Arts Earth first (murder second)
David Liss’ Ethical Assassin is an irresistible accomplice At the beginning of The Ethical Assassin, 17-year-old Lemuel Altick trudges slowly through the Florida heat, hawking encyclopedias door-to-door, his speed and enthusiasm in marked contrast to the book, which crackles along at an addictive pace from the moment a polite gunman executes two potential customers in…
Music Sound and the Fury
A week on the scene First Friday options DJ Eddie Spettro has spent the last decade spreading the gospel of house music as both a turntablist and producer, inevitably raising San Antonio’s profile among electronic-music aficionados. Earlier this year, Spettro moved to Austin, but he’ll return to SA this weekend for his first gig as…
Arts Ballroom dancing and the art of buying art
The Happy Foundation is introducing ballroom dancing for GLBT couples, every Saturday at the Bonham Exchange, beginning March 4. We can’t get married but we can still dance! Beginning March 4 and recurring every Saturday, join the ballroom brigade for a series of GLBT dancing classes presented in the Rainbow Ballroom of the Bonham Exchange,…
Arts In the round
News and notes from the San Antonio theater scene Since no one responded to last month’s query (If you don’t see live theater, why not? I asked), I’m assuming only people who do see live theater read this column. And since most of the people who see theater in this town also do theater in…
Media Not bigger than Jesus
George Clooney’s star shines brighter than ever, but he’s still grounded I’m a huge star,” George Clooney jokes through an impish grin. “I’m the last person to deny it.” Call this faux-modesty, because that’s what it is. All for show, from a guy who displays a con-versational ease that most politicians can only dream of…
Media We follow the money
The military-industrial complex Ike condemned leads America by the pocketbook Why do we fight? To understand human aggression, we ought to consult the wisest philosophers, psychologists, biologists, and anthropologists. Instead, director Eugene Jarecki turns to Dwight Eisenhower, the second most tongue-tied president of the past 50 years. Why We Fight begins and ends with Ike’s…
Media Armchair Cinephile
Cures for the common Oscar So, you’ve watched all the Oscar movies, and you’re wondering where the laughs went. Sure, it’s nice to see movies with something on their minds for a change, but would it have killed the Academy to ditch the clumsy Crash in favor of even a half-comedy like Broken Flowers or…
News Mud flap
Cuellar, Rodriguez slug it out for Congressional seat The District 28 Congressional race is kicking up more mud than a Monster Truck race. The fighting goes beyond the candidates’ platitudinous campaign menus: Henry Cuellar supports improving education, health care, and economic development; Ciro Rodriguez says his priorities are education, health care, and roads. (What candidate…
Media That’s a wrap & Special screenings
The low-down on this week’s premieres 16 Blocks is the distance troubled NYPD cop Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) must escort witness Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) from a jail cell to a courthouse to testify against some of Jack’s fellow officers. But with a slew of dirty cops determined to stop Eddie from taking them down…
News Counterpoint
Can’t y’all just get along? – With the EPA on the Big Tex case, Lifshutz and community can make a fresh start And now, a word about developers. Some of my best friends are developers. OK, one of them. And he, like a lot of developers, is not a bad guy, but the way development…
Food & Drink A dream deferred too long
Le Rêve is extaordinary, but don’t save it for a special occasion A tall, bespectacled gentleman dashes onto the sidewalk alongside me; he rattles the front door, on which Le Rêve — “the dream” in French — is etched in frosted glass in script reminiscent of geese in flight. No luck. The restaurant could be…
News Election briefs
Barrera vs. Elizondo: seeking answers Like Bexar County, which, with its lack of zoning ordinances seems to function on the fringe, County government is akin to the Wild West. There is no County ethics commission, which is how Yvonne Escamilla, the County Commissioners’ public information officer, can stump — albeit on her personal e-mail account…
Food & Drink Well dressed
A simple formula for vinaigrette It doesn’t take a delicate palate to recognize a poorly executed vinaigrette: Everyone has experienced the tongue-curling acidity of excess vinegar. Yet not enough vinegar and the dressing sits heavy and bland on its object. I’ve always admired the spontaneity of my mother’s vinaigrette. Often as simple as a few…
News Briefs
It’s not a dog’s life at Brooks AFB The research laboratory at Brooks Air Force Base has been named “the most painful laboratory in the U.S.” in a recent report by Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! The animal-rights watchdog group based its findings on federal documents that show 43 percent of 2,091 animals in Brooks AFB…
Food & Drink Meatless in Steer City
Goodbye winter, we hardly knew you – Fruity desserts to help you weather the weather This bipolar winter has been excruciating: Just as I’m slipping on the flip-flops and tank tops, ready to hit the gym for bathing-suit season, a glacial north wind pours through my open kitchen window, reminding me that, yes, in fact,…
News Party lines
Tree huggers needed City staff began taking an ax to the tree ordinance last week, with several contentious recommendations that could undermine tree-coverage goals for San Antonio. A 2002 urban ecosystem analysis conducted by American Forests for San Antonio showed “the enormous economic value of the City’s urban forest,” according to the Citizens Tree Coalition…
Food & Drink A dilly of a weed
Often the aesthetic properties of an herb and vegetable garden are as satisfying as the harvest. One of the loveliest winter herbs is fresh dill, with its feathery, fluffy foliage and dark, green-blue hue adding a visual softness to the transition from dying fall plants to the spring shoots that will come later. A hardy…
News Speed reads
Put on your marching shoes The International Women’s Day March will begin at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, March 5, at HemisFair Park downtown and end at Dignowity Park, at Nolan and Hackberry. Supporters of women’s rights will march to demand equality and raise awareness about women’s health care, reproductive rights, and violence against women. Speakers include…
Food & Drink All you can eat
News and notes from the San Antonio food scene Messina Hof Winery & Resort plans to launch its wine and vineyard industries mentoring program March 2. Mentorees will have an opportunity to observe wine production, vineyard management, sales, and other aspects of the vineyard industry. Interested parties should submit a letter of interest specifying what…
Feature Game changer
Is Tony Parker’s musical debut merely another NBA vanity project or America’s introduction to French hip-hop? It’s 2 a.m. on Saturday morning at the Black Super Bowl, aka NBA All-Star Weekend, and the Renaissance Hotel in Houston is ready to erupt. Texas Longhorns icon Vince Young, the rapper Fabolous, Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria, and San…
Music Slavin driver
SA’s favorite crooner gets intimate with the Great American Songbook When Ken Slavin decided to put together his first-ever cabaret show, part of the process involved a quick scan of the Random House dictionary. It was an understandable move. While most of us think we know what cabaret sounds like, we’re not necessarily sure what…
Arts The Alamo lives
A spirit of resistance is alive and well in Bihl Haus’ stones The ghost of the Alamo hangs heavy over San Antonio, its continually revised history a bellwether for the shifting demographics and sensibilities of the city. Olvídate del Alamo, Forget the Alamo, is the rousing name of an annual exhibit, held this year in…
Music After Sunset
A crawl through the San Antonio club scene – Stepping into the Limelight My week had been such a whirlwind of activity that my memories of Thursday night at Limelight, the new venue on St. Mary’s, were a blur — until I turned over one more page in my journal and found my concluding note…
Culture The oldest picture show
The Magic Lantern museum is the world’s only repository of the earliest projectors I’m not sure what I was looking up on the internet when I found it. With a name like a Disney theme-park ride, the Magic Lantern Castle Museum is the only one of its kind in the world and, according to the…
Music CD Spotlight
Monkey time Every few years since the late ’80s, the British press has made a habit of erroneously elevating a rock band composed of their fellow countrymen to the rank of Second Coming. Whether we’re talking the Stone Roses, Oasis, or Coldplay, whatever was once divine in their assemblage quickly dissipates and all that’s left…
Arts Reality is a tsunami
David Foster Wallace talks about the challenges of nonfiction and marketing writers The best disguises are often those worn in plain view. David Foster Wallace seems to understand this notion, because roughly once a year, America’s most intimidating young fiction writer picks up a pencil and goes undercover in the world of cub reporters to…
Music Current Choice
Man of guit-steel Junior Brown tends to downplay his instrumental prowess. The veteran country maverick usually suggests that his technical skill is ordinary, and it’s merely the energy he brings to a performance that distinguishes him from the countless journeymen guitarists on the club circuit at a given time. Chalk that up to Brown’s innate…
