Alamo South Lamar’s Saturday Morning Film Club is featuring the film adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes tomorrow at noon. It’s free, as in beer, so you’ll want to get there at least a half an hour early to make sure you get a seat.
I’d be all over it, but I’ve got a school carnival that I can’t escape. I saw this in the theater when it was released in 1983. It’s just creepy enough, but not terrifying for the kids and there’s plenty for adults as well. I’d have no qualms bringing my 8-year-old. It’s borderline for a 5-year-old, depending on the kid. The visuals are really great (the whole movie oozes autumn, something we don’t get much of here) and it’s got Jason Robards AND Pam Grier. What more do you want? You have to see it if only to hear Robards deliver the title line from Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
The folks over at Metroblogging San Francisco have a better post about Lance Hahn, his life and his music than I could ever put together, so go check out their eulogy when you have a chance.
Lance was a musician and writer who moved to Austin from San Francisco in 2000. You can check out articles at the Austin American-Statesman and Austinist as well. There’s also a memorial web site with information on services and linking photos and other remembrances.
For me, Lance was one of those guys that you see around town all the time, but don’t really know. I’m not very familiar with his music, but my family and I rent videos from Vulcan Video off South Congress and it’s his familiar face among a few others that I’ll always associate with that location. He was always good for a short chat or a smile about whatever films we were renting and he’s one of those people who, even though you didn’t know him, made your life a little better. It’ll be sad going into Vulcan and not seeing him. Maybe it’s because he was just a few years older than me, but It feels to me like a little part of the Austin that I love has died. My condolences to his family and those close to him.
My wife and I went to see Tony Bourdain at the Paramount on Saturday night. We’re big fans of both Cooks Tour and No Reservations. My wife worked in the restaurant industry here in town and remembers reading parts of Kitchen Confidential with the kitchen crew at Chez Nous and howling at his description of vegetarians and their “Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans”. The show was completely sold out. Bourdain came out and talked about how amazed and thankful he was for how his life has turned out. He’s still completely shocked that he’s been able to do Cook’s Tour and No Reservations after writing Kitchen Confidential.
He reiterated a lot of the themes that appear in his shows: how food brings people together and how a society’s culture is tied to their food. He referred a lot to specific No Reservations shows, so audience members who weren’t familiar with him probably felt a little left out. Since the Paramount sells season tickets and many people end up picking an unfamiliar performer for at least one show, it was clear there were some people who fell into that category. The annoying jerk of the night award goes to the guy in the upper right balcony who answered a cell phone call during the performance, then stood up while talking and moved out into the right aisle and then slowing walked in front of several rows while still talking. What an inconsiderate a-hole. There was a lengthy Q&A session after his talk. At least half of the questions were pretty bad, but he fielded them all gracefully, including the shouts from overenthusiastic groupies. He recommended Bill Bruford’s Heat and, not surprisingly, named French Laundry and Masa as his top restaurant picks even if you have to rob a bank to get the cash to afford eating at either one.
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I noticed a sign a week or two ago in the men’s restroom at the GingerMan. I thought it was a bit odd, but went about my business (heh, heh). Then last night, I was at a demo at the Hyatt downtown and stopped in a restroom off of the lobby where I encountered a similar sign. I was the only one in there, so I decided to risk looking like a perv and pulled out the camphone to get a shot of the sign…the perils of a citizen journalist.
According to the surgeon general, women should not drink alcoholic beverages, including distilled spirits, beer, coolers, and wine during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects.
Is this some crazy new law? Are they in women’s restrooms as well? Are they only in bars (or near them anyway, I suppose this one was near the hotel lobby bar)? Is Warren Chisum somehow involved? Why the hell are there warnings targeted at pregnant women and alcohol in the one place where there shouldn’t be any pregnant women with alcohol: a men’s restroom urinal?