San Antonio Current — June 28, 2023

COST OF KEEPING WEMBY | SAN ANTONIO NATIVE AND ACTOR JEFF HILLER | DELECTABLE DRAG BRUNCHES |

New Life, New Business

Ukrainian refugee charts fresh course with San Antonio bakery

Pashina Pastry

Hot Dish

39 Music

Brotherly Love

Longrunning San Antonio band Snowbyrd drops new album that majestically nails its sunbaked sound

Critics’ Picks

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On the Cover: The participants in this issue’s Drag Roundtable assembled at cocktail spot La Ruina for the cover shoot. Photos: Julián P. Ledezma. Design: Samantha Serna.

Diversity makes for a better cocktail party.

Operation BRAVE connects people with HIV who are either newly diagnosed, are diagnosed but currently not in care, or individuals who have not reached viral suppression to essential HIV care and treatment and support services. We want you to know there is support available!

For more information call, (210) 644-1555

/ @OperationBrave

HGov. Greg Abbott further cemented his legacy as a dedicated opponent of voting rights by vetoing a bill to give people with disabilities the option to vote by mail. The bill, which passed the Texas Legislature with bipartisan support, was designed to make voting easier for people who need assistance marking their ballot. But Abbott rejected the testimony of experts and vetoed it, arguing the bill didn’t limit strictly enough who could qualify for a mail ballot.

The San Antonio Spurs on Thursday selected Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Inside the AT&T Center, at the team’s official watch party, thousands of fans cheered the pick and chanted Wembanyama’s nickname “Wemby.” The Spurs’ last two No. 1 picks worked out well: David Robinson in 1987 and Tim Duncan in 1997.

HTurns out voting rights weren’t the only thing Gov. Greg Abbott couldn’t get behind during his post-session flurry of vetoes. The governor also rejected a bill that would have made it easier for people to register complaints about dangerous dogs. State Rep. Liz Campos of San Antonio filed the bill after Ramon Najera, an 81-year-old Air Force veteran, was mauled to death in a dog attack on the city’s West Side

San Antonio City Council voted last week to double the property tax exemption to 20%, providing significant relief to homeowners. The vote to raise the homestead exemption to the highest allowable amount under state law comes as San Antonians face mounting property tax burdens due to rising home values. Council is also expected to approve a new, slightly reduced tax rate in September. — Abe

Asher

Throwing a pantsshitting fit with toddler Gov.

Greg Abbott

Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.

The longer Gov. Greg Abbott remains in office, the clearer it becomes that he’s more capable of creating spectacles than he is of leading the state.

In the latest of those spectacles, the Republican governor has vetoed at least 77 bills from the recently completed legislative session. His aim? To signal his displeasure that members of the Texas House and Senate couldn’t resolve their differences over how to address property tax relief — one of his priorities for the session.

As noted in this issue’s Sucks/Rocks roundup, those vetoes shot down bipartisan legislation aimed at curbing dangerous dog attacks and improving voting access for people with disabilities. Worthy goals to be sure. Other casualties include proposals to boost transparency at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, improve campaign expenditure reporting and speed the resolution of complaints to the Public Utility Commission.

While property tax relief for Texans is long overdue, Abbott’s veto tantrum isn’t likely to drive a thoughtful, well-debated compromise.

Instead, it’s just another spectacle meant to project a tough-guy image while deflecting from Abbott’s failure to lead. It’s on par with the governor’s migrant busing program, his “steel wall” of police vehicles at the border and his

dispatching of guard troops to protect the state from the routine U.S. military exercise dubbed Jade Helm.

To anyone paying attention, the gulf between the House and Senate on property taxes was clear weeks before the session was over. However, instead of using his bully pulpit to bring those sides together, Abbott appeared to ignore the rift.

Indeed, the governor was busy gallivanting around the state, trying to win support for his school voucher plan — something sane political observers declared dead on arrival since it did little to address the concerns of urban Democrats and rural Republicans, who have rejected similar plans in the past.

Once again, Texans are left with a front-row seat to the Abbott Assclown Show. This time, it’s a pants-shitting tantrum in which the toddler occupying the governor’s mansion rips up potentially worthwhile legislation because he didn’t get his way. Someone change his training pants. They stink. — Sanford Nowlin

YOU SAID IT!

Three members of the San Antonio Police Department face murder charges after gunning down a woman in her apartment while responding to what Chief William McManus described as a call related to her “mental health crisis.” Sgt. Alfred Flores and Officers Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos have been suspended from the force without pay. McManus said the officers’ decision to use deadly force violated department procedure and “was not reasonable given all the circumstances as we now understand them.”

The San Antonio Independent School District Board of Trustees last week voted to launch a study to determine whether the district should close campuses. The move comes as it deals with years of declining enrollment numbers, and officials said the study also could result in schools being consolidated or co-located on the same campus. Labor groups and others have demanded SAISD allow students and parents to have more input.

The Republican presidential primary field has an unlikely new entrant: former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, who represented a district that included part of San Antonio and a significant portion of the U.S.-Mexico border. Hurd, who retired in 2020, is considered a moderate in the contemporary Republican Party, and has been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump

—  Abe Asher

“Greg Abbott either didn’t read this bill closely enough to understand what it really does or is deliberately working to make it harder for Texans with disabilities to vote.”

— Katya Ehresman, voting rights manager for Common Cause Texas, on the governor’s veto of a bill that would allow people with disabilities expanded access to voting by mail.

Instagram / GovAbbott

Courtesy Photo / SAPD

The Wemby Effect

BY MICHAEL KARLIS

It’s been a ride since San Antonio rolled out the welcome mat for French basketball phenom Victor Wembanyama, whom the Spurs claimed last week with the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. City Hall unfurled a “Bonjour Wemby” banner, and thousands of fans stood outside the airport in triple-digit heat, waiting to greet the 7-foot-4 athlete.

“It’s like he’s bringing hope to San Antonio, and we haven’t had that in a long, long time,” fan Diego Santana said as he sweated under the Texas sun waiting for a glimpse of Wembanyama’s plane.

To be sure, hope has evaded the Spurs for a while. Once on top of the basketball world, the team had nearly become irrelevant, missing the playoffs for four consecutive years before Wembanyama’s arrival.

But that’s all about to change, according to University of Texas at San Antonio Sports Marketing Professor Ricard Jensen. Not only will Wembanyama return to the Spurs to championship contention, but he will give San Antonio a much-needed economic boost.

“You’re going to find people from all over the world that are now going to say that the Spurs are their favorite team, people all over the world buying Victor Wembanyama jerseys and merchandise, people from around the world tuning in to watch the Spurs play, and even people coming to San Antonio,” Jensen said.

The tricky part? Convincing Wembanyama to stay in the Alamo City.

The franchise

ESPN sports analyst Adrian Wojnarowski speculated in May that the NBA franchise that landed 2023’s No. 1 pick could add $500 million to their value by drafting Wembanyama.

Jensen thinks Wojnarowski was lowballing.

“The revenue for the Spurs and their market valuation is going to increase over and over for them,” Jensen said. “The whole reason is, if you’re an NBA team that has this one-of-a-kind, totally unique international talent, they’ll be an asset to your brand that will help the Spurs brand take-off exponentially.”

Indeed, the day after the Silver and Black landed the top pick, the team received around 2,500 deposits for season tickets by the end of the workday. And the day after San Antonio officially drafted Wembanyama, interest in Spurs tickets spiked 297%, according to Vivid Seats.

All that, and Wembanyama has never even played in an NBA game, except for a G League exhibition game in Las Vegas last year. The difference between Wembanyama and other top draft picks of the past, including Tim Duncan, is that the Frenchman is al-

ready an international superstar with a brand worth millions. That’s thanks to his three-year pro career in France and unique style of play — he possesses the finesse of an athletic point guard while also being among the tallest players in basketball.

“Victor is this perfect storm of great personality, totally unique ball player — and compared to Tim Duncan, he’s more energetic, he’s better trained on how to deal with media,” Jensen said. “I think Timmy is a more reserved person — certainly a superstar and a great player — but Victor seems so well-packaged and poised to be a media darling.”

The city

The most immediate impact of Wembanyama being a Spur is that the Alamo City gain further name recognition in Europe, where the Spurs already had the edge over other NBA teams thanks to past players including Tony Parker and Boris Diaw.

“There’s going to be a great European media frenzy where basically all of Europe is going to be focused on San Antonio and the Spurs,” Jensen said. “There’s going to be a lot of French media going to every game and spending time in the city.”

Due to heightened international interest in Wembanyama, it might not be a rare occurrence to bump into French media crews eating at local restaurants and asking for directions along the River Walk. A similar phenomenon has been happening in Anaheim, California, where Japanese media follow Angels star pitcher Shohei Ohtani’s every move, Jensen said.

Those French media crews will fill up downtown hotel rooms still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, eat at locally owned restaurants

and boost the local economy. However, Jensen was unable to put a dollar figure on that impact, which clearly pales to the thousands of people who flock to the city for conventions.

A new arena

However, the most lasting impact Wembanyama could have on the city is the construction of a new arena, according to Jensen. The AT&T Center is older than nearly half of those in the league, and it’s located far away from downtown and other entertainment venues.

With the Spurs’ lease on the arena ending in 2026, the team will not only want a new stadium but will also be working to convince Wembanyama to stay in San Antonio. His rookie contract is set to expire that same year.

Jensen says there is no chance the Spurs will relocate to Austin in a bid to keep the star. Instead, the team is likely to push for a new facility, either downtown or on the Northwest side by La Cantera, where construction on the team’s state-of-the-art training facility is underway.

It remains to be seen whether local voters have the appetite to approve funding for yet another sports facility, and much depends on what kind of package local officials and the Spurs can spool together.

However, a stadium is just one of many things the franchise will need to get right if it’s to keep Wembanyama in satisfied in San Antonio.

“My blueprint for the Spurs is do what you can to build a superteam around him, keep him happy and win a championship; that might be your best bet for keeping him around,” Jensen said.

A major hoops talent is putting his mark on San Antonio. It could be costly to keep him here.

Instagram / @Spurs

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Robert Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine claims aren’t just bullshit, they’re dangerous bullshit

BY KEVIN SANCHEZ

Editor’s Note: Bad Takes is a column of opinion and analysis.

The late John F. Kennedy’s nephew, Robert Kennedy Jr., announced his run for president in April and, earlier this month, enjoyed a three-hour misinformation-sucking session with a certain dietary supplement salesman based in Austin.

By the numbers, more Homo sapiens catch said salesman’s show, The Joe Rogan Experience, than any other podcast on Earth. Rogan generates hundreds of millions of dollars for his Big Tech daddy, Spotify, a multibillion media platform which has abandoned its stated policy against “dangerous false or deceptive medical information that poses a threat to public health.”

During a recent installment of his show, Rogan permitted Robert Kennedy’s busted sewer main’s-worth of hazardous falsehoods to gush out, un-fact-checked — all over his millions of subscribers.

During his appearance, Kennedy said getting the Hepatitis B vaccine only makes sense if you’re a “really seasoned prostitute” or engaged in “compulsive homosexual behavior.” He also said “not one” of the vaccines on the recommended schedule “has ever been tested in a placebo-controlled trial.”

“The Spanish Flu was not a virus,” he further asserted, claiming that there’s “good evidence” the tens of millions of deaths during the 1918 influenza pandemic were — you guessed it — “vaccine-induced.”

Predictably, Kennedy asserted that the US “spent $16 trillion on the lockdown” and “got nothing for it.” Regarding those of us who got vaccinated against COVID-19, he predicted, “You’re more likely to get sick” because it “does the opposite.” He also blamed COVID vaccines for “beautiful children dying on playing fields,” and suggested that early AIDS treatments killed more patients than AIDS itself.

And, not neglecting his No. 1 hit, Kennedy claimed vaccines cause autism and make kids “retarded.” That’s his use of the dated, offensive term, not ours, by the way.

All of this hokum has been ably debunked by credible sources elsewhere, but let’s isolate just one of Kennedy’s most egregious.

“They had to discredit Ivermectin, because a federal law says you cannot issue an emergency use authorization to a vaccine if there’s an existing medication,” he told Rogan.

Who is “they?” If he means the Food and Drug Administration, that agency informed the Associated Press that an “available treatment for COVID does not preclude the FDA from authorizing a vaccine.” After all, in 2020, the FDA approved convalescent plasma

and hydroxychloroquine, yet that in no way threatened Operation Warp Speed.

This highlights an indelible feature of conspiracism: that the claim often contains grains of truth. The relevant statute — 21 US Code § 360bbb–3 — does stipulate the Secretary of Health and Human Services should only authorize a medicine for emergency use if “there is no adequate, approved, and available alternative.” But, clearly, anything less than a virtual cure for COVID would be inadequate since Americans were dying by the thousands weekly.

Notice also the skipping over of blatant contradictions. Kennedy went on to denounce the FDA for approving Remdesivir, an antiviral medication, to treat COVID. But wait. Why would the FDA approve that drug if it would legally hamstring it from rolling out vaccines?

Rogan never asked that rather obvious question.

In the throes of the pandemic, Kennedy compared mitigation measures to the Holocaust, stating during an anti-vaxxer rally in Washington, D.C., that the Nazis tested vaccines on Jews and others in concentration camps.

“Even in Hitler’s Germany you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did,” Kennedy claimed. Whereas, “none of us can run” from vaccine requirements.

In reality, the Nazis allowed diseases to run rampant in the ghettos and concentration camps, and Anne Frank likely died of typhoid fever at Bergen-Belsen. There’s an ethical galaxy of difference between trying to save people and trying to exterminate them.

Before the interview was over, Kennedy and Rogan smeared world-renowned Houston pediatrician Dr. Peter Hotez, who has dedicated his career to developing patent-free vaccines for poor countries, bypassing Big Pharma’s stranglehold on the market. Kennedy accused Hotez of “made-up science,” and Rogan challenged him to debate Kennedy for $100,000.

When Hotez declined, Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk joined the pile-on, claiming the doctor was “afraid.” Hotez was later stalked outside his home by rightwing provocateurs.

Refusing to entertain cranks is not a sign of cowardice, but discretion.

If only Kennedy were simply a crank of the harmless variety.

“Kennedy’s brand of extreme anti-vaccine activism can have deadly consequences,” science communicator Edward Nirenberg and physician and professor Gavin Yamey wrote in Time Magazine last week. “In

June 2019, he visited Samoa, appearing alongside local anti-vaccine activists. Later that year, a measles outbreak resulted in 83 preventable deaths, most of which were in children under 5 because of poor uptake of the MMR vaccine.”

In the contiguous United States too, we’re again experiencing outbreaks of diseases we thought left in the previous century.

Kennedy’s claim to fame — beyond his political lineage — is as an environmental lawyer, and he was not wrong to claim on Rogan’s show that “our children are swimming around in a toxic soup.”

On June 1, a study in the Annals of Global Health reported that internal memos dating to the 1970s revealed DuPont and 3M knew so-called “forever chemicals” such as those in Teflon were “toxic when inhaled and ingested” 40 years before the science community.

“[Yet corporate entities] failed to report their findings to EPA as required,” the study authors concluded. “In some cases, industry executives were explicit that they ‘wanted this memo destroyed.’”

That’s a genuine conspiracy. As of 2015, safe levels of these chemicals in our water systems were exceeded by factors of 100 in 27 states, with no enforceable federal limits yet established.

If one were slightly paranoid, one might wonder if it’s not in the interest of wealthy elites to amplify tragic farces such as those propagated by Kennedy as a smoke screen to hide corporate malfeasance.

Crying wolf when there is none injures the noble environmental causes Kennedy initially championed as well as the urgently needed push to detoxify the places we live.

Wikimedia Commons / Daniel Schwen

SPECIAL EVENT

AN EVENING WITH GEORGE TAKEI

The Tobin Center boldly goes where it has never gone before with its latest special guest: George Takei. The august actor, author and activist’s career spans more than 60 years and features myriad stage and screen roles. However, Takei is best known for his potrayal of Hikaru Sulu, the helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek series — an icon of early Asian American representation in media. Takei’s work goes beyond his most iconic role, though. He’s also a forceful advocate for those facing injustice, which he’s experienced first as a child in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II and later as a gay man in the United States. Takei brings his wealth of life experience to the Tobin Center stage in a time when fighting anti-Asian hate and attacks on LGBTQ+ rights is all the more important. $35-$150, 7:30 p.m., H-E-B Performance Hall at Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — Dean Zach

lead roles. Founded by Jose DeHoyos, Kristi Waters and Gilbert Lopez, the Players at the Pointe focus on bringing LGBTQ-related theatrical performances to the San Antonio community. With the original sitcom following the lives of four women of a certain age all living together, it’s no surprise The Golden Girls garnered a devoted gay following. Besides, the sitcom’s then-taboo themes and subject matter often made for interesting TV viewing. Who can forget the episode where Blanche confuses the word “lesbian” for “Lebanese?” The Players’ show parodies that episode as well as other moments that paved the way for LGBTQ-related discussions on sitcom TV. As anti-LGBTQ lawmakers in Texas and other states look to crush hard-fought rights, the Players at the Pointe’s spoof reminds us of the importance of laughter, community and in keeping our “chosen families.” $20, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday, Woodlawn Pointe, 702 Donaldson Ave., woodlawnpointecenter. org. — Marco Aquino

the LaLa Ri experience to San Antonio. $20-$25, 10:30 p.m and midnight, Bonham Exchange, 411 Bonham, table reservations by text only to (210) 3864537, facebook.com/reylopezentertainment. — Dalia Gulca

FRI | 06.30SUN | 09.03

ART ‘STILL BREWING ART’

For more than two months, the San Antonio Art Museum’s “Still Brewing Art” exhibit will showcase artifacts reflecting the building’s earlier life as the Lone Star Brewery. The downtown facility was the first large

THU | 06.29

Courtesy Photo / Players at the Pointe

Courtesy Photo / Tobin Center for the Performing Arts

Courtesy Photo / Rey Lopez Entertainment

Kauffman & Strauss Co. / Courtesy of San Antonio Museum of Art

mechanized brewery in Texas and a highlight of the Golden Age of American Brewing in the late 19th century. Now, through this exhibition, San Antonio residents will have the opportunity to see rare pre-Prohibition objects from this legendary brewery, in addition to old photographs, renovation plans and more. $10-$20, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, June 30-Sep. 3, San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., (210) 978-8100, samuseum.org. — Colin Houston

SAT | 07.01SUN | 08.06

THEATER

THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL

This summer, Hemisfair will transform into Mount Olympus as the Magik Theatre stages The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. The musical is based on the first book in the bestselling young adult series penned by San Antonio native Rick Riordan. The Lightning Thief unfolds a story of teenage angst and discovery wrapped up in a mock-Greek epic. It follows Percy Jackson (played by James Cazares), a teenage New Yorker diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia who discovers that his father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. On a search for Zeus’ master lightning bolt, Jackson undertakes an odyssey that whisks him from Camp Half-Blood to the Underworld to the infamous Lotus Hotel and Casino. Along the way, he befriends the satyr Grover (Ian Eller) and demigod Annabelle (Izabella Montes), the daughter of Athena. The musical features a rollicking original rock score and lyrics from Broadway composer Rob Rokicki and a book by Joe Tracz. The Magik’s production is directed by Anthony Runfola. Guests can experience the magic in-person from July 1-Aug. 6, including special ASL-interpreted, sensory-friendly and pay-what-you-wish performances scheduled for late July. $18.80-$33.50, 2 p.m. Thursday, 7 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, July 1-Aug. 6 (additional showtimes available online), Magik Theatre, 420 S. Alamo St., (210) 227-2751, magiktheatre.org. — DZ

SUN | 07.02

SPECIAL EVENT

ARMED FORCES RIVER PARADE

On the 160th anniversary of the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, a flotilla of boats and floats will wend their

and the U.S. Air Force Band of the West, featuring Top Flight. Like at any good Independence Day gathering, there will be food — furnished by an all-American diversity of local vendors and food trucks. From classic Fourth of July fare like burgers, hot dogs and BBQ, to San Antonio favorites like tacos and chicken on a stick, to refreshing summer coolers like aguas frescas, mangonadas and raspas — there will truly be everything under the sun. The party celebrating our nation’s independence will also feature free-to-attend wrestling matches from noon-5 p.m. hosted by Texas Wrestling and Entertainment. At 7 p.m., the Welcome Salute, featuring San Antonio city council members, Bexar County commissioners and distinguished local guests, will kick off the evening program. Finally, two hours later at 9 p.m., the skies above the Woodlawn Lake lighthouse will explode with fireworks for twelve minutes of glory, ecstasy and color. Guests are encouraged to bring copious amounts of water, protection against the sun and lawn chairs and blankets for seating. Free, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Woodlawn Lake Park, 1103 Cincinnati Ave., saparks.org. — DZ

WED | 07.05

way down the River Walk in the Armed Forces River Parade. Decked out in red, white and blue, the floats will honor all six branches of the armed forces and adhere to this year’s theme — “Heart, Spirit and Soul.” During the 40-minute display of patriotism, the river will shine with uniformed representatives from the city’s military facilities as well as local businesses and nonprofits who support active-duty and retired forces. Last year’s parade featured military-grade inflatable rubber Zodiacs, a papier-mâché replica of JFK’s PT-109 boat and live music from active-duty choirs and brass bands. Expect much of the same fun this Fourth of July weekend. Free, 6-7 p.m., San Antonio River Walk and Arneson River Theatre, 418 Villita St., thesanantonioriverwalk.com. — DZ

TUE | 07.04

SPECIAL EVENT

H-E-B FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION

This Fourth of July, San Antonians can join in the fun at Woodlawn Lake Park, where the city will hold its Official Fourth of July Celebration. The annual event is presented by the San Antonio Parks Foundation and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Carnival games for all ages will be held throughout the event in conjunction with live performances from Sonora Hechicera, an all-female cumbia band,

RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: WERQ THE WORLD

Haters be advised, there is a Category Five Glam Storm headed toward the Alamo City. RuPaul’s Drag Race’s latest Werq the World tour will feature a number of Drag Race legends as well as yet-to-be-announced Season 15 finalists. The tour’s rotating lineup showcases figures from throughout the pop-

Reminder:

ular TV drag contest show’s history, from fan favorites and Drag Race All Stars including Jujubee and Laganja Estranja to more recent contestants such as Asia O’Hara, Deja Skye and season 14 runner-up Lady Camden. With a show publicized as “the biggest drag show in the world,” fans in San Antonio who are 18 and up should have more fireworks to look forward to after their Fourth of July celebrations. $55 and up, 8 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com — CH

Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.

Courtesy Photo / Magik Theatre

Courtesy Photo / Visit San Antonio

Oscar Moreno

Marco Ovando

FRI | 07.07SUN | 09.03

ART

‘UNMOORING,’ ‘STADTWALD’ AND ‘THE DIRECT PATH’

A trio of solo exhibitions at the Contemporary at Blue Star this month showcases the great variety of media and diversity of themes explored in the works of three contemporary artists, particularly since the pandemic. In the oil paintings and stark charcoal portraits of “Unmooring,” San Antonio-based artist Brittany Ham explores the isolating effects of lockdown in conjunction with the ruptures of childbirth and early motherhood. In the enigmatic, quiet photographs of “Stadtwald,” Austin-based artist Adam Schreiber captures the forgotten, desolated corners of Berlin. What’s more, his photos of mysterious singular and grouped objects make the viewer question the difference between what they are seeing versus what they are perceiving. Finally, sculptor Michael Velliquette constructs miniature palaces of pulp with the incredibly intricate paper sculptures of “The Direct Path.” His multilayered and multicolored “structural collages” are as elaborate and as meditatively created as the building architecture we are used to — just on a much smaller scale. The three exhibitions will open during the Contemporary’s monthly First Friday open house, offering guests the perfect opportunity to step in on a whim and experience wonders. Free, 6-9 p.m. Friday, July 7, noon-5 p.m. Wednesday, noon-8 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, July 7-Sep. 3, Contemporary at Blue Star, 116 Blue Star, (210) 227-6960, contemporarysa.org. — DZ

TUE | 07.11

FILM

THE KARATE KID

Fans of ’80s cinema classics take note: Slab Cinema is presenting the 1984 hit The Karate Kid in a free outdoor showing. The riveting underdog tale follows Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) as he grows under the tutelage of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) and competes against his unrelenting tormentors from the Cobra Kai dojo in a karate tournament. Guests are encouraged to bring their own picnic blankets and lawn chairs. Food truck vendors will be on hand to supply the vittles. The movie will start at dusk, so no need to brave the full brunt of July heat to see the legendary action-packed film. You might say it’s as easy as wax on, wax off. Free, 8:30 p.m., Travis Park, 301 E. Travis St., slabcinema.com. — CH

FRI | 07.07 -

SUN | 07.30

THEATER GREASE

To commemorate 45 years since the release of the seminal movie-mu-

sical, a stage production of Grease (dir. Chris Rodriguez) is hot-rodding into the recently renamed Wonder Theatre this July. In this beloved satire of 1950s teen high school life, notorious greaser Danny Zuko (Anthony Martucci) and chaste Australian exchange student Sandy Olsson (Lauren Campion) take a chance at an exhilarating summer fling. When senior year begins and Sandy faces ridicule from Danny’s leather-clad friends, she prepares to bid a bittersweet farewell to their whirlwind romance. Danny, however, is determined to keep her around. In the face of Rydell High’s rigid clique culture, Danny and Sandy must decide if they’re willing to abandon their long-standing social circles to keep their “summer lovin’” alive. $18-$32, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, Wonder Theatre at the Woodlawn Theatre, 1920 Fredericksburg Road, (210) 267-8388, woodlawntheatre.org. — Caroline WolfF

Michael Velliquette / Courtesy of Contemporary at Blue Star

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Courtesy Photo / Wonder Theatre

Defending Drag A Pride roundtable discussion with San

BY BRYAN RINDFUSS

Antonio drag performers

In observation of Pride month, the Current invited a diverse quartet of drag artists to participate in a roundtable discussion addressing the unprecedented rise in anti-LGBTQ+ bills, the conundrum of performing at kid-friendly events and ways we can work together for positive change. As hoped, our lovely and talented panelists — Foxxy Blue Snacks, Hunsen Abequeer, Pancho Panza and Prada Hill-Dluxe — handily proved that drag can take myriad forms and should never be forced into a single box.

In addition to acting as photographer, San Antonio drag aficionado Julián P. Ledezma produced this project, which was generously hosted by both Pride Center San Antonio and La Ruina.

Drags of the Roundtable

What do you all think these anti-LGBT, anti-drag bills are actually about?

Pancho Panza: It’s about power and control: trying to control our bodies, trying to control what we do and trying to keep us in check. That’s what the abortion bans are doing — [as are] the drag bans and the bans on children getting access to life-saving health care.

Hunsen Abequeer: I feel like the people supporting this rhetoric are like an animal backed into a corner right now. They understand that times are changing and that if they don’t do anything to stop it they’re gonna be left in the past. So they’re trying to preserve their ideals and their ways of thinking. They are not open to progress, because they truly believe that they are going to be treated the way they have treated minorities in the past. I think they’re really struggling to hold onto that power and control. And they are really just wanting to keep people complacent and keep people in check.

Foxxy Blue Snacks: It has nothing to do with us or with drag — or how we dress or our performances. It’s a distraction. … San Antonio is built on a foundation of community care. We’ve spent many times taking our turns in the fire. Folks that have been part of this activist community [have fought] for immigrant rights, for reproductive rights, for access to gender-affirming care. Luckily we know what to do. San Antonio is a shining example of a community that can organize an amazing protest or a march with music, familia, food, laughter and performance. As a queer community, it’s our turn to work through what’s being put on us.

Has the rise of anti-LGBTQ bills and anti-drag sentiment affected your work as a performer in any way?

Hunsen Abequeer: I’m kind of afraid to take

family friendly gigs. I just had a gig yesterday that I was not aware was going to be family friendly. And when I saw kids in the audience, I genuinely had a moment where I was like, do I keep performing? Do I look at the kids? Do I interact with them? I don’t mind performing in front of children. I think my drag is very family friendly and relatable for a general audience. And it sucks that now I really have to think about that. I can’t tell my mom to bring my little sister to Pride shows and things like that. I don’t feel safe having my sister at events like that. Because you never know who may show up to protest and someone else may cause violence that would not have been there in the past.

Prada Hill-Dluxe: It makes us have to think a lot more about what we’re doing. We have to make sure that it is appropriate and obviously family friendly, if that’s what the event requires. I’m a lot more cautious about what I do. The Dakota East Side Ice House is a family friendly venue. If we don’t have any kids in the audience that day, we’re good to go. But if we do see a kid, we take that into consideration and either do a family friendly track or routine.

Pancho Panza: I mentioned earlier that I co-founded Los MENtirosos drag king troupe. We also co-founded a drag king bilingual storytime right before the pandemic. We did a couple of storytimes in person and then went virtual during the pandemic with different nonprofit organizations. We had been planning to do a drag king bilingual storytime based on the book We Are Water Protectors, [which] talks about environmental justice and protecting the water. And when the folks at the Starlighter got attacked, we moved the date. We’ve never shied away from performing and we call ourselves “dragtivists” because we go to the Lege, and we fight and we testify. But we were thinking about the kids and the families. A lot of the kids

MEET THE PERFORMERS: FOXXY BLUE SNACKS

Pronouns: She/they.

that come to see us are trans, are queer, and we didn’t want them to face any violence. … Whenever I produce shows, I make sure that it’s at a community center that’s going to have our back — and make sure that folks are aware of what to look for. I’m a little nervous [when] it’s family friendly, but I’m not afraid. I just want to make sure that we’re protecting the families and the kids.

Foxxy Blue Snacks: The one thing that has changed is my routine. When you do something that’s family oriented, you have to get into a different headspace in the morning and recognize that it could happen. … When I do a show that’s family friendly, I always bring an escort with me — and he’s real cute, so that’s helpful. (Laughs.) After the Pulse nightclub shooting, anytime I leave the house dressed this way — especially in a high-risk state like Texas — I have to come to terms with the fact that I may not come back. I think that’s a huge part of why performance is activism. … We have to know that this comes with a risk. To me, the concept of safe space has been jeopardized. I don’t believe in naming [or] creating “safe space” anymore, because we can’t control everything around us. I think it sets us up for potentially harming our community by naming something a “safe space.” I’m a burlesque performer, so oftentimes I’m in 21-and-up spaces already. But as a performer, I get ready for an all-ages event very differently.

Hunsen Abequeer: [Kids] see drag performers and think, “Oh, that’s a princess or a prince” — the way they would see a Disney character. They’re not thinking about what’s in our pants. Some people like to make it a bigger thing than it has to be. Those are the people that are thinking about what’s in our pants. I’m like, “You are projecting this sexuality on us as performers.” Drag has long passed the days of mere cross-dressing. I think a lot of those people probably think of cross-dressing as an inherently sexual or kink-related thing, because that’s probably something they’re secretly into. They see us

How long have you been doing drag? I’ve been playing with gender fuck for 20 years, but presenting as Foxxy Blue for seven. Does your drag follow any particular style or genre? The genre specifically is bearded drag, but I also call in a lot of burlesque inspiration [and I’m] heavily inspired by the ’80s. I always say that Foxxy Blue is a character from the ’20s but styled by a costumer from the ’80s. There’s always some glitz or big shoulder pads or a tight waist or some kind of big hat or feathers or sequins. Any venues where you typically perform? So my home bar in California was the Midnight Sun in the Castro. Now that I’m back, I’ll probably be most seen regularly on the Pastie Pops stage at the Bonham Exchange.

Do you recall your earliest drag experience? I do, and it’s really special. Before I ever thought that I could do drag, I was a concert promoter for House of Blues at Sunset Station. And they hired me and Erica Andrews as the two performers for a corporate event that they booked for Halloween. … That night, I got to put Erica Andrews in her Jessica Rabbit corset, because we shared a dressing room. And I was able to perform two numbers — “I’m Every Woman” and “Midnight Train to Georgia” — on the grand staircase of Sunset Station. That’s the staircase that Selena is standing on in the “No Me Queda Más” music video, as well as where the fashion show scene happens in Selena the movie.

Who are a few of your drag heroes? Aside from Erica Andrews, who will always be a beautiful memory and a huge legacy for not just drag but the trans movement here in San Antonio, I also would have to say my drag mother Kipper Snacks, who is a beautiful trans woman. She does all of my costuming and does a lot of work for RuPaul’s Drag Race. As far as RuPaul’s Drag Race girls, Raja Gemini will forever be my queen — [especially for] her ’80s inspiration. Through hosting for Rey Lopez Entertainment, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with both her and Raven, who have been the most accessible and nice folks to me.

200

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and are ashamed of themselves and what they think of when they look at drag performers. They’re conflating it. Kids aren’t thinking about that. They’re just like, “Oh my god, look at this beautiful dress and your hair is purple!” People [thinking] of drag as an inherently sexual act is just insane and says a lot about what is going on in those people’s heads.

Foxxy Blue Snacks: It’s also OK if it is. My drag is inherently sexual. I’m a burlesque performer. I’m a stripper, and I don’t make any apologies for that. … My art isn’t necessarily for all ages. If our art is inherently sexual, that’s absolutely OK.

Hunsen Abequeer: But to say that all drag is inherently sexual, I think is a problem. It’s just like how there are movies for kids and movies for adults — you’re not going to take your kid to an R-rated movie. … So, why can’t drag performers be diverse and dynamic performers that understand, like Foxxy was saying, that when you’re going to perform for children, it’s a different story than when you’re gonna perform at a club as a burlesque entertainer. You understand the difference between those two audiences.

Pancho Panza: Also people don’t understand that there’s different types of drag performers. I only do music in Spanish. When I do family-friendly [shows], I do cumbias because that’s what the babies listen to at home. They dance with you and are just like, “Oh, my god, look at all the glitter!” I grew up with Juan Gabriel. Kids know who Juan Gabriel is because their moms are cleaning to it on Sundays. (Laughs.) It’s familiar for them. There’s draglesque, and there’s Latinx drag kings and there’s gore drag performers. For them to sexualize and put drag in one category is messed up. And even the language they use on the drag bills is wild.

Let’s expand on that language a bit.

Pancho Panza: The original language read [paraphrasing], Sexually oriented performance, defined as a man impersonating a woman, a woman impersonating a man, as well as actual or simulated sex acts, nudity, and anything that appeals to the prurient interest of sex.

Hunsen Abequeer: This language is so vague that it doesn’t just affect drag performers, it affects trans people just living their lives in public. As a trans man, someone [could] see me in public

and say, “You’re in drag. You’re a woman dressed up as a man right now. My child’s here and I think this is inappropriate.” So I have to go home and put on a skirt and a bra? Is it going to come down to them making us wear articles of clothing that match our assigned gender at birth? Because that’s literally what the Stonewall Riots were started over. We are backpedaling so far at this point that the word “progress” doesn’t even mean anything. I feel like all the progress that was made in the last 70 years is just out the window. It’s been horrifying to watch it happen in real time and understand where things are going and how the dominoes are falling. I’ve asked a lot of people who are not in the queer community if they’re aware of what’s going on. They’re like, “No, what’s happening?” That’s what’s really getting me is that the general public that is not directly affected by this stuff — unless they’re on the other side where they’re hating everything so hard — they do not know. And it’s because most people don’t even care about trans people. … But it’s the ones that have so much hate in their hearts that scream the loudest.

Pancho Panza: Let me read you the new language — the language that passed. It doesn’t directly say “drag” but it’s even worse. It says [paraphrasing], The exhibition of sexual gesticulations using accessories or prosthetics that exaggerate male or female sexual characteristics with the actual or simulated exhibition of representation. So if I, as a trans non-binary person, wear a packer or a binder, that could be interpreted as an exhibition or prosthetic that exaggerates male characteristics. … So it’s very vague. People can interpret it however they want. The thing that happened in Texas is, it passed and is sitting on the governor’s desk but he hasn’t signed it. He only signed SB 14, which is the ban on healthcare for trans kids. We believe he did that because he wants to bring it back for the special session to include specific language about banning drag performances.

Have you found that there’s more solidarity within the LGBTQ+ community as a result of all this?

Prada Hill-Dlux: I think so. I think we all keep each other accountable. And make sure that your buddy is staying in line and not getting in trouble. We all hold each other pretty much accountable … here in San Antonio at least.

Pancho Panza: I love seeing all the sup-

MEET THE PERFORMERS: PANCHO PANZA

Pronouns: They/them/elle. How long have you been doing drag? Since 2018. Does your drag follow any particular style or genre?

I mostly do Latinx drag. All the songs that I lip-synch to are in Spanish. So it’s the flamboyant, macho stereo-

type — but mostly inspired by Juan Gabriel. Any venues where you typically perform? Before the pandemic, La Botánica was our home. I was part of a drag king troupe called Los MENtirosos. Now it’s just different venues, [including] the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, the Pride Center and with national nonprofits like Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement and Mi Gente.

Do you recall your earliest drag experience? Well, I’m trans nonbinary. And when I was about 11 or 12, I was wearing my hair really short and I dressed up as a boy. That’s more like dress-up but now I identify it as me trying to do drag and trying to play with gender.

But my earliest experience was in Mexico — I’m an immigrant, I was born in Mexico. There was this drag performer named Francis [García]. She was widely accepted. … And I saw her at a state fair in Monterrey, Mexico, where I was born.

Who are a few of your drag heroes? Definitely SirGio and Gacho Marx, which are the other two co-founders of Los MENtirosos. They definitely introduced me to drag. Even though we started together, they had more experience with drag and the queer world. Ricky Rosé is a drag king of color in DC. Bobby Pudrido is a drag king in Austin. I’m not very much into RuPaul’s Drag Race and stuff like that but there is a version in Mexico called La Más Draga. Mexican drag is just something else — it’s fucking amazing. So Alexis 3XL is also one of my drag heroes. She’s a fat nonbinary drag queen who won the second season of La Más Draga

MEET THE PERFORMERS: HUNSEN ABEQUEER

Pronouns: He/him out of drag. And in drag, honestly it does not really matter because I can do a lot of drag [genres]. I started off as a drag king and kind of made

my way to drag queen after I started transitioning. So if I look female-presenting, call me she. If I look male-presenting, call me he. If you can’t tell, they is never bad.

How long have you been doing drag? Since 2018. Does your drag follow any particular style or genre? Not really. Lately I’ve definitely gone a little more down the glamorous path, but I can do anything from horror to Broadway to comedy to campy. Any venues where you typically perform? You can catch me at the Bonham Exchange mostly every Thursday night and at Picks Bar for brunch at 1 p.m. every Sunday.

Do you recall your earliest drag experience? I very clearly remember the first time I became aware of what drag was and that was when I saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the tender age of 3. I was very affected by Frank-N-Furter. Growing up, my mom didn’t really censor what I watched … so I got to watch a lot of queer movies. So drag’s always kind of been there in my life since I was very small.

Who are few of your drag heroes? That’s a hard one, there are so many! Locally, Layla Larue is one of my biggest drag heroes and inspirations along with Tersa Mathews. If we’re talking big-picture “drag celebrities,” I would definitely say Gottmik really inspired me. Andro Gin isn’t quite as famous, but is definitely the person that inspired me to start doing drag. And from the people that I’ve met, Crystal Methyd and Sasha Colby.

port. Remember in December when there was that [protest] over A Drag Queen Christmas? It was a lot of support. And the other side, the antis, it was like four people. I want to bring that energy to drag shows to actually compensate folks. … I don’t live off of drag but there are drag performers that live off of their art. So yes, be out there supporting us, but also support with your wallet and come to the shows.

Hunsen Abequeer: In the midst of all of this hatred and legislation that is targeting our community and attacking us, I have seen a lot of people band together. And I’ve seen a lot of people within the community trying to spread information and get people educated, encouraging people to vote, and making sure they know their rights and know what is happening. At this point, ignorance is the worst thing — not knowing fully what is going on, who is coming after us, how they’re coming after us and what these bills mean. … Spreading it as far and wide as possible and getting everybody fully aware is the most important thing we can do right now.

That leads nicely into our next talking point. It’s clear that a lot of the people that have this fear of drag have never been to a drag show. What can we do within the community — or share with naysayers —  that might affect positive change?

Prada Hill-Dluxe: It’s honestly just an expression of yourself. In my head, I’m a ballerina. So when I perform, I channel my ballerina energy out there. If somebody’s a clown, they go out there and clown around and channel their clown energy. It’s just freedom of expression. And if we can’t express ourselves, what is the point of even being?

Hunsen Abequeer: I’m trying to make sure that our straight allies are fully aware of what’s happening and trying to keep them educated as well — [including] friends and family members who may not be as involved as we are. As important as it is for us to know, it is also very important for people who [aren’t] directly affected by these bills to understand how it will be affecting the people they love and care about. That’s what I’m trying to do — just keep educating, keep spreading the word and making sure people are getting out and voting.

Pancho Panza: When I was part of Los MENtirosos, we performed at a lot of queer spaces but we also per-

formed at a lot of alternative spaces. We performed at a wedding. It was a queer wedding, but a lot of the family members weren’t [queer]. They came up to us and were like, “Oh my god, y’all are fabulous! I’ve never been to a drag show. This was great!” I’m not saying to put yourself in a position where you’re performing somewhere that isn’t [welcoming]. But some of those gigs — like performing at a quinceañera, a wedding or events that aren’t [entirely] queer — [can lead to] other folks getting that exposure. … But also, yes, educate family members. Educate friends in whatever space that you are when people are talking about these bills.

Foxxy Blue Snacks: It’s a lot for us to have to experience the trauma of this being a target on our own backs, and then have to educate the rest of the world about it. I think our allies need to step up and do this work themselves. If you want to call yourself a drag aficionado and you turn on Drag Race, then you also need to show up in the other ways that matter. … I think the biggest thing for us as performers is to keep our heads down and continue to inspire hope. That is why performance happens. When times get tough, we have to buckle down and do this. We are the ones that distract everyone from having to live with this horrible reality. We’re the ones that get to transport people to a different place where everyone is beautiful and accepted and safe. … The bill’s already being overturned in Tennessee. This is a distraction. And these political cycles are exactly that. We will not be talking about this in another year. People will move on, and it’ll be the next thing. So for now, I think it’s important to keep our heads down, continue to celebrate, continue to create a better world than we inherited in our generations, and allow for the rest of the world to stand up and educate themselves and protect our youth.

There’s been a publicized push for the ACLU’s Drag Defense Fund. Are there other organizations and initiatives our readers should be aware of?

Pancho Panza: I’m on the board of the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT). It’s a statewide org that fights anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ legislature but also [offers] education for parents of trans children. … Equality Texas has a fellowship every two years before the legislative session starts. They train fellows

to advocate and fight at the legislative level. … There’s also Corazón San Antonio and, of course, the Pride Center.

Foxxy Blue Snacks: One resource that I grew up through is Allgo, which is a statewide queer people of color organization in Austin. They [connect people with] everything from reproductive health services to gender-affirming care services.

Hunsen Abequeer: On the flip side, there are organizations people should know about because of the bad they’re doing — like Moms for Liberty. There are a lot of organized hate groups right now that are fully in the pockets of the far-right Republicans making these laws. They are extremely organized and they have money. They have so much money, they are so loud, they are spinning all these stories and they are really good at convincing people on their side. Because what do they keep bringing up? The children. They love making it seem like we are out here doing all these terrible things to kids. Hey, y’all, guess what? Queer adults didn’t just turn 18 and become gay all of a sudden. There are queer kids in the world who need this representation, who need to see queer adults living and succeeding and being happy. Because if they don’t have that representation, if they think all they will have as adults is more hatred thrown at them, those kids will never become adults. They will die. How are they gonna die? They are going to do it themselves. It’s common knowledge in our community what happens to queer kids that don’t get the support they need and deserve. So we need to be louder than these groups and we need to find our local groups. The Human Rights Campaign does a lot for the queer community across the country. Find your local groups that are raising money and supporting the legislation that’s going to fight the hatred. … The Alamo Area Resource Center (AARC) here in San Antonio is a local clinic. That’s where I got my first ever shot of testosterone. There’s also the Kind Clinic and the San Antonio AIDS Foundation. So there’s a lot here in San Antonio alone that you could donate to. But it really is about investing in the community. I know a lot of us don’t even have the money to invest. But if you are sitting on some extra dough and you think, “Oh, what can I do to help? Everything is so scary right now,” there are so many places that need the funds. That way we can be just as loud as those hate groups.

MEET THE PERFORMERS: PRADA HILL-DLUX

Pronouns: He, they, she.

How long have you been doing drag? Two years as of last month.

Does your drag follow any particular style or genre? She’s a dancing diva — she likes the kicks, the splits, the tricks.

Any venues where you typically perform? Every Friday I’m at the Dakota East Side Ice House. And then I’m usually at the Bonham Exchange on Thursdays.

Do you recall your earliest drag experience? I’m always inspired by the queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race — [especially] Yvie Oddly, Monét X Change and Symone. My first drag experience that I can think of? I was not a good walker at first. But everybody has to learn from somewhere, and I’ve had some time to grow.

Who are a few of your drag heroes? RuPaul has done so much to open the spectrum for drag to be out there, be on the scene, be on TV, be in the news, be in fashion shows — everything. So he’s probably my top inspiration. Plus if I cut my hair, I’ll be looking just like him.

Remembering family and the Alamo

New exhibitions at San Antonio’s Artpace examine histories both public and personal

BY MARCO AQUINO

Artpace’s summer programming brings together three artists, all filmmakers, whose works explore widely divergent themes and employ different media.

The contemporary art space and residency program is presenting two exhibitions. Angela Guerra Walley’s “We Are Quilted Together” installation is on display in its Main Space, while “2 for 99¢,” a joint exhibition by filmmakers Jim Mendiola and Rubén Ortiz-Torres, occupies the Hudson Showroom.

Walley considers her own family’s lineage of female creators in the works she creates, while Mendiola and Ortiz-Torres use their medium to examine the city’s public icons and urban legends.

On first glance, Walley’s work appears to be nothing more than a clothing line on which dangle multiple nondescript garments. Unusual, considering Walley is primarily recognized as a documentary filmmaker known for biographies of artists including Vincent Valdez and the late Chuck Ramirez.

However, upon closer inspection, what first appears to be a common fixture in many backyards is a uniquely intricate assemblage of personal items and history.

Walley, recipient of a San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture 2022 Individual Artist Grant, described her artistic process during a press preview at Artpace. She lost her father at the end of 2018 but said it wasn’t until a year and a half ago that she was ready to move “towards the light.”

“I was ready to start thinking about all of the love, all of the comfort that brings you out of your lowest point of grief,” Walley explained. “For me, that was all of the memories not only of my father but of his mother, [whom] he was very close to. I found myself thinking a lot about my grandmother.”

A History of Quilting

Aside from caring for large families, her grandmother and mother shared sewing skills, according to Walley.

That connection is on display in the piece “We Are Quilted Together,” which features a series of “quilted dresses” that hang from a clothesline supported by two rusted metal poles. Walley gathered items from her own wardrobe to create the new quilted works. She called the process a cathartic experience.

“Tearing things apart at the seams and reconstructing them into something new is just a really satisfying experience,” she said.

The metal poles from which the dresses hang were also cut from her grandmother’s yard. Walley’s installation draws on a history of quilt making in the United States in which women were the driving force. At the same time, it pays homage to her own familial history of women creators. The quilted dresses represent the various aspects of Walley’s artistic practice as a filmmaker, poet, musician and visual artist.

collaborated in 2001.

The exhibition revisits a 3D video installation created during Mendiola’s and Ortiz-Torres’ residency more than two decades ago. The work showcases the Alamo, with a particular focus on the site’s multifaceted use as a holy shrine, tourist site, museum and archeological site.

Another example of aging technology is The Mapping of the Mascot Genome, a collaborative series of digitally manipulated videos depicting Ballapeño and Puffy Taco — the official and unofficial mascots of the San Antonio Missions, the city’s minor league baseball team. The images appear slightly blurred, revealing the outdated software used to create the videos.

Remembering the Alamo

In “2 for 99¢,” Mendiola and Ortiz-Torres present work created over the past decades, beginning when both were named Artpace Artists in Residence in 2001.

“We

Although much of Walley’s prior work — specifically her film or musical creations — existed as digital files, she noted that “slowly coming around to object-making and installation-making definitely felt right.”

Beyond that, the exhibit investigates the globalization of popular culture and the manner in which they city’s history is continuously repackaged and resold.

“As much as technology has changed over the years, the [things that remain] consistent are the conversations around the Alamo and about who owns history,” Mendiola said.

The title of the show humorously references their pairing for the project while riffing on the Alamo City’s deep appreciation of cheap and delicious breakfast tacos.

In the Taco House series, Ortiz-Torres depicts offers a set of photos depicting taquerias across the city. The photos include all the hallmarks of taco house culture, from brightly colored buildings and religious iconography to promotional text splashed across front windows and tight parking spaces.

Ortiz-Torres created the series to be featured in Mendiola’s 2003 film Speeder Kills.

“2 for 99¢” also reveals just how much technology has changed since Mendiola and Ortiz-Torres first

Mendiola referenced a recent controversy over nearby tavern Moses Rose’s Hideout, which could be seized by the city using eminent domain in order to build the new Alamo Visitor Center and Museum.

The exhibit also features the artists’ 2013 Fiesta Medal, which commemorates heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne’s arrest 41 years ago for urinating on the Alamo Cenotaph.

Through representations of baseball, heavy metal and breakfast tacos, Mendiola and Ortiz-Torres encapsulate the city’s cultural traditions and icons while contributing to a conversation about its evolving image and cultural history.

Courtesy Photo / Angela Guerra Walley

Are Quilted Together” runs through Sept. 3, and “2 for 99¢” will be on view through Nov. 26. Free, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Artpace, 445 N. Main Ave., (210) 212-4900, artpace.org.

Not Like the Other Boys

Actor Jeff Hiller talks growing up in San Antonio and his HBO series

SomebodySomewhere

BY KIKO MARTINEZ

When actor and San Antonio native Jeff Hiller enrolled in Texas Lutheran University (TLU) in 1994, his plan was to become a pastor.

“I think one of the main reasons I wanted to be a pastor is because I knew I would have a built-in audience once a week,” Hiller, 47 and a Churchill High School grad, joked during a recent interview with the Current

Along with all the theology classes he took, Hiller, who’s openly gay, spent much of his time performing on stage. He graduated from TLU in 1998 with a degree in theater, and by then, a love for acting had replaced his desire to preach from the pulpit.

In 2001, Hiller started performing and teaching improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City. Since then, he’s made a name for himself mostly in the TV industry, starring in episodes of series including 30 Rock, Community, Broad City and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

He also landed a recurring role as a serial killer in 2022’s American Horror Story: NYC. In Hiller’s first feature film, the underrated 2008 fantasy comedy Ghost Town, he played a naked ghost opposite Ricky Gervais.

Hiller is currently starring in the HBO dramedy series Somebody Somewhere. The show follows a woman named Sam (Bridget Everett) who undergoes a mid-life crisis as she returns to her small hometown in Kansas. Hiller plays Joel, Sam’s gay and religious best friend, who happens to be maneuvering through his own issues.

The first two seasons of Somebody Somewhere are streaming on Max, and earlier this month the series was renewed for a third. During our interview, Hiller talked about his life in San Antonio, what film he saw as a kid that sparked his interest in acting and his thoughts on the anti-LGBTQ+ laws being introduced across the country under the guise of religious freedom.

What kind of a student were you at Churchill High School in the 1990s? Were you in theater?

Well, I was the kind of student who was profoundly gay. So, I just tried to hide. (Laughs.) I was in the choir for four years. That was my big thing. I did school musicals. The drama program at Churchill had all these cool kids and stuff. So, I thought, “Oh, I can’t be in that.”

What musicals do you remember doing?

I was in Oklahoma! my freshman year. I played Cowboy No. 4. I can recite my entire show for you right now! (Laughs.) It was an auspicious beginning.

What did you study at Texas Lutheran?

Well, I studied abroad my junior year in Namibia, and when I got back, they were like, “You need to declare a major!” That’s how wishy-washy I was. So, I looked at all the credits I had and the classes I had taken. It added up to be a theater major and a theology minor. I wanted to be a pastor at the time. That’s why I studied so much theology.

Musical theater and theology? I think you just made Ted Cruz’s head explode. Exactly! Why don’t you take a trip to Mexico, Ted? That’s what you like to do when things get too complicated.

What was Namibia like?

Just to give you an idea, that’s where they shot Mad Max: Fury Road. So, it’s like a desert. You want to make sure you have a lot of water if you go there. The course I took was called Societies in Transition, and it was all about history, politics, religion and culture.

During an appearance on JimmyKimmelLive! this past April, you said San Antonio was “a nice place to visit” but that you didn’t “recommend growing up gay there.” Can you elaborate on that?

Well, I have friends who stayed there, and it seems like it’s a much more accepting and progressive place today. I think it was more about the time I grew up

there. It was at the height of the AIDS epidemic — and me being obviously gay. There were lots of bullies and cruelties. I don’t think it’s specifically about San Antonio. I think it’s more about being different in 1988.

How were you different?

I didn’t conform to the standard gender roles. I’ve always been giggly. I remember one time this mean kid at Eisenhower Middle School told me that I carried my books like a girl. I looked down, and I was carrying my books against my chest. I was like, “Oh, the other boys carry their books down by their hip.” They were constantly pointing things out to me that I didn’t notice.

What sparked your interest in acting?

I wanted to do it since I was about four years old when I saw E.T.

Which has its own San Antonio connection too with Henry Thomas.

Exactly! When I found out he was from San Antonio, I was like, “Oh my gosh!” I remember he made Cloak & Dagger in San Antonio.

So, you saw E.T. and … … and I was really concerned about Elliot. My mom was like, “Oh, he’s just an actor.” And I was like, “What? You can be an actor?” I was all in. But it wasn’t a real goal until I moved to New York and I started taking classes at [Upright Citizens Brigade] and met people who were actors. They were in commercials, and they were doing off-Broadway theater. I was like, “These people are just like me! In fact, I’m better than them at improv, so let’s do this!”

Do you consider SomebodySomewhere the highlight of your career thus far?

It’s definitely the highlight of my whole career. Sometimes people want to talk to me about American Horror Story, but I only got American Horror Story because of Somebody

Somewhere. I’ve done a ton of sitcoms and am very proud of the work that I’ve done as a guest star. But it’s nice to go to a set every day and play a character that’s fully realized and three dimensional. It’s a real gift.

You’re playing a character who, like yourself in real life, is gay and grew up in the church. The authenticity is baked in, no? Yeah, [the series] wants to be very real. I know a ton of people in San Antonio and around Texas who are both queer and also a member of a church or a faith community. I know many people like that, but I’ve never seen anything like that on television. I think what’s really interesting about the show is that they are being so truthful, and they’re doing something completely unheard of. It feels so different and so wonderful.

Do you still go to church?

I go to church when I go home to Texas, but

I don’t have a church in New York anymore. I used to, but it’s so hard to get up on Sunday. I’m being a little flippant. You know, it’s still a part of my life but it’s not a huge part that it used to be. In San Antonio, I felt like the church was one of the few places where I was accepted. Even the mean kids from school would be nice to me at church. So, it felt like a real sanctuary.

What goes through your mind today when you hear stories about laws, under the guise of religious beliefs, that are stripping away the rights of LGBTQ+ kids?

I become very angry and hurt and truly confused, because so much of it is done in the name of a church. It makes no sense

whatsoever — this regulation of how people should live and how people should be when it’s not harming anyone else. At the same time, I have friends who became pastors, and they’re at churches in San Antonio. I know for a fact that there are a lot of really wonderfully progressive churches in Texas and specifically in San Antonio that are doing amazing work and are all about accepting LGBTQ people. But there are also a lot of churches that are really doubling down and saying, “You have to be like us.” I think those churches are the reason that less people go to church. The Bible says, “Love your neighbor” not “Love your neighbor but make sure there are no trans kids first.”

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Significant Cinema

CineFestival to explore notable Latino narratives at Guadalupe Theater from July 11-16

BY KIKO MARTINEZ

The 44th edition of CineFestival will take place July 11-16 at the historic Guadalupe Theater. San Antonio’s original Latino film festival will feature 114 films, including 38 from the Alamo City and 40 from Texas.

“The amount of work being done by local and regional Latinx and Indigenous filmmakers is staggering,” CineFestival Programmer Eugenio del Bosque said in a statement. “It is very encouraging to see young and veteran filmmakers in San Antonio and Texas are hard at work. We look forward to being a part of bringing an audience to these films and helping some of these voices mature, now and in the years to come.”

CineFestival will open with a 30th-anniversary screening of the 1993 drama Blood In, Blood Out starring Damian Chapa, Benjamin Bratt and San Antonio’s own Jesse Borrego, who will be in attendance to host the screening.

“CineFestival is an important vehicle to showcase the Latino narrative,” Borrego said in a statement. “It offers the community a unique chance to see authentic Latino stories being told, from Latinx filmmakers, whose work may not easily be found at the movie theater.”

Below is a preview of some of the feature and short films that will screen at this year’s festival. For a complete screening schedule, visit guadalupeculturalarts. org.

Conjunto Blues

Directed by Joel Settles, Conjunto Blues started life as a stage play and was adapted for the screen by local conjunto musician Nicolás Valdéz. The film explores the social and historical conditions that gave birth to the development of conjunto, the South Texas-born musical form. “We want to tell authentic stories with dynamic and nuanced characters that reflect our own community honestly,” Valdéz told the Current. “I hope that we aid in the understanding of ourselves as a community of working-class, Mexican-Americans who are part of the fabric of this country, and that our numerous contributions to its rich cultural landscape need to be recognized and celebrated.”

Sacred Mask

In director David Mendez’s film, a luchador, or Mexican wrestler, forsakes his family name and the lucha libre mask to purse his own dreams. But can the luchador really stay out of the wrestling ring? “I grew up watching old Santos and Blue Demon lucha films and was influence by my dad who recently passed away,” Mendez said. “I wanted to pay homage to him

and those films. Hopefully, [Sacred Mask] will revive the love of those types of films with our heroes in them.”

Regeneración: The Donkey Lady Show Presents Ricardo Flores Magón

cludes interviews with 14 San Antonians telling their personal stories. It also includes poetry from Anthony M. Flores. “[San Antonio] is a living, breathing being, alive with stories and rich in culture,” Garcia said.

CineFestival

Filmmaker Marisela Barrera said she wants to break down stereotypes and misinformation to reveal the true Tejana lore of the Donkey Lady by giving the creature a talk show. Her first guest: Mexican anarchist and social reform activist Ricardo Flores Magón. “If you don’t know the legend of the Donkey Lady, you probably just moved here from Austin,” Barrera said. “Regeneración is myth-making at its core.”

$8-$40, various times

July 11-18

Guadalupe Theater

1301 Guadalupe St. (210) 271-3151

guadalupeculturalarts.org

Most Likely To

In Vanessa Lerma’s six-part web series, the San Antonio-based filmmaker created a collection of narratives written from across the U.S. that explore virtual love stories during the pandemic. “Young love makes high schoolers do some crazy things,” Lerma explained. “Oftentimes, Latinx TV is filled with stereotypes, so we avoided that as much as possible. We took a few slices of life out of modern-day San Antonio Latinx and LGBTQ teens trying to make it through school — sans any mention of a chancla.”

I Am San Antonio

Robb S. Garcia’s documentary short is all about what makes the Alamo City a special place. The film in-

“San Antonio would not be the San Antonio we love if it wasn’t for the diverse, unique and vibrant people who call this place home.”

Face the Music

Nick Rodriguez’s film tells the story of a band on the verge of a breakout but whose members all have different visions of their future. “We wanted a human scenario of longtime friends at a crossroads dealing with tough choices and the raw emotion that comes out when faced with conflict,” Rodriguez said. “I hope the people that watch the film feel the earnestness behind the message of trying to create art while also protecting your values and staying true to yourself.”

Loteria

In Loteria, filmmaker Max Wright covers a topic with great personal resonance: immigration. Wright’s loved ones have dealt with the effects of U.S. immigration policies, and he’s tired of the “hateful and harmful rhetoric” that’s spread across the country over the past few years. “I’m shocked that both federal and local Texas governments let policy and personal interest prevent them from seeing and treating asylum-seekers coming from Latin America as their sisters and brothers,” Wright said. “It’s a reflection of my feelings towards the subject.”

Conjunto Blues

Queens of Cuisine

Here’s where to have brunch — or another meal — in San Antonio with a festive side of drag

BY NINA RANGEL

In recent years, drag shows have gained popularity in the restaurant biz, bringing the captivating world of sequins, towering hair and over-the-top makeup to dining rooms around the country. One event that San Antonians have embraced with gusto is the drag brunch, which eviscerates gender norms with humor and Broadway-worthy acts over a weekend meal. Whether you’re looking to tip back mimosas at a weekend brunch, enjoy an evening fete with heartier fare or simply take in a show with cocktails to fuel the fun, these San Antonio bars and restaurants all offer drag shows where the food and drinks are as fabulous as the action onstage.

Paramour at the Phipps

Paramour’s rooftop bar offers a breathtaking view of the San Antonio skyline, but it’s no match for the drag performers — including host and Best of San Antonio winner Kristi Waters — who put on multiple spellbinding shows each Saturday and Sunday. Check the website for the full range of options. Paramour’s trendy, colorful and modern atmosphere creates a vibrant backdrop for some of the city’s most dazzling performers, and the bar’s craft cocktails and chef-driven bites make for an experience that will have you dancing in your seat. 102 9th St., (210) 3409880, paramourbar.com.

Picks Bar

Although primarily known as a live music

venue, Picks pairs cheeky drag show vibes with craft cocktails and filling brunch items from French toast to chilaquiles every Sunday. Live performance was at the forefront of Picks’ 2021 redesign, and the drag shows certainly take advantage of the huge stage, sound system and sprawling indoor-outdoor footprint. It’s almost a given that visitors will have at least one up-close interaction with one of the many talented performers. 4553 N. Loop 1604 W., #1101, (210) 253-9220, picksbar. com.

Dakota East Side Ice House

Fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race can swing by this East Side gem for Friday watch parties during the TV show’s season, drinks, dancing and food. When RuPaul isn’t dominating the screen, the Dakota also hosts other LGBTQ-friendly events, often with perks such as vendor markets and free HIV-STI testing. The beer selection and food menu — which includes pizzas, sandwiches and shareable snacks — make posting up on the expansive patio a real party. 433 S. Hackberry St., (210) 375-6009, thedakotasa.com.

The Bonham Exchange

The Bonham’s multiple levels and themed rooms may be its claim to fame, but the diverse crowd, thumping music and lively drag performances are what make this iconic establishment a go-to for a night on the town. Whether you’re a member of the LGBTQ+ community or an ally, the Bonham is

a place where everyone can come together for drinks, dancing and epic drag experiences — including performances by RuPaul’s Drag Race stars hosted by Rey Lopez Entertainment. You won’t find brunch food here, but if day drinking is your jam, the 18-and-up bar offers a Sunday Funday Day Party that kicks off at 3 p.m. 411 Bonham St., (210) 224-9219, bonhamexchange.com.

Pegasus Nightclub

Main Strip fixture Pegasus offers its Sunday Budget Beer Brunch featuring deep discounts on suds while talented drag performers take the stage. Emceed by San Antonio drag legend Tersa Mathews, the bar’s Sunday funday kicks off at 5 p.m. and brings a variety of performers to the outdoor stage, which has hosted anyone from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 winner Sasha Colby to Miss Gay Texas Newcomer USofA Angelique Rodriguez Davenport. Food options vary depending on the day and time, but local pop-ups and food trucks such as TacoWay San Antonio, Texas Bexar Burger Co. and El Cochis Tacos y Antojitos have been known to provide onsite sustenance. 1402 N. Main Ave., (210) 299-4222, pegasussanantonio.com.

Knockout Sports Bar

This North Main spot may be known for its onsite pizza, but it ably busts out brunch eats for Sunday afternoon drag shows. Think house-made honey-butter chicken biscuits and high-piled brunch burgers. Sundays also feature a specialty brunch cocktail menu, which include micheladas, bloody marys, tequila sunrises and screwdrivers available by the pitcher. You can even get your bloody mary pitcher “loaded” with fresh celery, olives, bacon strips, chicken on a stick, jalapeños, fried pickle spears and tornado potatoes. 1420 N. Main Ave., (210) 227-7678, knockoutsa.com.

Instagram / @picks_barsa

• Are 15 to 75 years old

• Have been diagnosed with narcolepsy

• Are experiencing attacks of cataplexy, or sudden muscle weakness triggered by certain emotions

*Additional eligibility criteria apply

If you meet these criteria, the SYMPHONY study may be an option.

The Drag Brunch 10 Commandments

BY NINA RANGEL

The thought of attending your first drag brunch may be tinged with electric excitement, but just like any dining experience, there are rules of etiquette.

To ensure you have an unforgettable experience while respecting the performers and the community, we present to you the Drag Brunch 10 Commandments. These guidelines will help you navigate the event — whether an actual brunch or any other kind of drag show — with grace, enthusiasm and respect for those who make it happen.

1. Thou shalt tip the performers.

Tipping a drag artist during their performance is like tipping a server or bartender. It’s good manners, and the amount should fairly represent the service provided. Remember that performers often drop loads of cash on hair, makeup and clothing, and they spend hours rehearsing to get their acts right. You know the saying: time is money.

2. Thou shalt purchase something at the bar. The bar doesn’t operate for free, and often, money-making tables and seats are moved or set aside for ample performance space. Purchasing a round of drinks helps the business offset operating costs and helps ensure a future performance space for local drag performers.

3. Thou shalt not touch the queens. Drag performers grace the stage for our entertainment, but that doesn’t afford spectators the right to touch them. Treat them with the same respect you would want to be treated, and don’t touch a performer unless you’re specifically given permission. This includes when tipping — hold the money in your hand and extend your arm. Don’t put the cash in the performer’s clothes unless you are invited to do so.

4. Thou shalt be an active audience member. Artists feed off the audience’s energy during live events, so plan on being attentive and interactive. Do you love an outfit? Hoot and holler. Did a performer dazzle with a dance routine? Do the same to show your appreciation. If you give the performer positive energy, they’ll feel loved and give a better show. But by all means, never invade a performer’s space by stepping onto the stage — hang along the perimeter with tip in hand and they’ll inevitably approach you.

5. Thou shalt not assume someone’s gender. Whether it’s a performer or audience member, making assumptions about someone’s gender at a drag show can quickly kill the positive vibes. Drag shows are meant to be safe, inclusive spaces, so ensure you’re always being conscientious and inclusive — especially when using pronouns.

6. Thou shalt not take thyself too seriously. Drag celebrates diversity and often does so through humor, so if you can’t take a joke, sit far from the stage, where a performer is less likely to single you out. If you still get roasted, remember: the performer isn’t trying to offend you or hurt your feelings. It’s part of the show, and the practice is to leave your ego at the door.

7. Thou shalt support artists who haven’t been on RuPaul’s Drag Race.

San Antonio is home to plenty of performers who are pushing the limits and exploring new avenues of drag, so if you enjoy a drag brunch, do some homework. From cabaret to burlesque to stand-up comedy, there are plenty of drag performances an outing — even those that don’t feature TV stars or internet personalities.

8. Thou shalt remember to support the performers after the show.

Performers build a following via social media, so after the show, consider connecting with them online so you can stay updated about future shows. Engaging

with their social profiles will help them expand their reach.

9. Thou shalt honor performers’ spaces as safe havens.

Whether it’s happening in a theater, concert venue or a gay bar, a drag show’s hosting establishment inherently becomes an outlet for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Everyone present should respect entertainers and audience members alike, no matter their preferences. Drag often defies labels when it comes to gender and sexuality, so if you want to engage with people at a drag show, do so from a place of love, celebration and respect.

10. Thou shalt have fun.

Following these commandments is just the first step to making the most of a drag experience. What’s most important is to find your own joy, however that manifests itself for you. Drag shows are about embracing creativity, inclusivity and a fantastic time in a vibrant and supportive community. So, show up in a ridiculously colorful outfit. Down a couple of drinks. Get a little sucia. It’s all in good fun.

Jaime Monzon

BY RON BECHTOL

Summer is in full, sweltering swing — a perfect excuse to rev up the blender and cool off with a frozen drink. But that icy relief need not come from a played-out frozen margarita or syrupy, slushy daiquiri.

We have better options, none of which are frosé, by the way.

Of course, some familiar pool-party frozen concoctions can be built up into more creative options. Take that daiquiri mentioned earlier. For this variation, you’ll need a bottle of Green Chartreuse, the endlessly useful herbal liqueur, which also works in a simple spritz with bubbly of any kind. This recipe for a cucumber Green Chartreuse daiquiri has you prepping the liquid ingredients a day in advance and pre-chilling them in the freezer to minimize dilution—a useful technique for many of the drinks to follow.

Batch together and put in the freezer overnight

4 ounces of good white rum, 2 ounces of fresh lime juice, ¾ ounce of Green Chartreuse and 1¼ ounce of simple syrup. Make the syrup by heating one cup water with one cup sugar, stirring until dissolved. The next day, put mixture in a blender with one cucumber cut into chunks — peel it if the peel seems bitter — and 2 cups of ice cubes. Blend until texture is consistent, pour into a pair of rocks glasses and garnish with a cucumber wheel or spear.

Sticking with rum — either white or gold — straight from the freezer, here’s a single-serving piña colada that flaunts its tropical flavors. Batch and put in freezer at least an hour ahead 5 ounces of cubed fresh pineapple, 1¾ ounces unsweetened coconut cream such as Trader Joe’s in a shaken can, 1 ounce simple syrup and ¾ ounce of fresh lime juice. Blend the frozen mixture with the rum until it’s uniformly slushy, adding more lime juice if desired. Paper umbrellas are optional, but if you’ve got ‘em, flaunt ‘em. It doesn’t take much to turn a plebeian frozen margarita into an ice princess: just start with a decent, chilled reposado tequila and add fresh berries. Blend about 12 blackberries , 4 ounces of tequila, 1½ ounces of Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur, 2 ounces of fresh lime juice, 1½ ounces of simple syrup and 3 cups ice. Quarter a fresh lime and rub half the rim of a margarita coupe, then roll in a sugar-salt mixture. Garnish with one of the lime wedges or skewered

berries.

But let’s say your go-to drink is a Negroni, season be damned. You don’t need to miss out on the frosty fun with the following recipe. I fiddled with this one a lot, splitting the Campari with other amari and using two different vermouths. Perhaps it’s best to start with the base recipe, then tweak to suit. Combine 4½ ounces of London Dry gin, 2½ ounces of Campari, 2½ ounces of Carpano Antica or other sweet vermouth. Put in sealable container and freeze for at least eight hours. When ready to serve, whiz it in a blender with 3 cups of small ice cubes. Divvy up between three or four chilled coupe or rocks glasses, each garnished with a slice of orange.

The classic Tom Collins is a good summer drink just as it is, but there’s a certain summer-at-a-swish-resort feel to the frozen version. Warning: you will have to spring for some fancy Luxardo maraschino cherries, but they will come in handy year-round. For three to four servings, combine 4 ounces of gin, 3 ounces

of fresh lemon juice and 2 ounces of simple syrup in a lidded container and chill, preferably overnight. Transfer to blender with about 3 cups cracked ice and blend until uniform. Pour into chilled rocks glasses and gently swirl in a couple Luxardo cherries and a little of the syrup. A mint sprig doesn’t hurt as a contrasting garnish.

Finally, the blender gets a rest with this recipe for a Vermouth Slush made entirely in the freezer. In a 9-inch square baking pan, combine 10 ounces of fresh orange juice, 8 ounces of sweet vermouth such as Carpano Antica, 4 ounces of simple syrup, 2 ounces of orange liqueur such as Curaçao and 2 ounces of water. Freeze for three hours, then scrape the frozen edges toward the center, continuing to freeze for at least five hours total. Scrape with a fork to combine into a grainy slush, then add about ¾ cup to each of 6 rocks glasses and serve as is or topped with an ounce of your favorite booze: gin, tequila, rum or bourbon.

When summer temps soar, cool off with something fancier than a standard frozen margarita

Ron Bechtol

New Life, New Business

Ukrainian refugee charts a fresh course with San Antonio bakery Pashina

Pastry

BY BRANDON RODRIGUEZ

Despite the sweltering temperatures outside Olmos Park’s recently opened Pashina Pastry, owner Olena Ramanko continues to run its blazing ovens.

Her stoic demeanor makes her appear impervious to the heat as she portions out freshly kneaded dough, prepping for the next day.

“I work alone,” the Ukrainian refugee said, showing a tired smile. “I am a retailer, cashier, baker, everything.”

Indeed, Ramanko said she prefers hot weather to the cold of her former home, Oleshki, a city of 25,000 people in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. Like many of the new Ukrainian arrivals in San Antonio, she was displaced by the Russian invasion.

Once portioned, Ramanko will use the dough for Eastern European baked goods such as kolaches, a Czech favorite familiar to Texans, or pelmeni, a specialty of her native land filled with ground meat and potatoes.

The baked goods at Pashina, 250 Hildebrand Ave., stretch beyond the savory options to include honey cake and Kyiv cake, a specialty of Ukraine’s capital. Both are favorites of the Alamo City’s growing Ukrainian community, and Romanko said they’re also finding an audience with sweet-toothed locals. Despite Romanko’s adept hand with yeast, flour and butter, the bakery business is new to her.

Back home, she frequently prepared items such as cakes and pastries as a hobby and also assisted her family in operating three separate businesses — a grocery, a hotel and construction-supply outlet. But launching a new business venture in an unfamiliar country has been tough, especially while learning English at the same time.

Even so, Pashina Pastry is a symbol

of her family’s new life in the United States.

In the aftermath of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Romanko and her two children — a daughter and a son — joined the millions forcibly displaced from their homes.

She and her children arrived in San Antonio last August after seeking a U.S. sponsor via Facebook. Shortly after her post went live, they received sponsorship from Collin Stone, owner of the San Antonio’s CR Stone Construction, which owns the storefront from which Pashina now operates.

Romanko said she may never be able to return to her home. Following a June 6 attack on a major dam and hydroelectric power station, the Kherson region was submerged underwater.

What’s more, Romanko’s husband Leo and mother Tatiana are still in Ukraine. Her husband was forced to stay due to requirements that men of his age fight the invaders. Leo is believed to be in a Russian prison in Crimea, according to an Expres-News article. Contact with him is intermittent at best.

“I like San Antonio. I like Texas very much. I met a lot of wonderful people. I met a lot of amazing American and Ukrainian friends, and everybody wants to help me,” Romanko said with a smile.

“But I say I’m not a victim. … I am a strong Ukrainian woman. I have to focus on [my new life] in the U.S. because I understood that I will probably not go back to Ukraine.”

NEWS

More than 15 San Antonio java joints — including Curator Coffee, Sunshine Brew SA and Olla Express — will take part in a citywide Coffee Crawl on Saturday, July 1. Tickets available at tinyurl. com/4nzwehap.

Taiwan-based chain 85°C Bakery Café will open a location near Camp Bullis sometime later this year with more details forthcoming. 85cbakerycafe.com.

Longtime Alamo Heights fixture Twin Sisters has closed permanently. The bakery and healthy-leaning eatery had served up lunch and breakfast staples, including its signature sweet potato muffins, since 1981.

Cocktail: The Event will return after a three-year hiatus on Friday, July 21. It will take over San Antonio’s The Espee with a big-top circus theme. 1174 E. Commerce St., sanantoniococktail.com.

The Rill Eatery & Bar will soon open in Boerne’s now-vacant Little Gretel space, bringing “elevated bar food” to the bedroom community north of San Antonio. 518 River Road, instagram.com/ therillboerne.

The Good News Burgers has shuttered its Potranco Road and San Pedro Avenue stores. The chain’s west-of-downtown location and kiosk inside North Star Mall’s food court are still open, however. Multiple locations, thegoodnewsburgers. com.

The San Antonio Museum of Art’s latest exhibition, “Still Brewing Art,” will bring beer aficionados and art lovers together for a pop-up bier garden on Friday, July 14. 200 W. Jones Ave., samuseum.org.

OPENINGS

Palomar Comida is now open in the former El Bosque space near Two Bros. BBQ Market and Clear Light Coffee Co. 12656 West Ave., Building 1, palomarcomida.com.

All-you-can-eat sushi spot Izumi has opened a second location in nearby Schertz, offering the same sushi, sashimi and hibachi as the original San Antonio location. 17323 I-35 North, Suite 102, (210) 332-5322, izumiallyoucaneat.com.

Irish pub Francis Bogside has reopened at St. Paul Square, augmenting its brews, booze and food offerings with brunch and the adjoining wine bar Anne’s 1170 E. Commerce St., (210) 3142994, francisbogside.com.

Brandon Rodriguez

Francis Bogside

Brotherly Love

Long-running San Antonio band Snowbyrd drops new album that majestically nails its sunbaked sound

BY MIKE MCMAHAN

Sometimes it takes a while for the pieces to come together just right. The brothers at the core of San Antonio quartet Snowbyrd — Chris and Scott Lutz — have kept eyes on the prize for 20 years.

Their specialty? A blend of classic rock and country that’s simultaneously both and neither. It’s a sunbaked sound that can appeal to fans of anything from Nuggets-era garage rock to mid-period Meat Puppets to ’70s outlaw country.

With its latest LP, The Lagerheadz Suite, Snowbyrd has hit on a mix of quirky-butcatchy tunes and studio wizardry that makes for a great intro to the band —because, let’s be frank, there are still plenty of folks who have been asleep for the two decades it’s been doing its thing.

Snowbyrd will celebrate the release of Lagerheadz with a show at Slab Cinema Art House on Friday, July 7. Ahead, of that, we spoke to all four members of the band about the new recording, their studio process and songwriting.

Turns out much of the work on the album took place sporadically over the past year, and the members adopted a spontaneous recording style not far from that of Nashville session players of yore.

Oftentimes, “the day that we learned the song, we recorded it,” Chris Lutz said.

“[Drummer] Juan [Ramos] and [Bassist] Kris [Zebrowski] came in, and we said, ‘This is the song we’re gonna record today’ and showed them. Six or seven takes, and that’s the basic recording.”

Both Lutz brothers play guitar, though Scott handles supplemental instruments such as pedal steel and keyboards while Chris holds down lead vocals. The siblings have a long history with San Antonio, in various garage rock projects including Dropouts. Scott also has performed as mariachi.

Ramos may be familiar to SA music fans as the drummer for post-punk stalwarts Glorium and Latin groove outfit Sexto Sol. Both he and Zebrowski are permanent members of the band, though Chris Lutz joked “we had gone through like 18 bass players” before settling on the latter.

Taking a spontaneous recording approach can end up with shambolic results if a band doesn’t come armed with strong songs, and fortunately Snowbyrd has catchy songs for days. Lagerheadz’s “Ol’ Beyonder” is a gem, with a vibe reminiscent of the Todd Rundgren classic “Couldn’t I Just Tell You.”

“Bachelors Nightcap” boasts a psychedelic country vibe. Its laid-back roots groove lifts the song gently into the stratosphere, courtesy of a swirling synth effect.

How the songs got to that point came down to plenty of advanced tinkering from

the brothers.

For Lagerheadz, Chris Lutz sketched out each song, then presented it to Scott, who made changes, such as transposing its key to best fit Chris’s vocal range and adding supplemental parts.

Chris Lutz’s vocals are assuredly out of step with current pop music trends. No auto-tune here — though he certainly doesn’t shy away from multi-tracking vocals, a trick he thanked David Bowie for.

“Whenever I listen to (Lagerheadz), there’s parts I haven’t heard before,” Chris said. “Subtle stuff. Layering.”

In many musical acts, one member serves as the spokesperson — the face of the group — while the other is the mad genius behind the curtain.

“Scott is the guru,” Chris said. He calls his brother’s work at the mixing desk the “the fifth member of Snowbyrd.”

To that end, Scott Lutz even rolled in a recording of the buzz of a cicada to compliment the main rhythm of the song on “Bachelors.” And, yes, the bug is perfectly in sync with the drum kit.

Scott Lutz works out of his own Mud Creek Studios, also utilized by San Antonio instrumental rockers Nuclear Juarez.

Although the band boasts an abundance of studio chops, it’s not into producing music that can’t be reproduced live, and the members promise that will be evident during its release gig. Harvey McLaughlin, Kitten Mitten and DJ Terry Lengua will open the show.

“There’s a commitment to originality with this band, even though it’s challenging,” Ramos said.

Suggested $5 donation, 6 p.m. Friday, July 7, Slab Cinema Art House, 134 Blue Star, (210) 2129373, slabcinemaarthouse.com.

Reminder:

Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.

Courtesy Photo / Snowbyrd

Thursday, June 29

critics’ picks Retro

The Wild Sweet, Auji Collective

Texas Public Radio’s Summer Night City concert series is taking an indie-pop turn in this installation featuring San Antonio bands The Wild Sweet and Auji Collective. The Wild Sweet’s reverb-drenched and danceable tunes drip with ethereal, dreamlike qualities. Meanwhile, Auji Collective — so named because they’re an actual musical collective of artists supporting each other’s efforts — flow in and out of indie-rock beats. Expect sweet romantic ballads embellished with retro twang, bright guitars and vocals that sound like they’re coming out of a telephone receiver. Free, 7:30 p.m., Legacy Park, 103 W. Houston St. — Dalia Gulca

Friday, June 30

Hello Seahorse!, Estereoromance

Over the years, Mexican alt rockers Hello Seahorse! have shared the stage with bands top-billed U.S. acts including the Beastie Boys and The Killers. Formed in Mexico City in 2005, the group has released seven studio albums and are touring in support of their forthcoming release Híper. Their most recent album, Disco Estimulante, earned the group a Latin Grammy nomination for “Best Alternative Album” in 2020. $25-$30, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — Danny Cervantes

ACRAZE

Staten Island-born DJ ACRAZE knows may not be a household name like Steve Aoki. Yet. Just give him time. ACRAZE’s house edit of the 2006 R&B hit “Do It To It” by Cherish reached 12 billion streams globally and was named “Dance Song of The Year” by iHeartRadio in 2021. Since then, he’s parlayed his success into a Vegas residency. $25, 9 p.m., 1902, 1174 E. Commerce St., (210) 941-3010, 1902satx.com. — DC

Saturday, July 1

Death Valley Girls, Soft Gems, DJ Carlos

While billed as a psychedelic outfit, Death Valley Girls puts the emphasis on strong songwriting rather than trippy jams. Hailing from LA — and sounding like it — the band evokes classic sounds of bands ranging from the Velvet Underground to the Brian Jonestown Massacre as they question the nature of reality. There’s also a fair amount of variety in the band’s sound as it occasionally mines the dark menace of Black Sabbath and the boogie of ZZ Top. Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Bonnie Bloomgarden also can switch between clear, soulful melodies and Yoko Ono-style warbling. $15-$20, 7 p.m., Tandem, 310 Riverside Dr., (210) 455-5400, tandemsatx.net. — Mike McMahan

Cooper Greenberg, The Golden Roses

San Antonio’s Cooper Greenberg is the kind of singer-songwriter who brings both memorable tunes and serious guitar chops to the table. Greenberg knows his way around a fretboard and can also deliver lyrics that cut deep. Don’t sleep on Austin’s The Golden Roses, a band steeped in Texas music styles from bluegrass to swing to traditional country. Thanks to a recent overhaul, violinist Heather Rae Johnson has added co-lead vocalist to her list of duties. $5, 9:30 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s, (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerose.com. — MM

Thursday, July 6

Bleeding Through, Unearth

If you enjoy metalcore and anniversaries, this package tour

Cowgirl

has your name written all over it. Orange County, California’s Bleeding Through is celebrating 20 years of its This is Love, This is Murderous LP, while Boston’s Unearth is commemorating 25 years as a band. The acts have dubbed this three-date Lone Star State jaunt the “Texas Takeover.” $20-$25, 7 p.m., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 772-1443., therockboxsa.com. — MM

Friday, July 7

Micky & The Motorcars, Blackbird Sing

Stanley, Idaho’s Braun brothers grew up in their family band playing dance halls. While older brothers Cody and Willy formed Reckless Kelly, younger brothers Micky and Gary left for Austin to form the alt-country band Micky & The Motorcars. More than 20 years after its formation, M&TMC continues to tour religiously while delivering its unique brand of red-dirt country. $16.50-$115, 8:30 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 2232830, samsburgerjoint.com. — DC

Retro Cowgirl, Gokart Mozart, Luna Tropical This performance spotlights ever-glamorous, blues-infused San Antonio rockers Retro Cowgirl, who earlier this month released the new single “The Whole Damn Cake,” a summer anthem with an upbeat tempo and fierce energy. GoKart Mozart makes folksy rock with jazz touches — twangy yet with an underlying sweet melancholy. Deviating from the ’60s-rock influences in the lineup, Luna Tropical specializes in new wave Latin cumbia with a beat so irresistible it could inspire nearly anyone to start dancing. Free, 8 p.m., Brick at Blue Star, 108 Blue Star, (210) 262-

Saturday, July 8

The Frights

SoCal punks The Frights are blowing into town behind their latest release Gallows Humour. Vocalist-guitarist Mike Carnevale attended the same high school as the members of Blink-182, but The Frights have carved out their own musical path. The group’s 2016 album You Are Going To Hate This remains its most popular work to date, and Humour builds on its signature surfer-rock sound. $20-$25, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — DC

Tuesday, July 11

Nita Strauss, Lions At The Gate

Despite her boss’ rigorous touring schedule, longtime Alice Cooper guitarist Nita Strauss manages to find time to record and tour her own music. Expect a set split between Strauss’s instrumental work and songs that included vocal tracks. Strauss’ latest album was recorded with vocal help from luminaries including Cooper himself and Disturbed’s David Draiman, though TikTok sensation Dorothy is covering the vocals live. LA’s Lions

At The Gate recently dropped the single “Drain,” a well-crafted song likely to appeal to those who like catchy, accessible hard rock. $23, 8 p.m., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St. (210) 772-1443., therockboxsa.com. — MM

8653, brickatbluestar.com. — DG

Courtesy Photo / Retro Cowgirl

AUTO AUCTION

All vehicles listed below were impounded by San Antonio Police Dept. and will be sold at public auction via Joyrideautos.com

AUGUST 16, 2023 at 3:00P SAN

Registered owners may pick up vehicles with proof of ownership, valid ID, and payment of all impound, towing, and storage fees & applicable taxes prior to Auction.

45080332017OTHERGOCARTL5CSELLK8HM000372$13,836.1545681262020OTHERMOTORCYCLE3SCPFTEE1L1090718$13,143.3550693012020OTHERTRAILER4YMBU0811MT025260$7,800.20 45681262020OTHERMOTORCYCLE3SCPFTEE1L1090718$13,143.3545080332017OTHERGOCARTL5CSELLK8HM000372$13,836.1551301192016OTHERTRAILER13YFS1011GC122263$7,172.35 49434412005DODGEGRANDCARAVAN2D4GP44L65R581638$9,051.5052785852000YAMAHAJETSKIYAMA3882F000$5,765.9052317972008OTHERMOTORCYCLEL4SKGKDC082100331$6,198.10 49774621994DODGEOTHERF34BF6V071850$8,823.1052789532000OTHERMINIBIKEL0WHDM105L1000445$5,744.2551933172006POLARISGOLFCART4XARD50A26D039375$6,587.80 43439332006TRAILERTRAILER1GRAA06246W703963$22,867.815378151N/AOTHERFORKLIFT48906000$8,129.5823006802015DODGEDART1C3CDFAA6FD433145$8,991.20 46451422008MERCEDESCCLASSWDDGF54X18F043066$12,299.005429856N/AOTHERLAWNMOWER4060KK0082$4,178.4549048462003TOYOTACAMRY4T1BE32K43U778742$9,441.20 50247562020OTHERMOTORCYCLEL08YGJGC7L1010375$8,250.4552216662008LAMARTRAILER5RVSL16258M001055$6,306.3550659782009KYMCOMOTORCYCLELC206G1069C000312$7,821.85 49695312017OTHERMOTORCYCLELWGPCGL04HA007615$8,791.7055008571987MONONTRAILER1NNVA5327JM112965$6,988.0450921692020OTHERSCOOTERLUJTCBPB4LA600191$7,583.70 26591882018JEEPCOMPASS3C4NJCBB6JT271510$8,986.5554088001961OTHERTRAILER8920$4,553.5051055832006HONDAMOTORCYCLEJH2ME11006M202398$7,453.80 48520832018OTHEROTHERCAT0279CHKWB00823$17,685.2550430871965FORDMUSTANG5F07T764820$8,055.6051164132022OTHERATVL5NAAFTB4H1108389$7,166.15 50936962022CUSHMAN3-WHEELEZGLEABAVK3374909$7,562.0550629491994WELLSCARGOCARGOTRAILER1WC200C16R2024573$7,865.1557235691963ChryslerNewport8133172963$1,757.85 42433002020OTHERMOTORCYCLEL2BB2NCC8LB104034$17,062.0051809592021TAOTAOMINIBIKEL9NLTENC2M1505057$6,516.6556870532003FordTaurus1FAFP53U13G163517$2,082.60 51163931900OTHERATVL5NAAJTL2E1007892$7,166.1554007222021COLEMANMINIBIKELWGPCMLC2MA294391$4,618.45 51257952021OTHERMOTORCYCLELUJTCLPR0MA603464$7,237.3054787862021WUYIZUMAMINIBIKEL1UGCJLAXMA003373$3,881.15

FEE ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

EMPLOYMENT

Associate Veterinarian sought by Destination Pet Veterinary Group of Texas, PC in San Antonio, TX. Under close supervision, treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery. For further job details, rqmts & application info refer to: http://jobpost.works/8832ma-2/

Solution Architect, Specialty Domain - Rackspace US, Inc. - San Antonio, TX. Applies specialized knowledge of solutioning principles & tech to select sales opportunities w/a specific tech need. Req’d: Bach deg in Engr, CS, Info Sys or Business + min 5yrs solutions engr or specialty domain exp + 2yrs exp in sr. solutions engr role. Req’d: At least 2 industry certs required from top tier tech provider such as Amazon AWS, MS Azure, Google GCP, Red Hat, VMware, Cloud Native Foundations, or Linux. Up to 25% domestic and int’l travel. Send resume to: careers@rackspace.com, Ref. 24090.

Manager, Data Engineering - Rackspace US, Inc. - San Antonio, TX. Manage teams of data scientists & data engineers on various data & machine learning projects.

Req’d: Bach deg in CS, Info Sys or rel tech fld + Min 3yrs exp in Technical Manager/Lead role including agile software dev, engineering, testing, or a rel tech fld. Send resume to: careers@rackspace.com, Ref. 13069.

Senior Cost Manager (San Antonio, TX): Cost Management of Data Center Projects from tender stage to completion: Estimating/Funding Requests, Procurement, Accrual of works complete, Payment review & approval, Change Order review & approval, Risk Management, Client Financial Reporting. Software: Microsoft Office, Outlook, Specialist Estimating Software (Cost X). Reqs: Bachelor Degree in Quantity

Surveying or Commercial Construction Mgmt. (Construction Mgmt.)/foreign equiv. + 12 mths exp in position/Cost Manager/Quantity Surveyor. Mail CV to Linesight, 286 Madison Ave, Ste 602, New York, NY 10017. Attn: J. Fitzgerald, Assoc. Director.

H-E-B seeks Staff Systems Developer in San Antonio, TX to customize the ERP system - Microsoft Dynamics AX. E-Mail resumes to: Marisa Alcorta, at Recruiting10@heb.com