Saddam under our skin
Let me begin by writing that I’m at a complete loss of words to express my utter confusion over Jump-Start’s latest production, Blood Under the Bridge: The Last Redemption of Saddam H. Honestly, I’m not too sure what the plot of the entire two-hour-and- 45-minute production was about (yes, that long … with one 10-…
Saddam under our skin
Let me begin by writing that I’m at a complete loss of words to express my utter confusion over Jump-Start’s latest production, Blood Under the Bridge: The Last Redemption of Saddam H. Honestly, I’m not too sure what the plot of the entire two-hour-and- 45-minute production was about (yes, that long … with one 10-…
Thank a tourist today!
Survey Says … According to Bexar County tallies, fewer than 7 percent of you could be bothered to turn up at the polls for Saturday’s venue-tax election. So it really was more like a poll than an election, and the survey says you’re wildly in favor of spending future hotel and car-rental tax money on…
Thank a tourist today!
Survey Says … According to Bexar County tallies, fewer than 7 percent of you could be bothered to turn up at the polls for Saturday’s venue-tax election. So it really was more like a poll than an election, and the survey says you’re wildly in favor of spending future hotel and car-rental tax money on…
Nothing says “you do good work” like cold, hard cash
Rumored sighting of Catholic-girl liberation. An early-morning phone call promised that if I high-tailed it up 281, I’d be rewarded with a graduation hijink: a sign at Incarnate Word High School announcing that Seniors ’08 are busting out all over and covered in brassieres. But it was either a fever dream (a former Catholic high-schooler,…
On the Street
“Low culture, high culture and no culture all co-existing uneasily in another installment of On the Street. As always, read at your own risk” On the Street ***** Letters (to the Penthouse Suite) #1 Not Dadaist Poetry/Bring in the Clowns/Batman In what could be one of his last contributions OTS insider Everett wrote to give…
Toxic Translator
New nuke plants have become quite the controversial undertaking in San Anto. Not in the upper levels of CPS, where they elevate at abuelita’s secret mole status, a charge to kill and die for. If not to “lie” for, then at least to withhold every shred of relevant information, a process that had become –…
Nothing says “you do good work” like cold, hard cash
Rumored sighting of Catholic-girl liberation. An early-morning phone call promised that if I high-tailed it up 281, I’d be rewarded with a graduation hijink: a sign at Incarnate Word High School announcing that Seniors ’08 are busting out all over and covered in brassieres. But it was either a fever dream (a former Catholic high-schooler,…
On the Street
“Low culture, high culture and no culture all co-existing uneasily in another installment of On the Street. As always, read at your own risk” On the Street ***** Letters (to the Penthouse Suite) #1 Not Dadaist Poetry/Bring in the Clowns/Batman In what could be one of his last contributions OTS insider Everett wrote to give…
Toxic Translator
New nuke plants have become quite the controversial undertaking in San Anto. Not in the upper levels of CPS, where they elevate at abuelita’s secret mole status, a charge to kill and die for. If not to “lie” for, then at least to withhold every shred of relevant information, a process that had become –…
Wednesday backs the woolly booger
According to an interview the Addams Family star gave Black Book magazine, Christina Ricci backs the bush: “I think people are learning to actually aspire to be objectified,” Christina said. “It’s like the highest form of flattery for teenage girls. The culture we live in right now seems to reward behavior that we used to…
Wednesday backs the woolly booger
According to an interview the Addams Family star gave Black Book magazine, Christina Ricci backs the bush: “I think people are learning to actually aspire to be objectified,” Christina said. “It’s like the highest form of flattery for teenage girls. The culture we live in right now seems to reward behavior that we used to…
Machine 15
Machine 15 Composer: Millencolin Conductor: Millencolin Label: Burning Heart/Epitaph Release Date: 2008-05-07 Rated: NONE Media: CD Length: LP Format: Album Genre: Punk/Hardcore After a three-year break, Swedish skate-punk veterans Millencolin have returned with their seventh studio album, Machine 15. They’ve weathered the difficulties inherent in staying together through a decade and a half, and the…
Redbelt
Redbelt Director: David Mamet Screenwriter: David Mamet Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emily mortimer, Max Martini, Alice Braga Release Date: 2008-05-07 Website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/redbelt/ Rated: NONE Genre: Drama Within a closed ring, two contestants attempt to batter each other into submission — it is the enduring formula for cinematic spectacle in Raging Bull, Rocky, Cinderella Man, and countless…
The Last Redemption of Saddam H
Release Date: 2008-05-07 A new branch of Purgatory has opened up in the historic Ambassador Hotel, and the cast of characters contained within is a decidedly juicy backdrop for The Last Redemption of Saddam H. The site of Robert Kennedy’s assassination has morphed into a seedy nightclub and brothel, whose patrons eagerly await the end…
Tattooed Millionaires, Sybilla, & Eden Burning
Release Date: 2008-05-07 This isn’t just another spandex-clad, scarf-wearing ’80s glam band your mom warned you about. Tattooed Millionaires exude Sunset Strip, and with song titles such as “Hong Kong Blonde,” “Gimmie Good Head,” and “I Want to Get In Your Pants,” it sounds like a party to us. Also on the bill are Italian…
The Whigs, What Made MIlwaukee Famous, & The Dead Trees
Release Date: 2008-05-07 The hard-riffing, hooky rock that shook SA two months ago is back — The Whigs return with songs from their new album, Mission Control, this time with Austin indie rock fave What Made Milwaukee Famous. WMMF flexes some serious guitar muscle in their sophomore effort, What Doesn’t Kill Us, and a commanding…
Lincolnesque
Release Date: 2008-05-07 A satirical look at Washington D.C., John Strand’s tale follows two brothers who struggle to find their sanity during political upheaval. Leo is a Capitol Hill speechwriter trying to do his job while caring for his brother Francis, who is convinced he is Lincoln incarnate. Comedy ensues when Francis takes over his…
The Green, Rage Ranger, Shuttle Debris, & Just In Time
Release Date: 2008-05-07 Local electronica trio The Green eases the mind and soothes the soul with a down-tempo mix of trip-hop, while Austin’s Rage Ranger has mastered the sidewinding feeling of tumbling down the rabbit hole and being spit out the other side. Fellow Austinites Shuttle Debris add their laptop-pop to a spectacular show. $5/7,…
Grupo Fantasma, Arma Musical, & DJ Victima
Release Date: 2008-05-07 He may not dominate the pop charts the way he did in the mid-’80s, but in terms of musical cachet, Prince remains the ultimate superdelegate. An endorsement from him carries with it the assurance that you’re creating something of substance. That’s why Austin’s Grupo Fantasma has been on such a dizzying high…
Ballet of the Elephants
Release Date: 2008-05-07 Don’t read much into the name of the event — you won’t find elephants garbed in tutus performing the Nutcracker. But you will be able to participate in a petting zoo of a different kind — an instrumental petting zoo (where children can experiment with orchestral instuments). The San Antonio Symphony and…
Mommapalooza San Antonio 2008
Release Date: 2008-05-07 Created as a means to empower and celebrate moms everywhere, Mommapalooza showcases a unique lineup of art and music. Singer-songwriter Laura Marie, country crooner Katherine Dawn, blues specialists Spirit Breeze, folk rocker Julie Good, Jedi gypsy Alexis Anthony, and more pay tribute to women everywhere with a concert for moms that rock.…
Supersuckers & The Last Vegas
Release Date: 2008-05-07 Mother’s Day or not, this show promises a booze-fueled, double-barreled night of rock ’n roll mayhem. Handlebar-mustachioed cowboy Eddie Spaghetti fronts The Supersuckers’ raucous and rebellious brand of full-throttle punkabilly, while The Last Vegas ups the bill’s ante, their swaggering, guitar-driven sleaze rock named “Best New Discovery of SXSW 2008” by SPIN…
Waiting for the ‘Grand’ moment
Release Date: 2008-05-07 The Merchants Grand website is enticing and encouraging. Makes you want to go there. Knowing that the chef, Jonathan Parker, demonstrated considerable seafood cred at Pesca, then proved his flexibility at the quirky but rewarding Las Leyendas, is even further incentive. A couple of early-on visits to the bar for wine and…
‘Iron’ is good for you
Iron Man Director: Jon Favreau Screenwriter: Jon Favreau Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub Release Date: 2008-05-07 Website: http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com/ Rated: PG-13 Genre: Action In terms of household name-recognition, Iron Man has…
The Accidental Trio
The Accidental Trio Composer: various Conductor: The Accidental Trio Label: self-released Release Date: 2008-05-07 Rated: NONE Media: CD Length: LP Format: Album Genre: Vocal The story goes that Joan Carroll, Mark Rubinstein, and Matt Dunne became the Accidental Trio when their bandmates failed to show up for a gig. It’s hard to imagine any other…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Readers: The paperback version of my book is out in stores now, cheap enough so that even a Guatemalan can afford it. Buy, por favor! Now, on to the preguntas … Dear Mexican: Whenever I see the television show COPS, the white folks pull over and hope no one searches anything where there are…
Missions Baseball Tickets
The San Antonio Current wants to send you to a Misions Baseball game. We have 10 pairs of tickets to a Missions game on Wednesday, May 15th. Game time is 7:05pm. For your chance to win tickets for you and a guest, send an email to freebies@sacurrent.com with "Missions Baseball" in the subject line. Winners…
Hornets Nest
The big question among NBA-playoff watchers over the last 48 hours has been: Are the Spurs finally over-the-hill? I’m reluctant to answer in the affirmative because I was convinced that age had caught up with this team two years ago when they struggled to keep up with a younger, quicker Dallas Mavericks team in the…
Amuse-BOUCHE
“Paper or plastic” is a phrase that should have been tossed out of your vocab long ago, and Whole Foods is giving you a hand by eliminating plastic bags at their checkout counters. The newest addition to their fun line of eco-friendly, reusable bags is the colorful Better Bag, made of recycled bottles and weighing…
dozing in the hill country…
Last night, Commissioner Lyle Larson was complaining about lack of county controls on development at a hearing over the expansion of Scenic Loop Road. Some suggested we should just stop building roads and choke the new growth out. A lot of applause and head nodding and “developers are out of control” agreement. Maybe next session…
The perfect food shortage
The United Nations is calling the recent increase in world hunger a “silent tsunami,” as if it was triggered by an event at the bottom of the ocean. I’d call the crisis a storm, brewed by several converging forces, all of which, it turns out, are man-made. It’s a storm that some have been predicting…
Where the sidewalk ends …
Mulberrysidewalk It’s almost too early to dream, really, but it’s true that the nascent Brackenridge Conservancy has at least heard of the idea to restrict access and/or speed on the section of Mulberry that runs between Broadway and North St. Mary’s. That increasingly trafficked stretch is park road, after all, which once upon a time…
It ain’t easy being `blue`
My guess is this isn’t the Muppet concept Jason Segel and Nick Stoller pitched …
Priceless hand-me-downs
Juan Tejeda always keeps one eye on the distant past and one on the future. That’s what happens when you devote your life to nurturing a musical and cultural form forged in the first half of the 20th century by giants who have passed away. Tejeda loves the historical dimension of conjunto, but he cherishes…
OLLU fire: The day after …
Nearly a year ago I was a college senior anxiously awaiting graduation, searching for a job, and avoiding my impending adulthood at all costs. My safe haven wasn’t the bar or some guy’s house — it was school. I happen to be a graduate of Our Lady of the Lake University and as University President…
Our Body: The Universe Within
The SA Current wants to send you and a friend to The Witte Museum to see Our Body: The Universe Within. We will have one winner per week (2 passes) for the next 5 weeks. The exhibit runs through May 26, 2008, so you will need to use them by that date. In order to…
THE SOUND & THE FURY
If it seems like just yesterday that The Whigs came to town, then perception is almost in accord with reality. The Athens, Georgia, power trio tore things up at the Rock Bottom less than two months ago, but, fortunately for us, they’re currently opting to saturate the Alamo City market. Even if you don’t feel…
Hornets Nest
The big question among NBA-playoff watchers over the last 48 hours has been: Are the Spurs finally over-the-hill? I’m reluctant to answer in the affirmative because I was convinced that age had caught up with this team two years ago when they struggled to keep up with a younger, quicker Dallas Mavericks team in the…
Rustic outfitters
A band’s formation is like a love affair. When it comes together quickly and effortlessly, it’s a sign you’re onto something special. In the case of the Belleville Outfit, the ease they share is conveyed musically through a catchy, broad-minded, light-stepping blend of gypsy swing, bluegrass, ragtime blues, and country-folk that effervesces more than a…
Iron Man Mask and Gauntlet
The SA Current is giving away 2 sets of the Hasbro Iron Man Mask and Repulsor Gauntlet. Winners will be selected at random on Wednesday May 14th and notified by email. For your chance to win, please send an email to freebies@sacurrent.com
Art show road trip
Let’s forget about gas prices and plan a road trip — even better, an art-show road trip. Your team of roaming art lovers has selected some of the best shows across Texas for your viewing pleasure. Pick up the digital camera, a few extra dollars for admission, snacks for the drive, your gas card, and…
Playback
I’ll admit that even before I heard a single ostinato from her, I was inclined to dislike Leona Lewis. I pride myself on being able to tell the difference between crass calculation and outright evil, but Simon Cowell and Clive Davis blur the lines a bit, and these two smug svengalis have joined forces to…
ARTIFACTS
I’ve always been a fan of Joan Fabian’s impressive paintings — one example being her November show Hyper-Dash at REM Gallery, where free association allowed viewers to escape into another world. So when it was announced that she was one of the finalists for the Hunting Art Prize (a Texas-wide competition, that is, according to…
Mostly Marfa
I talked to strangers; I brandished my cowboy mouth; I knocked out the best migas of my life, and even found the time to catch a few flicks at the inaugural Marfa Film Festival. A conjecture: If the festival’s organizers really believed that movies alone were going to keep a body occupied for its five-day…
Whose stage is it anyway?
The Next Stage Improv show last Saturday night took me back to sophomore year in high school — and that’s not a bad thing. I’ve heard every single Chuck Norris joke drummed up in my day, but the improv group pulled off a decent show even though they grappled with a redundant topic. According to…
CRITICAL Darling
So we know David Lynch doesn’t think you’re really watching a film when it’s playing on your iPhone — a sentiment Critical Darling tends to sympathize with — but then is David Lynch really making a film when he shoots on a cheap Sony digital? Yes, these times they are a-changin’ (yay technology!). Changing with…
Target engaged
Paula Cox’s recent work, currently on view at the Southwest School of Art & Craft, is visually dynamic and thought-provoking. The mixed-media works incorporate familiar forms in bold hues while displaying a handcrafted quality. Much of the work depicts dresses and fans, conveying girlish innocence and its inherent power of seduction. The few pieces depicting…
Far from Calcutta
“Indians are everywhere these days,” observes a character in Jhumpa Lahiri’s exquisite new collection of eight short stories. In addition to one billion in south Asia, Indians comprise a diaspora numbering some 25 million worldwide, three million in the United States. Authors of Indian background, including Salman Rushdie, Bharati Mukherjee, Vikram Seth, Rohinton Mistry, Arundhati…
Obligatory video-game outrage
At this point, the outraged response to the latest installment in the Grand Theft Auto series of video games, Liberty City Stories, is pretty much obligatory. Mothers Against Drunk Driving is lobbying to get the video game rated “adults only” (effectively killing it in the U.S. market, where major console manufacturers won’t support AO games)…
Dear Uncle Mat
I have a quandary in my dating life. I have been seeing this new guy, “Matt,” for a few weeks. We both are interested in dating someone seriously and on the hunt for the ever-elusive LTR. I really like Matt, and he seems to be into me. He is smart, has a nice body, a…
May 10 Venue Tax vote: Let the games begin?
Really, what’s another $80 million when it’s essentially been guaranteed by Bexar County officials to pump even more tourism revenue into San Antonio’s already tourism-heavy economy, while resulting in less collective girth for our swelling-by-the-second, Grand Theft Auto IV-addicted children? Not that much, proponents of the Visitor Tax extension (coming May 10 to a Special…
dozing in the hill country…
Last night, Commissioner Lyle Larson was complaining about lack of county controls on development at a hearing over the expansion of Scenic Loop Road. Some suggested we should just stop building roads and choke the new growth out. A lot of applause and head nodding and “developers are out of control” agreement. Maybe next session…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): For many Aries, independence is a virtue that flows in abundance — so much so that it’s sometimes on the verge of becoming excessive and turning into a vice. That’s why I’m thrilled to inform you that the mysteries of dependence could be especially intriguing and useful to you in the…
Legal withdrawal; gaseous apparitions
Follow the tracks How deep the trenches must be dug when the soft dirt of injustice hardens into stonewall positions. As the Queque sat down to transcribe its conversations with First Assistant DA Cliff Herberg and pro-bono attorney for the defense Neel Lane in re: Bexar DA Susan Reed vs. needle-exchange programs, it found the…
Where the sidewalk ends …
Mulberrysidewalk It’s almost too early to dream, really, but it’s true that the nascent Brackenridge Conservancy has at least heard of the idea to restrict access and/or speed on the section of Mulberry that runs between Broadway and North St. Mary’s. That increasingly trafficked stretch is park road, after all, which once upon a time…
Those cabinets don’t hang themselves
Another home-improvement show. Another parade of disembodied hands, elbows, and backs of heads. While experts expound on the raising of the roof, the sandblasting of the fireplace, and the alignment of the track lighting, dusty manos, workboot-encased feet, and anonymous nalgas in faded, dusty blue jeans float in and out of camera range while experts…
An open and boundless prairie
Lacking the creative-class industries said to guarantee a financially glorious 21st century, a small but ambitious town might turn to that timeless lure of the young and industrious: a blank slate. Proof? Young’uns are moving back to Von Ormy, a longtime resident tells me. If that’s true (and the Current’s talked to two of these…
It ain’t easy being `blue`
My guess is this isn’t the Muppet concept Jason Segel and Nick Stoller pitched …
Clothes-minded
Parisian naughtypants Nicole Locher is at it again. Known for her candy-colored, hand-embroidered T-shirts sweetly inscribed with raunchy sayings, Locher has just released a 2008 spring/summer online collection. For those of you who tittered at, but didn’t order from, last year’s selection with its copious use of the f-word, you can play it a bit…
Finally old enough for the Oval Office, Swift throws a lasso in the ring
Three candidates get all the air time. Ralph’s defected for an Independent run. “Green” has become the Holy Grail of marketing kitsch. And San Antonio’s newest perennial candidate (and former Current staffer), Kat Swift, is using her Minervan powers to shake down the last few uncommitted primary voters to save the world from anti-human, corporo-fascist…
OLLU fire: The day after …
Nearly a year ago I was a college senior anxiously awaiting graduation, searching for a job, and avoiding my impending adulthood at all costs. My safe haven wasn’t the bar or some guy’s house — it was school. I happen to be a graduate of Our Lady of the Lake University and as University President…
Sun Spots
(Image courtesy of Lake|Flato Architects) San Anto has been slowly catching the solar wave. However, from jail showers to quik-marts to private homes and Fort Sam silicon, the rooftop panels are spreading among us with an increasing clip. Pearl Brewery’s revitalization effort (pic above) brought the announcement of a solar roof array to be the…
Sun Spots
(Image courtesy of Lake|Flato Architects) San Anto has been slowly catching the solar wave. However, from jail showers to quik-marts to private homes and Fort Sam silicon, the rooftop panels are spreading among us with an increasing clip. Pearl Brewery’s revitalization effort (pic above) brought the announcement of a solar roof array to be the…
