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FIRST WORDS 1
On Here's How Texas's Members of Congress Responded to (or Ignored) the Florida High School Shooting // SA current - yet your liberal self applauded Obama when he never acknowledged when we had crisis in this country. He encouraged separation of the people, and you applauded! Time to unfollow!!! A newspaper is supposed to be for the people. Not a creator of war. – Tandi Rutledge On A San Antonian's Guide to 2018 Primary Elections // San Antonio Current. Your Liberal bias is showing. – Cristi Williams On How to Make Sure You Keep Seeing the Current on Facebook // Is this newspaper seriously that entitled? Facebook does not owe them anything or exist to funnel customers to become readers. Not only am I unsubscribing from your page/feed, I’m cancelling my subscription also. No wonder newspapers had a big die-off in 2009 — assuming everyone else was responsible for doing the hard work for them. – Lynette Young
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Issue 18_08 /// February 21-27, 2018
NEWS
Robot Girls Meet IWHS’ all-girl robotics team shaking up the STEM world
CALENDAR
Our top picks for the week
Off to the Races A San Antonian’s guide to 2018 primary elections
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SCREENS
Hear Us Roar Black Panther fills void in Marvel Cinematic Universe with rich, evocative mythology
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FOOD
Pasta from the Heart In the kitchen with Battalion's pasta chef
Psychedelic Overgrowth Geeking out over the hotly anticipated thriller Annihilation
ON THE
COVER Italian fare is having a moment in the Alamo City, and few do it better than Battalion, Andrew Goodman and Stefan Bowers’ project inside the former Firehouse No. 7. In this week’s issue, we follow the story of Elena D’Agostino, the restaurant’s pasta chef, a key component to Battalion’s success. Photograph by Bryan Rindfuss Art direction by Carlos Aguilar 6
CURRENT • February 21-27, 2018 • sacurrent.com
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MUSIC
Let's Be Friends SA is now a Music Friendly Community, but what does that mean? Flood Money Fund helps Texan artists, cultural organizations recover after Hurricane Harvey Music Calendar What to see and hear this week
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ETC.
Savage Love Jonesin’ Crossword Freewill Astrology
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ARTS + CULTURE
Creative Resistance Freight Gallery makes its boldest statement yet with ‘Images of Power’
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NIGHTLIFE
You’re Invited At just over a year old, Seersucker Gin helps anchor Azar Brand with new mustsee distillery
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NEWS
Off to the
Races A San Antonian’s guide to 2018 primary elections
FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS
ALEX ZIELINSKI AND LYANNE A. GUARECUCO
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It’s that time of year, ya’ll: Primary election season. Early voting, which is arguably better and far more accessible than regular voting, kicked off Tuesday, February 20. Since we’re inching toward the halfway point in President Donald Trump’s reign, these are a particularly important round of
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elections, cleverly called midterms. Midterm elections usually prompt the president’s party to lose seats in Congress (remember the great Tea Party uprising post-Obama’s election?) This shift is expected to be significant on both the national and local levels, since Trump’s presidency shook many complacent Democrats into action. This will be the first time in 25 years that Democrats are running in every single one of Texas’s 36 congressional districts. In the primary elections, voters will only be winnowing down party candidates to choose who will go to bat to represent their party in the November general election. So, for now, we’re not commenting on races that don’t have a primary challenger — or have one who’s very unlikely to win (except for the Senator race) — even if the race in November will be one to watch. Some races, like the one to fill Congressman Lamar Smith’s District 21 seat, have far too many candidates to unpack. We’ll be focusing on the top contenders for each race. For a full list of candidates, check out the sample ballots online at bexar.org U.S. Senator R: Texas’ junior Senator Ted Cruz is expected to easily win the primary race in his reelection run. Most of his competitors, like former La Marque Mayor Geraldine Sam are blaming Cruz for largely ignoring Texans during his two failed campaigns for presidency. D: U.S. Congressman Beto O’Rourke, an El Paso native, has made serious fundraising gains on his November opponent Cruz over the past few months. Relying on zero political action committee dollars, O’Rourke’s extensive campaigning has also made him the expended victor in the primary.
U.S. House District 21 R: There are 18 conservatives running to replace longtime Congressman Lamar Smith, your neighborhood climate change denier, in Capitol Hill. EIGHTEEN. Some of the headliners: Chip Roy, former chief of staff to Sen. Cruz, Robert Stovall, the former Bexar County GOP Chairman whose campaign’s been bankrolled by San Antonio Trump campaign staffer Brad Parscale, former U.S. Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco of San Antonio, and state Representative Jason Isaac of Dripping Springs (whose motto is “Make America Like Texas”).
campaign war chest, will sweep this primary race. Even though someone who changed their first name to SECEDE (in all caps) is running against him, the sitting Gov has the state’s Republican party under his thumb. D: No progressive candidates can compete with Abbott’s financing, but a few significant Texans have jumped into the race, like “conservative Democrat” Andrew White (son of former Governor Mark White), former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, former mayor of Balch Springs Cedric Davis, and Dallas gay nightclub owner Jeffrey Payne. The nine Democrats recently faced off in a San Antonio debate.
D: The Dem’s ticket is a little less packed. While it’ll be a stretch for a liberal to win the Lieutenant Governor staunchly Republican district seat, a few are R: Current Lieutenant Governor Dan giving it a shot, like Elliot McFadden, director Patrick is vying to keep his spot at the helm of Austin’s B-cycle program, and veteran of the state Senate. He’s being challenged Joeseph Kopser. by one man: Scott Milder, a former Rockwall City Council member who seems to live up U.S. House District 23 to his name. He’s a “rational Republican” R: Will Hurd, a relatively moderate compared to Patrick, who he calls an Republican, is aiming to keep his current “extremist” and a “jackass.” But Texas isn’t a job representing Texas’ largest district — big fan of mild. Patrick is expected to win this sweeping from San Antonio’s Westside all race. the way to El Paso County. With only one little-known opponent, Alma Arredondo-Lynch, D: Former Texas Democratic Party finance it’s likely he’ll be on the ballot in November. chair Mike Collier announced his campaign to dethrone Patrick in June — in the midst of D: The Democrats have been revving the legislature’s fight over Patrick’s prized their engines to get Hurd out of office for “bathroom bill.” He’s facing lesser-known some time. Their top candidates? Rick education reform advocate Michael Cooper. Treviño — you may recognize his name from the May ballot, when the Berniecrat Public Lands Commissioner ran for City Council’s District 6 seat. He’s R: I know what you’re thinking: What running against former San Antonio federal prosecutor Jay Hulings and former Air Force the hell’s the public land commissioner and why should I care? Right now, incumbent intelligence officer Gina Ortiz Jones. Commissioner George P. Bush (son of Jeb) has been making headlines for his role in the Governor R: It’s safe to say Governor Greg Abbott, major Alamo redesign project, of which he holds the reins. Conservative Texans have a who has no less than $43 million in his
NEWS
lot of feelings about this issue in particular, and don’t think Bush is doing such a stellar job. That’s why former Commissioner Jerry Patterson has left retirement to try and win back his former job. By now, this is more a vote on the future of the Alamo than it is a person.
this seat: Mike Berlanga, a CPA and real estate broker with deep San Antonio roots, and Carlos Antonio Raymond, a U.S. Army veteran-turned-radiology technologist-turned realtor who was a Bexar County Precinct Chair in 2016. Berlanga has previously unsuccessfully challenged Senator Carlos Uresti and Bexar County Tax AssessorCollector Albert Uresti.
D: Democrats have joined the Alamo tug-of-war, too. The primary ballot will see computer programmer and former VIA board D: HD 117, dubbed “the most competitive member Tex Morgan face energy attorney and House district in Texas” by Texas Tribune former U.S. Senate staffer Miguel Suazo. editor Ross Ramsey, is currently held by state Representative Philip Cortez. Cortez State Senator District 25 R: This race will reveal District 25’s colors previously represented the district from 2013 to 2015, but lost the seat in the 2014 as a conservative mainstay as they chose election to Republican Rick Galindo. Cortez between socially conservative Republican found his way back to the pink dome after incumbent Senator Donna Campbell and winning the election in 2016. This time, he’s a more moderate, education-focused facing little-known Democratic challenger opponent Shannon McClendon. Terisha DeDeaux in the primary. D: Self-proclaimed “centrist” and former State Representative District 121 city planner Jack Guerra will take on the R: There are six Republicans running to more progressive IT consultant Steven King fill former House Speaker Joe Straus’ seat: on the Dem ticket. 5th-generation Texan Charlotte Williamson, attorney Adrian Spears, business owner Matt State Representative District 116 Beebe (who’s unsuccessfully challenged R: The Dem victor will eventually face off Straus twice before), attorney Marc K. Whyte, against Fernando Padron, a little-known but unchallenged Republican on the primary ticket. Vice Chairman of VIA’s board and former Alamo Heights School Board member Steve Allison, and former San Antonio firebrand and D: This is a race to watch. Incumbent councilman Carlton Soules. Diana Arévalo is competing with the man who had the seat before her, Trey D: The democratic challenger, former Martinez Fischer. Fischer, a former lawyer Texas Public Radio reporter Celina Montoya, for MALDEF, left District 166 in 2015 in a failed run against Jose Menéndez for Leticia is running unopposed in the primary. Van de Putte’s open Senate seat. Arévalo State Representative District 122 was the former secretary for Bexar County R: The HD 122 seat is currently occupied Democratic Party until stepping in to fill by state Rep. Lyle Larson, who is seeking Martinez’s spot in 2016. reelection. His only challenger, Chris Fails, was endorsed by Governor Greg Abbott in State Representative District 117 R: There are two Republicans running for February, marking the third time the governor
has endorsed a primary challenger over a sitting representative in a House race. Larson, who’s been referred to as “arguably Abbott’s most outspoken critic among Republicans in the lower chamber” in the Texas Tribune, has represented the district since 2010. D: Claire Barnett, an educator, is the sole Democrat running in the race for HD 122. State Representative District 124 R: The sole Republican contender is Johnny Arredondo, a former college basketball referee who ran for the City Council District 4 seat in 2017. D: Incumbent Ina Minjarez is facing a political novice in the primaries: Sergio Contreras, a man few know too much about (aside from the fact he dislikes Minjarez). Some allege Bexar County Democratic Party Chair Manuel Medina, who Minjarez has disagreed with in the past, recruited Contreras to run against her. Bexar County District Attorney R: The Dems’ GOP opponent is Tylden Shaeffer, a criminal defense lawyer and former assistant criminal district attorney in the DA’s office (pre-LaHood). He is running unopposed.
County Commissioner Precinct 2 R: The lone GOP opponent is Ismael Garcia, who ran against Elizondo in 2014. D: This race for a spot on the county’s equivalent to a city council has centered on age. Incumbent Paul Elizondo turned 82 last year, which, according to his opponents, is a little too old for the position. Environmental Defense Fund’s Mario Bravo, 41, is at the top of the list to swipe Elizondo’s spot, as is county Veterans Service officer and former marine Queta Rodriguez, 47. Bexar County Democratic Party Chair This race is also a considerably fiery one. Incumbent Manuel Medina, former candidate for San Antonio mayor, either has very passionate fans (for his occasional leftie ideas) or very passionate haters (for his flip-flopping LGBT ally platform and suspicious money moves). His opponent, Monica Alcantara, has no background in politics, but has the backing of Reps. Diego Bernal and Ina Minjarez, perhaps only because she’s not Medina.
Bexar County Republican Chair There are a few familiar names in the race to fill outgoing chair Robert Stovall’s seat. Before leaving, Stovall endorsed Dwight Parscale — a man mostly know for his son, Brad Parscale, a San Antonian D: If you have a mailbox, you’ve probably been drowning in the attack fliers from both who headed the Trump campaign’s digital arm. Then there’s Cynthia Brehm, a social incumbent DA Nico LaHood and fellow attorney Joe Gonzales. LaHood’s compared conservative (read: has made anti-refugee Gonzales to Harvey Weinstein, Gonzales has comments) who unsuccessfully ran for compared LaHood to Donald Trump. Yes, it’s the City Council District 8 seat in May. The other two contenders: JoAnn Poncethat kind of race. Gonzales decided to run Gonzalez, a former U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco against LaHood after the hot-tempered DA allegedly threatened to shut down Gonzales’ and Firearms agent, and Andres Holliday, a younger UTSA grad running on the “Drain firm after butting heads in the courtroom. the Swamp” platform. Get your popcorn, folks.
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NEWS
LYANNE A. GUARECUCO
Robot Girls
Meet IWHS’ all-girl robotics team shaking up the STEM world
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make many friends, and the time commitment has given them the opportunity to learn how much they have in common with each other. “Definitely the closer it gets to a competition, the more your life absorbs robotics,” Nadia Bibles, a sophomore who will take over as lead programmer of her team next year, told the Current. “This club, the team — you make so many friends. Everybody becomes so close by the end of the year, and you bond over the weirdest things.” For others, the robotics team has provided their first experience in the STEM world. “It’s a great first experience, especially if you want to get into engineering,” Taylor DeSalme, a student and aspiring mechanical aerospace engineer, told the Current. The Shambots are also known for helping out rookie teams, who sometimes join them on their Saturday building sessions, meaning their footprint in robotics stems far beyond their own machines. In competition, they say, people will usually direct anyone missing nuts or bolts to “the girls in green,” who are always willing to share their knowledge and help. “For me, it kind of restores faith in humanity in that, because we are the future generation, we’re learning the skills required to not only be good in business, but to go out into the world to focus on professionalism and camaraderie,” White said. “Everyone has different talents and skills, and you really need that diverse mindset.”
LYANNE A. GUARECUCO
hours working on their robots, the machines are only a part of what the Shambots have set out to do as a school organization. Their motto, “gracious professionalism” is scribbled in big letters on the whiteboard of their robotics room, and it’s one the girls take very seriously. In competition, they presented a binder chock full of achievements, including flyers, emails, photos, and biographies, demonstrating how they’ve worked beyond just building robots to help their community. “A lot of times, if there’s a problem, [the Shambots] will be like ‘we’ll help!’ and we’ll make all the resources needed to take care of that problem,” senior Eleanor Palmer said. Palmer has been a Shambot since her freshman year, following in the footsteps of her older sister, LYANNE A. GUARECUCO | @LYANNEALEXIA who was part of the original IWHS robotics team. “At first I thought, you’re just On Ash organization called For Inspiration themselves have coded. building a robot. But then I saw it Wednesday, and Recognition of Science Then, for the next 2 minutes, was a lot more than that,” Palmer a group of and Technology (FIRST), which the robot was in the hands of a students — all seeks to inspire young kids to be “driver,” who has to score as many said. “I almost thought it was like a sport, where you’re just in this girls — geared “science and technology leaders points as possible by guiding the up their two robots in a small and innovators.” And though the robot to stack cubes in designated to win. But then it was like, you’re actually in this to learn so much classroom in a subterraneous fact that it’s an all-girls team is columns, or pick up a toy (a small, more and do so much more.” wing at Incarnate Word High “somewhat by default,” McChesney yellow plastic man) and dropping The Shambots have held a School. The school’s two says, (IWHS is an all-girls school), it into hopscotch-like squares campus food and clothing drive robotics teams, the Shambots that’s not the point. She credits mapped out on the floor with for people impacted by Hurricane and Shambots 2.0 (after their their success to the girls’ robotics designated points. (The further Harvey, in which they loaded up school mascot, a shamrock), abilities, and how well they are able the robot’s arm is able to extend were preparing to compete in a to play with other teams. in order to drop the man, the more three trucks of supplies including food, water and baby diapers. regional robotics competition the At regionals, the girls were up points the move is worth.) The They’ve also held a toy and book following weekend with their two against other teams, most of which challenge changes every year — robots, “Brad” and “Chad,” which are co-ed but still largely made previously, robots have had to push drive to donate gifts to a local battered women’s shelter. look like miniature space rovers up of boys. But the Shambots are a bowling ball or manage to do a For some of the girls, the made up of complex metal and hoping to change the perception pull-up. experience has helped them wiring components on wheels. that the world of Science, Their robots' names have silly The two Shambot teams, made Technology, Engineering and backstories: Brad is named after up of 23 girls total, have been Mathematics (STEM) is just for the the Liberty Mutual insurance working on their robots all year opposite sex — a shift McChesney commercial about a totaled car in preparation for their regional says she’s already begun to notice. (named Brad). Chad, on the other competition last weekend in Austin. “We’re seeing more and more hand, is inspired by a frat boy who Though they didn’t advance, the girls at different competitions, and “has his quirks.” girl’s sponsor, Peggy McChesney, more and more all-girls teams,” “Especially when programming, told the Current the Shambots McChesney said, who’s been you have a lot of issues, but we played very well in competition, and working with the Shambots since like to attribute it to [Chad’s] would continue being involved in the team’s conception in 2012. personality,” senior programmer the local robotics community, even At regionals, the Shambots Kyra White said. “Sometimes he taking their robots to other schools had ten minutes to display their makes poor decisions, such as to show them what their robotics team accomplishments in front getting drunk, and not being able team has built. of a panel, and two minutes and to discern colors to put blocks into For the past six years, the thirty seconds to show off what a slot, and sometimes not even Shambots have shaken up the local their robots can do. The first thirty being able to balance. Or he’ll just world of robotics by dominating seconds were autonomous: the do erratic motions— so, drunken with their all-female presence. robots were able to show off frat boy. That’s Chad.” They’re also part of a bigger pre-programmed skills the girls Though they’ve spent countless
sacurrent.com • February 21-27, 2018 • CURRENT 11
CALENDAR
Jo Koy
4 Little Girls
COMEDY Many comics imitate their immigrant mothers on stage. But when Chelsea Lately alum and Adam Carolla Show regular Jo Koy tells a story about his Filipino mom playing Wii or mocking him for losing his car keys, not only is the attention to detail closer to a short story than a caricature, but he, not his mother, becomes the ultimate butt of the joke. When he describes picking his girlfriend up from the bar, the physical imitation of her peeing in public transitions into a dissection of sexual politics that’s more likely to leave men squirming uncomfortably. Koy, a family nickname and now his stage name, suits him well. $39.25-$49.25, 8pm, The Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — Jeremy Martin
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As part of this spring’s Get Reel Film Series, which is curated by Lisa B. Thompson, an associate professor in the African & African Diaspora Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin, the McNay Art Museum will THU screen director Spike Lee’s 1997 Oscar-nominated documentary 4 Little Girls. The film explores a 1963 hate crime that led to the deaths of four young African-American girls — Addie Mae Collins, 14; Carole Robertson, 14; Cynthia Wesley, 14; and Carol Denise McNair, 11. On Sunday, September 15, 1963, four members of the KKK planted sticks of dynamite under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The explosion killed the four girls and injured 20 more parishioners. The heinous act is said to have increased awareness of the Civil Rights Movement. Although the FBI officially identified four white men as the perpetrators of the bombing, the case was closed in 1968 without charging anyone with the murders. Last year, the Library of Congress selected the documentary for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry, an honor given to films considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Free, 7-9pm, McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5368, mcnayart.org. – Kiko Martinez
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Hamlet: DAVID NOBLES
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22-25
A Steampunk Tragedy Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the tale of a Danish prince tormented by despair, insanity and a drive for vengeance, has been inspiring the minds and exhausting the hearts of theater-goers and readers alike for centuries. Really any chance to see a production of perhaps the Bard’s best play is a chance to see its psychological, philosophical and dramatic nuances in a new light. Certainly, when a troupe brings a new twist to bear on the classic, it’s worth checking out — whether you’ve seen a hundred adaptions or are seeking your first dance with the delirious tragedy. This weekend, the Vex continues its run of the revenge and madness-fueled play, giving it a quirky update via a steampunk theme. $23, 7:30pm Thu, 8pm Sat, 2pm Sun, The Sheldon Vexler Theatre, 12500 NW Military Hwy., (210) 302-6835, vexler.org. — James Courtney THEATER
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Thanks in no small part to a seven-year master plan promising to “Reimagine the Alamo” (via preserving the Alamo Church, removing “entertainment attractions from the battlefield,” closing Alamo Street to vehicle FRI traffic, building a museum and restoring the Alamo Cenotaph), San Antonio’s most iconic destination is a key component of cultural discourse as of late. Within the realm of visual art, the 18th-century mission is often depicted with a curious blend of reverence and humor — such as in Sala Diaz founder Alejandro Diaz’s witty neon sign declaring “I Can’t Remember the Alamo” or Gary Sweeney’s Coming Soon! — a Photoshopped image of the Alamo outfitted with a sign announcing the “Future Home [of] Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum.” Made possible by a $30,000 grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center’s new group show “The Other Side of the Alamo: Art Against the Myth” continues this creative dialogue while taking aim at the UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site from a distinct perspective. Curated by Ruben C. Cordova, the exhibition tasked more than 20 Chican@ artists with “countering the mainstream myths of the Alamo’s iconic status through their traditional and non-traditional paintings, sculptures, and installation work.” Gathering works from both well-known, established artists and the new vanguard alike (from César Martinez and Jesse Treviño to Mari Hernandez and Kristel Orta-Puente), the show seeks to highlight ways the Alamo has affected people of color by exploring “suppressed narratives” surrounding “the Mexican American War, the annexation of half of Mexico, and the spread of slavery.” Free, 6-9pm, Galería Guadalupe, 723 Brazos St., (210) 271-3151, guadalupeculturalarts.org. — Bryan Rindfuss
ÁNGEL RODRÍGUEZ DIÁZ
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‘The Other Side of the Alamo’
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Nuclear Valentine’s: The Aftermath of Love 23 FRI
From the long-running burlesque troupe that gave birth to the tradition-bucking Pastie Pops comes Nuclear Valentine’s: The After Math of Love. Billed as both a “postValentine’s Day party for the masses” and a “perfect opportunity to let loose with a girlfriend, boyfriend or best friend,” the scantily clad affair promises to erase the inevitable disappointments of the over-hyped holiday with an abundance of shimmying and shaking. Hosted by local musician and nightlife innovator Wayne Holtz, the evening of “burlesque, bitterness, belly laughs, broken hearts, best friends, bad decisions and booze” brings together performers from “all over the map” — including Austinites Chola Magnolia, Zoja Ulesoo and Eve Calientina, Dallas-based Rayne Drawps, Janie Slash and Mary Jane Green, and the Alamo City’s own Annabella Lugosi, Wicked Leigh Devine and Lita Deadly. $17.89-$44.28, 8-11:30pm, Brick at Blue Star, 108 Blue Star, (210) 262-8653, facebook.com/scarletdarlingsproductions. — BR BURLESQUE
GUADALUPE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER
Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice That’s Not Fair!/¡No Es Justo!: Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice, a children’s book by Carmen Tafolla, Sharyll Teneyuca and Terry Ybanez, is a gem of a book and a fine, kid-friendly introduction to the titular heroine — an influential labor leader, educator, activist and San Antonian. Born out of a workshop at SAY Sí in 2009, a dramatic adaptation of the book, developed by Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Director of Performing Arts Joel Settles, along with Tafolla, will show for one night only this weekend. The show, which features live music and dance, is a special tribute to exactly the kind of role model we could all use right about now. Tafolla and Teneyuca will be on hand to give a presentation before the show and take questions afterwards. $5, 8pm, Guadalupe Theater, 1301 Guadalupe St., (210) 371-3151, guadalupeculturalarts.org. — JC
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PUBLIC THEATER OFSAN ANTONIO
CULTURE
tickets
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PUBLIC THEATER OFSAN ANTONIO
Wit
FRI-SUN
23-25
Margaret Edson’s Wit, which won her the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1999, is part savvy literary journey and part intelligent, touchingly humorous end-of-life saga. When Vivian Bearing, a highly regarded professor of English, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, she, like so many in her position, looks to the work that has filled her life. As she evaluates her life’s work, particularly focusing on John Donne’s metaphysical poetry, she both reveals and recreates herself through the complexities of the English language — finding perspective, hope and a surprising amount of ... well ... wit in the process. This weekend marks the opening of this celebrated play at The Public Theater of San Antonio (formerly The Playhouse). Check the theater’s website for additional dates through March 11. $20-$35, 7:30pm Fri-Sat, 2pm Sun, The Public Theater of San Antonio, 800 W. Ashby Pl., (210) 733-7258, thepublicsa.org. — JC THEATER
The latest entry in Arts San Antonio’s SAT 2017-2018 season is a show like no other. The performers of Mummenschanz transform the traditional stage, eschewing elaborate sets and musical accompaniment for a purely black background against which they move their bodies and artfully designed props to tell visual stories in utter silence. The company originated in Paris in 1972, drawing from the traditions of Pierrot Lunaire and classical dance to invent a new art form of “mask playing,” which they use to convey a narrative by creating “a playful paralanguage that can be understood by all.” Mummenschanz has performed and toured internationally for more than four decades, and has expanded to include new young artists alongside the two surviving founders of the company. Their latest offering, You & Me, was conceived by founding member Floriana Frassetto and tells an all-new story in their incomparable style. $29-$99, 7:30pm, The Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 2262891, artssa.org. — Kelly Merka Nelson THEATER
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Mummenschanz
Last Fan Standing SPECIAL The Empire Theatre is hosting a live trivia contest EVENT for “nerd culture” enthusiasts presented by comedian and actor Bruce Campbell (so you know they’re not messin’ around). Known for his role as Ash Williams in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise, Campbell will facilitate multiple rounds of questions before crowning the Last Fan Standing champion. While entering the theater, audience members will each be given a clicker to compete as contestants on the game show. After the first round, four of the highest-scoring contestants will be invited on stage to battle one another for two or more rounds. Aside from his role in the cult classic horror film, Campbell was a regular on the USA network’s Burn Notice and guest starred on FX’s series Fargo. Currently Campbell is reprising his Evil Dead role for the upcoming third season of the Starz series Ash vs. Evil Dead. $29.30-$39.50, 8pm, Charline McCombs Empire Theatre, 226 N. St. Mary’s St., 210-226-3333, majesticempire.com. — Lori Salazar
Haters Roast SAT
COURTESY OF HATERS ROAST
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COURTESY OF LAST FAN STANDING
When it was announced that RuPaul’s Drag Race would make a switch to VH1 after eight seasons on the LGBT-centric LOGO network, it was expected that the reality competition show would receive a boost in ratings. The season nine premiere doubled the previous season’s debut and earned RPDR its highest ratings ever with nearly one million people tuning in. Within weeks, the show’s influence on pop culture was evident when Saturday Night Live featured a skit that centered on RPDR and even name-dropped one of the season’s breakout stars, Trinity Taylor. On Saturday, Haters Roast: The Shady Tour rolls into the Aztec for a Comedy Central-type roast featuring RPDR stars Derrick Barry, Aja, Jinxx Monsoon, Trixie Mattel, Latrice Royale, Thorgy Thor, Willam, Eureka O’Hara, Ginger Minj and Trinity Taylor. Presented by Murray and Peter, the Haters Roast promises a riotous evening filled with “stingers and zingers” as the queens discuss everything from politics to current events and love. In today’s political climate, where it seems LGBT rights are more vulnerable than ever, drag serves not only as a form of entertainment, but as performance art challenging the views of the past in favor of a more inclusive, forward-thinking 21st century. $23-$53, 7pm, Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre. com. — Marco Aquino DRAG
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ART ”Something to Say” “Something to Say:
WHERE SAN ANTONIO LAUGHS OUT LOUD!
L IA C NT E E SPEV
Fahim Anwa 2/23 - 2/25
Josh Wolf 3/1 - 3/3
L IA T C N E E SPEV
Erin Foley 3/8 - 3/11
S EVPEC EN IA T L
Bert Kreischer 4/5 - 4/7
Dustin Chafin 2/21 - 2/25
Steve Hofstetter 2/28
L IA C NT E E SPEV
Affion Crockett 3/1 - 3/4
Rich Minervini 3/7 - 3/11
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The McNay Presents 100 Years of African American Art” marks the museum’s first survey of modern and contemporary African-American art. Encouraging a thoughtful consideration of the plurality of African-American experience and expression, the exhibit represents the McNay’s ongoing commitment to “equity, inclusion, and social consciousness as well as artistic excellence.” Also on view: “30 Americans: Rubell Family Collection” boasts some of the most important AfricanAmerican artists of the past three decades, including Mark Bradford, Nick Cave, Robert Colescott, Glenn Ligon, Kerry James Marshall, Mickalene Thomas, and Kehinde Wiley. And “Haiti’s Revolution in Art: Jacob Lawrence Toussaint L’Ouverture Series” is a portfolio of stunningly powerful prints from the artist’s 41-panel exploration of the undersung leader of the 18th-century Haitian revolution, which drove out the French colonizers. $5-$10 ($10 surcharge for “Something to Say”), 10am-4pm Wednesday, 10am-9pm Thursday, 10am-4pm Friday, 10am-5pm Saturday, noon-5pm Sunday; McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5368.
”Voz” While it’s often applauded for its strong
art and art history department, and the steady stream of talented artists that emerge from its programs, the University of Texas at San Antonio also boasts a truly wide-ranging collection of contemporary art that comprises paintings, photographs, sculptures, mixed-media and works on paper. Reflective of both the avid collecting habits of former UTSA President Ricardo Romo and the deep insights of curator Arturo Infante Almeida, the collection is typically displayed in interior and exterior spaces across three campuses but comes to light this month in “Voz,” a sprawling group show on view at Centro de Artes through June 10. Celebrating the collection’s strong focus on Latin@ art to the tune of 222 works by 66 artists, the exhibition comes across as a meticulously organized museum show uniting dozens of familiar names (Ana Fernandez, Alberto Mijangos, Franco Mondini-Ruiz, Richard Armendariz and Kathy Vargas among them) with many others well worth discovering. Hovering in Texas but extending far beyond its borders, “Voz” employs both floors of Centro de Artes for an immediately engaging crash course in Latin@ art distinguished by three areas that double as shows within a show: a recreation of UTSA’s “Veinticinco” (a long-running project comprising prints by 25 artists); Cheech Marin’s “The Chicano Collection” (a portfolio of prints by Vincent
Valdez, Mel Casas, Alex Rubio, Jesse Treviño and many more); and a thoughtful pairing of images by iconic Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide and her mentor, Manuel Álvarez Bravo. Free, 11am-6pm WednesdaySunday, 11am-6pm Monday-Tuesday; Centro de Artes, 101 S. Santa Rosa Ave., (210) 206-2787.
FILM Jewish Film Festival With a strong message
of promoting “Jewish values and diversity through the medium of film,” the Barshop Jewish Community Center in San Antonio will “raise community awareness of Jewish identity, history and culture” with their annual Jewish Film Festival. This year’s festival will take place over five days and screen 12 feature films and two shorts across a variety of genres and topics, including religious intolerance, children’s literature and confronting anger during the grieving process. The festival wraps up Wednesday with the films Dimona Twist (following seven women who arrive in Israel by ship in the 1950s and ’60s and are sent to a recently established desert town), Wig Shop (about an Orthodox woman who uncovers a life-changing secret from a hairdresser) and A Quiet Heart (surrounding a secular young woman seeking refuge from the pressure of her life as a concert pianist). $5-$15 per screening, 4:30-10pm Wednesday; Santikos Palladium IMAX, 17703 I-10 W., (210) 798-9949.
Through a Lens Darkly The first
documentary to explore the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations, and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to the present, Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People probes the recesses of American history through images that have been suppressed, forgotten, and lost. Inspired by the book Reflections in Black by photo historian Deborah Willis, the film comes to light at Blue Star Contemporary in dialogue with current exhibitions, including photographer Wendel White’s “Manifest,” a solo show documenting the AfricanAmerican experience in the U.S. Free, 6pm Friday; Blue Star Contemporary, 116 Blue Star, (210) 227-6960.
THEATER Blackbird, Fly Through Blackbird, Fly, Marc
Bamuthi Joseph and DBR, both sons of Haitian immigrants, reveal their life stories in search of their identity and role models and delve into universal themes of immigration, tolerance and inclusion. The introspective, uplifting production weaves movement, music and spoken word into a
CALENDAR
richly layered, multi-sensory performance. $20-$30, 8pm Friday; Jo Long Theatre, Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry St., (210) 207-7211.
Bless Me, Ultima Dogeared copies of Rudolfo
FREE WIFI
SPECIAL EVENTS Philanthropitch Philanthropitch is a social impact fast-pitch event that connects nonprofits with the coaching and capital they need to scale sustainable funding models. Join San Antonio’s social impact community for an engaging experience as nonprofit finalists pitch their innovative solutions for local community challenges. $25, 6pm Tuesday; Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624.
Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima adorn many a bookshelf, and now San Antonians have an opportunity to see it rendered live on stage. For the next installment of The Classic Theater of San Antonio’s 10th anniversary season, director José Ruben Dé León turns the spotlight on Latinx culture with an adaptation of Anaya’s San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo groundbreaking portrait of the Chicano Celebrating the spirit of Western culture, experience in America. Growing up in rural this year’s San Antonio Stock Show & New Mexico in the 1940s, Antonio Márez Rodeo features native Texas wildlife must navigate the divide between his expos, “Swifty Swine” pig races, stunt mother’s religiosity and father’s aggressive and acrobat performers “X-Pogo” and masculinity. While Dante had Virgil as a “Chicago Boyz,” Pompeyo’s circus-themed guide, Antonio has Ultima, a curandera dog show, and “Cowboy Boot Camp” (or folk healer) that comes to live with his activities for kids. The 67th annual event family during his childhood. Under Ultima’s also includes a Western Heritage Parade protection, Antonio comes of age in a town and multiple livestock competitions fraught with conflict, waging the battle of showcasing talented Texan youth. good and evil in the microcosm of his small $5-$200, 8am-10pm Wednesday-Sunday; community. $17-$32, 8pm Friday-Saturday, AT&T Center, One AT&T Center Pkwy., 3pm Sunday; Classic Theatre of San Antonio, (210) 444-5000. 1924 Fredericksburg Road, (210) 589-8450.
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live: King for a Day The PBS Kids TV show comes to life on
TALKS PLUS stage as a “tigertastic” musical adventure set On the Edge of Empire: San Antonio in the 18th Century A professor of in the Land of Make-Believe. $24.75-$75, 2pm Sunday; Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624.
COMEDY Dustin Chafin A native Texan of Choctaw
descent who describes himself as “both Cowboy and Indian,” Kilgore native Dustin Chafin is a former boxer who worked as a missionary in the mountains of Chile before moving to New York to enter the world of stand-up. His recent credits include an appearance on the Judd Apatow-created HBO series Crashing and the comedy album Stop Telling People That. $17, 8:30pm Wednesday-Thursday, 8pm & 10:15pm Friday-Saturday, 8pm Sunday; Improv San Antonio, 849 E. Commerce St., (210) 2291420.
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“The History of Hispanic Texas and the Southwest” and chair of the history department at St. Mary’s University, Gerald E. Poyo visits SAMA to deliver a presentation about the growth and development of Spanish settlements during the 18th century. $8-$15, 2-3pm Sunday; San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., (210) 978-8100.
Rob Bell Best-selling author and
spirituality podcaster Rob Bell (Love Wins, What We Talk About When We Talk About God, The Zimzum of Love) brings his Holy Shift Tour to the Tobin with support from Pete Rollins. $25-$50, 7:30pm Thursday; Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624.
Semifinals with Jeff Dunham A Guinness
World Record holder for “Most Tickets Sold for a Stand-up Comedy Tour,” Jeff Dunham has carved out his own unique space in the comedy world, perfecting the art of ventriloquism through comedy specials (Arguing with Myself, Spark of Insanity, Controlled Chaos, Minding the Monsters) and appearing on everything from 30 Rock to Dinner for Schmucks. The native Texan returns to the Alamo City for a performance at the rodeo. $15-$200, 7pm Wednesday; San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, One AT&T Center Pkwy., (210) 444-5000. sacurrent.com • February 21-27, 2018 • CURRENT 17
ARTS + CULTURE
Freight Gallery makes its boldest statement yet with ‘Images of Power’ MARCO AQUINO
CURRENT • February 21-27, 2018 • sacurrent.com
AMANDA BENAVIDES
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KRISTEL A ORTA-PUENTE
From left: Kristel Orta Puente, The Disambiguation of the Introverted Megalomanic; Amanda Benavides, Speedy Gonzalez; Patrick McGrath Muñiz, The Believer; Sarah Castillo, Tyrant Be Gone
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Freight Gallery’s latest exhibition, “Images of Power” is perhaps its boldest effort yet, gathering 30 artists from across the country who confront the issue of white supremacy in Trump’s America. Guest curated by Alana Coates and Mark Anthony Martinez, the exhibition (on view through February 24) comprises sculpture, prints, paintings and video installations. In response to a turbulent political climate, the artists in this show offer a path forward by acknowledging one of our biggest downfalls — the permeation of white supremacy within every aspect of American life. Emboldened by the 2016 election of President Trump, a man who began his presidential campaign by equating Mexican immigrants with rapists and murderers, a slew of far-right movements advanced into the American political mainstream. From the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia to white nationalist and neo-Nazi rallies throughout the country, white supremacy and its supporters emerged from the shadows with the idea that they had one of their own in the White House. An op-ed in Time magazine went as far as calling Trump’s administration “a basket of deplorables” — echoing a remark Hillary Clinton once made about Trump supporters. The work in “Images of Power” tackles the urgent threats presented under the current administration. Among the highlights of this show are several works by Patrick McGrath Muñiz. A Roman Catholic who grew up in Puerto Rico during the 1980s and ’90s, Muñiz melds old-world aesthetics
ARTS + CULTURE
Seeking Volunteers
PATRICK MCGRATH MUNIZ
into contemporary settings. In The Believer, Muñiz depicts a Christ-like figure wearing a sleeveless shirt. Standing amid a red background that resembles the Confederate flag, he holds a semi-automatic weapon and carries a Bible in his holster. Set within a retablo-style frame painted on the canvas, this “Southern Jesus” points to the contradictory beliefs held by many in the far-right who consider themselves “Christians.” In the mixed-media work Speedy Gonzalez, Amanda Benavides incorporates large text that reads, “They want everything to be done for them,” alongside an image of the Warner Brothers cartoon character. The quote is a reference to Trump’s comments about Puerto Rico during its humanitarian crisis in 2017: “They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.” Speedy Gonzalez also brings to mind comments made by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly suggesting that undocumented immigrants who didn’t apply for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program were simply “too lazy to get off their asses.” From Attorney General Jeff Sessions to ousted chief strategist Steve Bannon, Trump’s appointees to top advisory roles are people with alarming track records and whose views toward immigrants, Muslims, people of color, and the LGBT community can only be described as problematic. In the Embroidered Prayer Series, local artist and Lady Base Gallery founder Sarah Castillo stitches prayers over images of Trump’s shady cohorts — Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. Using
text appropriated from a Catholic book of prayers, Castillo offers hope to the millions of people negatively affected by the Trump administration. Over the DeVos image, a prayer reads, “Spirit of the Mother Earth, I pray to you to make her reclaim the future of the public school system, implement educational policy changes, support the Individuals with Disabilities Act, retain Title IX, advocate for student loan forgiveness and accessibility to higher learning. Please cleanse her with the power of your spirit. Amen.” Images of Power Free 7am-2pm Wed-Sat Art talk 6pm Sat, Feb. 24 Freight Gallery 1913 S. Flores St. (210) 331-4382 freightsatx.com
METABOLISM STUDY
You may qualify for studies that will evaluate how a probiotic (good bacteria) and food composition affect the metabolism Study participants should be:
• Non-smokers ages 18-65
• Lean or overweight without diabetes, or persons with diabetes not taking insulin or metformin
• Sedentary or minimal exercise lifestyle
Study participants will receive: • Blood work • A physical exam • Compensation for time
Select study participants may receive: • Home meals while on study medication
AMANDA BENAVIDES
SARAH CASTILLO
For more information, call Barshop Clinical Research:
210-450-0020 Principal Investigator Nicolas Musi, MD
For other studies, visit us at: vpr.uthscsa.edu/findastudy/ Keyword “musi” sacurrent.com • February 21-27, 2018 • CURRENT 19
BASED ON THE PLAY “CHICAGO” BY MAURINE DALLAS WATKINS | SCRIPT ADAPTED BY DAVID THOMPSON
FEB. 22 - 24 & MAR. 1-3 AT 7:30 PM | FEB. 25 & MAR. 4 AT 2:30 PM LEE HIGH SCHOOL THEATER - 1400 JACKSON KELLER | MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
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(SHOW WEEKS ONLY) CASH OR CHECK ONLY BEGINNING FEB. 20 BOX OFFICE RESERVATION:
(210) 356-1036
BOOK BY: FRED EBB & BOB FOSSE MUSIC BY: JOHN KANDER LYRICS BY: FRED EBB
$12 RESERVED | $15 AT THE DOOR $20 GOLD PATRON SEATING - FIRST 3 ROWS - ONLINE ONLY ONLINE TICKET SALES: WWW.NEISD.NET/NESA THRU FEB. 17 20
CURRENT • February 21-27, 2018 • sacurrent.com
African American Art | Spring 2018 Something to Say
The McNay Presents 100 Years of African American Art FEBRUARY 8 | MAY 6, 2018
30 Americans
Rubell Family Collection FEBRUARY 8 | MAY 6, 2018 Lead funding for Something to Say: The McNay Presents 100 Years of African American Art and 30 Americans: Rubell Family Collection is most generously provided by Jane Stieren Lacy; The Brown Foundation, Inc.; USAA, Guillermo Nicolas and Jim Foster; Metropolitan Methodist Hospital; Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation; and San Antonio (TX) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.
Haiti’s Revolution in Art
Jacob Lawrence’s Toussaint L’Ouverture Series FEBRUARY 8 | MAY 6, 2018
San Antonio, Texas mcnayart.org
4 Texans
The Next Chapter MARCH 1 | MAY 6, 2018 Lead funding for Haiti’s Revolution: Jacon Lawrence’s Toussaint L’Ouverture Series and 4 Texans: The Next Chapter is most generously provided by the Elizabeth Huth Coates Exhibition Endowment and the Arthur and Jane Stieren Fund for Exhibitions.
Bob Thompson, Untitled (detail), 1960-61. Oil on canvas. The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Foundation for the Arts © Estate of Bob Thompson; Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY.
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FEATURE SCREENS
MARVEL STUDIOS
Hear
Us Roar
Black Panther fills void in Marvel Cinematic Universe with rich, evocative mythology
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It might be futile these days to complain about how many superhero movies and TV shows are released annually, but let’s not pretend that even the most devoted fans of the genre wouldn’t say there are plenty of examples of projects over the last 20 years they didn’t even want. From the pointless reboot of the Fantastic Four to an unwatchable Ghost Rider sequel to whatever the hell R.I.P.D. and Jonah Hex were supposed to be, even a comic-book geek with the most indiscriminate taste has limits. While it’s easy to make a list of superhero movies no one really asked for, rarely do we see ones that we actually need. (Note: “need” in a sense that, if good, the making of said film would have a meaningful impact on Hollywood as a whole, not “need” as in, “Deadpool was such a badass movie, I fucking need Deadpool 2 now!”). Audiences got a sense of what an essential superhero movie looks like last year with DC’s Wonder Woman, the first standalone, female-led superhero movie since 2005’s far-fromelectrifying Elektra, and the first superhero movie from a major studio made by a female director (Patty Jenkins). This year, the same type of culturally groundbreaking feat can also be linked to Black Panther, the first major comic-book movie with a black lead since Catwoman (hiss!), and the first directed by an African-American filmmaker from a comic-book series adaptation (Meteor
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CURRENT • January 24-30, 2018 • sacurrent.com
Man). In short, Hollywood needs more minority representation in front of and behind the camera, and Black Panther is helping to fill that void. It shouldn’t, however, get an automatic pass from audiences just because it exists. Luckily, the film, directed by rising star Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed), more or less lives up to the record-breaking ultra-hype, but doesn’t get too far away narratively from the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. Still, Black Panther is a substantial entry into that world, and one that will hopefully open the eyes of other studio heads who are hesitant about straying away from the status quo in any genre. Set mostly in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, new king T’Challa, aka Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), has taken his rightful place on the throne after his father’s passing. Although the world views Wakanda as a third-world country, outsiders are not aware that a super metal known as vibranium (much cooler than Avatar’s unobtanium but maybe not as indestructible as Wolverine’s adamantium claws) has made Wakanda one of the most powerful places on the planet. Dead set on getting their hands on that power are deranged arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) and T’Challa’s revenge-seeking cousin Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who was abandoned on Earth as a child by his uncle,
KIKO MARTÍNEZ
T’Challa’s father. Seeking to take the Wakandan throne from his cousin, Jordan’s Killmonger is a villain with a lot more emotional baggage than most Marvel bad guys. That deep-seated sentiment doesn’t get as dark and glorious as last year’s Wolverine finale, the Oscarnominated Logan, but the evocative mythology behind Black Panther gives this corner of the Marvel superhero franchise a dramatic familial dynamic that feels unforced. Black Panther is less about an individual superhero and more about what a community can do together when they are threatened. Supporting actors, including Oscar winners Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Oscar nominees Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got to Do with It) and Daniel Kayuula (Get Out), heavy-hitters Danai Gurira (TV’s The Walking Dead) and Sterling K. Brown (TV’s This Is Us), and scene-stealing Letitia Wright (Steven Spielberg’s upcoming Ready Player One), round out the film’s impressive lineup. Hear that Hollywood? Audiences are speaking up and the buzz Black Panther has generated sounds more like a roar. With a talented, majority black cast, a director with a distinctive voice and several technical triumphs, including some incredible costume design by two-time Oscar nominee Ruth Carter (Amistad, Malcolm X ), Black Panther is a superhero highpoint for the history books.
sacurrent.com • January 24-30, 2018 • CURRENT 23
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
MARCH 1–10
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 1400 W. Villaret Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78224
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CURRENT • January 24-30, 2018 • sacurrent.com
For tickets & more information, please visit alamo.edu/pac/teatro or call the Box Office at 210-670-6670.
alamo.edu/pac/teatro
FEATURE SCREENS
Psychedelic Overgrowth
ANT IQUES. COLLECT IBLES. ODDIT IES.
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
1423 E.Commerce St. 210.827.5555
KELLY MERKA NELSON
Geeking out over the hotly anticipated thriller Annihilation
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Upon finishing Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation, I would have declared the book unadaptable for film. Heady and dense, the novel refuses to provide many details traditionally expected by the reader, going so far as to leave its characters unnamed. However, Paramount Pictures nabbed the film rights almost immediately, and director Alex Garland was soon attached. By 2015, Annihilation had won the Nebula Award, its ensuing installments (Authority and Acceptance) were on the shelves, and the movie was well into pre-production. A bizarre, lush little book, Annihilation follows its protagonist (a biologist played by Natalie Portman in the film) into a mysterious aberration on the natural landscape called Area X. Despite attempts to cordon off and limit the phenomenon, Area X is growing, and consumes all those who enter. Spurred to learn what happened to her husband (Oscar Isaac), she joins an all-female team to foray through the filmy veil that marks Area X’s boundary. Annihilation is an ambitious next step for Garland, who launched his career with the screenplay for 28 Days Later, but his track record makes him a good match for Vandermeer’s foggy and verdant bio-horror. His 2015 directorial debut, Ex Machina, a brooding thriller centered on a Turing test, starred soon-to-be Star Wars costars Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson. Annihilation was actually filmed simultaneously with The Last Jedi, requiring Isaac to bounce back and forth between the two sets. Of course, it wouldn’t be a heady sci-fi thriller without some backlash behind the scenes. In December, The Hollywood Reporter broke that producers Scott Rudin (Lady Bird) and David Ellison (Geostorm) butted heads after an early screening of Annihilation, when Ellison demanded that changes be made because the movie was — get ready for it — “too intellectual.” Rudin had control over final cut and was therefore able to prevent studio tampering, but unease arising from this conflict led Paramount to sell the international distribution rights to Netflix. The movie has also faced accusations of whitewashing due to the fact that the second installment of the trilogy, Authority, reveals that Natalie Portman’s and Jennifer Jason Leigh’s characters are of Asian and indigenous heritage, respectively. Garland has insisted that this discrepancy is a result of his sharp focus on the first novel’s content, which lacks these edifying details. The film does at least feature people of color in prominent roles, including Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez and Benedict Wong, but this may be cold comfort considering the erasure of the central protagonist’s ethnicity. Despite these pitfalls, early critical reactions to the film are positive, and whether you’re a fan of Garland and Vandermeer or simply an aficionado of thoughtprovoking, psychedelic science fiction, you’re sure to be in for a treat.
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In the kitchen with Battalion's pasta chef
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inding house-made pasta in San Antonio takes skill. Finding said pasta made by an Italy native means visiting Battalion. The Andrew Goodman and Stefan Bowers-owned restaurant opened last February and as it celebrates its first year in business, it’s worth noting nothing about the Battalion's genesis was easy. After having the winning bid on the building appraised at $797,000, Goodman and co. worked on rezoning the colossal structure first built in 1924. Then came renovations and redesign with co-designer Lori Urbano of Urbano Design, including a sleek kitchen, dining room and bar area complete with Italian touches and furnishings to the tune of almost $3 million. Bowers staffed the kitchen with members of his team from his existing restaurants, Feast and Rebelle, but weeks before the restaurant opened, an integral component was still missing. He sent a message to the universe — or rather Facebook — asking for a committed pasta maker and his call was answered the call from just a few blocks away.
At 32, Elena D’Agostino moved to the states for love. After meeting now-husband David Scott in Italy through mutual friends, the pair continued a long distance relationship — several thousand miles long — for three years, with each taking turns visiting the other, before finally deciding to marry and have D’Agostino come to Texas. But it wasn’t an easy move. “It’s completely different, I was learning everything again,” she said, while adding a few Italian expats, such as Diletta Gallorini, co-owner of South Alamode Panini & Gelato Company, who helped make her transition smoother. Still even trips to the grocery store proved difficult. “I felt like a child. All the products are different, the interaction with people, the way they talk to you, it’s very different cultures,” D’Agostino said.
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D’Agostino, a Torino, Italy native, had been living in San Antonio for just over a year when mutual friends told her to apply for the position at Battalion. She sent Bowers iPhone photos of her pasta-making skills. “I was looking for months, and couldn’t find anybody,” Bowers said early last April, “and three days later we had her come in for an interview.” Her first interview in the states turned into her first job. “I was so scared, I didn’t know what to expect, but everyone was very kind and very helpful with translating,” D’Agostino said. Gregarious and giggly, D’Agostino’s love for everything and anything pasta is infectious. She recalls learning how to make pasta by hand from her grandmother and mother Graziella Berta, at age five, often making noodles for lunch and dinner two to three times a week. Every strand was made by hand per her now 94-year-old grandmother’s tutelage. Her passion for pasta grew and the young cook traveled Italy, consumed with the thousands of shapes and varieties of noodles the country is known for. “There’s different climates from north to south, and so the pasta shapes are different, there’s always a different culture about it, and I learned from older women always,” D’Agostino said. She worked in a small 10-table restaurant in Southern Italy, where the pasta was made using completely different ingredients, and tools and no eggs. Her move into Battalion’s massive kitchen meant taking
those early skills and multiplying them tenfold, at an entirely different pace, in a relatively new language. “She worked in a smaller kitchen, where there were 10 things on the menu and what you got that day was it,” said Cavazos, D’Agostino’s executive chef at the Southtown restaurant. “It definitely seemed harder at first.” From her corner of Battalion’s second story kitchen, D’Agostino had to learn the ropes and fast. This meant learning how to handle different personalities in the kitchen, learning systems, redoing pastas, and working at the high volume a new hot spot required — while still using the metric system. Until recently, she was also the only female in the kitchen. “Other than being Italian, it’s different for me,” D’Agostino said. “It’s strange because the recipes we use these days come from our grandmothers and mothers and going into [restaurant] kitchen, a lot of stuff is considered work for a man.” Even so, she and Cavazos forged a working relationship with the executive chef being able to exercise patience for D’Agostino likely learned from 16 years as a cook himself. “The speed is faster, she’s much more efficient, which happens through repetition,” Cavazos said.
Nowadays, Bowers likens her work on the pasta bench to watching ballet, but the only souls privy to these skillful moves are Battalion’s kitchen staff. D’Agostino’s 10-foot wooden work bench overlooks
South Alamo Street and is flooded with sunlight that punctuates the puffs of flour that rise from her every move. She's flanked by a giant mixer and metal prepping table and everything within her radius holds a delicate flour coating, including her wooden pasta tools, such as a small wooden cutters she either brought from home, or has ordered online. “Amazon.it,” she said while showing off a new chitarra, a wooden contraption with steel strings that helps her roll out precise strands of fettuccina (singular for fettuccine), a favorite of D’Agostino’s to make. For the past year, the dinner menu at Battalion has included 10 pastas, of which D’Agostino creates at least 70 percent jointly with Cavazos and Bowers. The winter menu included celery root ravioli with wild mushroom ragu and thyme, updated from the summer’s pumpkin ravioli; and the buckwheat parppadelle turned into a buckwheat tagliolini (a variation of tagliatelle with a cylindrical shape and paper-thin thickness) with cabbage, Yukon gold potatoes and gooey Fontina cheese. There are already staples that will cause minor revolts if taken off the menu. The vibrant green spinach manicotti is stuffed with ricotta and plated with a moat of Pomodoro sauce. The fettuccine carbonara — a dreamy dish of guanciale (a cured meat made from pork cheeks), rich egg yolk cream and sharp pecorino) — will hopefully stay on the menu for decades to come. The pastas were part of the allure of Battalion for Texas Monthly’s food editor and critic, Patricia Sharpe, who sang its praises last July: sacurrent.com • February 21-27, 2018 • CURRENT 29
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“Battalion’s pasta is so fantastic I wanted to grab every platter and run away with it so I could have it all to myself. The tagliolini were ribbons of silk bathed in a glorious golden-tomato-and-Italian-chile sauce. Equally miraculous was the spinach manicotti, gossamer sheets of the deepest green folded around ricotta and luxuriating in an aromatic pomodoro sauce. Only slightly less astonishing were the nubby buckwheat pappardelle in a resonant ragù of black trumpet and hen of the woods mushrooms. And the fettuccine car-bonara, lightly coated in a golden egg-yolk cream sauce, breathed new life into that stodgy classic.” It was a compliment the ever-critical D’Agostino took to heart. “She’s become more confident, she’s hypercritical like all good cooks are,” Cavazos said. “She’s willing to take criticism, which is rare in young cooks, but she’s very mature.” Though her favorites include stuffed pasta, such as the agnolotti de plin she and Cavazos offered as a special last fall (she makes no more than 10 to 12 orders for these), people with penchants for pasta have to try the lasagne. “I think she made them for [staff] lunch one day, it was a pesto lasagna the first time,” Cavazos said. “It’s going to be different from what you expect. It’s lighter, it’s not sauce heavy, it’s not full of cheese, it’s not a brick. It’s a big portion, but at the same time you won’t be rolling out of here in a wheelchair.” The lasagne is the only pasta D’Agostino makes for the newly added lunch menu at Battalion. And like Cavazos said, it’s unlike anything you’ve had before. The dish is prepared by
D’Agostino from the time-intensive beef ragù to the silky béchamel. Four layers of pasta are used to create this delicate bite, with a crunchy texture from the baked pasta layer that sits atop. Each massive slice has two sides that hang over on the baking tray, creating a pleasant, uncharacteristic and addictive crunch. “It’s delicious, and it’s not just because I make it, but I really love lasagna in general,” D’Agostino said.
Two years into her life in the U.S., D’Agostino is still learning how to navigate the American way of life. She communicates with her friends back home via Facebook, often sharing super market finds with Italian commentary. “The time is different here, so we can’t talk all the time or hang out, so Facebook for me is like my phone,” D’Agostino said. “Back home, I’m able to understand what’s inside the product, here it takes me one day to understand what I’m buying,” she said while pointing to ingredients found in U.S. products that are often illegal in Europe. This past October she played tourist with her parents, Graziella Berta and Giovanni D’Agostino, two science researchers and scholars, showing them life in the Lone Star State, taking them to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and dining them on Tex-Mex. “I’m still learning American tastes, what they like more, less. I thought working in food would make it so I didn’t want to cook at home, but I’m still doing it,” D’Agostino laughed. Let’s hope she never stops. sacurrent.com • February 21-27, 2018 • CURRENT 31
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There’s definitely a few horses, maybe a cow or two, and a handful or so of goats along the road on the way to Seersucker Gin Distillery. From the heart of downtown, the jaunt down 281 south, 87, and then 37, takes less than 30 minutes, but the pay off is worth the drive when vodka, gin and spirit fans find the manicured lawn off 8501 Cover Road where Seersucker gin is made. Launched in January of 2017, Seersucker
At just over a year old, Seersucker Gin helps anchor Azar Brands with new must-see distillery Southern Style gin was the second product of the Azar Brand, the first being Cinco vodka, which launched in 2010. Yes, vodka pays the bills (as most bartenders will tell you), but finding the market for vodka saturated with competitors, Trey Azar, along with wife and business partner Kim, turned their attention to gin. “We did have the benefit of Cinco for seven years before we jumped into this,” Azar said. “Without Cinco, Seersucker doesn’t exist.”
Azar’s goal: producing a gin that varied from the classic London dry style that turns off non-gin drinkers. He landed on a formula that uses botanicals of citrus peels, coriander seed, cardamom, clove honey, mint and juniper in 2014. The name was part of a fortuitous moment at a Starbucks during Derby Day when Azar overheard two guys in seersucker shorts chatting about the event. “I called Kim and told her the name — Seersucker Southern-Style Gin — and there was silence,” Azar said. They secured a
trademark in July of 2016 and set to distilling. The first tours, held during the San Antonio Cocktail Conference in 2017, showcased the early stages of the brand. Large format bottles still weren’t available to the public, and the distillery was rustic at best with blueprints lining the room featuring what was to come. The distillery matches the aggressive growth the brand has made in less than CONTINUED ON PAGE 35 ►
sacurrent.com • February 21-27, 2018 • CURRENT 33
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CHECK-IN ON 16 months with the help of two sales managers (including Paramour alum Christopher Ware, who first met the Azars while at Bohanan’s). You can sip Seersucker gin in 15 states across the south including Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, as well as Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Nevada and Colorado. Though early plans included event space and traditional tasting rooms, a trip to Universal Orlando’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter with Kim and their five kids (the five in Cinco) inspired Azar to scrap those initial layouts and aim for an immersive, interactive experience with the gin. Seersucker’s 5,000 square-foot facility, which opened officially to the public this month, holds massive 16,000 gallon tanks wrapped in giant Seersucker labels that help set the tone for the self-guided tour. This is Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, and you don’t need a golden ticket. Signage shares the process for slow-distilling, and Seersucker blue graces the floor of the distillery where Betty the copper still, Azar and assistant distiller Joshua Brock make magic happen. Sweep over to the tasting room where leather apron-clad
bartenders shake up patio pounders as gin courses through the pipes overhead to the storage tanks in the bottling room (a bottling line is on the way later this April, but for now Seersucker is bottled by hand) all visible through a window next to the tasting room. Though Azar has aspirations of turning the already picturesque 6-acre plot into a great lawn that welcomes visitors to the distillery, it’s already bucolic as is. Sunny days means guests will lounge on striped patio furniture, while away an afternoon with cornhole or the upcoming bocce ball court, with Seersucker in hand. “It’s peaceful,” Azar said. Derby plans are already in motion, but take a drive to Seersucker’s facility before then to experience two new flavors: Southern-style limeade and lemonade (which pair well with a splash of Topo and a squeeze of a Cutie clementine as per Azar’s suggestion). Seersucker attire optional.
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Let's Be Friends SA is now a Music Friendly Community, but what does that mean?
CHRIS CONDE
>
On Monday, February 12 the Texas Music Office officially dubbed San Antonio a “Music Friendly Community.” Texas Music Office Director Brendon Anthony presented the certification to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, Department of Arts & Culture Director Debbie Racca-Sittre, and Henry Brun, San Antonio Arts Commission music committee chair at a news conference inside the Culture Commons Gallery downtown. The announcement included a live performance by San Antonio rockers Buttercup. “As a city celebrating its Tricentennial year, San Antonio has a long history of being the home to incredible world-class talent, especially in music of all genres,” Nirenberg said. “Today is a celebration of where we’ve already been as a music
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CURRENT • February 21-27, 2018 • sacurrent.com
city, where we’re going, and how the City of San Antonio’s recognizes that music is an important industry to support and help grow.” San Antonio is the fourth city in the state, joining Fort Worth, Austin and Denton, to be designated as a “Music Friendly Community” by the Texas Music Offi ce, a division in the governor’s offi ce. According to a press release from the city, the TMO developed this program to address needs and highlight opportunities in each city’s local music industry, share information between TMO and other music friendly communities and then fi gure out how to best market each city’s musical offerings to the rest of the world. Dallas and Lubbock are also pursuing this certifi cation. In 2016, the San Antonio City Council adopted its 2017 budget, including funds designated for local music advocates
San Antonio Sound Garden to conduct a study of San Antonio’s music industry, to basically see what it would take to strengthen and grow our music economy and make it attractive to industry professionals outside of the city and how much work we needed to do to get there. The city’s music committee, which is made up of 11 members that represent all different segments of the music industry in San Antonio including music educators, venue workers, production company team members, worked with San Antonio Sound Garden and the TMO during this study to help get the certification as a Music Friendly Community. Certification from the office would ideally help build a network for fostering music industry development, and send a clear message to industry professionals that “certified” communities are serious about attracting and developing music industry growth.
“The City of San Antonio and its Department of Arts and Culture have showcased significant dedication to promoting, supporting and growing the city’s music industry,” said TMO Director Brendon Anthony. “This new designation connects San Antonio with an information sharing network of other Texas communities that are focused on the music economy and we look forward to working alongside city leaders to move the local industry forward.” It’s still a little unclear exactly what all this means for San Antonio, but over the next few months, the Department of Arts & Culture and the San Antonio Arts Commission’s Music Committee will work with the TMO and the local community to develop a so-called “Music Strategic Plan” for the city of San Antonio. The plan is expected to be completed for presentation to city council in June 2018.
MUSIC
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CHRIS CONDE
When disaster hits our state, Texans know how to take care of each other. It’s what makes us a strong, vibrant community that continues to draw hundreds of thousands of people to the Lone Star state each year. So when Hurricane Harvey hit in August of 2017, it was no surprise that Texans showed up in a big way, throwing benefits – from stacked hip-hop shows, to starstudded country lineups – and setting up ways for people to donate to disaster victims. Now, if you’re an artist and your art was affected by the disaster of Hurricane Harvey, you may be relieved to hear there’s a chance you could get some financial assistance. Local artists and arts organizations can now apply for funding provided by the Harvey Arts Recovery Fund (HARF), which supports Houston artists, performers, musicians and arts and culture organizations in need of assistance on account of the tropical storm. Back in January, HARF awarded more than $40,000 to local artists and arts, heritage and cultural organizations who suffered personal and professional losses due to Hurricane Harvey. Applications for assistance opened on February 15 and close March 1, 2018 with awards being distributed later this spring. “It’s essential to support artists during a crisis because we’re already working with limited budgets and our finances are tight regardless the season,” said HARF grant recipient Adam Castañeda of Freneticore in a press release. “Every bit counts and HARF’s support helped us resume our regular, seasonal programming.” According to HARF, this is how to get that money: Non-profit institutional applicants and individuals over the age of 18 must be able to demonstrate, through appropriate documentation, their cultural or artistic practice and how they pursue their creative mission professionally. They must also prove that their artistic practice was negatively impacted, directly or indirectly, by Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey. So long as both the need and the reasoning behind the need are clearly present, HARF will not restrict the use of funds to any purpose or category. Those who received funding in the first round of grants are not eligible to apply a second time. Individual applicants must also be able to show that they are pursuing at least one of the following: private and government insurance claims, Red Cross disaster relief, Texas Workforce Commission disaster unemployment insurance, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) individual assistance grants and Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. Institutional applicants on the other hand, must show private and government insurance claims, FEMA public assistance grants or SBA loans. For more information and to donate, visit Harvey Arts Recovery Fund at harveyartsrecovery.org.
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MUSIC
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Two and half songs deep into Bitchin’ Bajas’ psychedelic meditation songs, I’m pretty sure I’ve crossed over into some other dimension and have met God amidst the swirling keyboard loops and harmonizing static hums. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. However, this electronic duo from Chicago writes some music that you could meditate to for a long period of time. It’s trippy as hell and stretched out across sometimes 17 minute tracks, but the dynamic changes enough for it to not be boring. Brought you by K23, the folks behind last year’s psych fest, Psych Del Rio, the show will take place at Coates Chapel at the Southwest School of Art and feature trippy visuals from The Mustachio Light Show. $11-$13, 8:30-11:30pm, Southwest School of Art, Coates Chapel, 300 Augusta St., facebook.com/k23gallery. WED
21
Matt the Electrician
Born to a union carpenter and a seamstress, Matt Sever moved from the West Coast to Austin in the mid-1990s searching for better opportunities for his music career. An electrician by day and folk artist by night, Sever, still in his work attire, REK R OO would actually introduce himself as “Matt the Electrician” as a way to explain his appearance to the crowd. The M name apparently stuck. Combining banjo picking, acoustic guitar strums and minimal percussion, Sever finds a way to blend his charming lyricism into the mix to produce really interesting folk songs that keep the listener eager to hear more. $10-$45, 8:30pm, Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. samsburgerjoint.com THU
22
M
ED IA
Lalah Hathaway
Neo-traditional country meets rock ‘n’ roll meets ’60s pop in vein of the Beatles, The Texas Gentlemen out of Dallas sound like a lot of different things but manage to keep their sound cohesive and interesting throughout their entire catalog. Take the track “Pain,” from their 2017 record TX Jelly: a 12-string acoustic guitar opens the song, which dives directly into a honky-tonk swinging verse one could easily line-dance to, followed by a pre-chorus that sounds like it could’ve come off The Beatles’ White album. It’s great stuff, and if you’re looking for something new from the country/rock world that’s not commercial AF, peep The Texas Gentlemen. Free, 7pm, The Rustic, 17619 La Cantera Pkwy., Suite 204, (210) 245-7500, therustic.com. FRI
23
DEREK BLANKS
The Texas Gentlemen There’s a video on YouTube of Lalah Hathaway singing with the jazz and funk collective Snarky Puppy. Now, at first, the video seems pretty ordinary, bad ass singer singing with bad ass band, but then Hathaway does something that seems humanly impossible; she sings two notes at once. The first time I watched the video, I literally said out loud, “What in the fuck?” The folks in the band seem to have a similar reaction as their facial expressions light up with excitement. Then, a couple bars later, Hathaway does it again, which garners even more stoked reactions from the band. Not only is Hathaway able to sing two notes at once, she’s able to keep those notes in key, which requires some serious, and I can’t emphasize this enough, serious, talent. Hathaway ain’t no joke, and it’s not really a surprise that she’s taken home a Grammy every year since 2014. 7pm, $25-$39, Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. THU
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Harvey McLaughlin Album Release Show If you’ve been been making even the slightest attempt at checking out the local music scene here in San Antonio (if you haven’t done anything to support local musicians, art and culture, please step that shit up, OK? Thanks – it’s not that difficult, BB), then it’s safe to say you’ve seen Harvey McLaughlin in one or a few capacities: playing in his projects The Hares or Harvey McLaughlin and The Bottom Feeders, playing solo, or accompanying the twopiece powerhouse Lonely Horse for a few of their select shows. His music is rock ‘n’ roll with elements of punk rock emerging at just the right pockets in his songs. If you check him out at his album release show — which also features local rockers Topo Chica and Whatever? — you’ll be guaranteed a look at arguably one of the best rock ‘n’ rollers in all of Saytown. $5-$8, 10pm, Limelight, 2718 N. St. Mary’s St., thelimelightsa.com.
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Honoring one of the most prolific artists and producers in hip-hop history, James “J Dilla” Yancey, comes Dilla Day. Since 2016 rappers, beat-makers, and singers from all around San Antonio have come together to honor the late producer’s life and legacy with respective sets. This year’s lineup includes MC2, Spy MC & Da Band, Apaso, Intre, AMEA, Mad One, Tone Royal, Apas, Alvin Jae aka Tuxedo Blakk, Raw the Kat & Cashmo, JL, Royal King Minus with producer intermissions from Jknodic, Mikey Strange, Clematis, Bomb Shelter Crew and shots Dupre. For a quick look at what San Antonio has to offer on the hip-hop side of things, this is sort of the perfect show for that. The show is free, but they are accepting donations to go towards the James Yancey Foundation, a non-profit charitable institution that helps fund the development of music in the inner city and provide scholarships to students enrolled at schools. Donation encouraged, 5pm, Burleson Yard Beer Garden, 430 Austin St. (210) 354-3001, facebook.com/burlesonyard. FRI
Have you ever been curious about the techno and dance party scene in San Antonio? Well, now’s your chance to get a little taste of the offerings found right here in the Alamo City. Founded by DJ and recording artist Enrique Cortazar, Unscene Records has been releasing high-quality, minimal-house music and techno since 2014, contributing to the underground dance scene. The label started a roving party/ gathering called Sub: Rosa, which will be hosted in a variety of different venues throughout the city, from bars to secret locations, all providing a unique experience of sound and space. DJs you can expect to be there include Dozal, Majiini, CHKLTE, and the aforementioned Cortazar. Free, 2-9pm, Ventura, 1011 Avenue B, (210) 802-6940, venutrasatx.com. SAT
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SAT
Contemporary Whatever
COURTESY PORRIDGE FIST
COURTESY HARVEY MCLAUGHLIN
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Brought to life by local musician Dane Rousay, whose unique drumming in bands like The Freebiez, Baby Bangs, Jejune Stars and More Eaze has garnered him regional praise, Contemporary Whatever is a monthly experimental performance series featuring local and touring artists who usually don’t subscribe to any mainstream genre of music. This month’s offering showcases the cello looping effects of Emilio Alvarez, Rick Weaver performing something called avant karaoke, and self-described experimental dream-thrashers Porridge Fist, who sort of sound exactly how they describe themselves: thrash metal, dreamy reverberation, it’s all there. Free, 8-10:30pm, Ventura, 1011 Avenue B, (210) 802-6940, venutrasatx.com. TUE
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MUSIC
MUSIC
3 3 0 e g r ay s o n s t
CALENDAR
Nathan Hamilton | Curtis mcmurty WED., FEB 21 • DOORS: 7 PM / SHOW: 8PM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21 FEB. 23 JASON BOLAND & THE STRAGGLERS
The Curtis Calderon Quartet South Texas jazz musician Curtis Calderon and his quartet perform live. $10. Jazz, TX, 8:30-11:30pm. Nathan Hamilton, Curtis McMurtry Austin-based singer-songwriter performs hits from over six original albums. $10-$45. Sam’s Burger Joint, 8pm.
matt the electrician THU, FEB 22 • DOORS: 7:30PM / SHOW: 8 PM FEB. 24 • SHINYRIBS
Skinny Lister British folk band Skinny Lister performs live with Will Varley. $12. Paper Tiger, 7pm. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22 Devan Jones & The Uptown Stomp Austin blues group Devan Jones & The Uptown Stomp performs live. $10. Jazz, TX, 8:30-11:30pm.
Cory Morrow Acoustic show FRI, FEB 23 • DOORS: 8 PM / SHOW: 9PM
Shaws of awe - Dustin Ellis and Wayne Cowden Jammin Bithday Party
MAR. 16 • KOE WETZEL
MAR. 17 • WADE BOWEN
SAT, FEB 24• DOORS: 2:30 PM / SHOW: 3:15PM
MAR. 14 • KJ CARES FOR KIDS CONCERT, KANE BROWN PLUS MORE ARTISTS TBA!
wood & wire SAT, FEB 24 • DOORS: 8 PM / SHOW: 9 PM
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CURRENT • February 21-27, 2018 • sacurrent.com
identifiable as country heavy-hitters Jason Aldean or Tim McGraw performs live at the rodeo. $27-$200. AT&T Center, 7 pm. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23 Cory Morrow acoustic show with rollicking, soulful, feel-good Texas country, Cory Morrow has made thousands jump on tabletops, shimmy, scream, and suspend worries for almost two decades. $15-$100. Sam’s Burger Joint, 9pm. Eye Before Ego Local experimental band Eye Before Ego performs for their EP release alongside indie bands Noise Quota, Red Cherry Cola Club, Ramparts and Tubular Face. $5. Imagine Books and Records, 8pm.
Johnny P & The Wiseguys Hailing from outside of New York City, trumpeter and crooner Johnny Panzarella provides a swingin’ musical styling and stage presence, echoing the greats such as Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, and Louis Prima. The capability of crooning a romantic ballad, wailing on Matt The Electrician Despite the a trumpet solo, and scat-singing on an name, Matt the Electrician is no up-tempo tune makes Johnny P. a real longer an electrician, focusing instead “Jazz Triple-Threat.” $10. Luna, 8pm. on a music career that has spanned Jorma Kaukonen Founding member of the course of two decades, a dozen legendary bands Jefferson Airplane records, and thousands of shows. His and Hot Tuna performs a mix of music, however, remains rooted in his Americana, blues and rock’n’roll. blue-collar beginnings, with lyricism $36.50-$75. Tobin Center for the that embraces the day-to-day, the Performing Arts, 8pm. mundane, the beauty of the ordinary. $10-$45. Sam’s Burger Joint, New Orleans Night South Texas jazz 8:30pm. musician, Brent "Doc" Watkins is joined by Pierre Poree of New Orleans Over the Horizon Local pop-punk act and friends to perform live. $20. Jazz, performs live with experimental band TX, 8:30-11:30pm. Eye before Ego. Free. Bottom Bracket Social Club, 10:30pm-1:30am. Foreigner With 10 multi-platinum albums and 16 Top 30 hits, Foreigner Cody Johnson Country singer with is pretty much one of the most popular a baritone-voice as unique and Los Huracanes Del Norte Mexican Norteño group originally from Yahualica de González Gallo, Jalisco performs over four decades of original hits. $25-$50. Cowboys Dancehall, 7pm.
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rock acts in the world. Founded in 1976, the band's debut album produced the hits “Feels Like The First Time,” “Cold As Ice” and “Long, Long Way From Home.” $15-$200. AT&T Center, 7:30pm. Zane Williams ‘Bringin’ Country Back’ is more than a catchphrase for Zane Williams, it is a rallying cry for a return to authenticity and a fi tting title for his sixth studio album. That plain-spoken, down-home honesty has now become the calling card for Zane’s own career, landing him four No. 1 songs on the Texas radio charts. $12. Gruene Hall, 8pm. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 Dead Horse Thrash punk band from Pasadena, Texas performs live with metal bands Confused, Screw Missile, Anialator and The Astral Project. $10$12. The Rock Box, 8pm-1am.
performs on the St. Mary's Strip. $8. Paper Tiger, 8pm. The Terri Hendrix Band Texas singersongwriter Terri Hendrix and her band perform live during an intimate Tobin Studio Session. $23.50-$45. Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 8pm. Wood & Wire Austin-based bluegrass band Wood and Wire performs live with Sour Bridges. $10-$45. Sam’s Burger Joint, 9pm. LOCASH With a sound that fuses modern country and classic heartland rock with an edgy vocal blend, the independently-minded partners are revered as “one of Nashville’s hardest-working acts” whose live show is said to be among the most energetic and entertaining in the country music genre. $15$200. AT&T Center, 1pm.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 Doc Watkins and His Orchestra South Texas jazz musician Brent “Doc” J.I.D, Earthgang Rapper and songwriter J.I.D from Atlanta performs live with Watkins and his orchestra perform live. hip-hop duo Earthgang, Chaz French $30. Jazz, TX, 8:30-11:30pm. and Lute on the Never Had Sh!t tour. Elnuh Local dream pop band performs $15-$65. Alamo City Music Hall & live with psychedelic duo MysterE, Club, 8pm. Wezmer and Lawson Yeager. $5. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26 Imagine Books and Records, 8pm. Swing Nite with The Dirty River Brothers Osborne Two sons from Dixie Band Traditional jazz and blues a working class family, John and tunes that emulate the sounds of Louis TJ Osborne grew up in a small, Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, King Maryland water town writing and Oliver, Kid Ory, Jim Cullum and many playing songs for friends and family more. The band’s primary goal is to in their father’s shed. The singerpromote authentic jazz and blues. $7songwriter siblings recently won both $10. Sam’s Burger Joint, 8:30pm. “Vocal Duo of the Year” and “New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year” at TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27 the 52nd ACM Awards. $15-$200. AT&T Center, 7:30pm. Sammy Miller and the Congregation Los Angeles native Sammy Miller Swimming with Bears Indie soul band performs uplifting jazz with his band Swimming With Bears from Austin live. $20. Jazz, TX, 6-8 & 9-11pm.
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irrational fear? I don’t know. But here’s what I do know: most Biphobia (and jealousy for that matter) is projected insecurity. Built into the fear that someone will leave you because they ‘like x or y better’ is the assumption that you yourself aren’t good enough.” And while feelings of insecurity and jealousy can undermine a relationship, ANGST, they don’t have to. It all depends on how you address them when they arise. “We all have our moments!” said Aguiar. “But we can turn these moments into opportunities for open communication and intimacy rather than moments of isolation and shame. That way they end up bringing you closer, rather than drive this invisible wedge between you. The key is to understand that feelings aren’t always rational. But if we can share those feelings with the person we love without fear of judgment or reprisal, it can help create a space of comfort and intimacy that no piece of ass will ever be able to compete with — no matter how hot they are or what they may or may not have between their legs.” As for the reasons you’re feeling insecure — your boyfriend might be gay and/or happier with a man — I’m not going to lie to you, ANGST. Your boyfriend could be gay (some people who aren’t bisexual identify as bi before coming out as gay or lesbian), and/or he could one day realize that he’d be happier with a man (just as you could one day realize that you’d be happier with a woman). But your wonderful sex life — your engaging, kinky, rewarding sex life — is pretty good evidence that your boyfriend isn’t gay. (I was one of those guys who identified as bi before coming out as gay, ANGST, and I had girlfriends and the sex we had was far from wonderful.) And now I’m going tell you something you no doubt already know: Very few people wind up spending their lives with the person they were dating at 18. You and your boyfriend are both in the process of figuring out who you are and what you want. It’s possible he’ll realize you’re not the person he wants to be with, ANGST, but it’s also possible you’ll realize he’s not the person you want to be with. Stop worrying about the next six or seven decades of your life — stop worrying about forever — and enjoy this time and this “Many people who encounter us Bi+ folk in the wild boy and this relationship for however long it lasts. just project their insecurities onto us with impunity and Finally, ANGST, on the off chance your boyfriend hasn’t then blame us for it,” said RJ Aguiar, a bisexual activist and spoken to a doctor about his symptoms — because he’s content creator whose work has been featured on Buzzfeed, an uninsured/underinsured/unlucky American or because HuffPo, Queerty and other sites. “As someone who’s bi he’s been too embarrassed to bring up the size of his balls herself, I’m sure ANGST know this all too well.” and quality of ejaculations with his parents and/or doctor So if you’ve been on the receiving end of biphobia — as — I shared your letter with Dr. John Amory, Professor of almost all bisexual people have — why are you doing it to Medicine at the University of Washington. your bisexual boyfriend? “An 18-year-old male with testicles the ‘size of grapes’ “This hypothetical so-and-so-is-going-to-leave-meindicates an issue with testicular development,” said Dr. for-someone-hotter scenario could happen to anyone Amory. “The reduced testicular volume, in combination with of any orientation,” said Aguiar. “But maybe because the other features such as his feminine face and sparse the potential ‘pool of applicants’ is over twice as big body hair, also suggest an issue with testicular function.” for us Bi+ folk, we get stuck with twice as much of this It could simply be delayed puberty — some people
I’m an 18-year-old female. I’m cisgender and bisexual. I’ve been in a monogamous relationship with my cisgender bisexual boyfriend for about a year. I’m currently struggling with a lot of internalized biphobia and other hang-ups about my boyfriend’s sexuality. I don’t know if I’m projecting my own issues onto him or if I’m just being bigoted towards bi men, but either way, I feel truly awful about it. But when I think about the fact that he’s bi and is attracted to men, I become jealous and fearful that he will leave me for a man or that he would rather be with a man. (I’ve been with men and women in the past; he’s never been with a man.) I know it is unfair of me to feel this way and he’s never given me any real reason to fear this. We have a very engaged, kinky, and rewarding sex life! But I worry I’m not what he really wants. This situation is complicated by the near certainty that my boyfriend has some sort of hormonal disorder. He has a very young face for an 18 year old, a feminine figure, and not a lot of body hair. He orgasms but he does not ejaculate; and although he has a sizable penis, his testicles are more like the size of grapes than eggs. He struggles a lot with feeling abnormal and un-masculine. I try to be as supportive as possible and tell him how attracted to him I am and how he’ll get through whatever this is. But he can tell his bi-ness makes me nervous and uncomfortable. I think that because he appears more feminine than most men and is more often hit on by men than women, I worry that he would feel more comfortable or “normal” with a man. I don’t want to contribute to him feeling abnormal or bad about himself. How do I stop worrying that he’s gay or would be happier with a man? I feel horrible about myself for these anxieties considering that I’m bi too, and should know better. Anonymous Nervous Girlfriend Seeks Tranquility
suddenly grow six inches when they get to college — or it could be something called Klinefelter syndrome. “Klinefelter syndrome occurs in one out of every 500 males and is associated with small testicular volume and decreased testosterone,” said Dr. Amory. “This diagnosis is frequently missed because the penis is normal in size and the men are normal in most other ways, although about half of men with Klinefelter syndrome (KS) can have breast enlargement (gynecomastia) that can be seen as feminizing. Bottom line: Small testes at age 18 means it’s time for a doctor’s visit — probably an endocrinologist or urologist — to take a family history, do an examination, and consider measurement of testosterone and some other hormones. This should help him understand if he ‘just needs to wait’ or if he has a diagnosis that could be treated. There is a real possibility that he has KS, which is usually treated with testosterone to improve muscle mass, bone density and sexual function.” Follow RJ Aguiar on Twitter @rj4gui4r. I’m a 27-year-old woman whose boyfriend recently broke up with her. Along with the usual feelings of grief and heartbreak, I’m feeling a lot of guilt about how I handled our sex life, which was one of the main issues in our breakup. My now ex-boyfriend was interested in BDSM and a kink-oriented lifestyle, and I experimented with that for him. I attended several play parties, went to a five-day-long kink camp with him, and tried out many of his BDSM fantasies. The problem became that, hard as I tried, I just wasn’t very interested in that lifestyle and parts of it made me very uncomfortable. I was game to do the lighter stuff (spanking, bondage), but just couldn’t get behind the more extreme things. I disappointed him because I “went along with it” only to decide I wasn’t into it and that I unfairly represented my interest in his lifestyle. Did I do something wrong? What should I have done? Basically A Little Kinky All you’re guilty of doing, BALK, is exactly what kinksters everywhere hope their vanilla partners will do. You gave it a try — you were good, giving, and game enough to explore BDSM with and for him — and sometimes that works, e.g. someone who always thought of themselves as vanilla goes to a play party or a five-day-long kink camp and suddenly realizes, hey, I’m pretty kinky, too! But it doesn’t always work. Since the alternative to “went along with it” was “never gave it a chance,” BALK, your ex-boyfriend should be giving you credit for trying, not grief for supposedly misleading him. mail@savagelove.net @FakeDanSavage on Twitter ITMFA.org sacurrent.com • February 21-27, 2018 • CURRENT 45
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“En Vacation” — they all come up short. ACROSS
1 1/1760th of a mile 5 Baseball Hall of Famer Ripken 8 Came down softly? 14 Margarine, colloquially 15 Brewhouse brew 16 Party appetizer 17 Poet/dramatist Hughes 19 Quirky French title role of 2001 20 Furniture to display cheesy stuff? 22 ___ Soundsystem 23 Baled stuff 24 Symptom that might require eye drops 26 Attach, as a button 29 Pre-fl ight org. 31 Stewart who sang “Maggie May” 32 Till the soil 33 Hot off the presses 34 Changes gradually, graphically 37 Kiwi’s much larger cousin 38 Go faster 40 Sturdy tree 41 Dress shirt component 43 Connectivity issue 44 U.S. : counter(clockwise) :: U.K. : ___(clockwise) 45 “Captain Underpants” creator Pilkey 46 Two-___ toilet paper 47 Incas’ mountains
48 Goof 51 Teensy carpenter 52 European peak 53 Tiny mythical creatures on patrol? 59 2004 Jude Law drama 61 “Music for Airports” composer 62 “Come ___, we’re expecting you ...” (“The Love Boat” theme lyrics) 63 Confident finish? 64 Armitage who plays “Young Sheldon” 65 Frosty maker 66 ___ ThÈrËse, Quebec 67 Gambler’s numbers
DOWN
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Cheap” (AC/DC song) 18 Read a QR code 21 Underwire’s locale, maybe 25 Neither companion 26 Built to ___ 27 “Sesame Street” character voiced by Ryan Dillon since 2013 28 Is totally up for nestling in bed? 29 Golf prop 30 Get bigger 33 “Science Friday” airer 34 Cocoa container 35 Really dislike 36 Equipment used at the Winter Olympics 38 Viciousness 39 Sunup to sundown 42 Back muscle, for short 44 Actor Banderas 46 Shepherd’s pie bit 47 “Black Beauty” novelist Sewell 48 Colorful parrot 49 “___ right back!” 50 Many residents of Erbil in Iraq 51 Limber 54 Some baseball stats 55 “Gosh darn it!” 56 Name in spiral notebooks 57 Noddy creator Blyton 58 Mumford & ___ 60 Melancholy
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY by Rob Brezsny ARIES (March 21-April 19): When you’re playing poker, a wild card refers to a card that can be used as any card the cardholder wants it to be. If the two of hearts is deemed wild before the game begins, it can be used as an ace of diamonds, jack of clubs, queen of spades, or anything else. That’s always a good thing! In the game of life, a wild card is the arrival of an unforeseen element that affects the flow of events unpredictably. It might derail your plans, or alter them in ways that are at first inconvenient but ultimately beneficial. It may even cause them to succeed in an even more interesting fashion than you imagined they could. I bring this up, Aries, because I suspect that you’ll be in the Wild Card Season during the next four weeks. Any and all of the above definitions may apply. Be alert for unusual luck.
There will be minimal value in formulating a definitive concept of success and then trying to achieve it. You will have more fun and you will learn more by continually redefining success as you wander and ramble.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): During World War II, British code-breakers regularly intercepted and deciphered top-secret radio messages that high-ranking German soldiers sent to each other. Historians have concluded that these heroes shortened the war by at least two years. I bring this to your attention, Leo, in the hope that it will inspire you. I believe your own metaphorical code-breaking skills will be acute in the coming weeks. You’ll be able to decrypt messages that have different meanings from what they appear to mean. You won’t get fooled by deception and misdirection. This knack will enable you to home in on the elusive truths TAURUS (April 20-May 20): If you gorge that are circulating — thus saving you from on ten pounds of chocolate in the next 24 hours, you will get sick. Please don’t do that. unnecessary and irrelevant turmoil. Limit your intake to no more than a pound. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In April 1972, Follow a similar policy with any other three American astronauts climbed into a pleasurable activity. Feel emboldened to spacecraft and took a trip to the moon and surpass your normal dosage, yes, but avoid back. On the second day of the 11-day jaunt, ridiculous overindulgence. Now is one of the rare times when visionary artist William pilot Ken Mattingly removed and misplaced his wedding ring. In the zero-gravity Blake’s maxim is applicable: “The road conditions, it drifted off and disappeared of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.” somewhere in the cabin. Nine days later, on So is his corollary, “You never know what the way home, Mattingly and Charlie Duke is enough until you know what is more did a space walk. When they opened the than enough.” But keep in mind that Blake hatch and slipped outside, they found the didn’t say, “The road of foolish, reckless exorbitance leads to the palace of wisdom.” wedding ring floating in the blackness of space. Duke was able to grab it and bring it in. I suspect that in the coming weeks, you will GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Have you ever recover a lost or missing item in an equally had a rousing insight about an action that unlikely location, Virgo. Or perhaps your would improve your life, but then you failed retrieval will be of a more metaphorical kind: to summon the willpower to actually take that action? Have you resolved to embark on a dream, a friendship, an opportunity. some new behavior that would be good for LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): According to you, but then found yourself unable to carry British philosopher Alain de Botton, “Maturity it out? Most of us have experienced these begins with the capacity to sense and, in frustrations. The ancient Greeks had a word good time and without defensiveness, admit for it: akrasia. I bring it up, Gemini, because to our own craziness.” He says that our I suspect you may be less susceptible to akrasia in the next four weeks than you have humble willingness to be embarrassed by our confusion and mistakes and doubts is key ever been. I bet you will consistently have the courage and command to actually follow to understanding ourselves. I believe these through on what your intuition tells you is in meditations will be especially useful for you in the coming weeks, Libra. They could lead your best interests. you to learn and make use of robust new secrets of self-mastery. CANCER (June 21-July 22): “There is no such thing as a failed experiment,” SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): During the next said inventor Buckminster Fuller, “only four weeks, there are three activities I suspect experiments with unexpected outcomes.” you should indulge in at an elevated rate: That’s an excellent guideline for you to laughter, dancing, and sex. The astrological keep in mind during the coming weeks. You’re entering a phase of your astrological omens suggest that these pursuits will bring you even more health benefits than usual. cycle when questions are more important They will not only give your body, mind, and than answers, when explorations are more soul the precise exercise they need most; essential than discoveries, and when they will also make you smarter and kinder curiosity is more useful than knowledge.
and wilder. Fortunately, the astrological omens also suggest that laughter, dancing, and sex will be even more easily available to you than they normally are. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The little voices in your head may have laryngitis, but they’re still spouting their cracked advice. Here’s another curiosity: You are extraattuned to the feelings and thoughts of other people. I’m tempted to speculate that you’re at least temporarily telepathic. There’s a third factor contributing to the riot in your head: People you were close to earlier in your life are showing up to kibitz you in your nightly dreams. In response, I bid you to bark “Enough!” at all these meddlers. You have astrological permission to tell them to pipe down so you can hear yourself think. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Paleontologist Jack Horner says that developmental biologists are halfway toward being able to create a chickenosaurus — a creature that is genetically a blend of a chicken and a dinosaur. This project is conceivable because there’s an evolutionary link between the ancient reptile and the modern bird. Now is a favorable time for you to contemplate metaphorically similar juxtapositions and combinations, Capricorn.
For the foreseeable future, you’ll have extra skill and savvy in the art of amalgamation. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Be stubborn about your goals but flexible about your methods.” That’s the message I saw on a woman’s t-shirt today. It’s the best possible advice for you to hear right now. To further drive home the point, I’ll add a quote from productivity consultant David Allen: “Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind.” Are you willing to be loyal and true to your high standards, Aquarius, even as you improvise to uphold and fulfill them? PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In her novel The Round House, writer Louise Erdrich reminisces about how hard it was, earlier in her life, to yank out the trees whose roots had grown into the foundation of her family’s house. “How funny, strange, that a thing can grow so powerful even when planted in the wrong place,” she says. Then she adds, “ideas, too.” Your first assignment in the coming weeks, my dear Pisces, is to make sure that nothing gets planted in the wrong place. Your second assignment is to focus all your intelligence and love on locating the right places for new seeds to be planted.
THIS MODERN WORLD by Tom Tomorrow
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