Sony E3 2011: Playstation Vita to offer company new life
While Microsoft had the morning slot on the first day of E3, Sony opted for an evening conference that same day, rather than waiting until the end. Still recovering from the infamous crippling of the Playstation Network by a small group of hackers (as of this writing, several possible culprits have been arrested), they didn’t…
Microsoft E3 2011: Starts with an ‘h’ and ends with an ‘alo’
Turn out the lights, the party’s over; in a flurry of trailers, demos, and promotional announcements another E3 has come and gone. Amidst the sheer flood of new juicy details on some of our favorite franchises, E3 has also become the annual B.O.T.B.T. (Battle Of The Big Three). Each year, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft take…
Limited time offer – double your money at ARTS SA
The Kronkosky Charitable Trust Foundation has made a grant challenge to encourage new support for ARTS San Antonio. Each dollar donated by new supporters of ARTS SA before August 11 will be matched one-to-one. Give a buck, deliver two. The challenge will match donations up to $25,000, and extends to those who have not…
Once an underdog, Bernal easily scores D1 victory
Once considered a long-shot in the race for District 1, Diego Bernal rocketed to front-runner status within the last two months of his campaign. And by Saturday, Bernal, a local civil rights attorney and musician, skated to an easy victory in District 1, winning 63 percent of the vote in his runoff with retired firefighter…
Also seen: HMS Pinafore at San Antonio Opera
Nothing could make me happier than seeing the San Antonio Opera move its productions from the fantastically awful space of Municipal Auditorium—basically an inky black hole of sound and light—to the Lila Cockrell Theater downtown. But as I settled into my seat for H. M. S. Pinafore this weekend, I realized that the Cockrell, though…
Review: The Decorator at the Overtime
There are just a few performances left of the Overtime’s premiere of Jeffrey Strausser’s The Decorator, an intermittently engaging dark comedy that nevertheless leaves its considerable promise unfulfilled. The set-up is a dandy one: an interior decorator (played with brio by Renee Garvens) promises two unhappy housewives that she’ll not only improve their house—knocking out,…
‘Naco es chido’: A poor man’s ‘Spinal Tap’
Naco es chido, directed by Sergio Arau (A Day Without a Mexican), will be shown on Sunday, June 12, at 2 p.m. at the Guadalupe Theater (1300 Guadalupe) ($4; free for Guadalupe members). It is a mockumentary about a real ’80s band, Botellita de Jerez, arguably the most influential Mexican rock band ever (without them,…
Muni Auditorium scuffle continues before possible legal challenge
Attorneys for residents opposing plans to gut the historic Municipal Auditorium in order to plant the multi-million dollar Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in its shell and those tasked with carrying out the said gutting toured the inside of the 1926 building Friday afternoon, reaching a tentative agreement that could delay for two weeks…
Pterosaurs over the Alamo? It’s Jurassic … er, Olmos Park
Dinosaurs have invaded the San Antonio River Walk. Not real ones of course, but artificial monsters, the result of animatronics and 3-D video animation. It’s all part of Dinosaur-Quest at Rivercenter Mall, a family-oriented, educational exhibition that runs until the end of the year. We know from a multitude of excavations around the state that…
40th Texas Folklife Fest begins today
Tired of the Texican/Tejano bifurcation of everything local? You know there’s more. This weekend the 40th Anniversary Texas Folklife Festival makes the point with a weekend of music, dance, arts & crafts, and, yes, food from a panoply of cultural groups that make up the big story this side of the Rio Grande. Japanese Texans?…
Vote for Lerma’s in National Trust Challenge
Lerma’s Nite Club, an endangered San Antonio landmark, has just been selected to participate in the 2011 “This Place Matters” Community Challenge. The legendary conjunto music venue at 1612 North Zarzamora first opened around 1951 and became a Westside institution by staying in continuous operation for more than 60 years. The rotating cast of musicians…
Interview with ‘Super 8’ actor Ryan Lee
His acting career may have started as just a fun activity to do during the summer, but now Ryan Lee is starring in one of the most anticipated movies of the year. In Super 8, a sci-fi film directed and written by J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) and produced by Steven Spielberg (E.T.), Ryan plays Cary,…
Day Trip to Dress Shop
Story by Desiree Prieto Located on 315 Congress Avenue, Dress Shop is no longer one of Austin’s best kept secrets. Tourists from local hotels were stopping by during my visit to check out the infamous store owned by the, “Dress Evangelist,” Leslie Gandy. “We carry dresses that are both ‘of the moment’ but will last…
“Autumn Blew In” by Ryan C. Christiansen
Introduction This is a lovely story all 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.…
Growing little minds with pint-sized science
The San Antonio Children’s Museum is a local non profit dedicated to providing children hands on learning using innovative methods. They have a full range of programs set up to keep San Antonio’s children busy and learning this summer. Last Wednesday Bradyn and I attended Pint Sized Science which is free with museum admission and…
Meet Mr. Gerry Mander
An overly GOP-friendly congressional map that cleared the Senate Monday and will likely sail through the House has Democrats and Hispanic groups seething, calling the new map a product of GOP gerrymandering that ignores the state’s Hispanic boom. In a heated debate on the Senate floor Monday, Democrats sparred with state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo,…
Critic’s blog: A theatrical odyssey in Europe
Well, this theater lover’s been a-globe-trotting, with a combined trip to Madrid (in the middle of an international theater festival) and London (itself an international theater festival), which allowed me to catch some 18 (!) shows in three weeks. (This burst of theater-going activity startles even myself.) I can’t write up blurbs for each and…
On the Books Part Four: Three San Antonio writers to watch
Laurie Ann Guerrero As a native Southsider, poet Laurie Ann Guerrero has always appealed to me. Hers is one of those “local girl done good” stories. She got her start at Palo Alto College, transferred to Smith College in Massachusetts, and went on to earn an MFA in Poetry and Poetry in Translation from Drew…
Midnight in The Sandwich Garden of food and evil
The Sandwich Garden 1826 McCullough (210) 732-7419 thesandwichgardensa.com The word “garden” should bring to mind something lush, green, fresh. Sadly, the word is too often carelessly thrown around in the naming of restaurants, like “Olive Garden,” “China Garden Buffet,” and so on. And add the Sandwich Garden on McCullough to the list of those…
Muddied Waters
What do you say about a local 24-minute short film shot for $200 that aims for John Waters at his best and ends up as Andy Warhol at his worst? What do you do when scenes with men in drag obviously needed more takes, while some takes needed to be much shorter? When the lens…
Perry For President? Let’s Hope Not
Will he or won’t he? That is the question. From MSNBC to Fox News to the Houston Chronicle to dozens of blogs, the media and interested parties have been wagging their tongues for the last two weeks pontificating upon whether or not Texas’ governor will take his fantastic hair and cans of Aqua Net from…
Taste This: Almond croissant from Bistro Bakery
A bite of what we’re eating here at the Current
Live & Local: Aria Satellite at Limelight Music + Drinks
Aria Satellite Thu, June 2 Limelight Music + Drinks Self-described as “a fusion of new and old sounds,” four-piece Aria Satellite is still a fledgling project, but they manage to put on an impressive show, combining clear, high-energy arrangements with melodic emphasis and poignant interludes in just the right places. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind hearing…
Fucked Up: David Comes to Life
A factory worker meets a girl passing out leftist pamphlets. They fall in love. She dies. He blames himself, curses his creator, gives up on love, but eventually finds peace, healed but changed. Sometimes “cliché” is another word for “real,” and that’s all the more reason to scream. David and Veronica, the doomed lovers in…
The Sound & the Fury
James “Hot Mustard” Velten’s efforts to have 25 local bands in 25 days as guests on his show, The Sauce (KSYM 90.1 FM, weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m.), got off to a rocky start. According to Velten, Five Foot Five “got the time wrong” and showed up May 30 at 8 p.m. instead of…
Arctic Monkeys: Suck It and See
“Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?” The question posed as the title of the band’s dashed-off 2006 EP was meant as a cheeky retort to the monstrous hype their brilliant debut received. Ironically, it’s been the Monkeys themselves who’ve struggled with the question, taking a series of often bewildering turns in an effort to distance…
Woody Allen tries Paris, and it tastes good
Midnight in Paris Writ. and dir. Woody Allen; feat. Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Corey Stoll, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody. (R) In “A Twenties Memory,” a story that appeared in his 1972 collection Getting Even, Woody Allen sends up Ernest Hemingway’s memoir A Moveable Feast by imagining his own feckless signature self hanging…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: There are many who give lip service to border security. You may or may not be one of them. You may be an open-borders advocate. But for the moment, put on your secure-borders hat and tell us how you would secure the borders if your job depended on its success. Is it possible…
Book of Secrets
The Theory of Light and Matter By Andrew Porter The University of Georgia Press $24.95, hardcover 232 pages Many of us are familiar with the local authors who’ve gained international recognition over the last couple of decades: Sandra Cisneros, John Phillip Santos, Carmen Tafolla, Naomi Shihab Nye. But in my quest to seek out…
On the Books Part Four: SA’s literary scene often overlooked
While San Antonio’s thriving arts community is ripe with talent, the literary scene is often overlooked in favor of other forms of artistic expression. Our music, visual arts, dance, theater, and film typically receive more attention in area media, though local literati know we have a strong scene (albeit typically a quiet one). While we…
The QueQue, June 8, 2011
Camp Bullis: Trees today, trees tomorrow If we had a Doomsday Clock at Current HQ (something we’ve been seriously considering — since, like, way before the last non-rapture rapture), some poor intern would be tasked with pushing the minute hand forward this week. What with official word that the Drug War has failed, our cell…
Esquire on beer, brewpub taps, and the sun sets on Brasserie Pavil
Esquire on beer Jeret Peña remembers coming to The Esquire in his youth when his mother worked on the other side of the street at a title company. In young adulthood, the infamous bar was his go-to place for a 10 a.m. dose of menudo. Nearly a decade later, Peña is playing a major role…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You have a poetic license, as well as astrological permission, to be extra cute in the coming week. I mean you have a divine mandate to exceed the usual levels of being adorable and charming and delectable. Here’s the potential problem with that, though: Trying to be cute doesn’t usually result…
The kitchen drama (or lack thereof) of Paul Liebrandt
A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt Dir. Sally Rowe 8pm Monday, June 13, HBO Documentary Films Summer Series In Sally Rowe’s HBO film A Matter of Taste, Paul Liebrandt’s creds as the romantic poet of the pots and pans are established early on. He bends over a counter, intent upon arranging a plate…
Owner of G.I.G. reflects on three years of running a dry, ideals-based venue
G.I.G. Third Anniversary Show w. Keith Wells, Guitar Jim, Erica Anthony, Thumper D, The Lion Lads $5 suggested donation, no one turned away 9pm doors Fri, June 10 G.I.G. on the Strip 2803 N St. Mary’s gigonthestrip.110mb.com Late last year, Ruben Garcia, owner and promoter at G.I.G. on the Strip, received an offer that…
Iron Cactus sucks camper shorts
Iron Cactus 200 River Walk, Ste. 100 (210) 224-9835 The River Walk’s Iron Cactus, an Austin import, claims a vast tequila selection (shots range from $6.50 to $26 for the tony stuff), and they do offer numerous tequila flights (of three) well worth doing. House versions of just about everything (wine, beer, frozen and rocks…
Local food trucks helping feed the displaced in Missouri, and SA’s French restaurants disappearing
Recent tornados and severe storms in Missouri and Oklahoma have left many people in need. While many local organizations have pitched in to help, local food trucks are driving north to cook for anyone who’s been displaced in those states. Tin Can Tacos and Wheelie Gourmet just returned from Joplin, Mo., and Wheelie is headed…
Bosco Delrey: Everybody Wah
Poor Bosco. His unclassifiable debut album should be a game changer. The problem is that rock, indie, and otherwise, has seen no shortage of metamorphic players in the past decade. Broken Social Scene, My Morning Jacket, Beck, and Sufjan Stevens are all artists that have made seamlessly melding styles seem shopworn, but that doesn’t mean…
Local review of The Rosedale Highs’ Tonight (EP)
The Rosedale Highs’ new EP, Tonight, is a meticulously constructed project, from their name emblazoned on the cover (the lettering makes them seem like an Eisenhower-era football team as much as a band) to the way the track listing is split into two groups of three songs (implying two sides to a jukebox 45). Guitarist/vocalist…
Far from border fare at Cascabel
Cascabel Mexican Patio 1000 S St. Mary’s (210) 212-6456 Tiny Cascabel on South St. Mary’s offers an intriguing alternative to taqueria fare, favoring recipes from southern Mexico and light touches like silver napkin rings that set it apart from the Tex-Mex crowd. I had intended to try their birria, a hearty meat stew that…
Mama Lee’s outperforms her chicken rep with catfish platter and greens
Mama Lee’s Soul Food 310 Valley Hi Dr., Ste. 305 (210) 675-6262 (675-MAMA) Second location: 6060 Montgomery Dr., Ste. 101 (210) 653-6262 mamaleessoulfoodtx.com THE SKINNY: “Easy does it” makes for surprising quality all around. BEST BETS: Catfish, fried chicken, collard greens, meatloaf HOURS: Valley Hi: 11am-2pm and 4pm-7pm Mon-Fri, 12-3pm Sun. Montgomery:…
Mexican journalists chronicle lives of two who died at San Fernando slaughter
The small town of San Fernando, situated just 90 miles south of Brownsville in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, emerged as a symbol of the ferocious drug war gripping Mexico in late August 2010 when authorities stumbled upon the bodies of 72 South- and Central-American immigrants who had been bound, blindfolded, and methodically executed by…
Flippin’ San Antonio Fiesta
Next Monday is the Feast Day of Saint Anthony and the founding day of our city. St. Tony oversees travelers and the elderly and is the go-to santo when searching for lost things. He also guides the mail; not sure if that extends to email, tweets, or Facebook. He’s SA’s patron saint, but where’s the…
On the Books Part Four: Small presses in San Antonio push on, despite economic hardships
Bryce Milligan — a poet, novelist, and all around “follower of the muse” — took over Wings Press in 1995 by handing over $10 to diagnosed schizophrenic Joanie Whitebird, whom he’d several times talked out of suicide over the phone, and promising to keep things going. What he received for his cash and kindness was…
The hidden dandelions in Gudjon Bjarnason’s wreckage
DySTOPic ProgressiONs Free Noon-6pm Tue-Sat 116 Blue Star (210) 227-6960 bluestarart.org Exhibit on view to Aug 6 Making things, we are told, is virtuous, a good thing. But compared to, say, ants or wasps, we’re not very competent builders. We’ve made a mess of this place. A friend of mine recently told me, “Whenever…
Ms. Underground San Antonio invades Olmos Park
The Thirsty Camel 5307 McCullough Ave. (210) 277-0979 Vibe: "Truly unique," but desperately needing bodies. Best Use: Electro Fridays; "The Dark Zone" feat. DJ Hans 242 on Saturdays; themed-karaoke on Wednesdays; rarely any cover Prices: $2 wells/domestics (Sundays), $3 You-Call-Its (Wednesdays) Strobes flash and black lights sporadically accentuate a…
Flippin’ San Antonio Fiesta
Next Monday is the Feast Day of Saint Anthony and the founding day of our city. St. Tony oversees travelers and the elderly and is the go-to santo when searching for lost things. He also guides the mail; not sure if that extends to email, tweets, or Facebook. He’s SA’s patron saint, but where’s the…
The Evil Mothers are back
By Enrique Lopetegui elopetegui@sacurrent.com Seminal local industrial noise band Evil Mothers will close their first tour in 13 years with a show at Nightrocker on June 11. Tickets are $10 and the Mothers go onstage at around midnight. In the ’90s, the Mothers released several albums on Invisible Records and toured the United States and…
