12th Annual Cesar E. Chavez March for Justice

Part 5: A Guide to Recognizing your Street Art

As promised, here's some local art to please your spirits this weekend.



Okay, so this image might is great in so many ways. It's right off of San Pedro and the area has a sort of gloominess about it but this building painted in bold colors livens up the area, even if it's a bit hidden in the neighborhood. Here are a few shots of the building off of San Pedro and 35:

 





Off of N. Flores



A bit blurry, a tire shop off of S. Flores


It's a bit difficult looking for street art while driving around, especially in morning traffic. I did spot a bunch of sites, but couldn't maneuver my way out of the lane, or I declined paying downtown parking fees.

Yesterday, I mentioned Scotch!, check out his work on his MySpace.While driving today, I spotted one of his stickers near Fox Tech High School, I won't divulge it's exact whereabouts, but look around very closely and you'll spot it.

Now, what have we gathered from this? That not all great art is presented in galleries or hung up on the halls of some museum, it can be found in our backyard or possibly on a street sign. Yes, San Antonio has pretty decent art and it can be found all around. Luckily, everyday I get to see this art while driving to work and for some it may be a nuisance, but for me I take pride in knowing that there are local artist willing to take a risk, and present edgy work even if its in the most unconventional settings.

On the Street

On the Street

High Culture, Low Culture All Co-Existing Uneasily In Another Installment of On the Street.  As always, read at your own risk...


March Madness (Meteorlogically)

In the second year of the premature time change (Spring Forward), there still doesn't seem to be a complete understanding of the amazing window that this month represents.  The sun goes down an hour later at night, yet there isn't the crushing heat of Summer.  Luminaria could become a celebration of this phenomenon by default but already that festival has its own engine.  


(sin permiso)

The Daylight Savings Time practice has always had its detractors as well as its celebrants.  Here is an essay from 1784 where Benjamin Franklin suggests  the sun rising an hour early to save money on oil that would be used for lamps at night, not to mention all the wax and tallow.  Here it is.


Letters (to the OTS Penthouse Suite)


#1

Here's a letter from OTS Insider Everett -

Kind of interesting, Oscar Nominated director and writer David Mamet ("Wag the Dog", "The Verdict"), who actually also studies Gracie(Brazilian) Jiu-Jitsu himself, has written and directed a film coming out in May called "Redbelt". It's about a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor who is against fighting for money. UFC hall of famer Randy Couture is in this film, as well as John Machado, who is a cousin to the famous Gracie family from Brazil. A red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is at the level of Grand Master. Very rare. That I know of, only Helio Gracie (inventor of this Jiu-Jitsu), and his oldest son out of his 9 children, Rorion Gracie (co-creator of the UFC), are some of the few Grand Masters in the world living today. Anyway, I hope this movie is good...trailer link below in case you're curious...
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M18pszt8iNE
 
Everett



#2

With the ambiguous title of "Who Loves Cartoons?"


comes this letter and link...


http://www.toplessrobot.com/2008/03/the_10_most_insane_childwarping_moments_of_80s_car.php



#3

And then also came a letter with this equally intriguing title, "Vegan Tofu Freedom Fighters"

and this letter and link...

http://www.metafilter.com/70198/Veganizing-Anthony-Bourdain

Some interesting recipes no doubt.  And an interesting response to Bourdain's over the top radicalizing of the veg heads.


#4

And then this letter from Tillamook Cheese...

Hi Mark,

I hope you are doing well. Attached below is the news release announcing Tillamook Cheese's enhancements to its shredded cheese line, as well as a photo. If you would like some samples of the product, please let me know and I would be happy to assist you.

Best,
Ashley, on behalf of Tillamook Cheese






I requested a sample of the sharp and Italian blend.  I expect to make a few pizzas coming up in the next few weeks.  A review of how I botched it to follow.  


#5

And then a letter with this title: "Area Code Map"

Evidently, this link is a cartographic representation of a Ludacris song...

http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/finalareacodesbig.gif

Here it is for all to enjoy...




#6

This letter had this seemingly sarcastic title, "North Korea Looks Fun!"

The letter, as the custom for the week, was just a link...

http://www.vbs.tv/video.php?id=1438428757

Fascinating stuff.



Blonde Ambition

In a brilliant but depressing essay, the writer Jeffrey St. Clair lays out a theory that Hillary Clinton is now only staying in the race as an attempt to bloody Obama to such a point that he is unable to win the election.  There is no mathematical chance left for Hillary in this election, so this theory does have its logic.  The theory continues to suggest that Hillary will then try to run again in four more years after McCain obviously fails and the landscape is wide open again.

This brings up a lot of interesting points.  For me, tangentially, it reminds that not only do most major politicians look like zombies (Kerry, McCain, Cheney...) and that they always act like zombies but that the population has become infected as well.  How could a supposed right wing turncoat like McCain capture more national popularity than feel good story Obama?  Perhaps Obama is just a bit player in the larger Romero political scenario, however I would hope not.  

I find it difficult to engage in national politics, perhaps most because we don't have a truer representational democracy.  I'm pretty much on board for a parliamentary system at this  point that rejects the apples/oranges dichotomy of American politics.  Everyone knows that mangoes are the world's most popular fruit but you wouldn't know if you only listened to Fox News!  (Mangoes = Will of the People; Fox News = Foreign Owned Fruit Monger; Apples/Oranges = Republicans/Democrats; Romero scenario = politicians eating politicians).

(And in full disclosure, I have to admit to agreeing on this one issue with the devil.  I suppose it takes a zombie to kill a zombie?)


On Above the Streets

Without giving the milk away for free again, I offer this small sampling of fotos.  While most were sleeping in, OTS was interviewing small aircraft pilots and learning how to fly.

More to come at some point in the print version.  For now...




I can't remember what Pilot Dave was pointing towards.  The prevailing wind?  A commie on our tail?  Or a good place to stop for breakfast?



Years of flying and eating salty peanuts has desensitized us all to the joys and voluptuous horrors of flight.  In seconds we would be doing a 'touch and go' at an old auxillary field for Randolph.  (Was that where the record label got their name?)

Or did it have anything to do with what these guys were addressing?






Evidently, flying too close to other planes is a common cause for collision, though that seems to be an obvious prerequisite.  Luckily, he was no Maverick.  I think it was more aerial comraderie than anything else.  Perhaps one could say an aerial bromance...

Force of Gravity/No More Leprechauns

In the grander sense it was still, somehow, a slow week.  The return of school, outside jobs stealing my time at  knifepoint, a torturous path to  finally meet said pilots - it  all was coming down like a force of gravity.  

On the Street Mountain Time Zone Correspondent Congressman Al has basically gone AWOL.  In fact, he no longer lives in the Mountain Time Zone. And as soon as he had left MTZ for CTZ he was back on the road again, either helping on the Obama campaign or working as a tour manager for a band I've never heard of, yet just might sport a member one of some company we all heard of - it might have been Amazon but I can't remember.  

Here is former OTS MTZ Correspondent Congressman Al talking from the road and where ever it takes him.


I tried to track down an OTS Insider in LA and elevate them to Correspondent level for their inside knowledge on the making of Leprechaun 5: In the Hood.  That still may come through, but not this week.

Meet the New OTS Correspondent: SLO (San Luis Obisbo) Steve

Instead, I finally was able to get in touch with OTS Correspondent Steve from San Luis Obisbo, California.  As a a final thought, here is the conversation that touches upon new ways to build community through bicycle do-gooderisms.  

The conversation begins en media res, which is another way of saying I didn't hit record on the tape deck at the right time.  In this conversation Steve mentions some interesting actions taken by the SLO Bike Coalition.  Steve is a contributing member of which he joined recently.



I realize Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is at work here hardcore for San Antonio on this one.  The second we try to use any energy to emulate some other city's coolness, we pretty much destroy it or leave it naked in a vacuum.  Yet to do nothing would be nihilism.  To willing destroy ourselves would be madness.  


Meet Our Local Anthropologist





End of the Ice Age

And in some ways is that not our dilemma with the Spurs asking for 100 million dollars of the tourist tax bonanza?  100 million dollars for unspecified needs to improve the arena.  And what might be some of those needs?  The need to leave huge bags of cash in the owners offices so they can walk off with it with no paper trail?  I thought that's what we did with contracts in Iraq but not here.  There has to be accountability.  This kills me as lifelong Spurs fan to have to question the owners motivation, however they are already making money off a stadium they didn't pay for.  If the team doesn't pay for any of this, yet the voters decide if they get the money, then I think the city should get a stake in that arena.  If teams are leaving town if they can't snake money out of citizens, then perhaps cities should follow in the model of the Green Bay Packers.  

If not that, I would feel a lot better if we invested that money in a legitimate free agent player.  I nominate myself to the head of that citizen committee that selects marquee free agents we could sign with that money and still have enough left over to improve the corporate sky box seats.  Because what else is this money going towards but to the very select few?  I could live with it giving all the players the latest nintendo game systems or whatever dorky lifestyle items that keep them out of the stripclub.  I'm curious to see if the city responds at all to this issue.   It's a crime that the arena issue is tied in with other issues.  I'm considering voting NO even if that means losing out on things I like.  I suppose politics is about compromise.  If that's true then the city should compromise and go back to the drawing board and get a better plan.  I'm willing to call the bluff on the Spurs owners.  Cynically, knowing Spurs fans, the area will be empty anyway in about 5 years when this dynasty is pretty much over.  For evidence I refer to the End of the Ice Age (George Gervin traded to Chicago.)  And I'm not referring to the warming of the waters and this looming disaster.


(sin permiso)


And so goes another week on the streets of San Antonio.  As always, to be continued....

Part 4: A Guide to Recognizing your Street Art

Oh Flickr, how much I love thee. Seriously, folks this site is an awesome place to dump your images and an ever awesomer (yes, we made up the word … so what?) to search for interesting images.

I came across the group San Antonio Street Art although the page hasn't been updated in sometime (April 2006)
Bexar County Line is also a great resource for any kind of street-art in SanAntonio. The site is updated on a daily basis, so that's another plus.

And one more thing, check out the write up from last year's Best of issue of the Current where we honored Scotch! with Best Anonymous Public Art for Tricycle Girl(s).

Fear not, as the blogs get shorter I am preparing myself for a sleepless night preparing for tomorrow's ultra-colossal blog entry complete with pictures of local street art and more obscure findings. Until then, go enjoy your Thursday night!

Part 3: A Guide to Recognizing your Street Art

Sorry, folks – busy day at the office. Here are some unconventional demonstrations of street-art:

Little People- a tiny street art project
How to make street art
Reverse Graffiti: Clean Green Street Art
Pretty City: street art in and around the nation's capital
Draw Here: Visual Street Art – Graffiti for the Web

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: None tonight, but be prepared ... Friday will be a local taste of street-art. Don't forget to send suggestions my way at: jherrera@sacurrent.com

Perky's Fifteen

Hours of idling tension marked South Hackberry yesterday as city crews descended to demolish the home of local folk artist and subterranean city visionary (ask him about it sometime) Rev. Seymour Perkins.

Locked in a months-long dispute over the physical condition of his home and ongoing requests for the time to collect the money needed to bring the art- and poverty-marred domicile up to code, Perkins says he was given his last 15 minutes when code enforcement arrived in the early afternoon.

After his pro-bono attorneys arrived they immediately got a cease and desist order from a district judge, but getting a city employee to handle the cell phone housing the judge's order was a bigger challenge.

Meanwhile, direction from the city attorney's office rolled back affirmative: Proceed with the demo.

That's when things got interesting.

Part 2: A Guide to Recognizing your Street Art

Today's lesson highlights two of the most influential street artists around: D*Face and Banksy. Their work has inspired a legion of budding graffiti artists and have pissed off quite a few police officers in the process, too.

Dean Stockton, or D*Face, is a more commercial artists, in a sense. However, with his mantra of "Look into my eyes & tell me that you hate me," as stated on his website, it doesn't seem to matter to him. Like other street artists, he causes people to look at their surroundings and appreciate the bits of arts all around. From his "Call in Sick" billboard or "I :( NY" where the Statue of Liberty is donning a sad clown face, D*Face is tackling all aspects of the streets — he uses graffiti, stickers, posters, stencils, and even a tricked out a bike.

Banksy is a somewhat-anonymous graffiti artist who lives in England. In November 2005, Esquire sent contributing writer Colby Buzzell to find Banksy — his humorous journey to find him in the flesh. Buzzell stumbled upon a graffiti loving kid that provides this sentiment of Banksy:

Bake Now

We're all twisted in SA. Poised on the brink of investing billions for two nuke plants that will likely be obsolete by the time they get online.

In the meantime, solar is making strong plays, with many mainstream scientists coming to see the potential for solar (coupled with efficiency measures, other renewables, and natural gas) to completely replace coal-petro/nuclear options by 2050 with the right drivers (ie. motivation/leadership).

Today and tomorrow, you have a chance to help salvage a solar policy in Texas that will actually encourage homeowners to invest in solar arrays, rather than leave them with the price of expensive meters and no guarantee that utilities will ever buy back the excess power they produce.

From the state Sierra Club:

Send a message to the PUC chairman and commissioners...

Read tomorrow's schedule today, by opening the PUC's March 20 entry..

---

[UPDATE: 3/26/08 PUC honchos agreed to put off their decision until April 9, though they defended their proposed reg. The extra time is to allow those who took issue with the quick way the rule had hit the docket to make their case for an adjusted regulation more favorable to consumer solar energy, according to a Sierra Club press release.

"Now it is up to the solar industry and its advocates to show the Commissioners in an objective, thoughtful manner that the proposed rule - and a separate but related draft 'strawman' rule on interconnection - are short-sighted and do not correctly interpret the call of the legislature to promote net-metering,” said Cyrus Reed, conservation director of the state Sierra Club chapter.]

Part 1: A Guide to Recognizing your Street Art

Spring has finally arrived and my fellow co-workers and myself rejoice in weeks of sneezing and watery eyes. But with the downside of spring (allergies, of course) comes a rise of street art, which for pedestrians is always a nice change of scene (for business owners, not so much — unless they're fans of the art, then everyone is happy!). Be on the lookout for more colors to be added to downtown buildings, fire hydrants, and any other open space void of artistic appeal.

This being the first installment of our weeklong series, I'll provide you with the basics. For a visual run down, Streetart provides a nice selection of art, from D-I-Y posters to home-made stencils — you can find examples of the stuff there. Bonus: Street-art lovers — since we're in an election year, be sure to expect tons of politically-driven street art. No, we're not talking about someone tagging all those Ron Paul signs off of San Pedro (Check back through the week for some images of downtown street art hotspots — or do you know of any? Send me images at: jherrera@sacurrent.com and I'll post 'em in no time). Another must-see is Wooster Collective, a seriously kick-ass collection of street art from around the world.

P.S. Your homework assignment: check out the above-mentioned websites and report back here tomorrow for your daily dose of street-art knowledge. Who knows? By the end of the week, you may find yourself dropping references about Banksy's work and, quite possibly, end up being the model of a perfect little tagger. 

Nuke Bile

Barreling oil prices…

Loss of market confidence…

A turbulent Middle East…

If folks in the late '70s didn't know the energy crash was coming, well, go figure.

We, however, have the pleasure of a longliner's vision, sans the easy-out of surprise factoring. Not to say, we know all, we just have enough of the gloom in the mix to know enough to play it cool.

Witnessing the speculative shadowing of gold and oil values with interest rates post housing bubble has been the ultimate slow-speed dirigible rupture and flame-sifted rapture. Seems only yesterday we found that tear in the housing market's underbelly. Now there's a bloody mess sinking into the carpet.

Is it a recession? Is it depression? Are you frosted by anxiety or merely overeager?

Whatever the flip or spin, we know the numbers and their ringmasters are jittery as a flea circus in a meth lab. So when the San Antonio City Council is urged to study their options before committing the city to a potentially $17 billion blackhole (or worse, according to Moody's) undertaking for new nuclear plants — one our own utility has been apparently falsely promising at a $7 billion pricetag while failing to make its supporting documents public — it seems a reasonable request.

Representatives of conservation and energy efficiency groups gathered on the steps of City Hall to make their case this morning.

"CPS Energy has a study, but they're not giving it to the public. We're relying on information put out by the company called NRG that would build the nuclear plants that are proposed. Those estimates are way too low when you compare with any other source," said Karen Hadden, director of SEED (Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition). "That's a great concern because if they're wrong and it really costs more, who will pay for the bills? Who will pay for cost overruns? We're afraid it will be the ratepayers."

The Current is fairly familiar with the City-owned utility's propensity for playing their cards close to the chest… in a dark corner… of a dark closet… at the bottom of a well… of condensed ink. The utility has fought every effort our staff has made in an attempt to justify, or merely understand, CPS figures.

Before council members vote up or down a request of $206 million to help pay for filing an application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and make the design changes needed for the project, Hadden suggested an independent cost study be undertaken.

"Because the real information is not on the table," she said.

The group, which included Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, who recently spoke to a packed room at the Witte on his research into the potential of solar energy for the country, urged residents to attend a CPS Energy meeting tomorrow night and contact their council reps to make their questions and concerns heard.

While the City's utility has had a "paradigm shift" regarding how it plans to pursue energy efficiency strategies, CPS is still hobbled, Makhijani said. They still aren't putting the same degree of honest analysis into efficiency measures and the potential of renewable power.

However, honest appraisals are not possible because of CPS's decision not to release its energy study.

"From what is public, I am not at all confident that a full equal and economical comparison has been made, because their own literature indicates they can achieve more than what a nuclear power plant would give them in terms of capacity — and they're not shooting for it," Makhijani added.

"Their own literature" refers here to a study contracted out on the potential of efficiency to provide for the city's continued growth, as reported to Current readers many months back as a part of the feature story CPS Must Die.

Makhijani added that the nukes CPS wants to build will be outdated by the time they are able to come online.

"My assessment of solar energy costs, along with many other assessments, including the official U.S. government assessment, is that solar energy costs are coming down quite rapidly and will be much lower in the next two to three years," he said. "It is quite likely that these new nuclear power plants will be economically obsolete before they come online. Therefore NRG and whatever investment San Antonio has in it will be at considerably higher cost than what you build in a year or two in just three or four years."

Makhijani stands by solar's potential, supplemented by natural gas or biofuels. At least this data is sitting in the sunshine. You can download his book yourself and draw your own conclusions.

"It's also time for San Antonio City Council do what it was elected to do, and that was to oversee a utility to that seems to run independently and as a municipal utility should not," said Loretta Von Copponelle, of the city Sierra Club chapter. "CPS makes no bones about keeping its Strategic Energy Plan secret. Not even council people are privy to it, and council is the overseer of CPS."

For CPS's part, officers have said that only a fraction of its proposed rate hike is attributable to its pursuit of new nukes.

Which may be, for now.

---

HERE'S THE CPS RELEASE:

The CPS Energy Board of Trustees and the utility's Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, at Villita Assembly Building, 401 Villita St., on a proposal to raise electric and natural gas rates to help meet the long-term energy needs of a growing Greater San Antonio.

During the meeting, CPS Energy customers will be able to obtain more information about the rate request that would amount to less than 5 percent on monthly residential utility bills. A proposed affordability discount to help minimize the financial impact on low-income customers also will be outlined.

Customers then will have the opportunity to make comment before the CPS Energy Board and CAC.  Registration to speak will open on-site at 5 p.m., and speakers will be limited to three minutes per person.  However, an individual may cede his or her time to another speaker, but no speaker may speak for more than nine minutes¿ total.

On March 31, CPS Energy staff will ask the Board for approval of a combined electric and gas rate request that would mean less than a $7 per month increase on the typical residential customer's bill of $135.  CPS Energy is continuing to work with the City of San Antonio's utility oversight staff to refine the amounts of the adjustments in electric and gas rates.  If the Board agrees to raise rates, then CPS Energy's regulatory authority -- the San Antonio City Council -- must give final approval.

The proposed electric rate increase will be the first time since 1991 that a change in the rate structure would produce additional revenue to meet CPS Energy's financial obligations.  An electric rate adjustment in 2005 for an additional 12 percent share of the South Texas Project (STP) nuclear power plant actually resulted in lower customer bills because nuclear fuel produces electricity at a lower cost compared to other fuels.

"Thanks to growth throughout our community and sound financial management, we haven't had to request many rate increases during the past two decades," said Norma Soliz, CPS Energy senior director of regulatory relations.  "We wish we didn't have to request an increase now, but in response to our customers' requirements, we have committed to major projects that will help ensure reliable service and maintain our enviable position of having the lowest energy bills among the nation's 10 largest cities."

Soliz said CPS Energy has made large financial commitments as part of the company's Strategic Energy Plan to satisfy the growing community's energy needs for the long run.  "We continue to add more than 1,000 customers every month," she said.  "Meanwhile, we're experiencing significant price increases in steel, concrete and other commodities necessary to complete capital construction projects."

Revenue from the electric rate increase will help pay for the following major initiatives to serve CPS Energy customers:

* construction of a large coal-fired generating unit at Calaveras Lake and the installation of natural gas-fired peaking units at Braunig Lake that will produce affordable electricity;

* environmental commitments to the community and region including $500 million in emissions-control upgrades to existing power plants;

* $96 million in customer rebates and incentives as part of CPS Energy's more-aggressive energy-efficiency program;

* needed infrastructure such as electric substations and power lines; and

* a detailed study on the possible addition of more nuclear-fueled electrical generation.

"The study of possibly expanding our supply of nuclear-generated electricity will account for less than 1 percent of the proposed 5 percent electric rate increase," Soliz noted.

Revenue from the gas rate increase will help pay for construction to expand and further improve the infrastructure of CPS Energy's natural gas delivery systems.

"The recommended increases are not about operations and maintenance expenses, although we have made a concerted effort at CPS Energy to control costs," Soliz said.  "For example, through attrition and productivity improvements, we've been able to reduce our work force from 4,300 to 3,800 over the past five years."

To offset the impact of the rate increases on low-income customers, CPS Energy will recommend an affordability discount for those who meet the guidelines for assistance programs such as REAP (Residential Energy Assistance Partnership) and Project WARM.  Recipients must be at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level and experiencing financial hardship.

"Greater San Antonio continues to move forward," Soliz said, "and CPS Energy wants to do its part in staying abreast of the community's need for reliable, affordable energy.  Small gas and electric rate increases will help make that possible.  It also will enable us to continue offering the lowest energy bills of any major city in Texas or the U. S."

CPS Energy is the nation's largest municipally owned energy company providing both natural gas and electric service.  Acquired by the City of San Antonio in 1942, CPS Energy serves approximately 680,000 electric customers and almost 319,000 natural gas customers in and around the seventh-largest city in the U. S.  The company has earned the highest financial ratings of any electric system in the nation.  It recorded the highest score nationally in the J. D. Power and Associates 2007 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study and second-highest score nationwide in the 2008 Electric Utility Business Customer Survey.  

For more CPS Energy information, visit www.cpsenergy.com.

---

HERE'S THE SIERRA CLUB RELEASE:

CPS Energy wants to commit to two new nuclear units at Bay City to join South Texas Nuclear Project's units 1 and 2.

Studies have shown a rise in cancer rates in the vicinity of nuclear plants, and a decline when the plants are closed. Pregnant women and young children seem to be the most vulnerable.

CPS is saying that the two new units will cost about $4 - $5 billion and be on-line by 2016. This is highly unlikely. Moody's Investors Service has calculated that a plant the size of what we'd be getting will cost more in the neighborhood of $16 billion. We ratepayers will be paying that. And the plant is likely to experience delays that make 2016 much too optimistic a start up date. Already the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has indefinitely postponed consideration of the application because of software concerns. And the waste disposal problem for all nukes is far from being solved.

There are safer, cleaner, eminently more viable alternatives to nuclear that will meet the demand of our growing population, and ultimately cost less in terms of both health and money. We need to convince CPS and our City Council of this.

CPS will hold a public hearing on the nuke Tuesday, March 25, 6-8 pm, at La Villita Assembly Hall. PLEASE ATTEND. PLEASE MAKE A STATEMENT OPPOSING NUCLEAR AND ENDORSING EFFICIENCY, CONSERVATION AND RENEWABLE ENERGY. We need your help! If the number of people who speak out is large, we cannot be ignored.

Hall is located at 401 Villita St and here is a link to get online map location.

http://search.cityguide.aol.com/sanantonio/entertainment/la-villita-assembly-hall/v-135263

For more information call Loretta, Conservation Chair, Alamo Group of the Sierra Club, at 492-4620.

On the Street

High Culture, Low Culture All Co-Existing Uneasily In Another Installment of On the Street.  As always, read at your own risk...

*****

Letters (to the OTS Penthouse Suite)

#1

(The Green Fairy)

Evidently, absinthe is  legal in U.S. now that distillers do not use thujone, which is a banned substance.  New chemical research has discovered that vintage absinthe had only traces of thujone, which was thought to be the 'magical' ingredient.  Now, absinthe's unique qualities are believed to be a combination of the wormwood and the blend of herbs and botanicals.

Here, a publicist for St. George Spirits responds to my inquiry.

"Hi Mark,

I'm a publicist working with St. George Spirits.  I believe Lucy Farber has offered to send you a sample, but I wanted to send you some press materials as well.  Attached are a background sheet on St. George Spirits and info on the Absinthe Vert.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like.  Glad that you enjoyed the video, and looking forward to being in touch.

Best,
Kate"


A very small sample will be in the mail soon.  The real question for me - is absinthe actually any good?  We'll see soon enough.

*****

#2

There was this small baskeball related message...

"This is just sweet

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Chris-Paul-s-incredible-bounce-pass-while-fallin?urn=nba,72296"

*****

#3

And then this short note regarding a SNL sketch...

"Wow! Who knew SNL was still funny?"

Apparently, SNL has removed their clips from Youtube.  Here is an old-fashioned link to see it.

*****

#4

Panasonic Lumix wrote to tell me that my camera is being repaired and that there will be no charge.  It was a form letter but still just as exciting.


Getting Out?

Here is an interesting clip - an interview with a Nation reporter discussing Obama and Hillary's real plans for withdrawal.  It isn't as promising as many people hope.




Then a few days later, Obama gives his big speech.  The press reaction was quite positive which might make a cynic question its worth.  I had been quietly dubious about Obama's sincerity.  Is he just another opportunist?  Why did he associate so closely with Lieberman?  Then I remembered the obvious fact that all Presidential candidates are complete opportunists, so that argument while still valid is no more a hindrance against him then it is against any other candidate.  Obama's 'More Perfect Union' speech is the best case for Obama yet.  Here it is in longform...

(On a sidenote, after the Obama speech, watch this clip of Huckabee defending Obama and Pastor Wright.  And that is why OTS wanted to see Huckabee stay in the race as long as possible - not to be a pawn of the Left in the way that Hillary receives votes from the Rush Right, but actually because he would have elevated the debate from the Right.)

Anyway, a 'More Perfect Union"...

It should be noted that this speech has been seen a little less than half as many times as a Youtube clip about a leprechaun getting stuck in a tree in Mobile, Alabama, which begs the question - who offers more hope for struggling America?  Obama?  Or the leprechaun and his pot of gold?  


Bright Lights, Big City?



Late to the game, there is little left to say about Luminaria.  My expectations were low so therefore I considered it a success.  Here are some images from inside a normally empty storefront on Houston Street.  Is this the Houston Revitalization that's been promised?



This, to me, was the most interesting piece at all of Luminaria.  First off, no lights.  Secondly, does it perhaps not acknowledge the status of the current building?  Recycled, soon to be forgotten...



Leslie Raymond's UTSA students put together an interesting group show.  



And perhaps this is how Houston Street should be revitalized: not with a once a month street fair but at night.  The glory days of Houston street had to have been its night life.  If a legitimate gallery opened in one of these spaces, then who knows where things might go...



Outside - bright lights, big city?  (And you would think I would locked in a room forced to come up with equally amazing titles for other articles, but thankfully I have my freedom.)



Street performances gave an air of spontaneity.  No matter how artsty-craftsy an SA art event is pitched, the people on the streets always find their own way.



Downtown Highlife had often wondered about projecting onto this huge wall space, and for the night the city made it a reality



I was never completely sure if the lights were more artistic or more spectacle.  I actually think the spectacle was equally if not more important.  What is cinema but not spectacle (historically speaking, of course.)



This is probably as good as any other spot to comment on the horrible camera I had to work with.  (See letter #4 from above for promising news.)



I was curious where all these projectors came from.  If they're around, perhaps they should be used more often.  And still no word back from back when I was giving the milk away for free.  Lights, people, touring bands, films, taco trucks - it's all possible.



Down the remote and forgotten Peacock Alley a fascinating maze presents itself.  



Where there is light, there is a shadow.  Off the path, inside a dive bar, 'normal' life continued.  


Irish Car Bomb

On Monday night I found my way to the Lion and the Rose.  As the Spurs played a close game with the Boston Celtics, bagpipers roamed the bar. Later, someone mentioned that bagpipers were more Scottish than Irish, which is a point I had not considered more fully.



A view from after two Irish Car Bombs, too lazy to rotate the image, or a profound statement cultural perspectives?  



Is that a leprechaun chilling in the background?

An excellent question about our forgotten little friends.  Was he in Mobile, Alabama recently?

#1


#2

The first remix...



#3

The second remix...

#4

The Hollywood version.  Which is more unbelievable...


Last note:  As I am on Spring Break, it is only fitting that I gave all my OTS correspondents from La Paz to San Luis Obispo the week off.  More to come in the following weeks.  Winzlo, fka DJ Gandoff, might soon enough be reporting from H-Town on music, mint juleps, and all things inbetween.

And so goes another week on the streets of San Antonio.  As always, to be continued...

Arts orgs in City-owned facilities are peerless

Hello, dear noontime surfers (yes, we look at our traffic stats and we know your web habits. Thanks for squeezing us in between adultfriendfinder.com and YouTube). Bet you're wondering what's going on at Council today, besides progress toward a synchronized citywide stoplight system (which probably ruins the Current's plans to lobby for short art films to be shown at, i.e., the interminable Woodlawn/I 10 West intersection).

Those of you who follow arts funding already know that former ARTS San Antonio Executive Director Frank Villani has joined the Office of Cultural Affairs, where he'll oversee the funding process in which he participated for more than 10 years. But just as he's stepping into those hot shoes, the game's changing a bit. Today council votes on changes it requested to the arts funding process for the 8 arts organizations that are housed in City-owned facilities (list below). While these groups will still have to meet the same criteria as other applicants for funds from the HOT tax -- plus one extra criteria that measures their care and feeding of said facility -- they'll no longer go before a community peer panel for evaluation. Instead the quality of their programming, community outreach, PR, etc. will be evaluated by a panel of City staff from various departments such as Downtown Operations and the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and an outside consultant with expertise in cultural programming.

"The idea is that you have several [City] departments that have relationships with the facilities," said OCA Director Felix Padron, and they can better evaluate the organizations' performance and needs. Padron says he thinks municipal staff will bring the same level of examination that has made the peer panels -- and by extension the Cultural Arts Board -- the object of ire in the past. "I think that level of discussion will take place," he said.

This change to the funding process follows from the 2006 increase in HOT allotment to 15 percent, and a 2007 agreement to dedicate 4.25 percent of those monies to the City-owned facility tenants.

The COFA agencies are:
• Centro Cultural Aztlan, which occupies the updated Deco Building on Fredericksburg Road
• Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
• San Pedro Playhouse
• Symphony Society of San Antonio
• The Alameda National Center for Latino Arts and Culture
• The Magik Children's Theatre
• The Witte Museum
• The Carver Community Cultural Center, which is a division of the Department of Community Initiatives.

The proposal before council notes that conflicts of interest would be avoided, i.e., in the case of Community Initiatives and the Carver.

Once Council addresses these changes to the funding process, OCA and the CAB will finalize the application process for the 2009-10 funding cycle, with applications available the first part of April.

Hip-hop at SXSW

The many sonic facets of hip-hop were on prominent display last weekend at SXSW. Early on Saturday at Austin’s George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, Texas emcee Bavu Blakes traded positive verses with Element 7D as part of his impressive new project World Trade. Blakes helped transition the event into an engaging panel titled “Hip-Hop, Politics & the Ever Changing Music Business.” The discussion bemoaned the current state of corporate hip-hop and featured panelists Davey-D, Tech N9ne, the A-Alikes, and Chingo Bling, among others. Jean Grae, Talib Kweli, and Ice Cube moved the crowd by Lady Bird Lake in the early evening, where Cube dipped into his catalog to deliver some high quality gangster rap. Some nice surprises in the evening included Atlanta crunk rappers B.o.B, L.A’s DJ NASA, and Washington D.C.’s Wale, who the proved to be the most understatedly charismatic emcee of the day.

Hello, neighbor!

OMG, how did I nearly miss the news? Today, March 20, is Sweater Day, in honor of our friendliest neighbor and master puppeteer Mr. Fred Rogers. The folks over at Entertainment Weekly didn't miss the boat; they've provided a great list of the 20 Great Pop Culture sweaters.

Personal favorite, anything that Rivers Cuomo awkwardly pulls off. 

Plus, Mr. Rogers would totally approve of a Lacoste sweater.


PS. I always liked this yellow sweater on Mr. Rogers. It reminded me of the kind of sunshine he radiated when he walked through the door. 

Helpful sweater-related blogs:
The Argyle Blog
Ugly Christmas sweater party
Sweater Babe (not entirely dedicated to sweaters, but you get the point)

Do you have a favorite sweater you'd love to talk about? Share a love of another Rogers' worn sweater? Comment!

Foul Play'd

Been watching and wondering when this challenge would come. The provision in the Real ID Act that allows Homeland Secretary Chertoff to waive off a swarm of pesky federal laws like the Endangered Species Act to get on with the business of building a fence in the Arizona desert (and soon, Texas riverlands?)  is the legal cureall greasing the way for the atrocious wall-building plans that would blaze through so many Texas communities.

The community of Granjedo and town fighter Gloria Garza (above) was not too pleased to see the Wall would tear through their homes only to stop at the new trade bridge and leave Bushie Ray Hunt's lands untouched next door.

Activists in the Rio Grande Valley knew assaulting the Real ID provision was the core they had to angle after when and if they ever mobilized a lawsuit to knock the Security Czar from his black-smokin' Cat. Now the volley has been sailed to the Supremes from a familiar source -- one already entangeled with Chert in the Arizona wangle. (As soon as High Justeez manage to transform the Second Amendment into a First Requirement ('Thou Must Be Armed'), I suspect they will take a crack at it.

The Press Release:

WASHINGTON – Today, Defenders of Wildlife and The Sierra Club filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its argument that the REAL ID Act, which grants Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff unprecedented and sweeping authority to waive any and all laws to expedite the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, is unconstitutional besides being harmful to the environment and border communities. The two conservation groups charge that such unbounded authority to the executive branch is a violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers provisions.  

“By granting one government official the absolute power to pick and choose which laws apply to border wall construction, the REAL ID Act proves itself to be both inherently dangerous and profoundly un-American. The issue here is not security vs. wildlife, but whether wildlife, sensitive environmental values and communities along the border will be given fair consideration in the decisions the government makes,” said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. “We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will take up this case in order to protect the fundamental separation of powers principles enshrined in the United States Constitution”

“Laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act are part of America's enduring legal framework, and no agency or public official should be allowed to ignore them,” said Carl Pope, executive director of Sierra Club. “Our laws have provided Americans a voice in the decision-making process that affects their lives, their human rights and the protection of wildlife; our government must not exempt itself from obeying those laws.”

The groups’ petition is the latest chapter in their legal efforts dating back to October, 2007 to safeguard the borderlands in the face of aggressive border wall construction. At that time, Defenders and The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit challenging DHS and Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) approval of border wall construction within the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in Arizona. After a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for District of Columbia found that the groups would likely prevail on their claims and issued an injunction blocking further construction of the wall, Secretary Chertoff waived 19 laws intended to protect public health, wildlife and endangered species, clean air and water, and historic and archeological sites to move forward with construction.

Course, the eyes are nosy vacuums, taking in more than they could ever offer back. Knowing as much, I shot much more than we would ever need to tell this story through, but even these images won't stretch across this digital divide bisecting the cavern of content from the bottomless pit of ethereal data mining. Still, there is something about doors and windows and the empty space and inhabited light... It's part of the trip. 

So, a little slideshow from the river trip. Just to get my last dregs drugged.

While i was focused primarily on the doings of our national police force (USCBP), the Army of One made a brave appearance outside La Jolla on an unexpcted billboard. I wonder of all low-income communities of color have billboards offering raffle chances at a video gaming system for those who text their contact information to the nearest recruiting station. 

And can you, you know, take your Wii with you when you go?

Rara avis

Good customer service, that rare beast, is endangered enought to warrant an official-sighting bulletin. So it is with great excitement that I present two consumer equivalents of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, one native to San Antonio, the other a welcome migrant.

First, the invasive species: My husband gifted me with a purse I'd been coveting on Bluefly's discount-fashion site, but he was muy disappointed when I opened the package and it was a a different bag than the one he'd ordered. He checked his online order -- accompanied by a handy picture -- and sure enough, it was by the same maker, used the same beautiful fabric, but was a very different bag.

I loved it, though, even more than the one I'd originally been drooling over. When he called Bluefly to straighten it out, it turned out the bag they sent was significantly more expensive. He offered to pay the difference, but they said, "Our bad. Thanks for being a Bluefly customer." I've raved about this company before: every shipment comes with a handy, pre-printed return label, the folks on the help line are happy to talk you through a long-distance dress fitting, and the regular clearance and 70-percent-off sales are a boon to the pocketbook. (We like it so much, in fact, that we recently bought some stock in the company -- a defensive move, really, and not unlike an alcoholic owning a bar.)

Now, the native species: Any SA diner of some endurance has run into a signature local event: the sudden depletion of a menu staple. I've been at a Starbucks that was out of soy milk (in a town where the local groceryopoly has taken great pains to ensure you're never more than 5 minutes from an H-E-B). In an apocryphal story, a beloved bar and restaurant once ran out of salt. (Send your stories here. Specials don't count. It has to be a regular menu item or basic ingredient.)

On Luminaria night, my brother and I stopped in at Yokonyu's downtown sushi bar for a little fortification. It was shortly before the kitchen closed, and it was a Saturday evening, yet it was still somewhat shocking to be told that they had just run out of rice and we wouldn't be able to order from the regular sushi menu. What's next? I wondered. Oxygen?

But the message was delivered by one of the owners (I'm going to go ahead and call her hardworking, because she's several months pregnant and was running the house.) She immediately offered to pick up half of our food tab, and sent out complimentary appetizers. I wasn't wearing a press pass, so I don't think it was media control. Much thanks and praise to her. We were tired and hungry, and instead of leaving empty and irritated, we're planning a return trip next time my bro's in town. (The sashimi, rock shrimp, and edamame we had were snackalicious.)

 

Luminaria: a photo essay

Luminaria: Arts Night 2008 brought out the arts loving community in full force, while street performers crowd downtown streets and dancers shimmied in and out of crowds San Antonio caught a glimpse of what it's known all along - there's talent here in our humble city. Although in the eyes of mere bystanders it was a clear success, us media folk looked at it the whole picture and found some things that need to be worked on. Which is clearly understandably, since it was the first year being held ... whatever the case, my friend and I made our way downtown with one thing in mind - to see as much as we possibly could. We merely scratched the surface but enjoyed all we took in. Here's how our night went ...

Being a member of the media entails certain advantages, one of them being kick ass parking ... while I flashed my media pass we parked within steps from the action of the Houston Street stage, where we found Urban 15/Carnaval de San Anto practicing before they hit the stage.





We stayed a bit to see the dancers shake it ...
(if you squint you can make out our very own Current account executive Lisa Endresen)


We walked down Houston Streer before the Symphony played in front of the Alamo where we caught Club Damas de Puerto Rico & Socieda Herencia Puertorriquena.



As dusk finally approached, we made out way back to the Alamo.

We were still a little early, but you could see the panels where Bill FitzGibbons LED lights would shine from.

Meanwhile, the symphony prepared themselves to perform in front of a jam-packed Alamo Plaza.


After waiting for awhile, we grew a tad impatient and headed towards HemisFair Park, with hopes to catch the Lewis and Clark Musical Expedition ... instead we were sidetracked with Greek reliefs that were in front of the Convention Center.


Then we were caught off guard with Fields of Forel as they played beautifully in a hidden area on the side of the Convention Center.


By the time, we made it to HemisFair park we were a tad disappointed with the music offering so we went back to Alamo Plaza to catch the remaining minutes of the Sysmphony perform and a pretty decent crowd had formed making it impossible to get to the front of the Alamo to capture a quick shot of the lights, so here's a crappy version:


Plus, we caught Larry Graeber's freestanding tower illuminated with glow sticks.


Then we walked around aimlessly catching as much as we could ...

Notes From Jovitas: SA goes to SXSW

One of the joys of "A Town South of Austin," the SXSW showcase of San Antonio bands at Jovitas, was the sense that the essence of the Alamo City had crashed the bash, for at least one night.
There was Sam's Burger Joint promoter Jerry Clayworth diligently taking photos of the action, and helping legendary sax man Spot Barnett off the stage, after Barnett sat in with Sexto Sol.
There were The Krayolas, explaining why they used to be called the Mexican Beatles, shortly before delivering a spot-on version of the Fabs' "I'll Be Back."
And there was Jenn Alva, bassist for Jovitas headliner Girl in a Coma, recalling the band's recent European trek with their hero, Morrissey. Alva revealed that on the last night of their tour, at Paris' Olympia Theatre, the group presented Moz with a Gucci tie and a card, as a token of their appreciation. Not to be outdone, Morrissey walked into their dressing room and gave them a bottle of champagne.    
 

SXSW - Wednesday

No badge and no wristband, I decided to take a couple of days off and head to Austin anyways. Officially starting Wednesday, I arrived about 1230am that night and headed over to The Hideout on Congress and 6th. One of my favorite bands that never comes to Texas was playing at 1am, Trespassers William. We had met them at SXSW 2 years ago and guitarist Matt had offered to help my band in any way possible. 2 years later he mixed and mastered the Ledaswan album. So we didn't hesitate to get the chance to come see them again. Not that they were bad last time, but this time they put on a much better set. I would even say it rocked in its own way. I would describe Trespassers William music as an equivalent to that really great drunk you feel from wine...right before you go over into the "I drank too much wine stage". Their musical is ethereal and beautiful. Listen to Trespassers William

The Hideout is a great little coffee shop that has a back room with stadium seating. This is used for both film and music. Being 1am when we got there, the employees suggestion for a bucket of beer instead of the 3 in my hand was a great suggestion. Thank you. And to the guys behind us that were trying to talk louder than everyone in the room before the show started...Fuck you!!!

SXSW - Thursday

I had my list for what I wanted to see Thursday night. But I didn't know what I would be able to get into as I had not badge or wristband.

We stayed with our friend, Oni, our whole stay in Austin (she actually lives in the house the movie Teeth was shot in). She told us to check the site http://www.showlistaustin.com/

Looking through this list I start seeing that some of the bands I really want to see at night are playing free shows during the day. We end up on Sixth street around 2pm and just start looking around. Every club has some sort of music going on. It was almost overwhelming at the amount of sound you heard. It was 2pm and there were more people walking down Sixth than on a busy Saturday night.

My brother David goes to meet his girlfriend at Emo's to watch Tokyo Police Club. Erica and I start wandering and enter Agave on Sixth. This 3 piece band from Brooklyn called Appomattox blew me away with the three songs I heard them play. They had a cd for sale, but I wasn't carrying cash (which is really stupid as SXSW).

After seeing this band tear the stage apart we wandered off and amused ourselves with the kind of things you would only see at a place like Austin during SXSW.

Paste Magazine had a free part in conjunction with Dell for the next 2 days at Volume Night Club

We picked up some free magazine and watched Delta Spirit, sounding like a cross between Ben Harper and Coldplay (yes, really!)

We then stood in line at Flamingo Cantina for the Under the Radar magazine event. The place was crowded, no air conditioning and small. We were given a shitload of stuff by the Under the Radar people including magazine, t-shirts, playing cards. Free swag is nice. The Shout out Louds came on about 20 minutes later. They sounded like a Swedish "The Cure" and it was evident that they had a large Swedish crowd in the audience.

I love The Cure, but this for some reason wasn't doing it for me. I am guessing it was the heat and the smell of armpits and beer that made me want to get out of there. We made our way back to the Hideout and grabbed a coffee and took some time to answer some work email, even though I was on vacation.

I had a whole list of bands I wanted to see that night, but checking the list I had printed from the website http://www.showlistaustin.com/

It seemed that all the bands I wanted to see were playing free the next day. So a change of plans. We headed over to Daddy's for some hot wings instead.

SXSW - Friday

While researching the next day's shows the night before, I happend to come across the fact that The Breeders ( who I was planning on seeing at a festival on Saturday) were playing at KLRU. The studio on UT campus where they film Austin City Limits. The listing just said corner of Dean Keaton and Guadalupe. My friend Oni explained to me it was right at the college itself and explained to me how to get there. We arrived at 12:40pm and found a meter right in front of the building. Realizing we had no change for the meter, I ducked into a pizza place right on the Drag and asked for quarters. While in line I feel a tap on the shoulder and see Anthony fron Drunken Monkey Productions and KSYM fame. One of his friends is doing sound there and they have free bands and beer all day. I guess everyone in Austin is in the SXSW spirit putting on free shows. Free beer doesn't hurt either. I let him know I am on my way to see the Breeders and hurry off across the street. We end up in the wrong building and had to ask some of the faculty for directions before we get anywhere close to the studio. I am expecting a large crowd for this. Who doesn't know the Breeders? and who wouldn't want to see them for free. We arrive in Studio 6a in the B building and come into the legendary studios where they film Austin City Limits.

The walls are adorned with the Austin skyline and there is a stage with 3 sets of bleachers around it. We walk in and there must be about 50 people there. I am a little shocked, but nonetheless happy about being there and being able to get inside. The crew works hard to get all the last minute preparations in order. They are scheduled to go on at 1:30pm and it is being broadcast live on Seattle's KEXP independent radio. The Breeders come out to plenty of cheering and they immediately start sound checking. And they sound check to the song everyone really wants to hear.

The show kicks off The Breeders tear through a 4 song set consisting of 3 new songs from their new album Mountain Battles (due out in April) and Cannonball as the closing song. It's rare to catch a band in this intimate of a performance, and this is probably one of the highlights of the entire trip. Their on stage interview was hilarious as they explained some of the background of their new album. KEXP usually has these live performances available as downloads from iTunes. I'm sure this will soo end up on there as well.

We left Studio 6A and decided to head back to Sixth. The closest we found parking was 2nd and Congress. Only about 6 blocks to our destination, a club called Vice. I had been wanting to catch the band The Raveonettes since we got here. I noticed they were playing about 12 times throughout all of SXSW so I was sure to catch them. I had found that they were playing at 5pm at Vice. We get there and it looks closed. What the Fuck!? I pull out my list and to my horror, I see that it says Vice Outdoor stage located at 1106 E 11th St. That was over 14 blocks away and over I35. We decided to walk it. The sun was out, it was a beautiful day, tons of people, man was it a far walk. We hear the Raveonettes playing at Stubb's as we were walking over to Vice Outdoor Stage, but that was an invite only show for badges. They will soon be where we are. No worries. Walking over I-35 was a little scary for someone afraid of heights (me)

We get to the Vice Outdoor stage at 3:45pm. The event is sponsored by Scion, Guitar Hero III and ATT. Lots of giveaways lots of people. Their motto is no badge, no wristband, no problem. Sounds good to me. We sit in the shade through the band Jay Reatard and chug our water as the temperatures has already reached 95 degrees. Once they are done we make our way over and get up right up front to watch the band setup.

Their music reminds me of a young Jesus and Mary Chain and the singers look is not different. He could be either one of the Reid brothers that make up the JAMC.

As for the rest of the band. The drummer plays only a snare and floor tom and stands up the whole time commanding the stage with the biggest beats she can play.

The other guitarist is taller than everyone else in the band and looks more like she walked out of a foreign art film.

They played through a very loud and awesome 6 song set that kept everyone bobbing and singing along. Closing out the set was their new single "Aly, Walk with me" which reminds me of an old western movie taking place at the beach. When you hear the guitar line, you will see what I mean.

If you have not heard The Raveonettes, hear them here

This band played their asses off during SXSW. I counted at least 12 different shows they were at throughout the 4 day period. The show I saw was their second show of the day and they were due to play later that night at Emo's with the Donnas. As great as they were, you could see they were tired. But, they have a new album to promote 2007 's Lust, Lust, Lust. which you must pick up if you don't have it. I expect to see many more things from this band in the near future.

Luminaria: post, haste

Once you adjust to life on the San Antonio soundstage, you lose your sense of wonder at the inevitable path-crossings. So I wasn't surprised to run into Mayor Phil Hardberger and his wife Linda at Central Market the day after Luminaria 08, the inaugural City-sponsored "citywide" arts festival. The event, conceived, funded, and produced in months, was heavily criticized by yours truly for kickstarting with monies from the HOT fund, and for lacking a meaningful application and selection process.

I wasn't bitching from a place of naivete. I understood that this was to be the Super Target of art events (I say this as a Super Target customer). Or maybe it's better to call it a Cultural Fiesta (and I say that as a great lover of Fiesta). The idea is to expose San Antonians (short-term) and the rest of the world (long-term, and think hotel packages) to the breadth and depth of our local cultural offerings, yielding more local self-esteem, great copy in far away publications, and enormous crowds as time goes by.

If you set the bar relatively low (or define success in general terms), last night was a home run: A big crowd (although, having attended many a Fiesta event, I'm skeptical of the 100,000 number I heard secondhand from the Luminaria camp), good live music, happy people, stuff to do. But if you measure it against the possible, the first Luminaria could have been held in 09 (when our Mayor would still be in office) and been all that the hyperbole promised.

I think Luminaria has significant potential value, but it needs to define itself. In art you get what you curate for, and this was not a curated event. The traveling world already knows we throw a great party -- if that were your goal, you'd come for Fiesta. We also put on some fine musical/cultural events, and thanks to the Fall Arts Festival package, it's easy to visit for the Accordion Festival, etc. And if you're a contemporary art fan, one night, no matter how grand, can't compete with the variety and quality on display during Contemporary Art Month. If I were booking a flight from NYC, i.e., I'd be coming in for the opening of the annual Blue Star show, curated this year by David Rubin, and the myriad other happenings that weekend. We can always use another reason to get out of our houses and celebrate the specialness that is SA (and I say that with complete sincerity; Saturday night was a blast), but why not ask for more?

Nonetheless I congratulated the Mayor when I saw him this afternoon, and I meant it sincerely. The family and I headed downtown a little past 7 yesterday evening and had a great time wandering from Presa to Alamo Plaza and beyond. While Barrio Massive was jamming at the intersection of Broadway and Peacock Alley -- with an altar made of Jesse Trevino's larger-than-life portrait of Mexican-American singer Rosita Fernandez nearby, and a flashy set of brilliant art cars behind them -- it was a perfect San Anto night. Peter Zubiate and Katie Pell's excellent work was a step away and while many of the other usual suspects and I crossed paths, I also bumped into hundreds of unfamiliar faces, who seemed to be having a grand time.

Were they looking at the art? One of the better art hubs, I thought, was the video installations in the Kress Building, particularly the back-room Marlin Lounge -- but when I stopped in it was relatively empty. The radio-broadcast lounge looked to have a decent crowd around 8 for its live performances, but when we returned to the Broadway-Peacock intersection after Barrio Massive had finished their set, we almost didn't recognize it. The crowds had left with the music.

This is just one anecdote, and I didn't attend any of the stage performances at Jump-Start and Magik, i.e., which leads to my list of 3 things Luminaria can do to make next year's event worlds better (this is off-the-cuff; I'll add to it as time goes by, and invite you to do the same):

1. Use our fantastic spring weather to the festival's advantage: Don't isolate any of the stage performances in venues off the main Luminaria paths. Every corner is an opportunity to see dance, a short play or excerpt, etc. If there are events at Magik and Jump-Start, i.e., Cirque du Soleil caliber street eye candy should guide us the entire way (and no, colored lights are not adequate).

2. Organize the "citywide" daytime info by neighborhood, region, or type in the PR and guide materials. A big list of places that have special events is like the all-you-can-eat buffet. Only the glutton and the picky eater discover the hidden gems.

And most importantly,

3. Schedule the main thoroughfares and venues by invitation and curation. Vary the curators every year for variety and to avoid ongoing favoritism. Take come-one come-all applications for the spokes and secondary venues, and organize them carefully for maximum experience.

SXSW: Diary entry #3

 
I’m not stable enough to write a fluid piece this morning.  Instead, here are some quick snap shots of shit I’ve seen down here in no particular order:

A lot of people in Austin actually sleep in booths at their friends’ bars at the end of the night.  I’m a wastoid degenerate and all, but I still find that to be the lowest thing since child molester vans with that ladder in the back.  Where do those ladders go anyway?

The prize for worst slogan ever – and I mean ever – goes to Weekender Records, whose motto is: “Home is where the Record Player is.”  I’m pretty sure that “record player” doesn’t rhyme with “heart” guys.

The Jackalope, which has become my bloody mary bar of choice in Texas, is home to “Austin’s Best Medium-Fast Burger,” whatever the fuck that is.

I saw a group called Drop Sonic from LA yesterday, and they sound what I imagine U2 would sound like if Bono wore Oakleys.  In fact, I’ll be adding them to the short list of bands I like, so hopefully they don’t mind being in the company of AC/DC, Sick of it All and the Bloodhound Gang.  

Just walk around down here and you’re bound to run into a free taco.  And if you don’t there are a lot of prostitutes around as well.

Percee P – who I told you yesterday slung CDs on New York streets for twenty years before finally getting a record deal – is still selling merchandise everywhere he goes.  I swear this dude would push discs at a funeral.

DJ Statik Selektah is a beast on the decks.  Homeboy kicked one of the flyest golden age medleys that I’ve ever heard at the “Urban Meet and Greet” yesterday.  “Urban,” by the way, means “black.” I’ll never get tired of hearing Wu-Tang’s “Triumph,” and neither should you. I’ve completely lost my voice.  It’s gone.

Eli “Paperboy” Reed is no joke.  He’s the dopest whitest soul singer to ever break out of Brookline, and I saw him get famous last night.  Just watch how much hype follows him out of Texas.   
Pinky ring worth about fifty bling-bling.

It was a long walk to the Scoot Inn, but Texas rap crooner Devin the Dude tore it up and down.  That dude – or “The Dude,” if you will – makes bitches wet and men hard.  El-P – while not the cum-spiration that Devin is – also got heads jumping.  Check the pics.

This is the sound of what you don’t know killing you.  “We don’t have any happy music tonight,” said El-P.

I saw Bushwick Bill – the self-proclaimed “King Kong with the ding dong” – and man is that dude short.  He’s also not too friendly.   

Dubb Sicks – this maniacal whiteboy MC who last year I saw kick over a Porta Potty with someone in it – is back on the scene.  I’m not going home until I get this kid a deal, so I might be down here for a while.

Peace to 7L, Beyonder, Esoteric, Karma and all the Boston cats who ripped the UndergroundHipHop.com showcase at the Light Bar last night.  Someone had to show these Texas fools how to put it down.

Chris Faraone builds his rock-star bona fides at Boston's Weekly Dig. Dig him some more at myspace.com/chrisfara1.
 
 
 
 

   
 

Free Speech Squeal Deal:

The case of the Free Speech Coalition against the city of San Antonio will proceed.

Not that there was much doubt that it would. When a federal district judge found the city's parade ordinance unconstitutional and the City set to work amending it. But it didn't ring up the FSC's attorney for advice — or bother to alert the plaintiff in the case against it that the amendments were on the agenda this week.

For that matter, the rewrite was put on the consent agenda, as if anyone in the city chambers believed they would not be challenged on it and have to pull it apart for discussion as happened Thursday.

Getting into the fine print didn't help, as if the first party of the first part gave a shit about the second party of the second part. "No one should be paying for a First Amendment, Free Speech march," International Woman's Day Planning Committee member Genevieve Rodriguez told the council.

Graciela Sanchez took the floor Bob Barker-style, asking each councilmember in turn how much various cities (ie. the big ones: New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, etc.) charged for marches. Though the mood (and the non-number zero) was pretty well established when the talking stick turned to Councilwoman Shiela McNeil, playtime was over in District 2.

"I have no idea," McNeil responded with a complete absense of humor.

For the city's part, it appeared they believed that setting up more consistent guidelines for the police to follow when assessing fees and creating an appeals process for the excluded to wade into settled matters. They voted 5-2, approving the revisions.

And so the federal Free Speech case (and the city's new verbiage) will limp back to federal court for the verdict of U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriquez in October.

On the Street

Warning: This was a busy week.  Too much time was spent in front of books while straining the back and eyes. A lot of fotos were taken.  And if a foto is worth a 1000 words, then consider what follows to be long-winded.  As always, read at your own risk.


Letters (to the OTS Penthouse Suite)

#1

The first letter had nothing more than a link to this page link for an NPR blog, or something like that.  It was good fun to be had at Clinton's expense.

Here it is.

#2

Author Gene Fowler wrote to mention his new book,

"Mark,

I invite you to take a gander at my new book MAVERICKS posted at www.utexas.edu/utpress. I asked them to send the Current a review copy. I Enjoyed your piece on SA punk history. My son played several times at the Taco place.

Gene"

Here is the link for his book.  I hope to receive it soon and review it.  Gene helped tremendously in the cover story a while back that touched upon the Mayan Order.

#3

Another letter was written from the perspective of a non-Spurs fan.

"What does the Spurs nation think of this guy?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=w8WXVJQ06Sk

And when is someone gonna actually take his ass out with a similar "Bowen" style technique?

He seems to be respected and feared in the league.  I can't figger it out"



This video seems to be clear and damning.  It appears as if Bruce Bowen clearly kicks another player.  The fans are outraged.  The announcers are appalled.  Bruce Bowen has often been an unknowing participant in other Zapruder-esque examinations of wrong-doing.

A fan at a Spurs chat group slowed down the footage and showed it from another angle.  The evidence implies something else...




It seems as if the other player makes several grabs at Bruce Bowen's nutz.  Evidently, the national media had a good day bashing Bruce Bowen over the incident but none over the groping.

And while sports fans look for outrage frame by frame, other obvious outrages in the political arena occur in front of our eyes.  I appreciate sports for being a break from the obvious lies of the government, and I do appreciate the old saying that the sports page is the only section in a newspaper that is actually true (a point I can't disagree with given the exaggerations I write weekly), however the fascination with details of sports does seem out of place at times...


While At the Coffee Shop...

...studying anatomy and physiology I overheard a couple people across the way discussing politics (and delegates and precincts.)  There seemed to be a job interview occurring.  The main guy looked familiar but I could not remember where I had seen him before.  And then it finally hit me - he was one of Congressman Al's political rivals during the 1996 congressional race in a district that spread from west San Antonio to east El Paso.  And on that note, the weekly update from Congressman Al, from the road as he hits the streets in Mississippi.

Except that he didn't answer the phone...

Instead there is this -


Ask Mark (to Ask Ron)?

In what might possibly be a recurring column to On the Street I present this exchange with local food critic Ron Bechtol where I ask the question: what wine would go well with al pastor tacos?  

In this conversation one can quickly realize the knowledge and passion Ron has for food and wine.  I clearly caught him at work, and one can hear the phone ringing in the background at one moment, nonetheless, he was happy to take my unlikely question seriously.

(The process should work like this: people send in their questions for wine suggestions and then I ask Ron what he would do.)

 



Send In The Clowns



The circus has come to town.  On First Friday really tall people walked around (and over) Bluestar.




Behind the camera was Spurs legend Coby Dietrich who is almost as tall as these guys without stilts.  Dietrich kept clear, probably to avoid the obvious jokes.

Deja Vu (All Over Again)



The Bluestar main gallery had an area in the middle roped off.  I'm still not sure why.



This month's show seemed very, very similar to what was offered last month.  In fact, here is a different version of the same foto I took a foto of last week.  I didn't spend too much time in the gallery but found a few other interesting images.



I really liked this image, except for the cross on the door.  I suppose it recontextualizes the space into Western thought.  However the cross just seems wrong.  It's a small point considering everything else occurring.  The shapes on the roof really make the plaza.



In the back room at Bluestar I wandered around an intricate arrangement of work.  I felt as if I was walking into someone's personal workspace or bedroom (minus the Korn poster.)



The walls have eyes.  Very little space was left bare.



Wonderland



I was told that up in one of the lofts there was an  interesting performance involving domesticity and food preperation.  I could see it from the parking lot.  Julia Child + acid seemed like a possible first impression.



What was once typical was transformed into something alien.  (I was told that I went to school with the artist, so I took her out of character a bit.)

Wood Is Good



At Joan Grona Gallery I found these pilgrims, though I suppose one could reimagine them to be LBJs just as easily.



This may have been the ship they came in on.  Nautical themes are almost always good (except in wearing docksiders but even that may have a return to popularity.)



Around the corner, I found the artist describing his work.  The paintings were very electric but I was also impressed by the unique frames that were made for each painting.  Wood is good.

Back At the Ranch



In the back alley at the UTSA sattelite space I came across several interesting works.  I might even go so far as to say this was the most interesting show I've seen yet here.



Underneath that stencil were these fallen planes.  It was a small room (closet) but this was a good use of the space.



Around the corner, the aerial theme continued.



What interested me most was this fascinating contraption.  A still image doesn't reveal its true nature.  Some robot was underneath the floor moving these wooden blades of grass as if they were blowing in the wind.  A rumor spread that it was a little person from the circus underneath the platform but that rumor was never proven.


Second Saturday (@1906 S. Flores)



At Salon Mijango I arrived early, probably too early.



All the works were done in a similar mindset.



Upon closer and closer inspection the layers become more apparent.



The artist's signature...



Next door at Fl!ght Gallery I was early as well.  In this image, one can see the title of the show being handwritten on the window.



This piece stood out even though most of the work was different from piece to piece.  I'm sure somewhere someone is debating if a show should be unified or not but I appreciated how most of the pieces had different approaches, which could be from various reasons - inspiration, time frames...



This painting appeared to be of a local legend slipping through the bandwidths.





And so goes another week on the streets of San Antonio.  As always, to be continued...

SXSW: crack fiends and spicy rim jobs

Wednesday started innocently enough with two bloody marys (or whatever the plural of that is), three sixteen-ounce Lone Star brews and a joint thicker than your mother’s tampon.  My man Bill at the Jackalope (which is named after some sort of odd hybrid creature that patrols the southern landscape) makes the cruelest bloody that I’ve ever slugged, complete with red-hot chili pepper sprinkled on the rim.   

Speaking of spicy rim jobs, my second to last party of the night was Ron Jeremy’s birthday bash at The Music Gym – a fly new joint on Sixth Street owned by a white dreaded Bostonian named Rob.  The only problem is that Mr. Jeremy was a no show at his own affair, which, in addition to being downright rude (people went through a lot of trouble prepping the party hats and nail the tail on the donkey games) was also disappointing.  Luckily, the porn crazed post-adolescents who rolled up for a glimpse of the Hedgehog’s pole had a sweet and sexy two-time AVN award winner named Pennny Flame to ogle and sign autographs.  Oh yeah – Boston favorites Lovewhip and Audible Mainframe rocked the spot.

I managed to catch the tail end of Audible’s Music Gym set, which is becoming sort of a trend this week – even though I’ve only been here for one day.  The first show I tried to catch of theirs was a three o’clock set at the always-reliable Pure Volume Ranch, but I ended up getting trashed at P.F. Chang’s across the street an missing the whole damn thing. That’s right – in the land of micro brews, authentic Tex Mex cuisine and indie rock I hit up a corporate hole that I wouldn’t be caught sober in back in Boston.

On a quick side note, Austin is one of the few places on the planet where I always feel comfortable sagging my pants.  Even in New York – my native city and the low-slung pants capital of the universe – I feel like people have a problem with my exposed crack.  This place on the other paw is just a cornucopia of crack fiends; today I’m heading out in a g-string and some hip huggers.

My bad – did you think that I came down here to review music?  I did, and I’ll get there in a minute, but first you have to hear about my running into Jackie “The Jokeman” Martling at a Canadian hip-hop show.  Martling, who was Howard Stern’s joke writer and whipping boy for a good twenty years (think Artie Lang without the needle habit, or at least without the sloppy gut) actually looks a lot better than he ever has before.  I wouldn’t have even recognized him if not for the name badge, but I’m glad I did because it turns out he knows my father from way back (a true story that’s too long for this space).  Maybe today I’ll run into Paula Poundstone and discover that she was in a street gang with my mom back in ‘Nam.     

Before checking out some evening gigs I headed to the super-chic Hyatt to interview British rap king Dizzee Rascal for The Source magazine.  Homeboy’s new disc is dropping on the indelible New York indie imprint Def Jux, which is also home to El-P, Cage, and of course – Boston’s Mr. Lif.  The twenty-minute one-on-one (that’s what we call it wiseass) went fairly well, but one thing was sort of strange: I had met a gaggle of British music critiques in the lobby before heading to his room, and they gave me a bunch of regionally specific questions to ask.  But when I busted out “How come at the Shepherds Bush gig the crowd was full of girls from Richmond?” (translation: how come your new core fan base is rich white chicks?), he just answered as if I could have feasibly known that without having lived in the UK.   

While I’m fairly sure that the Trinity Avenue near my Austin pad is not the same “Ave. of Trinity” that Fat Joe talks about, this has become a sick hip-hop Mecca in the past few years at SXSW.  Last night brought one of the main showcases that I came to see: a collaborative effort between the California-based label Stones Throw and Brooklyn’s Duck Down Records.  This wasn’t the type of abstract hipster-hop nonsense that usually gets highly propped at these festivals – this was crusty ass Sean Price getting rude in a public forum (i.e. – “I stuck my dick in her ass and my hand in her purse”).  He did the unthinkable – something that few SXSW performers have ever done – by injecting a sense of humor into his performance.     
    
Sean P was only outdone by Percee P – a Bronx hero who after twenty years of slinging mixtapes on the street was recruited by Stones Throw to record a proper album.  Percee flung raw uzi raps that I’m assuming a lot of cats down here rarely get to see; the man simply doesn’t stop to breathe.  For a long time fan like me who has bought numerous Percee P records outside of New York clubs and record stores, there was no greater joy than watching kids go up to him afterwards to cop product.
 

For all you people who would rather read about music, music, and more music than my charades and shenanigans, please stay tuned.  I promise to deliver some of the most close-minded indie rock reviews in the history of entertainment journalism first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll also be spending a large chunk of Friday with Pharrell Williams and the N.E.R.D. crew, which should surely satisfy the full gamut.  

Populism! Yeah, yeah!

Another day, another march

There are several documentaries under production on the Border Wall issue. One day, you will wake up, roll over, and be held captive by one produced by a determined and generous soul who has been in the mix practically since the day Congress approved the Secure Fence Act.

For now, we have Nat Stone's well-crafted installments via YouTube.

Here are two dispatches from the current protest walk from Roma to Brownsville. (It runs through the 16th, so if you are so inclined peek in at Smart Borders for the daily itinery.)

Second day of March 8-16 Roma-Brownsville protest walk...

SXSW as it happens!

Every time I hit the road for this type of trip I’m reminded of Bloodsport – my favorite Jean-Claude Van Damme film that is also reputed for catapulting Forest Whitaker’s career into the Oscar realm.  The movie begins with fighters from around the world practicing with their masters before traveling to Kumite (pronounced Koo-mi-tay) – an underground marital arts Olympics in which there are only three ways to defeat opponents: 1 – to throw him off the mat; 2 – to make him say the local equivalent to “uncle;” or 3 – to straight up murder him.

My favorite characters in Bloodsport are as follows: the Latin kickboxing guy who gets ready by pulverizing sparring partners; the guy who also played Ogre in “Revenge of the Nerds” who I believe prepares by eating bricks in a biker bar; the African fighter whose training entails climbing trees and retrieving coconuts; and of course, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s character – Frank Dukes – who readies himself by going down to MTV Spring Break and violating unwilling co-eds.

Right now around the country other writers, bloggers and journalists are bracing for cold-blooded South by Southwest combat.  There’s a Texan who’s sticking a card that says “press” in his cowboy hat.  In Hawaii there’s a reporter going for one last surf before throwing on a lay to hang his press pass on.  In San Francisco there’s a gay reporter looking for his pencil, and in Alaska there’s a journalist whose laptop is wholly made of ice cubes and whale blubber.  Lastly, in Boston there’s a freelancer who got a cavity search by airport security because he stunk like booze and trees.    

The terminal scene en route to SXSW is always an alt culture spectacle.  Sure, there’s one guy in a cowboy suit (big stupid hat and Wrangler denim), but for the most part my plane is packed with curiously unshaven non-taxpayers and shameless hipster singer-songwriters.  From the looks of it – besides Cowboy Roy with his snakeskin boots and me and my Adidas – everybody on this flight is wearing Chucks.  I’m assimilating though; I recently got a tattoo and I’ve already found that it lends me significant access (nice ink! two of my tatted brethren have already exclaimed).

I promised to deliver a blog by noon today, but that’s difficult since I just arrived in Austin.  As a substitute, I intended to spend this entire dispatch lambasting my co-flyers.  However, I don’t really hate these people enough to torture them on first sight – except for the guy sitting in front of me reading a USA Today article about Larry the Cable Guy’s remarkable weight loss – so you’ll have to wait for my arrival for the torment.  All I have to offer now is the story of my routine in-flight dump, during which I renewed my membership to the Mile Low Club.

I can also give you a quick preview of the week to come: Tonight I’m going to Ron Jeremy’s birthday bash, where Boston’s premier live rap outfit turned Long Beach transplants Audible Mainframe will be rocking following a screening of the hedgehog’s latest fuck flick.  I’m actually from the same block in Queens as Jeremy – for real – and I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to compare schlongs.   

For you indie rockers and “I listen to everything but rap and country” motherfuckers, I promise to not ignore you all together.  On Thursday I’ll be surprising an old high school friend who currently fronts an LA outfit signed to Arista called Low vs. Diamond.  His name is Luke, and the last time I saw homeboy we were bent on hallucinogens and freestyling in the basement radio station at our prep school. Now that he’s a rocker and I’m a hardcore rap critic with a reputation for packing large firearms I’m sure our blue blazer pasts are equally embarrassing.

Lastly I’ll be chilling with hip-hop’s best and most hyped.  Among the MCs and rap personalities down in Austin – that I know of so far – are Moe Pope (Boston), Headnodic (Oakland), Bun B (Houston), DJ Special Blend (Boston), Bisc 1 (Brooklyn), Dizzee Rascal (UK), 7L&Esoteric (Boston), Statik Selektah (The Bronx), Termanology (Lawrence), Del the Funky Homosapien (Oakland), DJ Frank White (Boston), DJ JayCeeOh (Boston/Cali/NYC), Buckshot (Brooklyn), Sean Price (Brooklyn), Kidz in the Hall (not sure where they’re from, but I know they went to UPENN), Percee P (The Bronx), Schwayze (Malibu), Zion I & Living Legends (Oakland), C-Rayz Walz (The Bronx), Time Machine (Rhode Island and some other places), The Cunninlyguists (Kentucky), A-Trak (MTL), Pete Rock (Westchester), Diplo (Hipsterville), Grayskul (Seattle), The Clipse (Virginia), Mac Lethal (Kansas City), Talib Kweli (Brooklyn) and Lyrics Born (Bay Area).  
    
Before signing off I want to forever ban the idiom “wardrobe malfunction” from pop culture’s vocabulary – especially when and if it applies to Justin Timberlake.  It wasn’t funny when we got to see Janet Jackson’s surgically manipulated nipple, and it’s even less hysterical now.  Some dick on CNN this morning snuck it into a report about how Timberlake presented Madonna with her undeserved Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trophy, and it was deplorable.  From now on, the episode that went down between that barely post-pubescent puke and Miss Jackson will forever be referred to as “The Day That Chris Faraone Masturbated Like a Monkey.”  

When he's not hanging like a rock star (of the as-yet-unsigned variety), Chris Faraone works for Boston's Weekly Dig, another excellent AAN member paper.

 

Parade Ordinance still a charade?

As reported in this week's Queque, City Attorney Michael Bernard made good on his promise to quickly address the City's Parade Ordinance, which was put in time out last month by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, who found a few of its provisions unconstitutional. Tomorrow, City Council will peruse, discuss, and perhaps vote on a revised version of the ordinance that, among other things, purports to create objective guidelines for assessing parade permit fees.

But the plaintiffs who brought suit against the City over that issue and other shortcomings say the redress falls far short of a real solution. Representatives of the International Woman's Day March and the San Antonio Free Speech Coalition will hold a press conference at 9am tomorrow (Thursday, March 13) at City Hall (103 Main Plaza) to talk about why they're still headed to court this October.

You can download the revised ordinance here.



 

No Al Muro

It was about ten years ago and my first trip to Marfa. I wasn't there for Judd's concrete boxes, likely hadn't been tipped to Judd's genius at the time. I was down for some Border Patrol meeting, the substance of which has long escaped me, distanced as I am by thousands of news items and feature assignments.

Fences were going up in a nearby border state at the time and I couldn't help but ask: Were there any plans to build a fence here in Big Bend? The room erupted in laughter.

Considering the terrain, it seemed unthinkable — ridiculous.

Today, we find ourselves with 40 miles of wall proposed to run southeast of El Paso, another 6 around the port at Presidio, and spot after spot along the Rio Grande into the Border Wall maelstrom that is the Lower Rio Grande Valley. As much as the Wall will destroy decades of federal and non-profit conservation work restoring some of the most awe-inspiring wilderness in the nation, I have found that it is likely the people — and the river — that will suffer the most from this artificial barricade.

It is a rare bird that believes the Homeland's pursuit will impact in any tangible way the triumvirate scapegoats of immigration, drug smuggling, and terrorism.

It will, however, destroy many lives through eminent domain condemnations and bring new tensions with the increased distancing of river communities that have been coexisting for centuries.

As I finish my third installment on the Border Wall for the San Antonio Current, I find myself mourning — just a little —for my reinstated distance from the river and its people, though I know the riches found there are woven deeply into my being, to be rediscovered and cherished for a long time to come.

I've tried my best to speak to my fellow San Antonians in these stories, but my deeper hope is that the tri-part portrait of la frontera life will reach Middle America, too, where the press for the Wall was supposedly born.

I still can't help feeling that such a concept couldn't have come from Heartland Americans, that it must have been suggested, assembled, and sold, secretly, by a government in fear and shadow. That our unsettled state in Iraq and the open-ended war on "terror" must have been repackaged, with Mexicans cast this time as that deep security threat. Of course, I understand that sales job proved an all-too-easy task. So, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, you are complicit. While a collection of white North Texas Congressmen signed on with this turn of terror tremors, it doesn't wash in South Texas.

How many times I heard in my travels, "If they could just come here and meet us, they would understand."

No, the Texas border, for all its misbehaviors and unpredictability is not, as the Border Patrol is selling to new recruits, the new "front line on the war on terror." The border is a river. It is thousands of years of family life. It is, I'm convinced now more than ever, one of the most precious regions left in this twisted country.

If only you could come here and see.

[Read the series (part three comes out in the a.m.) at Murodelodio... This entry was cross-posted at the Muro Blog.]

Dancing in the Rain

As my mind readjusts to the time change, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to conjure up an exciting topic to blog about. I could opt for the most obvious choice of the rain, but what for? Tomorrow it’ll be sunny and rain will be the least of our concerns. I could take a political stance and name my candidate-of-choice … but I’d much rather not. Or comment on the Vatican’s choice to add seven more sins. I’ve decided to dedicate this to a nice little event coming up pitched to me by my salsa-dancing parents.

This weekend over at Our Lady of the Lake University (my alma mater) there’s a dancing extravaganza — Dance Around the World. The little school on the west side obviously didn’t get the memo about Luminaria: Arts Night occurring the same day as their dancing festival, but like all things OLLU-related — they prefer to beat to their own drum … or bongos. The event’s being held at Thiry Auditorium at 7:30pm. Admission is $10. Groups from Austin, Houston, and New Orleans are set to perform.

Be sure to check back later in the week when I post pictures of the Japanese Tea Garden … although I’m sure Jones’s "On the Street" will get to doing that before I even head over there.

Night comes for the city

I had thought that as soon as The Wire's final season came to a close -- last night at approximately 9:35pm CDT -- I would want to run out and buy the available seasons on DVD and start watching the series from the beginning. The HBO drama, which ran five seasons, has been described as a fully fleshed-out police procedural, but what it was was an almost-complete portrait of a once great American city in economic and social decline. More than once, as I chewed my fingernails through an episode, I thought I could glimpse not only how so many of our cities, and citizens, became trapped in cycles of poverty and corruption, but how we might pull them back from the abyss.

But instead of heading to Amazon or Netflix, I'm in a sort of mourning period (come to think of it, I wore black today). Knowing what happens to some of the characters, who seemed on the verge of self-awareness if not outright redemption, it's too hard to jump back into their alternate universe -- sure, they're not real people, but the writing (with the exception of some of the opening dialogue in the final episode, titled, appropriately, "-30 -") and the acting often made the show feel like a documentary. It was frustrating in those final scenes to see compromise and patronage snatched from the jaws of victory, and to see how easily Rhonda Pearlman, for one, made peace with her quid pro quo, but the most tragic ending was Duquan's -- the sensitive, practically pacifist schoolboy left to the streets and addiction, where even a caring but increasingly jaded former teacher won't tread.

In an insightful eulogy, the New York Times observed that not only did the storyline come full circle, back to the land of troublesome wiretaps, but the movement of almost every main character was counterbalanced by another. Bubbles is off the street and clean, making amends with his sister, but Duquan is shooting up with the junk man who at first seemed to offer honest, if subsistence-level, employment. McNulty recovers his integrity if not his job, while a new rookie follows in a young Jimmy's once-idealistic footsteps. We are the system, and the system is us, regurgitating roles that will be filled by others when we move on, voluntarily or otherwise. Those who succeed are those who deal within the flexible limits of the law and their own morality.
If there is one line that could sum up The Wire's purpose, I think it comes when Bubbles asks the (honest)  Sun reporter what the point is of publishing his story of addiction and recovery. Maybe it'll change some people's minds, the writer replies. Maybe it will, and for that alone it deserves a place in every DVD library. Duquan, McNulty, Daniels, Lester, Snoop -- they're not real; they're stand-ins for their real-life counterparts, who are too busy just getting by to appear in person. So, I'll be getting the box set the moment it's available, but first I need a little more time to mourn.

Tone Deaf Teddy

The Texas primary campaign is over but the melody lingers on, and we're not talking about the endless caucus counting.
One of the most amazing features of the campaign was that it spurred Ted Kennedy, hitting the stump for Barack Obama, to prove his South Texas bona fides by breaking, with little warning, into a-cappella renditions of the Mexican standard "Jalisco" (clips of his "performances" in Laredo and at San Antonio's Trinity University can be found on You Tube; look for "Ted Kennedy Sings Again!").
Teddy Senate's booming Irish baritone meets no accepted definition of the word "pleasant," but earns compensatory points for pure volume and an utter lack of embarrassment. No truth to the rumor he'll soon be collaborating with Vicente Fernandez on an album of corridos.
  

On the Street

Letters (to the On the Street Penthouse Suite)

The first one came from Steve in San Luis Obispo, California.  Perhaps Steve will be the West Coast correspondent?  (Though in truth, there can easily be more than one for a state that large and convoluted.)

#1

Steve writes,

"Mark,

hey - cool about the bike blog.

as far as west coast bike correspondent, SLO is a fairly bike-friendly town, so i may actually have some angles for you.

As of November of last year, I have been riding a new Trek commuter bike as part of the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Commission's Bike Forward program.

In order to get people to bike instead of drive, the commission subsidizes 20 or 30 commuter bikes every year (or every other year). So I'm taking part in that program. I ride to work almost every day - about 5 miles round trip.

And Bike Month is coming up in May and we'll be having a whole slew of events in SLO to celebrate. Here is a crappy little thing I did about one of the events last year:






I've attached a preview of a piece I'm working on for the show.

Oh and here is our Christmas parade."


#2

The letters continued to roll in.

Longtime reader Michael from Austin writes,

"INSTANTLY better without the cat.  And somehow, they become profound comments on the human condition."

He is referring to this fascinating "remix" of the Garfield comic strip called Garfield without Garfield.  It leaves John the owner alone talking to himself. It just might be profound in moments, schizophrenic in others.

#3

The last letter was actually delivered in person - an unprecedented 'tearing down of the walls' between writer and reader.  And by letter it was actually a mention of a Youtube video documenting the Halloween Bike Gang Summit II: Electric BOOgaloo

Watch, enjoy, invent drinking games...




La Paz Calling (Or, OTS Bolivian Correspondents Reporting In)

To recall, On the Street scored the services of the charming and talented duo of radio journalist Rux Guidi and (San Antonio's own) documentary photographer Bear Guerra.   They live in La Paz and have been documenting the complex culture of coca farming in Bolivia.  

Here is their blog through the prestigious Pulitzer Center in which they post updates of their work.  

The topic may seem esoteric but in fact is symbolic of other, larger global issues, many of which will be explored installment by installment.

Here is the first conversation via skype telephone.  In typical On the Street format it is somehow both casual and nuanced.  




Widow's Watch



In walking around the glorious Woodlawn Lake I noticed these women waiting for a ship to come in.  In New Orleans in the 9th Ward and other places along the tortuous bends on the river, occasionally rooms were built on the top floor of a house that looked out onto the Mississippi so that home alone women could watch and wait for their sailor to come back home.  Usually, this moment never came...





From this angle one can see the 'levy' holding the water up to its current height.  This looks more like a skate park or a location for a Larry Clark photo shoot, however the grafitti in the top left probably would have been restored if that was the case.



Looking west on the historic West End.  At one point a safe distance from the dangers of the city, and yet still within a 15 minute trolley ride from the lures of downtown.  And now, almost 100 years later, the drive is about the same amount of time, not including the time it takes to park and then walk, which could probably add about 10 minutes, but other than that, we've made huge progress.

A View From A Room (Aka a Reflection on HNP {aka Herniated Nucleus Pulpusos})



Outside - bicycles, rainbows, and unicorns.  Inside, I rested from an unexpected battle with lower back pain.  If after this point anyone is offended, don't blame me, blame my lower back.  

UPDATE: This is the last picture taken from the famed Lumix LX2.  For the following weeks expect a return to traditional, lame square aspect ratios.  And what a fitting foto to go out on - melancholy with a hint of what once was and what might be once again.  


Semi-Pro (Fully Another Case of What Could Have Been)

At one point in the film, Will Ferrel is building up his comic momentum and lashing out at another character.  He starts swinging his arms around.  It's sort of funny, but I knew for sure I had seen it in another one of his films.  I tried to remember what film it came from - was it Ricky Bobby?  Or was it from Old School?  I tried to remember his other films but they all blurred into one meta-skit.  The differences were eliminated.  The shark had been jumped.  The act is now over.

I'd like to think that I'm jumping the gun, but a preview before this film with Will Ferrell and John Reilly acting like middle aged idiot men children only later convinced me even more that Ferrell has gone on auto-pilot and may not be coming back.  He already did his Jim Carrey "Sunshine/Spotless Mind" moment last year with that film that no one remembers.  And what is the career path of other man child comics?  Jim Carrey has fallen off the face of the earth quickly and convincingly.  Robin Williams has found a niche but I'm not sure if Ferrell is willing or able to similarly pursue the sad clown route for longevity.

Perhaps I wouldn't be in such an ill mood towards Will Ferrell at the moment if he hadn't just ruined the chance for a real film about the ABA.  The ABA was the 70s, at least in terms of basketball.  It was a fly by night pro basketball league that tried desperately to get swallowed in by the NBA.  In that sense the ABA was something between the USFL and the brief nation of Texas.  The both tried to be independent but knew that failure would be inevitable if they were left on their own.  (Luckily, after 10 years of losing battles to Mexico and Comaches, Texas was brought in to the Union.)

Now that Semi-Pro has been made and failed, the chance for a film that actually explores the bizarre magic of the ABA is very small.  A book about the ABA called Loose Balls is a fascinating read.  San Antonio figures prominently in the history of the league.  San Antonio has its own moment in Semi-Pro as well but the actual history and weirdo charm of the league is put in the background for Will Ferrell to perform his charms.  Woody Harrelson and Andre3000 actually put in semi-legit performances.  It's as if they didn't know the film was a total farce.

Ferrell came across as comic relief from a larger film.  The problem is that his comic relief was the film.  Unfortunatley, there was no relief from the comic relief.  Again, this may all be my lower back talking but I think I'm right about this one.  Ferrell plays an untalented ball hog on a bad team. There's an analogy in there for how it compares to the film as a whole but I'll leave that for others to extrapolate.

The Death of the Dungeon Master

A few days ago Gary Gygax, the father of Dungeons and Dragons passed away.  It's not for me to dive into his larger legacy, though I do remember an obscure dice throwing/role playing game called Boot Hill or something like that.  A close relative was into these games hardcore.  Observe this foto of a lightswitch.  Oh wait, my camera doesn't work.  My back pain gets even worse, sub-heading by sub-heading...

In the next week or so expect an interview with On the Street insider Menudo Terremoto Williams as he breaks down the fantastic nexus between Dungeons and Dragons and the Spurs Tim Duncan.  Menudo is the foremost online authority on this topic.  Stay tuned.

Super Tuesday II/Republicans As Swing Voters for Hillary, aka the Right Wing's Last Revenge

All these topics and more are covered in another conversation with On the Street Mountain Time Zone Correspondent Congressman Al.

Listen, listen again, and again...




The On the Street Starbucks Sprawl/Gentrification Factor©™ (Or, An Open Letter to Saytown Lowdown and Other Urban Geographers)

Tired of giving the milk away for free, I've decided to trademark, copyright, whatever a unique tool for analyzing urban development and urban geography.

The Sprawl index does exactly like this...

Greater Metro Population minus City Poplulation divided by # of  Starbucks Equals Sprawl Factor.

While marinating on that, consider this seemingly similar but vastly different index...

City Population divided by # of Starbucks equals Gentrification factor.

Let's plug in some local numbers.  (Keep in mind a huge problem exists because of outdated data since the 2000 census.  Though the municipal population has been a given a more recent estimation, no similar numbers exist for the Metro Area population.  Hence, as scientists, we (I) will stick with the 2000 numbers.  If my research shames the census into updating their census more quickly then so be it.)

The cold, hard facts:

1. San Antonio Metro Area Population = 1,592,383

2. San Antonio Municipal Population = 1,144,646  

3. Number of Local Starbucks = 55 (within a 20 radius)

Sprawl Factor = 1,592,383 - 1,144,646 divided by 55 = 8140 (plus change)

Gentrification Factor = 1,144,646 divided by 55 = 20,811.745

The beauty of this is that Starbucks spends millions (I'm guessing) on figuring out where to open a store, as well as how many stores overall to open in a given area. They've done all the research for us.  I'm just adding a simple (though copyrighed and trademarked formula) to more easily use these numbers.

Clearly, there is gold in these numbers.  I need to run some errands so I'm not going to be able to fully crunk the numbers.  Also, if any urban geographers want to take me to task for my methodology, such as why I didn't separate municipal Starbucks from Sprawl™© Starbucks, then please feel free to do so at your own risk (of looking foolish.)

I See A Darkness

Back pain plus the loss of a camera somehow equals this video/song...




And so goes another week on the streets of San Antonio.  As always, to be continued...

Lunchtime ink session

I’ve taken it upon myself to be the resident tattoo writer here at the Current not because I have a collection of tat’s or anything (Sorry tattoo fanatics, my skin hasn’t been touched by the ink machine … and it probably never will.) but I do have a genuine interest when it comes to tastefully done tattoo’s. That’s why I snuck out earlier today to catch Maori visual artist Julie Kipa at the Southwest School of Art & Craft demonstrate the traditional art of Maori tattoos.

When I arrived Kipa was tattooing a local tattoo artist (who’s name I didn’t even bother catching because I didn’t want to interrupt the tattoo session), although his arms and legs were covered in tattoo’s he still squirmed a bit when the steel metal tip of Kipa’s inking machine hit his foot (which I’ve heard is quite a tender place to get tattooed).







Nearly completed:


Catch Kipa in action tomorrow at SSAC from 10am-4pm doing more tattoo demonstrations. Also, tomorrow you can also catch the Maori Dance Ensemble of New Zealand. All events are free and open to the public — they’re being held in the Russell Hill Rogers galleries on the Navarro Campus.

G.O.B. Bluth wants to babysit your vagina

One of my favorite people in the world (him and all of the Bluths), Will Arnett has teamed with MTV's Human Giant to make this gorgeous, slightly NSFW video. Yay.

Applewhite goes down in history

Penelope Boyer, one of the community leaders who built the Land Heritage Institute coalition just emailed to say that City Council approved the transfer of 1,200 acres of former Applewhite land to the non-profit, adding "now the real work begins, FINALLY!!!" Congratulations to Penelope, Ramon Vasquez, Peggy and Mark Oppelt, Alston Thoms, and all of the activists who've worked so hard to realize this project. Learn about the land's rich archeological and historical value, and LHI's plans to bring it to the public, on the official website, at texasbeyondhistory.net, and in the Current's January news story. 

Demand free radio

For those of you who demand free airwaves, you will be happy to know Senator Byron Dorgan D-ND is at it again. Dorgan, along with 13 co-sponsors, introduced a “resolution of disapproval” to stop the Federal Communication Commission from overturning a 32- year-old ban limiting the number of subsidiaries a media company can own. We don’t want another Clear Channel do we? If you want to hear radio-controlled music all day, by all means, ignore this. If not, click here.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire

On March 17, longtime ARTS San Antonio Executive Director and President Frank Villani will cross the funding aisle to the City's Office of Cultural Affairs, where he'll take over an expanded version of the role previously filled by Ernesto Rubio, who retired February 29.

Rubio's official title was executive assistant, but his job duties grew along with the city's arts scene, and in recent years, its arts funding. Villani's title will be Cultural Affairs Manager, and his job description includes overseeing the often contentious arts funding program. Villani says his experience as a recipient of City cultural funds, and as a member of the Cultural Alliance, will help him strengthen and improve the public funding system, which distributes HOT tax proceeds to local cultural organizations using peer-panel ratings and City-staff reviews in a process overseen by the Cultural Affairs Board.

"I think when you look at any type of funding process, you always have to have the process evolve," Villani said of OCA's system, which recently was overhauled. "I think that's what everyone wants, is a level playing field."

"It's a definite asset, someone who's been in the community the past 20 years," said OCA Director Felix Padron. "The learning curve will be diminished" because Villani already knows the players and dynamics that make up the scene. They share a common vision for the arts-funding process, Padron added.

ARTS San Antonio, which presents a season of diverse programming ranging from dance to theater to live music, has just begun the search process to replace Villani, but Padron says he's not worried that OCA's gain will be ARTS loss: "What really maintains a good organization is their board."

After you go and vote ...

This past weekend the San Antonio Museum of Art reopened the Greek and Roman Galleries and, yes, we understand you’ve been inundated with news about this event for the past weeks but let me tell you it’s definitely a sight to see. SAMA opened their doors to the newly reinstalled Denman Gallery to the public after six years of work. From Greek art spanning the period from 3000-31 B.C to a collection of Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic glass vessels from the eastern Mediterranean, SAMA presents an intensive collection of some of the most interesting specimens collected throughout history.

Prior to its six year hiatus, the Denman Gallery was one of the most popular galleries at SAMA. It is noted that 3,500 years of human civilization are detailed in the exhibition.

Here is a sampling of what the exhibit offers:

March 4 primary: Art Hall

In the Democratic Primary race to take on Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, former San Antonio Councilman Art Hall has been portrayed positively as a bridge-builder, and negatively as inexperienced (his campaign website originally touted rail-safety reform as a goal). Hall's critics have also suggested that he's merely looking for a statewide perch from which to seek a higher office. While Hall admitted to the Current that he was running for the RRC in part because he didn't think his conservative district would put him in the state house, he professed a real desire to influence energy policy and promised to serve a full six-year term.

Hall's opponent, three-time candidate and former Republican Dale Henry has been cast as the populist Don Quixote, tilting (forgive us) at windmills, but lordy, long on integrity and with decades of experience capping wells for the industry he would regulate. (Regular Current contributor Vince Leibowitz is working on Henry's campaign.) While both candidates promise to put protecting water quality and consumer safety ahead of industry profits, one key difference between them is their philosophy about the role the commission should play in shaping the state's energy future. Hall sees the post as an opportunity to promote energy conservation and efficiency and steer the industry toward alternative fuel sources. Henry says those "pie-in-the-sky" promises are a distraction from the agency's main job, which is promoting safety and efficiency in oil and gas drilling. This excerpt from an interview with Hall sheds more light on his goals for the RRC should he be elected.

What could the Railroad Commission do to incentivize alternative-energy development, since it's not really directly under your purview? [You've] said you thought that there were a number of things that could be done. Could you elaborate on some of those?
Now some of that, just know that I'd want the industries and the cities to come up with some of those examples. But I think from a policy point of view I think we can urge and we can push, and I think the point in time I suggested ... typically any gas-rate increases have to go through the Railroad Commission and typically they're rubberstamped. There may be some hemming and hawing and that sort of thing, but typically they're rubberstamped. I think that's the opportunity where the Railroad Commission comes in and says, if you want these gas-rate increases for whatever reason that they're needed, let's ask and push cities and energy companies to hey, ask them, what are you doing for energy conservation, and what are you doing for renewable fuels and alternative fuels. 


Let's say, for instance, a utility and a city have a conflict over a rate increase, it comes to the Railroad Commission. You guys could say, look, we think you're passing along some of the cost of maintenance and maybe you could be recouping that through more energy efficiency. What are you guys doing on that end ...
Absolutely, yes.

Is that an example of how the conversation might go?
Absolutely. And then I'd want to see a plan for reducing energy usage per capita, you know, what's the plan for that? Or what percentage of your energy sources are now coming from renewable fuels and alternative fuels? And so that's the idea. Now the model I use is SAWS. And I don't remember what year it was, but SAWS now has a water-conservation department, and while I was on council, I asked how did this get started? and my understanding is that 15 or 20 years ago, as council approves the bond packages that come through, the council said, hey, let's pause, typically we rubberstamp these things, but now we'd like SAWS, for you to dedicate one percent or so from your revenue directly to water conservation. And so now as a result of that push from a typical rubberstamping of a bond approval, SAWS now has 15 people that their whole work is dedicated to water conservation, and as a result, we've grown by 85 percent since 1980, but our water usage has only increased by 15 percent. And so that's the idea, is to use our bully pulpit to push cities and energy companies to advocate and implement renewable and alternative fuel policies as well as energy conservation policies.

When you look at alternative-energy options for Texas, things like conservation, solar, wind power, what to you seems like the right package of things that the state ought to be going forward with?
Certainly wind and solar are easy targets and easy to advocate. I'd like to see us do more to explore bio-diesel. I know that there's a big discussion now on the whole nuclear issues. The Railroad Commission doesn't necessarily have a whole lot to do with nuclear ...

As far as the uranium mining goes, though, you do have some regulation of how that's ...
Yes, we do. And I've been to Goliad County and talked with those folks down there. You know, no matter what we do -- even with clean energy sources, with solar and wind and so forth -- you've still got to do a good job with educating folks and making sure that you do everyitng as a commission to build the solar and wind farms etc. For the uranium issue in Goliad, certainly water quality is the biggest issue there, and what disturbs me about that whole system was that the Railroad Commission came in and placed the monitoring wells really, in my opinion, too late, and so you've got a starting point of when the mining began, you've got the monitoring wells that came in later, and then the end point at which they made their assessment of whether or not there's a water-quality issue. And the Railroad Commissioners came back and said, hey, there's no water-quality issue here. but the citizens will say that they should have begun their monitoring well before they did. That's a perfect example of, whether or not you agree or disagree with uranium mining or nuclear, the Railroad Commission did not do its job in properly assessing the water-quality issue.

There've been similar problems with saltwater injections wells.
Yes, similar problems with injection wells. My position on injections wells is, well first, I'd like to review a little bit more, in more detail, whether injection wells are a good thing for the environment. But number two, even if they are, then certainly I'd not want to put them in urban areas or near water sources.

It's interesting, too, that now people are talking about carbon sequestration, for instance, as maybe a solution to still having coal plants, but then injecting that down into the earth.
Right. And I'm not a scientist ... but the whole concept of injecting bad stuff back into the earth for safe-keeping is a little worrisome to me. I don't know how much research has been done and what the negatives to it are, but I guess I'm a little bit more skeptical about what we're doing on both the injection-well side as well as the carbon sequestration.

If we could talk about your candidacy more in general, I think one paper characterized you as saying, well, he'd be sort of the candidate who'd look to bring the two sides together, whereas Dale Henry would be sort of the populist, Don Quixote character. Do you think that's a fair characterization of the difference between your candidacies?
Well, no. First, on one side, certainly I've always been a person who can bring all sides together and come up with good solutions, and good solutions that are good not only for the environment but also for the quality of life in general. When I look at my candidacy and my service as a city-council member, people knew I was a Democrat, and yet I was elected in a 70-30 Republican area twice, and still recognized by the Sierra Club and other Democratic organizations. So it's the ability to be able to advocate for what you believe in and bring people together to resolve issues. So I think the characterization of me as somebody who can build bridges and bring poeple together is accurate. Now, on the populist side, and it's, the base of my candidacy and value system has always been populist, but then it's just making sure you don't turn people away, but bring people together while holding those values and ideals. And I don't necessarily like to talk negative about anybody and any candidate, but I think it's hard to believe that a person that's been 50 years in the industry, whose friends, and contacts, and connections are in the industry, to be that independent from the industry.

Maybe that answers in part the second part of my question. The other comparison that tends to be made is that, I think, you've been called impressive and personable, but then they'll talk about the fact that you don't have as much experience in this area as Henry does. What do you think are the strengths you bring to the position in addition to bridge-building?
I think I bring certainly the experience that you get when you serve in public office and bring people together. There's a whole skill set there that requires being sensitive to all sides and making sure that all people are pulled together and you resolve issues. And when you can't resolve issues that you make a hard decison as a commissioner or as a councilmember and back that decision. So I think that's certainly key. I think my advocacy for environmental issues, for quality of life issues, for health and safety, is what I bring to the table. But let me also mention -- and certainly I bring my legal experience and my financial experience to the table -- but what I've been hearing as I go out and campaign is that people do like the fact that I am fairly independent from the industry. I think people are looking for a person that's not connected, or not as connected as my opponent is, to the industry. And certainly in these sorts of positions you are a board of directors, and so you want to bring a different skill set to the table to resolve issues.

On the note of not connected to the industry, some people have raised the fact that your wife is an attorney for Valero. Is that a fair question to raise?
Certainly it's a fair question. The argument, though, is Valero rarely comes before the commission, if ever. They deal more with the interstate pipelines, so any intrastate issues won't -- it's rare that they come before the commission. But then my argument is, and this is the same for city council, I got lots of contributions from city council, but when you look at who was giving and what the average contribution was, my average contribution on city council was probably $105, $110, and really it's about the same now. And so I don't think it's fair that you look at one or two contributions and make your assessment on that. I've got lots of contributors and most of them are $100 and below, so when I have an average contribution of $110, the folks that are really backing me are average, everyday citizens. And when you look at my record, my record has been advocating for average, everyday citizens.

Would it be fair to say if something came before the commission and your wife was still employed there that you would recuse yourself?
Absolutely.

It's interesting that you raise the money issue, too. I think the papers have often portrayed Henry as someone who has run on a small amount of money, but if I'm reading your sheets right, you're not exactly raking in the bucks, either. At the moment, anyways.
Well, it's starting to pick up. The last two weeks have really picked up and our difficulty is everybody's focusing on the presidential and U.S. Senate races. Now I think it'll definitely be much easier to fundraise after the primary. I think the big distinction between myself and my opponent is that I'm willing to go out there and fundraise, particulary after the primary, to win. I think you do have to raise money if you're gonna have a credible campaign. But the key in raising that money is to also remain independent and make good decisions based on, I guess, prioritizing the health, safety, and quality of life of average citizens. That's the key for me -- when I talked with some of the party officials, they weren't very happy with the past couple of races that my opponent has had just because he's not waged a credible campaign that requires getting your message out to the public.

When you talk about making traditional oil and gas as clean as possible, and at the same time transitioning to alternative fuels, is it your opinion that eventually we need to be off traditional oil and gas altogether, or do you see a long-term, indefinite role for them if we can improve the technology?
Well, first, I certainly believe that we should eventually come off traditional oil and gas. In fact, my opinion is that eventually we'll have to because we've got this whole concept of peak oil, and scientists say we will have found all the available reserves of oil and gas by 2012 or 2016, something along those lines. So at that point you're depleting those reserves, so eventually you'll run out of traditional oil and gas. So after that, then, you have to figure out, all right, where are all the new energy sources coming from? So my opinion is that eventually we'll have to because we won't have any traditional oil and gas left. So I think it's smart if we can transition our economy into something else more quickly. But at the same time I know that that transition won't be in five years and won't happen overnight. And so with that we've gotta do better with what we currently have as well, as we make that transition. but I will also say that traditional oil and gas, when I talk about making it cleaner and safer I'm also talking about the couplings that have been bursting, and exploding and so forth, I'm talking about the injection-well issues, I'm talking about uncapped wells that are polluting our aquifers, that's all part of that whole discussion.

March 4 primary: Dale Henry

In the Democratic Primary race to take on Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, former San Antonio Councilman Art Hall has been portrayed positively as a bridge-builder, and negatively as inexperienced (his campaign website originally touted rail-safety reform as a goal). Hall's critics have also suggested that he's merely looking for a statewide perch from which to seek a higher office. While Hall admitted to the Current that he was running for the RRC in part because he didn't think his conservative district would put him in the state house, he professed a real desire to influence energy policy and promised to serve a full six-year term.

Hall's opponent, three-time candidate and former Republican Dale Henry has been cast as the populist Don Quixote, tilting (forgive us) at windmills, but lordy, long on integrity and with decades of experience capping wells for the industry he would regulate. (Regular Current contributor Vince Leibowitz is working on Henry's campaign.) While both candidates promise to put protecting water quality and consumer safety ahead of industry profits, one key difference between them is their philosophy about the role the commission should play in shaping the state's energy future. Hall sees the post as an opportunity to promote energy conservation and efficiency and steer the industry toward alternative fuel sources. Henry says those "pie-in-the-sky" promises are a distraction from the agency's main job, which is promoting safety and efficiency in oil and gas drilling. This excerpt from an interview with Henry is an eye-opening and entertaining look at a man who's not afraid to employ some good old-fashioned rhetoric.


Do you feel like the public is getting a grip on the Railroad Commission and why it's important?
Well, some of 'em, when we get around, get to talk to 'em.

When you talk to folks, what do you tell them are the three top things the commission needs to address?
Well, in my opinion we need to address the safety of the people of Texas, that's 20 million of 'em plus, that hasn't been done by the Railroad Commission in the past because of a thing called public interest. When they have hearings at the Railroad Commission with the public, whatever the problem might be with the public, they take the attitude that public interest only is a result of taking care of the oil companies, not the poeple of the state of Texas. The result is they always rule in favor of the oil companies.

Give me a couple of examples. I know a lot of people are mad about the rates, but what's a public-safety example?
Well, the public-safety example for one is, in North Texas there's a great drilling program for natural gas, which is the biggest in the United States at the present time and probably as big as there is in the world, and the net result of all of that drilling requires lots of water produced, which is saltwater with contaminants which has to be injected into the ground to get rid of it. I'm talking about tens of thousands of barrels a day, and that's creating a very big hazard to the people through contamination of the shallow underground water supplies that they have for their animals and the wildlife and their houses and that sort of thing, as well as potential contaminant to the deeper underground freshwater aquifers. So that requires a lot of hearings down at the Railroad Commission for people protesting these wells and the net result of that is they always rule in favor of the oil operator, until one well out of North Texas got all the way to the Third Court of Appeals in Austin in the last couple of months and the Court of Appeals ruled that the Railroad's definition of protecting the oil companies wasn't the proper definition of public interest; the public interest was to protect the public and they needed to start looking at it that way. And for 106 years the Railroad Commission -- that's since 1901 when Spindletop came in -- the Railroad Commission has taken that attitude, to protect the oil companies whatever the cost.

Now let's say you're elected to the commission. There'd still be two Republicans on there who are very pro-industry. How would you approach that situation?
Well, you just have to get in there and work. Number one, I don't accept any contributions from the industry or anyone, so I'm free and easy to take a problem and look at it for the people as I would for myself, and see that I don't have anybody breathing down my neck that's wanting special interest, not public interest but special interest. So you have to work with those people. I've done that for years, this is not a problem. I know how to work with people and how to reach equitable solutions for the three commissioners as well as the other side, whichever side it might be.

Your opponent in the Democratic primary, one of them, Art Hall, has suggested that maybe because you worked in the industry for 40 years that a lot of these people are gonna be your friends ...
Negative! I didn't work for any of the oil companies, I was a service-company operator and I only did the services out there that they contracted to be done. I've never received a dollar in payroll or otherwise from an oil company anywhere, I don't have any friends out there any different than the friends that you play bridge with at night or dominos in the afternoon, go on vacation with for the kids to swim, that sort of thing -- there's no ties to anybody in the oil business other than pure friendship. And I'm 100-percent on integrity and those folks don't bother me at all. I don't care what the people say, I'm the one that lives my life, not the people.

Let's talk a little bit about alternative energy. Do you see a role for the Railroad Commission to ...
We're a little early on that; Art's way out of bounds on that. The Railroad Commission is not in the business of research and development on alternative energies, they're in the business of regulating oil and gas and any other thing that comes along that is approved by the legislature and by the three commissioners that they need to regulate. I was one of the number ones in alternative energy, back 30, 40 years ago, 'fore Art was born. I was out on windmill projects and using waterfalling through the streams to turn turbines and generate electricity through small generators. I 've been in on many of the other things that could turn out to be alternative energies through research and development.

But you don't see that as the Railroad Commissioners' goal...
I'm not saying it's not gonna be in the future; it's not right now, and future means years and years and years down the road. You can't jump in there and start your own research and development program. So what it amounts to, you have to work with the research and development people, whether they're with big oil or electrical companies or any other corporation, just a small inventor out there, but it's not the program of the Railroad Commission to go out and promote alternative energies.

So, for instance, Mr. Hall was suggesting that when rate approvals come before the committee ... that instead of just approving the rate hike the Railroad Commission could tie it to incentives for, say, conservation programs. Do you feel that is or isn't an appropriate thing for the Railroad Commission to do?
Well, the Railroad Commission has to look at the facts. And we're getting way out of, I guess, the ballpark on these sort of things, and Elaine, the reason is I'm 40-odd years in the business, and I understand oil and gas inside-out, upside-down, any way you want ot look at it, and we're talking about pie in the sky of all of these things, from people that do not have a background in the industry, and that gets everybody confused, and I'm out here to separate the confusion from the facts, and I know the facts.

In terms of oil and gas, going forward do you see them as something where long-term we can still look at them for energy solutions?
Well, that's the only thing, Elaine. We've been at it a long, long time, and you're not gonna replace fossil fuels overnight with any other kind of program. You may suddenly, with lots of hard work, start inching in on a percent here or a percent there; we still have vast stores of oil and gas in the ground here in the state of Texas, not only around the world. And all of the appliances, the vehicles, the machinery in big factories, you can go on and on, is based on operating with fossil fuel primarily, so you can't cut it off overnight. And we still have it, so again, this is pie in the sky stuff people keep talking about that have no knowledge about the real facts with alternative fuels, how they come about and how you could move them to get ahead to replace fossil fuels. The real deal, the real deal, and I'll repeat that again, the real deal is that we abandon producing oil wells with 40 percent only of the fossil fuel in place, maybe even less than that, leaving 60 or more percent in the ground, because improper production, improper drilling, improper completion of the wells themselves. The basic things have got to be changed here. I've plugged over 3,500-hundred wells as contractor for the Railroad Commission. I was on every one of 'em. I see the abuse, and we have to use the word "malicious," abuse that's been applied to our fossil-fuel industry by both the Railroad Commission and the operators themselves. They're only out ot make a dollar and they'll take every shortcut in the world. And I'm not talking against the oil and gas operators; we just have to improve the efficiency with which they work as an oversight or regulatory commission with the Railroad Commission -- three commissioners and their employees -- that is their objective, that is their charter, that's what they're supposed to do, and they haven't done it in 106 years. That's the reason we're in the mess we're in in fossil fuels.

Now if you could, some people have suggest that the Railroad Commission's name ought be changed and that some of what it does ought to be changed. If you could write what you feel...
But again, Elaine, we're talking about things out here that don't have anything to do with 20 million people, to protect and take care and make sure that their future generations are moving ahead forward -- what's a name? Yeah, I'm for changing a name, but that don't get you any more fuel, it don't protect your water, it don't do anything. Why are we talking about subjects that are strictly a cover-up for lack of knowledge by the people that's been in the Railroad Commission 106 years and my opponents that are trying to cover-up what the real problem is. Let's go out and take care of our fossil fuels, and take care of our water, and take care of our people. That's the three things that I'm going there for and I know how to do it.