â?? wasn’t such a hot idea. The three Commissioners ruled…
Actors Network SA mixer tonight
Featuring Austin casting director Donise L. Hardy (left). Read the press release below for all the info. Actors Network SA July Mixer Guest Speaker: Casting Director Donise L. Hardy Thursday, July 1, 2010 6:30 pm — 8:30 pm Guest Speaker Q and A: 7:00pm Sharp C 4 Workspace 108 King William San Antonio, TX 78205…
New round of public hearings â?? with Toxic Triangle updates â?? on the way
Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com Food recalls, military contamination, industrial secrecy â?? our small group had been discussing a range of toxics-related health concerns for possible inclusion in a federal study when the head of San Antonio’s health department enters the room and slumps into a chair against the wall. He’s just come from a City budget…
Local resources for animal adoption and spay and neuter
Read the story on our spay animal issue and want to help out? Here’s a list of adoption/spay-and-neuter centers in the area and another list with low-cost spay/neuter events and more throughout the summer. SA-area Adoption/Spay & Neuter Centers Upcoming Animal Events 6/30-8/31 2010
Dream Castro to Fake Colbert: â??My papers are up your pipe’
Under the table, they’re toe to toe. Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com San Antonians were all atwitter on Twitter last night regarding Mayor Julián Castro’s appearance on the Colbert Report. After the initial shock expressed by dozens of “micro-bloggers” coming to terms with the fact that the 7th largest city in the nation could somehow be newsworthy,…
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Critic’s Pick The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Director: David Slade Screenwriter: David Slade Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Xavier Samuel, Bryce Dallas Howard, Billy Burke Release Date: 2010-06-30 Rated: PG-13 Genre: Film The Twilight series would be great without the vampires. By which I mean that every time the series — or, more specifically,…
Mojo
Mojo Composer: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Conductor: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Label: Reprise Release Date: 2010-06-30 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording After more than a decade of singing about his divorce and how much the music industry sucks, Tom Petty returns to his roots on Mojo, his first album with the Heartbreakers in eight…
Further
Further Composer: Chemical Brothers Conductor: Chemical Brothers Label: Astralwerks Release Date: 2010-06-30 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording The Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have been hooking fans on hallucinogenic big-beat electronics since 1995’s Exit Planet Dust. They’re experts at creating coliseum-sized breakbeats, mixing dance, hip-hop, techno, house, and rock rhythms into dangerously addicting ear…
Further
Further Composer: Chemical Brothers Conductor: Chemical Brothers Label: Astralwerks Release Date: 2010-06-30 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording The Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have been hooking fans on hallucinogenic big-beat electronics since 1995’s Exit Planet Dust. They’re experts at creating coliseum-sized breakbeats, mixing dance, hip-hop, techno, house, and rock rhythms into dangerously addicting ear…
How I Got Over
How I Got Over Composer: The Roots Conductor: The Roots Label: Def Jam Release Date: 2010-06-30 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording ss=”story”> This ninth album from the Roots is hands-down their best since 2002’s Phrenology for the simple fact that it sounds like a Roots album. The technology that’s infiltrated their signature live-band sound since 2004’s…
Goon Affiliated
Goon Affiliated Composer: Plies Conductor: Plies Label: Atlantic Release Date: 2010-06-30 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording There are two sides to Plies: the hard-thugging street loyalist and the absurdist, cackling popinjay. When the Florida MC indulges his inner court jester on Goon Affiliated, he’s on. He feigns giggly eye-rolling over the misconceived notion that rich black…
Jeremiah Teusch: A Most Horrible Room
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-06-30 Hardcore art-sluts don’t wait until First Friday to take in all the new work bubbling up from the depths of Southtown ? they git-r-done on Thursday. The only “problem” with this is that you might not run into those people: not the hot mess you’ve been stalking on Facebook, not…
Gay Pride Block Party and Parade
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-06-30 PrideFest already blew its rainbow-colored wad all over HemisFair Park back in June, but SA’s alternative lifestylers aren’t finished celebrating. In fact, Saturday’s block party and parade ? the theme of which is Amor Sin Fronteras ? may be even prouder than PrideFest. Starting at 3 p.m., the gayest strip…
River City Wrestling presents live pro wrestling, Declaration of Champions!
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-06-30 I’ve been ignoring River City Wrestling long enough. Or maybe it’s just taken me almost a year to come to terms with the fact that: every month, wrestlers with names like Big Dogg, Skitzo, Nemesis, Sicodelico Jr., Weazy Woo, Mr. Beautiful, and El Mamacito (aka Ann Dromeda, a 210-pound drag…
United States Air Force Jazz Band Concert
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-06-30 If the Top Picks are scaring you this week, consider taking refuge in this: The U.S. Air Force Band of the West boasts a number of ensembles, two of which will perform free concerts over Fourth of July weekend. Dimensions in Blue, a jazz ensemble, plays Schertz’s Pickrell Park on…
Blue Means Go w/ Nada Mas Basura and Viet Ruse
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-06-30 ss=”story”> The thing about these local tour-launching shows is this: If it’s a band you like, you better be there. God forbid our very own reggae-tinted post-rockers Viet Ruse or ska punks Nada Mas Basura, heading out for their first-ever tour, get a better turnout on one of their stops…
The Official City of San Antonio 4th of July Celebration
Release Date: 2010-06-30 The Official City of San Antonio 4th of July Celebration (presented by the San Antonio Parks Foundation) Highlights: Salute to the Red, White, & Blue children’s parade (11:30 a.m.), live music all day, including U.S. Air Force Band of the West Top Flight (7:30 p.m.), and an H-E-B fireworks extravaganza at 9…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): How well are you capitalizing on this year’s unique opportunities, Aries? Since we’re halfway through 2010, let’s take an inventory. I’m hoping you’re well under way in the heroic task of conquering your past. It has been and will continue to be prime time for you to wean yourself from unresolvable…
The new Nuevo Laredo
If you are a resident of San Antonio, and you are reading this, you have won a free trip to Mexico. You can drive down to Nuevo Laredo for a weekend of leisure and get some overdue errands done while you’re there. And the savings on the latter will pay for the former. At least…
Stray Bullets
Liz Gutierrez, 29, stops when she sees a stranded puppy. Not only does she stop, she picks it up, pays for its shots and sterilization, and tries to find it a home. That’s what she did last spring when she encountered Blue, a tiny black Labrador puppy, ambling near Blue Star Contemporary Art Center, her…
Port A cheat sheet
There’s something about Port Aransas that calls for slumming. If you haven’t planned in advance and secured a vacation rental (vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/texas/gulf-coast/port-aransas), which is definitely your best bet (especially if you’re going with a group), consider succumbing to the divey allure of a seaside cottage with a Xanadu-worthy paint job. During the high season, rooms at…
A day late, a court-martial short
When I was 17, I got a job in a restaurant swabbing out urinals (the perfect task for a 17-year-old) and cooking steaks (though that’s not something any 17-year-old should be doing). And I’ll never forget the first time I ever talked back to the boss. It must’ve been 130 degrees in the kitchen. I…
How you can really help spill-affected Gulf communities
How you can really help spill-affected Gulf communities 1. Donate. “Everyone wants to come wash a pelican or help clean up the oil,” says Aaron Viles, campaign director for the Gulf Restoration Network. “The role of volunteers in all this is relatively limited, so not everyone can come. But they can definitely show their support…
The second party starter
He stayed up till noon experimenting with “the mechanics of experience” and recording material for his new album. I called at 3 p.m. and woke Andrew W.K. up. Or I woke someone up. For a variety of reasons, debate regarding the identity (and mission) of this Andrew W.K. has raged across the internet from the…
The Sound and the Fury
No San Antonio bands were chosen for the Vans Warped Tour this year, but you’ve got plenty of chances to support local music and local venues at non-corporate-sponsored events around town. On Wednesday, you can see Big Soy, the once-retired Michael Jordans of local indie rock, at Limelight (myspace.com/limelightsa); or country-music up-and comers Josh Abbott…
Rest of the fest
The Vans Warped tour gets a lot of guff from the sort of people who get off on guff-giving. Beyond the skinny-pantsed, Auto-Tuned, Cleveland-steemo acts (and there are several of those), the tour offers a chance to see a surprising variety of quality national groups that might not otherwise stop here, and more importantly, it’s…
Live & Local
The band enters from the back, marching single file through the crowd like they’re leading a New Orleans funeral procession. Sanford Allen is screaming something about “the book of the seventh seal” into a megaphone while the band (plus percussionist Enrique Comparan) bangs rhythmically on various objects, including a hopefully empty propane tank. The show…
Up from the barrio
In Quixote’s Soldiers: A Local History of the Chicano Movement, 1966-1981, author and educator David Montejano posits that San Antonio local history provides a microscopic look at the Chicano civil-rights movement and the social change it forged. In the book’s preface he declares: “As a San Antonio native, my narrative explanation has a certain autobiographical…
Escape Artists
Dear Readers, Your excuses to camp out next to the window unit, chew ice and cry softly are evaporating faster than a wet footprint on a hot rock. Even if you hate the sun. Even if you wear a lot of black and have tattoos. Even if the only thing that used to drag your…
Tobin atonement
When the City and County rolled out the campaign for the 2008 venue-tax extension, a performing-arts center grand enough to house our opera and symphony was one of the largest items on the ballot at a proposed $100 million. Bruce Bugg, chairman and trustee of the once-embattled Tobin Endowment, had been asked to lead the…
On my queue
When TV’s even lousier than usual and it’s too hot outside to suffer a trip to your favorite locally owned video store Blockbuster Redbox, Netflix’s library of instantly watchable movies and TV shows is there for you. Stream thousands of titles to your computer or video-game console without ever leaving the comfort of your own…
We’re all wieners!
You can hold it in one hand while you stroll with a kiddo or beer in the other, or flip the virtual pages of your iPad books. Like many of its European forebears, it acquired a New World pedigree in St. Louis as a food of the working man on a little staycation holiday, and…
Tea for tú
Iced tea seems like the easiest thing in the world to make. How do you fuck up hot water and dried leaves? Happens all the time, though. So, we thought we’d get some schooling from bona-fide tea expert Clayton Christopher, founder of Austin’s Sweet Leaf Tea, who was in town last week with Savvy Vodka…
A definitive answer to the timeless iced-tea question
A fundamental shift in our summertime lexicon is under way, and like most seismic upheavals, we missed the early tremors. “Firefly” someone whispered in 2008, and we took no notice. Heard later: “Sweet-tea vodka.” Quick visions of lazy days on the porch flashed through our basal brain, but still we overlooked the larger implication: No…
¡Ask A Mexican!
Dear Readers: The Arizona pendejas have emboldened hundreds of Know Nothings in the past week to boast to the Mexican that they’re not racist if they support SB 1070 because, according to them, they believe in the law and they have no problems with immigrants as long as they’re legal. Nosotros los buenos know that…
I like it RAW
My wife scores us a two-for-one by telling Laugh Out Loud’s ticket agent, “I hit it raw, dog.” It’s apparently some kind of promotional deal for the first edition of what might become a monthly tradition: RAW DOG, an adults-only midnight sketch show at San Antonio’s shiny new comedy club. It’s also a stroke of…
Dear Uncle Mat
Dear Uncle Mat, I’ve recently come out of a major relationship. It lasted about two years, and ended around a month ago. Our time together was largely something I wouldn’t regret, if it weren’t for the situation I’m in now. When we eventually agreed to call it a day, however, we were arguing almost every…
Public fun-gumption
We know it’s tempting to lock your ass up all summer long and, oh, read some Nabokov, or finish your scrapbook of things you’ve drawn, picked up, or caught in your hair whilst drunk, or to light out for Taos, or Reykjavik. You pretty much can’t, though, right? Who has the money for a road…
Summer Style Guide
It’s summer in San Antonio, and while the weather folks aren’t predicting last year’s dire desert-like conditions (yet), the temperature is already racing to the triple digits. My best advice is to stay indoors and wear as little as possible. A wet washcloth sprinkled with peppermint essential oil and chilled in the freezer will do…
Buddy Rasmussen’s guide to kicking ice
Scruffy and longhaired, Buddy Rasmussen bares his teeth fiercely as he grinds away at an 8-foot-tall block of ice. Blood pours from a gash on one leg. Clenching a chainsaw in his battered and rough hands, Buddy makes swift, precise strokes through the ice’s translucent edges, showering stinging, glistening frost on the cheering audience. Rasmussen’s…
San Antonio’s summer soundtrack
We can beat this heat together, guys, with a little love and the sharing of sweet tunes. Enjoy this selection of local songs, and let me know if you want your band’s song added to the mix.
That fecal-inflection? It’s the TCEQ’s new Texas-brand gargle
Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com We don’t know what kind of crazyrock they’re smoking up there at the Texas Council on Environmental Policy, but we’ll find out tomorrow what sort of brain damage goes with it when its three Perry-appointed commissioners cast two important votes. The first involves wide-ranging changes to the state’s water quality standards that…
Where We Get Our Pets: an informal poll
I admit, I have animal brain. No, it’s not like rabies, it’s just, I have animals … on the brain. All. The. Time. Since finishing my first long piece on animal care issues in San Antonio, I can’t get away from the topic if I tried. Like this Sunday, the day after I finished my…
Cesar Millan kicks off Spay-and-Neuter campaign in SA
No matter who you talk to, when it comes to reducing the number of stray pets out there, the most important thing most of us can do is remove the family jewels from the family dog (or cat). This summer, San Antonians will hear this message from Cesar Millan, a.k.a. The Dog Whisperer on the…
Max Attacks Alamo City
The news that Austin/Houston stalwart Max’s Wine Dive is to open in San Antonio in September should come as good news to the diamonds and denim set. “Fried chicken and Champagne? Why the hell not?” is their professed mantra, “gourmet comfort food and extraordinary wines from around the world served in a decidedly unpretentious but…
