Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011, Day 1: Okkervil River, Passion Pit
In the shadow of its monster-sized, corporate older brother Austin City Limits Festival, Fun Fun Fun Fest has played the role of rebellious upstart punk perfectly. Now in its sixth year, FFF has grown too large for its old digs at Waterloo Park and moved to the more spacious Auditorium Shores, overlooking the downtown Austin…
Thanksgasm 2 at Ranger Creek
Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling Co. is holding its second annual Thanksgasm beer dinner in conjunction with Texas Girls Pint Out. The Nov. 19 event is presale only and tickets are $55 per person. The menu includes turkey brined in La Bestia Aimable, a Belgian dark strong ale, and a cornbread dressing made with Ranger…
Ban the Can public vote has rhetoric rising in New Braunfels
NEW BRAUNFELS — A petition drive pushed by a coalition of New Braunfels businesses that sued the city in September over a ban on disposable containers on the Guadalupe and Comal rivers inside city limits has pushed the matter to the public. On Tuesday, residents of New Braunfels will decide where they stand on the…
‘Drake’s Deception’ delivers, thanks to smart story from Naughty Dog
The times when people look back over the years to utter something like, “Now that’s how it’s done!” are admittedly few and far between. In video game debates, they’re even fewer. But once in a while there comes a time — stars align, lightning in a bottle, Rick Perry says something intelligent, whichever you prefer…
Quick take: ‘STOMP’ at Majestic
This has to be a quick take on STOMP – because Stomp’s tour through San Antonio is so quick! (Just five performances, ending tomorrow night.) I used to be something of a STOMP groupie; after catapulting to fame in the mid-1990s, STOMP seemed to be everywhere at once, and I caught its national tour on…
When professional Twitter #journo feeds get personal … and ugly
When I don’t understand something, I Google it. As an observer and participant in online communication practices I frequently find myself examining questions of netiquette and hate speech. Netiquette is a combination of two words, Internet and Etiquette. It refers to necessary and appropriate behavior that occurs online when communicating via the internet. A frequent…
Any Color But Beige: Living Life in Color
I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Montreal-based international color marketing expert, Catherine Larose. She recently visited The Twig Bookshop in San Antonio’s historic Pearl Brewery for a meet-and-greet and book signing. Any Color But Beige: Living Life in Color is an honest femoir documenting Larose’s ethnically diverse background, her globe-trotting career, lifestyle, and relationships.…
Rep. Miller misrepresents state climatologist’s position on global warming at TCEQ summit
SCHERTZ — Although Texas climate scientists have come out strongly against Governor Rick Perry’s contrarian view on global warming, that didn’t stop State Representative Doug Miller from declaring that the state climatologist this week said there was no link between the current drought and ongoing human-induced climate change. “I know there’s a lot of theories……
Father and Son by Jeffrey Castilla Wohl
Nothing is quite so existential as the what-could-have-beens. Some people suffer far more from them than others but they are the solid trail of crumbs that lead us back into the haze of the past. Send in your flash: 500 wordsish. Celebrate the cold weather. Or revile it. Write. Flashfiction@sacurrent.com. —Lyle Rosdahl Father and Son…
First Friday preview: November
Sang-Mi Yoo’s laser-cut felt and large format lithography installation “The Anomalous Traces” at UTSA Satellite Space. Her show is the latest part of “New Village,” an ongoing project that blends childhood memories with a terrain every kid knows — the boring land of ticky-tacky houses, the “ideal home” banged-out by developers and gleefully hawked by…
An interview with the man behind the bear
For Jim Cummings, providing the voices for animated characters like Winnie the Pooh and Tigger has been one of the many highlights of his 26-year career. Cummings began voicing Pooh in 1988. Tigger came two years later. While the characters were first animated in the 1960s by Walt Disney, Pooh and some of his lovable…
The Wicked Stage takes on D.C.
We at the Wicked Stage have been late in posting the results of our wickedly wonderful trip to Washington, D.C., (beautiful weather and good theater – the happiest of combinations). First up: the musical Parade at Ford’s Theater. So I’ve always wondered why the Vexler theater in San Antonio hasn’t mounted Parade. Jason Robert Brown’s…
Neiman Marcus La Cantera Hosts Designer Konstantino Sioulas
Neiman Marcus La Cantera will host jewelry designer Konstantino Sioulas, on Friday November 4, from 11 am to 4 pm. He was born and educated in Athens Greece and grew up in a country that started the roots of art, literature and politics. Sioulas…
Queen reissues keep on coming
By Enrique Lopetegui elopetegui@sacurrent.com OK, all of Queen’s 15 studio albums are out. The first batch has already been reviewed by Ashley Feinberg, and I finally finished going through box #2. Box #3 (which includes the band’s last five albums) is out, but I need a few more weeks digging into it. For the…
Public Enemy’s Chuck D: The Current Q & A
By Enrique Lopetegui elopetegui@sacurrent.com Public Enemy will be at Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest’s Blue stage on Friday, Nov. 4, at 8:30pm. For those outside of Austin, Pitchfork will be streaming the festival live starting at noon on November 4-6. Man, you won’t believe the crap I have to hear. Why do most young, up-and-coming…
Vote for San Antonio Talons Team Uniform
San Antonio’s new professional football team, the San Antonio Talons, is asking the public to vote on their inaugural season uniforms. Logon to the team’s facebook page and click “like” to see the voting poll and uniforms. The Talons will play nine home games at the Alamodome…
Voices of the occupation – Eric
Eric Click on the different pictures to hear the Voices of the occupation.
Musical Bridges Around the World plays San Fernando Cathedral
If you’ve never heard a performance by Musical Bridges Around the World, you’re missing out on some of the finest musical offerings in San Antonio. Musical Bridges (MBAW) is not so much a formal group as a fluid gathering of world-class musicians whose talents entertain and enlighten their audiences. MBAW often performs a tantalizing collection…
Remembering the remarkable Mr. Starcke
We lost a genuine San Antonio original with the passing of 90-year-old author, Broadway producer, New Age lecturer, confidante to stars and scalawags alike, world traveler, bon vivant and raconteur sans pareil Walter Starcke on October 25, 2011. Though born into an old German-American family in Seguin (Max Starcke Park is named after his uncle,…
Tried and true brew
Tried and true brew There is a tendency on the part of beer adventurers to turn up the nose at anything that isn’t new, big, unusual, or rare from breweries. Sure, an imperial saison spiced with goodies harvested by virgins on a 10-acre Belgian unicorn ranch and brewed with instructions found in Nordic caves sounds…
Dreaming an explosion of film
First of all, a quick reminder about CineFestival’s Screenwriters Spotlight Competition, which will give $1,000 to the winning screenplay: the deadline is November 4. In addition to the big bucks, the winner gets travel and lodging to San Antonio during the festival (February 25 to March 3, 2012) and a staged reading of their screenplay.…
Voices of the occupation – Sharon
Sharon Click on the different pictures to hear the Voices of the occupation.
Drew’s finding its way around the deli
Drew’s has recently risen from the ashes of the late Watermark Grill. What, you didn’t know there had been a fire? I’m speaking metaphorically, but apparently the building’s middle-of-the-night-type abandonment left a litany of problems in its wake, occasioning expenses well beyond the visible reupholstering, the new lighting, and the painting. Always handsome, the space…
Tom Waits: Bad As Me
On his latest release, Tom Waits channels both prison junkies and disabled vets bitterly spouting out their frustrations and temptations. Starting off with the blues-driven horns of "Chicago," Waits veers hard into what I can only describe as a sort of high plains "Marty Robbins on acid" sound. The whole album is tinged with the…
Johnny Depp delivers a tame origin story for a gonzo legend
The Rum Diary, a freewheeling tropical cocktail based on Hunter S. Thompson’s long-unpublished novel of the same name, bears an infectious sense of liberation. Although it stars Johnny Depp as Thompson stand-in Paul Kemp (Depp also played Thompson stand-in Raoul Duke in 1998’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, also based on a Thompson novel),…
Salsa-making tips from SA’s finest
Are San Antonians ready for salsa made without cilantro? The judges at Culinaria’s “Totally Tejas” totally thought so this past Sunday. The winning salsa, by Chef Jesse Perez of Alamo Café, surprised taste buds with a refreshing bouquet of minced basil, oregano, raw habanero peppers, and sun-dried tomatoes. “It’s time to step away from cilantro…
White Denim: Takes Places in Your Work Space EP
Standard EP recipe: Add album rejects, studio scraps, perhaps one or two über-experimental tracks, stir for 15-30 minutes, and serve quickly to fans impatient for the next full-length. Whether the members of Austin’s White Denim are unaware of this standard or simply don’t care is unclear, but Takes Place in Your Work Space seems specially…
The QueQue: Racist gun instructor proudly shame-free, After Willingham: Arson investigators get new rules, UTSA prof considers Libyan run for presidency
Racist gun instructor proudly shame-free Hill Country gun instructor Crockett Keller has become Texas’ latest racist heard ’round the country. “Attention. Be a victor not a victim,” begins his advert for concealed handgun courses before taking an abrupt racist, xenophobic turn – a rant that’s now become a YouTube sensation. “If you are a socialist…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Here’s Malcolm Gladwell, writing in The Tipping Point: "We need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that sometimes big changes follow from small events, and that sometimes these changes can happen quickly … Look at the world around you. It may seem an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the…
NPR vs Lisa Simeone: politics, opera, and Occupy
While musing on this week’s review of “The Orient Expressed,” the large survey show now at the McNay that focuses on the congruence of Japanese and Western art known as Japanisme, a recent quote by music critic Lisa Simeone — recently punished by National Public Radio for her involvement in the Occupy DC protests —…
Voices of the occupation – Julio Gonzalez
Julio Gonzalez Click on the different pictures to hear the Voices of the occupation.
Bond package projects coming out of woodwork for a share of anticipated $596 million
There’s this quiet, almost collective groan out of City Hall when talk turns to our largest-ever bond package starting to take shape. Everyone’s got their hands out, palms up, seeking cash just a month after city officials wrapped marathon budget sessions — sessions filled with community groups and organizations pleading for funds. Hoping to ride…
Battle for top tamale
It’s November, which means fall leaves, digging out my jackets and coats, and tamales. The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without those meat and masa dishes. If you think you’ve got the best tamale recipe (or your grandma does), you should enter the 2nd Annual Tamales! At Pearl competition. Contestants will submit their yummiest tamales…
The Apoca-List
AKA The “We’re Fucked” Index
The new Terrordome: Why Public Enemy still matters
Things have cooled somewhat for Public Enemy, the self-proclaimed “Prophets of Rage.” They made five albums post-2000, all of which failed to match the impact of their first turn-of-the-’90s dynasty. No matter. PE, now on their 77th tour, couldn’t be irrelevant if they tried. Not only has 2011 provided a year of civil unrest both…
George Romero meets National Geographic in The Dead
The Dead, which opened October 28 at the Bijou and Santikos Mayan 14, is a unique film in many respects. For starters, it is set in Burkina Faso and Ghana, instead of the usual L.A., New York, or London. “Stories of zombies originated in the West African spiritual belief system of voodoo, which told of…
Smoking the Sex Panther
In an effort to pay homage to their origins, most hookah bars on this side of the pond will take default decorating cues from Near and Middle Eastern cultural roots. The Raven Hookah Lounge, nestled next to Alamo Drafthouse Westlakes off Loop 410, apparently never got the memo. While the blue, neon lettering out front…
Guadalupe helps keep Day of the Dead thriving
The day of the dead — which has one foot in ancient Aztec culture and another in the exploitation of Misfits T-shirts — is all about being alive. At its most secular dia de los muertos, with its sugar skulls, sweet day of the dead bread, and those colorful paper offerings to the underworld, may…
Das Racist play SA, and it’s a long way from the cover of SPIN
The half-full (or half-empty) space inside the White Rabbit felt all the more barren as the crowd refrained from dancing, or moving in general. Hip hop fans, despite their macho posturing, are usually more engaged than this. But then something magical happened: the reserved crowd made the band work that much harder, drawing better performances…
Paul Simon: Songwriter
Paul Simon is America’s greatest living pop songwriter. There, I said it. I can already hear my editor shouting "What about Dylan?!" but I’m sticking to my guns on this one. The proof is all over Simon’s 54-year (and counting) career, recently summed up in this new two-disc compilation. Besides the first three tracks (including…
How warships and the floating world led us to Art Nouveau
While politicians and pundits continue to rail about the need to secure our border to the south, offering helpful suggestions like an alligator-infested moat paired with a big, big fence, perhaps we should all just stop for a moment and remember that other gate we left wide open. Correction, that border forced open in 1854…
Public Enemy’s Chuck D — still angry after 24 years
Anytime I receive a second-rate demo by a third-rate rapper, my first reaction is to grab him by the throat and ask, “Have you heard about Mandela? Have you read Malcolm X? Have you ever listened to Public Enemy?” Driving on Pacific Coast Highway, somewhere near Los Angeles, Chuck D chuckles. “I know, I know,”…
Voices of the occupation – Paul
Paul Click on the different pictures to hear the Voices of the occupation.
A short history of pre-Blair Witch handheld mockumentaries
“Two years later, their footage was found.” That come-on, from the opening titles of The Blair Witch Project (1999), evokes as much anticipation among horror hounds as, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” It, of course, portends a “found footage” mockumentary, one of those shaky-cam epics like Paranormal Activity, The Last…
Live & Local: Pokell and Dooley at Creeps and Ghosts
Oh, rap shows. Why are you so strange? Do we just live in a world that belongs to rock ‘n’ roll or have I been brainwashed into believing that a show must feature guitars and drums in order to be evocative? Probably the second thing. Either way, last Friday’s Creeps and Ghosts (hosted by Ghost…
The Gospel according to Kirk Franklin
I know, I know. The Christian music scene has made great advancements in the area of production, the religious albums sound great and now go toe-to-toe with the seculars, and blah blah blah. But what seven-time Grammy winner Kirk Franklin did with Hello Fear, his latest album of self-penned songs, goes beyond the G-word —…
A month into the HemisFair encampment, OccupySA prepares for the long haul
A homeless man crushed inside a city garbage truck Monday on the city’s Southside provided the rallying cry for Occupy San Antonio protestors gathered in HemisFair Park. As drums began to ring through the night air, the group of about 30 took to the streets in yet another show of insult and outrage in this…
Voices of the occupation – Julio
Julio Click on the different pictures to hear the Voices of the occupation.
Voices of the occupation – Bonnie
Bonnie Click on the different pictures to hear the Voices of the occupation.
Justice: Audio, Video, Disco
Like the Strokes in 2001, Justice’s 2007 arrival signified a paradigm shift in their genre. EDM listeners could now be nostalgic for a non-existent time because the Parisian duo, like the New York rock quintet, are a pastiche of musical and sartorial elements old and new. This, their second outing, is also not unlike the…
¡ASK A MEXICAN!
Dear Mexican: These days, using the word "nigger" is considered so offensive that, in its place, we now use the term "n-word." Of course, never mind that African-Americans use it amongst themselves as a term of endearment, pero esa es una historia para un otro dia. Sin embargo, it raises a pregunta for me: Por…
Clare Little at Three Walls
Clare Little continues her explorations of animals in building materials with her first solo show, “Feral,” held over from October at Three Walls gallery in the Blue Star Arts Complex. Made of plaster, joint compound and styrofoam, her improbable animals seem to be animate taxidermy, or tender studies in chiaroscuro made dimensional. The glistening white…
