July 3, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

contents4 PAGE TWO Hypocrisy and HealthCare7 POSTMARKS Readers respond toMarc Savlov’s ‘Crime and the CitySolution,’ and morenews12 AISD Staff Shake-Up; $4 MillionLater: Austin Loses Lab to Waco;Special Session Could End inFireworks; and MoreEXPECT THE UNEXPECTEDSummertime and the living is ...frenziedBY AMY SMITH18 DEVELOPING STORIES LearningFrom Denver21 THE HIGHTOWER REPORTRepublicans on Health Care; andWall Street’s Gas-Pump Robbery22 ALL THAT REMAINS RoxannePaltauf vanished three years ago,leaving behind few cluesBY JORDAN SMITHcalendar54 COMMUNITYWeeder pea pilaf thew night id stayed sinardor toof harm armor perfect union …56 DAY TRIPS Pendery’s World of Chiles andSpices offers ‘gourmet spices for thediscerning chef’61 SPORTSPLAYING THROUGH Spectator sportscan crush our most ardent hopes anddreams, and that’s a good thingSOCCER WATCH Is it time to care aboutsoccer? Stephen Colbert thinks so.62 ARTSTheatre: Department of AngelsClassical: A Love Supreme – The Musicof John ColtraneVisual Arts: ‘The Lining of Forgetting:Internal and External Memory in Art’THIS WEEK @vote!26 LETTERS AT 3AMSomething Absurd inBetweenBY MICHAEL VENTURAthe arts29 Improvising for 40Hours; Building YourOwn Puppets; andFinding Your Muse atOld Cape Cod30 CLASSICS COMEBACK Arethe great dramas ofyore reclaiming theirplace on Austin’s stages?BY ROBERT FAIRES32 AFTER A FASHION YourStyle Avatar cleverly distillsthis weekend’s newsoverkill, so you don’thave toBY STEPHEN MACMILLANMOSERNewsdesk gets down with the Lege’s SPECIAL SESSION > The return of JOHNNY HERNANDEZ at Earache! >Whither Marilyn? Picture in Picture makes a pilgrimage to MISFIT FLATS, NEV. > Gay Place is disturbed bythe FORT WORTH NEWS > Chronique gets in your PanTz2 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E JULY 3, 2009 a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m‘Best of Austin’ Ballot, p.46food35 Cafe Blue; Terredora diPaolo; Event Menu: July 4-8;and Food-o-File36 LAKE EATS REVISITED Wetake a trip down RanchRoad 620 for new bites onthe sceneBY VIRGINIA B. WOOD38 RESTAURANT ROULETTE A spinaround our Restaurant Guidescreens43 Austin Studios Forum; KLRUUpdate; and Film News44 TOUGH CROWD The setup: 21depressives, neurotics, andsocial misfits walk into a book.Meet comedy’s all-stars.BY KIMBERLEY JONES45 TV EYE Hanging ToughBY BELINDA ACOSTA68 FILMPublic Enemies, Whatever Works,Management70 SHOWTIMES76 SPECIAL SCREENINGS Were the World Mine,Objectified, Jaws, Cool Hand Luke, TheCat From Outer Space, Horror Remix:Shopping, The Uninvited78 MUSICRECOMMENDED July Fourth fireworks withExplosions in the Sky, Jerry Jeff Walker,Kat Edmonson, and Henry Rollins, plusAbe Vigoda, Indian Jewelry, Pentagram,Deer Tick, Bill Callahan, PinetopPerkins’ 96th birthday, the Dillards, etc.80 VENUES82 CLUB LISTINGS + ROADSHOWSaustinchronicle.comaustinchronicle.com/chronicVOL. 28, NO. 44 JULY 3, 2009backCOVER PHOTO BY JANA BIRCHUMmusic47 OFF THE RECORD Explosionsin the Sky commemoratesthe Fourth of July, Harlemsigns with Matador, and payingtribute to Sky SunlightSaxon and the King of Pop48 MARSHALL STYLER/LAURASCARBOROUGH One’s a former1980s rocker, the othera dance troupe tamer, butboth local keyboardists composesounds for a new ageBY MARGARET MOSER52 PHASES & STAGES Wilco, SonVolt, the Low Anthem, JeffreyLewis, and more53 NEWS OF THE WEIRD The junkin New York’s harbors, therobot love in Afghanistan,and more100 COMIX How to Be Happy, Troubletown,Eyebeam, and moreMR. SMARTY PANTS Small placeswith big names, solving the mysteryof white meat, and more101 CLASSIFIEDS109 THE COMMON LAW Austin WaterRestrictions110 CAR TALK It’s Hard to Be an EarlyAdopter of New Technology113 EASY STREET,PERSONALSTHE LUV DOC A rambling recommendationto shore up your socialcalendar115 FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Consider thewisdom of Lao Tse, CancerianSENIOR EDITORSMANAGING EDITOR Cindy Widner FILM Marjorie BaumgartenARTS Robert FairesMUSIC Raoul HernandezNEWS Michael KingNEWS MANAGING EDITOR Amy SmithFOOD Virginia B. WoodSCREENS, BOOKS Kimberley JonesSPECIAL ISSUES, GUIDES, INTERNS Kate MesserASSOCIATE EDITORSNEWS Nora AnkrumCALENDARARTS LISTINGS Wayne Alan BrennerMUSIC Audra SchroederThe Austin Chronicle offers nonpaying internships.Contact Kate Messer at the intern hotline, 454-5765 x303.The Austin Chronicle (ISSN: 1074-0740) is published byThe Austin Chronicle Corporation weekly 52 times per year at4000 N. I-35, Austin, TX 78751. 512/454-5766©2007 Austin Chronicle Corp. All rights reserved.Subscriptions: One year: $60 2nd class. Half-year: $35 2nd class.Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, TX.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Austin Chronicle,PO Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765.BLOGS > VLOGS > TUNES > GALLERIES > COMMENTS + FORUMS > BALLOTS + POLLS > GUIDES >CONTESTS > DAILY LISTINGS > BREAKING NEWS > + 455,000 PAGES THAT DON’T FIT IN PRINTFor this week’s Web Extrasand more Web exclusives, go to:COMMUNITY LISTINGS James RenovitchASST. LISTINGS Anne HarrisSTAFF WRITERSWells Dunbar, Katherine Gregor, Margaret Moser, Lee Nichols, Marc Savlov,Jordan SmithCONTRIBUTING WRITERSTV EYE Belinda AcostaDAY TRIPS Gerald E. McLeodMR. SMARTY PANTS R.U. SteinbergLITERA Ric WilliamsFASHION Stephen MacMillan MoserPRODUCTIONCREATIVE DIRECTOR Jason StoutWEB DIRECTOR Brian BarryOFF THE RECORD Austin PowellPLAYING THROUGH Thomas HackettLETTERS AT 3AM Michael VenturaCLASSICAL, DANCE LISTINGS Robi PolgarGAY PLACE Ash BellPRODUCTION MANAGER Mark GatesASST. WEB DEVELOPER Adam TheriaultGRAPHIC DESIGNERS Tim Grisham, Shelley Hiam, Carrie Lewis,Chris Linnen, Leah Sharpe, Doug St. AmentSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS John Anderson, Jana BirchumPROOFREADERS Sarah Jean Billeiter, Lei-Leen Choo, Mark Fagan, MonicaRiese, Kristine TofteINTERNS Angela Armstrong, Zeke Barbaro, Nathan Brown, MeredithGreenwood, Sara Robberson, Dacia Saenz, Meghan Ruth Speakerman,Molly Wahlberg, Richard WhittakerADVERTISINGADVERTISING DIRECTOR Simon MulverhillSENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Jerald Corder, Annette Shelton Patterson, CarolynPhillips, Lois RichwineACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Jeff Carlyon, Ali Garnel, Christina Jupson, Elizabeth Nitz,Angela Specht, Liz WithersRETAIL OPERATIONS MANAGER Tobi GatesADVERTISING COORDINATOR Yasmine AndersonMARKETING DIRECTOR Erin Collier PROMOTIONS MANAGER Logan YoureeCHRONTOURAGE Sarah Buser, Nicole Castanon, Charles Heidrick, Cat Herring,Abigail Hinojosa, Marissa Kilgore, Ellen Mastenbrook, Lauren Modery, LinhNguyen, Tran Pham, Ashley Sherwood; photographers: Eric Lachey, MatthewWedgwoodPROMOTIONS DIRECTOR/PERSONALS/CIRCULATION Dan HardickCLASSIFIEDS DIRECTOR Cassidy Frazier CLASSIFIEDS COORDINATOR Michael BartnettSENIOR CLASSIFIED ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Brian CarrLEGAL NOTICES Jessica NesbittCLASSIFIED ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Jessica Cape, Jane Gibson, StephanieHeuman, Bobby LeathNATIONAL ADVERTISING The Ruxton GroupMIDWEST SALES DIR. Stephen M. LeeOFFICE STAFFCONTROLLER Liz FranklinSUBSCRIPTIONS Cassandra PearcePUBLISHERNick BarbaroEDITORLouis BlackNATIONAL SALES DIR. Susan BelairSOUTHWEST SALES DIR. Terri SmithCREDIT MANAGER cindy sooACCOUNTING ASSISTANT Samantha JenkinsINFO CENTER Fernando Martinez, Cassandra PearceSYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR Rebecca FarrASST. SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR Frederick StantonSPECIAL EVENTS Elizabeth DerczoCIRCULATIONErik Conn, Perry Drake, Joy Fairchild, Tom Fairchild, Ruben Flores, BrentMalkus, Michael McKenzie, Grant Melcher, Paul Minor, Dane Richardson,Motorcycle Michael, Rex Fourtwenty, Jeff Watts, Nicholas Wibbelsman, JohnWilliamson, David WillifordCONTRIBUTORSRob Brezsny, Laurel Chesky, Lloyd Dangle, Sam Hurt, Tom and Ray Magliozzi,Wes Marshall, Gary Miller, Tony Millionaire, Peter Mueller, Joe O’Connell,Chuck Shepherd, Tom Tomorrow, Roy Tompkins, Shannon Wheeler, RichardWhittakerUnsolicited submissions (including but not limited to articles,artwork, photographs, and résumés) are not returned.austinchronicle.com/webextra.‘POSTMARKS’ online – updated (almost) daily > ASK MR. SMARTY PANTS – sooner or later, he’ll answer >‘SOCCER WATCH’ online – updates from everywhere