Wheelin' it on Houston Street

By: Jennifer Herrera

I ventured to the Houston Street Fair & Market for the first time this past Saturday. I thought I arrived early enough to avoid the crowds, but when I made my way to the front of the Alamo I saw where everyone was hiding at. Check out the video to see a glimpse of the sweet rides you may have missed this weekend.

no al muro (two)

Day two from Nat Stone...

no al muro (one)

Greg Harman
gharman@sacurrent.com

I first ran across Nat Stone sitting in an Alpine coffee shop while working my way downriver on the border wall series Muro del Odio for the Current.

He'd had what sounded like a year headstart on me, documenting with his camerat he ongoing policy tension that had la frontera in a roil with all the wall talk. He knew all the key folks in the Valley where I was headed that he shared with me. I had a few contacts back toward El Paso that i passed to him.

We shared some brief stories and went on our respective ways documenting events spinning out of the Heartland's rush of xenophobia.

This week, he agreed to let me post his videos on Curblog he is capturing at a major protest walk out in El Paso county. Also: Stone will be penning a few thoughts for the coming week's Saytown Lowdown.

The Dragnet versus the Bike Thief: Help Carlos the Carpenter

Lameness versus community.  That was a topic indirectly addressed last night when Carlos the Carpenter made an impassioned speech at the Brackenridge Park "drum circle" to find the person who never came back with his bike. 

Though everyone complains about the lameness of San Antonio, there is a backside to this effect which is that everyone knows everyone, especially in the various niches and factions - the music scene, the art scene, and in this case, the bike scene.  And that was the point Carlos was making.  If this missing bike is used around town, then someone will see it.

Bike theft has relatively been  low in San Antonio.  It happens for sure but less than I would think.  Perhaps most thieves won't steal a bike because they require too much work to use , and stealing and work don't go hand in hand.

Last night a guy calling himself Joe Jasso from Florida was last seen riding Carlos the Carpenter's bike.  Previously Jasso told me an elaborate story about riding a bmx bike from Florida to Yellowstone Park over the course of 3 months.  Was it true?  He also mentioned previously living in San Francisco and how SA doesn't have bike lanes like SF does.  Was that sincere?  It's now all unclear.

I saw Jasso riding  CTC's cruiser bike from Main Plaza over to the Alamo.  At that point, Jasso asked to switch bikes with CTC and ride his bmx bike.  He was last seen riding off on the bmx bike and never returned.

Here is a foto of the missing bike.








The present version has blue tires though they aren't this camo version seen in this foto, but pretty much the same.

If anyone sees this bike around downtown or beyond feel free to contact Carlos at
210-213-5400, or even Carlosthecarpenter@Yahoo.com.

And for any other bike thefts feel free to email me images of the bike and contact info at whittingtonjones@gmail.com to help in the dragnet.

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dems: Day 4

By Gilbert Garcia

Question: How long does it take to get 84,000 people into Denver's Invesco Field for a DNC acceptance speech?

Answer: Way too long.

One couple got married and divorced while waiting in the mile-high, miles-long line. Myself, I wrote the Great American Novel by the time I got through the security checkpoint (it's now available in paperback). And, if I'm not mistaken, an 8-year-old kid grew a salt-and-pepper beard along the way. I'm telling you, this was a slow line.

But it did provide some entertaining moments along the way. For instance, vendors on the serpentine route were selling the best t-shirt I saw all week: an old hip-hop knockoff that proclaimed: "RUN-DNC." Also, one bottled-water salesman tried to get around the fact that security wouldn't allow bottles to be brought into the stadium, with this passionate pitch: "You can carry it inside -- in your body!"

Inside Invesco, there were a few drab stretches for the crowd (c'mon, Michael McDonald, but no "Yah Mo B There"? That's a campaign anthem waiting to happen.). But the text-message-your-Obama-love contest was a brilliant, MTV-like gimmick and it was remarkable how thunderous that foot stomping could be when Barack Obama or Al Gore tore the GOP a new one. At one point, the faithful even pretended the Broncos were playing, and did the wave for about five minutes. And you had to love the guy straight from heartland central-casting, telling the throng: "We need a president who puts Barney Smith before Smith Barney!"

From where I was sitting (level 4, to be precise), Obama's speech was pretty powerful, if, by necessity, more earthbound and less poetic than his famous 2004 keynote address at the DNC. His riskiest line -- "John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell, but he won't even go to the cave where he lives" -- drew "Did he really say that?" gasps (and a few laughs) in the print-media booth at Invesco. Obama's strongest themes were not so strident, but still unmistakably sharp: "Change doesn't come from Washington, it comes to Washington"; "America, we cannot go back"; and "What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me, it's about you." Also, as the only known member of the International Adam Rich Fan Club, I mightily enjoyed Obama's "Eight is Enough" slam on Bush.

On my flight out of Denver Friday morning, I spoke to a Hillary supporter who's now a lukewarm Barack backer ("I might write-in Hillary," she said with a laugh.). She chose to watch the extravaganza on TV instead of going to the stadium and said she found the speech slightly flat, as if Obama was preoccupied with playing to the stadium crowd instead of the national viewing audience. She also told me she's participated in some focus groups and came away thinking Obama could very well lose this election. She said women and seniors in the focus groups remain resistant to him and his attack ads (such as the one about McCain forgetting how many houses he owns) are not registering, while McCain's (tying Obama to Chicago developer Tony Rezko or comparing him to Paris Hilton) are reaching their target audience (presumably, people who can't tell the difference between a 47-year-old senator and a 27-year-old, club-hopping hotel heiress).

McCain's surprise announcement of first-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate confirmed everything he's hinted at over the last couple of weeks: He's betting the house on his ability to steal away Hillary diehards.

If Obama's campaign gets out the vote and holds its base together, they're confident their man will win. McCain's strategy begins and ends with the Hillary-defection factor. Regarding Palin, Americans have two months to decide if they want a frumpier, gun-loving Tina Fey as their next next vice-president.      

Treehouse Adventures

Yesterday afternoon I attended a preview of the Terrific Treehouses exhibit at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. I had an inkling that the treehouses were going to be masterpieces, and I was proven right when local designers brought their A-game. Nine treehouses were on display throughout the garden ranging from a feng shui creation to a flower fort.



I must admit I was won over by the whimsy of the Magic Treehouse designed by six-year-old Hannah Hughes. Hannah’s idea came from the popular book series of the same name. However, Re-born is another standout treehouse that sits near the Garden overlook with an amazing view of the San Anto skyline. The exhibition is presented in partnership with the American Institute of Architecture (AIA). The design teams that participated in the exhibition were given a stipend of $3,500 to assist with the construction, installation, and removal of the structure.

Opening weekend activities for Terrific Treehouses include: origami, calligraphy, and tai chi classes, as well as, kite making lessons.  


Terrific Treehouses
9am-5pm Mon-Sun
Through Dec 7
$4-7
San Antonio Botanical Garden
555 Funston@ North New Braunfels Ave
(210) 829-5100
sabot.org/

Live & Local Preview: Lie and Wait

Join me, Jeremy Martin, tonight at the Warhol, where I'll be reviewing the performance by local hardcore m.f.s Lie and Wait. I'd describe their music, but this sweet sweet photo of lead screamer Tyler Lutz (taken by Steven Gilmore) should tell you everything you need to know, really. Tonight also marks the farewell performance for S.A. scene vets Sudden Death. Killing Dream, On My Side, The Rippers and a whole mess of other like-minded local and regional acts will be performing, too, so expect hordes of sweaty straight-edgers to show. Tickets are $6, all ages admitted. Doors open at 6 p.m.Go to the Warhol's MySpace page for more information, or go to Lie and Wait's page to hear a few of their tunes.  To nominate the next band we cover in our ongoing Live & Local concert review series, post a comment at the bottom of the page, or shoot me an email. And if any of you crazy punker kids sees my callow, bespectacled ass (I will literally be wearing glasses on my ass) in the mosh pit, go easy on me. I'm not as young as I used to be.

On the Street: Monroe Mustang, Pigasus Remembered, and Other Important Discussions of Our Time

"What Would Costanza Do?"

Letters (to the On the Street Penthouse Suite)

#1 All That's Old Is New Again

In this email is a link to a site where one can upload an image of oneself in what seems to be various high school archetypes - the BMOC, the nerd, the guy with the afro...

http://yearbookyourself.com/ is fun




I have no idea who that person is but I think he knows a lot about psychology and vitamins and aliens.


#2 Better Late Than Never

Who:  Leslie Raymond
What: LANDSCAPES
Where:  Blue Star Contemporary Art Center, Gallery 4
When:  September 4 - 30, 2008


Special Press Viewing:  Tuesday August 26, 3-5pm
                       At Blue Star Gallery 4


Hope to see you on Tuesday!

-Leslie


#3 Ghostrider

Mark,  I was riding on the southside the other day and came across the 1st ghost bike I've seen in town.  It's on the SW corner of Roosevelt and SE Military Dr. (in front of the Bill Miller's). Are there others?  Hope you are well;  see you on the road.  jack

OTS has coverd the fallen ghost bike project before with fotos from some early species  in Austin on W. 6th Street.  According to OTS Insider Jack, this may be the first here in town.


Monroe Mustang Reunion

On Saturday I slipped up to Austin for a rare reunion show by the band Monroe Mustang.  They put out some albums on the label Emperor Jones owned by King Koffey (drummer from former SA freak band Butthole Surfers).

There an interesting group of talents, with many of them working for the Austin Chronicle, or now living abroad.  I would describe the sound as 4 track Beatles with ambient overtones.




Here is a sample to listen to from what appears to be a new digitally released album of old material. 

One fan came all the way down from Canada to see the show.  That made me feel less awkward and out of place in driving up.  In that context, I was practically in the neighborhood.

(Across the street from the Mohawk Club {formerly some sort of French named bar that may or may not have shut down before the feds came in on a coke bust} is a horrendous new loft on Red River.  Already the residents are complaining about noise levels, that is after they built the place in the middle of "The Live Music Capital of the World" bar district.  I can't imagine this happening in SA - not the live music capital aspect but the complaining part.  Yes, Sunset Station has reverse issues with the hotel next door, but that is a far cry from people knowingly moving into a bar/music district and then complaining about it.  I'd like to think in SA this dispute would be handled all Raymond Burr/Alexander Hamilton style, but I could be wrong...)

Fotos from the show (and many of them extremely repetitive)...


Pigasus Remembered

After the announcement of Joe Biden for VP, it's hard for any of us to get any work done.  The excitement, the hyperventilating we all share - it's clearly too much.  Sure, there was some concern that Obama was abandoning his initial principles but luckily that notion has been set to rest with selection of a real grassroots organizer named Joe Biden. 

On the other hand, there's this opinion of him by the loveable curmudgeon.  Yeah, maybe that's more like it.


(No Credit Available)

Meanwhile, for more time reunionisms, here is a foto from outside the DNC in Chicago in 1968 which was full of several crucial moments of street protest, some of which is captured in Haskel Wexler's film Medium Cool, though most of it is lost in the great memory hole.

In addition to Wexler's addition to the legacy are the Yippies nominating a pig, Pigasus, for President.  Above are the Chicago cops arresting the pig, which might make it a political prisoner if one was so inclined.

For further reading on the matter, try this.

Here is an excerpt...

THE WITNESS: We were arrested announcing the pig's candidacy for President.

MR. KUNSTLER: Did Jerry Rubin speak?

THE WITNESS: Yes, Jerry Rubin was reading a prepared speech for the pig---the opening sentence was something like, "I, Pigasus, hereby announce my candidacy for the Presidency of the United States." He was interrupted in his talk by the police who arrested us. ...

MR. KUNSTLER: Do you remember what you were charged with?

THE WITNESS: I believe the original charge mentioned was something about an old Chicago law about bringing livestock into the city, or disturbing the peace, or disorderly conduct, and when it came time for the trial, I believe the charge was disorderly conduct.

MR. KUNSTLER: Were you informed by an officer that the pig had squealed on you?

MR. FORAN: Objection. I ask it be stricken.

THE WITNESS: Yes.

THE COURT: I sustain the objection. When an objection is made do not answer until the Court has ruled. . .

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

T. Boone covering his tracks?

Greg Harman
gharman@sacurrent.com

If you are staying up nights worrying about whatever could be on my mind and if my obsession du jour could possibly be the final straw that tanks the market and leaves us all stranded in our respective victory gardens, let me put your mind at ease. I'm all about the Pickens, as in T. Boone.

The former corporate raider and well-padded energy meister has enjoyed a surprisingly blood-free romp through the news market briar patch with his greased-up media campaign designed to capture the national furor over gas prices (since deflated somewhat) and funnel it into his tank of wind promises.

Does nobody in the information-reconstituting world remember his earlier machinations designed to tap into the nation's fastest-retreating large aquifer and pipe the water into Dallas and/or San Antonio?

Did anyone but a couple bloggers and Popular Mechanics stop to wonder if those needed wind transmission lines just might be happily laying a path for the even-more-lucrative water pipeline?

From Popular Mechanics:

Legendary Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens recently detailed his plan to wean America off foreign oil by blanketing the Great Plains with wind turbines. But Pickens also has a lesser-known plan that is centered on another commodity, one every bit as vital to America's future as energy—water. If it all works out, his water plan could remake Pickens as a whole new kind of baron.

Pickens is in the planning stages of a $1.5 billion initiative to pump billions of gallons of water from an ancient aquifer beneath the Texas Panhandle and build pipelines to ship them to thirsty cities such as Dallas. So far, no city has taken up his water company, Mesa Water, on the offer.

But company officials and experts agree that a continuation of the drought impacting large portions of the United States could turn Pickens into something of a water baron. His yet-to-be-built pipeline would follow the same 250-mile corridor as electric lines carrying power from his wind farms. Pickens prompted the creation of a public water supply district, run by his employees, that can claim private land for the pipeline route through eminent domain. (Follow the pipeline's path here.)

Want to see if your ranchita is in the way of water-privatization progress? Doh! The trickster deleted the plans (aka, evidence?)!

We get a sad-sad "missing page" alert.

Sometime since the PopMech article, the Roberts County FWSD N01 (Pickens and a couple quail-huntin' buddies, I'm told) deleted the webpage.Step back on the url to the "district" home and we find the project has been "suspended for now," though the district (thank your stars!) is continuing efforts to acquire and develop water rights."

So, what does that mean? Wind first — then the water?

Drought and beef prices got you down? Look around! Pickins is still in town.

Yeah, yeah. I don't much like missing pages, so I rolled up my sleeves (with some encouragements) and hunted down a little url code trick. Now that's more like it.The missing piece:

Haven't had the same success with that PDF behind the "project route map," but I managed to kill another perfectly good hour fussing on my laptop while satisfying my current fixation for now.

When I first started seeing the "Pickins' Plan" adverts, I just assumed everyone knew as much as I did, which is about whatever the face on the screen was telling me. Then I got a call from a long-lost bud in the UAE. "Whose this Pickens guy?" he asked.

The public plan is all about "energy independence." That is, it's a wild switcheroo whereby our natural gas power plants (too many mothballed anyway because of wild pricing swings) are replaced with roiling wind farms slicing down the center of the country. The natural gas would then be freed up, theoretically, to power the transportation sector.

There are, as you might have guessed, some hitches.

Challenges, according to Vaclav Smil, include:Number of turbines needed.

In 2007, U.S. utilities installed about 3,200 turbines with a total generating capacity of 5.24 gigawatts of electricity: If these turbines were to generate electricity 25 percent of the time — a typical load factor — they would produce enough electricity for about one million households for a year. (The U.S. has more than 110 million households.) But even if today’s natural gas-fired power plant capacity were replaced at an unrealistic 1:1 ratio by wind turbines, Pickens is talking about installing 40 gigawatts of wind power a year — roughly 8 times the 2007 pace.

Cost of transmission line.

Without knowing the specifics, which Pickens' plan do not address, this may or may not be enough to link nearly 400 gigawatts of newly installed wind-generating capacity in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas with high urban concentrations on the coasts. In any case, the construction pace would be a huge challenge. During the 1990s, U.S. utilities built about 9,700 miles of new HV lines and plans for this decade amount to less than 8,000 miles — one-fifth to one-sixth of the 40,000 to 50,000 miles required under the Pickens plan.

And the auto conversions.

While they are efficient, clean, and entirely desirable (I had advocated their use as far back as the first oil "crisis" of 1973), scaling of their ownership to tens of millions units, from fewer than 200,000 such cars today, would be extremely difficult to do in a single decade — and only a few of America’s nearly 120,000 service stations now offer natural gas ...The Texas oilman is right: This is a crisis of America’s own making. Federal mileage standards doubled America’s passenger car fuel efficiency between 1976 and 1986, to 27.5 mpg.

But with the ensuing decades of inexpensive oil, no new standards were set. A mere continuation of the 1976-1986 rate of improvement would have meant that American cars today would average close to 50 mpg, eliminating the need for nearly 70 percent of the crude oil we import. Moreover, a massive adoption of SUVs pushed the passenger vehicle fleet performance to just 22 mpg by 2006. And if America hopes to make up for its gasoline profligacy with more drilling, that will not prove to be effective solution: More oil will be discovered in America’s offshore waters, but not nearly enough to make the country self-sufficient, even after two to three decades of such activity.

But don't let me stop you. Watch the PP video. But when the water router gets a'groanin, remember, Popular Mechanics tried to warn you.

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dems: Day 3

By Gilbert Garcia

The most euphoric moment of the 2008 DNC (at least until Barack Obama's surprise cameo following Joe Biden's acceptance speech) came when Hillary Clinton hit the convention floor to join the New York delegation and make an announcement.

Clinton took the mic and moved that the roll-call vote be suspended so that Obama could be nominated for president by acclamation. The Pepsi Center exploded, the angels wept, and the tireless band kicked into "Love Train."

Clinton's coup came at the end of a complicated tango which found Illinois yielding their alphabetical place in the roll call, presumably so they could be the state to send favorite-son Obama over the top. New Mexico subsequently yielded to Illinois, and then Illinois yielded to New York, a clear conciliatory gesture from the Obama camp to the Clinton team, which enabled Hillary to make the ultimate show of party unity.

The funny thing about the roll-call vote was that busloads of delegates were still arriving at the Pepsi Center when the states started to be called. A Kentucky woman with a big hat covered in red, white, and blue beads fretted to me that she hadn't been able to cast her vote (for Obama) that morning with her delegation, and hoped to make it to the convention in time to make her vote known. It was a quaint sentiment, because the roll call is merely an early-afternoon formality at conventions these days, a reminder of days when delegates nearly came to blows over every last comma in the party platform, and real business happened at these gatherings.

A couple of hours before electrifying the convention, Hillary threw a "thank you" rally for all of her delegates, noting that at last count she had about 1,920 and joking, "If I'd known I had that many, I might have not quit."

"This has been a joy," she said to her loyalists, many of them red-eyed as the tears flowed openly. "No, we didn't make it, but boy did we have fun trying."

Clinton told her delegates that she was releasing them, which drew some boos. She went on to explain that they were free to vote for her if they chose, but they could also switch to Obama (as she said she'd already done Wednesday morning). With regard to the Republican opposition, she said, "When they meet at their convention, they should all just apologize for what they've done to the country."

Outside the Convention Center, a group of twentysomething men supporting John McCain wore t-shirts featuring Obama's likeness, with the sarcastic slogan, "Not Ready 08: A Mile High, An Inch Deep." They debated Democrats in front of TV cameras while one of the McCain backers announced, to no one in particular, "Hope is not an actual policy position."

Political analyst Howard Fineman signed copies of his new book in the Convention Center lobby and chatted briefly about the election, saying,  "It's either going to be really close or, in the end, the bottom will drop out for McCain," a la Jimmy Carter in 1980. A source close to the Obama campaign told me they're not concerned about the polls or any of the perceived voter trends that the media obsesses about. He says they're a discliplined machine with an unwavering focus on their plan: registering new voters, ensuring a big turnout, and hitting the swing states hard (they're expected to pour huge -- probably unprecedented -- sums in Florida alone).

They'll surely be helped by Bill Clinton's surprisingly gracious nod to Obama in Wednesday night's speech. When Clinton uttered the sentence, "Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States," you could almost feel a collective exhale of relief in the arena.

Moments before Clinton's speech, I passed Spike Lee (wearing a white "Yes We Can" cap) in the nightly crush of humanity on the convention floor. Other CurBlog celebrity sightings at the Pepsi Center include Dan Rather, Jayne Seymour (with entourage/security), Paul Begala, Lanny Davis, professional friend-of-Oprah, Gayle King, and attorney Gloria Allred (does she count as a celebrity?). Also, for what it's worth, CNN's Anderson Cooper spent his commercial-break time amiably laughing and bantering with co-workers while Wolf Blitzer stared straight ahead with a fixed, sullen expression. Maybe we can call him Lone Wolf Blitzer from now on.

Finally, Obama brings the DNC to a wild finish tonight at Invesco Field (which he called “Mile High Stadium” last night, a possible homage to locals who hate the stadium’s corporate tie-in). The logistics will be a nightmare. I-25 will be closed for four hours, security will be painfully slow, and getting the delegates to the stadium will be a big undertaking. I heard one middle-aged African-American man, an enthusiastic Obama delegate, talk about staying at the hotel to watch the speech on TV, rather than braving the madness. Obama is also taking a political risk by sacrificing the relative intimacy of the Pepsi Center for a big-scale, rock-show type of event that might not play as well in living rooms across America. In a few hours, we'll know if the gamble paid off.    
 

Ping Pong Wok

By: Jennifer Herrera

As the Olympics winded down this past weekend the folks over at Stone Oak’s Fire Wok kept the spirit alive with their ping pong tournament. Owner Michael Hu challenged customers to a game of ping pong with winners walking away with a free lunch. And although Hu admitted in his press release that he hadn’t played ping pong in about 35 years you wouldn’t know when you saw him in action on Saturday.



Hu updated us on the winners: Jeff Torres clinched the gold, with Bing Zhu and JT Si winning the silver and bronze, respectively.  But everyone left a winner; Fire Wok offered free egg rolls to non-winners. The event brought out customers as young as six and as old as 80. “It was [a] fun day for everybody,” Hu said.

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dems: Day 2

By Gilbert Garcia
 
With Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, it's like a rock-paper-scissors duel that lasts for two years. They simply have to match each other point for point. She tries to make history by breaking the gender barrier to the White House, so he has to make history by trying to break the racial barrier to the White House. His DNC acceptance speech is perfectly timed on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, so her valedictory address at the convention came on the 88th anniversary of  women receiving the right to vote. And if that's not enough historical coincidence for you, Mark Warner's keynote address marked the 60th anniversary of Sominex coming on the market. I'm not making this up, people. (Well, OK, I am, but you almost believed it, didn't you?)

San Antonio delegate Larry Romo told me that when Hillary addressed the Hispanic Caucus early in the week, she emphatically directed her supporters to rally behind Obama's candidacy, a message which Romo had already taken to heart by accepting the Obama campaign's offer to work with Veterans for Obama. Of course, some Hillary backers didn't get the memo. They love her so much, they refuse to follow her advice on this Obama thing. I guess that kind of defiance works in politics, but it's pretty hard to tell your significant other, "I love you so much I refuse to listen to a damn thing you're asking me to do."

On Monday night, the Republican National Committee hosted a "Happy Hour for Hillary" at the downtown Fairmount Cafe and drew about 100 people. While it's not unusual for the opposition party to throw a bash during a convention week (San Antonio delegate Judy Hall, a major force behind Obama's Texas campaign, remembers the GOP hosting a party at the 2004 DNC in Boston), to target a disaffected wing of that party -- on the heels of John McCain's laughably disingenuous "Why did Obama snub Hillary for VP?" ad -- might be  a bit less orthodox.   

 I met with angry Hillary supporters from Oklahoma and California (one wearing a pointed "Country Before Party" t-shirt) who assured me they were voting for McCain, and that no amount of fence-mending from Obama would make them forgive him. They believe he condoned a lot of sexist coverage of Hillary and belittled Bill Clinton's presidency. It's worth noting, however, that none of these scorched-earth Hillary backers are actually delegates. Most delegates tend to be party loyalists, and they're tired of losing in November.

Hillary's speech was fascinating on a few different levels. While she strongly pushed for Obama's election, she said little about his personal attributes, and seemed to show more regard for Michelle. She also skillfully turned the frustration of her supporters around, saying they've struggled too hard and sacrificed too much to squander the effort by putting a Republican in the White House. My favorite moment came when she asked her backers if their commitment "was just about me," or was it connected to a bigger cause. It's rare for a politican to deflect cult-of-personality idolatry so explicitly, and it was a question worth asking.

Most of the warmup acts for Hillary, including Warner, were flat and unmemorable. Bill Richardson, one of many people trapped in a crush of people on the convention floor before Hillary's speech, was asked in passing what he though of Warner's effort. His response: "I didn't hear it. I've been running around. ... But he's a great speaker."

One final thought: While it's amusing to hear John McCain get teased about his 407 houses, I may be forced to emit a dog-whistle scream if I hear one more elected official at this convention say, "My grandfather worked 27 hours a day in the iron mines," "I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth," or "I still own the same used Volvo I bought back in college." We get it, you understand our struggles. Don't overplay a good hand.

It's worth noting that two of the patron saints of modern liberalism, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy, were silver-spoon kids. Imagine FDR trying to fit in at this convention: "I was raised in a Hyde Park mansion. My father was a gentleman farmer, like his father before him. He worked 15 minutes -- every single day. Sometimes he even had to interrupt his afternoons of lemonade on the veranda to give the servants a tongue-lashing. America, I'm just like you!"

Editor's Note: Yesterday's convention blog incorrectly stated that Kanye West was headlining a Denver Rock the Vote concert. In fact, N.E.R.D. and Fall Out Boy were the featured acts.


 

(Human) remains in the fray

By Greg Harman
gharman@sacurrent.com

The fight over the remains of numerous “archaic hunter-gatherer” Indians held at the Witte Museum is far from settled. While protestors haven’t been able to maintain their avowed weekly protests, several of the organizers will be back in front of the museum late morning Saturday.

Juan Mancias, tribal chair of the Carrizo Nation, the most likely Native American group connected to several bundle burials held at the Witte, wants those remains returned for reburial — even if that takes a protracted PR war on the museum. “I promised my ancestors I’d be there, and I’m going to be there as often as I possibly can.”

Of course, federal law, specifically the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, only requires such returns when there is a federally recognized tribe to work with.  Unfortunately, the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation, still weaving its way through the recognition process, hasn’t been “legitimized” by the Great White Fathers in Washington, D.C.

While Witte reps have begun the meeting process with representatives of several Native American groups, the pressure to work under NAGPRA guidelines has diminished the chances of a speedy return, Mancias and others told the Current. I was familiarized with the challenges the federal law plays in a state where most Indians don’t enjoy federal recognition while writing Battle of the Bones.

But, hey. NAGPRA isn’t all that. According to Indian Country Today, a scathing new report by the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers and the Makah Nation of Washington spotlights the apparent misuse of NAGPRA funds that has resulted in the failure of the U.S. Parks Service to return the remains of hundreds of native peoples for reburial.

Says Mancias of the Witte talks: “I think a lot of it is still argumentative at their part and they just want to keep holding on to the bones. I don’t even know why they want to hold onto them, really. They’ve already extracted enough DNA and did the studies on the mandibles. They should just put them back in the ground, whether they give them to us or not.”

Here’s an excerpt of the ICT report:

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dems: Day 1

By Gilbert Garcia

Right in the middle of the Buffalo Bratwurst line at Denver's Pepsi Center, it occurred to me that the Democratic National Convention is like South By Southwest with suits and ties, multiplied by 10.

As with South By Southwest, there isn't any one convention experience. There are tons of  sanctioned and unsanctioned events all over town, from Political Karaoke to a Rock the Vote concert featuring Kanye West to protest gatherings (at designated, far-from-the-arena sites, of course), Discobama at a dance club called Shag Lounge, and all sorts of parties and small-scale caucus meetings. Oh, and the delegates pick a president on Wednesday.

The convention is also a testament to the great American spirit of shameless entrepreneurship. Carlos Blanco came in from Austin to peddle his "Bye Bye Bushie" playing cards downtown, Kristen Hamill modeled and sold flip-flops with Obama's head on them, and James Donnelly arrived from Asbury Park, New Jersey to market dunce caps designed to "deprogram right wingers" outside the Convention Center.

The Convention Center was a hub of major activity, some of it pretty unsettling. Operation Rescue had three trucks parade down 14th Street with huge billboards on the sides depicting aborted fetuses. In front of the Convention Center, anti-choice activists bellowed into a megaphone that a "vote for Obama is a vote for murdering children." Onlookers couldn't help but be distracted by the fact that a priest hectoring the delegates was wearing black crocs, definitely a comfortable footwear option if you're planning to tell a bunch of strangers that they're all going to rot in hell.

Inside the Convention Center, Tom Brokaw signed copies of his book, Boom: Voices of the Sixties and posed for pictures, while the real action happened at caucus meetings. My favorite one was a DNC Youth Council session hosted by actress Kerry Washington (CurBlog will try not to swoon here) and including Black Eyed Pea hat-fancier will.i.am. His music may be deeply cheesy, but i'll say this for the lower-cased pop wonder: he's no political dilettante. He showed a real command of environmental issues, and he deserves some credit for using part of his obscene fortune to buy an electric car.

Of course, the Pepsi Center highlight was Michelle Obama's evening-closing speech. Part of me wishes that political families didn't have to sell their personal stories to us, but having said that, she did an admirable job. Her speech was everything Teresa Heinz-Kerry's 2004 address was not: gracious, concise, humble, and warm. Did I mention that it was concise? When the kids came out to join her, and Barack dropped in from Kansas City via an overhead video screen, it was almost too much. This was the greatest charm offensive from an American political family since John-John crawled under JFK's desk. Do you think Barack and Michelle will consider adopting us?



 

Beer and Loafing '08

By Gilbert Garcia

I'm heading out to Denver on Sunday afternoon for the Democratic National Convention, which should be a pretty exciting experience for reasons that have nothing to do with personal ideology and everything to do with the fact that this will be the first national-convention experience for this lifelong political junkie. (As a fourth-grader, I was teased by my friends because I could recite the names of every American president, in chronological and reverse-chronological order.)

I vividly recall George McGovern's 1972 graveyard-shift "Come Home America" speech, Jimmy Carter's then-astounding shout-out to Bob Dylan at the 1976 convention, the wild battle between Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford that same year, and Ted Kennedy's ice-cold rejection of Carter in 1980.

To gear up for Denver, I've revisited Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. It reminded me that beyond the gonzo rep, the occasional references to getting stoned in his hotel room, and a few crazed cheap shots at Hubert Humphrey and Ed Muskie, his reporting was remarkably solid and his political insights still look astute.

Much as I admire Thompson's convention coverage, I don't plan on doing any speedballs at Invesco Field. But I will be writing daily blogs from Denver, with a longer wrap-up to come the following week

Perry is a hole

By Greg Harman

gharman@sacurrent.com

Now I know Lone Star politicos aren't traditionally the cheerleading sort — especially when it comes to entering into "entangling alliances" (lest they be petrol-based), suspicious treaties (only "free" trade for our bannana growers), or — heck — abiding by international law (does sovereignty mean nothing?). How many disappointments must we Texicans and imported respirators  bear?

Okay, so Bush won't work with the world. I think we get that. But what's up with Perry not working with neighbors in Coahuila or Arizona, for crying out loud? Why is our state the lone borderlands holdout to a pact dedicated to solving trans-boundary environmental problems?

Flashback! (Yes, still getting caught up on last week's email.) Arnold, the Governator,   trumpets something called the Western Climate Initiative at last week's Border Governor’s Conference held in Hollywood. Happy I wasn't called on to speak, cause I've never heard of the thing.

Turns out WCI, boasting among its ranks California, Arizona, and New Mexico (uh, the rest of El Norte's border) — and "non-actor" observers Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Sonora, & Tamaulipas.

I have a brooding sense of Perry's rationale for keeping a distance. Mess with our right to greenhouse gas emissions and the real Governator may start flashing that double-handed long sword, be-yatch.

From Environmental News Service:

As host of the Border Governors Conference, Schwarzenegger used his keynote speech to expound on the theme of this year's conference, Building Green Economies.

To help fight global warming, he pointed out, the Mexican border states have joined the Western Climate Initiative. They hold status as observers and so are not bound by the goal set by the WCI in August 2007 for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in its 11 member states in the west and in Canadian provinces that now extend as far east as Quebec.

In Hollywood today, Mexico's top environmental official Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, who heads the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources, proposed the creation of state climate change plans to deal with the environmental impacts of global warming in a coordinated way.

He said the environmental agreement that Mexico signed recently with the state of California could be applied all along the border strip.

Still, despite the Texas-shaped hole in WCI, a broad declaration capped the meeting, promising action on a field of challenging issues, including the environment.

Here's the statement on energy:

Energy

Identify and promote a United States-Mexico border region program for renewable energy by exchanging information on policies and financial incentives:

* Work with federal bi-national organizations, the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, the North American Development Bank and international organizations to facilitate project development.

* Identify financial opportunities for at least one renewable energy project before the end of 2009.

Develop a best practices program for energy savings and efficiency in the United States- Mexico border region communities:

* Work with Environment Worktable to identify those industrial commercial sectors in the border region that would benefit from the introduction of energy saving technologies and practices.

* Identify financing from state, federal, bi-national and international sources to support this effort.

Exchange information on energy infrastructure:

* Annually update information on energy infrastructure (e.g. power plants, transmission lines, gas pipelines) as part of the Border Governors Conference.

* Identify cooperative activities between energy authorities from Mexico and the United States.

On The Streets

"The Tide Is Turning..."

Letters (to the OntheStreet Penthouse Suite)

This version of OTS is somewhat of an experiment.  New technologies have created new problems.  The usual over-indulgence of  images is kept in check this week while all the bugs are exterminated, hopefully.

#1 Big Soy Farewell/OrBlack Sabbatical


Hey peeps....Big Soywill be playing their last show at the end of the month and it would beawesome to have all of you there....Maybe they will reunitesomeday...who knows?
 
Big Soy at the LimelightFriday August 29th

show up around 10:00 PM
unsure of covercharge,but it will be resonable
Hope to see youthere!!!-Tiana


#2 Father and Daughter

Hi Y'all
Father and Daughter,Kiptopeke State Park, Virginia, 8.13.2008
can be seenat http://www.barrystone.com/
The ships in thebackground are cement freight ships from WWII.


Trains, Model Ts, andPedicabs...




Gulliver's travel museum.  

This is from the garden model train track at the Texas Transportation Museum. Giant Justin Parr looms in the background.  If only there was miniature tagging on the train then the realism would beunbelievable...as well as mini-hobos and other atmospheric elements from a railyard.



But who needs real life when entering this  sort of world? However, that font does look a little trippy...



More macro lens trickery, though I'm not sure anyone is really fooled.



The lighting and the colors on this wall were incredible. And to clarify, this is for adult sized trains.  





As is this train.  However, the larger the train, the more the adults act like kids.  The small scale/large scale and child/adult dichotomy gets wonderfully confused at the museum. More on that in a bit.

I can't recall how long the train track extends, but they hope to expand the line to up to a mile, if I remember correctly.  



The museum is on part of the unused land just north of the airport. In fact, nothing can really be built on the land because it acts as a buffer for the planes landing and taking off.  If a plane crash landed onto the transportation museum property there would be all sorts of boundary dilemmas.



Almost all modes of transportation are referenced at the museum - including, now, walking.  I'm not sure how I got stuck on foot. The brilliant Scot named Hugh drives the recently rebuilt Model TT.  Justin and I exchange fotos.  



Inside their warehouse this gentleman builds a model train track scene. Somehow, trains unite the very young and the very old, which is basically the same for the museum as a whole.



Outside this Indian pedi-cab was on display.  It's a little worn but the overhead canopy seems to beat the crap out of our recent local versions.  However, notice that gearing. Singlespeed.  It's as if the luxury the passenger enjoys is offsetby the hard work of the cyclist.

Bring Back the Noise




Saturday night at the Limelight.  

Back to museums for a moment - from a visit to the Magic Lantern Museum on Austin Highway (in the middle of the Austin Highway badlands,to be specific) I learned that the lime from limelight refers to calcium tungsten.  Calcium being something found everywhere in San Antonio.  It's that exciting.




Not the headliners, but it felt like it.  Austin's Noise Revival Orchestra came to their "second home" for another show. It feels like the band has about 100 members but it's probably closer to...10?

On the left, the singer/songwriter/svengali sits on an amp and leads the band.  There is an indie hootenanny vibe going on occasionally.   And then there was a passing moment where I had thoughts of Jethro Tull, but luckily that feeling left quickly, and looking back, it could have been indigestion or something environmental.  I'd hate to drop any sort J-T label on any band.  Perhaps I thought I had heard a pan flute...



After the show it was meet and greet with the band.  Here, keyboardist Steven Felix somehow wore my windbreaker. Luckily,there are no fotos of me wearing his vest.




The white Keenan's girlfriend also got in the act as she borrowed part of Steven Felix's wardrobe.  A ninja joke or two may have been thrown around at this point.




Back inside, the Blowing Trees kept the energy going.  In fact, things were even more lively.  NRO were more contemplative, spiritual, and harmonious.  The Blowing Trees were much more manic.



In checking the Limelight myspace page it looked as if Big Soy is scheduled to play a show in October.   Interesting, interesting...


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

When a house falls in an urban jungle ...

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has taken note of SA's rash of historic demos, documented here, here, and here by the Current. We're not alone, of course, so the Trust offers this guide to blocking the wrecking ball.

Got that old-time religion

Picking up tacos at Tito's today, I ran into a friend who said, apropos of this week's cover story that he "used to be the poster boy for voter apathy," but this year, he said, he registered, plans to vote for Obama, and move to Mexico if "that other guy" wins. It's not that he thinks McCain is evil, he added, but Jesus, look at the last eight years. Want more of that, vote for McCain; want anything else, vote for Obama.

My guess is he's not the sort of citizen Zogby's been polling in his ongoing account of McCain's march on Obamaland. Or at least I hope he's indicative of a groundswell of new voters, young and older, who realize that McCain has been a Washington power broker all through the Bush presidency, and his "maverick" pitch isn't worthy of that SA appellation.

Plum Island comes to SA?

Those interested in the possibility of Homeland Security bringing an expanded Plum Island germ lab to Alamo City, may want to watch Karl Grossman's two-part account of issues facing folks around New York regarding the site that has become vilified from New York to Georgia. Seems only Mississippi, Kansas, and SA are swollen with longing for the bioterror resistance project. We must be better Americans...

Here's our original story on N-BAF.

Things haven't changed much since.

On the Street (Warning: Not Sure Why These Entries Are Jambled and Unreadable)

"Summertime Blues"

Letters (to the On the Street Penthouse Suite)

#1 Arrivee

Asusual with OTS correspondence, things are either cryptically brief, orlong-winded pseudo-advertisements.  This first letter was notthe latter.

Though one might think it would somewhere use the overused expression"fail", or worse "epic fail", we are spared.

Sweatin' to the Latin Jamz

By: Jennifer Herrera
jherrera@sacurrent.com

I skipped lunch today in hopes of getting a free pre-Columbian meal. Apparently the press release faxed to our office about said cooking demonstration listed the incorrect time so my video and lunch plans were scrapped. With my stomach growling and no video to bring back to the office, I headed towards Main Plaza and I’m glad I did. Not only did I get some food in my belly, courtesy of Justin’s Ice Cream, but I was able to hear some great tunes. Today’s lunchtime jam session had Henry Brun & Latin Playerz, they performed during the weekday Main Plaza lunch feature High Noon Music.



If you like what you hear, check out Brun and his posse tonight from 5-9 p.m. at Bar Rojo at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. You can also find him at Bar Rojo tomorrow at 8 p.m.

Anti-wall actions galore

By Greg Harman
gharman@sacurrent.com

MSM news coverage of the Border Wall is picking up. Which in this case means the walling has begun.

With the dozers in view and forms up on the levy at Granjeno, come a slew of anti-border-militarization actions. (Here's David Martin Davies with TPR yesterday.)

There will be un encuentro in El Calaboz tomorrow (Ryan @ (956) 203-6801 or Elizabeth @ (956)459-3205), but where most seem to be throwing their efforts right now is a possibly last-ditch effort to gain national publicity with a week-long march planned for August 27-August 31.

This is a Far West Texas march, so you may want to explore car-pooling/buses, etc.

Schedule:
August 27    Kick off cultural event in Fort Hancock.
August 28    From Fort Hancock, walk to  Alamo Alto.
August 29    From Alamo Alto, walk to Tornillo, hold community event. End in Fabens.
August 30    From Fabens, walk to San Elizario, hold community event.  End in San Ysleta del Sur with the Tiguas community.
August 31    Morning ceremony in San Ysleta del Sur . Then to El Paso.  After arriving in El Paso, a bi-national event will be held in Anapra, Chihuahua and Sunland Park, NM.

For more infor on this Tigua-lands walk, contact:
Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.
(830)768-0768
(830)734-8636 (cell)
jay@villadelrio.com
www.borderambassadors.com

There several events happening in the Valley, too. Check No Border Wall, for details there.

Viewing recommendations:
PBS NOW investigates tonight:



And an alternative vision of the River is taking shape at Los Caminos del Rio. (Watch the trailer.)

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dems

By Gilbert Garcia

The Bexar County Democrats gathered last night for a pre-Denver mixer, and while some conceded that they've never before seen the kind of lingering animus that exists between Clinton and Obama supporters, there were also signs of unity in the air. State Senator Leticia Van de Putte, one of Hillary's most ardent backers, spoke of the need to rally behind Obama and said of the upcoming Democratic National Convention, "It's going to be amazing. They'll be talking about it, and people will be reading about it in the history books."

Van de Putte will serve as one of four party cochairs for the convention and she told the crowd that initially she couldn't believe that Howard Dean really wanted her to fill a role that has been handled in the past by the formidable likes of Barbara Jordan and Ann Richards. "These are my icons," she gushed. "I'm just a girl from the West Side of San Antonio!" Van de Putte has yet to find out which one of the four convention nights she'll chair.

Aventuras de un carpero

Last weekend Bihl Haus Arts hosted La: Carpa: A Mini-Symposium with Witte Museum curator Dr. Michaele Haynes and Pete Haney, Ph. D, who wrote his dissertation on the Carpa tradition, both spoke about the history of las carpas (Mexican tent circuses). The presentation coincided with Adriana Garcia’s Bihl Haus exhibit Entre la Carpa/Inside the Tent, where as notes suggest Garcia "explores self-identity in a new series of brilliant large-scale paintings inspired by her family’s history with La Carpa Garcia."  

In the clip below Haynes discusses the historical context of las carpas and Haney shares excerpts from recorded interviews with Garcia’s grandfather Rodolfo “Don Fito” Garcia. The clip ends with Virginia Garcia, Adriana's aunt, talking about her experience as a young girl with the Carpa Cubana.

Fixing SAPD: Act One

By Greg Harman
gharman@sacurrent.com

It's been more than a month since Police Chief Bill McManus (above, right, next to PERF's Tegeler) and other city leaders authorized the release of a veritable catalog of use-of-force-related policy-change recommendations submitted to McManus by a City-contracted D.C.-based non-profit police practices organization.

Since the July 3 release of the 141 recommendations and McManus's sketched response, a fog of questions have hung over the department.

Exactly how would the PD implement more than 100 changes the Chief has agreed to make?

What process would be followed to debate the merits of many of the others that McManus is still considering — particularly the use of tasers and the citizen complaint process at Internal Affairs?

And how would members be chosen to serve on the committees that had begun to form in the report's wake?

Surrounded by faux Deco lamps, intricately tooled wainscoting, and carved lion's heads over the room's double doors of Ariel House on Datapoint, the two sides — including members of the Police Executive Research Forum who performed the use-of-force review for the city — hashed out their differences and worked to find an amenable way forward.

Former City Council member Mario Salas (right), heading the San Antonio Human and Civil Rights Coalition's response to PERF's findings, said he was wary of seeing any "Trojan horses" inflicted into the committees.

"I just don't want to see these committees stacked with people who have secret relationships with people who really have set agendas against what we're trying to accomplish here," he said.

McManus shared his explanation for the long-delayed report, originally expected in February, adding it had been "a bit more extensive than initially believed."

Most gave McManus props for attempting to tackle corruption within the force — but not a free pass.

"Your department is sick. And that is what it is," said one man (left), who alleged being beaten while in custody downtown.

Still, the PERF reps backed McManus to the hilt.

"It seems to me that the department wants to accept these recommendations. In some ways they want to move futher than we recommended," said PERF Deputy Director Bill Tegeler. "San Antonio is going beyond what I've seen other communities do."

Missed the exclusive meeting or just wondering what the finely tested art of compromise sounds like up close? We'll let you listen in.

Artslam! saves the day

Artslam!: Revenge of the Superheroes took over the Limelight on August 9, and I got to be one of the artists involved. I've never done anything like that before (and I'm not much of a painter — I'm more of a Photoshopper), but it was alot of fun and I'd definitely do it again if they'll have me back.It's a little late, but I've got pictures from the event including my painting of The Joker from Dark Knight (R.I.P. Heath Ledger) in various stages of completion. The photo above is by Rob "Deadbeat Hero" Perez, who organized the whole event and also did a stencil-art version of The Joker that came out really cool.



Angelle about to start painting Storm (circa 1990s X-Men).



Tattoo artist Shaggy's "She Loves Me Not," starring The Hulk.



Effexor 75mg about to work on a skateboard.



My Joker painting, phase 1.



Outside, Rob "Deadbeat Hero" Perez (pictured) and ZA1U5 were spraying up their own Jokers in front of Limelight.



Frank of Frank's Buttons: "Frank smash puny buttons!"



Angelle's Storm is actually a Zombie Storm!



Shaggy adds some fine details to The Hulk.



Jason and his pen-and-ink drawing of Superman.



Fletch works on his piece by the Limelight television.











Deadbeat Hero's finished Joker piece.



ZA1US's Alex Ross Joker stencil.



My own Joker painting is starting to look halfway decent (the face is the fun part, so I saved it for last.)



I wasn't planning on adding blood to the black background, but then I thought, "No. There will be blood."



Zombie Storm in all her undead beauty.



For those who missed Artslam!: Revenge of the Superheroes, you missed out on a great event. I was so busy with painting, I didn't have much time to check out sets by DJ Tech-Neek, Vortex, and hometown hip-hop hero Question?, but I could definintely hear them, and it sounded great. Stay tuned, true believers — there will be another Artslam! in the not-too-distant future.

Letter weather

People for Renewal check in with the Current.

By Greg Harman
gharman@sacurrent.com

You may not know this, as, like, 21st Century we've been getting of late, but some of us at the Au Currant absolutely LOVE TO GET LETTERS!!! (Did the shrieking All-Caps give it away?)

This one may have been in response to my feature story on CPS Energy last week. Been enjoying the ink sketches and finely-rounded lettering, like a most-personal handmade gift and solidarity explosion all rolled together.

Art is people power, no? Thanks for the hands-in-heart conjoined offering!

Front of envelope reads:

Are we ready for the nuke renaissance?

By Roland James
rolandjames_318@hotmail.com

Despite their supposed conservatism, which usually means local, state, and decentralized solutions, John McCain and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison are calling for many more nuclear power plants in the U.S.  ('Texas poised to lead nuclear renaissance' by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, August 10 2008).

The nuclear industry in the U.S. is the most nationalized and centralized industry in the United States.  The federal government has provided billions of dollars in Nuclear R&D since WW2, enriches the uranium, insures and limits the liability of nuclear plants, and handles the nuclear waste.
 
The only thing it doesn't do is own and operate the plants, which the government does do in France.

Why is it that the only thing that  conservatives admire about France is its  nuclear program, which is a quintessential example of nationalized socialism?

Obama's energy speech in Lansing Mi on August 4 was full of specifics, in contrast to McCain who now just trumps drilling for oil off-shore and nuclear power, which isn't helpful in transportation or lowering the price of gasoline until battery technology improves — and congressional Republicans vote against spending on that, as well as improved efficiency standards  and renewable energy portfolio standards.

Installing and maintaining solar water heaters on every rooftop where hot water is needed could be a decentralized and local solution that would save 2000 to 4000 kwhrs/year per residential installation.  It would also keep energy dollars and good jobs in the local community.

This is one paragraph from Obama's speech:

"George Bush's own Energy Department has said that if we opened up new areas to drilling today, we wouldn't see a single drop of oil for seven years. Seven years. And Senator McCain knows that, which is why he admitted that his plan would only provide "psychological" relief to consumers. He also knows that if we opened up and drilled on every single square inch of our land and our shores, we would still find only three percent of the world's oil reserves. Three percent for a country that uses 25% of the world's oil. Even Texas oilman Boone Pickens, who's calling for major new investments in alternative energy, has said, 'this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of.'"

And right now, nuclear power has no connection to dependence on foreign oil — oil "moves" America, it doesn't "light it up" any more.

But what about the nuclear power?   At least, it doesn't emit carbon dioxide.
Does Obama oppose the "use of nuclear power"?

No. But he is more cautious about expanding nuclear, which would require significant federal spending, say most analysts than McCain.

Says Obama, "I don't think that we can take nuclear power off the table."

Yes, we shouldn't as we deal more and more with the converging catastrophes of Global Climate Disruption and Global Oil Peak/Depletion.

If we want to have nuclear power, however, we will have to have a government "priesthood" like France — not connected to profitability — to deal with its proliferation and safety concerns.

Clean energy breaks into respectability

By Greg Harman
gharman@sacurrent.com

Goddamn Queque. You get horned into answering one question, say, divulging the latest gossip floating around CPS Energy service centers, and pretty soon your whole day is sunk.

Hopefully, you appreciate this week's offering. Understand the price being I couldn't wear down my heals loitering on the steps of the San Antonio City Hall hearing about all the brilliant things That Damn Utility is hellbent on quietly savaging.

My pal Arjun — that academically maniacal clean energy devata — was doing his bit por la causa patienty (or, likely, not so patiently) explaining how SA can best get through the energy crunch WITHOUT NUCLEAR.

Clinging to his credentials and good (non-polluting) cheer would be Councilmember Mary Alice Cisneros, local Sierra Clubbers, Austin bravehearts like the good SEED's Karen Hadden, and assortment of low-energy buffs.

Press release nuggets:

The cause of energy efficiency and renewable power has finally taken root within (as it increasingly refers to itself) our local MSM — with headline berries ripe as germ-lab hallelujahs (you'll just have to wait for Queque to clue you in there), witnessed by Carlos Guerra playing 1B enforcer to Tony Caputo's 1A story on the press conference.

How wonderful it is that?

There's a little note inside Tony's story about CPS Energy's own investigation as to how much energy they can save through efficiency. Whatever that number, I'm sure the City Council is just flush with pride in their utility and that CPS took their request for review as seriously as they did.

Can't wait to hear what the college student they hired to do this work comes up with.

N-BAF gets puff treatment from 'News'

By Greg Harman
gharman@sacurrent.com 

As a writer, consumer, and critic of that all-so-serious thing we call "news," I often find myself reminded of a former small-town publisher's words: "It's not so much what you put in the paper, but what you don't."

When it comes to our San Antonio media's initiative regarding a proposed $500 million federal bioterror germ lab possibly en route to our fine "technology park," the credo has been resounding internally with a deafening pitch.

While the variety of media in five other states joust and wrestle over the possibility that Homeland Security's proposed National Bio- & Agro-Defense Facility may pour cement in their communities, it has been stunning to live through these last few months of silence in dear little San Antonio — where a stranglehold on all things lab-related reigns.

The Express-News' medical writer penned these deeply analytical offerings in 2007: "Scientists are smiling at the city's chances of landing disease lab," "Scientists like S.A.'s chances for lab," and (my favorite) "Biodefense lab needs support of community."

So imagine my surprise when the day after the first public hearing on the topic brought in both an Express-News editorial board endorsement of the lab and a new headline: "Biolab project's hearing has few naysayers."

During my time in the area, I have yet to see an in-depth treatment of the findings of the General Accounting Office, which suggested the proliferation of germ labs was heightening community risks and increasing the potential for accidents. Or any serious treatment of Homeland Security's Draft Environmental Impact Statement: water, power, employment, accidents?

However, in the last week, around the country, there has actually been N-BAF news happening. (AND, BTW, ITS REALLY, REALLY DIFFICULT NOT TO DRAG THE D.C. ANTHRAX KILLINGS INTO THIS RIGHT NOW. I MEAN, WHERE HAS THE BIO RISK COME FROM THIS LAST DECADE? FROM OUR OWN LABS AND SOCIOPATHS.)

The Raleigh, North Carolina City Council opposed the bio-lab

RALEIGH - The Raleigh City Council voted unanimously today to oppose a proposal to locate a federal defense lab in Butner.

The vote follows the recommendation of the city's public utilities department. Public utilities officials determined that the federal Department of Homeland Security had failed to respond to critical questions that Raleigh had formally submitted in September.

Most of those questions related to the fact that the Butner site is within the Falls Lake watershed. Falls Lake is the sole source of drinking water for Raleigh and six other Wake County towns...

State Sen. Doug Berger, who represents Granville County, urged the council to oppose the lab at today's meeting. Berger said federal officials had also failed to adequately answer questions and concerns he had submitted about the project.

"Really, what we have here is an arrogance of power," Berger said.

Kansas University double citation for toxic storage errors may hurt N-BAF chances:

Before KU or anyone else dismisses the EPA violations as overzealous government regulation, here’s a question to consider: What would happen to Kansas State University’s hopes of landing the new National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility if that university were cited for the same kind of problems found at KU?

The answer seems pretty clear. The lab that KSU and Manhattan are hoping to attract would deal with many deadly toxins. Any hint of laxity in how the university stores or disposes of materials used in its labs almost certainly would take it out of the running.

The problems KU is having with the EPA are not insignificant. They apparently haven’t resulted in any serious injuries or incidents, but when university employees are unable to even identify for an EPA inspector what is in several unlabeled bottles in the lab, the possibility that something could be mishandled is very real. Inspectors also noted several sets of chemicals stored together that, if mixed, could react in a way that triggers a fire or explosion.

The Kansas City Star got all over the issue:

While some livestock producers said they favored bringing the lab here, others said it seemed like too much of a risk to bring the most dangerous pathogens right into the heart of cattle country.

Kate Iola has done extensive research about a potential outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, or FMD. Deadstock, a 2006 novel she wrote, is based on extensive interviews with experts and her own knowledge that came from earning a master’s degree in molecular pathology, working in a research lab and writing about agriculture as a farm reporter.

Iola, who did not attend last week’s Manhattan hearing said it is a mistake to leave Plum Island, N.Y., the current home of the cramped and aging facility that officials intend to replace.

It appears, Iola said, that politics are poised to trump the interests of agriculture and the United States economy. The potential of harm to the national agricultural economy simply is not worth the risk, she said.

“It is so discouraging to me to see the public be so gullible,” Iola said. “I would not mind having an Ebola lab next door, but I want FMD on an island.”

Mississippi Guv Haley Barbour pumped the stump for N-BAF, saying "No state is more united."

Mississippi's enthusiasm could give it an edge in securing a $450 million Homeland Security laboratory, officials say.

Hundreds of people attended a public hearing Tuesday in Flora on the proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. The general sentiment from the crowd was positive.

"Most of these people are here because they support it," Flora Mayor Scott Greaves said.

The town is among six finalists for the lab, which will study animal diseases.

"This is a gigantic opportunity - not only for Flora and central Mississippi but for the whole state," Gov. Haley Barbour said.

By most accounts, Mississippi is a strong contender for the facility.

Battelle, a private nonprofit that operates government labs across the country, has picked Flora as its site to back and will operate the lab if Mississippi is selected.

"Battelle chose us," Barbour said. "We think that's hugely important. It shows we are here to compete."

A re-education effort in N. Carolina fell by the wayside.

The N.C. Biotechnology Center has turned down $262,248 in state money approved last month to pay for an education campaign about a biodefense lab proposed for Granville County.

Norris Tolson, the center's chief executive, said terms for acceptance were too onerous.

That is, they had to be approved as factual.

The Golden LEAF Foundation, which oversees half the funds North Carolina gets from a national settlement with cigarette manufacturers, in July set aside money for the Biotech Center.

Officials with the center wanted the money to counter what they called misinformation about the proposed lab, called the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility.

The U.S. government is considering a site near Butner for a $450 million facility that would study large-animal diseases. Opposition has been fierce in Granville County -- one of several sites under consideration -- where residents fear the potential release of harmful pathogens.

Supporters have said such concerns are overblown. The Biotech Center, N.C. State University and other public and private groups have pushed for the facility, saying it would bring jobs and make the region a hub for top research.

A former Current staffer is doing a bang-up job covering the issue there...

Less than a month after receiving $262,000 in funding, Norris Tolson, president and CEO of the N.C. Biotechnology Center, has announced the Center is rejecting the free money from the Golden LEAF Foundation that would have been used to "educate the public" about the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility.

The federal disease research lab could be sited in Butner, about 25 miles north of Raleigh. The Center is an outspoken proponent of the NBAF, and a member of a consortium lobbying the Department of Homeland Security to locate it here.

In his letter to foundation president Valeria Lee, Tolson objected to the requirement that any information materials to be distributed to the public be vetted by the Foundation. "The prior submission procedure raises constitutional issues concerning impermissible prior restraints on speech protected by the First Amendment," Tolson wrote. (Download the letter: PDF, 564 KB.)

And then this bombshell: U.S. Rep Brad Miller withdraws his support for N-BAF:

That's one thing Texas officials (and likely economically disadvantaged Mississippi) have failed to do: ask any serious questions about the lab. Likewise, our daily newspaper hasn't bothered to report to the public that the current Plum Island location is — by Homeland Security's own multiple admissions — the safest site for this research, according to their DEIS (as we reported early last month).

Shame on the Express-News for their piss-poor disservice to their community. And shame on the economic and political boosters who have failed to allow the sheerest amount of skepticism to enter their minds or leave their mouths.

It's all very reminiscent of the smallest of small-town newspapering: You always cheer for the home team, after all. And jobs are jobs, after all. And sometimes it's not what you say, but what you refuse to allow to be said.

On the Street

Word of the week: DMWIT
(pronounced "dim-wit") definition: Downwardly Mobile White Inheriting Trust


Letters (to the On the Street Penthouse Suite)


#1 More Letters About Cheese



Hi Mark,

I hope you are doing well. TillamookCheese just released a brand new cheddar, its three-year aged VintageWhite Extra Sharp Cheddar Wedge. Attached below is the news release foryour reference.

Please let me know if you would like additional information, I would be happy to assist you.


#2 Billy Blanks = Existential Despair of Los Angeles?


Source: Flickr's TriLauraTri

Jones,

I've been attempting 2 follow along 2billy blanks, super-cardio (er sumthing) taebo dvd.  There isabsolutely no hip movement in the exercises, his body is freakin'weirdly proportioned., and his facial expression doesn't change. 

It reminded me of the emotional dryness of my time in the lala.....
(Boy do I miss that....).  Just disconnected.  And the exercises r absurd......


Carrot + Wine



Bluestar closed early or I showed up late.  I'm not surewhich is more accurate.  There was an unusual number of peoplehanging out late so I would have thought they would stay open later. Perhaps they knew that people who dress like Ashton Kucher don'tbuy artwork.  (Now that's an interesting question - do 18 yearolds dress like Ashton Kucher or does he dress like them?  The cougar wants him young, so maybe he's taking fashion tips from the youth and not the other way around?)




Having seen the UTSA Satellite Space (aka The Ranch) the weekbefore, that left Joan Grona next along the way.  Maybe Blue Starwas closed by 9pm because everyone was at Joan Grona.  I had neverseen it this crowded.  Along with the Question of the Cougar, thestrength of the crowd was also a mystery.

The Joan Grona Gallery isn't afraid to go cinemascope but here thewidescreen was a collection of individual, smaller pieces.  Manyof them hand-drawn.




 A macro lens close up from the front room.




In the background, mysterious fabric clinging to the edges of the walls, like electrons in the outer orbit...



Here, an illuminated sign goes on and off, on and off, on and...but to answer the question: yes.



Unexpectedly, classic rock was heard emanating from these monitors,which prompted a discussion of other bands, specifically the SirDouglas Quintet.



The discussion of music continues.  On the right  is Jason Jay Stevens, the artist of this exhibit.




A truncated description of the show, truncated because I accidentally cut it off.  




On the Street and/or Jason Jay Stevens historians will realize theevolutionary path from his previous work that showed two CAMs ago(before the end was near) at Bluestar.



A Wheel of Fortune...of Chance?  An allusion to Ignatius J. Reilly?  Something else altogether?



In the rear nook of Joan Grona Gallery was other work, particularlythis awesome painting, which seems wooden but animated at the same time.



And then finally at around 10 the gallery was shut down.  I sawpeople getting politely herded to the door, but then when I tried toleave through the door, a conversation was struck and I stuck aroundfor a few more minutes.  In all the night was a huge successjudging by the number of people who showed up.  How much work wasactually purchased...that's like a hangover after the party.


Main Plaza

Saturday I rolled down to Main Plaza to hear a free concert by MombasaCode.  I later tried to verify that by looking on their website ithadn't been updated since 2007.



There is no denying, however, the rich splendor of the Main Plazaredevelopment.   The oddest part about their concert series isthat not enough people know about it.   I would think the citywould be able to get the word out.  Perhaps they're too busy aboutwhat neighborhood is going to get speed bumps or what to do with that naughty carwashon the south side.  After fiercely campaigning for small potatoes,I can see how people might not have the energy to show up.  

(And the speed bump issue somewhat the opposite of NIMBY. Everyone wants speed bumps in their neighborhood so other peoplego slow, but everyone is also happy to speed through the remaining99.9% of the city.)




(No bikini carwashers in sight.)



Here, in the background Mombasa Code may or may not be playing. If it was them, they played an excellent set.  A group ofabout 50 people enjoyed the set, some sitting, some dancing (as seenhere with these ghost like figures disappearing into the night.)

(Also, it's a sad reality that to get half-way decent fotos in lowlight I have to put the camera on the ground and concoct this worm'seye view, as if that was the intention all along.  The opposite istrue - I would prefer to be in a crane looking down several storiesbelow.  Well, maybe not exactly.)



The instrumentation was vast - horns, guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, hip-hop inflected vocal stylings.



My initial thought was that they reminded me of the Austin band that Prince is all about, Grupo Fantasma. (Though having now seen their latest incarnation Grupo seems muchdifferent than what they were like as recent as 2005 when I saw them inMcCallen playing at a wedding.)  Yes, so Mombasa Code reminds meof old school Grupo Fantasma, that's it.

Hopefully, more interesting shows will get scheduled at Main Plaza and people will attend.

Farmers' Market (Revisited)



This is from the Olmos Basin Farmers' Market on Saturday morning. It is around the corner from the old Recoleta's Deli, the battingcages, and the roller rink.

There were about 6-8 vendors in attendance.



All 3 or 4 vendors from the Botanical Garden Farmers' Market werethere, as well as a few others.  It's a fine place to get produceand some fresh planted basil and mint.  I recommend giving it ashot if in the area, but I haven't seen enough yet to seriously rethinkmy pitch of centralizing the Farmers Market for a more concentratedpresentation.  If anything the Southtown location could still workand be used in conjunction with the Hoy No Circula/Car Free Day idea,that supposedly even Beaumont (Beaumont!)  has jumped on, thoughsuperficial googling has not yet verified that.  


WALL-E World


(courtesy)

13 word movie review: cinematic, dystopian animated children's movie that is sympathetic to the squanderings of man.


Next week: bonus fotos from the "East, East Side", Thoughts on the newTango and Cash inspired David Gorden Greene movie, possible fotos fromKatie Pell's show in Austin, and other Important Discussions of OurTimes...

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

Don't flip that switch!

By Greg Harman
gharman@sacurrent.com

This is the week my second major story on CPS hit the street. When I took them on a year ago the challenge was tied to climate security concerns: The promises of decentralization and pitfalls of nuke overlooks. My split with CPS Energy plans was based on economic argument and generation-scale health and safety issues.

Up In Smoke/Hot Wired, this week's follow-up, has nothing to do with coal-versus-nukes-versus-solar or anything to do with big plants with long wires as opposed to increasing opportunities for on-site power generation (though I still strongly advocate for the later). It simply chronicles the widespread failure of management to run a safe, humane workplace.

It has been hard to gauge the most troubling practices that leaked their way to my ears. Some of the information I received (including the utility-wide survey) has been available to the San Antonio City Council for months. The rest of it Councilmembers could have found by simply checking in with workers and asking some not necessarily consistently intelligible questions, as many would suggest I did.

That's one of my personal concerns. Since, it appears City leaders (apart from, perhaps,  Councilmember Philip Cortez who sought to make a media field day of his "investigation" into conditions at the utility) have chosen to do neither.It's unclear whether they were actively trying to protect their money-maker CPS or if they could have been responding to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, who reported recently that negotiations on several of their differences may be getting addressed by CPS's lawyers and Veeps.

This will surely clear up in the coming weeks — as long as San Antonio residents push for the  information.

One item I haven't been able to confirm from the road as I travel across the state is if CPS has agreed to hire on more contract meter readers. That would be nice. However, I would much rather know how they are going to address the incredibly sorry shape of our grid security. These gaping "blind spots" that have opened up due to poor transitional changes in the mapping department not only make linemen and crew members more vulnerable, but jeopardize the security of San Antonio's business and residential communities.

It'd be on my mind if I were, say, U.S. Homeland Security busily scouting the town out for proposed massive federal germ lab. And it'd be on my mind if I were a San Antonian worried about U.S. Homeland Security busily scouting the town out for a massive federal germ lab (as they are, btw).

On the subject of bioterror and Homeland, you may want to attend Thursday's hearing on the topic, as Queque suggests.

Those of you who read this blog already know how I feel about it.

Texas Border Wall broke ground, etc.

By Greg Harman
gharman@sacurrent.com

Looks like a lone protester snuck up close for a photo op. It's one of many shots you can find by Wall antagonist extraordinaire Jay Johnson-Castro.

I've fallen away from regular Wall updates since returning to my cozy little village of SA. Of course, until recently I was the lone FT news scratcher, too, with limited engagement time. Now, with another hand eagerly entertaining disturbing rumors cerca de City Council toads and tipplers, I gulp a free breath to tell you quickly two facts:

1. The Wall is going up on the levies down south.

Says Castro in his most recent column:

Shame on the dictator!  Shame on the Congress!  Shame on Texas!  Shame on all of us! 

How is it possible that a hurricane can come into the Rio Grande Valley…providing a “Wake Up Call” to the region, the State of Texas and the Federal Government…and all the above do nothing to wake the hell up? 

&

2. Post-hurricane anger at Homeland Security is rising...

Here's a sour screed from our friend Margo Tamez directed at USHS:


I jump a train in the morning with hope of checking a few border modifications made in recent months. There have been such a fine collection of resisters on the ground this past year that when the documentaries start rolling out, those of us in North South Texas will be amazed by what we learn.

It's easy for us to forget about the daily fight to maintain our lands, but will take significantly longer for this generation to explain to those to come how we let the wall race across our southern flank and divide La Frontera.


Be sure to check out the preview for The Border Wall, to premier this fall in Denver.

NANANANANANANANANANANANANA ... BAT-RANT!

OR: How to fix what, by most accounts, ain't even close to broke.
BY BRIAN VILLALOBOS


    Three hundred million dollars. In the first 10 days.

    Shoot, that ought to be enough to greenlight at least like, six more of these suckers, yeah? Mr. Nolan, if he so pleases, could probably kick back and do nothing but Batman for the next decade or so, and, at the rate things are going, I'm not sure anyone would raise an eyebrow.

    (And yet, my favorite Nolan flick is still The Prestige.)

    Aw, but I suppose I'm just being contrary now. Having read my friend/venerable colleague/ fellow ardent Bat-fan Chuck Kerr's take on the rabidly anticipated second installment of what most folk seem to be crowning the gold standard of caped-do-gooder epics, I must say that I agree with almost all of it. I mean, seriously: This movie's pretty freakin' awesome. Really not really a whole lot more anyone could ask for — and I say that as one of the four-or-so guys on the planet who weren't taken with 2005's Begins. Sure, I've got my issues with Knight, but nothing that isn't (1) a direct holdover from the previous film and (2) so finicky and unreasonably particular that I would wholly understand — and danged near empathize with — the instinct to pop me right in my whiny, fanboy-lite face. But hey, this is a blog, right? And what's a blog for, if not navel-gazing and pigheaded logorrhea?   

    See, my thing is, I like just about everything about the new Batman movie — except its take on Batman.

     Now, look. Bale's a first-rate Bruce Wayne. He's engaging, eminently believable, convincingly troubled. I was intrigued and pleasantly surprised by the choice to make him sort of a (purposefully?) smarmy brat, socially (I honestly can't remember if that was the case in Begins; if so, way to keep it up, guys). Also, I realized for the first time during the early goings of Knight (not sure why this hadn't occurred to me earlier) that Batman's "growly voice" is meant not only to intimidate, but also as another layer of disguise. So, it makes more sense to me, because I finally caught up — but I still can't help but find it distracting and odd, and something I have to more-or-less ignore. Yeah, I know: Dude dresses up in a rubber bat-suit to fight crime, and I take issue with his voice sounding less-than-normal? Well, yes. And while we're at it, the outfit bugs me, too. (See? Picky.) I've had conversations about this with my brother-in-law — who happens to be another of the aforementioned "four-or-so"; small world, huh? — and it just seems like, as series progress, the Bat-getup always tends to end up looking more like like a robot or action figure or something. You know? All that kevlar armor ... it's cool-looking, sure, but it makes the actor — any actor — bulky and/or machinelike.  I love me some RoboCop, but I shouln't be reminded of him when I look at Batman. Plus, I don't like how the cowl juts out on the sides like mandibles.  
So, yeah. My main problem is an aesthetic one.

    And here's where I go off the deep end. Because, the thing is, I can't very well justifiably blame anyone for not serendipitously plucking the precise Batman I happen to want to see out of the ether and putting him up on the big screen. At the same time, though, it's difficult to not want what I want, you know? And, because precisely no one asked (or because I don't have a word count, take your pick), I'm going to elaborate on that subject.

    In essence, two widely acknowledged "serious" live-action-Batman-film universes (Burton's and Nolan's) exist — and, in a sense, one's strength is the other's weakness. Go back, watch the Michael Keaton-era tales, and you'll find films that, if a bit cartoonish, are wrapped lovingly in dark, fanciful imagery. The scene in which the Batwing (likely the coolest-looking agent of hero transport ever) flies straight up through the clouds and silhouettes itself against the moon doesn't make a whole ton of sense, but danged if it isn't the most indelible visual moment in a near-decade's-worth of Batflicks. The Dark Knight, in some ways, is just the opposite. Gritty, bleak, and downright scary in all the right parts, it's soaked in a street-weary pessimism that might make Travis Bickle crack a grin — and certainly did as much for millions of diehards who feel, at long last, that their hero is in the hands of a director who really  gets him. And with all due deference to Jack — whose Joker was an unforgettable XXX of charisma and twisted fun — Ledger (God rest him) took the clown and made him, very approprately, effing terrifying. The practical, reality-grounded approach to so many elements of Knight, from stunts and effects (a special thanks for that, guys) to much of the story itself (indeed, it feels sort of  like a crime film in which Bale's Batman just sort of happens to be the protagonist) is appreciated, and adds a very effective weight and maturity and seriousness to the proceedings. But where's the iconography? I understand the pragmatism as it extends to camera movements and storyboarding, and I get that it's committedly unromantic, that it's "Batman as it could (almost) really happen." But Batman carries with him some romanticism, in my mind. Again, I'm picking on aesthetics here (which is an implicit tribute to how much is right with Knight), but I like my Batman a little more stylized. It's been said, and I agree, that the '90s-era Batman: The Animated Series is the closest we've come to a perfect moving (i.e. non-comic-book) representation of the character. He looks right, he moves right, he acts right. He's constantly enveloped by shadow and darkness. And, to be sure, it's exponentially tougher to accomplish certain elements of the character — movement, especially — in a live-action film.   
   
    So, what's my big, brilliant idea? My vision for yet another reinvention? Well, I've sort of got two. (Or, really, one-and-a-half.) And I can't believe I'm going to say this, but both involve CGI.
The first is sort of a copout, in terms of the live-action thing, but I think an entirely CG-animated Batman could be very effective if done right. With some of the visuals Pixar has been turning out over the past few years, and appears to be poised to continue turning out, I'm not sure they couldn't just go down to their basement or some neglected corner of their offices and find that one quiet, mildly tortured, less-chirpy animator — the goth-lite kid, the Black Cauldron kid, the one who got into doodling more because of the "Night on Bald Mountain" bit of Fantasia than because of Steamboat Willie — who could knock something like this out of the park. Fincher's producing some comic-based CG 'toon called The Goon — could we get him interested? The thought of David Fincher even getting near any manner of Batman property gets me slobbering inappropriately.

    The other, probably less-popular (if that's possible) concept I've been batting around is — and here's where the backlash would come, if anyone was still reading this — what I'll hesitantly call the Sin City approach. Now, look. I know. Sin City and 300 were neat-looking, but nothing to flip out about in terms of being deeply, psychologically resonant, "serious" films. What if they had been, though? Think subtler, think more focused. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow didn't get most people debating themes and character motivations either, but the all-CG environment wasn't overly showy or distracting. I've read complaints about the trailer for Frank Miller's upcoming (and at least interesting-looking, from where I sit) take on Will Eisner's The Spirit, but those shots in which a shadowy figure traverses shadowy rooftops ... I couldn't help but think of our guy. And while Batman needs to be grounded in reality (he's the one premier superhero with no superpowers, after all — just a regular guy who happens to be a dyed-in-the-wool badass), his world is heightened, too. We need those silhouettes, we need striking, iconic tableaus, we need white eyes moving in the darkness, with nary a sound but a rustle. And we want to see the suit, sure, but other times — I might even say most of the time — Batman should be nothing but an enormous, swirling cape. Because these things, the darkness, the mystery, they're an integral part of the character. And they always start out being so, but then we eventually get too caught up in how cool the suit looks. (And the suit, by the way, should be very simple. Grey and black, or black and black, and none of this fiberglass, underwear-model musculature business. Why would he design a suit like that? Are you telling me this brooding, no-nonsense vigilante/loner  i s vain? Sure, it looks cool for us, but if the character isn't concerned with it, it shouldn't exist.)  

    Either way, though, I'd like to see the Batman stories treated more like — speaking of mysteries — detective stories. Because that's one of the most unique aspects of the character: He's a ninja, sure; he's a scientist and an inventor, which handily explains how he's able to acquire a Bat-anything at a moments notice; but he's these things on top of being a brilliant unraveler. He's Sherlock Holmes with a mask and grappling hook. It's an angle that I think is somewhat untapped, in both story and presentation: I don't know about you, but I'd probably (fill in this blank with your own untoward suggestion/verb phrase) if it meant I'd get to see a well-executed film-noir Batman movie. I'll go further: I'd love to see a black-and-white film-noir Batman flick. With CGI and grey spandex. I'd watch it in a second.

    I'm nuts, right?

    Nah. Just a fan.

    And yet, after all this cavilling and kvetching, there's not a Bat-aficionado on Earth to whom I wouldn't immediately, whole-heartedly, enthusiatically recommend The Dark Knight. It's one of the few films that I've consciously wished would just keep going as I was watching it ... not end yet, not yet, I wanted to see more — and it obliged. (Another is my very favorite film of last year, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. I know this plug is jarringly out-of-place, but I just had to mention it. That film is a masterpiece, and people need to see it. Please.) And despite everything I've said here, which I believe and stand by, it has certainly crossed my mind more than once that The Dark Knight may just be the best Bat-film yet.

    Yet.


THE DARK KNIGHT
Dir. Christopher Nolan; writ. Christopher and Jonathan Nolan; feat. Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman (PG-13)
RATING: ****1/2

Sandbags and glad rags

If I didn't know better -- and I'm not sure that I do -- I'd say that the McCain campaign sandbagged Barack Obama, when they attacked him for canceling a visit with wounded troops in Germany, a decision which he made at the urging of the Bush defense department (Did we mention that the administration strongly supports McCain's presidential run?).
Over the years, we've all become accustomed to disingenuous political discourse. A certain level of phoniness is understood to be part of the game. But McCain's troops ad not only shoved its own fake outrage in our face, it practically proclaimed to voters: "You're all idiots, and that's why we're sure you'll buy this."
The subsequent McCain ad equating Obama with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton may have been more bizarre, but nothing matches the troops attack for naked audacity.
Taken together, these ads feel pathetic and inept, but that doesn't mean they won't work. When Lester Maddox stood in front of his restaurant back in the '60s with an axe to keep African-Americans away, it was also pathetic and inept, but it got him elected governor of Georgia. McCain hasn't sunk that far yet, but something tells me the Straight Talk Express is just beginning to build some steam.

On the Street

"Microbes! You may get my bodyin the end, but you will never get my dreams!"


Letters (to the On theStreet Penthouse Suite)


#1 Portland Cycle Rage

Nico may have sent thisto you already.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/149224

Hereis a video of a cyclist who got knocked off his bike onto the hood of acar.  And in classic "TJ Hooker style" is holding ontothehood for dear life, captured randomly on video for all to see...




#2 Call for Entries



#3 Hold the Presses

Literally as I'm about to finish looking under rocks in my inbox forsomething that feels like a legitimate letter (no offense Tops, butthat 'walk across the aisle' still hurts) in comes this letter from JJ.

hey Mark--

wonderful

here are those two localblogs I mentioned last night

http://sanantoniodailyphoto.blogspot.com/

http://strangesanantonio.blogspot.com/

and our new RooseveltPark blog:
http://rooseveltpark.blogspot.com/


Downtown Highlife Approaches the Terrible Twos



In another month will somehow be the 2 year anniversary of the unfamousDowntown Highlife Bicycle Club last Friday rides.  It's beenan evolving (or devolving) process, but the numbers are up and thespirits are high.  Even pedicabs are now showing up.  And to further emphasize this point, they can be seenhere in the right side of the frame, exuberantly monkeywrenchingdowntown transportation, or something to that effect.

It would be incredible (and incredibly expensive) but I wonder what itwould be like to hire a pedicab for the next DHBC.  One wouldprobably have to go to Penners beforehand to get properly decked out.



The ride took us out to Woodlawn Lake.  Though it looks like ascene from Miami Vice, we're actually not hauling ass across the lakein a cigar boat but instead are sitting on a weird floating dock. Woodlawn Lake has become a consistent destination, which isanother way of saying variety is needed.



After a turn up to Jefferson High School the route turned back to Fredfor an extended coast downhill, ending up at Angie's Icehouse. The jukebox wasn't working and here a mechanic rolled up thesleeves and dug in.  I can only hope that Freddy Fender wassoon playing after we left.



One of the DHBC insiders had a connection to Logan's Bar downtown...sowe ended up at Logan's.  Here, a band from San Marcos ripsthrough a metal cover of the Stones Paint it Black.



After getting lagniappes of Lone Star people became drunk on power anddecided to roll over to Limelight and NOT PAY COVER.  It wasafter 1pm so the grey area was there to be explored.  After some display of feathers, we all get in free.



I'm not sure of the name of this band.  They were like bonusfootage.  The headliner had already wrapped and they played amini-set in front of the stage.  Their first few songs wereincredible instrumentals.  The later few seemed like anotherband, but I'm pretty sure it was all the same.

(And on a sidenote, this was a foto taken with the 1600 ISO setting onthe camera, which looks like it was taken with a cellphone, which isdemoralizing considering the camera has some sort of Leica lens.)

Slaughterhouse Four

The Dignowity Hill  Puschart Derby returned for another yearof family fun, and another year of soul crushing domination by LaFamalia as they won their fourth race in a row.  But would we want it any other way?




(Foto: Fred Valenzuela)

Here are a list of possibly not very interesting audio interviews. The previous derby was thoroughly well documented. In thinking the same would be true for this year, I left thecamera at home and dabbled with the new audio recorder (though it'sactually at least half a year old and is most usually used forrecording the OTS Correspondents as they phone in with tales from theother side.)  Anyway, somehow there are almost no fotos floating throughthe ether to link to.  Everyone is  now jumping onthe video bandwagon.  

Judge Kimberly



Judge Mark Discussing Bribery




Ben Judson Silencing the Critics



Ed Refuting the NASA/Solar Panel/La Familia Industrial Complex



Trans Cheese Formers Work the Crowd



Carrot and Wine (Back atthe Ranch)

The UTSA New Media students held a group show at theSatellite Space at Bluestar, which is know for some reason as the Ranchin OTS speak.



Whereas most corners of the space where flowing with electrons, here inthe closet room, was this piece.  If not for the blasting Texasheat, one could better hear the audio component.  Alas, the roarof the A/C was too much.



However, right outside that doorway was this cleverly drawn stencil with wired! remote control.



It was a group show and so the themes were divergent but a general approach to how one receives media was the motif.



Papa Bill smirks in the background, while a world of colors floats in the foreground.



Without being completely ridiculous, static energy was another motif.



A set of monitors face to face and back to back.



The voting booth.  Inside one could choose which side they wereon.  Red paper and blue paper was available for one to cast theirvote.


Tokyo Olympiad

At the surprisingly well stocked video store at N. New Braunfels (justup a few blocks from the McNay) I found a copy of this obscureCriterion Collection documentary about the 1964 Olympics called Tokyo Olympiad.  

Ithas to be the most astounding displays of documentary extravagance everput to film.  Almost every conceivable sport is given sometime or focus in the film.  It's in 2.35 35mm widescreen, which inthe scheme of cellphone video cameras seems like a lost world. Though the foley sound effects go overboard on occasion, forthe most part it's a large scale art film with a breezy jazz score,reminiscent of Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch.

Of course it helps to have some interest in the Olympics.  I canimagine why one wouldn't these days, but whatever spirit of the eventis left, it is completely amplified in Tokyo.  Though whenever theStates get to hold the Olympics it's more of an internal debate as towhy this city versus that city got the honor, or more to the point, whythis corporate headquarters beat out some other city's corporateinfluence.  But for the rest of the world, hosting an Olympicevent can be a return to life.  That Japan was in radioactive ruinafter WWII can only set the backdrop for the delirious spectacle of the1964 Games.


The Beginning...




Racewalking...



Rifleing and Cycling...



CAM Closes Up Shop



Though the future of CAM is slightly flapping in the wind, littleanxiety was felt last night at the closing party at the Alameda. It was a signature Alameda extravaganza.  Free palettas,corndogs, and frito pie were everywhere.  The idea of CAM wasprobably lost in the middle of all this.  Two years ago at theCameo there were awards and a feeling of purpose.

However, I'm not sure that really mattered last night.  To havenothing would have been a shame.  The music was loud and thedrinks were strong.  It was a huge party and everyone there had agreat time.  If everyone woke up with an hangover and couldn'tremember what happened, then that's maybe the best way to close CAMdown and let it be reborn anew the next version that comes around.



Crazy low end on the speakers made the front doorstep a moving dancefloor.



I left early around 11:30.  Two finals that day had drained me.



Onward into the fog....

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