The WAO Files: The USDA’s Dave Sacks confirms there is an investigation against WAO
By Enrique Lopetegui elopetegui@sacurrent.com “There is no case, there is no investigation,” former Wild Animal Orphanage attorney Eric Turton (and other Carol Asvestas supporters) repeatedly told the Current and anyone asking about the status of the WAO cases with the USDA. Well, it seems that, after all, yes, there is (or was until very recently)…
Show & Prove: Home Cooking
The Spurs welcomed Gilbert Arenas and the Washington Wizards to the AT&T Center last night with the return of point guard Tony Parker and perhaps their most cohesive game of the season. Parker paced San Antonio to the tune of 17 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds, sparking the Spurs to a 106-84 drubbing of…
WAO update: Nicole responds, R.G. Griffing doesn’t.
By Enrique Lopetegui elopetegui@sacurrent.com As reported by the Current in Animal Wrongs, on October 15 Carol Asvestas, founder and former CEO of the Wild Animal Orphanage, sued the new WAO board, claiming that it acted without proper authority when it suspended and then fired her and former husband Ron Asvestas. The original lawsuit asked for…
Hyatt risk of injury
By Enrique Lopetegui elopetegui@sacurrent.com An unprecedented study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine indicates that female Hispanic hotel housekeepers are 1.5 times more likely to be injured than men, and almost twice as likely to be injured than their white female counterparts. Hispanic and Asian males were about 1.5 times more likely to…
Chaléwood No. 23: Stephanie Andujar
Stephanie Andujar – Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire By Kiko Martinez San Antonio Current contributing writer kiko@cinesnob.net For actress Stephanie Andujar, her role in the critically acclaimed drama Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, hit close to home. Born and raised in Manhattan, Andujar, who is of Puerto Rican descent,…
Live & Local preview: 2009 Rammy Awards Show
How’s this for service journalism? I’m giving you one more chance to find out about the opportunity of a lifetime â?? the chance to see the local concert of your lifetime, the 2009 Rammy Music Awards. Don’t be one of those people who skips it only to later have to lie about it to their…
The Sound and the Fury: James McMurtry, Nirvana, and Manu Chao
By Enrique Lopetegui elopetegui@sacurrent.com If you like your rootsy rock and roll straight, go see Austin-based singer-songwriter James McMurtry’s set Friday at Sam’s Burger Joint (330 E Grayson St., $10-$15, 9 pm). The former leader of The Heartless Bastards has just released the tight Live in Europe, which could very well be his best album.…
Critic’s DISS
2012
Power Lunch
Release Date: 2009-11-18 This was all an accident. I set out to review an entirely different restaurant in the same center and ended up at Flour Power instead. (The intended target had capricious hours.) Based entirely on the name, I didn’t expect much. There I go again … But the café and bakery had some surprises…
An Education
An Education Director: Lone Scherfig Screenwriter: Lone Scherfig Cast: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Cara Seymour, Olivia Williams Release Date: 2009-11-18 Rated: PG-13 Genre: Film Many have come close, but An Education is the first film this year to grab me by the lapel and whisk me along with its characters, to make me…
Papa Roach
Release Date: 2009-11-18 Q: How long does it take for a rock band to go from self-releasing EPs with titles like Potatoes for Christmas and Caca Bonita to playing the main stage at Ozzfest? A: Six years. Ever since Dream Works Records caught wind of Papa Roach’s explosive demos, they’ve been infesting huge stadiums alongside…
Art opening: Street Beat
Release Date: 2009-11-18 David Rubin, Arturo Almeida, and Kellen McIntyre curated this “anything goes” group exhibition featuring artists from Texas, California, and New York who took inspiration from all things “street.” The influence of street culture on art, fashion, and music is nothing new, but with such a broad approach to a show, the results…
Downtown Alliance Urban Spaces Tour 2009
Release Date: 2009-11-18 Ever wonder what’s going on inside those mysterious-looking buildings downtown? Well, here’s your chance to take a peek. The Downtown Alliance has organized a walking tour focusing on the area between Main Plaza and Market Square. After taking in the breathtaking view from the Morris Building’s Penthouse, the tour continues on, visiting…
15th Annual Mariachi Extravaganza w/ Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan
Release Date: 2009-11-18 For the last 15 years, San Antonio has been a second home to Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, which was founded in 1897 and is justly considered the world’s greatest mariachi … ever. The annual extravaganza is the main MV concert after a week of workshops and talent competitions. This Saturday’s show, besides…
2009 Rammy Awards
Release Date: 2009-11-18 While this is the second year we’ve recognized outstanding local musical talent based on audience votes, it’s our first year hosting an awards ceremony and concert. With awards for Best Music Video, Best Vocalist, Best Cover Band, Best DJ (and 14 others), as well as performances by Mexicans with Guns (left), the…
Lyle Lovett & His Large Band
Release Date: 2009-11-18 Even if you’re not a fan of Lyle Lovett’s music, the talent pool this Texas troubadour travels with could probably make even the Grinch want to get off his green ass and dance. During breaks from seamlessly bouncing between country, blues, gospel, and jazz, Lovett engages in dry, witty banter with members…
Full Steam Ahead! SteamRoller 2009
Release Date: 2009-11-18 On Saturday, artists Alex Rubio, Gary Sweeney, Luis Valderas, Paul Karam, Adriana Garcia, and Michelle Love will be expressing themselves with a little help from a steamroller. While enjoying live music and refreshments, guests can watch as large-scale woodcut prints are produced right in the middle of Blue Star’s parking lot. StoneMetal…
La Musica de San Anto Mural Blessing
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2009-11-18 “We should do a mural that honors the great musicians of San Anto,” said Manny Castillo before his passing in January. On Saturday, his wish will be fulfilled. The gorgeous, 150-foot wide San Anto Cultural Arts mural, located at the West Commerce Street Bridge, will be blessed by Father “Marty”…
Art opening: Engaged and Fragmented
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2009-11-18 The Southwest School of Art & Craft hosts a show of historical import and social justice starting Thursday: Several artists, with the cooperation of war veterans and activists, have recombined the fabric of military uniforms into usable art paper; swords into plowshares, you might say. Peter Sowiski, John Risseeuw, Eric…
Strange’s brood
Don Strange, who died last Wednesday at the age of 69, was San Antonio writ large in more ways than one. From Aspen to Manhattan and Hollywood to Washington, the image of South Texas was conveyed and enhanced through the food he served at catered events ranging from barbecue on the White House lawn to…
The QueQue
Three-point shot The bench was deep at Monday night’s fundraiser for District Attorney candidate Nicholas “Nico” LaHood, and we’re not talking about the Spurs all-star lineup that showed. District Court Judge Ron Rangel, whom we spied talking to County Judge Ernest Acevedo Jr., reminded the QueQue that robes don’t stump for candidates — which made…
Reasonable Doubt
Now that the torture debates seem largely over, it is probably a useful time to step back and look at their lasting impact on American society. President Obama has ended the use of waterboarding and has shut down the secret CIA prisons. At the same time, he has made it clear that he wants to “look forward,…
DEAR UNCLE MAT
I moved in with my boyfriend last year. I work in a nonprofit and he is a techy guy in a big company with a big paycheck. He has recently started to nag me about going back to grad school — something I want to do, but I have debts and expenses and love my…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. My wish for you, Aries, is that you will have many such days in the coming weeks. In fact, I hope that you will be blessed over and over…
Of Saints and bitters
You can’t have too many bitters,” declares Steve Mahoney. And you thought there was only Angostura. Mahoney is the owner and major mixologist of the Green Lantern, a speakeasy-style bar (no signage, in other words) almost hidden away beneath Ciao II at 20626 Stone Oak Parkway (thegreenlanternbar.com). In his devotion to bitters, Mahoney is not…
¡Ask A Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Why oh why do most Mexican-American women cut their long, black hair after reaching the pivotal age of 40? Not only do they cut it, but they then proceed to cut it short and dye it all shades of the most unnatural hair color for Mexicans: red. My own madre is guilty of…
Richard Lewis can’t be curbed
Earlier this month, fellow Current writer Bryan Rindfuss and I enjoyed a running joke based on two upcoming celebrity interviews: Bryan’s was with Peaches, the fantastically graphic feminist rapper `read it online at sacurrent.com`, and mine was to be with Richard Lewis, the standup comedy legend. We decided I’d ask the nowhere-on-the-gaydar Mr. Lewis some…
SHORT SHORTS
Another great month of submissions. This month we find two people either in denial or in perfect control of their lives (at least the parts they can control). The excitement of flash fiction, often, is that the reader must figure out what is happening in the story. Sure there are signs here and there, but…
Surrender to the void
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” — Friedrich Nietzsche Everything you’ve heard about Antichrist is a true lie. That said, you’ve probably been irreparably influenced by all the hype and drama surrounding this film. Critics have bashed Antichrist — calling it “psychobabble“ and “a big fat art-film fart.” Ouch. Predigested Hollywood pap…
There may be a mathematical proof that addresses the circularity of the Sarah Palin – Newsweek – sexism conundrum
…but I’m not astute enough to know what it is. Probably because I’m a girl. But, seriously folks. This Newsweek cover is generating tons of controversy. Sarah Palin doesn’t much care for it, apparently angered by the same evident sexism rightly criticized by Jullie Millican at Media Matters for America. The actual photo was taken…
Ten years without Doug Sahm: Augie and Shawn remember
By Enrique Lopetegui elopetegui@sacurrent.com Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of Doug Sahm, the legendary leader of the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornados. The Current spoke to the two persons who probably knew him best. Augie Meyers: “He was number one.” How did you two meet? My mom had a grocery store when I…
