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4 CURRENT • July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
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sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 7
29
CONTENTS
Flavor File Açaí bowls finally available in SA
July 22-28, 2015
Bar Crawl Trifecta Experience these three perfect little dives
10 NEWS
Keeping Tabs Turns out you can make your own chartreuse — without the vow of silence
On A Mission SA looks to Europe to capitalize on World Heritage status Pay Bills Or Eat More seniors could go hungry as SA’s population ages
51
16 CALENDAR
Our top picks for the week
22 ARTS Para La Gente Chicana theater artists Anna De Luna and Marisela Barrera on writing their own roles
25 SCREENS
Dancehall Reggae Hits SA Here’s your alternative if the traditional roots beat is not your thing Revenge Of The Synth Forward-thinking Austin label Holodeck offers dark moods and brilliant thinking The End Game Author Stephen Witt explores the recording industry’s fall in How Music Got Free
Frozen In Time Cheerless creatures grapple with the troublesome landscape of Aloft
56 ETC.
Sweet Treasures Romelia’s isn’t your typical bakery Culinary Calendar 5 ways to get your drink/grub on this week
23
8 CURRENT • July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
Root Of The Problem Fledgling movement to resurrect the local reggae scene
Music Calendar What to see and hear this week
Lakeside Italian Fresh, simply delicious fare at Gennaro’s Trattoria
21
42 MUSIC
War At Our Doorstep Cartel Land embeds with vigilantes along U.S.-Mexico border
29 FOOD
17
37 NIGHTLIFE
Savage Love Jonesin’ Crossword Free Will Astrology This Modern World
ON THE COVER
Alamo City gains global recognition via the United Nations — but to what end? Illustration by Zeke Escobedo Art direction by Sarah Flood-Baumann
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sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 7/9/15 9:42 9 AM
NEWS
DEAN FIKAR
KUSHAL BOSE
ON A MISSION SA Sets Out To Conquer Europe With World Heritage Designation MARK REAGAN/@210REAGAN
Little did Richard Oliver know how easy it would be to sell the Alamo City to the British. Yet that’s precisely what happened when Oliver, communications director for the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, visited England a year ago. Oliver, who was there promoting SA in Europe, was surprised to learn how much they knew about the Alamo. “One thing that raised the profile was Phil Collins giving all those artifacts to the Alamo,” Oliver said. Collins — one of the best-known musicians in the world in the 1980s — donated his extensive collection of artifacts from the Texas Revolution to the state’s General Land Office last June. “Phil Collins put a stamp on the Alamo,” Oliver said. “It became a cause celeb over there.” On July 5, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also put its stamp of approval on the Missions and Alamo — granting World Heritage Site (WHS) designation. That may not mean much to many Americans, but across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans people often plan vacations around such places. “World Heritage Sites are not that well known in the United States,” Betty Bueché, director of the Bexar Heritage & Parks Department said. “This is only the 23rd one designated in the United States and it’s the first in Texas.” The accomplishment didn’t happen over night. “There’s a timeline of nine years of effort that went into bringing this home,” Bueché said — an effort that came with an estimated $800,000 price tag. Now instead of telling people it might happen, organizations like the CVB, City of San Antonio and Bexar County want to spread the word about Texas’ first WHS to an international audience. While WHS is a prestigious cultural designation, it adds yet another selling 10 CURRENT • July 22-28 2015 • sacurrent.com
SA’s centuries-old Missions have been a traditional regional and national draw, but World Heritage status is expected to draw a global audience.
point for the city’s well-established tourism industry. Increased Tourism A 2011 economic impact study on the potential effects of WHS status found that nearly three million people a year visit the Missions. On average, a non-local visitor who spends the day here will contribute $97.73 into the local economy. Non-local overnight visitors will spend $281.82 a day. So each year, already, tourists will spend roughly $181 million in the Alamo City while visiting the newly designated heritage sites. “World Heritage Sites receive visitors who want to stay longer and are interested in a more in-depth experience,” Bueché said. “They want to get to know more about the sites and consequently they spend more money.” That same study concluded there are three post-designation scenarios: do-nothing, aggressively promote WHS and promotion coupled with fostering a sense of community ownership, pride and identity surrounding World Heritage. In the do-nothing scenario, everything stays the same, including $181 million being pumped into the economy from visits to the Missions and to the Alamo equating to $275 million in economic activity. The second scenario assumes that promotion and marketing will attract
nearly 144,000 new visitors by 2025, resulting in $397 million of economic activity. In the last scenario, the study assumes a little more than 409,000 new visitors to the WHS by 2025, creating a $502 million windfall. While these assumptions are just, well, assumptions, they shed light into the wide range of possible economic outcomes associated with WHS. But, as the study points out, “motivation matters.” That’s where people like Oliver and the CVB come into the picture. The National Park Service, which runs the San Antonio Missions, does not typically conduct promotion and marketing. The CVB, however, already has tons of contacts and lots of practice at promoting San Antonio. “We have real ambitious plans that are being discussed and formulated now,” Oliver said. According to a 2004 U.S. Department of Commerce report, 10.6 million international visitors journeyed to the United States and one in three came for heritage tourism. The top five markets were the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, France and Australia. One way to reach potential international visitors is by pitching San Antonio to media.The CVB will team up with Texas Tourism, a state program with a presence in many countries. “We’re able to tap into the agency and give press releases and up-to-date news
we feel like the European traveler would like to know,” Oliver explained, adding that the CVB will have a presence at the World Travel Market in London in November. “That’s what we’ll do, we’ll leverage relationships and do anything we can to get the message to every corner of the world.” Earn It, Keep It World Heritage designation is not just earned — it must also be maintained. What UNESCO giveth, UNESCO can also taketh away. For instance, in 2004 UNESCO inscribed Germany’s Dresden Elbe Valley as a World Heritage Site. By 2009, UNESCO removed the designation because of plans to build a bridge that split the valley in two. The bridge opened in 2013. But this doesn’t happen overnight, there’s a period where a site will be listed as endangered. Such is the case for the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls, which made that list because of uncontrolled urban development and general deterioration due to tourism and a lack of maintenance. Once listed as endangered, it’s possible for a site to remove that stigma. That’s what happened in Cologne, Germany, at the world-renowned Cologne Cathedral. There were plans for a high-rise near the site that UNESCO said threatened the integrity of the property. The community
NEWS
TRAVIS WITT
JO ANN SNOVER
Local leaders brag about United Nations recognition, saying it could bring a $500 million windfall. But critics remain undeterred, noting the full story of the Missions will not be shared with the world.
solved this problem by halting those plans, creating a buffer zone around the site to further protect its integrity. There is a common theme in all of these cases: urban development. San Antonio’s urban core is experiencing a renaissance of high-end development ranging from Mission Reach upgrades to the San Antonio River to the controversial removal of hundreds of people from the Mission Trails Mobile Home Park to make way for a luxury apartment complex. When the core group behind pushing for WHS designation applied for the status with UNESCO, they were well aware of this concern. “WHS designation can be lost or threatened if the manager of the site does not protect the authenticity, integrity and outstanding universal value for which it was inscribed,” Susan Snow, World Heritage Coordinator for the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, said in an email.“ San Antonio City Council created the Missions Overlay Protection District in May in anticipation of WHS. This zoning regulation makes sure that no development compromises integrity and ensures protection for the environment and setting of the Mission sites, protects inward and outward views and provides a buffer to encroachment. While the Missions are largely
untouched by rapid urban development, the Alamo is another story. It’s surrounded by more than a century of urban development and crossing the plaza toward the River Walk can feel like a circus with tourist traps like Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Odditorium, which sits yards from the centuries-old shrine. However, as the City of San Antonio works with the General Land Office and other partners on a new plan for the Alamo Plaza, cheesy attractions may become a thing of the past. Shannon Shea Miller, director of San Antonio’s Office of Historic Preservation, said that creating a reworked plan for the Alamo Plaza is in the incubation stages. “Well, it’s very early in that process. They certainly will be looking at the whole picture and what the ideal visitor experience at the plaza and what surrounds it is,” Miller said. “I think everything is fair game in terms of talking about what the community wants to see.” Still Left Out Mary Torres, a local activist who says she is Tribal Chairwoman for the Pacuache Clan of Texas, which is part of the Coguiteca Indian Tribe First Nation, didn’t want the World Heritage Committee to inscribe the San Antonio Missions and Alamo. Torres alleged that Bexar County, the city and the San Antonio Missions
Historical National Park compromised and corrupted the Missions by erasing Native American history and by destroying archeological artifacts during construction at HemisFair Park. Antonio Diaz, who identifies as Pamaque, concurred, saying that his ancestors were enslaved, assimilated, colonized, converted and forced to build the Spanish Missions on sacred ground. “We speak for ourselves but are not listened to nor are we welcome at our ancestral lands now owned by the Catholic Church and National Park Service and also now by UNESCO,” Diaz wrote in an email. Bueché, the county’s heritage and parks director, said she understands and heeds such concerns. “More and more research is being done so the more we know about the groups the more we can interpret their influence and how they contributed to the evolution of the culture we have today, and they certainly did,” Bueché said. “I know Antonio Diaz and I know Maria Torres and I don’t think anybody disagrees that more can be done to interpret the role of the indigenous population that were here.” She alludes to how Bexar County is sponsoring an Academic Historical Research Symposium for five years beginning in 2016 that will attempt to attract scholars in this field to advance
research so more information can be incorporated into all interpretive programs. “That’s not to say there isn’t interpretive programing available that recognizes indigenous people. The main visitor center at Mission San José, the first thing you are invited to see is a 20-minute film that talks about that very topic,” Bueché said. “And the film concludes with the question ‘What happened to the indigenous people?’ The answer is they are still here,” she added. In fact, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff gave a copy of the video to Crystal Nix-Hines, President Barack Obama’s ambassador to UNESCO. However, Diaz and Torres don’t represent all of Bexar County’s indigenous peoples, she pointed out. “There were many more groups of Native Americans who went through the Mission process than just the two groups you have heard from and we want to respect all of them and know more about them,” Bueché said. They may all have a point, but what’s for sure is that there’s no setting the clock back. Clearly, local leaders see success with increased tourism and they’re set on expansion. Only that in the near future, we may be hearing more European accents when milling about the Missions. mreagan@sacurrent.com sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 11
NEWS
MICHAEL MARKS
PAY BILLS OR EAT
Hunger Problems For SA Seniors Could Worsen MICHAEL MARKS/@MICHAELPMARKS
Pay for rent, pay for prescriptions or pay for food. No senior citizen should have to make such a choice, but many do — at a higher rate in San Antonio than almost anywhere else in the country. “It’s heartbreaking when you have someone in their twilight years and they’re struggling to stay alive,” said Eric Cooper, president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank. “They are choosing between paying their bills and paying for food.” San Antonio has the second-highest rate of senior food insecurity among major metropolitan areas, according to a study from the American Association of Retired Persons. Food insecurity means that access to food is sometimes limited by lack of resources. And the problem will soon become increasingly dire. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that Texas’ population of people 60 and older will increase by 2 million between 2015 and 2030, jumping from 13 to 20 percent of the state population. The growth has government agencies and nonprofits in San Antonio, some of which are already stretching out thin resources, scrambling now to prepare for the future. “I’m a little bit worried about our ability to meet the growing need. It has been a big burst the past few years,” said Sharon Baughman, CEO of Christian Senior Services, a nonprofit agency in San Antonio. “The resources are not going to be able to grow as fast as the Baby Boomers have grown. That’s a major issue that has to be addressed.” Baby Boomers Retire James Ziliak, director of the Center of Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky, is one of the country’s leading food insecurity researchers. He and others released a report in 2008 projecting that 9.5 million seniors would be food insecure by 2025, fueled by retiring Baby Boomers. But Ziliak conducted the research before the Great Recession. When he updated his projections earlier this year, he found that 9.6 million seniors were already food insecure — over a decade ahead of schedule. Other segments of the population have rebounded since the recession, but that’s not the case for seniors. He hypothesizes it’s because since the recession, “personal savings have been near zero and if they’re on a fixed income ... Social Security isn’t necessarily 12 CURRENT • July 22-28 2015 • sacurrent.com
Gary Thayer goes to the city’s District 2 senior center just about everyday, even if it takes two buses to get there.
keeping up.” Ziliak also said that San Antonio’s demographic makeup puts its seniors at risk for an even greater food insecurity backslide. “Hispanics have a larger chance of food insecurity,” Ziliak said. “That has real implications for Texas. Unless the economic status of Hispanics changes quite dramatically over the ensuing decades, that’s going to keep upward pressure on this problem of food insecurity.” That makes groups like Baughman’s, which runs the San Antonio Meals on Wheels program, even more vital to San Antonio. Her staff delivers meals free of charge to over 5,400 homebound seniors every year. It costs about $1,300 for Meals on Wheels to feed a senior for a year. Thus far, the group hasn’t turned away an eligible participant because of a lack of resources. But she’s unsure if that will last, given the coming explosion of the senior population. “I don’t know how long we’re going to be able to keep doing that. At some point you get maxed out, and I don’t want to ever tell someone they can’t be on our program because of the dollars,” Baughman said. But as their mobility decreases, some seniors rely on Meals on Wheels both for healthy food and for social interaction with the delivery drivers and volunteers. Social isolation increases the chances for food insecurity, according to Ziliak. “This population certainly doesn’t get the social interaction and attention that’s been lost to them as they’ve lost their own mobility,” Baughman said. “It is a very lonely feeling.” That’s especially true in San Antonio, where it’s challenging to traverse the city’s sprawling layout without
a car. “If you do have mobility impairment, San Antonio’s ability to get you around is pretty pathetic. In certain areas of the community, you risk your life crossing the street. The sidewalks are not what they need to be, our [public] transportation is not what it needs to be,” Baughman said. That can keep seniors inside and isolated, which has ripple effects on hunger and health. “While the chances of being food insecure are lower if you’re a senior, the health consequences ... are more manifest,” Ziliak said. “You’ll find significant effects of food insecurity on ... depression, diabetes, limitation in activities and daily living.” Paid Dues Rewarded A potential remedy, Ziliak said, is to offer more meals in communal settings — something that San Antonio has emphasized by investing in senior centers. The city operates eight full-service centers that are open for eight hours every weekday and 10 that are open for four hours. Dozens of other city-affiliated sites at senior apartments and community centers host meals and other events more sporadically. The city offers free transportation to any senior within a five-mile radius of a center. But plenty of folks who live outside the radius still attend. Gary Thayer, 63, is one of them. He takes two buses to get to the District 2 Senior Center, but he still comes every day it’s open. “It’s better than sitting around watching TV like I’d do at home,” Thayer said. “You’ve got a chance to meet different people and interact.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 ►
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SA senior centers offer our elderly neighbors and relatives free lunch. ◄ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
Thayer has come to the center for a little over a year. Before, he’d spend his time idly riding the bus around town with no destination in mind, just killing time. The District 2 Senior Center, located near the intersection of W.W. White Road and Rigsby Avenue, sits in a quiet, nondescript strip mall on the East Side. But it’s bustling inside, filled with over 100 seniors, many of whom come to the center every weekday. The center opened in 2010 and doubled in size to 16,000 square feet in September 2014. In addition to the free daily meal, the center offers amenities such as various activities and classes, use of an on-site gym and a caseworker. The city also broke ground on a new senior center in District 10 last year. The center will be the San Antonio’s largest with over 25,000 square feet. The centers also provide eligible seniors with a box of food every third Wednesday of the month. The contents differ each month — fresh fruits and vegetables, ground beef, chicken and juice are all staples. It’s enough to make about 30 meals, although some seniors stretch it through an entire month. Benjamin Holden relies on the service. He lives on $1,200 a month off Social Security, most of which goes to pay his trailer park’s lot fees. Holden, a 64-year-old Vietnam War veteran, said that making ends meet “would be tough” without the box of food. Most jobs are out of the question for him; he’s worn out the cartilage in both of his knees, and standing for any
length of time is painful for him. “It helps a lot to have the food,” Holden said. “It means I don’t have to go without.” The food boxes come courtesy of Project HOPE, a program sponsored by the San Antonio Food Bank. The program provides free groceries to over 10,000 low-income seniors in the San Antonio area. Cooper, the food bank’s director, hopes to expand the program as the need rises for San Antonio seniors. The food bank feeds nearly 60,000 people in South Texas each week, a third of which are elderly. “Being on a fixed income, relying on solely their Social Security which can be as low as $465 a month, it’s difficult to pay rent, utilities, and healthcare costs and have money left over for food,” Cooper said. “Ironically many of their prescriptions prescribe taking it with food, yet they can’t afford one or the other.” Both Cooper and Baughman praised San Antonio’s senior program. But like Baughman, figuring out how to meet a growing need keeps Cooper up at night. “It’s a work of faith. It’s the belief that you’re going to be able to meet a need that maybe logically and financially doesn’t makes sense,” Cooper said. “The thought that there’s going to be more seniors tomorrow than there were today, I know I have to educate the community ... so I can meet that upcoming need. I pray and I keep the faith that that’s what happens,” Cooper added. mmarks@sacurrent.com
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23-26
Cristela Alonzo COMEDY
The comedian from San Juan, Texas, who “once had a show named Cristela,” as she so eloquently wrote in her blog back in May, returns to the stage for the first time in SA since her semiautobiographical comedy series was canceled by ABC after only 22 episodes. Alonzo was the first Latina ever to create, produce, write and star in her own network TV series in the U.S. Despite the short-lived sitcom, she writes that it’s only the beginning for her. “Trust me, Cristela the show might be done … but Cristela the person has just started.” $20, 8pm Thu, 8pm & 10:15pm Fri-Sat, 8pm Sun, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618 NW Loop 410, (210) 541-8805, lolsanantonio.com. – Kiko Martínez
16 CURRENT • July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
FRI
24
“Mexica Rock Cruzes y Cositas” ART
Former high school classmates Israel Rico and Karen Faye have teamed up for their first joint show, “Mexica Rock Cruzes y Cositas.” Rico’s Chicano pop art takes iconic cartoons and posters and gives them whimsical makeovers — Jimi Hendrix turns into a calavera with flaming electric guitar and Speed Racer turns into a Speed Cholo with a teardrop tattoo. For her part, relative newcomer Faye (whose artwork is also permanently displayed at Johnny’s Mexican Restaurant) will feature her 3D paintings and crosses on canvas combining religious overtones and references to SA history. Free, 6-9pm, IAMA Coffee House, 1627 Broadway, (210) 669-4277, iamacoffeehouse.com. — Jessica Elizarraras
FRI
24
Martin Lawrence COMEDY
Prosthetic artists spent hours transforming Martin Lawrence into the title character in the Big Momma’s House trilogy, but his stand-up special You So Crazy proved he can embody an entire cast using nothing but a microphone and stool. Most comics structure their acts to call back to previous punchlines; Lawrence enacts a dramatic multi-character thirdact plot twist inside a vagina. Hollywood special effects would make this a graphic gag, but when it’s conjured onstage using nothing but words and gestures, it’s closer to a collective hallucination. You so crazy, indeed. $59.50-$79.50, 8pm, The Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — Jeremy Martin
FRI
24
Rey Lopez Birthday Bash SPECIAL EVENT
Although he’s never one to skimp on live entertainment, promoter/LGBT nightlife influencer Rey Lopez takes things over the top with his summer birthday extravaganzas. Perhaps to help soften the blow of the big four-oh, Lopez has enlisted a dozen glamazons fished out of the exotic waters of RuPaul’s Drag Race. After kicking off with a red carpet arrival hosted by Foxxy Blue Orchid (8pm), the drag-star-studded affair showcases the talents of “Debutantess of the Deep South”/Paris, TX native Shangela, selfdescribed “mermaid witch” Adore Delano (pictured), Bexar County jailbird Phi Phi O’Hara and many more. $20-$30, 9pm, Aztec Theater, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — BR
CALENDAR
SAT
25
Richard Blanco WORDS
As the Macondo Writers’ Workshop, founded by Sandra Cisneros and focused on developing communityminded creative writers, celebrates its 20th anniversary, you’re invited to take part by way of a special reading from esteemed poet Richard Blanco. When he read at Barack Obama’s inauguration, Blanco became the first Latino poet to perform the honor and has received numerous other accolades and recognitions for his works. Those especially jazzed about local literary activities should also plan to attend the free Macondo Writers’ reading on Friday at 7pm (also at the Guadalupe). $15-$25, 7-9pm, Guadalupe Theater, 1301 Guadalupe St., (210) 271-3151, guadalupeculturalarts.org. — James Courtney
SAT
25
Briscoe Blast! SPECIAL EVENT
Launched in 2005 complete with a commemorative flag that now flies in 30 states and six countries, National Day of the Cowboy (NDOC) seeks to promote and preserve the cowboy’s role in America’s rich Western heritage. Designated as the fourth Saturday in July, NDOC’s 11th annual celebration takes shape on a local level at the Briscoe. Besides free museum tours, the event includes live music by the Texas Weather Band, campfire tales with Miss Tiffany of Storytime Chicks, an appearance by Alex Ingram (Miss Rodeo 2014), a prop-filled photo booth and grub for purchase from Cheesy Jane’s. Free, noon-5pm, Briscoe Western Art Museum, 210 W. Market St., (210) 299-4499, briscoemuseum.org. — BR
SUN
26
María y José MUSIC
A powerful presence in the wild Mexican hybrid genre called Ruidoson (literally “noise song”), María y José, the stage moniker of Jalisco, Mexicoborn Tony Gallardo, brings a unique combination of reggaeton, tribal and electro-cumbia to Hi-Tones this Sunday. Surprisingly organic for electronic music, Gallardo’s sound is kinetic and raw, his aural collages expressive of tropical settings, traditional Jalisco music, sweaty all-night clubs and, on a darker note, the dystopian labyrinth of drug-war violence. Gallardo is joined on the rad bill by fellow sonic/cultural-collagist Chico Ye and local outré cumbia duo Nag Champa. $3, 9pm-2am, Hi-Tones, 621 E. Dewey Pl., (210) 573-6220. — JC
TUE
28
Rome, Open City FILM
Part of TPR’s Cinema Tuesdays series, Rome, Open City, contains one of the most famous shots in Italian cinema, but describing it would be a major spoiler. We’ll only say it made an international star of Anna Magnani, who plays an ordinary woman caught up in partisan resistance to the Nazis. Directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Federico Fellini, it introduced postwar Italian cinema to the world and created talk of “neorealism,” shooting in the streets with non-professionals. It’s also a melodrama with stars, but its bombed-out locations give it a newsreel quality of 1945 Rome. $10-$15, 7:30pm, Santikos Bijou, 4522 Fredericksburg Rd., (210) 614-8977, tpr.org. — Michael Barrett
sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 17
18 CURRENT • July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
CALENDAR NIGHTLIFE
FRI
24
Gemini Ink @ Tacoland
SUN
Similarly exploring marginalized voices within the context of poetry, visiting authors Dan Vera and Jennifer Bartlett join Northwest Vista College assistant professor Natalia Treviño to inaugurate Gemini Ink @ Tacoland, a new series launching in tandem with the mini-conference “Like Oak Trees: How Writing Transforms Community.” Born in South Texas to Cuban parents and now based in Washington D.C., Vera won the first ever Letras Latinas/Red Hen Poetry Prize for 2013’s Speaking Wiri Wiri — a collection that weaves language, taste and culture into a witty tapestry inhabited by everyone from Captain Kirk to Carmen Miranda. Currently at work on a biography of late poet Larry Eigner (1927-1996), Brooklyn-based Bartlett draws from her own experiences with cerebral palsy to challenge stereotypes and champion the disabled through her works, the most recent being the deeply personal collection Autobiography/Anti-Autobiography. Promising to defy any preconceived notions one might have of a literary function, the nonprofit’s outdoor reading comes complete with signature Gemini cocktails (crafted from cucumber vodka, mint, lime and agave) and an open mic to follow. Free, 6:30pm, Viva Tacoland, 103 W. Grayson St., (210) 368-2443, geminiink.org. — Bryan Rindfuss
Art
”All School Exhibition” The Southwest
School of Art’s well-rounded “All School Exhibition” features recent works from the likes of Chris Sauter, Margarite Guggolz and Gary Schott alongside a pool of juried students, studio artists, adjunct faculty and the talented teens of “Bee Nation.” Free, 9am-5pm Wednesday-Saturday, 11am-4pm Sunday, 9am-5pm Monday-Tuesday; Southwest School of Art - Navarro Campus, 1201 Navarro St., (210) 224-1848.
“Miguel Covarrubias: Culture and Caricature” Rightfully dubbed “Mexico’s
Renaissance Man,” Miguel Covarrubias (1904-1957) made a name for himself as a caricaturist, writer and commercial illustrator but also made significant contributions to the realms of theater, ethnography and archaeology. Born in Mexico City, Covarrubias moved to New York on a government grant in 1923, fell in with an elite crowd and emerged as go-to caricaturist for the likes of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. $5-$10, 10am-5pm Wednesday-Thursday, 10am-9pm Friday, 10am-5pm Saturday-Sunday, 10am-9pm Tuesday; San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., (210) 978-8100.
Party for The Arts Co-hosted by Ricardo
Romo, Arturo Infante Almeida and Gregory Elliott, this festive fundraiser for UTSA’s Art Department includes cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a silent art auction of works by faculty, students and community artists. $25, 6-9pm Thursday; Plaza Club, 100 W. Houston St., Suite 2100, (210) 458-5135.
Summer 2015 International Artistsin-Residence As guest curator for
the summer installment of Artpace’s International Artists-in-Residence program, Istanbul-based Ian Alden Russell selected Gabriel Martinez (Houston), Wafaa Bilal (New York) and Fatma Bucak (London/ Istanbul) — a group he felt would “form a sort of family.” With shared “points of connection in their negotiation of social and political issues,” the trio has spent the last two months creating projects that explore public space and interaction (Martinez), chromotherapy as it relates to war veterans (Bilal) and immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border (Bucak). Free, noon5pm Wednesday-Sunday, Artpace, 445 N. Main Ave., (210) 212-4900.
Film
Anime at the Alamo 10 Year Hostiversary Anime at the Alamo celebrates a decade of bringing free anime to San Antonio audiences with screenings of Kamen Rider Gaim (a tokusatsu adventure series set in a castle town inhabited by monsters and dance crews) and Steins;Gate (a sci-fi drama surrounding a microwave that facilitates time travel), plus a tokusatsu presentation by Mecha Gorilla and prizes up for grabs from IELLO Games, RikRic Otaku Cafe and Behold Studios. Free, 7pm Tuesday; Alamo Drafthouse Westlakes, 1255 SW Loop 410, (210) 677-8500.
Jumanji Main Plaza Conservancy and
SATX Pedal Power’s bike-centric Cycle-In
26
The Power Of A Dream
The underdog sports movie hits close to home in The Power of a Dream, a documentary film featuring University of the Incarnate Word student, personal trainer and reserve Bexar County firefighter Eric Castillo who, at the age of 30, became the oldest player ever to take the field for UIW’s Division I football team. Although he had never played organized football before, Castillo’s determination earned him a spot on the 95-man roster during his last season of NCAA eligibility. It was an experience he hopes inspires others to aspire to become something greater than past mistakes. “Falling down is a part of life that provides us with the tool of motivation for personal growth,” Castillo told the San Antonio Current. “No matter what age you’re at when you come out of that dark place in your life, any dream you have ever had is more obtainable when you’re fighting for something at your very lowest.” Later this year, Castillo will graduate with his degree in kinesiology exercise science with a minor in nutrition and communications. He also plans to join the Fire Academy next month. $15, 6pm, Santikos Palladium, 17703 I-10 W, (210) 496-2221, eventbrite.com. — Kiko Martínez
Cinema series continues with director Joe Johnston’s 1995 adventure-fantasy starring Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce as siblings who unwittingly release a man (Robin Williams) and a menagerie of computer-animated creatures while playing a magical board game. Beer, wine and concessions will be available for purchase from Blue Star Ice House and El Oasis Café #2. Free, 8:45pm Thursday; Main Plaza, 115 N. Main Ave., (210) 225-9800.
The Great Gatsby A grownup counterpart
to SAMA and Slab Cinema’s Family Flicks collaboration, the cash bar-equipped Film on the Green series picks back up with an outdoor screening of Baz Luhrmann’s dazzling adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s cautionary tale set in Long Island amid the decadence of the Jazz Age. $5-$10, 8:30pm Friday; San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., (210) 978-8100.
Theater
27 Short Plays About Being Murdered in a Hotel by ABBA Promising “more music than a play without music and surprisingly less music than a musical about playing competitive backgammon in Mumbai,” William M. Razavi’s ambitious new oddity imagines Swedish pop quartet ABBA on an absurd world tour-turned crime spree. $10$14, 8pm Friday-Saturday; The Overtime Theater, 1203 Camden St., (210) 557-7562.
Avenue Q The felt-headed creatures of
Avenue Q may look like your friends from Sesame Street, but with fast-talking potty
mouths and a propensity for loud sexual intercourse, these puppets are anything but kid-friendly. Following Princeton, a freshly minted adult, and a wily gang of monsters just trying to make it in the real world, the production features three human characters (including an interpretation of Gary Coleman playing a building superintendent) alongside 11 puppets manipulated by wholly visible puppeteers. Jonathan Pennington directs at the Cameo. $20-$33, 8pm FridaySaturday, 4:30pm Sunday; Cameo Theatre, 1123 E Commerce St., (210) 212-5454.
Grease Inspired by his time at Chicago’s
William Howard Taft, Jim Jacobs developed the risqué musical Grease with Warren Casey in 1971. In subsequent productions and the 1978 film, much of the play’s vulgarity was diluted; however, today those greasers still manage to tackle teen pregnancy, rebellion and gang violence with hip-shaking style. Tony Ciaravino directs the Playhouse’s production. $12-$30, 8pm Friday, Saturday, 3pm Sunday; San Pedro Playhouse, 800 W Ashby Pl., (210) 733-7258.
La Brújula Mágica Written and directed
by Eduardo Escobar, the bilingual, multimedia children’s production La Brújula Mágica (The Magic Compass) follows a young boy who must overcome his fear of the dark as he’s chased by the menacing Lord of the Shadows through a strange city that never sees daylight. $5-$10, 6:30pm Friday, 3pm Saturday;
sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 19
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Instituto Cultural de México Auditorium, 600 Hemisfair Park, (210) 499-0922.
Mary Poppins Following two raucous
children and the magical nanny that swoops in to save their family, Mary Poppins brings laughter, music and flight to the Woodlawn. With the theater’s largest ensemble to date, artistic director Greg Hinojosa enlists choreographer Eric Mota and special effects artists to create a spectacle that’s truly “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” $17-$26, 7:30pm Friday-Saturday, 3pm Sunday; Woodlawn Theatre, 1920 Fredericksburg Rd., (210) 267-8388.
Water by the Spoonful Pennsylvania-
born playwright and composer Quiara Alegría Hudes made her first big splash in the theater world as librettist of the musical slice of life In the Heights. Hudes’ flair for interweaving narratives took a turn for the dramatic with her “Elliot Trilogy,” a cycle of plays surrounding an ex-Marine’s search for meaning following a tour of Iraq. Skipping straight to Hudes’ Pulitzer-winning second chapter, Water by the Spoonful, the Playhouse delves into a tangled web strung together by a fractured family and an online chat room for addicts. $12-$30, 8pm Friday-Saturday, 3pm Sunday; San Pedro Playhouse, 800 W Ashby Pl., (210) 733-7258.
Words
Macondo Writers’ Readings The
Guadalupe hosts a free reading uniting a selection of writers associated with the Macondo Writers’ Workshop esteemed poet and writer Sandra Cisneros formed around her kitchen table in 1995. In 2012, Cisneros handed the workshop over to the Guadalupe after she decided to relocate to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Fri., July 24, 7 p.m Guadalupe Theater, 1301 Guadalupe St., (210) 271-3151.
Nature Walk: Poetry In Nature Local
poet Mobi Warren shares her original poems and works by other poets on this morning walk presented by the Phil Hardberger Park Conservancy in partnership with the Sierra Club and the Alamo Area Texas Master Naturalists. Free ($3 suggested donation), 8-10am Saturday; the Urban Ecology Center, Phil Hardberger Park West, 8400 NW Military Hwy., (210) 492-7472.
the Shine Runners, DJs, a beauty bar and barber, burlesque performances and a classic car show. $45, 8pm-midnight Friday; McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 227-0044.
Pop-Up Dog Shop Mobile pet boutique
The Pooch House teams up with Doggie Stylez grooming for a pet-friendly pop-up with brunch, mimosas and an open dog treat bar. Free, 9am-1pm Saturday; Doggie Stylez, 2838 N. Loop 1604 E., Suite 103, (210) 310-4180.
Talks Plus
Beyond The Canvas Face Paint/Body Paint Workshop Instructors Shauna
Burns and Rita Garza teach attendees face- and body-painting techniques at this daylong workshop that includes a photo shoot with Dreamland Studios. Advance registration required at beyondthecanvas.org/workshops. $75, 9am-6pm Friday; Teresa Champion Dance Studio, 6732 S. Flores St., (210) 683-5356.
Mel Casas: “The Southwestern Clichés” Curator Ruben C. Cordova
presents a lecture in conjunction with “The Southwestern Clichés,” Texas A&M-San Antonio’s comprehensive study encompassing 30 large-scale acrylic paintings by late local artist Mel Casas. Free, 3pm Saturday; Texas A&M University-San Antonio Educational & Cultural Arts Center, 101 S. Santa Rosa Ave., (210) 784-1112.
LGBT
The Mr. & Miss Texas Continental Pageant Co-hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race alums Alyssa Edwards and Shangela, this “Aztec Goddess”-themed pageant judges contestants in five categories (interview, swimsuit, talent, evening wear and onstage Q&A) and features performances by Joey Taylor, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Xavi Mathews, Sasha Andrews, Tommie Ross, Taryn Taylor and many more. $30-$50, 8pm Monday; Aztec Theatre, 104 N. Saint Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355.
Special Events
Cocktail “Rebel” Channel your
inner pin-up or greaser for the San Antonio Current’s Cocktail “Rebel,” a 1950s-themed event featuring 15 bars, 15 restaurants, a boozy ice cream social, retro games, live music by Texas T and
sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 21
ARTS
DOYLE AVANT
PARA LA GENTE Chicana Creators Talk Theater, Hustling And Giving Voice To The Voiceless MURPHI COOK
Their stories began with perseverance. Anna De Luna, 19 and painfully shy, fumbling through her first audition, only to audition again and again until she finally got a part. Marisela Barrera, a girl with a lisp clad in a handmade costume, forgetting her lines in the junior high play, eventually obtaining a BFA in acting and serving as director of the theater program at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Despite their successes, the fact remained that Chicanas were hardly represented onstage. Today, their stories continue with the perseverance to change that and give voice to a new kind of theater. For Anna De Luna, things changed about 10 years ago; San Antonio’s roles for Latinas suddenly seemed to disappear (a fact she attributes to Barrera leaving the Guadalupe). Frustrated but not beaten by the sudden loss of work, she turned inward and developed Chicana Atheist, a solo show that explores her own identity. Later, she transformed her work with the San Antonio AIDS Foundation into The AIDS Lady, a piece that has been performed in Walgreens parking lots and beyond to promote HIV awareness and testing. Her latest work, My Arab Fall, chronicles her time as a tourist in Egypt after their Arab Spring, positioning her view as a Westerner alongside that of an Egyptian activist. Marisela Barrera plays many roles — director, writer, performance artist — but regardless of the title, she’s always a cultural worker. She has worked with Jump-Start, the Witte, the Guadalupe and others in an effort to unearth and document Chicana stories. Today, she is working toward an MA and an MFA in creative writing, literature and social justice at Our Lady of the Lake University. Her play, Cuero, la Ruby Red, y el Big Bird is a trio of stories infused with urban legends, daydreams of Selena and all the mystical richness of Barrera’s own Rio Grande Valley childhood. 22 CURRENT • July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
ANNA DE LUNA What do you hope will be the audience takeaway of the show? That people would talk about things more, because I think we all know somebody that’s been raped … This is not just something that’s happening in the Middle East. This is something that’s happening in the South Side. If these women have the courage to speak up and do something about it over there, then let’s do something over here. I know you started as a performer. What made you to decide to transition into the role of writer or director? I love acting, and I used to always wish, “Wow, I can’t wait to meet that great playwright who’s going to make all these great roles for me.” And it wasn’t happening, because there aren’t a lot of roles being written for Latinas. But at the same time I was like, “I’m waiting for this playwright to write me all these great roles but maybe I need to start doing this myself.” … I would tell people stories about things that had happened to me and I would think, “this is a show” or “this is a monologue.” And I just started forcing myself to write. Describe your writing process. Oh my gosh, the best thing — the thing that helps me the most is actually just getting up and improvising on my own or with someone else. I can’t just sit at the computer and tap away. I have a boyfriend and he’s just click click click click clickety click and I just want to strangle him. Why can’t I do that? You’ve performed roles that other people have written and then you’ve performed your own. Is there any difference in the relationship you feel to the audience when you perform something you’ve created yourself? Yes, because I’m so nervous. Are they
My Arab Fall
Free 5pm & 8pm Sat, July 25 Performing Arts Center Palo Alto College 1400 W. Villaret Blvd. (210) 486-3000 alamo.edu/pac
Anna De Luna started as a performer but wanted to be a playwright in her own right.
going to like it? Are they going to think it’s terrible writing? Are they going to think it’s boring? But when they’re really into it — laughing, or crying, or if I’ve got them — then that’s a pretty amazing experience because it’s from me. Really, all from me. When you were at UTSA, you said you joined the theater because you simply had to. What happened? What happened was I think I was a freshman and I had always wanted to do it when I was in high school, but I just didn’t have the courage. And I remember I was in the University Center and I saw some fliers for an audition for Arsenic and Old Lace and I was like, “Damn
it, I can’t take it anymore, I’ve got to audition.” I was so nervous, and I went to the bathroom to put on makeup or fix my hair or something and there was this other young woman in there … and doing all her vocal exercises and I was just like, “Oh my god, I’m going to be terrible.” So I went in there and I did the audition. I really flubbed up because I was trying to read the lines, then do the audition and just act like someone else. It was awful … But after that I auditioned again and again and it got easier. But I just had to do it. If you had a hope for theater, what would it be? I think that for this area in particular
ARTS
BRYAN RINDFUSS
sparse. The infrastructure is not what it needs to be in this city … And I’m not narcing on San Antonio because throughout the United States, it’s a huge challenge. You know, we want to better reflect our demographics, tell those stories, and document them in a way that will be marketable for other theaters … It is a struggle, it is work, it is not a hobby … You have to be obsessive about creating teatro.
Cuero, la Ruby Red, y el Big Bird
$8-10 8:30pm Fri-Sat, July 31-August 8 3pm Sun, August 2 Jump-Start Performance Co. 710 Fredericksburg Rd. (210) 227-5867 jump-start.org
Marisela Barrera, who’s working on her MFA at Our Lady of the Lake, brings a show based on her border region upbringing.
we would have more schools for theater, especially for Latinos, to get them started at an early age. There also needs to be more professional development for artists that do decide to stay in San Antonio … We have a lot of people that have really amazing stories to tell, but maybe they don’t have the skills to write them down, so more writing workshops, playwright contests. We’re just so rich with stories here … I would like to see more infrastructure set up for the arts so in the end it would impact the theater community as a whole. What advice would you give a first-time writer who wants to tell their story? Get a deadline so it gets done. A very scary deadline. Meaning it’s going to be performed and you have to sit down and do it. You can’t procrastinate (or you can procrastinate but then you really have to do it). And ask for help from friends. Get some other people to read it and give you advice, people you trust. Jump in, do it, have fun.
MARISELA BARRERA Tell me a little bit about your show. It’s three acts? Yes, it’s three different stories and in the past. I really love Chicana literature, so I’ve adapted several of my favorite books and short stories to the stage in the past. Sandra Cisneros, Anna Castillo and some others. So this is the first time using my own literature to adapt to the stage. Describe that process of self adaptation. Are you bringing in a script to the actors or are the actors devising it based on what you’ve previously written with the short stories? We have the short stories because that’s what we started from, but we’re not deviating from the text. There’s no improv. The adaptation comes with what we cut, sort of changing the tense sometimes … [The rehearsals have] been about getting it up on its feet and testing stuff out. I’ve discovered a lot of things that I think [will] enrich it … because what I want to do is go back to
the short story form with what I learned through this piece. I think one of the challenges here with the teatristas in this region, myself included, is we don’t do a good job of documenting our work. Part of this is my test in terms of creating a living script after the play is over that maybe will carry on. So if the story is compelling enough then perhaps other people will want to read it. As a theater maker you’re playing all of these roles — you’re an actor, you’re a writer and you’re a director. Can you describe what it’s like to be playing all these parts? It’s actually by default … It’s a struggle. It is hard. That’s why I call myself a worker: a cultural worker. It’s work and when people come and they say, “Hey what are you doing tonight?” And it’s like, “Well, I have rehearsal.” And they’re like, “Oh, well come have a shot with me before.” And I’m like, “Hell no — this is work.” Sure, I’ll have a tequila afterwards, but it is work. I’m wearing many different hats and many of us do in this, because of money. It’s
Tell me about your transition from being an administrator and a curator into being a creator and what made you do that? That’s an interesting story. Back then it was really important to have a lot of female voices on the stage, I stepped away from that position at a time when it was undergoing a lot of transitions. It was like whoa, it’s all about the transition and not about the work anymore. So I had to take a break from that, so I did … It’s been very liberating making that transition. It’s scary too, because the reality is I don’t have a regular paycheck. People might perceive that I work a lot in the community, which is true, but it’s really like hustling too, you know, it’s like I do as much hustling and getting paid for my work as I do volunteer work which is sort of good and bad … So sometimes it’s frustrating, which is why I went back to school to give back to myself and improve my work and get more disciplined in terms of generating work and documenting it. What is your one hope for theater for your daughter’s generation? She’s already living it because she’s at Bonham Academy and she has a nicer facility than I work at. It’s so cool, it’s only K-8, so maybe that’s how they got away with creating a black-box theater on campus … I’m not saying she has to do theater, but I just hope that whatever she decides to do it’s not demanding, but it’s actually fun. So I’d like to share that and bring more people into the loop of breaking down the facade of theater being brainy. It’s actually not. It can actually be super lucha libre. It could be anything really; you break down that fourth wall and you just go for it. But you have to figure out what story is compelling and which one is the one you could see at midnight on the Lifetime channel. sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 23
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WAR AT OUR DOORSTEP A Cross-Border Look At Vigilante Groups In Cartel Land DANIEL BARNES
Beyond the usual genre themes of heroism and sacrifice, the greatest war films tend to project a sense of an intractable and ultimately unwinnable situation. Whether it be WWI in All Quiet on the Western Front or WWII in They Were Expendable or the Korean War in The Steel Helmet or the Vietnam War in Apocalypse Now (or more recently, the “War on Terror” in The Hurt Locker and American Sniper), you get a sense that for all of the bravery they show in battle and duty, the characters in these films are trapped in an unresolvable conflict. No one wins a war — battles are won, but the war never ends. Matthew Heineman’s enthralling and upsetting documentary Cartel Land, while not technically a war film in any militaristic sense (if anything, armies here are notable for their absence and impotence), has a lot in common with those aforementioned war movie classics. Rather than focusing on faraway wars, Cartel Land looks at the brutal and bloody violence being waged right on America’s doorstep by the Mexican drug and human trafficking cartels and especially at the armed vigilante movements that have sprung up on both sides of the border in retaliation. The movie was executive produced by Kathryn Bigelow and it’s no surprise that she got behind it — Cartel Land has all of the intensity and electricity of her films The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, yet it consistently remains a levelheaded and almost unbelievably intimate piece of cinematic journalism. Heineman and his crew waste no time risking their necks; the film opens by showing the cartels’ “#1 meth cooks” making an illicit outdoor cook while carrying guns and wearing masks. Disturbingly, the meth cooks are some of the more
Not your typical conflict flick: a look at the role of vigilantes in the drug war playing out on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
pragmatic and purposeful people we will meet in the film. They’re making drugs for the cartels that will be trafficked across the border and sold in America, while the profits get funneled back to Mexico to fund greater and greater crimes. All the while, poor Mexicans are inextricably caught in the crossfire. In the state of Michoacán, the extortion and violence became so commonplace and so savage (we hear stories of babies being smashed over rocks), that an armed movement – Autodefensas – arose. A terrible solution, to be certain, but with the Mexican government firmly in the pocket of the cartels, it may be the only solution with a chance to work. Autodefensas is led by Dr. José Mireles, a white-haired and folksy-looking ex-physician whose group arms citizens and coaches them in urban warfare. Mireles becomes the symbol of the movement, gaining a level of nationwide notoriety, but he’s really a symbol for the vicious cycle of corruption that catches everyone in its blades. He begins the film as a peasant revolutionary and ends
it as just another sleazy politician on the run — nobody here is left untouched by violence and corruption, even those sworn to stop it. On the other side of the border, another type of armed anti-government group patrols the line between Mexico and Arizona, a favorite avenue for traffickers. “This area has been ceded to the cartels,” says military veteran and ex-meth addict Tim “Nailer” Foley, leader of the militia group Arizona Border Recon. As the violence intensifies and the mainstream media starts riding the story, Foley finally receives the volunteer manpower he has long desired, but finds that a group built around harassing dark-skinned people may appeal to the wrong kind of patriot. Both Autodefensas and Arizona Border Recon face the same issue — the lawlessness of vigilantism, no matter how effective in the short term, is especially attractive to lawless men. Not everyone is keen on a bunch of self-righteous, self-appointed lawmen patrolling downtown with machine guns. The more that Autodefensas eradicates the cartels, the more they simply
become the cartels, growing even more dangerous when they’re “legalized” by the Mexican government. Through it all, Heineman and his crew capture everything, gaining a terrifying level of access and giving us frontrow seats to the drug war. They ride along with Autodefensas on their urban clearance missions, follow Mireles from his family vacations to his extramarital trysts, shove their cameras into the center of machine gun battles, and in probably the most disturbing sequence, go inside of an Abu Ghraib-like torture facility set up by Autodefensas and run by ex-cartel members. And still the cooks keep cooking and Americans keep consuming. Even as Foley, in a rare moment of optimism, argues that “cycles can change,” the #1 meth cook expresses a different opinion: “You can’t stop the cartels.”
Cartel Land (R) 98 min. Dir. Matthew Heineman; feat. José Manuel Mireles, Tim “Nailer” Foley, Paco Rangel Valencia Opens July 24 at Santikos Bijou
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Aloft Leaves Too Many Plot Holes For The MARJORIE BAUMGARTEN Audience To Fix So bleak and sad is this film that titling it Aloft might almost be construed as false advertising. The title can’t be construed as ironic either because there’s nothing resembling humor in this solemnly earnest drama. Although it often intrigues, that’s mostly because the film’s unconventional narrative structure continually jumps back and forth 20 years in time, forcing us to fill in the intervening gaps with our own conclusions. The effect is not so much confusing as it is baffling. Aloft’s characters exude a certain impregnability and the story’s structure only further distances us from them. Writer/director Claudia Llosa, a former Oscar nominee (The Milk of Sorrow) from Peru, offers us a film that’s nearly as chilly and austere as its subarctic setting. Jennifer Connelly plays Nana, who, in the story set in the past, lives with her two young boys and her father-in-law in some unspecified remote area of the frozen north, presumably Canada. Frosty describes both the landscape and its inhabitants. Nana is a desperate woman: Her youngest boy Gully (Winta McGrath) has an unspecified and fatally untreatable illness, so she has dragged him and his older brother Ivan (Zen McGrath) to a gathering of an itinerant spiritual healer called the Architect (William Shimell). Ivan, a budding falconer, brings along the bird, which proves to be an unwelcome pilgrim. Soon after, Nana learns she, too, possesses the gift of healing, but before
long, tragedy strikes. Approximately 20 years later, Ivan grows up to be a professional falconer (Cillian Murphy) who seems like one of the saddest and loneliest men in his corner of the frozen outback, despite the presence of his wife and child. Jannia Ressmore (Mélanie Laurent), a journalist (whose French-accented English is not always clearly understood), appears at his door purporting to be working on a story about falconry, but her motivations are ulterior. Ressmore, Ivan, and a caged falcon are soon heading further north to find Ivan’s long-absent mother, who has become a mystical healer heavily insulated from the world by her inner circle. The film’s shifting time periods add a complexity to the story that might be easily mistaken for depth. These characters are all souls at the end of their tethers and their sadness is enhanced by the film’s narrative events, inhospitable landscape and the filmmaker’s flat, closeup visual strategies that prevent us from embracing these cheerless creatures. They seek answers that are beyond their comprehension. It’s as if Llosa wants us to walk in their shoes but neglected to provide a destination.
Aloft (R) 112 min. Writ. and dir. Claudia Llosa; feat. Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, Mélanie Laurent, William Shimell, Zen McGrath, Winta McGrath, Oona Chaplin Opens July 24 at Santikos Bijou
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LAKESIDE ITALIAN Gennaro’s Trattoria Surprises With Fresh, Top-Notch Fare RON BECHTOL
It’s hot out. Hitch the boat to the pickup and head straight for Canyon Lake. No boat? No problem. Head for the lake anyway. Stop just short of the shore. Destination: air conditioned and endearingly kitschy Gennaro’s Trattoria. Tarred by red sauce and red carpet alike, Italian-American cuisine has fallen on hard times lately. But if you think of it as its own category, not a cartoon version of the “real” thing (kind of like Tex-Mex), then there’s much to be appreciated. Naples native Gennaro di Meo and family have other restaurants in the Houston area, but, after coming to Canyon Lake for years, they decided to settle down and get serious. “This is their baby now,” our server told the San Antonio Current last week. And wreathed in painted grapes and plastered with murals of Venice and the Bay of Naples, what a baby it is. Nobody, least of all me, would have expected reinvigorated Italian-American to be found in Startzville, but at the risk of over-stating my amazement, here ‘tis. Cliché as it may seem, everything is made from scratch and, evident in several dishes, also starts out fresh. We can all too easily begin with the freshly baked bread and garlic
knots — they’re the first indication that this is not your re-heated rolls kind of place. The problem will be in stopping yourself: It may take a while for your order to arrive, but please try not to fill the time, and yourself, with bread. Servings are generous and most diners were observed exiting with to-go boxes in hand. Definitely to be ordered as appetizers: the mussels (a whiff of nutmeg was both unexpected and perfectly calibrated); the yes-I-know-they’re-way-too-common fried calamari; Ana Maria’s excessive but exquisite layered eggplant with prosciutto, parmesan and a sauce with spinach, roasted bell pepper and sundried tomatoes. You can certainly order pasta as an entrée (the emphatic rigatoni con salsiccia in a “light pomodoro sauce” is recommended.) But as we did in a separate visit, consider splitting a pasta dish as an appetizer. The stuffed pasta of the day was beef-filled ravioli in lemon cream. But the kitchen is extremely accommodating regarding interchangeability of sauces and sides. We asked instead for another light tomato sauce and were smugly appreciative of the way it worked with the tender pasta. Like most dishes at Gennaro’s, the automatic house salads are not blazing new culinary paths. They are, however, impeccably fresh and smartly and simply dressed. Appreciate this while you can, as entrées tend to get daunting. An order of osso buco, with lamb standing in for the unavailable veal, was cloaked in yet another variation of a salsa pomodoro — this one distinguished from others by copious capers and onions. At our request, the sizeable shank accompanied the vegetable side that would have partnered the veal (lamb normally comes with pasta). Our only complaint was a lack of advertised rosemary on the potatoes and the need for just a sprinkle of salt.
Melanzane Ana Maria – a must-order dish at Gennaro’s Trattoria.
At first glance, the wine list isn’t impressive. (This is a good time to tell you to make reservations, as we had to cool our heels for about 30 minutes on a Wednesday evening, time that was wellspent sampling wine.) But the woman in charge of the list is happy to let you taste from open bottles, to direct you away from bottles not at their prime and to suggest others that are just right. Our selected bottle of Ramon Bilbao 2011 Crianza Tempranillo Rioja was a beautiful bridge between several dishes, including a risotto di mare. A lot of restaurants prepare risottos halfway to cut down on the cooking time once an order is received. That does not seem to be the case here. But it is also true that this was not a risotto as we normally
know it: just slightly al dente rice, moist but not soupy texture. Gennaro’s rice requires an attitude adjustment: it’s decidedly soupy and totally tender. Once this possible “Milan vs. Naples” distinction is acknowledged (the same ingredients can also be had over linguini), it’s no holds barred with fresh seafood aplenty in a distinctively herbal tomato bath. Fresh basil added yet another dimension. Most sane people would not contemplate dessert at this point. But they’re all made in-house and the Italian cream cake — proudly tall, moist and studded with walnuts — was just too tempting. And too good. After all that, maybe you can leave swimming for another day.
Gennaro’s Trattoria 10018 Startz Rd., Canyon Lake (830) 899-2800 gennarostrattoria.com Skinny: A new generation of Italian-American in a most unlikely location. Best Bets: Mussels di Pepe, Melanzane Ana Maria, Rigatoni con Salsiccia, Lamb Osso Buco, fish of the day, Italian cream cake Hours: 11am-9pm Wed-Thu, 11am-10pm Fri-Sat, 11am-9pm Sun Price: $8-$34
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SWEET TREASURES Pecan Meringue Desserts Are Tops At Romelia’s Bakery FELICIA DEINNOCENTIIS
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Hidden almost in plain sight in the Huebner Oaks shopping center and sandwiched between dance studios and Brindle s Ice Cream is Romelia’s Bakery and Specialties (11255 Huebner Rd., Suite 110), a little-known treasure. Opened in May 2014 by Monterey natives Romelia Garza and Eduardo Valenzuela-Garibay, the bakery is a playground for head chef Garza to showcase her own style that you won’t see in a typical bakery. The location is small and designed in mind for a customer base of commuters and deliveries rather than sitdown diners. The front gallery is filled with ready-to-go, ready-todrool-over goodies like cupcakes, chocolate croissants, scones and pan dulces. What sets Romelia’s apart from other sweet goods joints is that it doesn’t serve usual cakes. Instead, the spotlight is on their signature “Treasures,” pecan meringues with assorted fresh fruit like berries and mango atop cream cheese frosting. The treasures range from palm sized, fourinch pastries to full-sized three-tiered 10-inch cakes. “Bakery is a very broad name. We tend to do these kind of specialties ... birthday and bride cakes, we don’t do that,” said owner Valenzuela-Garibay. “We tend to do more tasteful products with high-end ingredients; we’re enticing people to taste so they can notice the difference that it’s made with the highest ingredients.” While the bakery offers catering and customizes pastries to-order, there is definitely a vision Garza and pastry chef Julieta Zamudio want to maintain. At a glance, the menu may seem small, but the level of quality put into their pastries is evident from the first bite. What Romelia’s sets out to do is get customers coming back for more of
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what they love to make. “What we want to create is a need for this type of pastry. We don’t want to be too wide, [we want to] stick with this and grow in lunch and breakfast-type of products,” Valenzuela-Garibay said. To get there, the bakery is now focusing on getting more of that early and midday traffic with sweet and savory scones and fresh-brewed Colombian coffee. With the recent purchase of a new sheeter machine to help roll out dough en masse, croissant sandwiches will also soon be on the menu for lunch-goers. The three-person staff, all very friendly and inviting, won’t hesitate to slice up a sample and talk about their favorite pastry. The chocolate croissant is hands-down the winner, but don’t pass on the coconut cookies. Waifish and crisp, they’ll will turn into your new guilty pleasure.
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Thursday, July 23 Southerleigh Beer Dinner: Stella Public House welcomes its new lineup of handcrafted brews out of The Pearl’s latest eatery with a five-course dinner. The lineup includes a Gold Export Lager, Darwinian IPA, Texas Uncommon Ale, Putin’s Revenge and Smoke on the Water paired with sautéed mussels, fried and stuffed avocado, orange sesame quail, braised leg of lamb with fresh house pasta and a chocolate lava cake with bacon ice cream. $60 not including tax or gratuity, 7pm, 1414 S. Alamo St., (210) 464-8932 or allison@stellapublichouse.com.
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Filthy Kitchen Pop-Up: It’s time for dancing at Phantom Room and what better way to fuel up for ladies-only Cock Block Thursdays than with literal pink tacos and other cheeky menu items from Filthy Kitchen (aka Crossroads Kitchen with sassier a twist). Prices vary, 9pm, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 214-4257. Friday, July 24 Food Truck Throwdown & Food Drive: The Boardwalk On Bulverde keeps on kickin’ with its signature summer bash that serves as a food drive for the San Antonio Food Bank. Trucks in attendance include Treats on Streets, Gracie’s Kitchen Food Truck, Ain’t Ya Momma’s Pie, Mr. Fish, Sir-Wacha, Chilito’s Express Lation Fusion Kitchen, Gilbo’s Grill, G Bros. Chicago Style Pizza, Smoke BBQ “The Truck,” Philly’s Phamous Cheesesteaks, Squares Catering Service, JimBO’s Slice of Heaven and Where Y’at Food Truck. Let the kids play on the playground, school bus arcade, moon bounce or mechanical bull. Free admission, food available for purchase from trucks, 6-11pm Friday, noon-11pm Saturday, noon-8pm Sunday, 14732 Bulverde Rd., (210) 850-4472.
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Barre & Brew: Freetail Brewing Co. wants to help you burn off those tasty, hoppy calories with a free 30-minute express barre class. Provided by Smart Barre San Antonio, the class is open to 22 students of all shapes, ages and genders. Remember to take your own mat and socks with a good grip. Free sign up online at smartbarrebody. com, 6:30pm, 2000 S. Presa St., (210) 492-2690, facebook.com/freetailtaproom. Cocktail “Rebel”: Greasers, pink ladies, cool cats and oldies are going to be front and center during the third annual San Antonio Current Cocktail event at the McNay Art Museum. Don your favorite pin-up or greaser attire and try cocktails from 15 of the city’s best bars and 10 hottest restaurants. The evening will include a boozy ice cream social and bombshell burlesque show. $45, 8pm-midnight, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., cocktail.sacurrent.com. Send food- and booze-related events to flavor@sacurrent.com
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Move over, froyo — there’s a new frozen treat in town. Berry Healthy Bowls (3131 Thousand Oaks Dr., 787530-6683) has opened its food trailer window in the same shopping center as JonesN4Crossfit serving variations of frozen açaí bowls topped with all sorts of good stuff. Owner Danny Rigau, a Puerto Rican who left the island in 2014 for San Antonio, decided to launch the truck at the request of daughter Daniela, who’s addicted to the stuff. Found in part of California, Florida and New York, açaí bowls are made with frozen berry puree that takes on a rich, chocolate taste. Known as a Brazilian super food, açaí berry bowls are topped with fresh fruit, coconut shavings, nuts, granola, hemp seed, coconut oil or hazelnut spread. Paleo types can look forward to the Berry Paleo bowl with unsweetened açaí, crumbled nuts, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and coconut oil. Bowls go for $5.50-$10 and opening hours will run 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
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Karaoke/DJ, 6pm- 10pm
Wed. Nights
Comedy Show & Open Mic 7pm-9pm FREE Wine Tastings
banana splits, sundaes, shakes, malts and floats
Fri. & Sat. Covered Patio • Beer and Wine • Drive Thru Catering & Delivery • Live Bands
HAPPY HOUR 4-7PM 3420 N. ST MARY'S ST., STE. 101 SAN ANTONIO, TX 78212 • 210.882.8903 LOCATED NEAR THE SAN ANTONIO ZOO & AQUARIUM AND BRACKENRIDGE PARK
Live Bands 7pm-11pm Like us on
110 N. Crossroads Blvd • 210-732-7300 • CrossroadsBBQSA.com
Stone Oak’s getting a new hot spot with the opening of Michin Fresh Mexican Kitchin (427 N. Loop 1604, Building 2, Suite 2) on Friday with happy hour specials ($5 house margaritas, $2.50 domestic bottles, Mexican draft $4) running from 7 to 9 p.m. on the patio. Expect coastal Mex fare and more options for late-night eats, as they’ll stay open until 1 a.m. on weekends. Area restaurants are deep into Charc Week, which ends Sunday. More than 15 restaurants in San Antonio will offer scratch- and house-made charcuterie boards at $25. The eateries include Biga on the Banks, Boiler House Texas Grill & Wine Garden, The Fig Tree, Cookhouse, TBA, Crossroads Kitchen at Faust, Cullum’s Attagirl, The Granary ‘Cue And Brew, Restaurant Gwendolyn, Kimura Ramen, The Last Word, Lüke, Mezcalería Mixtli, NAO at the Culinary Institute of America, Rosella Coffee Co. and Tre Trattoria Alamo Heights. Little Gretel in Boerne rounds out the list. For more information and a look at Austin restaurants participating in this meaty week, visit facebook.com/gwendolyncharcweek. Finally, the winners of Dorcol Distilling Company’s first-ever boozy ice cream social include people’s choice winner Lüke San Antonio with its spiked caramel ice cream, Kinsman rakia, ginger, apricot-salted honey drizzle and chocolate sauce created by pastry chef Latoya Boisley. A La Mode Gelato took home Critic’s choice for SA’s Helado Borracho with The Romeo & Juliet of strawberry and lavender sorbet, Limoncello and a Kinsman rakia and ginger granita, which will be served as a special throughout next month at the shop (1420 S. Alamo St., 210-788-8000). flavor@sacurrent.com
210.829.7345 | 1146 Austin Highway San Antonio, TX 78209 | TongsThai.com
6565 BABCOCK RD STE. #23 (AT DE ZAVALA) 210.384.2974
8002 CALLAGHAN RD. STE.#105 ( AT IH 10W) 210.265.3706
HOOKAH & BUBBLE TEA
suckithookah@hotmail.com sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 35
ENV-15-014-Print-ChPaul-SAC(10.25x10.18).pdf
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5/28/15
3:34 PM
I didn’t survive HIV so I could die from lung cancer. I had to stop smoking. – PAUL
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CIGARETTES ARE MY GREATEST ENEMY QUIT TODAY. TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR OR CALL 1-877-YES-QUIT FOR FREE ASSISTANCE.
36 CURRENT •July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
NIGHTLIFE
BAR CRAWL TRIFECTA
Dive Hunting On The City’s North Side
JESSICA ELIZARRARAS/@JESSELIZARRARAS
Who needs only one bar when you can barhop from dive to dive in search of the next best adventure? We’re heading across town in search of the bar trifecta. The expedition begins just outside 410 with stops to Crazy Ape, Marty’s Cocktails and Clark’s Bar’s Coco Beach. Grab some friends and off you go.
603 Isom Rd. (210) 341-9259 martysspirits.com
SARA LUNA ELLIS
Saddle up to these regulars at Crazy Ape.
Crazy Ape
9930 San Pedro Ave. (210) 375-5813 facebook.com/TheCrazyApe
Setting: Take a right out of Crazy Ape and head less than a mile east to Marty’s Cocktails. Located in the same shopping center as a café, salon, realty office and who knows what else, Marty’s is also much more than meets the eye. This country-esque bar is filled to the gills with Texan sport memorabilia (including a painted scene out of most Spurs games with Tony Parker and Timmy held in sweet embrace). As this is also a sports bar, there are several flat screens available to take in a game or two. When Is Beer Cheapest: Again, you’re not going to break the bank here. Happy hour runs noon to 7 p.m. with daily specials. For instance, Thursdays currently mean $4 you-call-it blasters (your choice of liquor with a shot of Red Bull) and $3 Cuervo. Fellow Bar-goers: The scene is decidedly older. Don’t rock the boat — the regulars won’t like it. Activities: Quite possibly the most hi-tech dartboard — with a tiny shot monitor and every sound effect under the sun — I’ve ever seen is plugged in here. Would-be crooners can enjoy karaoke on Fridays and Saturdays at 9:30 p.m. Take in The Jon Riviera & Friends comedy and variety show on the first Saturday of the month, or play Texas Hold ‘Em on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Oh, and there’s free wi-fi. Why It’s Great: The old school country jams are on point, you can’t possible spend more than $20 and the popcorn is relatively fresh.
Check out this oasis on industrial-laden Nakoma Street.
Coco Beach
12159 Valliant St. (210) 341-5330 cocobeach.clarksbars.com
SARA LUNA ELLIS
Setting: Don’t trust your Google Maps, or Apple Maps for that matter, when trying to locate this joint. Instead, head north on San Pedro Avenue, take a right on Ramsey Road and turn right just past the canary yellow building that houses Casa Sol Mexican Restaurant. Held inside a gray brick building with faded blue awnings, the bar’s exteriors aren’t any indication of what’s inside. Crazy Ape is broken down into several wood panel-lined rooms filled with mix and matched furniture ranging from stools, to lounge-y couches and two ornate dark cherry wood thrones just left of the main entrance. And while you can take in BBC’s Later … with Jools Holland in the afternoons, don’t forget to count the portraits of apes and primates that hang around the walls. When Is Beer Cheapest: Uhhhh, most of the time? For starters, you’re not going here for the local beers on draft. Happy hour specials, which are featured throughout the day, include $2.50 wells, $3 imports. Fellow Bar-goers: Regulars, blue-collar work force and service industry made up the bulk of the laidback traffic during our visit. Activities: A few dartboards are found in one of the backrooms, along with a popcorn machine, naturally. Texas Tuesdays include karaoke and ladies nights are Wednesdays. Why It’s Great: Service was excellent, the beers were cold and pickle backs are a must.
SARA LUNA ELLIS
Marty’s Cocktails
Full bar and a Jäger dispenser, too.
Setting: At this point, your DD should definitely be behind the wheel (this is where Uber would come in handy, San Antonio). Then head to Nakoma Street where this beach-y oasis is found betwixt beige warehouses and boring office buildings. You can’t miss it — it’s the one with the tiki hut and strung up marlin above the door. Once inside, the “Port Aransasfucked-South-Padre-and-this-is-their-lovechild” vibe persists. There’s a mounted faux-shark head by the dartboard nook, which also held barbecue plates and a chocolate bundt cake on this occasion (and yes, more popcorn). Don’t miss the indoor cabana with white cushions (a bold choice) and sheer, gauzy curtains that provide a hint of privacy. When Is Beer Cheapest: Daily specials include a rotating list of $2.50 beers and liquors. Happy hour runs 2 to 8 p.m. with $2 domestics and wells. My bartender (who looked way too much like actress Anna Kendrick) looked at me funny when I asked for a piña colada. Fellow Bar-goers: Lots of guys named Randy, a quarreling couple, regulars who love Jimmy Buffett Activities: Darts, drinking and messin’ with the jukebox trying to find “Margaritaville.” Why It’s Great: For when you can’t stand sand and don’t have the PTO to take off to the coast, Coco Beach comes through. sacurrent.com •July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 37
Happy HappyHours Hours Happy Happy Hour Hour of the of the Week Week
R R
es es af af RESTAURANT & BARRESTAURANT & BAR
Downtown Downtown Central Central The Local TheBar Local Bar
$3.00 Cosmos $3.00 All Cosmos Day Mondays, All Day Mondays, Shot Specials Shot AllSpecials Day Tues. All&Day $2.75 Tues. Wells & $2.75 Wells $2.50 Margaritas $2.50 Margaritas all day on Wednesdays all day on Wednesdays $2 Ziegenbock $2 Ziegenbock Draft “RiverDraft Rat Special” “River Rat Special”
1919
1919
Happy HourHappy M-F 4pm-7pm Hour M-F 4pm-7pm $1 off Draft$1 Beer off Draft Beer Select cocktails Selectoncocktails Special on Special
RAFFLES RAFFLES RESTAURANT RESTAURANT & BAR& BAR Serna’s Serna’s Backyard Backyard 1039 NE 1039 LOOP NE LOOP 410 410 Sports Bar Sports Bar SernasBackyard.com SernasBackyard.com • HH Daily • HH Daily 210.826.7118 210.826.7118 2-8pm (12pm 2-8pm Sundays): (12pm Sundays): $2Longnecks Domestic Longnecks HH 11A-6P HH 11A-6P TUESDAY-FRIDAY TUESDAY-FRIDAY & $2$2.50Domestic &Well Drinks, $2.50 Well Drinks, $3 Smirnoff$3 Vodkas Smirnoff (13+ Vodkas Flavors) (13+ Flavors) 9P-11P 9P-11P TUES.-THURS. TUES.-THURS. Luna Rosa Luna Rosa S. E Military 2603 S. E Military DAILYDAILY LUNCHLUNCH SPECIALS SPECIALS 2603 HH:; 3-7pm HH:; $5 Tapaas, 3-7pm $4 $5 sangria, Tapaas, $4 sangria, $3 Guavarita $3 Guavarita 11A-3P 11A-3P BarThe Bar CLOSED CLOSED MONDAYS MONDAYS The 100 Villita St. 100 Villita St.
Monday-Friday Monday-Friday 3PM-7PM 3PM-7PM $4 Well Drinks, $4 Well $1 Off Drinks, all Draught $1 Off all Draught Beers, $5 Select Beers,Cocktails, $5 Select$3 Cocktails, Spicy $3 Spicy Tequila Infusion, Tequila $5Infusion, Sweet Potato $5 Sweet Potato Cinnamon Infused Cinnamon IrishInfused Whiskey Irish Whiskey
On TheOn Rocks ThePub Rocks Pub
270 Losoya,270 SATX Losoya, 78205SATX 78205 facebook.com/ontherockspubTX facebook.com/ontherockspubTX HAPPY HOUR: HAPPY Mon-Fri, HOUR: 2pm-7pm Mon-Fri, 2pm-7pm $3 Wells, $3$3 Domestics Wells, $3 Domestics $3.75 Flavored $3.75 Vodkas Flavored Vodkas
KimuraKimura
Happy hourHappy monday hour - friday monday 4-7- friday 4-7 Saturday 12-4 Saturday 12-4 $6 Kimura Cocktails, $6 Kimura$5 Cocktails, House Wines $5 House Wines $4 Bottled Beer, $4 Bottled $6 Draft Beer, Beer $6 Draft Beer $3-$4 Appetizers, $3-$4 Appetizers, $6 Miso Ramen $6 Miso Ramen
Club Sirius Club Sirius
DrinkSirius.com DrinkSirius.com • @ClubSirius • @ClubSirius HH Daily Noon-8pm: HH Daily Noon-8pm: $2 Wells, $2$2 Wells, $2 Domestic 16oz Domestic Cans/Pints, 16oz Cans/Pints, $3 Jager $3 Jager
Sancho’sSancho’s CantinaCantina & Cocina & Cocina 4- 7pm Every 4- Day 7pm Every Day Frozen Margs:$2.25, Frozen Margs:$2.25, Well Drinks:Well $3.25 Drinks: $3.25 Select Cans:Select $2.50Cans: $2.50 Monday through Monday Wednesday: through Wednesday: Reverse Happy Reverse HourHappy 9-11pm Hour 9-11pm 628 Jackson 628 St,Jackson San Antonio, St, San TXAntonio, 78212 TX 78212 (210) 320-1840 (210) 320-1840
Epic BarEpic Bar
12 pm-2 am12 pm-2 am (210) 467-5565 (210) 467-5565 1375 Austin1375 Hwy,Austin San Antonio, Hwy, San TXAntonio, 78209 TX 78209 All Day: $2.00 All wells Day: $2.00 & $2.50 wells domestics & $2.50 domestics
V 38 CURRENT •July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
Northwest Northwest The Leaky The Barrel Leaky Barrel HH 2p-8p HH 2p-8p $2 Tecate &$2 Heineken Tecate & Heineken $2.25 Domestic $2.25Drafts Domestic Drafts $2.50 Wells$2.50 Wells $3 Long Necks $3 Long Necks & More Daily & Specials More Daily Specials
Smitty’sSmitty’s Pub Pub
Shenanygans Shenanygans
Sun & Mon Sun - $2 & Wells/Jello Mon - $2 Wells/Jello Shots Shots $2 Domestic$2Pints/Cans, Domestic Pints/Cans, $3 Import Pints $3 Import Pints Wed - $3 Wells Wed$4 - $3 25Wells oz domestic $4 25 ozmugs domestic mugs $5 25 oz import $5 25mugs oz import mugs
Highlander Highlander Bar & Grill Bar & Grill
Mon-Sat: 7am Mon-Sat: - 4pm 7am - 4pm $3.25 Import $3.25 Drafts Import & Mini Drafts Margaritas & Mini Margaritas $2.50 Domestic $2.50long Domestic necks long necks $2.75Drafts Domestic Drafts $2.75 well drinks $2.75 well everyday drinks2pm everyday - 8pm 2pm - 8pm$2.75 Domestic Tue- $3.25 Mini Tue- Hurricanes $3.25 Mini Hurricanes Wurzbach Wurzbach Ice House Ice House Thu- $3.25 Premium Thu- $3.25Vodka Premium Specials Vodka Specials HH: 4- 8pm HH: Home 4- of 8pm theHome $2.50ofWell theDrink! $2.50 Well Drink! Sun- $.75 Wings Sun- $.75 & $3Wings Sunday& Specials $3 Sunday Specials $2 Domestic$2Draft Domestic $3 Import DraftDraft, $3 Import Draft, 4-8pm: $1 off 4-8pm: mixed$1drinks off mixed & appetizers! drinks & appetizers! Daily specials Daily 8 till specials close 8 till close
THE CRISP THE CRISP REFRESHING REFRESHING TASTETASTE OF BUD OFLIGHT. BUD LIGHT.
NEVER NEVERFILLING FILLING. . ALWAYS ALWAYS FULFILLING FULFILLING . .
North North Central Central SlackersSlackers
Sports-Drinks-Arcade Sports-Drinks-Arcade SlackerSA.com SlackerSA.com • $2.50 Domestics, • $2.50 Domestics, $3 Wells Daily, $3 Wells $3 YouDaily, Call $3 It You Call It
Smoke Smoke
Michin Mexican Michin Mexican KitchenKitchen
7pm - 9pm 7pm On the - 9pm Patio. On the Patio. $5 House Margaritas, $5 House Margaritas, $2.50 Domestic $2.50 Domestic Bottles, Tecate Bottles, & Dos Tecate XX, & Dos XX, $3 Indo and$3Bohemia, Indo andand Bohemia, Mexican and Draft Mexican $4. Draft $4. 427 N Loop427 1604, N Loop Ste 202, 1604, SATX Ste 78258 202, SATX 78258 Behind Trader Behind Joe’sTrader Joe’s
700 E Sonterra 700 E| 210.474.0175 Sonterra | 210.474.0175 SmoketheRestaurant.com SmoketheRestaurant.com Smoke BreakSmoke 4:20pmBreak6:30pm 4:20pm- 6:30pm Post Shift- Post 9:20pmShift11:30pm 9:20pm- 11:30pm 7 Days a Week! 7 Days a Week! $2 OFF ALL$2 APPETIZERS, OFF ALL APPETIZERS, WINES, BEERS, WINES, & BEERS, & COCKTAILS.COCKTAILS. Ask your server Ask your about server our Don about our Don Draper special Draper cocktail special today! cocktail today!
Northeast Northeast CharlieCharlie Brown’sBrown’s Neighborhood Neighborhood Da Bunker Da Bunker Daily Happy Daily HourHappy Specials: Hour Specials: Bar & Grill Bar & Grill Mon. $2 PBR, Mon. $2.50 $2 Cuervo PBR, $2.50 Cuervo
Charlie-Browns.com Charlie-Browns.com • 210-496-7092 • 210-496-7092 Tues. $2 Domestic Tues. $2Longnecks Domestic Longnecks Mon.-Fri. until Mon.-Fri. 7pm until 7pm Wed. 2.50 Wells, Wed. $2 2.50 Fireballs Wells, $2 Fireballs $2.75 well drinks, $2.75 well $8.00 drinks, domestic $8.00pitchers domestic pitchers Thurs. All Day Thurs. Happy All Hour! Day Happy Hour! $2.75 domestic $2.75longnecks domestic longnecks Fri. $3 XX, $3.50 Fri. $3Jack XX, $3.50 Daniels Jack Daniels Mon.-Fri. 2-6pm Mon.-Fri. 60¢ Wings 2-6pm 60¢ Wings Sat. $1 JelloSat. Shots $1 Jello Shots Sun. All DaySun. Happy All Hour! Day Happy Hour!
Broadway Broadway 5050 5050
210.832.0050 210.832.0050 Beer Goggles Beer Goggles Mon-Fri 3-7pm Mon-Fri $2 wells, 3-7pm $2$2 Millter wells,Lite, $2 Millter Lite,HH 2p-8p: 2HH tecate 2p-8p: & heineken 2 tecate & heineken $2 Coors Light $2 Coors Light 3.25 domestics 3.25 bottle/draft domestics bottle/draft Mon- $2 offMonwine,$2 $1off offwine, all bottles/cans $1 off all bottles/cans 3.25 shiner&dos 3.25 shiner&dos xx, $3 wellsxx, $3 wells Tues- Pint Night! Tues- Pint Night! Plus Daily Specials Plus Daily Specials Weds- Karoake WedsNight: Karoake $3 wells, Night: $5$3 mules wells, $5 mules Thurs- Texas ThursThursday! TexasAsk Thursday! for specials Ask for specials Fri- Bartender’s Fri- Bartender’s Choice Choice Sat- $3 wells, Sat$4$3 Fireball wells, $4 Fireball Sun- Industry SunNight: Industry $3.50Night: Jameson $3.50 Jameson Brunch Sat/Brunch Sun- $2Sat/ Mimosas, Sun- $2$3Mimosas, Bloodys $3 Bloodys
V I S I TV IHS AI TP PHYAHPOPUYRHSO.USRASC.USRARCEUNRT.R EC NO T. MCOM Enjoy Responsibly Enjoy Responsibly
©2014 A-B, Bud©2014 Light®A-B, Beer,Bud St. Light® Louis, MO Beer, St. Louis, MO
sacurrent.com •July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 39
Date: 5/19/14 Closing Date: 5/19/14 Trim: 5.070" x 10.182" Trim: 5.070" x 10.182" Brand: Bud LightBrand: TX Bud LightClosing TX QC: CS QC: CS Bleed: none Bleed: none Item #:PBL201410556 Item #:PBL201410556 Publication: San Publication: Antonio San Antonio Live: 4.82 x 9.932" Live: 4.82 x 9.932" Job/Order #:262969 Job/Order #:262969
Full Bar opens at 7am! Serving Breakfast!
Sun: 11 am - 2 am | Mon-Sat: 7 am - 2 am | 5562 Fredericksburg Rd. In the Medical Center
SPORTS•SPIRITS•DINING•DANCING•PATIO LIFE
s a m y na i t n a c 628 Jackson St | 210-320-1840
CLUB SiRIUS
INARY
Turning 12
November 2015
NOT YOUR ORD
BAR FOOD! PICK ANY 2 FOR $5 OR
3 FOR $7!
fried pickles mac & cheese brew bites cheese sticks (2) mini corn dogs cinn sugar pretzel bites (5) with kahlua chocolate french fries fried jalapenos fried mushrooms chicken tenders chicken taco (1) small chips & salsa small chips & queso
HAPPY HOUR Mon- Sun: noon-8pm
FEATURING DJ SLIC RIC & DJ NAAWZ • MIXING THE LATEST MUSIC AND VIDEOS ON 5 HD SCREENS
Drinksirius.com • Lesa@DrinkSirius.com 40 CURRENT •July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
@clubsirius
/toosirius
8827 HWY 151 @ POTRANCO SAN ANTONIO, TX 78251
NIGHTLIFE
JESSICA ELIZARRARAS
Selfie
PRESENTED BY
Not-so-monklike creators, Josh Brock (left) and Jacob Burris.
KEEPING TABS Channeling French Monastic Concoctions At TBA RON BECHTOL There are many potions, lotions and libations that thrive on the notion of secrecy. Skipping over snake oil and hair restoration tonics, one such elixir is the estimable liqueur labeled Chartreuse. Said to be in production since 1737, this product of French Carthusian monks is alleged to employ 130 herbs, plants and flowers in its production. The brothers in arms who have produced an uncannily evocative San Antonio version (SAtreuse?) of the pricey spirit are not the least bit bound by constraints of silence. Jacob Burris and Josh Brock, bartenders respectively at Stay Golden and TBA, are more than willing to share the secrets of the potion they put together for a recent Harvest Feast at Hot Wells. “I first thought I’d make something from the fruits growing at Hot Wells,” Burris told the San Antonio Current. “But I quickly realized that Justin [Parr, the property’s multi-talented caretaker/ muse] had even more herbs. So I decided to make things more difficult for myself and do an herbal infusion [as the basis for our drink that night].” Burris, Brock and I talked at TBA, on the corner of whose bar a tableau vivant of the herbs used is displayed. I’m encouraged to take a bite of the fennel blossoms that provided a major flavor component. Other delights: thyme, sage, both spearmint and peppermint, Thai and lemon basil (leaves and flowers), lemon verbena, dill blossoms, rosemary.
“It was all based on aromatics,” said Burris. “We put everything together in a mixing bowl and kept sniffing until we had a scent we agreed on.” And in fact, they did a different blend the next day and merged the two. “We put it all together in a blender with a little Texas honey to keep the Texas theme going,” said Brock. “It was an ‘expedited maceration process.’” Of the result, said Burris, “Oh shit, we accidentally made Chartruese — in one and a half days!” Cheap vodka was the base of the herbal potion. At the eponymous Last Word on Houston, Jeret Peña’s rendition uses an extra-aged Chartreuse and the price reflects its rarity. For the Hot Wells event, Burris and Brock concocted a drink they called “The Laster Word,” for which they also “hot-wired” their own “jail maraschino” liqueur, an essential component, out of house-made grenadine and maraschino syrup. The result was impressive and my taste of some of the very last of the base infusion was equally rewarding. With time, the aroma became more tea-like but the flavor retained its herbal complexity. The innovation isn’t stopping there. Also on the counter was a starter palette of what they are thinking of as a seasonal, summer potion: sunflower blossoms and sprouts, sunchokes, saffron … the blend will likely evolve. “We don’t ever want to be a cocktail Olive Garden,” said Brock. Got it. “And we think we have lit some other people’s fires,” added Burris. Got that, too.
Ta k e a s e l f i e w i t h y o u r f a v o r i t e B u d & B u r g e r, then submit your photo on Instagram
by using the hashtag #SAbudandburger
E v e r y F r i d a y, w e w i l l p i c k o u r f a v o r i t e s e l f i e and award the winner with a pair of tickets to t h i s y e a r ’ s S a n A n t o n i o B e e r Fe s t i v a l ( $ 9 0 v a l u e ) .
SABUDANDBURGER.COM sacurrent.com •July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 41
MUSIC
LIZZY FLOWERS
ROOT OF THE PROBLEM SA’s Once Vibrant Reggae Scene Could Be Poised For Revival HERNÁN ROZEMBERG/@SCRIBEHERNAN
It wasn’t an easy transition for Richard “Romie” Barr when he moved from Jamaica to join relatives in the Alamo City a decade ago. It was immediate culture shock. “I was getting miserable and just wanted to go home,” Barr, 35, told the San Antonio Current last week. “I didn’t think there was anything for me here, none of my culture.” A huge part of the problem was that Barr quickly discovered that San Antonio lacked a vibrant reggae music scene — roots reggae (à la Bob Marley), not to be confused with dancehall reggae (which has a different beat and lacks a political vibe). But was it always this way? Does the Alamo City, the country’s seventh-largest city, have no room for a musical genre that remains widely popular all over the world? Answers are not easy to come by and tend to draw mixed reactions from those in the know. San Antonio does differ from other major cities, even within Texas, in that it has a much smaller international community than, say, Houston, Dallas or Austin. But it’s not like SA never had a roots reggae scene. Actually, back in the 1980s, when the genre went through its heyday after Marley turned into a global icon following his death in 1981, the Alamo City had a fairly tight-knit but strong reggae scene. The yearly Marley fest at Sunken Gardens easily drew 5,000 people. And there was at least one hugely popular reggae club, Irie’s in the Medical Center, which packed crowds every weekend with DJ-spun sessions and live bands. Then things changed — not for the better. Internal politics among event organizers sent the annual reggae festival spinning into oblivion. Irie’s changed location and crowds died down. It was shuttered. On top of it, though it remained acclaimed across the world, interest and 42 CURRENT • July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
Kevin Hogan, of the aptly-named Reggae Bar on Austin Highway, has led the way in SA’s fledgling revival of the genre Bob Marley made global.
support for roots reggae began to wane in the U.S. in the 1990s and 2000s as young people began flocking to dancehall, hip hop and house music. It seemed as if a perfect storm had formed to essentially wipe out SA’s reggae scene. “There has been a fundamental change in the music itself,” opined Jim Beal Jr., who has covered local music for three decades and hosted a program on radio station KSYM for two decades. That change is not just a shift in beats but perhaps also lack of interest in roots reggae’s traditionally politically imbibed lyrics, narrating tales of oppression lingering from slavery days and modernday social injustices. “Has hedonism supplanted consciousness? I don’t know, but young people don’t go dance reggae. They’re all about EDM now,” Beal said. But not all is lost. Don’t look now, but reggae seems to be making a comeback of sorts in SA. Some signs of life seem to be popping up here and there, albeit without much structure. There’s an oasis on Austin Highway, near the intersection with I-35, called,
simply enough, Reggae Bar. Run by Kevin Hogan, of German and Jamaican-American ancestry, some would argue it has singlehandedly put reggae back on the SA map. After many years teaching and a first failed bid at a reggae bar near downtown called Burning Spear, Hogan and some partners opened Reggae Bar in 2009. Six years in, he’s by no means raking in the dough, but he does well enough to stay open every day of the week, often bringing in live acts from across the country and the Caribbean. Weekend crowds average around 100. A real good show pulls in 200. “SA may be lagging, but we’re coming from so far behind that we’re ahead of where the culture is now,” said Hogan, 44, noting that reggae club owners in Houston and Dallas now seek him out for tips. Hugh “Supa” Babrow is part of SA’s arguably longest-lasting reggae band, One Destiny, formed in 1987. The group’s career highlight will always be performing with Carlos Santana at the Marley fest, but members don’t mind a small audience. “We love SA,” said Babrow, 60. “We’ve been here a long time and we
intend to keep playing roots, even if it’s just for a handful.” It’s a contagious optimism with which Josh Mundahl readily identifies. Mundahl is from SA and has been into reggae since he first heard Marley as a teenager. His wife is Jamaican and he has lived on the island on and off for many years. Now back in SA, he just opened One Drop Reggae Shop at 8800 Broadway and continues to perform as Likkle Shanx. The shop offers music, clothing and doubles as a juice bar. A recording studio is in the works. It hosts a reggae night on Saturdays, as well as slam poetry readings. As with others, Mundahl stressed that for roots reggae to make a permanent resurgence in SA, it has to become a much more organized effort. “It’s lost and scattered, but the base is there,” said Mundahl, 39. “It just needs to be fed. Reggae is still a global phenomenon.” The key: sponsorship and promotion. Put those two into motion and who knows, perhaps the Alamo City will once again be home to a popular Bob Marley fest. hernan@sacurrent.com
sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 43
AGED TO PERFECTION MEETS GRILLED TO PERFECTION PRESENTED BY
JUly 1 - JULY 28 Vote every day for your favorite place to enjoy a Bud & Burger for a chance to
WIN A TRIP TO CANCUN Winner will be announced after July 28, 2015 Must be 21+ to participate.
Vote now at WWW.SABUDANDBURGER.COM T R I P P R O V I D E D B Y R E N N E R T T R AV E L
44 CURRENT • July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
MUSIC
DJ Sonora, half of dancehall reggae duo Bruk Out.
DANCEHALL REGGAE HITS SA Bruk Out Offers Locals A Taste Of Jamaica’s Popular Club Riddim LANCE HIGDON Cumbia is as commonplace as paleta trikes in SA, but for DJs IsaiahFromTexas and Sonora, it’s just one facet of the postcolonial dance party. For the past year, their collaboration Bruk Out has mixed familiar baile tunes with the rubberband basslines and brash exuberance of dancehall, soca and every shade of tropical bass, bringing the playlists of the Caribbean to the heart of River City. “Cumbia is definitely a huge influence in San Antonio,” said IsaiahFromTexas (né Isaiah Reyes), “but what I think people don’t see is that cumbia goes beyond Hispanic culture. If you dig just a little, I think most people would be surprised to see how many Caribbean artists are featured on cumbia tracks, [and] a lot of these new cumbia producers aren’t coming from Latin cultures.” Reyes had been throwing events for a few years when he chanced to see Sonora (an affiliate of the Latin bass collective Peligrosa with remixes of Diplo, Los Rakas and Chingo Bling under his belt) spinning a dancehall set at the now-shuttered Nightrocker. After commiserating about the dearth of dancehall — a club-scene version which sounds drastically different from and which developed much later than roots reggae — in SA’s nightlife, they decided it was time to get their hands dutty. The first Bruk Out night went down at Southtown 101 in June 2014. It’s now a weekly event, popping up at clubs from
Hi-Tones to Concrete Jungle and pulling in a crowd as borderless as its mixes. “We’ve had people from Panama, Haiti, New York, all over,” Reyes said. “I think one night we had a huge group of people from Central Mexico.” And, if any questions lingered about Bruk Out’s dancehall credentials, Jamaican expats have packed it in at every single bash. IsaihahFromTexas and Sonora haven’t confined their hustle to the dance floor. Their pineapple-centric flyers pop up across every social media platform and the Bruk Out SoundCloud hosts a growing number of remixes and original work. The two tracks up from their forthcoming EP, Carga Maxima, both bubble with the wound-up energy of carneval bangers. They’ve also forged bonds with like-minded selectors elsewhere, whom Reyes and Longoria intend to showcase through a new event, Macumba Massive. Their July 31st début at Phantom Room features Houston tropical DJ Gracie Chavez and Mexico City’s Disque DJ, embodying the “global bass” tag in full. Despite Bruk Out’s successes, both DJs have kept their focus on dancehall’s prime directive. “Back when I started, I had several people tell me ‘Oh, it’ll never kick off. No one wants to hear Jamaican music’,” recalled Reyes. “I think people in San Antonio didn’t know they would want to hear what we have. But when you see a dance floor full of women dancing, you know you’ve created that need.” sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 45
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MUSIC
Flatliner releases Black Medicine just after a visit to SA.
REVENGE OF THE SYNTH Austin’s Holodeck Records Takes Over K23 Gallery JAMES COURTNEY Attention local space cadets: the releases of music from his own this Friday, a delectable and Silent Land Time Machine and from his debauched cloud of electrolike-minded group of musical friends. psych thunder will descend upon K23 This weekend’s K23 takeover will Gallery, the delightful wild card of SA’s feature four Holodeck acts and associate music/art scene. act Xander Harris in a kind of dark and Speaking to the San Antonio Current brooding death-disco extravaganza. over the phone last week, Jon Slade (not Of particular interest is newcomer his real name, but the best we can get), Flatliner, which will release its killer, who runs Austin’s far-out tape and vinyl dystopian-dance party of a début EP label Holodeck, explained how the label Black Medicine just four days after the was born from and runs on the desire for show. Slade’s Silent Land Time Machine total artistic control. is a thrilling meditative-electro project that Holodeck, formed in 2012 by has taken something of a backseat to the members of S U R V I V E, Pure demands of the burgeoning label. X, Thousand Foot Whale Claw, Slade, who eschews his real name Silent Land Time Machine and This out of a desire to let the music stand Will Destroy You, has developed a on its own, is pleased with Holodeck’s reputation for releasing unique and organic growth and cites mutual challenging music that defies neat respect and “a love for mind-altering categorization and often relishes in the music” as the glue that holds this meticulous incorporation of old and exciting operation together. new musical tech. From the slow pulses of droning and Working with a roster of 15 bands, meandering synth ceremonials, to the the label has offered four on the floor pounding up some of the most of more traditional, yet still Flatliner, Dylan C, Silent adventurous and rewarding sweetly skewed/screwed, Land Time Machine, releases out of Austin, dance rituals, this Holodeck Thousand Foot Whale or anywhere else for that takeover serves up a Claw, Xander Harris matter, over the past several $9 sampling of the best and 9pm Fri, July 24 years. Slade explained most current in electronic K23 Gallery that Holodeck began as a music from our own 702 Fredericksburg Rd. (210) 776-5635 passion project to support backyard to the north.
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MUSIC
THE END GAME
How Music Got Free Details The Fall Of The Music Industry Empire MATT STIEB/@MATTHEWSTIEB
In the 1990s, music executives reveled in unprecedented piles of cash. Pressing CDs for under a dollar and selling them for $17 at Borders, F.Y.E and other extinct retailers, the Big Six label conglomerates were eating fine in the industry’s salad days. In 1999, music sales peaked at $14.6 billion. But a let-them-eat-cake attitude toward early file-sharing trends on the web quickly put industry profits in line for the guillotine. The first book from economist and journalist Stephen Witt, How Music Got Free, tells the story of the fall from the perspectives of three men trying to make a profit and a mark on the world. At a pressing plant in North Carolina, Dell Glover becomes the “patient zero of piracy,” ripping high-profile albums for the most prolific leaking group of the day. In Germany, Karlheinz Brandenberg invents the MP3, accidently whetting the axe that would chop away at the recording industry. And at the top of the food chain, Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris fights to maintain his life’s work — defending Death Row Records, cutting artist advances, inventing VEVO. As far as the stories go, Dell Glover’s pirate tales are the most riveting chapters in the book. Glover’s desire to upload provides a longform peek into the semialtruistic, Wild West culture of the early internet, where ideas of community and anarchy fought each other for dominance. It’s also remarkable to learn just how many marquee albums Glover leaked in his peak years. If you downloaded MP3s from Napster or one of its hydra-like imitators, you could trace back your music to Glover, sneaking out albums in the big, hillbilly belt buckles of his coworkers at the North Carolina plant. Witt asks and answers many of the right questions in How Music Got Free. As the iPod became a household name, Apple acted “almost like a money launderer for the spoils of Napster.” As file-sharing services quickly unbundled a release to its component singles and ignorable filler content, some
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artists bailed on the idea of the album as an artform. Or, like Lil Wayne, an artist could reject the entire release system, getting weird on mixtapes with uncleared samples and leaking his work before a pressing plant employee had the opportunity. Ultimately, it is the musician that is overlooked in How Music Got Free. A document on the troubled waters of recording sales, Witt largely ignores the talent that keeps the industry afloat, however shoddy the raft is these days. Witt does point to the decline of the market as the rise of the age of the music festival. In 2011, Americans spent more money on concerts than on recorded music “for the first time since the invention of the phonograph.” Still, nothing is mentioned of the medium-tier musician putting in thousands of miles of van time. After music “got free,” artists like Mac Demarco and St. Vincent, owners of some of the best records of 2014, each found themselves on over 100 bills last year to pull together an income. How Music Got Free Stephen Witt Viking $27.95 304 pp.
MUSIC SCHEDULE JULY 22 LIVE BAND KARAOKE
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JULY 23 FINDING FIRDAY B SIDES JULY 24 FINDING FRIDAY
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JULY 28 MYLES SMITH
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MUSIC
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Spot Barnett All-Star Benefit
Wednesday, July 22
Bring Your Own Vinyl Revel with
friendly vinyl-heads over the best wax in your collection, or slam pickle shots in the corner and seethe over that one dude with an original run of Horses. Hi-Tones, 9pm
Bruk Out! A term of celebration in
dancehall culture, Bruk Out! visits the legendary reverb and airhorns of the Jamaican genre. Concrete Jungle, 10pm
Dan Gonzalez The grandson of conjunto
player Ismael Gonzalez, guitarist Dan Gonzalez transfers the family tradition to up-tempo country rock. Sam’s Burger Joint, 8pm
Midtown Jazz Sound John Fernandez,
drummer and leader of Midtown Jazz Town, returns to Soho for his sixth year of residency at the downtown club. Soho, 10pm
Nag Champa Named after the Indian incense, Nag Champa hosts a weekly revue of the explosive cumbia rhythm. Bottom Bracket Social Club, 10pm
Thursday, July 23
Ken Slavin Like a comedian careening
through a familiar joke, Slavin has incredible control over the pacing, charm and melodic intricacies of the crooner pages of the fake book. The Last Word, 9pm
Otep An anagram for the word poet, this goth rap-rocker from Los Angeles has a close
ANNETTE CRAWFORD
If you’re not privy to San Anto blues griot Spot Barnett, here’s a quick glimpse. Born in 1936, the saxophonist toured the Jim Crow-flouting Chitlin Circuit before settling in on the East Side as the leader of the house band at the Ebony Lounge. It was there that Spot would not only back up Etta James and James Brown, but influenced scores of South Texas musicians, from barbacoa bluesman Randy Garibay to cosmic groover Doug Sahm. A few years back, some louche villain stole Barnett’s horn, silencing one of the great talents in San Antonio music history. Sponsored by the San Antonio Blues Society and the Musician’s Union Local 23, this allstar cast of jazz and blues players hopes to raise the funds to get a shiny new tenor back into Barnett’s magic hands — plus a chance to gig with a septuagenarian legend. With Jimmy Spacek, Ruben V, George Brisoce, Luvine Elias, Bett Butler, Aaron Prado, Mark Little, Catherine Denise, Michelle Garibay, members of The Westside Horns and many more. $10, 2:30-7pm, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — mstieb@sacurrent.com relationship with Ozzfest and the middle tier of the Billboard chart. The Korova, 7pm
The Suite feat. DJ Gibb and Donnie Dee Two of SA’s finest soul and funk jockeys deliver a Thursday night soundtrack in original funky drummers. Southtown 101, 10pm
Thinknothink, Tele Novella, Flower Jesus Zeppelin-creamers Thinknothink
make their influences quite clear on “432 Dreams.” In the lyrics to Tele Novella’s recent single, it sounds like the Austin psych-poppers might be in the rut of a deep depression: “You can’t run, you can’t hide / You can’t feel anything inside / You want to die.” But peep a look at the song’s title, “Hair of the Dog,” and it’s clear that the band wrote a charming ode to the morning after. On “Buddha and Crowley,” over an arpeggiated backbone and thick marinations of tremolo, FJQ singers Torrin Metz and Rob Martinez walk the line between the titular poles of spirituality and the “worlds we live between.” But no words are necessary for the chorus, an excellent “Ah-ah” section carrying the song towards its faded outro. Recorded at Eastern Sun Studios in Austin, “Buddha & Crowley” is the first offering from Flower Jesus since its 2014 EP Cosmic American Music. It’s also the first acid-bitter taste from the new effort, Wilt. If the new tune is an indication, we can expect a heavier (re)incarnation of Flower Jesus. Paper Tiger, 9pm sacurrent.com • July 22-28, 2015 • CURRENT 51
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MUSIC
Yippee Ki Yay Caravan Yippee Ki Yay
label head Ryan Smith, also known as DJ Proper Yarn, has quickly assembled an A-Team of rock ‘n’ roll hitters from across the globe — France’s Bacon Fudge, Argentina’s Las Piñas and a slew of bands from North America. This weekend, the SA bands affiliated with Yippee Ki Yay, The Oblio’s, The Bolos and garage homies the Rich Hands, are going on a weekend tour of Texas, starting with a bottle-breaking going-away party on Thursday. With Junkie. Limelight, 9pm
Friday, July 24
All Star Latin Jazz Ensemble Tribute To Cal Tjader KRTU and Artpace continue
their thrilling rooftop series with a tribute to vibraphonist Cal Tjader. Born in St. Louis, Tjader picked up the rhythms of the Afro-Cuban and Latin traditions like no other white American artist, assimilating into the cultural traditions rather than appropriating them. Artpace, 8pm
Balcones Heights Jazz Festival Honing
her talent on the records of Grover Washington, Jr., Kirk Whalum and Dave Koz, Elizabeth MIS hits a sweet spot between smooth jazz and R&B. With French guitarist Emmanuel “U-Nam” Abiteboul. Wonderland of the Americas, 7pm
Henry + The Invisibles SA’s own Henry +
the Invisibles continues to turn in soulful, ridiculously costumed one-man shows. Rebar, 10pm
Jimmy Spacek & Catherine Denise
Loquacious guitarist Jimmy Spacek spits out a hundred licks a minute, while guitarist Catherine Denise prefers a slow drawl, BB King feel. Sam’s Burger Joint, 8pm
Rain Man A former member of EDM supergroup Krewella, Kris Trindl now performs his puncturing, over-the-top club music as Rain Man, named after the ’88 Tom Cruise and Dennis Hoffman joint. Club Rio, 9pm
Rasputina New York cello-rockers Rasputina bring a Victorian sense of fashion and an amalgam of classical and classic rock to San Antonio. With Daniel Knox. Jack’s Bar, 8pm
Roger Sellers, Last Nighters, Bright Like The Sun From Spring, Texas, north of Houston, Roger Sellers creates oneman symphonies, knowing just when to pull the strings on a joyful drum rhythm or flowing loop. Animal Room, the début LP by San Antonio’s Last Nighters, plays like something of a concise history of modern Southern indie music. From blues to pop to country twang and
indie-rock bluster, Last Nighters are children of the wide-open Texas night — unafraid to be exuberant or to dress like their heroes when the time is right. Typically, when you think of the postrock genre — ill defined as it may be — you think of ominously ruminative, instrumental soundscapes that demand great attention from listeners, only to leave them feeling rather flattened. San Antonio’s Bright Like the Sun, however, showcases an entirely different — more uplifting — concept of post-rock on its self-titled sophomore album. Paper Tiger, 9pm
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Shwayze With “Buzzin,” Malibu rapper
Shwayze came into the fold with a bong-rip treatise on California life. After the initial 2008 hit, he largely rehashed the same ideas ad infinitum. But, on his 2011 album Island In The Sun, Shwayze did succesfully collab with LFO and Kendrick Lamar, hopefully the only time that ever happens. With Alex Schechter. The Falls, 9pm
8PM
Saturday, July 25
Carlton Zeus Operating out of San
JULY 28 AT NOON AND 7 PM At Bijou
Antonio, Zeus was born in Madrid and raised in the Valley, giving him a wide sweep of experience to draw from on his Nine Lives 3 Wishes EP. On “Alpha Child,” a light summer thing off the EP, Zeus dives into solipsism, listing the ways in which he’s the city’s best. On the hook, he puts SA singer Alyson Alonzo’s oneiric voice to good use, with a Winehouse feel over the neo-soul beat. 502 Bar, 9pm
FREE MOVIE NIGHT JULY 30 AT 7 PM At Bijou
Eric Tessmer Band Austin alt-rocker Eric
Tessmer’s Green Diamond pumps with a Texas blues heart. Sam’s Burger Joint, 8pm
NEW FILMS AT THE BIJOU
Ghost Police, White Christ On its 2013
self-titled LP, Ghost Police revved through radly named tunes like the hungry, spitting “Day of the Bacon” and the authoritarian anger of “North Korean Soap Opera.” After spending the spring in the recording studio, expect new tunes soon from the heavy San Antonio quartet. White Christ provides a retrospective of the Black Flag aesthetic, moving from Morris-era Flag, through the hybrid hardcore/angular jams of Damaged and towards the late-era, Rollins rants and sludge guitar of My War. With Femoral, Tentacles. Paper Tiger, 9pm
A FILM BY MATTHEW HEINEMAN
CARTEL LAND A physician in Michoacán, Mexico leads a citizen uprising against the drug cartel that has wrecked havoc on the region for years. JAKE GYLLENHAAL
SOUTHPAW A boxer fights his way to the top, only to find his life falling apart around him.
Hardside San Anto outfit Hardside put in classic metal work on tunes like “Lawless” and “Forever.” With Bloodhound, Shadow of Doubt, Eightfifteen, Minds Eye, Ill Informed, Alamo City Music Hall, 6pm
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MUSIC
Ozona Records Showcase Featuring bands like Running Laps, Mayfair, handwriting! and Ramona, Ozona Records shows off some of their fine catalog. Imagine Books & Records, 6pm
The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, Ants Whether you call it sophisticated sludge, doom-trance, post-metal, progressive rock or just fuckin’ loud, no fancy genre name seems quite adequate to describe both the crushing power and the ponderous depth of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy’s wordless music. TLGH’s sound is a dual-natured anomaly — alternately furious and patient, overflowing and empty. Ants’ breakfast-based jam session Two Nouns And An Onomatopoeia Is That All It Takes to Make a Breakfast Cereal?, started out as an absurd conversation between band members and became a wordless deconstruction of the shoegaze sound, dissecting the wall of sound approach into a hearty, fibrous, drum and fuzz exploration. The three tracks, “Cinnamon,” “Toast” and “Crunch,” are delightfully flippant and surprisingly engrossing. If this is the sound of Ants fucking around, who could ever wish they’d get serious? With Heavy Glow, Over The Top. The Ten Eleven, 9pm
Unscene Records Label Night Founded in 2007, Unscene Records is a collective of local and national house and techno producers. Web House, 9pm
Sunday, July 26
Brit Floyd Pink Floyd heads can geek out to the well known prism of covers from the London band. Aztec Theatre, 7pm
Doc Watkins Trio Unlike some jazz
musicians whose claim to a doctorate is just a nickname (looking at you, Dr. Lonnie Smith) and others who have won honorary degrees (congrats, Sonny Rollins!), Brent ‘Doc’ Watkins has a doctorate in music from UT Austin. It’s a degree he’s put to good use, swinging viciously on his piano or Hammond B3 rig. Esquire Tavern, 3pm
María y José A champion of local art and music in Tijuana, Tony Gallardo performs as María y José, a wandering project of rap, house, pop and web-influenced textures. With Chico Ye, Nag Champa. Hi-Tones, 9pm
Mente Clara Inspired by the style of composer Hermeto Pascoal, Austin’s Mente Clara commands the various genres of Brazil. McNay Art Museum, 12:30pm
Monday, July 27
Small World Led by drummer Kyle Keener and guitarist Polly Harrison, Small World places world features music from the Great American Songbook and bossa nova sung in the original Portuguese. Olmos Bharmacy, 7:30pm
Tera Ferna San Antonio pop-rockers Tera Ferna release the video for “Sundown Shadows” on the Alamo Drafthouse big screen. Alamo Drafthouse Park North, 6pm
Tuesday, July 28
Coal Chamber Released on Napalm Records, Coal Chamber dropped its fourth nu-metal project in 18 years with Rivals. With Fear FactoryJasta, Saint Ridley, Mad Life. Alamo City Music Hall, 5:30pm
Jim Cullum Jazz Band Band Any serious reputation San Antonio has as a jazz town has to be chalked up to Jim Cullum, Jr., the man in charge of the long running public radio show Riverwalk Jazz and who’s been consistently swinging in the Alamo City for decades. Cullum is one of the many legends this town has, like some bowtied wearing anachronism who could only fit in a town like this, playing the old jazz canon and commanding new life from it. Bohanan’s, 7pm
Joe Reyes Whether he’s performing solo,
with Buttercup, Mitch Web or Demitasse, guitarist Joe Reyes is one of the most captivating musicians active in the city. Liberty Bar, 7:30pm
502 Bar 502 Embassy Oaks, (210) 257-8125, 502bar.com Alamo City Music Hall 1305 E. Houston, alamocitymusichall.com Alamo Drafthouse 618 NW Loop 410, (210) 677-8500, drafthouse.com Artpace 445 N. Main, (210) 212-4900, artpace.org Aztec Theatre 201 E. Commerce, (210) 760-2196, theaztectheatre.com Blue Star Brewing Company 1414 S. Alamo, (210) 212-5506, bluestarbrewing.com Bottom Bracket Social Club 1609 N. Colorado, facebook.com/bottombracketsocialclub Carmen’s de la Calle 320 N. Flores, 210-281-4349, carmensdelacalle.com Club Rio 13307 San Pedro, (210) 403-258, club-rio.net Concrete Jungle 1628 S. Presa, (210) 373-9907 Esquire Tavern 155 E. Commerce, (210) 222-2521, esquiretavern-sa.com Hi-Tones 621 E. Dewey, (210) 573-6220 Imagine Books & Records 8373 Culebra,(210) 236-7668, imaginebookstore.com Jack’s Bar 3030 Thousand Oaks, (210) 494-2309, jacksbarsa.com Liberty Bar 1111 S. Alamo, (210) 227-1187, liberty-bar.com McNay Art Museum 6000 N. New Braunfels, (210) 824-5368, mcnayart.com Olmos Bharmacy 3902 McCullough, (210) 822-1188, olmosrx.com Paper TIger 2410 N. St. Mary’s, papertiger.queueapp.com Rebar 8134 Broadway, (210) 320-4091, rebarsatx.com Sam’s Burger Joint 330 E. Grayson, (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com Soho 214 W. Crockett, (210) 444-1000 Southtown 101 101 Pereida Street, (210) 263-9880 The Falls 226 W. Bitters, (210) 490-5553, thefallsbar.com The Korova 107 E. Martin, (210) 226-5070, thekorova.com The Last Word 229 E. Houston, (210) 314-1285, thelastwordsa.com The Ten Eleven 1011 Avenue B, (210) 320-9080, theteneleven.com Wonderland of the Americas 4522 Fredericksburg, (210) 785-3500, wonderlandamericas.com Web House 320 Blanco, (210) 531-0100
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SAVAGE LOVE by Dan Savage
My wife and I have been together for more than 10 years, practicing some kind of nonmonogamy for more than seven. We tried different things — open, dating others, FWBs — but after a bithreesome with another guy a year ago, we knew that was our thing. For a while, everything was great, but roughly a month after that defining threesome, I came down with a bad case of mono. In a couple of months, we resumed our bi-sexdates with our FWB and I noticed I had a hard time getting horny and even had a hard time getting (and staying) hard. More foreplay was needed and fewer distractions were acceptable. I even resorted to pharmaceutical help. We assumed I was still recovering and that diet and exercise would make it all better. Then I had a work-related crisis that lasted until March (and blamed stress from that, since things didn’t really change) and finally in March I got shipped off to a war zone. And I still don’t have the drive I had a year ago. My brothers-in-arms ogle every female who happens to be around and sometimes they hook up even though they’re not in open relationships — unlike me, who is in one but has no desire to hook up with anyone. I rarely masturbate these days, and if I do, I need sexts and naughty pictures from my wife (and our FWB) back home to get in the mood. I just recently started to get morning wood again and I blame all this on the stress of being in a war zone. But I fear these are just excuses and I may have to accept the fact that I’m just getting older and this is how my libido is gonna be from now on. I’m turning 30 in a few weeks, so that doesn’t help, either. What are the chances that this is just an unlucky chain of events, and when this is over, I could go back to being my old horny self? Currently Occupied Mostly By Arms Though 56 CURRENT • July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
I asked a doctor — Dr. Barak Gaster, a physician at the University of Washington and a regular (if sometimes mortified) guest expert around here — if mono could damage and/or diminish a guy’s libido, his ability to stay hard and his masturbatory routine for nearly a year. “Mono is a viral illness for which there is no real treatment other than the tincture of time,” said Dr. Gaster. “Mono is a pretty insidious illness in that it typically causes really severe fatigue, which can linger for a long time. Other common symptoms are muscle and joint aches.” Could fatigue and aches still be affecting mood and interest in sex? “They could,” said Dr. Gaster. “It would not be typical, but they could. The duration of mono symptoms is typically around three months, but they can persist to some degree for one to two years in more severe cases. None of the effects of mono are typically considered ‘permanent.’ So it would be important to reassure someone that the effects of mono that are still present after 12 to 18 months could still likely resolve as more time passes.” You came down with mono less than a year ago, COMBAT, so you’re still in that one-to-two-year symptoms-could-persist window. You also dealt with a work-related crisis before being shipped off to a combat zone — that sounds extremely stressful and not everyone reacts to stress the same way. The stress of being in a combat zone could make the guys around you horny while having the opposite effect on you. Be reassured, like the doctor said, that things — your dick included — will most likely right themselves in another 6 to 12 months. The fact that morning wood is returning seems like a good sign, as is the effect a few dirty texts from the woman (and FWB) waiting for you back home has on your dick. Come home safe — and props to you and your wife for continuing to grow together sexually. That’s probably why you’re still together, and still in love, despite having married so young. My wife is a submissive. I’m not a natural Dom, but I’ve become more comfortable assuming the role. Recently, she stopped hormonal birth control and her sex drive and interest in capital-S Submission kicked into high gear. She joined FetLife and went to her first munch a couple of weeks ago. She’s not shopping for a Dom. She’s looking to socialize, discuss this part of herself, and not feel like such a freak. She thought she hit it off with a few folks but now realizes she may have been sending mixed signals. The munch was advertised as casual, but she says most left that night with a hookup or play plans. One man in particular seems to read her interest in friendship as sexual. My wife is quite upset. How can she find a group of kinksters who will socialize and share their experiences without assuming her presence as an unaccompanied
submissive female is an invitation to fuck? Married, Optimally Nookied, Only Need Advice The people your wife met at that munch are kinksters, MONONA, not psychics. If she’s not interested in playing with anyone other than her spouse — if she has a hot Dom at home and is there only to make kinky friends — all she has to do is say so. Munches are informal meetups where kinky people, from nervous novices to wizened pros, get together without the pressures or expectations of a play party. Your wife’s presence at a munch is not an invitation to fuck, of course, but someone who respectfully expresses an interest in playing isn’t guilty of bending Emily Post over a bondage bench with the intent to fuck her ass. Most people who go to munches are open to play, MONONA, but those who aren’t are welcome. Your wife just needs to let her new friends know she’s interested only in socializing. You could help her send that unambiguous, non-mixed signal by accompanying her to the next munch. I’m a 24-year-old heterosexual female. I discovered that my boyfriend still had an online dating profile up and was checking it regularly. We had a calm discussion about it and he assured me that he just found the messages he got flattering and offered to take it down. I told him if that’s all he was doing, then there was no reason he couldn’t have those ego boosts and a monogamous relationship with me, too. Had I not been such an avid reader of your column, Dan, that discussion would’ve gone very differently. And, really, it’s not like he was going to forget that other women existed — nor would I want him to. Though I may look back on this and cringe, right now we’re in a great place. We have fun and are sexually compatible and have really excellent conversations. Thank you! His Answer Perfectly Plausible, Yes? I enjoy letters like HAPPY’s because it’s nice to be reminded that not everyone is cheating or being cheated on, miserably single and looking to get into a relationship or trapped in a miserable couple and looking to get out, kinky and stuck with a vanilla partner or vanilla and stuck with a kinky one. Some people are doing just fine. And yes, HAPPY, I do think your boyfriend’s answer is perfectly plausible — some people are on dating apps for the ego boosts alone (they’re called “time wasters”) — and here’s hoping it’s totally truthful as well. On the Lovecast, Dan speaks with author Joan Price about sex for the senior set: savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY by Rob Brezsny ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19):
in the coming months.
The Latin motto “Carpe diem” shouldn’t be translated as “Seize the day!”, says author Nicholson Baker. It’s not a battle cry exhorting you to “freaking grab the day in your fist like a burger at a fairground and take a big chomping bite out of it.” The proper translation, according to Baker, is “Pluck the day.” In other words, “you should gently pull on the day’s stem, as if it were a wildflower, holding it with all the practiced care of your thumb and the side of your finger, which knows how to not crush easily crushed things — so that the day’s stem undergoes increasing tension and draws to a tightness, and then snaps softly away at its weakest point, and the flower is released in your hand.” Keep that in mind, Aries. I understand you are often tempted to seize rather than pluck, but these days plucking is the preferable approach.
A researcher at the University of Amsterdam developed software to read the emotions on faces. He used it to analyze the expression of the woman in Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, the Mona Lisa. The results suggest that she is 83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful, and 2 percent angry. Whether or not this assessment is accurate, I appreciate its implication that we humans are rarely filled with a single pure emotion. We often feel a variety of states simultaneously. In this spirit, I have calculated your probably mix for the coming days: 16 percent relieved, 18 percent innocent, 12 percent confused, 22 percent liberated, 23 percent ambitious, and 9 percent impatient.
TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20):
VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22):
When I talk about “The Greatest Story Never Told,” I’m not referring to the documentary film about singer Lana Del Rey or the debut album of the rap artist Saigon or any other cultural artifact. I am, instead, referring to a part of your past that you have never owned and understood . . . a phase from the old days that you have partially suppressed . . . an intense set of memories you have not fully integrated. I say it’s time for you to deal with this shadow. You’re finally ready to acknowledge it and treasure it as a crucial thread in the drama of your hero’s journey.
GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): The ancient Greek philosopher Thales is credited as being one of the earliest mathematicians and scientists. He was a deep thinker whose thirst for knowledge was hard to quench. Funny story: Once he went out at night for a walk. Gazing intently up at the sky, he contemplated the mysteries of the stars. Oops! He didn’t watch where he was going, and fell down into a well. He was OK, but embarrassed. Let’s make him your anti-role model, Gemini. I would love to encourage you to unleash your lust to be informed, educated, and inspired — but only if you watch where you’re going.
CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22):
Charles Darwin is best known for his book The Origin of Species, which contains his seminal ideas about evolutionary biology. But while he was still alive, his best-seller was The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms. The painstaking result of over forty years’ worth of research, it is a tribute to the noble earthworm and that creature’s crucial role in the health of soil and plants. It provides a different angle on one of Darwin’s central concerns: how small, incremental transformations that take place over extended periods of time can have monumental effects. This also happens to be one of your key themes
60 CURRENT • July 22-28, 2015 • sacurrent.com
LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22):
“What makes you heroic?” asked philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Here’s how he answered himself: “simultaneously going out to meet your highest suffering and your highest hope.” This is an excellent way to sum up the test that would inspire you most in the coming weeks, Virgo. Are you up for the challenge? If so, grapple with your deepest pain. Make a fierce effort to both heal it and be motivated by it. At the same time, identify your brightest hope and take a decisive step toward fulfilling it.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): Actress and musician Carrie Brownstein was born with five planets in Libra. Those who aren’t conversant with astrology’s mysteries may conclude that she is a connoisseur of elegance and harmony. Even professional stargazers who know how tricky it is to make generalizations might speculate that she is skilled at cultivating balance, attuned to the needs of others, excited by beauty, and adaptive to life’s ceaseless change. So what are we to make of the fact that Brownstein has said, “I really don’t know what to do when my life is not chaotic”? Here’s what I suspect: In her ongoing exertions to thrive on chaos, she is learning how to be a connoisseur of elegance and harmony as she masters the intricacies of being balanced, sensitive to others, thrilled by beauty, and adaptive to change. This is important for you to hear about right now.
SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): You’re entering a volatile phase of your cycle. In the coming weeks, you could become a beguiling monster who leaves a confusing mess in your wake. On the other hand, you could activate the full potential of your animal intelligence as you make everything you touch more interesting and soulful. I am, of course, rooting for the latter outcome. Here’s a secret about how to ensure it: Be as ambitious to gain
power over your own darkness as you are to gain power over what happens on your turf.
SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): I’m a big fan of the attitude summed up by the command “Be here now!” The world would be more like a sanctuary and less like a battleground if people focused more on the present moment rather than on memories of the past and fantasies of the future. But in accordance with the astrological omens, you are hereby granted a temporary exemption from the “Be here how!” approach. You have a poetic license to dream and scheme profusely about what you want your life to be like in the future. Your word of power is tomorrow.
CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): A philanthropist offered $100,000 to the Girls Scouts chapter of Western Washington. But there were strings attached. The donor specified that the money couldn’t be used to support transgender girls. The Girl Scouts rejected the gift, declaring their intention to empower every girl “regardless of her gender identity, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.” Do you have that much spunk, Capricorn? Would you turn down aid that would infringe on your integrity? You may be tested soon. Here’s
what I suspect: If you are faithful to your deepest values, even if that has a cost, you will ultimately attract an equal blessing that doesn’t require you to sell out. (P.S. The Girls Scouts subsequently launched an Indiegogo campaign that raised more than $ 300,000.)
AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): Consider the possibility of opening your mind, at least briefly, to provocative influences you have closed yourself off from. You may need to refamiliarize yourself with potential resources you have been resisting or ignoring, even if they are problematic. I’m not saying you should blithely welcome them in. There still may be good reasons to keep your distance. But I think it would be wise and healthy for you to update your relationship with them.
PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Over 10,000 species of mushrooms grow in North America. About 125 of those, or 1.25 percent, are tasty and safe to eat. All the others are unappetizing or poisonous, or else their edibility is in question. By my reckoning, a similar statistical breakdown should apply to the influences that are floating your way. I advise you to focus intently on those very few that you know for a fact are pleasurable and vitalizing. Make yourself unavailable for the rest.
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