Agosto on Fire at SBOE meeting
We hope someone lined up a Levatol I.V. for State Board of Education member Rick Agosto when he finally returned to San Antonio from this week’s epic meetings on the social studies standards for Texas public schools. Despite Agosto’s rapidly rising condemnations (and pulse), on Friday evening, the SBOE passed the document that earned Agosto’s…
ICE on ICE: self-policing appears to pay off at Port Isabel Detention Center
A censored cry for help. Immigration’s official verdict? Crackpot. Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com It’s interesting that after all the time that has gone by since last spring and the first cries of protest erupted from the Port Isabel Detention Center that U.S. Immigration and Customs’ official version of events about life there hasn’t been challenged by…
Chaléwood No. 30 – Oscar Isaac
Oscar Isaac – Robin Hood By Kiko Martinez San Antonio Current contributing writer kiko@cinesnob.net When a film is on as epic of a scale as director Ridley Scott’s version of Robin Hood, it could be fairly easy for an actor to become absorbed on a set where elaborate costumes, countless set pieces and props, and…
FIVE UNDER TEN: RED
Despite the falling out of fashion of Bordeaux, the high end of wine production and sales will likely always be with us. Fine: let the toffs have their toys. What’s exciting for the rest of us is the burgeoning of quality wines at the lower end of the pricing spectrum. And I’m not talking cheap…
Texas’s next guv targeted by garden varieties mob
Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com The success of the online White House garden campaign that helped fill the Obama’s new digs with healthy veggies and consequently forge inroads for new rows across the nation’s urban landscape has inspired a Texas-centric outgrowth. If some of the names and organizations sound familiar, they should. Those presidential pesterers, Kitchen Gardener’s…
Carbon rules â??greatest wealth opportunity’ for this generation, says solar leader
Not only does he look very Elvis on occasion, but Jigar Shah is too nice to dwell too long about his being right as well. Greg Harmanââ?¬Â¨ gharman@sacurrent.com ââ?¬Â¨Ã¢â?¬Â¨ Solar costs are crashing, Obamabucks are hurriedly enhancing solar energy storage options, and it would seem Jigar Shaw has returned to San Antonio triumphant.ââ?¬Â¨Ã¢â?¬Â¨ San Antonians…
CPSers gone by: Temple goes to Boone; Bartley gets the beat
Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com As I prepare to crash another way-above-my-paygrade social function at the Pearl Brewery, hopefully pinching my collar into faux starchiness and double-sniffing my gingivitis, I can’t help but harken back to all those Pearl lunches gone by. It will be strange, I think, not to see several key CPS Energy personnel on…
Roller-coaster Thai
From decadent crab to minimalist pork at Bangkok 54
Dessert at Choicolate
Release Date: 2010-05-19 The Fast Foodie is a faithful adherent to that well-worn maxim attributed to Ernestine Ulmer: “Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.” We’ve even been known to eat dessert only, although not just any dessert because we’re not an indiscriminate sweet tooth. When it comes to chocolate, for instance, we like it strictly…
Nice is as nice does
Release Date: 2010-05-19 Woodlawn Lake, through its ups and downs, has been a bellwether for the state of the neighborhood. A posh advertisement in the San Antonio Light from 1928 bills Woodlawn District as “the arc of opportunity,” where early morning horseback rides and socialite barge parties were daily affairs. Contrast that with the recurring…
OMNI
OMNI Composer: Minus the Bear Conductor: Minus the Bear Label: Dangerbird Release Date: 2010-05-19 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Seattle quintet Minus the Bear has spent its career searching for an identity. At first, they were kinda like a comedy group, with songs like “Lemurs, Man, Lemurs” and “Thanks for the Killer Game of Crisco Twister”…
Diamond Eyes
Diamond Eyes Composer: Deftones Conductor: Deftones Label: Reprise Release Date: 2010-05-19 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Before System of a Down claimed the title of metal’s most experimental weirdos, the Deftones were filling albums with a combination of vicious power riffs, random noise bursts, and a medium-size dose of pretension. In 2008, their bass player was…
In Evening Air
In Evening Air Composer: Future Islands Conductor: Future Islands Label: Thrill Jockey Release Date: 2010-05-19 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording The only time overly specific genre labels work is when bands create them for themselves. Case in point: Future Islands, Dan Deacon’s more serious playmates from Baltimore’s Wham City scene, pigeonhole themselves as “post-wave,” and present…
So Runs the World Away
So Runs the World Away Composer: Josh Ritter Conductor: Josh Ritter Label: Pytheas Release Date: 2010-05-19 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Singer-songwriter Josh Ritter spins tales of exploration and growth, stitching them together with details so minuscule that every character is a living, breathing apparition. Whether he’s basking in alt-country (2000’s Golden Age of Radio) or…
Art opening: Trabajo Rustico: Fantasies in Cement
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-05-19 Not only is it Dance Month, it’s also Historic Preservation Month. To celebrate the age-old tradition of sculpting tree-like structures from cement (known as faux bois or trabajo rústico), a slew of thoughtful organizations (including Alamo Cement and the San Antonio Conservation Society) have united to sponsor an exhibition at…
Penn Glee Club
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-05-19 All you “Gleeks” (fans of the show Glee) out there should be skipping and whistling right about now — one of the oldest Glee Clubs in the U.S. (happy since 1862) is paying SA a visit. Luckily, we’re one of four cities on their 2010 tour (along with Phoenix, Las…
Mixfest 2010
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-05-19 Mix 96.1 has assembled a lineup that might have your daughter demanding to be dropped off at HemisFair Park on Sunday. If not for American Idol-winner Kris Allen, then possibly for Train (even Mom and Dad might unwittingly know the chorus to “Drops of Jupiter” or “Hey, Soul Sister”), the…
Art opening: Sinchi Medicina
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-05-19 If we were to tell you about these two twin brothers who make trippy art that takes cues from sacred geometry, Amazonian shamanism, and ancient teachings under the collective name Cosmocto, you might assume we fell asleep watching Star Trek reruns with doobie in hand. Not the case. After an…
Ballet De Monterrey: New Directions For A New Century
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-05-19 Ballet de Monterrey has been threatening to visit SA for months now. While its production of Don Quixote has been indefinitely postponed due to “passport issues” (stay tuned to artssanantonio.com for updates), the vibrant young company has been given a green light to perform a mixed program titled New Directions…
Paseo Por El Westside
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-05-19 When the historic preservation-minded folks at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center rescued two homes in danger of demolition, el Rinconcito de Esperanza was born. The quaint, grassroots community center on Colorado Street provides a progressive example of the word “community” in a neighborhood that gets pigeonholed as unsafe. The…
La Mafia Musical Legacy: 30th Anniversary
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-05-19 This Sunday, Houston’s multi-Grammy-winning La Mafia will celebrate 30 successful years in the music business. Presented by Univision Radio, “A Music Legacy” will highlight more than 35 albums, with guest appearances by Elida Reyna, Bobby Pulido, Shelly Lares, Ruben Ramos, Los Palominos, Frankie J, and more to be announced. If…
MDC w/ the Restarts & Filthy and the Muff Divers
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-05-19 We personally would never disparage our local law enforcement, who, as far as we’re concerned, are heroes, each and every one, and deserve limitless lifetimes full of joy and not pulling over music critics to search their cars. That said, you still have to admire the blue-ribbon-winning low-hanging fruit that…
Art opening: This is All Real
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-05-19 Maximalism a la femme, y’all, and it’s about goddamn time. One of the traditional characteristics of la woman is to make yourself small, take up less room in the world, fewer resources, demand less, weigh less, and say less. Think that’s not true anymore? Fine, take it up with Fauerso,…
Li’l artist summer roundup
Are you ready for the summer? Are you ready for the good times?Well, say you’ve got one or more children. For most of these wee ’uns, the school year ends after the first week of June. …Oh, Holy Mother of God, then what? Don’t panic, parents. Y’all know your tykes are artistic powerhouses, right? Always…
DEAR UNCLE MAT
Dear Uncle Mat, I am 24, single, and always have been. Single that is. I am not what I would call a player, but I do have my fun. I met a guy last week, and I think I truly like him. We slept together and it was good. Not the best I have ever…
Freewill Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): All of us have gaps in our education. You and I and everyone else alive have dank pockets of ignorance that diminish our humanity and musty pits of naivete that prevent us from seeing truths that are obvious to others. We all lack certain skills that hold us back from being…
The ‘Eyes’ have it
In 1974, a beautiful young newlywed is raped and murdered. Assigned to the case, investigator Benjamín Esposito (Darín) is outraged when his superiors abruptly shut the file, allowing the psychopathic perp to go free. Twenty-five years later, retired from government service in Buenos Aires but still haunted by the blatant injustice, he revisits the episode…
Fighting the past
Final Fight Double Impact (Capcom) $9.99 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 In their time, Final Fight and Magic Sword were the arcade equivalent of high-priced call girls: You waited too long to spend time with them and always went broke before you were done. Similarly, 21 years later both arcade games are cheaper and worse for…
Robin Hood
“Cometh the hour, cometh the man.” Heckuva line. And, when spoken by an 81-and-at-the-top-of-his-prodigious-game Max von Sydow to Russell Crowe’s broody archer in Robin Hood, it resounds with giddy portent and nudges open the coyest of adrenal valves. (I don’t think adrenal valves exist, but you know what I mean.) The question, of course —…
Exurban cowboy
Governor Rick Perry and I have something in common. We both jog in wooded subdivisions with our useless dogs — dogs more likely to need protecting than to protect. We both encounter lots of critters, some harmless (bunnies, deer, weird black squirrels), and some theoretically dangerous (coyotes, snakes, feral hogs). The difference? Perry runs with…
¡Ask a Mexican!
SPECIAL POTPOURRI EDITION Dear Readers, Over the past couple of weeks, the Know Nothing nation has invaded my inbox with the question of why the United States can’t follow the stringent immigration laws of Mexico. They’re merely parroting a recent column by the reprehensible Michelle Malkin, who thought that bringing up the issue was an…
Unleash Bedlamb
San Antonio’s latest local label, Bedlamb Records, began with a bag of scavenged quarters. “It was at one of our Grackle Mondays,” explains Erik Sanden of Buttercup, the de-facto heads of Bedlamb, which Sanden describes as less like a traditional label than “a collaborative or some communist group … a brotherhood … a book club.”…
Crossing over
For a prog-ish metal band — one that might both achieve mainstream success and re-write a rule or two of the genre — Iron Age are startlingly … polite. “We don’t owe anything to anyone,” vocalist Jason Tarpey said, not bitter or angry. “We just do what comes natural and people have stuck by us.”…
Live & Local
With two collapsible folding tables for turntables and laptops occupying most of Saluté’s crowded corner stage, there’s barely enough floorspace left for the three members of Astex to stand shoulder to shoulder. One MC or other has to keep stepping offstage to give the other two room to move, but even then there’s only space…
The Sound & The Fury
I’m of two minds (whatever that means) about Wednesday’s Angels & Airwaves show at Sunset Station (sunset-station.com). The Angels, featuring Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge, is a decent, well-known band that doesn’t play effing nü metal and isn’t a one-hit wonder from the early ’90s, performing at one of SA’s best venues, so you have to be…
Rebooting depression
Sitting in front of the television a quarter-century ago, “Jay,” a tall, athletic-looking college senior with dark hair, was hit by a bolt of anxiety so powerful that death seemed a mere screen flicker away. His pulse raced. The world went into retreat. “A heart attack,” he told himself. The emergency-room doctor, however, was unimpressed.…
Jesus v. Jesus
What is truth?” demands Pilate of his Jewish prisoner, believed by some to be the Messiah foretold by the Prophets. He receives no answer: “And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.” This one-sided exchange appears only in…
The QueQue
Contractual ’cuffs The more things change … the more they stay the same in the imminent collective-bargaining agreement between the San Antonio Police Officers Association and the City. The previous contract expired last October, but its 10-year evergreen clause went into effect as the City and SAPOA negotiated over sticky wickets like health benefits and…
Stop. Motion. Animation.
There are two ways of looking at Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece Waiting for Godot. Either: It’s a deeply moving soul-scream of the damned, shrieked into the unfeeling abyss, a threnody of despair and desperation tempered only by the occasional glimmer of hope. Or: It’s boring as hell. Indeed, there’s never been finer truth-in-advertising than the title…
Reasonal Doubt
This is my last column for the Current. In a few weeks, I will move to Virginia to teach at a law school. I want to thank those people who have taken the time to read my observations, especially those who have commented on my essays on the website, by email, or in person. I am…
The most unkindest cut of all
Do gory, sadistic, misogynistic movies exploit the women who play their victims? Or do they empower them? “It can’t be exploitation if they’re paying me so much,” reasons Sheena McKinney, a young waitress who, on the strength of her ability to scream, is offered $15,000 to star in a slasher film called Bloodbath. To Marc…
Chisme y Chicle
The crowd had thinned considerably by the time the final minutes at the original Liberty Bar arrived at 10:30 p.m. Monday night. Owner Dwight Hobart, who had been sitting quietly at a table in the bar reminiscing with friends, stood and counted down from 10, his Panhandle drawl accelerated only slightly by the emotion of…
Is AGE(d) Refinery too senile to survive?
Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com Now that we know the fire at AGE Refining’s Southside plant wasn’t the work of rabid environmentalists out to localize the message of our dying Gulf of Mexico (but thanks Rush for that from-the-hip ungrounded speculation, we’ve come to expect no less) and was an official “accident,” according to our Fire Chief,…
Touting Texas Winecasts
The Texas wine industry is growing at (relative) leaps and bounds. Who’da thunk there were more than 180 wineries in the state, that they contribute more than $1.35 billion (with a “b”) to the state’s economy each year, and that close to one million curious consumers visit Texas wineries yearly. As good as these numbers…
