Breath=Life Force (Part 2)
So now that you’ve experienced observing your breath (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the first part of this post), I have a few short, simple breathing exercises to help you learn to utilize your entire lung capacity…as well as increase your energy and calm your nerves! 1. Abdominal Breathing (a.k.a.,…
Gregg Barrios: A Poetic Light Shines Brightly
Over the last few years, there have been a handful of San Antonio momentos that I’ve been lucky enough to witness, moments that have spoken to a greater cultural awareness within our community. And Thursday night at Krazy Vatos Emporium was no exception. The Chicano-powered store, owned in part by Danny de la Paz and…
Resolution and (Mestiza) Identity
“In a constant state of mental nepantilism, an Aztec word meaning torn between ways, la mestiza is a product of the transfer of the cultural and spiritual values of one group to another. Being tricultural, monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual, speaking a patois, and in a state of perpetual transition, the mestiza faces the dilemma of…
5MB: 9/24
This post marks the beginning of a new department for the Gentleman Gamer: 5MB. Read and infer. 1MB El Shaddai: Ascension to the Metatron is a pastel-colored brawler with Biblical roots and developers from three really great games on board. Gameplay-wise, the game is straddling poetic fluidity and boring-button mashing, according to 1up’s Jeremy Parish.…
Vote for the worst ad (commercial) of 2010
Consumerist.com asked for submissions on the “Worst Ad in America.” And they got em. I wonder how many of these were nominated solely because they annoyed the shit out of America. Yep, I’m looking at you Progressive! Flo is obnoxious. Which brings me to my next point: insurance companies were the most nominated. In terms…
Dream a Little DREAM
“Sweet dreams ’til sun beams find you/ Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you/ But in your dreams/ Whatever they be/ Dream a little dream of me” -The Mamas & The Papas, April 1968 recording What worries will the 65,000 illegal immigrants set to graduate from high school this year leave behind them? Not many. Instead…
You’re never more than 4hrs from a panda
Who knew pandas could cure cancer. Wait, that’s a total lie. But their eyes will fall out after 10 days of carrying the Chicken Pox. Don’t believe it? Neither do I but there is some hilarious rambling about pandas from the authors of this adorable lil book, 100 Facts About Pandas. Their fur is bulletproof…
Cine en el Barrio. â??Quince Shortsâ?
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-09-22 The event title, “Quince Shorts,” if you are an ignoramus where Spanish is concerned, conjures up some kinda fruity pants. Which we like the sound of. But even better, it’s an evening program of 15 short films, selections from the San Antonio Neighborhood Film Project competition, wherein the auteurs drew…
Buzzard
Buzzard Composer: Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s Conductor: Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s Label: Mariel Recordings Release Date: 2010-09-22 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Experimentation can be hit or miss, and on Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s new album Buzzard, the results are mixed. “Birds” kicks off aggressively with piano-drenched…
Business Casual
Business Casual Composer: Chromeo Conductor: Chromeo Label: Atlantic Release Date: 2010-09-22 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording In respect of our editor’s recent kibosh on printing the word “hipster” in the Current, all I can say is, put on your Sperry Top-Siders, whip out those plastic neon-armed sunglasses, and loosen the collar of your dad’s button-down: Chromeo…
Day of the Woman
Day of the Woman Composer: Day of the Woman Conductor: Day of the Woman Label: Exponential Release Date: 2010-09-22 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Something about Day of the Woman, the new album by the eponymous Houston/Albuquerque producer collective released (for free download!) on local label Exponential, seems willfully mysterious. There’s no band bio info on…
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
Critic’s Pick Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole Director: Zack Snyder Screenwriter: Zack Snyder Cast: Emily Barclay, Jim Sturgess, Helen Mirren, Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush Release Date: 2010-09-22 Rated: PG Genre: Film The title alone tells viewers that this animated owl movie, featuring the voices of Academy Award-winners Helen Mirren and Geoffrey Rush,…
Fotoseptiembre Openings
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-09-22 Although certain FotoSeptiembre exhibitions will be on view through the end of the year, Thursday marks the last round of openings, which, let’s face it, are the best part. If you’ve been hitting the snooze alarm on this citywide celebration of photography in all flavors, it’s time to wake up.…
Art opening: Matthew Ronay: Between the Worlds
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-09-22 Now that Artpace’s road-trip through Nostalgia, USA, has made its final pee break, Brooklyn-based artist Matthew Ronay transforms the Hudson (Show)Room with Between the Worlds, “an elaborate installation of organic elements.” In recent years, Ronay’s work has evolved, leaving poppy cartoonism in the dust of perplexing, tribal arrangements. According to…
Rush
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-09-22 Something about a lot of the touring acts visiting SA lately makes us want to slip into the basement (or garage) and light up a stick of, um, incense. Asia, Kansas, and KISS have come and gone. Now Rush will dust off classic songs (like ’81’s synth-heavy gem “Tom Sawyer,”…
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-09-22 After more than a decade, it’s easy to forget that this California group was one of the first to lay down noisy, fuzzy, revival blues rock so favored now by the Black Keys, the White Stripes, and a million colorful groups in between. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club infuses its approach…
San Antonio AIDS Foundation 20th Anniversary Walk For Life
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-09-22 The Walk for Life plays an integral role in the San Antonio AIDS Foundation’s efforts to provide medical care and social services for people living with HIV/AIDS. Considering that SAAF’s education programs and free testing help prevent the spread of HIV, joining the 20th Annual Walk for Life (you can…
The Guadalupe’s 30th Birthday Party featuring Los Lobos & Bombasta
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-09-22 The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center celebrates its 30th in style with an outdoor concert featuring triple-Grammy-winning, East L.A.-based Chicano rockers Los Lobos, with support from SA’s own nine-piece, genre-defying, urban Spanglish ensemble Bombasta. Consider arriving early (around 7pm) to stake out some blanket real estate in the plaza (sorry, no…
¡Ask A Mexican!
Dear Mexican, What punishment could America give that would FINALLY make crossing America’s borders — repeatedly — unpalatable to Mexicans, when even Mexican natives admit that it is at least as harmful to Mexico as it is to America, and the “needless paperwork” in our immigration process is to TRY to filter out habitual criminals…
The Queque – September 22, 2010
Mumps! Concerned mothers of the world, unite! Following up on a call from a Bexar County mom, Que2 discovered that three new cases of mumps have flared up in the Bexar County Jail over the past week. The outbreak brings to 25 the total number of mumps cases the jail has seen since July. This…
Dear Uncle Mat
Dear Uncle Mat, What is up with the queers in this town? I just want to find a nice decent guy who likes to hang out, go to the movies, grab coffee, watch TV, or just grab a beer. It seems whenever I go out the bars are just filled with pretentious assholes and guys…
High-wire act
The towering wind turbines covering the mesas outside McCamey have been turning for more than a decade. Those who veer from Interstate 10 and shut their engines off can hear them cutting the air, creating up to 75 megawatts of pollution-free power. Despite generous tax-abatement deals provided by the community since being declared “Wind Energy…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Rightwing talk show host Rush Limbaugh is a person whose ideas and attitudes repel me. But in the dream I had last night, I enjoyed hanging out with him. He was affable and humorous. We had several fun adventures together. Here’s how I interpret the dream: It doesn’t necessarily mean that…
Saytown Lowdown
The people of this region have depended on the Edwards Aquifer for hundreds of years. Until recently, the aquifer water has been pure, but that is changing. We are now detecting man-made contaminants in our aquifer. In the great majority of cases, contaminant concentrations are low — well below the limits that have been established…
This must be the place
Guess that this must be the place/ I can’t tell one from another/ Did I find you, or you find me? — from “This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)” by Talking Heads Last Friday, I met up with two close friends at the opening reception for Love Letters to San Anto, Joan Frederick and…
How Slayer keeps its edge
For many people Slayer=metal, and vice versa. The band’s speed, aggression, and chaotic sense of melody, coupled with graphic imagery and controversial lyrics, helped define thrash metal in the ’80s, and make Slayer a household name. During their 30-year existence, the group survived significant line-up changes, charges of Nazi sympathizing and racism, and various furors…
Real women, young fashions, debut in ‘Silverstars’
When one thinks of words synonymous with San Antonio, melted cheese, toxic triangles, and tipsy cops may come to mind. But one is unlikely to automatically associate high fashion with our town of Wrangler- and Dickies–sporting folk. On Sunday night, San Antonio got a taste of a chic stew brewed by Las Vegas fashion designer…
The quiet storm
In his book, América Latina: Marca registrada (Latin America, trademark), Chilean Sergio Marras interviews some of the most renowned writers from Latinoamérica about the name América Latina, a post-colonial French concoction that our ancestors embraced gladly: It was better to be “Latin” than black or Indian. “In México, for example, anything indigenous has always been…
Henry + The Invisibles
Some might call a one-man show meant to recreate a “full band” experience the work of a megalomaniacal control freak. In the case of Henry Roland’s Henry + the Invisibles, the show was underway before he even took the stage. He arrived early for his Friday night gig to set up his elaborate rig of…
Album raiders
Blowing Trees singer Chris Maddin always dreamed of putting on a huge stage production of Abbey Road at the Majestic. So far he’s left the Beatles alone, but the “cover album” spectacle he and other noted local musician friends launched in July at Broadway 5050 may very well be SA’s coolest monthly music night. “We…
Los Lobos still playing in the moment
East L.A.’s Los Lobos are on their way to becoming the granddaddies of Latin Rock. After recording a number of Richie Valens covers for the 1988 film La Bamba, the quintet began its ascendancy to three Grammy wins, two children’s albums, and a dozen EPs, LPs, and tribute projects, in addition to the previous five…
The Sound & the Fury
We should be excited about Lone Star beer’s Bash at the Brewery, but it’s just a little weird that four of the seven selected bands hail from Austin: Classic country crooner Dale Watson, femme rockers the Bluebonnets, surf-alt-country-folkman Bob Schneider and Americana darlings Band of Heathens crowd the stage Saturday at the mostly closed Lone…
Pho: really
For a city more familiar with the rhythms of norteño and Rosario’s enchiladas suizas, Vietnamese food may sound like a suggestion best left to wayward Yankees and Anthony Bourdain wannabes. However, any misgivings or uncertainties dissipate before a well-prepared bowl of fragrant pho, the Vietnamese comfort food as tender as your favorite sweatpants and a…
La Frite Belgian Bistro
The new owners of La Frite, a mom ‘n’ son duo with little previous restaurant experience, seem to have settled into a comfortable competence after a rocky start. A collection of Watelwerks, primarily Blue Dog-inspired paintings by ex-owner Damien Watel, is watching over the nascent operation and they (the owners, not the dogs) are channeling…
The bringers of Bling Bling
Last year’s Bling Bling Fling, the yearly fundraiser hootenanny for the Martinez Street Womens Center, had as its theme “Masquerade Ball — Let the Magic Begin.” The high-spirited, costume-heavy function served as a more raucous, less elitist version of Truman Capote’s storied Black and White Ball; members of SA’s feminist, activist, art, queer, and nonprofit…
Helpin’ a sista out
The Martinez Street Womens Center, an upstart, East-by-Southeast Side nonprofit on South Hackberry Street, benefits the desperately underserved women in that community while providing a safe, educationally enriching oasis for their daughters. Founded in 1999 by a cadre of dedicated nurses fed up with the lack of health resources for low-income women, the Center moved…
Depression-era fantasy
The San Pedro Playhouse opens its main stage season with the hardy perennial A Chorus Line, one of the few American musicals to challenge the British-dominated Broadway scene of the late ’70s and ’80s. Indeed, even as Manhattan was inundated with prowling cats and plummeting chandeliers, we New Worlders could point to A Chorus Line…
Still Breathing: magical realism for white people
The two San Antonio films we have spotlighted so far (Rolling Thunder and Race with the Devil) have been grimy, sensationalist cult classics. Still Breathing is quite different. It’s sincere and understated — no devils are worshipped and no one gets shot in the groin with a shotgun. Still Breathing stars the dude from all the…
Muck of the Irish
After viewing Ben Affleck’s latest effort, The Town, I logged onto Netflix, curious to see if the taste categorizer (“your preferences show you often watch ‘violent, suspenseful, foreign movies’”) had recognized “Boston Crime Drama” as its own genre. It hasn’t … yet. That day can’t be too far away though, with a plethora of entries…
A Warm, American Welcome
In 2007, Miguel Figueroa López walked into an Alabama restaurant with his brother – a veteran of the war in Afghanistan – and their mother. He and his family found a table near the entrance, situated themselves, and looked around in search of their waiter. Above the bar, a greeting awaited their glance: “DOGS AND…
“Ask Somebody” sneak preview outtakes!
What’s “Ask Somebody?” It’s a new regular video series of people from around the community answering reader questions! We conceived the idea, initially, as a video advice column, but then decided to open it up to any kind of queries — what’s your favorite dinosaur, how do I open a can without a can opener,…
