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San Antonio’s shutdown is already taking a heavy toll ON the city’s creators, service workers and small businesses

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in this issue San Antonio Current

Issue 20-07 /// March 25 - April 7, 2020

26 Screens

Publisher: Michael Wagner Editor-in-Chief: Sanford Nowlin

Filling the Void

Editorial

Food & Nightlife Editor: Lea Thompson Calendar Editor: Kelly Merka Nelson Contributing Arts Editor: Bryan Rindfuss Staff Writer: Chris Conde Digital Content Editor: Sarah Martinez Contributors: Ron Bechtol, Daniel Conrad, James Courtney, Jade Esteban Estrada, Dan R. Goddard, Lance Higdon, Steven G. Kellman, Hannah Lorence, Kiko Martinez, M. Solis, Gary Sweeney Editorial Interns: Brianna Espinoza, Trevor Flynn, Steven Hargis, Katie Hennessey

While in COVID-19 isolation, live vicariously through movies on your favorite streaming platforms

29 Food

Seeking Solace in a Tortilla

Advertising

Sales Manager: Joseph Allen Account Manager: Mallory Jochen, Cristal Colleli Account Executives: Mike Valdelamar Digital Sales Specialist: Mike Valdelamar

Say Town Tacos’ menu may not be big, but its flavors offer the comfort we crave in tough times

Marketing and Events

Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni Events Manager: Chelsea Bourque Marketing + Events Coordinator: Nina Rangel Marketing & Events Interns: Tom Willoughby

The Takeaway

Pitmaster Mike Gutierrez of Ay Que Rico Talks Brisket, Barbecues and Life After COVID-19

Creative Services

Creative Services Manager: Tina Corbeil Graphic Designer: Samantha Serna Graphic Design Interns: Pedro Macias, Raquel Prado, Gabriela Rivera

Circulation

Circulation Manager: Justin Giles

Business

Business Manager: Sonia Acosta

Euclid Media Group

Chief Executive Officer: Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers: Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services: Stacy Volhein Creative Director: Tom Carlson Digital Operations Coordinator: Jaime Monzon Senior Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni Director of Digital Sales: Fran DiCarlo www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising: Voice Media Group (888) 278-9866, vmgadvertising.com San Antonio Current 915 Dallas San Antonio, Texas 78215 sacurrent.com Editorial: (210) 227-0044 / Fax - (210) 227-7755 Display Advertising: (210) 227-0044 Fax: (210) 227-7733 Classified: (210) 227-CLAS / Fax - (210) 227-7733 The San Antonio Current is published by Euclid Media Group Verified Audit Member San Antonio Distribution – The Current is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Get listed 1. Visit sacurrent.com 2. Click “Calendar” and then “Submit an Event” 3. Follow the steps to submit your event details Please allow 48 hours for review and approval. Event submissions are not accepted by phone. Copyright: The entire contents of the San Antonio Current are copyright 2019 by Euclid Media Group LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Subscriptions: Additional copies or back issues may be purchased at the Current offices for $1. Six-month domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $75; one-year subscriptions for $125.

Courtesy Photo / Slab Cinema

14 Feature

33 Music

The Calm After the Storm

Cancel Culture

Back home from LA, Nina Díaz talks about making peace with Girl in a Coma and songwriting in the age of COVID-19

San Antonio’s shutdown is already taking a heavy toll on the city’s creators, service workers and small businesses

07 News

The Opener City Scrapes

Local Leaders’ Treatment of Latin-American Residents in the ’30s Offers Lesson on How We Should Respond to the Current Economic Crisis

Glitter Political

Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia Keeps Her Distance but Continues to Stay Close to Constituents Near Lackland AFB

Cutting It Close

Here’s How to Help

18 Calendar

37 Etc

Crossword Puzzle

How to stay safe — and entertained — during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Creepily Beautiful

Artist Audrya Flores spins rasquache magic from serpents, skulls and ghosts of bedsheets past

Reading in the Time of COVID-19

Eight books to kick the coronavirus in its stupid dick

Facing loss of income, San Antonio salon workers keep up risky work amid pandemic

The Outbreak Is Financially Devastating Your Neighbors

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San Antonio’s shutdown is already taking a heavy toll ON the city’s creators, service workers and small businesses

This week’s cover by Tom Carlson highlights the bleak economic situation the pandemic has forced on workers whose jobs are part of our local culture.

6 CURRENT | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | sacurrent.com

Hometown treasure Shea Serrano last week threw out a Twitter lifeline, asking followers to send him bills they’re unable to pay due to the pandemic. In one evening, the Basketball (and Other Things) author sent out $10,000 directly to people in need via Venmo. He promised more was to come. Perpetually pissy Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy was the only member of SA’s congressional delegation to vote against the House’s coronavirus relief bill, which passed 363-40. The Tea Party troll — go look up his record — dissed the bipartisan measure as “welfare” that would do “more harm than good.” VIA Metropolitan Transit last week stopped collecting fares for fixed-route bus service, VIAtrans trips and VIA Link on-demand services. According to officials, the move minimizes contact between drivers and passengers and allow riders a financial reprieve amid the building economic crisis. Late last week, Bexar County health officials confirmed that the novel coronavirus is now being transmitted within the community, not just through travel or close contact. The local strategy for dealing with COVID-19 has now shifted from containment to community mitigation. — Sanford Nowlin

YOU SAID IT!

“What we’re seeing in China and Europe, who are way out ahead of us, is that this is a three-month response.” – Dr. Colleen Bridger,

San Antonio’s assistant city manager, before council voted for a 30-day closure of bars and restaurants

news

That Rocks/That Sucks

Gage Skidmore

ASSCLOWN ALERT

John Cornyn Days after being excoriated on the Interwebs for a tweet joking about the coronavirus, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, now faces accusations of racism for claiming China’s to blame for the outbreak because folks there “eat bats and snakes and dogs.” The comment came after a reporter asked the unflinching Trump ally about the wisdom of our reality-show president repeatedly calling the disease a “Chinese Virus.” “China has been the source of a lot of these

Gov. Greg Abbott signed an order pushing back the May 26 primary election runoffs until July due to coronavirus concerns. That means dozens of contests won’t happen until July 14, including the one between Air Force vet MJ Hegar and state Sen. Royce West of Dallas for the nomination to take on U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. Texas Democrats have sued in Travis County district court to expand mailin voting in response to the crisis. Last Wednesday, Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti announced that property tax foreclosure sales will be canceled for the month of April and May as homeowners struggle through the pandemic. His office is also mulling calling off mortgage foreclosure sales in April and May. What’s more, the Bexar Appraisal District wants to freeze property tax valuations, but first will seek permission from Gov. Greg Abbott.

viruses like SARS, like MERS, the Swine Flu,” Cornyn fired back. In addition to being racist on its fucking face, the remark seems to echo a widely debunked rumor that the outbreak resulted after someone slurped down bat soup. It also shows Ol’ Corny knows as much about infectious disease as he does winning favor with Asian American voters: neither MERS nor Swine Flu originated in China. And did we mention the remarks were captured on video? No doubt Cornyn’s Democratic opponent will have them on infinite TV repeat as the senator faces reelection this fall. Keep on running that big mouth of yours, assclown. — Sanford Nowlin

City council voted last Thursday to extend a closure order for bars and restaurants ordered by Mayor Ron Nirenberg for 30 days. The order, while backed by local health officials as necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19, is likely to result in deep job cuts, not to mention permanent closures. More than 140,000 San Antonians work in the leisure and hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. — Sanford Nowlin

Office of the Governor

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8 CURRENT | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | sacurrent.com

prior year on work relief, primarily by the federal government. The report also acknowledged “a great deal of malnutrition, particularly among the children of Latin-American extraction.” But after noting the problem of low wage industries in San Antonio, the report focused on just one portion of the city’s populace: “The committee finds that in San Antonio and its suburbs the Latin-American population is the most serious problem,” the authors wrote. “San Antonio formerly was home of a great many persons of Latin-American extraction who played a leading role in making the cotton crop in Texas. … The tremendous shrinkage in the cotton acreage and crop in Texas resulted in the concentration of many of these people in San Antonio without means of support and has placed a burden locally of taking care of the machinery that formerly served a large part of the southwest.” And the response of these business leaders to the “burden” of this population? “The Latin-American population constitutes a large racial minority, and at its present rate of increase will soon become a racial majority in San Antonio,” they explained. “The schools are already crowded with children of Latin-American extraction. The committee believes Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection that there are many Latin-Americans in San Antonio for whom there is not opportunity for gainful employment in the near fuCITYSCRAPES ture. For that reason, it is believed that consideration should be given to the redistribution of population, and that some of these families should voluntarily return to the small towns and farms from which they have come, and that other families should be repatriated.” Rather, alien populations weren’t assisted by relief in other countries, and “[i]t therefore seems only fair that the matter of repatriation be considered carefully both by the City of San Antonio and the Mexican Government.” BY HEYWOOD SANDERS The views of these leading lights of San Antonio business community were not shared by others in the Editor’s note: The following is CityScrapes, a column of opinion and analysis. city. A group led by Rabbi David Jacobson of Temple Antonio.” Maury Maverick, the mayor at the time, said Beth El succeeded in pressing Mayor Maverick and n these fraught and uncertain times, the meathe city commission to fund a more substantial, he’d discovered “90 per cent of the children in West sure of a community is how it deals with its independent analysis of local welfare needs and the side clinics were suffering from malnutrition.” neediest and most vulnerable. As we face the role of public and private agencies in meeting them. Maverick joined with County Judge Charles W. impact of the novel coronavirus, we need to Yet it is vital to recognize that for some here, malnuAnderson in mid-September 1939 in appointing a recognize the lessons and failures of the past and trition and slow starvation were simply seen as not special Welfare Investigation Committee to assess consider the broader needs and imperatives of a true our problem. local relief needs. The government leaders looked to community. Now, as thousands of San Antonio’s working a number of the city’s most prominent business and By the fall of 1939, San Antonio was a decade into people face unemployment and financial distress, civic leaders, with the committee chaired by Col. W. the dislocation and ravages of the Great Depression. we need our leaders — public and private, for profit B. Tuttle, president of the San Antonio Public Service Some in this city faced a particularly difficult situaand nonprofit — to build a contemporary relief and Company, the predecessor to CPS Energy. Tuttle was tion, after the city’s notorious pecan shelling plants support system, one that recognizes that we here are joined by banker Franz Groos, hotelier Gus Menger, closed and piece-work garment manufacturing shut in this together, and that we cannot necessarily rely Standard Electric President Leo Dubinski and others, down in the face of wage requirements under the on the state or national government to sustain us. charged to provide a “true picture” of the needs of Federal Wage and Hour Law. Local social workers, San Antonio-area residents. led by Brother Herbert Leies of St. Mary’s University, Heywood Sanders is a professor of public policy at the The fact-finding group delivered a report the folpressed city and county government leaders to take University of Texas at San Antonio. lowing month, documenting the millions spent the action, painting a “picture of ‘slow starvation’ in San

Local Leaders’ Treatment of Latin-American Residents in the ’30s Offers Lesson on How We Should Respond to the Current Economic Crisis

sacurrent.com | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | CURRENT 9

GLITTER POLITICAL

Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia Keeps Her Distance but Continues to Stay Close to Constituents Near Lackland AFB BY JADE ESTEBAN ESTRADA

t’s St. Patrick’s Day, and I’m sitting six feet away from Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia in the sparsely populated Plaza de Armas. We’re practicing the social distancing guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Although Lackland Air Force Base is a federal compound, it’s nestled in Rocha Garcia’s District 4 in Southwest San Antonio. Not yet a year into her first term, she was the councilmember most abruptly affected by last month’s decision to quarantine evacuees at the base. Rocha Garcia’s role in this story began Superbowl Sunday, when she received a phone call from a reporter asking her about the possibility of repatriated coronavirus evacuees coming to Lackland. As she gathered information on why the feds had selected it as one of the four locations for the mission, she became aware that not all bases had Lackland’s elite medical capabilities. “I felt good about our federal delegation,” she says, adding that both state and federal officials were responsive to her questions about how safe her residents would be. “We were told that we were just getting folks that were asymptomatic at Lackland.” That assurance helped put her at ease. However, a few weeks later, Rocha Garcia learned through ABC News that Lackland might get a second round of evacuees. She hadn’t been briefed on the possibility and figured other city officials were also surprised by the news. “At this point, I picked up the phone and I texted all of my federal delegation — except I didn’t have [U.S. Sen. Ted] Cruz’s mobile number — but I texted all of them and I said, ‘Hey, this is what I’m hearing. I need to make sure that you all are advocating for the right thing to do in San Antonio. We need more information.’” 10 CURRENT | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | sacurrent.com

Jade Esteban Estrada

In the end, neither she nor anyone in the delegation could put the brakes on the decision. “We didn’t have a choice. We were just told: ‘You will be receiving evacuees.’ It’s not like we could say, ‘Wait! Hold on!’ They just kind of sent them,” she says. “So, my concern all along has been if coronavirus — COVID-19 — hits San Antonio, do we have enough resources to take care of our very own folks?” Rocha Garcia now worries about the availability of hospital beds at facilities such as the Texas Center for Infectious Diseases. “So, we see that there are cases across the United States. The threat of community spread is inevitable. We don’t know when it will happen but [our work is about] preparing for that,” she says. “I’ve been asking questions for weeks now. I’m not going to lie, sometimes I feel like people at the beginning of this thought I was Chicken Little, but now they’re starting to realize ‘Oh, my goodness. Yeah, we should be doing this.’” The next phase in addressing the crisis is outreach and messaging, says Rocha Garcia, a marketing professor at Our Lady of the Lake University. And messages need to get to vulnerable people who may not have Internet access. “I think we should still do postcards,” she says. “Folks in District 4, they read their mail. It’s a physical postcard that they look at. The proof is all of us elected officials still use the mailers to get people to go out and vote. If mailers were not effective, we wouldn’t be wasting time and money on them.” Rocha Garcia has also been in contact with SAWS and CPS to see if information can be included with bills via inserts or newsletters. Also alarming to Rocha Garcia are videos she’s seen of college kids enjoying spring break at the Texas coast amid the outbreak. “I will be completely honest with you. I am concerned

that there are still some folks that are not taking this seriously,” she adds. “Because maybe you’re asymptomatic, or because maybe you think you are a little bit younger, you don’t think it could affect you. They don’t realize that they can still transmit this.” She put her money where her mouth is at last Thursday’s council meeting, voting to extend the mayor’s emergency declaration closing bars and restaurants for 30 days. “I think folks don’t realize the magnitude of something like this happening until it gets closer to home — and we don’t have that luxury to wait,” she says. I tell her I was uncomfortable coming to see her during the outbreak and ask whether she was uncomfortable seeing me. “No,” she replies. “I think with the social distancing, you’re one person. You’re sitting across the table, which is about six feet.” That morning, she kept the same distance when meeting with councilmen John Courage and Roberto Treviño, she points out. “Honestly, I do worry,” she confesses. “I have an 82-yearold mom and an 80-year-old dad.” Rocha Garcia recently got the two of them hooked on Netflix, which should help them pass time as they ride out the crisis — along with coffee and tea she brought them for their Keurig. Her son, on an extended spring break, is helping make sure they don’t go anywhere. “I’m a hugger, and I haven’t hugged, like, even my parents. I haven’t hugged them, and so especially for me it’s…” She gives a deep sigh. “You can never be too cautious, not with something that’s unknown as COVID-19.” I ask if this experience will change us as a culture. She pauses for a moment. “Probably. Maybe, eventually, after we see that the disease is gone, maybe we’ll get back handshakes and then eventually, hugs ... or something. But I do think that some behaviors are just going to probably be changed forever.”

sacurrent.com | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | CURRENT 11

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news Cutting It Close Facing loss of income, San Antonio salon workers keep up risky work amid pandemic BY JAMES DOBBINS

e’ve known for nearly two months that COVID-19 presents a threat to San Antonians. Last week, gyms, theaters, schools, bars, restaurants and other non-essential venues were closed by decree too late to halt community spread. But the belated actions taken by the city government appear to have left one vulnerable group behind: salon workers. At North Star and La Cantera malls, Visible Changes — a chain of 17 salons owned by the McCormack family of Houston — hair washers and stylists continue to come in close contact with the public. On Saturday, roughly 25 employees served clients at both locations. Mary Sonnier, a commission-based hairstylist at Visible Changes’ North Star location, said she told the owners she was scared of working during the pandemic. “The McCormacks told us they are looking out for us, because we are commission workers,” Sonnier said. “They want to stay open so we can make what we can while we can. At the same time, we are at high risk.” At press time, no one at Visible Changes’ corporate office returned phone inquiries about the shops remaining open. However, a shelter-in-place order from the city and Bexar County seems imminent. Visible Changes’ owners told employees they don’t have to come to work if they felt uncomfortable, according to workers interviewed by the Current. Still, the company wouldn’t pay for the time off if they chose to stay home, leaving a choice between zero income or possible exposure to the novel coronavirus. “It’s a rock and hard place,” Sonnier said. “I have two people at home who have auto-immune diseases, and they are on immunosuppressants. If I contract something and bring it home

James Dobbins

to them, it would be harder for them to fight it off.” Sonnier’s recent clients — fewer in numbers these days — included four healthcare workers. One even arrived in her scrubs after a hospital shift. All work in hospitals seeing coronavirus patients, she added. Another client, a doctor, took responsibility and canceled all her future appointments. “We wish everyone was that way,” Sonnier said. “But there are other people not taking it as seriously, and they are putting us at risk.” Sonnier said her weekly commissions have decreased 80% since the start of the pandemic. Since she works on commission, she also covers her own health insurance premiums and is unsure whether she’s eligible for unemployment benefits. Workers at the salon said Visible Changes’ management told them they were keeping the salons open to avoid paying “dark rent” — money the company would hand over to the malls if the storefronts closed. On visits to North Star and La Cantera last weekend, Visible Changes had the only open storefronts. The malls were surreally desolate, with only a handful of staff wiping down surfaces. At other salon chains, the managers

continue business as usual. At Salons by JC, a few dozen professionals continued to work inside a labyrinth of single-room barbershops and stylist shops in an Alamo Heights strip mall. On Saturday, a week after Mayor Ron Nirenberg urged citizens to go out and shop local, I spoke to Nasrin, an independent hairstylist and Salons by JC lessee. She chose not to reveal her last name. She’s had no customers for the past seven days, yet she continues to show up because she owes $242 in weekly rent. Salons by JC also did not return calls for comment. “I am the only one who is bringing money into [my] house,” Narsin said. “I support six people.” Jennifer Delgado, another independent stylist with a Salons by JC suite, questions where the line is for workers like herself who must be in contact with clients. She and her partner have decided to close. As a grandmother, she worries the risks are no longer worth the potential income. Though the Small Business Administration is offering emergency loans to owner-operators such as Nasrin and Delgado, both women doubt they’ll apply. Without customers, how can they repay the debt? At 73, Mary Alice Medina, stylist and

A client gets a haircut at Visible Changes’ North Star Mall location.

owner of San Antonio salon Angeline De Carlo, stepped away from cutting hair at the urging of her children. Some of the independent stylists at her business continue to see the few clients still making appointments. Others have temporarily quit. Salon workers are educated in the dynamics of infectious diseases. Frequent classes on sanitation are part of the licensing requirements. “The workers wear masks, the clients wear masks, everyone uses hand sanitizer,” Medina said of the steps taken at her own salon. “After every client, we spray the chair with bleach. Once we’re ordered to close, we will close.” Mayor Nirenberg, who spent Saturday night posting his favorite music on Instagram as the city he represents faces rapid coronavirus community spread, was unavailable for comment on this story. Salon workers begged him for help on his Instagram posts. Local workers in the beauty industry say they’re losing hope employers and politicians care about the risks they face. “I just wish the president started this a lot sooner,” Medina said. “I’ve worked in this industry for 55 years and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

sacurrent.com | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | CURRENT 13

Courtesy Photo / Slab Cinema

Cancel Culture

San Antonio’s shutdown is already taking a heavy toll on the city’s creators, service workers and small businesses BY SANFORD NOWLIN AND LEA THOMPSON

usiness should be in full swing for Angela Martinez. After a dormant winter, her small business Slab Cinema had lined up a slate of outdoor movie screenings for the spring. The venture accounts for more than half of her family’s annual income and also supports a handful of part-time employees. But instead of projecting films at the San Antonio Museum of Art and local parks, she and her husband Rick are hunkered down at home with their two kids, waiting out the COVID-19 outbreak. Beyond the cabin fever and lost revenue, Martinez worries about the effect the shutdown is having on San Antonio’s culture and emotional wellbeing. To be sure, we’re a city that thrives on shared experiences. Human interaction sustains our culture and provides our livelihoods. “I’m really worried about our community losing those things that perpetuate our happiness,” Martinez said. The numbers bear that out. Roughly 13% of San Antonio’s labor force, or 144,000 people, is reliant on the hospitality industry for a paycheck, according to

14 CURRENT | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | sacurrent.com

The pandemic forced Angela Martinez (second from right) to cancel Slab Cinema showings and stay home with her family.

U.S. Census data. While employees in some industries can work at home, that’s not the case for the countless microbusinesses, from tire shops and taquerias, that make up a hefty swath of our local economy. Numerous workers rely on tips or face-to-face gig work to put food on the table. “In San Antonio, our industries tend to be the type that when people stop spending, it has a deep impact,” said Trinity University economics professor John Huston. “When they cancel that convention downtown, when they cancel that trip to SeaWorld, we feel it. I suspect [the pandemic] will hit us harder than other parts of the country.”

Canceled Plans Even before city council issued its 30-day closure order for bars and restaurants, business was nearly dead at Tabitha Garcia-Rogers’ jewelry and vintage clothing shop Thrash Weave. She’d open the doors in hopes a few customers would drop by, but news of the growing pandemic was already keeping people at

home. She’s since stopped going to the shop and reached an agreement with her landlord, who owns the hair salon next door, to delay her May rent payment. Even though that helped, she knows that she can’t put off paying indefinitely. If the shutdown continues much longer, Garcia-Rogers said she faces little choice but closing the shop. That will be a painful decision. She opened Thrash Weave with money she made selling a house in Austin before she relocated to San Antonio. “Yes, it will hurt to lose the money, but at least it’s my own money,” she said. “There are countless people out there stuck with loans they can’t pay back.” That sentiment is echoed by economists, who points out that many businesses look to banks for startup money. Many also took out loans after surviving the Great Recession so they could jumpstart their growth. “Interest rates have been very low, so a lot of small businesses are carrying more debt than they usually would,” Trinity’s Huston said. “Now that they don’t have income coming in, I worry how they’ll be able to make the payments.” Even those whose life savings aren’t tied up in the businesses they work for say they’re facing hard times. For many service-industry workers, there’s simply not an easy Plan B while they wait for normal busi-

ness to return. For many, it’s the only industry they’ve known. In some cases, both of a household’s earners take home paychecks from restaurants or bars. Jonny Yumol, bar manager for Alamo Heights cocktail outpost Bar du Mon Ami, could see where things were headed before Nirenberg ordered the shutdown. With customers traffic dwindling, he began looking for short-term jobs at H-E-B and Amazon. “I’ve talked to local restaurants that are doing to-go and delivery, to offer my services if needed,” he said. “Literally, my skills don’t translate to working from home.”

‘No Shows, No Work’ But it’s not just restaurateurs and retailers facing economic calamity. The cancellation of live events, from rock tours to touring Broadway shows, has ripped the livelihood from thousands of local workers who often live paycheck to paycheck. Club soundman Brant Sankey hasn’t worked in nearly two weeks. “Within about a two-minute window, every club I work for sent me a text saying, ‘No more live music until further notice,’” he said. “No shows, no work.” While Sankey is thankful his wife still has her nineto-five and can work remotely, the family is reining in its budget and burning through any cash they had set aside. The shutdown also comes as Sankey is paying rent on a recording studio he opened in late 2018. He spent nine months outfitting the building before he could begin accepting sessions. Not long after the texts cancelling his club gigs, he got a flood of calls and emails from musicians cancelling their sessions. “If this goes longer than three months, the studio is probably done,” he said. “That will break it.”

Café Azteca. “At the end of the day, landlords can be as lenient or as strict as they want, but my responsibility is to pay the rent, and everything else is secondary.” As they go into survival mode and stretch resources, small businesses may find themselves cooperating instead of competing if they want to stay open. “What I’m thinking about doing is putting together a weekly get-together for small businesses to see how we can help each other out and see if there’s any ideas that we can facilitate, Ybarra added. “Whether that means saying, ‘Hey, I have more work here, you can send your baristas here,’ or ‘If you need coffee, here’s enough money for milk.’”

‘It Can’t Just Be the Artists’ Service industry-reliant communities reliant have rebounded after major disasters. New Orleans’ renaissance after Hurricane Katrina readily leaps to mind. In that case, champions from around the country, from famous musicians to celebrity chefs, urged people to travel to the Big Easy and take in its vibrant culture. Even then, it didn’t happen overnight — and many residents who fled never returned. It’s unclear how such a rebuilding would work for San Antonio since every big metro in the United States is undergoing a similar economic catastrophe right now. Some, such as New York and Seattle, are already pandemic hot zones. Local creators and small businesses say the community will need to help itself. Those who continue drawing a paycheck through the shutdown can help by buying local — both during and after the catastrophe. And, if they truly value the art and creativity that makes our community unique, they must be willing to spend to sustain it. Artist and educator Michele Monseau worries the

quarantine already may have done irreparable damage to some nonprofits that support local arts and culture. Sure, those with deep funding will be fine, but smaller ones are already teetering on the brink. “When we come out of this, it can’t just be the artists supporting the artists, which is usually the way things work in San Antonio,” she said. “Everybody’s going to be underwater.”

Making Other Plans In the meantime, local artists and small entrepreneurs say they can’t afford to wait for federal bailouts, loans or whatever form of aid may be coming. Instead, they’re proactively trying to figure out how to sustain themselves while people self-isolate. Thrash Weave’s Garcia-Rogers, for example, set up an Etsy storefront to help sell jewelry and other items online. Even so, she understands those sales probably won’t be able to replace the walk-in traffic she’s lost. Martinez of Slab Cinema has been in talks with the San Antonio Museum of Art and the City of Devine to hold drive-in movie screenings. If she can figure out the logistics of broadcasting the sound, families can gather in the safety of their cars and take in an evening’s entertainment. Although a shelter-in-place order, in talks at press time, would nix that idea. The urgency Martinez feels to show movies again runs deeper than getting money flowing back into the family business. The profits, she added, were always secondary to building community and sharing something she loves. “I believe the fortitude and resilience of the creative community will sustain,” Martinez said. “We will come out profoundly changed but will still maintain the essence that makes San Antonio so special. I have to believe that, or I think it would be impossible to get out of bed.”

Waiting It Out Part of the anxiety from local workers and business owners stems from having no idea how long the lean times will last. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s pandemic pointman, recently warned it will take “a few months” before life gets back to normal. Roland Fuentes, a stagehand who works at a variety of San Antonio venues, watched as one concert after another rescheduled or cancelled. Now, the earliest he expects to draw a paycheck again is in two months — assuming tours aren’t postponed a second time. “I don’t have a show I can work for 64 days,” he said. “I’ve got a little savings, so I’ve got something to live off for now. But I won’t in 64 days.” Fuentes, who’s worked in the industry since the ’90s, warned that even if things return to relative normalcy by the end of the summer, the comeback won’t be immediate. It took nearly two years for work to build back up after 9/11. “The people who are lucky enough to have a job after this is over are still going to be hurting,” he added. Competition for short-term jobs is likely to be fierce. Even business owners are scrambling to find interim work so they can keep their doors open. “I’ve already applied for a part-time job with H-E-B, because I might have to cash float myself for rent,” said Tyler Ybarra, owner of downtown coffee house

Courtesy Photo / Slab Cinema

sacurrent.com | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | CURRENT 15

news The Outbreak Is Financially Devastating Your Neighbors Here’s How to Help BY SANFORD NOWLIN

an Antonians are staying home. As well they should. That’s key to preventing the coronavirus pandemic from overwhelming our medical system. But that strategy, however necessary, will have economic consequences for our most vulnerable citizens. People who live paycheck to paycheck, those reliant on tips, those who create art for a living and those in the gig economy are already taking a punishing financial hit from the changes. It’s inevitable that many small businesses — once someone’s entrepreneurial dream — will be forced to close. To lessen the strain, we need to look out for each other, said Christine Drennon, an urban studies professor at Trinity University. We can’t just stock up on groceries and ignore our neighbors’ plight. “I worry we’re hunkering down, and it’s almost a snowstorm mentality,” she said. “This can’t be an individual-level response. We have to be approaching this as a community.” Sure, we’re keeping our distance, but that shouldn’t stop us for offering a virtual helping hand to those suffering financial hardship. Here’s how:

1. Go online and buy from local artists

Many musicians, craftspeople and artists are equipped to sell online, even if they’re certainly not able to gig, show or attend craft fairs to bring in income. If you’re fortunate enough to have dependable income right now, spread it around. Don’t forget to find them on Patreon and offer contributions there as well.

2. Buy gift cards for locally owned businesses

The instant you spend money on a gift card or certificate, the business has your money in hand. Be patient, and you can redeem that purchase for a celebratory meal or shopping spree once we’re able to move about safely again. 16 CURRENT | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | sacurrent.com

Sanford Nowlin

3. Support charities that keep people fed

Organizations such as the San Antonio Food Bank understand crises like these put big strain on folks unable to earn right now. Those nonprofits need volunteers and donations to keep food on local. They’re also assembling coronavirus preparedness kits for low-income households.

4. Donate to arts organizations

Museums, galleries and festivals are shuttered all over the community. They’re suffering while they can’t collect entry fees, and so are the artists who rely on them. A nonprofit donation can help these important artistic outlets emerge on the other side of the crisis.

5. Buy season tickets to local venues

Eventually, those postponed plays, musical tours and events will swing back through town. Your contributions now will help theaters and performance spaces keep their doors open through the downturn

Tabitha Garcia-Rogers waits for customers at her clothing store, Thrash Weave. Last week, she temporarily closed its doors.

so they can enliven us all with much-needed arts, culture and entertainment.

6. Order delivery or takeout from locally owned restaurants

Your orders keep their doors open and workers on the payroll. Your generous tips also go a long way to providing for local families. Don’t forget locally owned breweries and distilleries, which are providing takeout orders through the crisis.

7. Regularly check in on friends, family and neighbors

Not everyone’s strain — financial or emotional — is readily visible. Just because folks in your circle aren’t sharing their concerns on social media doesn’t mean they’re not struggling. The more we stay in touch and help each other out, the better we’ll be.

sacurrent.com | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | CURRENT 17

VIRTUAL SURREALITY

Lockdown Leisure

How to get your eyes on new art online

How to stay safe — and entertained — during the COVID-19 pandemic

Calendar section? In the middle of this catastrophe? Yes, tons of places are closed, we’re stuck at home and not allowed to gather in groups, but that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty to do — if we’re willing to do it virtually. To that end, we rounded up a bunch of ways for San Antonians to while away the hours and support our city’s artists, performers and makers while we’re at it.

Shutterstock

‘Play it again, Sam’ Classical music reruns

BY KELLY MERKA NELSON

e all need a little soothing right now, and what better than the dulcet tones of a piano or a violin? Lucky for us, two San Antonio classical music organizations are streaming past performances online so that we can enjoy them from the safety of our homes.

Agarita Chamber Players Collaboration-focused chamber ensemble Agarita started to upload selections from its past performances on its website in mid-March. Though

relatively new on the scene, the quartet has given 10 concerts in its two seasons, all of which were filmed. Each concert video is uploaded with its accompanying program notes on Friday and remains available to watch at any time for the full week. At that point, it’s replaced with the next concert on the docket. Viewers can look forward to collaborative performances including team-ups with photographer Natalia Sun, poet Laura Van Prooyen and sculptor Danville Chadbourne. Concerts can be streamed at agarita.org/media — new performances will be uploaded March 27 and April 3.

18 CURRENT | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | sacurrent.com

Gurwitz International Piano Competition Earlier this year, Chinese pianist Jiale Li was crowned Gold Medalist and awarded $25,000 at the newly renamed Gurwitz International Piano Competition. At the time, the first three rounds — two of solo repertoire and a special third in which the three finalists were joined by members of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble for a chamber music performance — were livestreamed for people to enjoy. As it turns out, competition organizers Musical Bridges Around the World saved those recordings and will rebroadcast them from March 30 through April 3 on the Musical Bridges and Gurwitz websites and on Facebook. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4-7 p.m. Monday, March 30-Wednesday, April 1, 7-9 p.m. Friday, April 3, thegurwitz.org.

irst Friday and Second Saturday won’t be happening for the foreseeable future, but thankfully, we can still inundate ourselves with new art. We’ve rounded up a few ways to celebrate contemporary art in San Antonio from the comfort of our couches. San Antonio-based art publication Unfiltered SA has launched an online gallery to showcase local exhibitions. Offerings include Rachel Comminos’ “Connection/True Affection,” Fernando Andrade’s “Transition: Line and Color” and Mira Hnatyshyn’s “Every Girl Wants to be Queen.” unfilteredsa.com. Ruiz-Healy Art is hosting an online-only exhibition opening for “More Than Words: Text Based Artworks II” that will go live on its website, Artsy, Instagram and Facebook on Wednesday, March 25. The exhibition features work by San Antonio luminaries including Ethel Shipton, Nate Cassie and the late Katie Pell. ruizhealyart.com. Blue Star Contemporary’s Open Studios video series lets us hear directly from the artists themselves. The nine entries in the series feature local artists featured in exhibitions at Blue Star Contemporary, including Joey Fauerso, Chris Sauter, Jenelle Esparza and Leigh Anne Lester. bluestarcontemporary.org. Texas-centric art publication Glasstire has launched a “Five-Minute Tours” video series in which galleries across the state provide virtual walk-throughs of the exhibitions on display. glasstire.com. — KMN

Michael Ome Untied

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Pod People

San Antonio-based podcasts BY TREVOR FLYNN

here’s never been a better time to plug into free content. If cabin fever has you doing some impromptu remodeling or long-put-off yard work, podcasts make perfect companions. These local RSS feeds let us listen in on diverse San Antonians who at least sound like they’re all in the same room.

All My Hexes All My Hexes is an actual-play tabletop gaming podcast that makes out-of-this-world horror feel very close to home — even eerily quaint at times. Listeners can join four quirky investigators as they role-play their way through weird happenings in the fictional oil-boom town of Hext, Texas — “the kind of town where you can blink and miss it if you’re driving down the highway.” Game master and writer Bernetta McFergus has been professionally running RPGs in San Antonio for years, but the idea for Hext came from her experience ghost hunting throughout South Texas. By using the Monster of the Week ruleset — which involves much fewer dice rolls than Dungeons & Dragons — the show feels less like a game and more like an improvised radio play. Right now, the Hext gang is releasing bonus weekly episodes of a previously Patreon-exclusive storyline while they get a virtual table set-up for their next adventure. New episodes drop Wednesdays and are available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and other podcatchers. allmyhexes.simplecast. com.

Comedia A Go-Go Presents Public Axis You know those twisted conversations you have with only your closest friends that end up being really funny in a way that can never see the light of day? Comedia A Go-Go members Larry Garza, Jess Castro and Regan Arevalos have done something like that every third Friday of the month in front of a live audience at Blind Tiger Comedy Club and recorded it. The result is Public Axis, a roundtable discussion podcast featuring guest comedians, filmmakers and various artists spinning out unfiltered thoughts on nerdtastic subjects in pop culture, video games, science news and nostalgia. Naturally, new recordings aren’t happening right now, but CAGG has yet to release a handful of their latest shows. The casts are available at Apple

All My Hexes

Podcasts, Stitcher and other major podcatchers, with new episodes exclusively at oneofus.net.

The Problem Attic It stands to reason that interesting people have interesting problems. That’s the premise of comedian Zach Dickson’s recently launched The Problem Attic, which he calls “the worst advice podcast ever.” At some point in each episode, Dickson asks his guests — mostly Texan comedians and other entertainment personalities — what’s wrong with them, which inevitably leads to copious tangents and first-hand accounts of bad decisions. Are lessons learned? Maybe. But as Dickson says: “It’s the problem attic, not an answer cellar.” Dickson has been releasing two episodes a week since February 5 and shows no signs of slowing, so this pod should make for perfect binging. No set release schedule. Available at Apple Podcasts, YouTube,

Spotify, Stitcher and other major podcatchers.

Willful Ignorance Podcast If you’ve ever wanted insight into the world of stand-up, the Willful Ignorance Podcast lets you sink into a virtual couch and chill with some of the funniest people in Texas. Joshua Cabaza and George Anthony’s wide range of guest comic offer insights into the funny biz, and the two have worked together to bring even more laughs to the Lone Star State. Their video sketch collabs led them to found a recurring film competition Battle of the Sketches, in which they pit entries against each other in a live “Battle Royale” tour of U.S. cities, including a final round sponsored by Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. Their YouTube channel FMCW Studios also showcases a plethora of sketch comedy, including animated web series Blair and the Bear. New episodes on Thursdays. Available at Apple Podcasts, YouTube, SoundCloud and other major podcatchers.

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Talk It Out

TPR

Local lecture series to binge on the web BY BRIANNA ESPINOZA

tuck inside with nothing to do, but have the attention span of a dog chasing squirrels? You can conquer cabin fever by watching previously recorded lectures and storytelling series that shine the light on San Antonio speakers. Usually ongoing throughout the year, these lecture and storytelling series promote creativity, positivity and perseverance in oral form. With vivid imagery, funny anecdotes and occasionally explicit language, these speakers crush the mold of boring school-like lectures — all under the span of 30 minutes. For each iteration of Texas Public Radio’s Worth Repeating, seven storytellers share a true story from their lives on a central theme — but the kicker is, they have to tell it in seven minutes. From James Baker’s slithery snake tale to Crystal Henry’s cozy childhood memories of the calm following all those Texas thunderstorms, Worth Repeating’s speakers offer unique and interesting perspectives that will make the minutes fly by. tpr.org/programs/ worth-repeating.

20 CURRENT | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | sacurrent.com

Another speaking staple in Countdown City is PechaKucha San Antonio, which twists the storytelling method into a sort of “show and tell” experience through a show of 20 slides — each of which the speaker can comment on for only 20 seconds. Previous San Antonio installments of this series have included Texas Poet Laureate Carmen Tafolla, planetary astrophysicist Natalie Hinkel and, most recently, artist Nicholas Frank. pechakucha.com/cities/ san-antonio. Falling down the life lesson rabbit hole wouldn’t be complete without the big kahuna of lecture series: TED Talks. Luckily, we have a TEDx offshoot right here in the Alamo City. At TEDxSanAntonio events, local figures discuss ideas and issues and create a space for dialogue within the community. TEDxSA’s past roster highlights thought-provoking presentations from a diverse array of people, from researchers and CEOs to artists and dancers. tedxsanantonio.com.

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Daniel Horne - The Tomb of Black Sand

GAME ON!

Board and video games from San Antonio makers

ublic health experts and city officials are warning everyone to limit person-to-person contact as much as possible to slow the rate of COVID-19’s relentless spread. But all that time alone doesn’t need to be so lonely. Online services such as Discord and Google Hangouts offer free and easy ways to make voice calls and enjoy some face-to-face screentime with friends and family without leaving the house, so quarantine is the perfect time to stay in and enjoy some homegrown San Antone games. Yanaguana Games is an independent developer based in San Antonio whose games are available for PC and Mac alike. Players need only purchase Tabletop Simulator — a $20 videogame that serves as a platform for virtual boardgame experiences — from the Steam app, then take their pick of Yanaguana’s two free offerings. store.steampowered.com. Stir-Fry 18 is a simple but endlessly replayable card game in which players compete to cook the most delicious stir-fry bowls from a slim deck of — you guessed it — 18 cards. With elements of deception, risk-taking and BS-calling, games of Stir-Fry 18 are fast and fun. This game is also free to play on the website Boardgame Arena — located at en.boardgamearena.com — but beware: servers are frequently overloaded, perhaps due to other quarantined gamers. yanaguanagames. com/stir-fry-18-gallery. Folks looking for a little more depth and strategy in their games might enjoy Re-Chord, Yanaguana’s Euro-style game that pits players

against one another in a race to earn fame and become a star. Genre cards are dealt to each player, who take turns laying picks on the fret of a guitar to play chords and write songs to earn that sweet, sweet clout. yanaguanagames. com/rechord. Physical copies of Yanaguana’s games are available for purchase on its online store, though we can’t in good conscience recommend that you convene friends or family for an in-person game in the near future. Still, if you have the dosh, consider buying them now so you can play them once social distancing becomes a thing of the past. If you’re more of a role-player, consider starting a campaign written by San Antonio tabletop developer Swordfish Islands. Their adventure scenarios, most notably The Tomb of Black Sand and The Dark of Hot Springs Island, feature beautiful art and prose fit for any dungeon-crawler. Digital copies of their books are available for $15 or less online and are perfectly playable for groups with a screen-sharing gamemaster. The campaigns are system-neutral, so folks accustomed to any Dungeons & Dragons rulebook or other systems such as Basic Role-Playing or Pathfinder. shop.swordfishislands.com/ digital. For single-player videogaming, don’t forget about San Antonio’s indie developers. A hefty fee of exactly zero dollars will net you the freely downloadable Heroes Must Die, Heroic Games’ campy homage to both the 16-bit era of the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis and the grid-based battle systems reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem. steam. store.steampowered.com. For something more action-oriented, try Hebi Studios’ RageBall, a fast and frenetic Pong-like game available for PC gamers on Steam for $10. store.steampowered.com. — Daniel Conrad

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sacurrent.com | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | CURRENT 21

Audrya Flores

sacred place.

Creepily Beautiful

When did know you wanted to pursue art?

Artist Audrya Flores spins rasquache magic from serpents, skulls and ghosts of bedsheets past BY BRYAN RINDFUSS

ike many San Antonio creatives, self-taught artist Audrya Flores believes strongly in rasquache — a DIY practice rooted in repurposing whatever materials might be at hand. “I believe in using what you have right at your fingertips to make what you want to see,” Flores explained. A self-described “nature nerd” raised in a family of storytellers, Flores often turns to organic materials — cactus pads, lava rocks, marble chips and coffee beans among them — when creating artwork that puts an almost mythological spin on her own life experiences. Born in Brownsville, Flores moved to San Antonio as a child when her father was hired to help build SeaWorld. “We fell in love with it instantly and stayed,” she remembers. After graduating from Holmes High School and earning an education degree from UTSA, Flores spent more than a decade teaching elementary school at a small charter school. Although she’d always drawn casually, Flores didn’t begin to take art seriously until her son was born eight years ago. During an admittedly hard time, she began to use art as a form of therapy to address personal struggles. Her early work resonated with the since-disbanded Chicana art collective Más Rudas, which curated her into the inaugural exhibition at Sarah Castillo’s Lady Base Gallery in 2013.

22 CURRENT | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | sacurrent.com

Since that pivotal moment — with materialized in a self-portrait painted on collaged brown paper bags — Flores has exhibited her work at galleries throughout San Antonio, Austin’s Mexic-Arte Museum and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Standing out among the highlights are a snaking installation created for the group show “XicanX: New Visions” at Centro de Artes, a well-received solo show at Central Library last summer and “Angel Baby,” a haunting collaboration with fellow Rio Grande Valley transplant Lisette Chavez that put a feminist spin on the local urban legend of the Dancing Devil. In the midst of self-isolation, Flores chatted with us via phone about her bordertown roots, her fascination with serpents and projects she has on the horizon.

What was it like growing up in Brownsville?

I was only there until I was five, but I have really fond memories of it. I think being really close to the ocean shaped a lot of who I am. A lot of our family stories are linked to the power of the ocean — I come from a family of fishermen. We understood that where we were living wasn’t just a border between two countries, but we also met with the ocean. So, we understood that it was this powerful, maybe magical place, but a little scary too. I think we were in awe of where we lived. We were raised to have respect for the magic that was there. We knew that it was a

I’ve always done drawings, little comics. I’ve always told stories. That’s a big thing in my family … but it didn’t become something serious for me until after I had my son. I had a really hard time — which I think is pretty normal for a lot of women. I felt like I had lost my identity … I couldn’t recognize myself anymore in a lot of ways. Not my body, my brain. You know, you totally reorganize your life to support this child, to keep this baby alive. It’s a huge responsibility and I felt lost in that process. [That’s] not to say I wasn’t super happy and super in love with my child. All of that was amazing. But I felt really lost, so art became this very serious tool for me to look back in and pull out who I was.

What can you share about your first exhibitions in San Antonio?

My first exhibition was in 2013, not long after I had my son. That was through Lady Base Gallery and it was curated by Más Rudas. … They were huge supporters of my work, and they kind of forced me into that [laughs]. I was super uncomfortable, but that was a catalyst for me. I felt like making the work and showing it and talking about it was really grueling. It was like torture [laughs] but then afterwards, when I was able to speak with people, [they] responded to the work. The work I made for the show was about being a mom who had a rough time having her baby and recovering. It was amazing connecting with people that [the work] resonated with. I was able to heal a little bit through that and [I realized] this is important: I need to keep pursuing this. [After that] Más Rudas curated me into Mexic-Arte Museum’s Young Latinx Artists (YLA) show in 2014. It was the 19th [edition], and it was all Latina artists. It was my first real museum setting, and there was a catalog and all of that. So that

What did you contribute to the YLA show?

Two self-portraits. They were paintings, but they were on a collage of these upcycled pieces of cardboard. The paintings had fabric coming out of them that went down onto the floor. I had family stories written on [the fabric] reflecting my ties to my family and where I’m from — crazy, weird anecdotes from my childhood, scary stories, funny stories, problematic stories that my family told that helped shape my identity growing up.

How do you source the materials for your assemblages? Are they recycled or do you hunt them down?

Both. I believe in using what you have right at your fingertips to make what you want to see. I believe in not spending money, or a lot of money, if you can make it work in some other way. That’s huge for me — very rasquache. But I’m also a huge nature nerd, so a lot of the organic materials that I use, I don’t just pick them because they look beautiful. Well, I think they’re beautiful — they can stand on their own. A cactus pad, for example, is gorgeous on its own, but I try to really think about that plant’s role in nature and its characteristics and what it symbolizes if I’m using it in my work. … A lot of my paintings I do on sheets, like vintage bed linens, because I think there’s power in something that’s had a life before. They’re like ghosts in a way. They have their own residual energy that is very powerful. I like to weave that into telling my own stories.

What do serpents mean to you? And is there a message behind the human skulls you place on them?

The serpent is such a complicated symbol. … It can have a lot of negative connotations, and I think it strikes fear in all of us, even if we’re fond of serpents. To me, it’s a very feminine symbol. It’s something that is constantly shedding and changing as it grows. … When I think about a snake shedding, I think about it rubbing itself against rocks and trying to rid itself of [its skin]. It’s a very traumatic thing that they go through, but that’s the only way to get into this new, beautiful, shiny form — the only way to move forward. And [with] the women in my life, myself, I’ve seen that. To survive that trauma and shed that skin and … get through these obstacles in order to move forward. I also think the serpent symbolizes life and death. … I think that’s really beautiful. … The life and the death, the light and the dark: that’s all part of this perfection that’s nature. For this particular body of work, I placed the skull on the serpent because I wanted people to really see themselves in it. [It’s] to remind us of our own mortality, but I also wanted it to look fearsome. The serpent in all the self-portraits I did [for the Central Library show] answered my cry and it came to me to devour my trauma, to devour my pain, and to devour me. And then I go on to become a newer, shinier, smoother form of myself. I just thought, if I was to call on something, and beg of something to help me devour my trauma — which is this huge monster — I needed something fierce and fearsome, something scary and slightly disturbing and creepily beautiful [laughs].

arts

was huge. I’ve done other stuff through Lady Base and Más Rudas … they’ve been huge supporters of my work and pushed me a lot — into uncomfortable areas [laughs].

And you’re also fascinated by the occult. Have you always been?

Oh, yes. Growing up in the Valley, it’s nonstop scary stories [laughs] — spooky this, and devil this and witch this. And I’ve always been terrified. I’m a huge chicken. I’m afraid of everything, but I’m also extremely drawn to it. I find it exhilarating. So, anything dark, anything that goes against my Catholic upbringing [laughs], anything that’s creepy, spooky, scary, yes.

Do you and Lisette Chavez watch scary movies together?

[Laughs] We connect in so many ways. I cannot wait to see her solo show. It’s gonna be so good. She’s such a creepy girl, and I love her so much. Yeah, we’ve seen scary movies together, definitely.

What’s next for you and your work?

In the next month or so, I’m finishing up a painting for a show [organized by] the city. It’s scheduled for June 18 at Culture Commons Gallery at Plaza de Armas, and it’s called “The Status of Women in San Antonio.” There was a report commissioned by the City of San Antonio in 2019 on the status of women in San Antonio, and there were all these dimensions that were analyzed. They asked us to pick one of the dimensions, [and] my painting will be focused on domestic violence. Later in the year, for Second Saturday in October, I’m doing a strange dollhouse installation at Studio Fantomas, which I’m super excited about.

Are those from thrift stores or from your family?

Both. I’m from a long line of hoarders [laughs]. It’s horrible. And there are a lot of fiber artists in my family, like quilt-makers. So, we don’t part with fabric. But I do go hunting — I’m an avid, avid thrifter.

In your artist’s statement, you mention trauma, anxiety and healing as key concepts. How have those themes influenced your work? I see my work as documentation of the work I’ve done emotionally. … Since becoming a mom, I’ve really wanted to get my shit together and be a person who was trying to continually grow, and that’s hard to do when you have a lot of unresolved trauma, when you have a lot of things that you refuse to look at. So, I’ve been on this crazy, healing, inward journey. I’ve done a lot of therapy and a lot of work on myself. A lot of work in the dreamworld, a lot of work with healers, a lot of work through meditation, and guided imagery and hypnotherapy … to resolve those issues and help me grow, so I can be the best mom that I can be — but also for myself. So, [in] my artwork, I try to document that. I try to tell those stories of those journeys and those wounds being healed with symbols — animals and plants. It’s my way to share what I’ve been through. Audrya Flores

Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com

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arts Reading in the Time of COVID-19 Eight books to kick the coronavirus in its stupid dick BY MAX BOOTH

ssuming you aren’t an absolute idiot, you’re staying home right now as much as possible. Many of us are now unemployed and completely quarantined, while others still have jobs but are going home right after clocking out. If you’re still partying in large gatherings somehow, frankly I’m surprised you figured out how to open this newspaper. But in all seriousness, stay the fuck home, folks. And while you’re looking to stay entertained there, open a book. Remember books? Books make our lives better, keep us entertained and you should read them. To help you while away the time, here’s a list of fun things to read during these most disastrous of times. We could have compiled a list of depressing pandemic books, but what’s the point of reading something we’re already living? No thank you. Let’s do something a little bit different.

A People’s Future of the United States Edited by John Joseph Adams and Victor LaValle This anthology brings together 25 stories from some of the best writers working in science fiction — Tananarive Due, Hugh Howey, N. K. Jemisin and others. When compiling the book, editors asked contributors for “narratives that would challenge oppressive American myths, release us from the chokehold of our history, and give us new futures to believe in.” They also asked that the stories be badass. Do they deliver? Hell, yeah, they do. This entire anthology is a book full of hope and perfect for our current struggles.

Her Body and Other Parties By Carmen Maria Machado Look, the more time you spend at home, the quicker you’re going to get bored. Unless you start shaking things up and experimenting around the house. Make forts. Do a scavenger hunt. Glue your furniture to the ceiling. What does that have to do with Carmen Maria Machado’s short-story collection? Because almost every one is told in a highly enjoyable experimental narrative. Her book will teach you there’s no one simple rule for writing a story, just like there’s no one simple rule for passing time.

Invasion of the Weirdos By Andrew Hilbert Surely, you’re going to miss embracing the Texas “scene” being stuck in your home so long. Why not give Hilbert’s novel a shot? It’s pretty much the perfect novel to introduce outsiders to our wild and wondrous state. It’s hilarious, strange and oddly

optimistic. Plus, Hilbert works as a Texas bartender, and we should already know at this point how those in the bar and restaurant industries are getting screwed over right now. A little transparency here: I actually published this book through my small press, Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing. That said, by picking this novel up you’re not only supporting a Texas author but also a Texas small publishing company. Imagine how much bragging you could do on Facebook after buying Invasion of the Weirdos.

Savage Season By Joe R. Lansdale This may qualify as cheating, because if you read Savage Season, you’ll be left with no choice but to pick up every other title in Lansdale’s Hap & Leonard East Texas-set crime series. But listen, it’s hard to imagine having any more fun with a page-turning read than these books. Plus, like Andrew Hilbert, Joe Lansdale is a Texan. Support your local authors, folks, they’re gonna need it.

The Brief History of the Dead By Kevin Brockmeier For those who love fantasy novels, look no further than The Brief History of the Dead. This one is, well, a bit more depressing than some of the other recommendations on this list, but in some ways, it’s equally optimistic. It deals with the afterlife and the concept of memories, and you know what? These are subjects we’re all thinking heavily about as we ride out this pandemic.

Against the Fascist Creep By Alexander Reid Ross Given our current political situation, why would we be recommending this book right now? Any idea? Any at all?

Her Body And Other Parties & Uptight Women Wanted are recommended reads.

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey Just because San Antonio libraries were closed at press time doesn’t mean you can’t read about badass librarians. Particularly, badass queer librarians trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic Wild West. This is escapist fiction at its finest. And it’s pure, wonderful entertainment we cannot recommend strongly enough.

Texas Gardening Almanac By Doug Welsh We’re likely heading into dark times, friendos. A recession seems inevitable, as does a prolonged recovery from this crisis. Things are going to get much worse before they better. It’s time to take an interest in growing your own produce. Not only will it help you save a buck in the long run, but it will benefit your community should things take an even more depressing route. Also recommended: The New Victory Garden by James Underwood-Crockett. sacurrent.com | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | CURRENT 25

“neighbor helping neighbor” is about stocking the shelf and filling the heart. - Eric S. Cooper, president & CEO, san antonio food Bank

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While in COVID-19 isolation, live vicariously through movies on your favorite streaming platforms BY KIKO MARTINEZ

ith everyone hunkering down at home waiting “for this whole thing to blow over,” as Simon Pegg’s title character says in 2004’s Shaun of the Dead during a zombie apocalypse, we’ve got plenty of time to explore the countless movies available on streaming services. Since most social gatherings around the country have been canceled or postponed — sporting events, concerts, school and arts and cultural exchanges among them — we thought we’d suggest a few films that will help you fill that void.

Streaming Sports The NBA season is on hold indefinitely and the NCAA tournament is canceled, but there are plenty of sports stories streaming that you can root for from the comfort of your couch. Over at Netflix, watch the 1984 baseball drama The Natural starring Robert Redford. The film, nominated for four Oscars, follows the shortlived career of ball player Roy Hobbs (Redford), who returns to the field 16 years after a tragedy halted his rookie season. At Hulu, try the 2011 drama Warrior about two estranged brothers, Tommy and Brendan (Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton), whose careers as MMA fighters put them on a path for a head-to-head battle. Also, Amazon Prime has the 2019 dramedy Fighting With My Family about a young woman’s journey to wrestle in the WWE; and Disney+ has Invincible, a safe and wholesome underdog story starring Mark Wahlberg about a football player who beats the odds and makes an NFL roster.

Rock Out at Home You won’t find any full-body moshing during the coronavirus outbreak, so headbang your way to Hulu for the 2018 thriller-horror Lords of Chaos, which tells the true and extremely disturbing story of the rise and fall of the 1980s Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. At Netflix, stream Amy, the intimate and heartbreaking 2015 Oscar-winning documentary on late British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. Amazon Prime has 2012’s documentary Still Alive about the life and career of songwriter and cultural icon Paul Williams. Then, stream the original 1940 musical Fantasia, which features animated

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characters dancing and frolicking to the works of Bach, Stravinsky, Beethoven and other classic composers.

Class in Session Missing your 8 a.m. English composition class? Find some solace with a return to high school on Netflix in the 2016 coming-of-age dramedy Edge of Seventeen and on Hulu with the 1989 dark comedy Heathers. The first stars Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld as a teenager whose life takes a turn for the weird when her best friend starts dating her brother. The latter stars Winona Ryder as a popular high school girl trying to escape the grasp of a vile high school clique. Or you can go back further to your middle-school years at Amazon Prime with 2018’s Eighth Grade and at Disney+ with 2010’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Works of Art So, they canceled that gallery opening and ballet you had on your schedule? At Netflix, meet New York painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife Noriko in the 2013 Oscar-nominated documentary Cutie and the Boxer, which follows the Japanese couple as they create paintings in their own unique style. Get kicked in the head at Amazon Prime with the gloriously trippy 2018 film Climax about a French dance troupe that loses their minds on LSD. At Hulu, a children’s entertainment actor terrifies a community in the 2019 documentary Wrinkles the Clown. Over at Disney+, try out the 1997 documentary Frank and Ollie about longtime Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

Tasty Treats

The intimate Oscar-winning documentary Amy is available for streaming on Netflix.

Fine dining is out, and drive-throughs are in, so if you’re a foodie starving for something delicious, live vicariously at Netflix with the 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, about then-85-year-old Japanese sushi master Jiro Ono and his Michelin three-star restaurant in Tokyo. At Amazon Prime, the 2019 documentary sequel Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken sees director Morgan Spurlock attempt to become a chicken farmer and open his own fast food restaurant. Then at Hulu, there’s the 2017 documentary Soufra about a Lebanese woman who starts a food truck near a refugee camp in Beirut. Finally, at Disney+, go for the obvious and watch Ratatouille, unless you have a serious aversion to little rat feet touching your roasted mushrooms.

Gluttons for Punishment If you love to worry yourself sick, do what everyone else is doing and stream Outbreak and Contagion. You can also go to Netflix and stream the South Korean horror film Train to Busan about a zombie outbreak on the railways. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime has Annihilation featuring a team of scientists who explore a quarantined zone filled with mutated plants and animals. Hulu takes claustrophobia to the limit with the 2006 horror movie The Descent about a group of female spelunkers who must fight for their lives inside a cave filled with bloodthirsty creatures. And since you’re locked away at home, check out Tangled at Disney+ where Rapunzel’s song “When Will My Life Begin” will take on a different meaning if you’re doing this social distancing thing correctly.

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food Seeking Solace in a Tortilla

Say Town Tacos’ menu may not be big, but its flavors offer the comfort we crave in tough times BY RON BECHTOL

n times of crisis, personal and pandemic, it’s only natural that people would seek some kind of comfort in familiar foods — the ones we grew up with or have come to love over the years. For many in San Antonio, that means tacos. While there may always be carne guisada or papa con chorizo tacos, the broader category hasn’t stood still, especially in the past decade. Street-style tacos have made the move north from Mexico, enterprising chefs have adapted Korean and other ethnic flavors to the familiar format, and, as a recent trip revealed, gourmet tacos can even be found in such unlikely outposts as Copenhagen. Yes, Denmark, the home of New Nordic forager cuisine. I say all this because, given its name, Say Town Tacos, newly opened at the Pearl Bottling Plant, sounds like the essence of local culture. But in fact, chef Luis Morales — who along with his wife Marsha owns Say Town — is pushing the corn and flour envelope. Some of our most outspoken critics, says Morales, have been locals who arrive expecting mom’s tacos and are confronted instead with something altogether different.

May I be blunt? Get over it! As of press time, Say Town’s tacos were to be part of curbside pickup rolled out by the Bottling Plant, and delivery is in the works. Fortunately, I was able to sample on-site when that was still an option. Let’s start with Say Town’s almost-too-clever Bean & Chisme, the one that’s likely to be the closest to something tried and true, despite the substitution of black beans for the perennial pinto. It’s served in a toasty, almost flaky flour tortilla custom made by La Adelita, and its anchor is a marvelously flavorful bean purée. Refrieds, if you prefer. A melty queso Oaxaca further lubricates the beans, and there’s pico and guacamole on the side. What’s not to like? But it only gets better from there — and, yes, I tried them all. (Don’t worry, there are only four on the abbreviated menu.) The River Walk-o Taco comes cradled in two delicate corn tortillas from Sanitary Tortilla — “We don’t have room in this kitchen to make our own,” says Morales — and builds on a pulled chicken base. Think prudently spicy tinga de pollo, if you know that Pueblan dish. There’s some pico and crema on the side, a little guac and guajillo

The Pearl

sauce from Morales’s other operation, Humble House Foods. It’s all beautifully seasoned and well balanced, and it shouldn’t scare even the most tradition-bound consumer. Say Town’s beef entry, the Alamoo — sorry, that name is a little scary — is presented in a blue corn tortilla made from Oaxacan corn, and the savory, shredded carne shares space with cubed potato and crumbled queso fresco. The advertised veg slaw wasn’t much in evidence on my taco, but it hardly seemed to matter. Add more of one of the three available salsas if you like. That step didn’t seem necessary to me. And lastest with the mostest is my personal favorite, the Fiesta Fuego. Feel free to consume several as you lament the postponing of the city’s biggest annual bash. In addition to pork, there’s rosy pickled onion as an accent here, more crumbled queso, and, though not mentioned on the posted menu, tiny clouds of crisp chicharron to add crunch. Poblano sauce adds spice. I loved it. These last two I had as the only posted ordering option, the Pearl Platter ($10) with two-tone chips and fabulous, soupy black beans. When asked about the lack of individual pricing, Morales recounted an odd instance of resistance to a la carte ordering. “I started out that way, but got push-back,” he said. That’s a mystery to me. However, know the restaurant will gladly put together whatever plate you like. Know, too, that the order of nachos is humongous. 315

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food The Takeaway

29 “It’s my favorite thing but it will feed a family,” said a server. A very large family, let me add. Of the trio of available options, pork, chicken and beef, it won’t surprise you to know pork was my pick. Serious chunks of it dotted the quasi-controlled chaos of a serving in which some chips get a lot of attention, others almost none. But there’s enough refried black beans and cheese to go around. A pretty blend of strawberry and hibiscus made for an amiable agua fresca companion. Clearly, dining in isn’t an option right now, so take it all home to go, but don’t tarry. Cold nachos, no matter how good, just don’t have the appeal of, say, cold pizza. Take this from someone who has a few tradition-related hangups of his own. 5

Pitmaster Mike Gutierrez of Ay Que Rico Talks Brisket, Barbecues and Life After COVID-19 BY LEA THOMPSON

Name: Mike Gutierrez Job/Title: Co-owner and pitmaster of Ay Que Rico food truck Birthplace: San Antonio Years in food service: Nine Little-known fact: Ay Que Rico sponsors a local boxer who does a Thanksgiving food drive each year. Money quote: “I think the key to smoking [meats] is being able to manage a good fire. I don’t think a lot of people have the time or the patience to do it right.” How to follow on Instagram: @ayquericosa Tell us about your background and how you got where you are. I worked for Bill Miller Bar-B-Q for six years, so I was responsible for cooking the rice, hash browns, you name it. But even before that, I did a lot of barbecuing with friends on Friday nights. My buddy chef Rico Montelongo and I started to try new barbecue spots each week, and one day we decided that we could do it ourselves. Together, we decided to buy a food trailer and get started. Why not jump into something that we love and make a business out of it? In 2017, we opened Ay Que Rico with simple things like tacos and quesadillas. Everyone loves BBQ, so we started adding it to the menu — brisket quesadillas, mini tacos and the signature brisket grilled cheese. There are other local food trucks that have similar items, but Ay Que Rico’s menu has a fresh feel to it. We make it bigger, crazier and there’s different sauces that you can add on. What’s the best thing about your job? The people. The most satisfying thing is to see people drive across town to enjoy our food, laugh and talk, and share photos of their meals. As a food truck, we move around a lot, but we always take the time to make people feel welcome and treat them like

Say Town Tacos

312 Pearl Parkway 78215 (Bottling Department Food Hall) saytown.com Sunday-Thursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday–Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Curbside takeout is available. Delivery coming soon. Accessible $4-$12 Ay Que Rico

friends. I think it comes from having all those backyard barbecues — joking, laughing and sitting with people to ask them how they found out about us. But we always provide them with the best service and best quality food possible. Talk about how you give back to the community. We sponsor a local boxer who does a Thanksgiving food drive every year. We also give away a smoked turkey meal to a local family who needs it for Thanksgiving. What’s your favorite ingredient to cook with and why? Brisket. It’s a basic part of Texas barbecue. I smoke our briskets from 12 to 14 hours, depending on the size, and go heavy on salt and pepper. I don’t do anything too crazy. I think the key to smoking [meats] is being able to manage a good fire. I don’t think a lot of people have the time or the patience to do it right. My favorite ingredient is brisket, but Rico is the one that brings all the ingredients together and brings them to life.

What do you like to cook for yourself at home? I love making steak. Every now and then, I get the chance to grill a good steak. I work in real estate as well, so my life is pretty busy. To crack open a cold beer, be outside in some cool weather, and invite friends over for a great steak — that’s what I love to do. It’s very relaxing for me. What’s next for you in terms of the business? Right now, business growth is at a standstill because of the coronavirus. All the restaurants and food trucks in San Antonio are feeling it. We have always placed an importance on safety and good hygiene, and the food truck will continue to bring high-quality food and service to our customers. When this is all over, we would like to open a restaurant and get more creative with the menu. It’s hard for a food truck to roll out newer items at a large volume, but the dream is to find a good little spot to call home, so we can come out with better and creative items that keep people coming back.

Best Bets: The entire menu — with emphasis on the pork parts. The Skinny: Say Town Tacos is the latest enterprise from the hands of culinary couple Luis and Marcia Morales, best known to date for Humble House Foods and its lineup of chile-based salsas. This first brick and mortar outpost represents a bet that locals and tourists alike will respond to a short menu of inventive street-style tacos. It’s all good, as waiters often say, but the porkbased Fiesta Fuego is perhaps the pinnacle. An order of the piled-high nachos will feed a very large family.

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music

The Calm After the Storm Back home from LA, Nina Díaz talks about making peace with Girl in a Coma and songwriting in the age of COVID-19 BY ENRIQUE LOPETEGUI

wasn’t going to write about Nina Díaz’s solo show on March 22 at Limelight and the April 4 one-time-only concert by her former band Girl in a Coma at Taco Fest — both now canceled in the wake of the pandemic. Been there, done that. Many times. Then my wife, local artist Guillermina Zabala, asked me a question: “Do you still have Nina’s phone number? I need to interview her for a school project.” The two connected in early March and, days later, my wife allowed me to hear a brief audio piece she did about their encounter. Just like that, I was hooked on Nina again. “You can try to run, but you’ll never get away,” Nina sings on the recording as she performs “Get Away,” one of just four songs the former Girl in a Coma frontwoman wrote after she moved from San Antonio to Los Angeles. The track features only Nina’s voice and knifelike guitar strums. The audio switches back and forth between the song and Nina’s take on her 16 months in LA, the difficulties of married life, her daily struggle with her seven years of sobriety and her complex, love me-leave me alone relationship with Girl in a Coma, the band she fronted since she was 13. She just turned 32. The story of her abrupt move to the City of Angels and her equally abrupt return to San Antonio is one of confusion, liberation, impulsiveness, homesickness and self-discovery. “I just threw myself into LA with nothing planned — just me, my guitar and a couple of pedals,” Nina sain in an interview. Her solo album and a self-titled debut by Fea, the group formed by Girl in a Coma’s other two members, were both released in 2016. At that point, things were calm in the GIAC camp. But two years later, it all fell apart. Unbeknownst at the time to bassist Jenn Alva and drummer Phanie Díaz — Nina’s sister — the band would dissolve after its performance at Taco Fest 2018. “I knew it was going to be the last time I played with them,” Nina said. “That was unfair to them, but I just needed to heal and pay attention to myself instead of having one foot here and one foot there.” To this day, she regrets not telling her bandmates the truth — GIAC was over, as far as Nina

Guillermina Zabala

was concerned. That’s why she’d hoped the now-canceled April 4 GIAC show at Taco Fest 2020 could be a “closure” concert to amend her past mistake. Her former bandmates called it a “one-time only” show on their Facebook page. “Make no mistake: I take complete responsibility for being the one who ended [GIAC],” Nina said. “I said, ‘I no longer want to be in this band.’ Even at the meeting I had with them, my hands were shaking, feeling like an explosion was about to happen.” Phanie also vividly remembers the moment Nina broke the bad news. “Jenn and I were like, ‘oh, shit,’” she said. “Initially, there was panic, GIAC was all we knew, all we’d ever done. We went through every emotion. At first, we were mad, but then we understood and gave each other the space that we needed. And that space made us all grow.” The fact that both Fea and Nina had released their respective debut albums in 2016, two years before the Taco Fest debacle, kept them all busy and helped ease the transition. But the tension remained and, to make matters worse, in the summer of 2018 — less than a year after marrying Jorge González, the drummer of San Antonio band Pop Pistol — Nina filed for divorce and, that October, decided to move to

Los Angeles. “Everything came to a crash at the same time, like Shiva, like Kali — total chaos,” Nina said, mentioning Hindu deities associated with destruction. “From the outside, it must’ve looked as if I was going crazy, but each of those things were a long time coming.” She was no stranger to LA, having toured the West Coast several times with GIAC. But this was different: no band, no prospects. In the year and four months she spent there, she wrote four songs, had a one-month residency at The Hotel Cafe on Cahuenga Boulevard. “Coming to LA saved my marriage,” Nina said of the relocation. Pop Pistol’s González visited her in California, and she visited him in SA and, once they realized they were back on track as a couple, she asked her hubby to be her drummer in her most notable Los Angeles project. She did eight East LA performances as guitarist and vocalist for a band in Theresa Chávez’s musical play Evangeline, Queen of Make-Believe, playing music by Los Lobos. The ensemble included on González on drums and Thee Commons’ José Rojas on bass. “A taut, rocking, psychedelic evocation of an incomparably fertile era, seen through the eyes of a teenage Latina,” the Los Angeles 35 5

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Even though her music career featured interesting engagements, it was too sporadic to depend on for survival, so Nina activated Plan B. She took a job at House of Intuition, a multi-branch “metaphysical store” in L.A. The longest non-music job she ever had surrounded her with candles, crystals and oils, a perfect match for her more esoteric side. “I was so close to working at a fast food place, so I felt so lucky when this shop called me.” At HOI, Nina thrived. “She was very fun to work with, cool to have around, and we miss her,” Karla Quisquinay, a “gatekeeper” at HOI, told the Current. “I’m not at all surprised she was promoted to lead and event coordinator in such a short time. She was skillful, trustworthy, very organized and a team player. She was also very wise and a good listener, and we were thrilled to have her in the family.” The gig increased her interest in spiritual matters. But new songs just weren’t happening, so she felt ready to come back home and resume her music career in SA. She submitted her two-week notice and, on January 2, parted ways with HOI and launched Operation Return. But there was still a stone in her shoe. “All throughout this time, I hadn’t talked again with Jenn and Phanie,” she said. “In 2018, Thanksgiving came, Christmas came, and nothing. … When I was ready to talk, I wanted it to be real, not just because it was the ‘season to talk.’” The opportunity to reopen communication came in November 2019, when Nina’s and Phanie’s mother asked for Girl in a Coma to play at her 60th birthday. “I couldn’t say no to my mom,” Nina

said, so days later she began talking to Jenn and Phanie “to soften things up a little so the reunion wouldn’t be so awkward.” The trio met on January 3, the day before the party, to rehearse “Vino,” Ritchie Valens’ “C’mon, Let’s Go” and “One-Eyed Fool,” the songs her mom had requested. As usual, the band sounded great. “It was all so natural, as if nothing had happened,” said Phanie of rehearsal. “We just went through the songs and we were happy. It felt good, and we didn’t have to say anything.” Nina still had to go back to Los Angeles for a February 1 farewell show at Pasadena’s Old Towne Pub, but she had to cancel after a relapse into smoking cigarettes after a year without them and lost her voice. (Don’t worry, she’s off the cigs.) She took the incident as a sign to come back to SA, which she did on February 3. “I’m now spending my days almost like I did before: taking time to search and create,” said Nina, who is recording some of the songs she wrote during her time away. She’s staying busy while social distancing. “It’s a very uneasy time, but it does force us all to go inward and reflect.” She’s considered performing an online solo concert, but she’s still “taking it a day at a time.” “We’re happy Nina is back,” said Jenn. “We’re looking forward for all this madness to pass so that, once they reopen the gates, it’s on! We’ll play all over town!” As GIAC? “No!” Jenn said, laughing. “As Fea and as Nina Díaz!” But don’t be so sure. “We never had any rules, and we’re not going to start now,” Phanie said. “If we ever feel like playing again [as GIAC], fuck it, we will!”

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AUTO AUCTION The vehicle listed below were impounded by San Antonio Police Department & will be auctioned at a public auction on

MAY 8, 2020 at 6:00P at

SAN ANTONIO VEHICLE IMPOUND FACILITY

Registered owners may pick up vehicles by showing proof of ownership & paying all towing & storage fees prior to Auction.

FEE ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

“Indoor Activities”— where everything is in doors. ACROSS 1 “Knives Out” sleuth Benoit 6 1/8 of a fluid ounce 10 MTV mainstay Loder who turns 75 soon 14 Jasmine’s pet tiger in “Aladdin” 15 Tabula ___ (blank slate) 16 Abbr. on egg cartons 17 Best effort, slangily 18 Oklahoma town near Vance AFB 19 Benefit of time off 20 Request that’s asking a lot 23 Prefix with laryngologist 24 Fire starter? 25 Bio., chem., or biochem. 28 Overachieving college student’s quest 35 “___ Can Cook” (former cooking show) 36 Bobbing necessities 37 Film segue, perhaps 38 “Neato!” 40 Carrere who sang in “Wayne’s World” 41 New ___, Conn. (home of Yale) 42 ___ O’s (cookie-based cereal) 43 Britton in season 1 of “American Horror Story” 45 “Able was I ___ I saw Elba” 46 Job for a resident assistant 48 It has teeth but no mouth 49 Do mild exercise

50 Edinburgh cap 52 Something you can’t take up at the mall 59 “Dear ___ Hansen” 61 Military no-show, briefly 62 “CSI” or “NCIS” 63 Seconds, e.g. 64 Jolt, for one 65 Chamillionaire hit parodied by Weird Al 66 Has claim to 67 Bend out of shape 68 “Byzantium” poet DOWN 1 Garrett of “Everybody Loves Raymond” 2 Loch : Scottish :: ___ : Spanish 3 In ___ (stuck) 4 “... and Bingo was his ___” 5 “Allowed” time to go off a regimen? 6 Number of e’s in Heidelberg? 7 Tried to get hold of 8 “Oh, right!” 9 Butterfly and Bovary, for two 10 “Seven Samurai” director Akira 11 Password typer, maybe 12 Satnav suggestions 13 Inky artwork 21 “I touched your nose!” sound

22 Energetic spirit 25 Assembly of clergy 26 Capital near the Great Sphinx 27 Conclude from evidence 29 “Oil!” author Sinclair 30 Pancakes sometimes served with caviar 31 Inclined 32 Swing dances 33 Nightly streaming offering from the Met 34 Sign up again for an online subscription 39 “It’s Not Unusual” singer 41 Field involving coats-of-arms 43 Courvoisier and Hennessy, e.g. 44 Teeniest bit 47 Do a yard job 51 Callender in the frozen food aisle 52 “Well, heck” 53 “Star Wars” series creature 54 Kind of proprietor 55 Attack, like a kitty while you’re trying to work 56 “Look what I did!” 57 Leave out 58 Also-___ (election conceders) 59 Moody music genre 60 Altar words ANSWER ON PAGE 31

ID#

YEAR

MAKE

MODEL

VIN

CHARGES

3162622

2000

OTHER

TRAILER

CA878118

$6,668.20

3528848

2006

TRAILER

5N6200F2571016125

$2,534.85

3217357

2005

FORD

TAURUS

1FAFP53295A153418

$6,172.05

2943424

2000

OTHER

TRAILER

NOT VISIBLE

$9,549.45

2946471

1900

OTHER

TRAILER

NO VIN

$9,506.15

2303424

2002

TRAILER

16HPB16242H092085

$42,934.05

3098162

2012

FORD

F150

BURNT

$7,644.25

2994659

2000

FORD

F150

BURNT

$8,899.95

3116312

2008

CHEVY

COBALT

BURNT

$7,406.10

2953030

2002

BUICK

REGAL

BURNT

$9,419.55

3151732

2000

CHEVY

OTHER

BURNT

$6,973.10

3257384

1988

HONDA

CIVIC

BURNT

$5,695.75

3490506

2005

MERCEDES

E500

BURNT

$2,989.50

3483628

2016

CHEVY

MALIBU

BURNT

$3,076.10

3186496

2000

OTHER

BURNT

$6,540.10

3001188

2017

OTHER

NO VIN

$8,813.35

3096216

2000

OTHER

NOT VISIBLE

$7,562.55

3634466

2009

TOYOTA

COROLLA

NO VIN

$1,214.20

3498320

2000

OTHER

NOT VISIBLE

$2,563.20

3374638

2000

OTHER

NOT VISIBLE

$4,295.20

2997292

1999

TRAILER

UTILITY TRAILER

NO VIN

$8,863.35

2793960

1900

OTHER

TRAILER

NOT VISIBLE

$9,166.45

3625 Growdon Rd. San Antonio, TX | 210.881.8440 sacurrent.com | March 25 – April 7, 2020 | CURRENT 37

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