Locavore chronicles, episode 1: Good luck!
A fresh start’s never a bad idea, even if it’s small and largely symbolic (ask our prez), and especially when Tejas nature’s on your side for a change. Black-eyed peas are available fresh by the pound at Central Market right now (turns out, they don’t grow hard and dried, but firm and a pretty shade of…
Locavore chronicles, episode 1: Good luck!
A fresh start’s never a bad idea, even if it’s small and largely symbolic (ask our prez), and especially when Tejas nature’s on your side for a change. Black-eyed peas are available fresh by the pound at Central Market right now (turns out, they don’t grow hard and dried, but firm and a pretty shade…
On the Street
“The best in ride-by journalism!” “The second best blog in San Antonio!” “As always, read at your own risk!” Letters (to the Penthouse Suite) #1 No Explanation OTS long-time reader Michael from Austin wrote with this to say: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39453023@N00/2514784712/ Can you explain this to me? (sin permiso) I’ll assume the question is in regard to…
On the Street
“The best in ride-by journalism!” “The second best blog in San Antonio!” “As always, read at your own risk!” Letters (to the Penthouse Suite) #1 No Explanation OTS long-time reader Michael from Austin wrote with this to say: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39453023@N00/2514784712/ Can you explain this to me? (sin permiso) I’ll assume the question is in regard to…
American Idle
Now I’ve never been a fan of American Idol, but apparently the show has been suffering a slump since country crooner Carrie Underwood nabbed the coveted title … and that was in 2005. Last night the show concluded its seventh season with rocker David Cook (and, in my humble opinion, winner of the softest looking…
American Idle
Now I’ve never been a fan of American Idol, but apparently the show has been suffering a slump since country crooner Carrie Underwood nabbed the coveted title … and that was in 2005. Last night the show concluded its seventh season with rocker David Cook (and, in my humble opinion, winner of the softest looking…
Chango’s Havana Club
Smokin’
121 Blue Star Number 5 Loft Studio First Friday Show
Release Date: 2008-05-21 Philadelphia-based olive Dance Theatre presents an evening of works from their repertoire, staying true to the dance-theater genre. Using the vernacular of breakin’ in a narrative structure to tell a story, explore an emotion, or take a journey, the program is complete with groundbreaking ensemble pieces and solos. $9/12, 8pm Friday &…
Readymade Redux
Release Date: 2008-05-21 A San Antonio native, Anna De Luna presents her comical, yet poignant solo performance about her experience as a closeted atheist raised in a very Mexican-American, Catholic household. De Luna asks questions about the relevance of religion in life, exploring the universal struggle of coming to terms with one’s own beliefs (or…
Two women, one geriatric archaeologist
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Director: Steven Spielberg Screenwriter: Steven Spielberg Cast: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, Release Date: 2008-05-21 Website: http://www.indianajones.com/site/index.html Rated: PG-13 Genre: Action It’s tough to follow up a successful movie, much less a celebrated trilogy with a rabid fan base like Indiana…
Rancho Pancho
Release Date: 2008-05-21 A San Antonio native, Anna De Luna presents her comical, yet poignant solo performance about her experience as a closeted atheist raised in a very Mexican-American, Catholic household. De Luna asks questions about the relevance of religion in life, exploring the universal struggle of coming to terms with one’s own beliefs (or…
Rambo: first grade
Son of Rambow Director: Garth Jennings Screenwriter: Garth Jennings Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Bill Milner, Jessica Stephenson, Will Poulter Release Date: 2008-05-21 Website: http://www.sonoframbow.com/ Rated: PG-13 Genre: Comedy As a self-confessed movie geek who squan-dered far too much of his childhood in the shelter of a darkened movie theater, I’m predisposed to identify with a story…
The Band of Heathens
Release Date: 2008-05-21 The Band of Heathens sprung from a weekly gig at Momo’s in Austin, and the group has since proven themselves one of the best live bands on the scene. Celebrating the release of their self-titled studio debut, the Heathens turn it up for a three-hour, Memorial Day Weekend kick-off concert with their…
Narrow Stairs
Narrow Stairs Composer: Death Cab for Cutie Conductor: Death Cab for Cutie Label: Atlantic Release Date: 2008-05-21 Rated: NONE Media: CD Length: LP Format: Album Genre: Indie Rock In an interview with Billboard, Death Cab For Cutie guitarist Chris Walla promised that their seventh LP, Narrow Stairs, would be a “curve ball.” He’s right: Compared…
Boo Human
Boo Human Composer: Joan of Arc Conductor: Joan of Arc Label: Polyvinyl Release Date: 2008-05-21 Rated: NONE Media: CD Length: LP Format: Album Genre: Indie Rock Through an exclusive turnstile of guest members, Chicago’s Joan of Arc has synthesized its murky, folky sound and infused it with electronic elements to make Boo Human punchy and…
Shakespeare in the Park
Release Date: 2008-05-21 The annual collaboration between the Magik Theatre and ARTS San Antonio is back with The Tempest, set this year in a galaxy far, far away. The futuristic version of this tale of revenge, lust for power, colonialism, the nature of freedom, and the human capacity for forgiveness is Shakespeare-meets-psychedelic sci-fi. Shakespeare in…
Bang Camaro w. Crimson Sout
Release Date: 2008-05-21 These boys mix energy and arena-rock hooks with solid musicianship and blazing solos. The Boston “super” group has more than 15 lead singers at any given time and can blast out metal rock and opera, throwing out traditional verses to highlight catchy choruses and as many guitar solos as possible. Besides, watching…
Iron Maiden
Release Date: 2008-05-21 Maiden Mania is back with a bigger-than-ever stage show (and budget), so bang your heads as the icons of ’80s rock bring their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour to the Alamo City. Renowned vocalist Bruce Dickinson says he’s looking forward to seeing the crazed Texas fans again, and Maiden won’t be…
Chicana Atheist?
Release Date: 2008-05-21 A San Antonio native, Anna De Luna presents her comical, yet poignant solo performance about her experience as a closeted atheist raised in a very Mexican-American, Catholic household. De Luna asks questions about the relevance of religion in life, exploring the universal struggle of coming to terms with one’s own beliefs (or…
An Evening of Hip-Hop Dance Theater
Release Date: 2008-05-21 Philadelphia-based olive Dance Theatre presents an evening of works from their repertoire, staying true to the dance-theater genre. Using the vernacular of breakin’ in a narrative structure to tell a story, explore an emotion, or take a journey, the program is complete with groundbreaking ensemble pieces and solos. $9/12, 8pm Friday &…
The Band of Heathens
Release Date: 2008-05-21 The Band of Heathens sprung from a weekly gig at Momo’s in Austin, and the group has since proven themselves one of the best live bands on the scene. Celebrating the release of their self-titled studio debut, the Heathens turn it up for a three-hour, Memorial Day Weekend kick-off concert with their…
Sound the Alarm, Driving East, Roark, Kevin Elliot & The Broken, The Sunset Doctrine, & Parous
Release Date: 2008-05-21 Led by Kentucky-reared, LA-based Kevin Elliot, the band is on tour in support of their debut, Damage Of This Day, which was recorded at the legendary Henson Studios with some of LA’s finest session players. Bolstered by upbeat anthems, soulful revelations, and semi-autobiographical ballads, the album opens with “Teleport,” which looks to…
Eisley, The Myriad, Vedera, & Westbound Departure
Release Date: 2008-05-21 Eisley is the most famous product of Tyler since Earl Campbell, and unlike Campbell, the group has attained renown without having to pulverize any NFL linebackers. A family band composed of three sisters, a brother, and a cousin, Eisley is a demonstration of what happens when small-town church kids with musical parents…
Mosaics in Context: The Medium & the Message
Release Date: 2008-05-21 I don’t know about you but I’ve always marveled at the mosaic — the small colored bits of glass pieced together to create a decorative art form unlike any other. At Bihl Haus Art, Research Associate and Lecturer in Roman Art History at the University of Texas in Austin Dr. Nayla Kabazi…
Two much
John Edds likes to wind people up. When the Big Soy singer/guitarist takes the stage with drummer/keyboardist Adam White, he often turns into the Don Rickles of indie rock, mocking a kid’s mohawk one minute and egging the crowd into dumb Pavlovian cheers the next. “I tend to talk a lot of shit when we…
THE SOUND & THE FURY
Legendary rock critic Dave Marsh devoted 45 minutes of his weekly Sirius radio show, “Dave Marsh Kicks Out the Jams,” on Sunday, May 18, to The Krayolas. Marsh played highlights from La Conquistadora, the new album by San Antonio’s power-pop comeback kids, and spoke by phone with Krayolas frontman Hector Saldaña. Marsh initially thought the…
Definitive San Anto
There are essentials every new resident of San Antonio should receive: a map of the city, a VIA bus schedule, a comprehensive H-E-B directory, a guide to identifying authentic margaritas. When the Current plays Welcome Wagon, we’ll also include Art at our Doorstep: San Antonio Writers + Artists, a definitive collection of local writers’ and…
Something old, something new …
Volume One She & Him (Merge) This column’s wedding-dress theme was initially hatched in honor of She & Him, the M. Ward/Zooey Deschanel collaboration that isn’t a literal marriage but merits festivities nonetheless. But other Current critics beat me to that one, so I’ll instead tout the platonic same-sex bond between the Gutter Twins, which…
ARTIFACTS
Sadly, I wasn’t familiar with the work of Robert Rauschenberg until last week when, at 82 years old, he died. The Port Arthur-born artist gained national appeal with his exhibition Combines which included 67 works created between 1954 and 1964. In a Village Voice article, art critic Jerry Saltz compared him to Picasso, declaring him…
Playback
Playback generally refrains from nosing around in celebrity bedrooms, figuring that’s a job best left to TMZ and Rob Lowe’s ex-nanny. But we couldn’t help but notice last week’s announcement that country-pop superstar Shania Twain and her husband of 14 years, Robert “Mutt” Lange, are calling it quits. As we all know, sham marriages have…
The Vexler gets its freak on
Critics didn’t quite know what to make of Bill Russell and Henry Krieger’s Sideshow when it first landed on Broadway in 1997: The dark, quirky production about the tribulations of Siamese twins confounded all expectations for a pastiche ’30s musical. Audiences, however, voted with their feet, and within weeks another socially-conscious show was, well, kicked…
Knowing the score
Dum-ta-dum-duumm … The work of John Williams needs no introduction here. If you’re not familiar with his towering, mercifully still-in-progress legacy — and I promise I’m not trying to be snotty here, but — it’s not his fault. (I envy you, though: That “Holy-crap-those-are-all-by-the-same-guy?!” moment is a doozie.) Alas, precious few film composers are even…
It takes three
Selecting the best writers and artists to feature in a first-of-its-kind book couldn’t be that difficult, right? When Gemini Ink founder Nan Cuba (who was one of my instructors at Our Lady of the Lake University) and Trinity University Press Director Barbara Ras met for lunch in the summer of 2003, their chit-chat led to…
CRITICAL Darling
Oh, happy day: Lori Drew’s been indicted. If the name escapes you, perhaps this pithy description will jog your memory: Drew is a Missouri mother who enjoys foie gras, pouring salt on snails, posing as a teenage boy named Josh Evans on MySpace, and tormenting her daughter’s clinically depressed ex-friend via Josh/MySpace until said ex-friend,…
Gen Estro
We didn’t get the memo about all-women group shows popping up like crazy this month. We’re not upset, mind you — we’re really excited about the recent surge of female-only art shows. A great example of the hot flash (so sue us) Five Women and a French Accent at Fishead features a variety of work…
TCEQ Against Reason
After four years and at least 14 permit application revisions, Waste Control Specialists today was awarded a contested and highly-controversial license to begin burying radioactive waste in a series of trenches in western Andrews County. The site is at southwest end of the Panhandle near the New Mexico state line, where it backs up to…
Home on the Range
When we moved into our house three years ago, it wasn’t exactly a fixer-upper, but like any middle-aged “previously owned” home, it had plenty of issues (wood rot, decaying plumbing, mysterious paint color choices). After an initial flurry of fixer-upping, our wellspring of enthusiasm — along with our financial resources — ran dry. But like…
Wikipedia cannot save us
Last week I wrote about the premise of Oxford professor Jonathan Zittrain’s new book The Future of the Internet — and How to Stop It. He warns about a future of “tethered” technologies like the DVR and smartphones, which are often programmed remotely by the companies that make them — rather than being programmed by…
Slab Cinema calls off Cevallos locale
In mid-April, the Current received an email from Slab Cinema — SA’s beloved outdoor B-movie profferers — explicating a location change. Development plans at its current location prompted Slab to set sights on a space just down the road on Cevallos, where they hoped to build a permanent outdoor garden theater. Per the email, Slab…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Why did the Mexican comedian Cantinflas never catch on in Hollywood? I thought he was supposed to usher in the Mexican wave of actors and movies that would help transform Hollywood. Instead, that movement ended up flat as a tortilla. — El Curioso Dear Curious Gabacho: Do people even know who Cantinflas…
Couch potato famine
In less than nine months, 30 million Americans could find themselves staring at a blank television screen. On February 17, 2009, the United States launches an ambitious digital-TV transition, requiring all full-power broadcast stations to scrap their analog transmissions in favor of digital-only signals. The move is designed to free up the airwaves for emergency…
NBA West Shootout
For months, sportswriters have salivated at the thought of a Lakers-Celtics matchup in the NBA Finals, figuring this would mean the renewal of the league’s greatest rivalry. It’s true that whenever we see these teams on the court together, our minds inevitably flash back to Chamberlain-Russell, West-Havliceck, and Magic-Bird. Dig a little deeper, however, and…
Clothes-minded
It’s wedding season again, in my mind, one of the most difficult occasions to shop for. If a couple is young and just starting out, I am thankful for the registry and will happily purchase their first grown up set of towels. But for friends my own age, already along in their careers and with…
Ritual neckwear & the dovetailing dimensions of waste
Sun king We’ve been turning the silken fabric over in our fingers for almost 22 hours. Around our neck we twist it and knot it. We are perplexed. We get angry. We throw it down and storm out of the room only to return later, sulking, to make up. Queque admits to being bested by…
Dear Uncle Mat
I have a lot of career and a lot of extended family, and lately they’re both unrelenting in taking up my time. Pardon the generalization here, but it seems that gay men (and women) are often good at setting personal boundaries — at least the ones I know, anyway. Any advice for a hetero, over-extended…
Holding Hutto’s feet to the fire
When a coalition of community activists gathers in Taylor, Texas, this weekend, they’ll trot alongside a barbed-wire fence (we’re told the inner barricades have come down) and descend upon the controversial T. Don Hutto Residential Center, where a teddy bear has been placed on every bed and children’s artwork lines the halls. As they inch…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): After working for years in various jobs at San Francisco TV station KTVU, Frank Sommerville was promoted to the top of the heap — lead anchorman of the 10 o’clock news program. He promised that his new power wouldn’t make him lazy or complacent. “Nobody will out-curious me,” he bragged. I…
No vaya con dios
Local performer Anna De Luna doesn’t believe in God. But she has no choice but to pray the rosary whenever her mother does because if she doesn’t, she’ll get a scolding. De Luna tackles this and other kinds of issues in her upcoming one-woman show ¿Chicana Atheist? Having performed the piece since almost two years…
Grissini’s is a cut above the field
The first thing one wonders is this: Why did they do it? True, in their previous location near the Medical Center, Grissini was head-to-head with the formidable Aldo’s, but at Lincoln Heights, Paesano’s and Piatti are nearby competitors for the Italian dining dollar. A drive-by on a recent weekday evening showed both of their parking…
TCEQ Against Reason
After four years and at least 14 permit application revisions, Waste Control Specialists today was awarded a contested and highly-controversial license to begin burying radioactive waste in a series of trenches in western Andrews County. The site is at southwest end of the Panhandle near the New Mexico state line, where it backs up to…
Amuse-BOUCHE
A half-dozen locavore providers will take their wares to the new farmers market at the Botanical Garden this Thursday. On the tables, according to Robert Maggiani, Go Texan’s San Antonio Coordinator for Regional Marketing Programs, will be squash, tomatoes, carrots, beets, okra, lettuce, and as always, Texas honey. It’s still too early for cucumbers and…
Slab Cinema calls off Cevallos locale
In mid-April, the Current received an email from Slab Cinema — SA’s beloved outdoor B-movie profferers — explicating a location change. Development plans at its current location prompted Slab to set sights on a space just down the road on Cevallos, where they hoped to build a permanent outdoor garden theater. Per the email, Slab…
Smokin’
Chango’s Havana Club may be a stretch from your normal nightlife circuit, but don’t let that deter you. Across from the Dominion along I-10, the cocktail lounge and cigar bar is located in a shopping center outside the 1604 loop, but Chango’s makes venturing just outside of town decidedly worth it. Weeknights are known for…
NBA West Shootout
For months, sportswriters have salivated at the thought of a Lakers-Celtics matchup in the NBA Finals, figuring this would mean the renewal of the league’s greatest rivalry. It’s true that whenever we see these teams on the court together, our minds inevitably flash back to Chamberlain-Russell, West-Havliceck, and Magic-Bird. Dig a little deeper, however, and…
Family Fruit
After her brother/husband Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead, was sliced into a dozen pieces and scattered along the shores of the Nile, Isis set about recovering and rejoining the fragments. She was able to locate only 11. Like Osiris, Carl Brenner was a man of many parts — trial lawyer, big-game hunter, gun…
Josiah Media Fest deadline approaching
Apologies for the quickie, folks; it’s press day … Entry fee: $5 Grand Prize: $500 line of credit w/ B&H Photo & Video, additional prizes for various categories See urban15.org for more specs and entry forms!
Josiah Media Fest deadline approaching
Apologies for the quickie, folks; it’s press day … Entry fee: $5 Grand Prize: $500 line of credit w/ B&H Photo & Video, additional prizes for various categories See urban15.org for more specs and entry forms!
