Empire Control Room & Garage
Volume 27, Number 30
ON THE COVER:
features
Summer Camp Guide 2008
news
CONGRESS FOR THE NEW URBANISM
City Shaper
Beloved – and snubbed – at home, Sinclair Black to be nationally honored for lifetime achievement
BY KATHERINE GREGOR
New Urbanism and the Booming Metropolis
Austin welcomes the Congress for the New Urbanism XVI
BY KATHERINE GREGOR
Naked City
Unveiling WebberVilla Muse!
Austin, Webberville leaders find common ground in "VillaVille"
BY RICHARD WHITTAKER AND WELLS DUNBAR
Growing Pains Hit West Campus
Area's utilities systems weren't built to support rapid development taking place
BY ANDREA GRIMES
Appeals Court Weighs Plea to 'Correct Miscarriage of Justice'
Rodney Reed's fate goes to Criminal Appeals
BY JORDAN SMITH
Can Austin Meet New Air Rules? Don't Hold Your Breath.
Onward through the smog
BY DANIEL MOTTOLA
'Chronicle' Endorsements, Travis County Early Voting
Democratic Primary Run-offs
Beside the Point
Pollen count moves up as sales-tax receipts slide
BY WELLS DUNBAR
Point Austin: Poor Rich's Almanac
Three cheers for Oppel's Statesman
BY MICHAEL KING
The Hightower Report
Come On, Congress, Get Some Gumption; and No Punishment for Exxon Malfeasance?
BY JIM HIGHTOWER
food
Lulu B's Vietnamese Sandwiches
The French colonization of Vietnam gave birth to a delicious fusion on bread
BY KATE THORNBERRY
Gourmet on the Go
St. Dalfour's premade meals in a can are perfect when you're on the run
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Food-o-File
Texas finalists in the Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards, the Loft Bar at Finn & Porter debuts new menu, another Lamberts, and more
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Event Menu
March 27-April 5
BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD
Food Reviews
music
We Come From the Land of the Ice and Snow
Sword drummer Trivett Wingo hammers out an appreciation of Led Zeppelin III
BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ
Off the Record
A prostitute-turned-pop-star exposes her Austin roots; Voxtrot readies for round two; and Rock City Icehouse goes to 11
BY AUSTIN POWELL
Phases & Stages
Van Morrison
Keep It Simple
The Black Crowes
Warpaint
Widespread Panic
Free Somehow
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Donita Sparks & the Stellar Moments
Transmiticate
She & Him
Volume One
These United States
A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden
The Miles Davis Reader
Frank Alkyer
Snoop Dogg, Del the Funky Homosapien, Pete Rock
Ego Trippin', Eleventh Hour, NY's Finest
screens
Back in Action
After a moviemaking hiatus, writer/director Kimberly Peirce returns to screen with Stop-Loss
BY CLAY SMITH
On the Road, From San Fran to Taipei
Two new film series globe-hop and bebop
Film News
Austin's hopping again, with TV and film projects set to shoot soon; plus, Smithville's got a Poop Bandit
BY JOE O'CONNELL
TV Eye
If you're someone who doesn't snicker at the tight, flashy outfits and the flying-saucer-sized sombreros, then you will appreciate Compañeras, about the first all-female mariachi band in the U.S.
BY BELINDA ACOSTA
Screens Reviews
The Ice Storm
Revisiting Ang Lee's The Ice Storm and its survey of the moral dissolution of American life through the Nixon era
Film Reviews
Married Life
This film's wonderful, amoral resignation makes Married Life so deliciously different from other period-set crime stories, and its terrific cast keeps thing percolating.
Run Fatboy Run
Funnyman Simon Pegg stars in this soft and plodgy rom-com: Sadly, this by-the-numbers redemption tale careens uncomfortably from sentimentality to stomach-turning sight gags.
Shutter
Shutter is a shabby American remake of a Thai movie about a couple who sees mysterious images in photographs.
Stop-Loss
A real-world fuse burns throughout the military drama of Stop-Loss, the Austin-lensed film by Boys Don't Cry's Kimberley Peirce that stars Ryan Phillippe.
21
Kevin Spacey plays Mephistopheles to a cadre of M.I.T. whiz kids, who do a better job of counting cards at the Vegas blackjack tables than counting their loot.
Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns
Tyler Perry's latest feel-good drama about African-American family relationships scores its best casting with Angela Bassett in the lead, but otherwise falls prey to Perry's slipshod filmmaking technique.
The Unforeseen
Executive-produced by Robert Redford and Terrence Malick, Dunn's award-winning documentary looks at the history of Barton Springs, Gary Bradley's role in development issues, and the relationship of Austin's environmental activism to the world at large.
arts & culture
Who Is Stella Burden, and Why Are They Saying Those Terrible Things About Her?
When the Rude Mechs do a show about acting, they find madness in the Method
BY ROBERT FAIRES
Neon Exodus
For 22 years, the electrified mural on Fifth Street has been a local landmark, but now it's coming down
BY WAYNE ALAN BRENNER
UT School of Music
Ernest and Sarah Butler make the largest-ever donation to a music school at a public university
BY ROBERT FAIRES
'Matt & Ben'
This stage comedy is about just who you think it is, only the well-known guys are played by gals
BY ROBERT FAIRES
Arts Reviews
The Brats of Clarence
The Bedlam Faction's latest is a wildly entertaining marriage of Shakespearean history and wacky, absurd humor
Troades
This new adaptation of The Trojan Women is fueled by an earnestness that is the show's blessing and its curse
Jess: To and From the Printed Page
The Ransom Center exhibition reminds us how the written word sparked a cultural revolution in the 1950s
columns
Letters at 3AM
Nations get into deep trouble by following inspirational leaders, left or right
BY MICHAEL VENTURA
After a Fashion
It's easy to blush around hunky Cliff Redd
BY STEPHEN MACMILLAN MOSER
The Common Law
Alternative Options for Legal Help
BY LUKE ELLIS
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The first modern water bed, the last chance for witches and their friends to stir up trouble before spring, and more
BY MR. SMARTY PANTS
Day Trips
Natural Bridge Caverns outside of New Braunfels has expanded their spelunking options with the new Illuminations Tour
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD
Playing Through
The Texas men's basketball team is making a believer out of this doubting Thomas
BY THOMAS HACKETT
Luv Doc Recommends: Nancy Coplin’s Big 6-0 Benefit for HAAM
Antone's, Sunday, March 30, 2008
BY THE LUV DOC
Feedback
Letters to the editor, published daily
sports
Soccer Watch
Big Austin Aztex announcement, U.S. thumps Poland, and more
