San Antonio Current – August 8, 2018

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CURRENT | August 8–14, 2018 | sacurrent.com

in this issue San Antonio Current

Issue 18_32 /// August 8-14, 2018

Publisher: Michael Wagner Editor-in-Chief: Greg Jefferson

Editorial

Senior Editors: Bryan Rindfuss, Jessica Elizarraras Art Director: Carlos Aguilar Food & Nightlife Editor: Jessica Elizarraras Staff Writers: Chris Conde, Sanford Nowlin Digital Content Editor: Sarah Martinez Contributors: Alexis Alvarez , Ron Bechtol, Erik Casarez, James Courtney, Callie Enlow, Jose Garza, Dan R. Goddard, Alejandra Lopez Gonzalez, Lance Higdon, Steven G. Kellman, Hannah Lorence, Michelle C. Lorentzen, Abby Mangel, Kiko Martínez, Jeremy Martin, Kelly Merka Nelson, M. Solis, Gary Sweeney, J.D. Swerzenski, Kelsey Valadez, Erin Winch Editorial Interns: Tehua Cruz, Alex Czaja, Alisa Pierce, Megan Rodriguez, Lori Salazar, Camille Sauers, Victoria Wilson

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Bryan Rindfuss

07 News

Sitting It Out

As the midterms loom, registrations of young voters are booming. Just not in Texas.

An Old-School Political Fight South San’s tax election pits Councilman Rey Saldaña against board member Connie Prado

Paid Sick Time Effort Clears Hurdle City verifies that measure has enough signatures to land on the November ballot

2,500 Scientists: Border Wall Will Screw Up Ecosystems

12 Calendar

Our top picks for the week

27 Arts

Arts & Culture Director Debbie Racca-Sittre on Public Art, Community Engagement and the Promise of the San Antonio T

29 Screens

Spiked Punch

Filmmaker Spike Lee returns to form by throwing politically-charged haymakers in BlacKkKlansman

18 Feature

Taxpayers Bought This Art. Now They Just Have to Find It Surveying San Antonio’s public art landscape

BY B R YA N R I N D F U S S

Bear Hugs

Live-action Winnie the Pooh film Christopher Robin is as sweet as honey

31 Food

Food Court

Carnitas Lonja draws more national attention, Tre at the Museum starts breakfast and more

The Big Spoon

Tips from a foodie parent

Summertime Sippers

5 cool beers we’re drinking to survive the season

Cocktail of the Week

Sangria all the way from New Orleans

37 Music

Catching Up With Karma San Antonio-born Karma Styles talks about dancing in Ryan Murphy’s Pose

Music Top Picks

46 Etc

On The Cover: The city of San Antonio spends millions of dollars on public art – works that are intended to tell this community’s story. But most San Antonians, whose taxes pay for the art, have no idea that many of the installations even exist.

Photo by Bryan Rindfuss Art direction by Carlos Aguilar

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news

while registering someone to vote can lead to a criminal offense.

“Texas seems to be moving backward in comparison to the rest of the country,” said Zenen Jaimes Perez, communications director for the Texas Civil Rights Project.

“This state, unfortunately, is becoming an outlier. … Very clearly, it’s motivated by state’s top leaders wanting to keep the same people in power.”

But, so far, the state’s officials are just fine with taking up the rear.

After a federal court earlier found Texas violated the U.S. “motor voter” law by not letting residents register to vote when they renew their driver’s licenses, Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the decision.

Civics Lesson

Sanford Nowlin

Sitting It Out

As the midterms loom, registrations of young voters are booming. Just not in Texas.

BY SANFORD NOWLIN

W

hat if November’s expected blue wave doesn’t reach the Lone Star State?

Recent registration data for young voters suggest that could be the case. Even as registrations of new voters ages 18-29 boomed elsewhere during the past six months, Texas eked out a 0.12 percent increase, according to TargetSmart, a provider of political data.

That meager growth puts Texas well below the national average of 2.4 percent in young voter registrations and 33rd of the 39 states with available data.

Pennsylvania, on the other hand, experienced the biggest spike at 16.1 percent. And three other states — Rhode Island, Virginia and New York — also posted double-digit gains.

“You’re not getting the same tailwind [in Texas than we would if] we had better voter registration numbers,” said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio. “It would be nice if we could see a greater number of young voters coming online.”

Castro and others point out that Texas, for a variety of factors, has relied largely on political campaigns to register voters, which

means young, low-income and minority voters are often left on the sideline.

“I don’t see anyone raising the money to register voters in Texas, even as the population of young people continues to grow,” said Lydia Camarillo, Texas vice president for the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. “The pool [of potential voters] keeps getting bigger while there are less and less resources available to keep up.”

For its report, TargetSmart reviewed voter registration data in the 39 states where official voter rolls have been updated since February 14, the date of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, which analysts view as an important catalyst for youth voters.

TargetSmart’s findings are an “early quantitative sign” that youth turnout could have a significant impact on the midterms, which will decide which party controls the U.S. Senate and House, the study’s authors write.

But, of course, only in states where those voters register in significant quantities.

Suppression Tactics Voting rights advocates have long maintained that Texas’ failure to expand its voter rolls is by design. Those young, low-income and minority voters mentioned earlier tend to skew Democratic. And in a state where Republicans control all the levers of power, it’s easy to see why there’s no rush to sign them up.

A recent study from the Center for American Progress argues that Texas could gain millions of new voters by simply playing catchup with other states’ registration efforts. It’s one of just 12 states that don’t have any form of online voter registration, and the only state where making a mistake

Beyond erecting systematic barriers, Texas even has a spotty record of enforcing the few laws it has on the books to encourage voter registration.

A 1983 state law requires high schools to promote voter registration opportunities to eligible students twice each school year.

But a report released last week by the Texas Civil Rights Project found that only a third of high schools requested registration forms from the Texas Secretary of State from October 2016 to February 2018. What’s more, 35 percent of counties didn’t have a single high school request a voter registration form.

Even at schools that make forms available, Southwest Voter’s Camarillo questioned how seriously officials take the requirements. Simply having registration cards on hand, she points out, is not the same as helping students understand how voting affects their lives.

“I heard someone from one of the school districts say, ‘We’re happy if we get 10 percent of the eligible students registered,’” Camarillo said. “That’s nothing to be happy about at all. That’s appalling.”

Voter Registration increases, ages 18-29* Top States Pennsylvania +16.14% Rhode Island +11.05% New York +10.7% Bottom States West Virginia -11.52% Wyoming -7.1% Washington D.C. -2.99% *From Feb. 14, 2018 to most recent date available, compared to same period last year.

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CURRENT | August 8–14, 2018 | sacurrent.com

news

An Old-School Political Fight South San’s tax election pits Councilman Rey Saldaña against board member Connie Prado

BY BEKAH MCNEEL

R

ight now, somewhere on the South Side, two politicians are probably knocking on doors. Rey Saldaña, the city councilman for the area, is asking the voters of South San Antonio ISD to support a tax rate increase to bring more money into the district. Connie Prado, a South San ISD board member, is asking them to vote “no.”

However, they are asking for more than votes.

They’re asking for voters to place their faith in one of two competing visions for the future of South San. The ballot measure is technically a “tax ratification election” (TRE), and it’s exactly the sort of weedy political issue that puts voters to sleep. If the tax measure passes, the district’s tax rate will go up to $1.17 per $100 of taxable home value, a 13-cent increase. It will bring in an additional $6.4 million, 65.6 percent of which will come from the State.

Because the complicated tax measure is only a doorway into even more complicated school finance formulas, a TRE is less about the facts, and more about who’s interpreting them for you and what their agendas are.

When Saldaña knocked on one door last week, the homeowner told him that Prado had already been there. In fact, she’d been there for years. “She’s supported us,” the woman said. That said, she has known Saldaña’s family for years as well. The fact that Saldaña and Prado frequently oppose one another had her “torn” on many issues, she said.

“I like that you’re from here,” the woman said, “But now we don’t know who to trust.”

Voters might not know who to trust, but they do know what to expect. Saldaña has been an outspoken advocate for change in the district, lending his popularity to education initiatives, including the advocacy group South San Kids First, which has fielded candidates to replace Prado’s board allies. Prado herself has survived, but she’s lost the majority faction.

Faction is not a word you want describing your school board.

After burning through superintendents at a blinding pace, South San recruited Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra out of retirement in 2013. The veteran of Houston ISD realized quickly that while the schools were in fairly good shape, district administration and the school board were a mess.

To clean up, he had to regain control of district operations, including hiring and firing, a power that formerly rested with the board.

In a tight-knit and economically isolated commu-

City Councilman Rey Saldaña - Courtesy of Bekah McNeel

nity like South San, employees can become beholden to board members who hook them up or protect their jobs. That inhibits progress. “You start to set up political sides in reference to issues,” Saavedra said.

“It divides the staff.”

It took a long time to root out competing loyalties in the district. Members of his own team, he found out, were reporting to board members at his expense.

The night Prado was elected board president in 2014, Saavedra says that she told him to clear his calendar for the next day. Among other things, in that day-long meeting she asked him for the names, addresses and phone numbers of everyone who had applied for a job in South San. She wanted to see the list before he made hiring decisions.

“It’s an example of how controlling Connie Prado can be,” Saavedra said.

It also raises some reasonable questions about what she wanted to do with such a list.

He declined to provide her with the applicant information. From that point on, he said, she’s constantly opposed him.

Prado sees it differently. She says that, up to that point, it was common practice for board members to look over applicants, particularly for non-faculty positions like janitors and cafeteria workers. She says things didn’t get tense until Saavedra and the board differed on pay scale for Master teachers.

As for her relationship to the board, Prado says, “We work together very well on the majority of issues.”

On the TRE, however, some board members characterize Prado as “the opposition.”

Prado’s husband, Raul Prado, a former city councilman who was convicted on corruption charges in 2004, made an in-kind contribution to the PAC that has plastered South San in “vote no” signs. Connie Prado says that his donation had nothing to do with her. “He can do that. That’s him,” she said.

The same PAC sent out letters to residents telling them that the school district had been irresponsible with its funds. The letter’s final “recommendation” is to wait and see if the 2019 legislature will solve the district’s financial woes.

Those familiar with the Texas legislature got a

chuckle out of that particular argument.

“That’s a new one. Points for creativity,” said state Rep. Diego Bernal, who has spent the last seven months sitting on the governor’s Public School Finance Commission. “We never, ever wait when it comes to our children.

Philosophically… (that argument) is incorrect.”

On a recent block-walking outing with COPS/METRO, board president Angelina Osteguin also found herself setting the record straight.

She said she approached four doors with “vote no” signs out front. Three of them, once they heard what the tax increase was for, voiced support. “If it’s for the kids and for the district, then yes, they were for it,” Osteguin said.

The fourth resident, Osteguin recounted, said he didn’t trust the district because of all of the past controversy. It wasn’t that long ago that the district had a state-appointed conservator.

Prado herself pointed to the district’s troubled past in a July 26 op-ed for MySA.com. Closed schools, transportation SNAFUs and an “exodus” of Master teachers, she wrote, were all signs that the district was not well-managed.

The ironic thing about the op-ed, said Tom Cummins, president of the South San chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, is that Prado played a large role in the school closures. The union has been asking for a TRE for years, Cummins said, and Prado was the principal opponent of the measure. He calculates $60 million in lost state revenue that could have saved Kazen Middle School and Athens Elementary.

“We’re in an Alice in Wonderland situation,” Cummins said, “(Prado is) risking destruction in order to keep power.”

She has plenty of critics, but you don’t get to be Connie Prado without loyal supporters. They say Prado has been good to them. She shows up at things – football games, award ceremonies.

“She’s very visible,” Osteguin said.

Even Saldaña gives Prado credit for her political “hustle.” However, he wants to see a South San that is politically empowered enough to get what it needs without players like Prado, or even himself, he said.

The TRE, which he believes would create a 11 6 sacurrent.com | August 8–14, 2018 | CURRENT

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Connie Prado - Courtesy of South San ISD

6 9 stronger school district, is a step in that direction.

Opponents claim that Prado’s patronage of community members goes deeper, that she pays for votes with everything from gift cards to jobs.

“I’ve never seen someone be able to control so many people,” South San resident Francis Bensor said.

“She has a bunch of puppets.”

Prado chuckles at the idea of herself as a puppet master.

“The people in my community have a mind of their own,” she said.

They were upset about the closing of schools, and so by opposing the TRE, she says she feels she is representing them. Asking them for more money for the district, she said, would be “a hard sell.”

Last week, Bensor was working the polls during early voting, wearing a “Vote Yes” T-shirt paid for by the Save South San PAC. Board members Edward Mungia and Elda Flores, and Superintendent Saavedra donated to that PAC. For now, the board has the majority that it needs to call for the TRE and support Saavedra as he transitions the district toward a “system of great schools” model. That model will take a lot of power out of the hands of the board and central administration, and place it with campus leadership.

With a board majority supporting him, constant pushback from Prado doesn’t bother Saavedra too much.

In some ways, he accepts his role as her constant foil.

Now Saavedra is retiring, and four board seats are on the November ballot. The current board plans to name Saavedra’s replacement before the elections, but the TRE will say a lot about who has political muscle in the district. Potential candidates for superintendent will be watching.

Sanford Nowlin

Paid Sick Time Effort Clears Hurdle City Verifies that Measure Has Enough Signatures to Land on the November Ballot

BY SANFORD NOWLIN

C

ity officials have verified that labor and community groups collected enough signatures for voters to decide whether businesses should be required to provide paid sick time for workers.

The Working Texans for Paid Sick Time coalition collected 145,000 signatures, more than double the roughly 70,000 required to put the measure on the ballot, City Clerk Leticia Vacek told City Council on August 2.

2,500 Scientists: Border Wall Will Screw Up Ecosystems

A

new academic article in the journal BioScience assails President Trump’s proposed border wall for the environmental catastrophe it would wreak.

In itself, that’s nothing new — other scientists have made that warning. But here’s what’s different this time.

The paper, authored by multidisciplinary scientists from both the U.S. and Mexico, includes supporting signatures from more than 2,500 scientists from 43 countries.

Considering that most academic articles don’t even have co-signato-

Mani Albrecht (Wikimedia Commons)

ries — much less thousands of them — this should be read as a clear signal that scientists worldwide share a real and credible concern about Trump›s pinche border wall.

And given the contents of the article, it’s easy to see why. The wall would harm wildlife migrations, decimate

The city now has the option of scheduling the proposal for a referendum or voting to adopt it as an ordinance.

Council is scheduled to hold an August 8 hearing on the issue and vote on it Aug. 16. It faces an Aug. 20 deadline to put items on the November ballot.

Working Texans’ proposed ordinance would require private businesses to offer employees one hour of sick leave for every 30 they work.

Business groups oppose the requirement, saying it places too much of a burden on employers.

Before the meeting, several dozen paid sick time advocates rallied outside the Municipal Plaza Building, urging council members to take action.

More than 350,000 San Antonio workers do not have paid sick time.

“Either they do it by ballot or on the council dais,” community organizer Joleen Garcia told the crowd outside of the building. “Either way, we want paid sick time for San Antonio.”

Garcia warned that council could try to delay a vote until next year, which would allow the Republican-controlled Texas legislature to pass a law barring cities from mandating paid sick leave.

“We’re willing to dole out consequences come election time if we don’t get this now,” she said. “We want city council to be accountable.”

Outside chambers, Councilman Manny Pelaez agreed that delaying a vote is bad idea.

“If 144,000 people can hand in their signatures on time, then they expect this to happen sooner than later,” he said.

the habitats of endangered plants and animals and set back valuable scientific research, according to the data presented in the paper.

Co-author Paul Ehrlich, the wellknown Stanford University conservation biologist, told the website Inverse that the wall flies in the face of science, the environment and national security. Another co-author, Harvard University zoologist Edward O. Wilson, is arguably the father of modern biodiversity studies.

“We have, particularly in the United States, a government that’s waging war on our life support systems, and they don’t give a damn,” Ehrlich said.

“They have no idea what they’re doing, not in the slightest, either biologically or socially.”

—sanford nowlin sacurrent.com | August 8–14, 2018 | CURRENT

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THU | 8/9 SUN | 8/12

FRI | 8/10

THEATER

AYE, NO! q

You’re going to have to act fast, or get really lucky, to get a seat for Liz Coronado Castillo’s hilarious, yet heart-rending, play Aye, No!, to be presented throughout this month by Teatro Audaz. Most tickets are sold out already, but there are some — and there’s always the waitlist. This production, this play is worth it.

Castillo, who is currently resident playwright at Sul Ross University, first teased Aye, No! in San Antonio with a staged reading at Bang Bang Bar in 2016, and now the popular (out in West Texas) play is getting the full treatment.

Like so much of Castillo’s vibrant and vital work, the play zeroes in on the power of borders: the border town where it takes place, the borders and boundaries that characters place on the young protagonist Alicia (who has the audacity to not bring a man home with her), and the arbitrary borders of gender and sexuality. $20-$35, 7:30pm Thu-Sat, 2:30pm Sun, The Public Theater of San Antonio, Cellar Theater, 800 W. Ashby Pl., (210) 733-7258, teatroaudaz. com. — James Courtney Nicole Geary.

ART

‘CORPOREAL LANDSCAPES’

Homebase, the unique interdisciplinary arts event/exhibition series that pairs sonic experimentalists with new media artists for immersive pop-up showcases, is back with another exciting grouping of creators. Curated by Rebekah Hurst and Jacob Bissell, Homebase is all about fostering creative freedom by “providing a platform for art that is not readily commodifiable and thus has fewer opportunities to be shown.” This incarnation of Homebase, entitled “Corporeal Landscapes,” is “an exploration of space with regard to the body. Site-specific installations and performances that manipulate audience perspectives of the contemporary landscape as augmented precepts act as points of engagement, dictating how the audience moves through space.”

Featured artists are Jared Flores (experimental musician, improvisational wiz), Veronica Anne Salinas (intermedia artist and writer who explores soundscapes), Barbara Miñarro (multimedia artist who works brilliantly with textiles and installations) and Nicole Geary (multimedia artist concerned with humans’ relationships with the natural world). Free, opening reception 7-11pm Fri, on view 3-7pm Thu-Sat through September 14, Sala Diaz, 517 Stieren St., (972) 900-0047, saladiazart.org. — James Courtney

Teatro Auduaz

PRESENTS

WITH A SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

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SARAH TIANA 5

If you caught the Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis last week, you definitely heard some of comedian and Southern belle Sarah Tiana’s viciously funny jokes aimed at the Hollywood action star and the rest of the guests on the dais like former NBA star and Kim Jong Un’s official Netflix and Chill companion Dennis Rodman. Tiana wasn’t on stage herself, but she wrote many of the merciless takedowns delivered throughout the evening. On Twitter, she shared a couple she wrote that ultimately got cut from the final broadcast, including one for surprise roaster and Willis’ ex-wife Demi Moore: “Bruce, I have an indecent proposal for you. I’ll give you $1 million to go fuck yourself.” Along with her career as a comedy writer and standup comedian, Tiana co-hosts Riggle’s Picks, a weekly sports and pop-culture podcast with comedian Rob Riggle. Although her official bio says she is single (she prefers the phrase “sexually active”), her tweets hint that she is currently dating Chris Brockman, podcast producer for the NFL Network. It probably won’t work out, however, since Brockman is a big fan of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Tiana isn’t interested in deflated balls. $17, 8pm Thu, 8pm & 10:15pm Fri-Sat, 8pm Sun, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618 NW Loop 410, (210) 541-8805, lolsanantonio.com.

– Kiko Martinez TH EATER

MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS LIVE!

John Gray’s pop-psychology book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus first entered the zeitgeist in the early ‘90s, and has displayed remarkable staying power despite the influx of numerous more nuanced takes on the gender divide in the intervening decades. While there’s a glut of more accurate

Frankie Leal

(and less heteronormative) information on the market now, sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and laugh at the foibles that can result from casual misunderstandings between the sexes. The one-man show Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus LIVE! reframes the source material in a stand-up-esque style, with vignettes that follow the track of relationships from dating through marriage, as well as the quarrels that can spring up in the bedroom. (With that in mind, it’s definitely not a show for kids!) And while it might not be the most woke show on the block, some nuggets of wisdom can still be gleaned from this comedic take on the gender divide. $55, 7:30pm Thu, 8pm Fri, 4pm & 8pm Sat, 2pm Sun, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org.

— Kelly Merka Nelson

calendar

COMEDY

probably never heard of me. Because I’m the Solange of my family.” (Note: Their brother, Tony, does stand-up, too.) Baby Rock may never be as famous as his uber-famous brother, but the 27-year-old is taking it one performance at a time. “I honestly have nothing but good problems,” he tweeted last month to his 406 followers. For example, he was a recurring character on the Netflix romantic comedy series Love, co-created by Judd Apatow, which premiered its third and final season earlier this year. He is also starring in his second Netflix original film, The After Party, which premieres August 24. Truth be told: It can’t be any worse than the Netflix movie Chris made with Adam Sandler this year (The Week Of), so maybe Jordan will finally earn some bragging rights over his big bro. $17, 8:30pm Thu, 8pm & 10:15pm Fri-Sat, 8pm Sun, Improv San Antonio, 849 E. Commerce St., (210) 229-1420, rivercentercomedyclub.com. — KM

COMEDY

JORDAN ROCK 5

Stand-up comedian Jordan Rock, younger brother of comedy great Chris Rock, is learning how to hold his own in the industry. In the past, he’s played off the fact that no one really knows his name. “I’m Jordan Rock,” he said on stage at an L.A. comedy club last year as reported by the New York Times. “You guys have

Courtesy of Jordan Rock

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SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA 5 The Spanish Harlem Orchestra has established itself as a fixture on the San Antonio tour circuit, and for good reason. With a sound harkening to the classic Latin big band style of Tito Puente and Perez Prado, the 13-piece orchestra has proven itself a perfect fit for Salsa-loving San Anto. Fifteen years since keyboardist Oscar Hernandez formed the group, ostensibly as a limited arrangement, the New York-based band has released six albums and racked up some serious miles on tour.

Anchored by Hernandez’s percussive piano work in the rhythm section and backed by an ace horn line, SHO’s most key feature is their front line of singers, who keep things swinging in the tradition of legendary salseros Celia Cruz and Ruben Blades. Bring your dancing shoes and get ready to move. $29-$99, 7:30pm, Charline McCombs Empire Theater, 226 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 226-2891, artssa.org. — JC

Courtesy of Spanish Harlem Orchestra

is of artist Alex Rubio’s beloved mural Sweet as Candy (located at the corner of Guadalupe and Chupaderas streets).

The event, which also celebrates the release of the 216th issue of the organization’s community newspaper El Placazo, will feature various cultural/ artisan vendors, food and drinks for purchase and activities for the kiddos, in addition to the mural unveiling ceremony. No bitchin’ block party would be complete without music, so SACA has invited Lonely Horse, a high-octane, desert blues-rock act that never disappoints in the live setting, to perform at this special event. Free, 4-8pm, San Anto Cultural Arts, 2120 El Paso St., (210) 2267466, sananto.org. — JC

electro-funk group Planet Booty. “It’s all sorts of weird shit that you normally don’t get to see at the NSP live shows,” Wecht said on a video he posted on Twitter two weeks ago. “If I’m being honest, it’s kind of a better show.” As the lyrics from NSP’s new single “Danny Don’t You Know” go, “Now you’re on tour, and they want more/You step on stage and they come alive.” Here’s to Ninja Brian and his hipster friends having the same effect during their stop in San Antonio. $16.50, 7:30pm, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org.

— Kiko Martinez

MON | 8/13 COMEDY + MUSIC

NINJA BRIAN’S ALL-STAR VARIETY LUAU SPECTACULAR 5

San Antonio Cultural Arts

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San Anto Cultural Arts (SACA), an organization that has used public art to empower and educate youth on San Antonio’s West Side since 1993, is unveiling a new mural restoration and throwing a big ol’ Barrio Block Party to celebrate. The restoration project, completed by SACA student muralistas,

Described as “an evening of vaguely island-themed entertainment featuring three men over 40, and also some robots,” Ninja Brian’s All-Star Variety Luau Spectacular is hosted by comedian, keyboardist and retired theoretical physicist (seriously) Brian Wecht (aka Ninja Brian, “a homicidal, masked ninja”). Wecht is one half of the musical comedy duo Ninja Sex Party (NSP), who are releasing their sixth studio album, Cool Patrol, late next week. While the Luau Spectacular doesn’t include NSP singer Dan Avidan, Wecht will be accompanied by some of his other collaborators, including Canadian synthwave band Tupper Ware Remix Party (TWRP), musician and comedian JP Hasson (aka JP Inc.) and Oakland-based

Brian Wecht

FI LM

Blazing Saddles “Please do not write a polite script” was Mel Brooks’ injunction to his room of writers.

The 1970s allowed Hollywood to wallow in crudity and vulgarity, and Brooks took advantage of that to produce the first blockbuster of a new genre, the politically incorrect comedy. A spoof of Westerns, the story introduces a black sheriff (Cleavon Little) into a dismayed all-white town. In reality, the Old West had plenty of African-Americans escaping the legacy of slavery to become soldiers and cowboys and lawmen — for example, Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves and Texas rodeo star Bill Pickett. But that history hadn’t been told in mainstream Hollywood mythology, so Brooks used the new post-blaxploitation liberalism to rub audience’s noses in a vision that showed what old-school Westerns didn’t, from profanity and racism to flatulence. Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Harvey Korman and Slim Pickens were along for the ride, with cameos by Brooks and Count Basie’s Orchestra. Comedy was never the same. TPR wraps up its excellent Cinema Tuesdays series with a screening of the 1974 classic. $10-$15 suggested donation, 7:30pm, Santikos Bijou, 4522 Fredericksburg Road, (210) 614-8977, tprcinema.org. — Michael Barrett

TUE | 8/14

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Taxpayers Bought This Art. Now They Just Have to Find It. Surveying San Antonio’s public art landscape WORDS + PHOTOS BY BRYAN RINDFUSS

I

t might be tricky to define “public art” but it’s far more complicated to discern its value or purpose.

Poke around online a little and you’ll find that the Visual Arts Encyclopedia suggests public art is “an umbrella term which includes any work of art purchased with public funds, or which comes into the public domain (by donation, or by public display, etc.) irrespective of where it is situated in the community, or who sees it.” In its mini-lesson “Public Art 101,” the stalwart nonprofit Americans for the Arts points out that public art goes far beyond the stereotypical “historic bronze statues of a soldier on horseback in a park” and that it’s frequently a collaborative endeavor that’s “part of development or construction

18 CURRENT | August 8–14, 2018 | sacurrent.com

projects that are part of a larger urban development or cultural plan.” Perhaps the most inward-looking encapsulation comes from the Association for Public Art, which reminds us that public art can “enhance our environment, transform a landscape, heighten our awareness, or question our assumptions.”

One thing they all seem to agree on is that for public art to be truly successful, it’s crucial to consider the voices and concerns of the surrounding community from the get-go. If it’s not a reflection of the community it was created for, why should it matter to them? At its best, public art can start enlightening conversations and engage locals and tourists alike. At its worst, public art can stir up controversy and enrage a community.

One of three bizarre domes that comprise Seattle-based Buster Simpson’s publicly funded art project in Pearsall Park.

M

When you picture public art on a national or global scale, what do you see? Maybe the promises of “freedom and democracy” heralded by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s colossal copper Statue of Liberty that presides over the New York Harbor? Tourists taking selfies in front of Indian-born British artist Sir Anish Kapoor’s 110-ton, shiny stainless-steel sculpture Cloud Gate (better known as The Bean) in Chicago’s Millennium Park?

Perplexed visitors searching for meaning in Stonehenge — the iconic megalith that’s been described as everything from a “giant sculpture” to a “pile of rocks” and “the most disappointing tourist attraction in Britain”? The tired old adage still rings true: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Now bring the focus back home and what do you picture? Mexican sculptor Sebastián’s 65-foot-tall, fiery orange Torch of Friendship (Antorcha de Amistad) at the intersection of Losoya and Commerce streets? Chicago native Donald Lipski’s illuminated F.I.S.H. that swim

arts

through the night sky along the River Walk’s Museum Reach? Or maybe San Antonio’s own Bill FitzGibbons’ computer-controlled, candy-colored Light Channels that flash and blink at drivers passing under I-37? What about Austin artist Bob “Daddy-O” Wade’s Guinness-certified World’s Largest Cowboy Boots at North Star Mall? Should those count as public art?

(Technically, as long as it’s art installed in a public, it fits the bill.) One might even make a case for Confluence Park’s dramatic, water-saving pavilion as a work of public art.

Or maybe your mind wanders to controversies that can overshadow the art itself — such as London-based artist Jason Bruges’ $1 million sculpture Liquid Crystal in the Henry B. González Convention Center, which sparked considerable drama due to both its price tag and non-local creator and got dubbed by critics as the Cheese Grater, or the Confederate monument that was removed from Travis Park last year.

If you spend a little time with the online map organized by the San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture program Public Art San Antonio (PASA), you’ll quickly realize that our city abounds with public art, including dozens of off-the-beaten-path projects even die-hard art fans are unlikely to be aware of. Since some of the more conceptual offerings tend to fly beneath the radar, essentially hiding in plain sight, certain works of public art can require a bit of hunting — meaning you’ll need to know exactly where to look and exactly what you’re looking for. Nothing against the obscure, the abstract or the understated, but how many people do you know who go out of their way just to experience public art? If it’s not in your bubble, why bother visiting anything other than a blockbuster like French artist Xavier de Richemont’s dazzling San Antonio: The Saga light show on the facade of San Fernando Cathedral or maybe James Turrell’s awesomely meditative Twilight Epiphany Skyspace on the

campus of Houston’s Rice University? At least for projects commissioned by PASA, the short answer for San Antonians is: You helped pay for it.

Passed in May 2017, San Antonio’s five-year bond program (2017-2022) allotted $8.3 million for the acquisition and installation of public art. Representing one percent of the total bond, that figure will fund projects near (or associated with) capital improvements — including repairs and enhancements to streets, sidewalks and bridges throughout San Antonio. With all this in mind, it’s only natural that we question the public art around us. Who made it? What were they trying to convey? And how is the community responding to it?

In an attempt to address some of these questions, we visited 10 recent public art projects to gather gut impressions and try to determine how (or if) they’re rising to the occasion of engaging the communities in which they reside.

Following our visits, we sat down with San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture Director Debbie Racca-Sittre to learn more about PASA’s future plans as well as the rigorous processes involved in the creation of public art.

M Jorge Marín: Alas de México (Wings of Mexico) Hemisfair Park, 434 S. Alamo St. Hailed as a gift from the Mexican government and internationally recognized sculptor Jorge Marín in celebration of San Antonio’s Tricentennial, Alas de México (Wings of Mexico) isn’t the only new addition to Hemisfair Park but it stands poised to become the one we’ll be seeing the most of in the future. Presented as a symbol of “unity and fraternal friendship” between San Antonio and Mexico City in the midst of vola-

tile times, the bronze statue joins works by an array of local artists, including Karen Mahaffy, Oscar Alvarado, Joey Fauerso, Stuart Allen, Alex Rubio, Justin Boyd and Jennifer Khoshbin, as well as an assortment of holdouts from HemisFair ’68. If Alas de México looks familiar, it might be because an earlier version of it was on display at the San Antonio Botanical Garden three years ago as part of Marín’s outdoor sculpture showcase “Wings of the City.” While we’re not sure how effectively the sculpture will inspire visitors to “pause and reflect on the relationship between San Antonio and Mexico,” we’ve seen its selfie strengths successfully at play, with tourists patiently waiting to climb atop its pedestal and pose as a gold-winged angel beneath the Tower of the Americas.

M Joey Fauerso: Canopy Fulton Railroad Underpass, 729 Fulton Ave. Playfully rendered in a palette of cool blues and greens, San Antonio artist and educator Joey Fauerso’s Canopy mural brings a sense of serenity to a railroad underpass in Alta Vista.

Known for works encompassing painterly video projects, ethereal portraits and “drawing battles,” Fauerso is no stranger to public art or creative collaborations. In 2014, she organized the excellent street-level exhibition “X Marks the Art,” which turned storefronts and vacant building facades into canvases for six of her students from Texas State University. The following year, her series of steel Sky Camp pup tents were dedicated as part of the larger “Play” project in Hemisfair’s Yanaguana Garden.

Drawing earthly inspiration from beloved neighborhood landmark San Pedro Springs Park, Fauerso covered two facing walls with a mural depicting South Texas birds perched in

Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED

Through September 2 This exhibition is organized by René Paul Barilleaux, Head of Curatorial Affairs, for the McNay Art Museum. Funding to date is most generously provided by Frost Bank Charitable Foundation, Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation, Carolyn and Allan Paterson, and Dr. Victor Rodriguez. Additional support is provided by the Director’s Circle and the Exhibition Host Committee, chaired by Anna and Todd Wulfe.

mcnayart.org 20

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Yayoi Kusama, Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, 2009. Wood, metals, glass mirrors, plastic, acrylic paint, and LED lighting system. Edition 3/3. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Weiss Law Accessions Endowment Fund, 2016.34. © Yayoi Kusama. Photography by Carrithers Studio / Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

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cypress trees. Peppered throughout are curious snippets of poetry penned by elementary-school students from nearby Agnes Cotton Academy. Speaking about Canopy, Racca-Sittre suggested that, “As a kid growing up in that neighborhood, you would be, like fiercely, ‘Do not touch this, this is important to me.’ [That’s] why we want to have such strong community involvement. We want the community to take pride in the public art and take ownership of it like it’s theirs. Because it is — it’s their money.”

M Suzy González & Michael Menchaca: ¡Adelante San Antonio!

Consolidated Rental Car Facility (ConRAC), San Antonio International Airport, 9800 Airport Blvd.

Although its location at the airport pretty much dictates that the Tricentennial project ¡Adelante San Antonio! will be seen chiefly by tourists and travelers, it might take the eyes of locals to see it for all it really is: a sprawling celebration of San Antonio history. Created by the artist duo of Suzy González and Michael Menchaca (who collaborate under the moniker Dos Mestizx), it comprises three distinct parts. A pair of exterior mesh murals “represent a hybrid bird/ airplane” with a golden eagle referencing daytime travel and a Boeing 737 referencing “traveling by night, migration, and arriving home.” Inside the facility, stretched above the car-rental counters is another two-part mural made up of colorful duotone panels depicting symbols and icons (from bluebonnets and prickly pear cactus to Air Force

logos and an aerial view of San Pedro Creek), historic aircrafts and a number of notable San Antonians — including accordion queen Eva Ybarra, tejano/conjunto hero Lydia Mendoza, labor union organizer Emma Tenayuca and pioneering pilot sisters Katherine and Marjorie Stinson. The third piece of the puzzle is a clever “Ventana Rosada” that puts a literal spin on the “rose window” concept via a plane propellor surrounded by yellow roses. While stressed-out car renters are unlikely to connect all the dots, their kids might. Smack in the center of the lobby sits an iPad with a scrolling legend that explains each and every aspect in both English and Spanish. If your future plans don’t include renting a vehicle at the airport, keep in mind that shortterm parking is free if you can get in and out in 15 minutes or less. (Consider it a challenge.)

q Cruz Ortiz: Dream Song Tower

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arts One of the great challenges of public art is deciding where to put it. As Racca-Sittre explained to us, publicly funded art projects must “by law connect to a project that’s listed that’s not for public art.” But since every district includes improvement projects for “pedestrian mobility,” that gives PASA the green light to install public art “anywhere in the district as long as there might be pedestrians.” The chosen location for local art star Cruz Ortiz’s 60-foot-tall Dream Song Tower may seem like an odd one — an urban slice that butts up to the I-35 access road, South Zarzamora Street and active railroad tracks. Unless you’re hoofing it to Baptist Emergency Hospital or South Park Mall, you probably won’t experience this one as a pedestrian unless you make a point of it. Drivers, it seems, are its target audience, and folks stopped in traffic on I-35 might have the best view of its entirety. Described by PASA as “a welcoming gateway to the South San District,” the dramatic sculpture recalls a strange hybrid of a radio tower, a rocket ship and a tepee tricked out with Ortiz’s graphic signatures and visual nods to Selena (the words “Siempre Dreaming of You”) and the urban legends of the Donkey Lady and the chicken-footed Dancing Devil. If the chief purpose was to add visual interest to a former eyesore, mission accomplished. It’s an undeniable statement piece with pizzazz aplenty (some of the design elements even twirl in the wind like pinwheels), but there’s so much noise surrounding it (visual and otherwise) that it’s not exactly a destination where many would opt to linger.

q RDG Dahlquist Art Studio: Aguas Onduladas (Rippling Waters) Elmendorf Lake Park, 3702 W. Commerce St. Like Dream Song Tower, the recently dedicated sculpture Aguas Onduladas was born from a desire to beautify a dilapidated bit of land — and it’s also unfortunately nestled on a traffic triangle amid unappealing elements (telephone poles, wires, etc.), which makes it tough to photograph it in a way that reads as “art.”

Designed by Iowa-based RDG Dahlquist Art Studio in response to the “natural beauty” of nearby Elmendorf Lake, the project takes shape in three rippling waves cut from stainless steel. During our meeting with Racca-Sittre, she likened the installation to a transitional space or “gateway” from the neighborhood into Elmendorf Lark Park, which recently underwent a $16.2 million improvement project that includes new pedestrian bridges, LED lighting, a splash pad and tile mosaic artwork and benches by local fixture Oscar Alvarado. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of Aguas Onduladas (besides the fact that it lights up from within and looks considerably more realized and romantic at night) also illustrates the role of PASA’s Public Art Committee. As Racca-Sittre explained, the committee members felt the project needed to be tied “a little bit more to the community” and pitched the idea that poetry be etched into the undulating

stainless steel. A natural fit, West Side native Carmen Tafolla — San Antonio’s inaugural Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2014 and later Texas Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2016 — rose to the occasion by selecting excerpts from two of her poems: “River Music” and “Cada Sueño.”

M Cathy CunninghamLittle: Spirit of the Phoenix Fire Station 18, 1318 S. WW White Road Following suit with Aguas Onduladas, ever-inventive local artist Cathy Cunningham-Little’s Spirit of the Phoenix is optimized for nighttime viewing in a

fairly unusual spot. Created to accentuate a vintage fire apparatus (read: truck) in what one might describe as a storefront or showroom attached to Fire Station 18, the project sees Cunningham-Little softening up her geometric lighting wizardry for a large-scale installation that alludes to fire and firefighting through the juxtaposition of hot and cold colors, ladder-like projections and an abstract pattern inspired by the mythical phoenix rising from the flames. Set back a bit from the sidewalk, Spirit of the Phoenix might fly under the radar more than any other project we visited. Despite the fascinating light tapestry it casts onto the interior walls and exterior walkway, there feels like an imaginary barrier in place.

(When’s the last time you wandered up to a fire station to peek inside?) Speaking to the Current over the phone from Hawaii, Cunningham-Little, who is married to sculptor and fellow public artist Ken Little, explained that while it might look best at night, the station often welcomes daytime visitors in for a closer look.

a Legge Lewis Legge: Love Is Never Lost West End Park, 1226 NW 18th St. Undoubtedly the easiest project in the lot to take a jab at, Austin-based outfit Legge Lewis Legge’s installation Love Is Never Lost got the unenviable task of beautifying a Google Fiber Hut in an unassuming neighborhood park. At its core an installation of colored metal tabs installed on a chain-link fence surrounding said hut, Love Is Never Lost almost defies the sacurrent.com | August 8–14, 2018 | CURRENT

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arts otherwise nondescript underpasses but also wins with its thoughtful mixture of icons and locales both essential and unexpected — from Mission Espada and Hot Wells Hotel to Sunshine Amusement Park and the storied Ghost Tracks.

For these, a slow drive-by won’t cut it, you’ll need to park in the neighborhood and take a stroll under the bridge.

Buster Simpson: Midden Mound Wickiups Pearsall Park, 4838 Old Pearsall Road

Adriana M. Garcia: De Todos Caminos Somos Todos Uno (From All Roads We Are One)

promise of its title by disappearing into its own environment. If you don’t live within a few blocks of it or seek it out, chances are you’ll never see it. And while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, the nerdy irony of a public art installation beautifying (disguising?) a hut housing technological infrastructure left us liking Love Is Never Lost. Especially considering that Google Fiber’s San Antonio rollout sparked such a hissy fit, West End Park’s decorated hut feels a bit like a punchline, or maybe an abstract answer to an annoying riddle. Rather than “put a bird on it” Portlandia-style, Legge Lewis Legge drew inspiration from nearby Washington Irving Middle School’s namesake, cutting the writer’s famed phrase “Love Is Never Lost” into orange tabs that pop amid a scattered grid of blues and greens. Pushing the irony factor even further, this location offered the weakest (read: nonexistent) internet connectivity of the bunch.

M Diana Kersey: Bridges of Understanding; Adriana M. Garcia: De Todos Caminos Somos Todos Uno (From All Roads We Are One); Katie Pell, Red Arch, Green Arch; Alex Rubio, Aqua; Joe Lopez:

Bellos Recuerdos del Teatro Alameda y Tiempos Pasados (Beautiful Memories of the Alameda Theater and Times Passed); John Phillip Santos, Historical Text and Poetry; Michael Menchaca, Plaza de Fundación.

San Pedro Creek Culture Park, 715 Camaron St. Only in its first phase of completion, San Pedro Creek Culture Park boasts an abundance of public art created by a solid array of local artists, some long-established, others still on the rise.

Not commissioned by PASA but the San Antonio River Authority and its program San Pedro Creek Arts, the project aims to “express what is authentic about San Antonio’s culture today” and explore “the historical significance of the creek through a contemporary art lens.” Curated by Carrie Brown, the collection combines a series of historically inspired ceramic works by Diana Kersey, limestone walls etched with the poetry of John Phillip Santos, graphic tiles throughout

by Michael Menchaca and vibrant murals

by Adriana M. Garcia, Katie Pell, Alex Rubio and Joe Lopez. As construction here is ongoing, the area can be a bit tricky to navigate — the overall experience feels like you’ve caught the park in a state of undress — but it still offers a promising glimpse of big things to come.

M David Blancas & Oscar Alvarado: Windows to Our Heritage Hwy. 90 Underpasses at S. Presa St., Roosevelt Ave., Mission Road & Steves Ave. Part of the larger World Heritage Trail (a collaboration between Arts & Culture and the World Heritage Office), the not-yet-dedicated Windows to Our Heritage is right up there with ¡Adelante San Antonio! as a well-executed project that’s packed with local history. Essentially an extensive series of painted vignettes with mosaic tile treatments on concrete beams under Highway 90, the project took shape when PASA smartly paired painter David Blancas and sculptor Oscar Alvarado, both local artists with studios in close proximity to the installation sites. Described by PASA as “functional murals” designed to “reinforce and enhance the visitor experience, while also providing an aesthetic vision that reflects the rich history and culture of the missions, people and neighborhoods within the area,” the project successfully breathes life and color into

Serving up Mad Max realness from their respective landing pads on hilltops in a former dump, Seattle-based artist Buster Simpson’s bizarre Midden Mound Wikiups easily take the cake in the category of landscape transformation. Billed by PASA as a “modern take on a wickiup … a primitive domed structure historically associated with Native Americans of the Southwest,” they’re eerie and post-apocalyptic, looking a bit like the bombedout shells of sci-fi shelters. Recognized last year by Americans for the Arts as an Outstanding Public Art Project, Midden Mound Wikiups might be the biggest hit of the lot. Since they’re outfitted with benches and offer expansive views of Lackland Air Force Base, Leon Creek and downtown in the distance, they make for a truly unusual respite from the daily grind. During our three visits, we saw them being put to use by hip young kids, families, yoga enthusiasts and dogs.

Rendered in steel and woven wire mesh, among other materials, the three structures are divided into two camps: Wickiup Encampment and Wickiup Overlook, the latter of which is unfortunately shedding crimped metal scraps all around it. Upon closer inspection, there’s an abundance of the crimped metal strips that appear hastily stuffed into corners of the mesh covering — unattached to anything and ready to disperse in the wind. This design hiccup feels particularly glaring since the project sits atop a former landfill that’s been successfully transformed into a hilly park. Oddly enough, the description on Simpson’s website states, “The wickiups in Pearsall Park honor the historical presence of indigenous peoples and their light footprint on the land … The wickiup atop our cultural midden suggests a return to a less wasteful society.” sacurrent.com | August 8–14, 2018 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | August 8–14, 2018 | sacurrent.com

arts Arts & Culture Director Debbie Racca-Sittre on Public Art, Community Engagement and the Promise of the San Antonio T

Is there any special consideration given to local artists or is it a totally open playing field?

So to get on the list, it’s qualifications-based, which is why we started the whole emerging artist category ...

We also started a mentorship program where we teach emerging local artists how to better market themselves for public art opportunities. We teach them what to look for in a contract, how to expect to be paid, how to work with other disciplines. If they’re a sculptor, they might need to work with a structural engineer. So we teach them all those things and we give them an opportunity to work on projects as well ... This past year we’ve had more San Antonio artists that we’ve given commissions to than we ever have before.

BY BRYAN RINDFUSS Could you lay out what PASA’s role is and how proposals and projects flow through the pipeline?

So Public Art is a division of the Department of Arts & Culture. It started out as a design-enhancement division of Public Works. That was many years ago …

Eventually there was some money that was set aside in the bond program. There was a policy approved for one percent of capital funds to be for public art.

And that evolved over time to where we were able to pool the funds. [In the 2012 bond], each project — the streets and sidewalks proposition — they took all the money that was in it, which was $337 million, and they pooled the one percent. So we had $3.3 million.

Now we could do something. So what we would do is determine which project got public art based on what the staff professionally thought would be viable. This year, with the 2017 bond, we did the same thing: We have the [improvements] propositions and we have the funding pooled for public art. But what we’re doing now is we’re having community meetings, and we’re asking the community where they want to see their public art ... We also have a project that is for downtown. It’s called the San Antonio T. And the San Antonio T is the River Walk extension that was built in 1968 [that] kind of tees off into the Rivercenter Mall and into the Convention Center ... We’re going to be doing a project where all the community connects to downtown. So let’s just say we want to do a public artwork that will be informed

by Comanche Lookout Park and what it means to our community ... And what we want to do is come up with an artwork that represents that story ... and bring that into the San Antonio T and debut it and let everybody from the community come downtown and see it, let visitors see it, to know that there’s more to San Antonio than the River Walk.

How is that vision presented to applicants?

The way an artist would get involved is they would apply through our open call annually ... they put together their portfolio and submit it. We’ve been doing that for the last six years.

So they’re not submitting their work to be considered for a specific project.

City of San Antonio

Right. They submit, they get on a pre-qualified list, we have staff that review that, and we have three different categories: established artists, mid-career artists and emerging artists ... And there’s also a curated list [assembled by our] Curatorial Committee. And that Curatorial Committee is made up of curators from many of the institutions in San Antonio ... some arts patrons and such. And they come up with artists that are significant to San Antonio who might never apply on an open call. So they make a list. And both those lists we take to the Public Art Committee and to the Arts Commission, and the City Council approves them ... Then when there’s a project, we work with the community to determine what it is that they might want. So let’s just say they want a sculpture. Then we would look for artists that meet that kind of criteria ... Sometimes we’ll have a selection panel that will include neighborhood folks and other interested stakeholders, depending on the project.

And then once the selection is made, how does the back-and-forth go between the selected artist and PASA? So once the selection is made and it’s approved by the Arts Commission, then our Public Art Project Managers would be working with them to go back to the community, talk to them more about the concept and what they would like to see. And they would come up with an idea and they would kind of vet that. And so then the concept goes back to the Public Art Committee for approval. And then they keep working on it until they get a final design. And once they get a final design, they go back through those committees, and the Arts Commission will ultimately bless the final design ... It’s a very thorough and rigorous process that takes many, many months to do.

What would you say is the true value of public art?

When you think of the word “public,” it’s for everybody. And public art going through the kind of process that we go through to engage the community, to tell their stories and connect them to the artwork, it’s the kind of thing that lasts and is able to carry that story for future generations. Because public art is meant to last ... Outside art, we have to maintain it, we have to take care of it ... It’s also because people look at art and they recognize the culture of a community ... I think public art can tell that story.

It can tell about a past, a present and a future — to everybody. And it’s free.

What would you pick out as a highly successful public art project in San Antonio?

Most recently, I like the ConRAC at the airport. I think the artists nailed it. They were two emerging artists from San Antonio who went through our mentorship program ... Their concept showed promise, and the Curatorial Committee said, “They’re the ones.”

What made them a great fit for the project was [that] we needed to digitize their work and they already worked in a digital media ... We wanted to do a Tricentennial project and we wanted to do an aviation history project. And they mixed them together in the mural just beautifully.

Do you have an all-time favorite in San Antonio?

I like Open Hand because, to me, Open Hand symbolizes San Antonio as being unifying. Being in Pittman-Sullivan Park, where the MLK March ends, the Open Hand is the symbol of unity and openness, that our community embraces people of every walk of life.

And I think that’s who San Antonio is.

Any particular hopes or goals for projects in San Antonio?

Well, I’m really excited about the San Antonio T and this whole new way of community involvement. And so I hope that it will not only showcase other parts of the city to our visitors but that people from other parts of the city can come downtown and learn ... It would be nice for us to kind of have that unity. And see that we have really diverse areas of our city that we might just live in, our worlds, [but] we [need] to experience each other. And we’re hoping that the San Antonio T does that — bring people together in a location [where] they can learn about each other. sacurrent.com | August 8–14, 2018 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | August 8–14, 2018 | sacurrent.com

Filmmaker Spike Lee Returns to Form By Throwing Politicallycharged Haymakers in BlacKkKlansman

BY KIKO MARTINEZ

F

ilmmaker Spike Lee is angry. Actually, he’s seething. His ire for the Trump administration was evident this past May at the Cannes Film Festival where he repeatedly called the U.S. President a “motherfucker” for his weak response to the white nationalism seen during the protests in Charlottesville last summer. Lee’s rage is more than evident in his newest film, BlacKkKlansman – a cinematic return-to-form for Lee and his most significant and politically-jarring work since his 1992 biopic Malcolm X. Directed, produced and co-written by Lee, this true-life joint stars John David Washington (TV’s Ballers) as Detective Ron Stallworth, an ambitious, black rookie cop in the Colo-

Focus Features

rado Springs Police Department. In 1979, Ron saw a newspaper ad looking for men to join a local Klu Klux Klan chapter and decided to call up the number and pose as a racist white man interested in the organization.

Once he set up a line of communication, Stallworth teamed up with one of his white fellow detectives, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), to be the face of his invented bigot and infiltrate the group when they invite him out to meet. While Flip poses as Ron and collects intel on the KKK, Ron continues to speak over the phone to the group’s leaders, including KKK Grand Wizard David Duke (Topher Grace). Not long after, Ron (and Flip posing as Ron) are named head of the chapter.

In real life, Stallworth kept the undercover investigation a secret for almost 30 years, until

Bear Hugs

Live-Action Winnie the Pooh Film Christopher Robin is as Sweet as Honey

I

f you get a sense of déjà vu when you hear that there’s a new Winnie the Pooh movie called Christopher Robin, bear with us. Last year’s drama Goodbye Christopher Robin was a biopic on English Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne and the inspiration that led him to write children’s books. In Christopher Robin, we return to the fictional world of Pooh, 30 years after Christopher Robin (Orton O’Brien as a young Christopher) is sent to boarding school and leaves behind his fluffy friends in the Hundred Acre Wood in Sussex.

Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge!) stars as an adult Christopher, all grown up with a wife (Hayley Atwell) and daughter (Bronte Carmichael) and heaps of responsibility as an efficiency manager at a struggling luggage company in London. His daughter is heartbroken when he has to skip out on their family vacation because his boss orders him to overhaul the budget on his weekend off.

It’s a theme we’ve seen countless times before: the balance of work and home life, and a father who can’t seem to understand which is more important. None of it rings

screens

Spiked Punch

2006, when he revealed it to a reporter, and then, eight years later, released his book Black Klansman. Now, Lee has taken full control of Stallworth’s story as an activist filmmaker and uses it as an indictment on the president, his administration and the shameless, racially-divisive hotbed America has become since Trump started campaigning more than three years ago. Lee punches, and he punches hard.

It is obvious he has an agenda, so if you’re part of the Trump base, you’re not going to like what the Honorary Oscar winner has to say and how he parallels the current racial tension in this country to what Stallworth uncovered during his own daring mission. As apparent as it is, however, Lee’s intent doesn’t take away from the craftsmanship of his direction and the convincing tonal shifts that make BlacKkKlansman pivot from intriguing crime caper to biting contemporary satire so fluidly.

Also noteworthy is that during the more humorous scenes, Lee never steps outside the real-world situationin which BlacKkKlansman lives, unlike filmmaker Quentin Tarantino does with his hilarious KKK scenes in 2012’s Django Unchained. Lee keeps things grounded and seems to know when to jab and when to let the disturbing narrative speak for itself.

Disney Enterprises, Inc.

very original in Christopher Robin, although the scenario is more complicated since Christopher is faced with not only family obligations, but also having to “put away childish things” once again when the huggable, anthropomorphic Pooh comes for a surprise visit, which leads to Christopher traveling to Sussex to get him home.

Directed by Marc Forester, who explored this same type of narrative in the 2004 fantasy biopic Finding Neverland about Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie, Christopher Robin doesn’t break any new ground with its human characters, but there is plenty to love when Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore and the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood gang come out to play.

The appearance of these computer-generated, vintage-looking stuffed animals is flawless, and their interaction with Christopher provide some of the best examples where live-action

meets animation in recent memory. It feels like the actors and animated characters are inhabiting the same realm, which is a testament to the incredible creativity and realistic design by VFX studios Framestore and Method Studios.

As a family-friendly film, some viewers might be a bit turned off by the gloomy, quiet nature of the picture as a whole (Christopher Robin is more Where the Wild Things Are than it is Alvin and the Chipmunks), but the charm is never lost when Pooh is delivering one of his clever Poohisms (“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day”) or even when Eeyore is sulking in sadness. If anything is impossible, it’s not being enchanted by the film’s many adorable qualities.

– kiko martinez

Find more film stories at sacurrent.com

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CURRENT | August 8–14, 2018 | sacurrent.com

Carnitas Lonja draws more national attention, Tre at the Museum starts breakfast and more Inaugural Grilled Cheese Fest coming to San Antonio

San Antonio, prepare to get cheesy.

The inaugural SA Grilled Cheese Fest is scheduled to take over the Alamo City on Saturday, November 10, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Historic St. Paul Square. Party hosts EgCollaborations are inviting San Antonians to enjoy “warm, gooey grilled cheese sandwiches” from local restaurants. Cheesiness aside, this family-friendly event will have activities for all ages as well as music.

Tickets go on sale “soon,” according to the Facebook event posting. General admission will include entrance, one drink ticket, eight grilled cheese tickets (for sampling quarter sandwiches) and a token to vote for your favorite sandwich. VIP tickets include all that plus an hour-early entrance, an official event tee and 15 sampling tickets instead of 8.

1148 E. Commerce St., egcollaborations.com.

— Sarah Martinez

Carnitas Lonja makes Bon Appetit’s top 50 nominees for Best New Restaurants 2018 Last week, Eater dubbed Carnitas Lonja one of the 18 best new restaurants in the nation.

This week, Bon Appetit seems to also have fallen for the tiny restaurant off Roosevelt Avenue as well.

Andrew Knowlton, the publication’s editor-at-large, listed the carnitas restaurant as

food

FOOD COURT

Jess Elizarraras

one of the magazine’s top 50 nominees for Best New Restaurant in 2018. For reference, Hot Joy was the last restaurant to make the list in San Antonio, eventually earning a spot in the top 10.

For Alex Paredes, chef/owner at Carnitas Lonja, the nods mean business is good. For San Antonians who somehow managed to miss out on this eatery for the past year, it means they may want to line up early.

“We used to run out at 5 and now we’re selling out at 1, 1:30 in the afternoon,” Paredes said.

Carnitas Lonja, with its tight menu and simple outdoor seating, is now seeing guests coming from all parts of Texas, including the team from Austin’s Suerte, one of the other restaurant’s named to Eater’s lists.

“For me, carnitas are an everyday food so it’s great knowing we’re up there with some of the best kitchens in the country,” Paredes said.

1107 Roosevelt Ave., (210) 612-3626.

— Jess Elizarraras

Smoke Shack Meat Market is now open The corner of Pershing and Broadway is about 30 percent meatier these days, with the opening of Smoke Shack Meat Market.

The specialty grocery store opened by Chris and Kate Conger adds to their growing empire that now includes the Smoke Shack and The Pigpen.

Smoke Shack Meat Market features bread from The Bread Box, produce from Truckin’ Tomato, jellies from Brushfire Farms, and charcuterie from Swine House. House-made sausages, bratwurst and Italian sausages are

also available by the pound as well as steaks and other cuts from Peeler Ranch and Dean & Peeler Meatworks.

Beer and wine will also be offered, alongside a cooler filled with readymade meals such as pot roast and veggies as prepared by chef Paul Morales, who studied under Master Butcher Jean-Claude Setin in Los Angeles before moving back to San Antonio. Morales will kick-off a charctuerie program in the coming weeks. Smoke Shack sides are also available in the shop.

3710 Broadway.

— Jess Elizarraras

Tre Trattoria at the Museum now serves breakfast Avocado toast is getting an Italian twist at Tre Trattoria at the San Antonio Museum of Art. Chef Jason Dady’s regional Italian restaurant, which recently relocated to the Hops Building at SAMA after 10 years at the Boardwalk on Broadway, has added breakfast to this menu as of this week.

Served from 8 to 10 a.m., the breakfast menu features items such as yogurt parfait with seasonal fruit; Bakery Lorraine pastries; soft-boiled eggs, nuts and fresh fruit; a “Caprese” avocado toast with housepulled mozzarella, oven-dried tomatoes and fresh basil; mascarpone-raspberry stuffed French toast; Nutella X3 pancakes; soft-scrambled eggs plate with avocado, tomato, pesto and buttered toast, and more.

Prices range from $5 to $15.

Breakfast runs Tuesday through Sunday.

200 E. Jones Ave., (210) 805-0333, tretrattoria. com.

— Jess Elizarraras

Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com

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food THE BIG SPOON

Tips from a foodie parent

BY JESS ELIZARRARAS

F

or this week’s Big Spoon, I thought I’d share some mail I received after publishing my “Dining Out With Kids” column. The tips will be put into practice later this week, so stayed tuned for how I fare as a babysitter.

“After reading your column on dining out with kids, I figured I would throw in my two cents.

“My special lady and I have a fourmonth-old daughter, our first kid. We live in the Pearl area and take our baby out to different restaurants and other establishments pretty frequently.

“We are by no means experts on the subject, and everyday with an infant is a learning experience, but we have been pretty lucky in that our dining habits haven’t really changed all that much since becoming parents. Obviously, the situation will likely change even more to a degree when our daughter becomes more active and mobile. But I hope brand-new or soonto-be parents can know that, despite what many of their parent friends will say, their lives are not, in fact, over once they have a kid.

“One thing that has worked for us is realizing that we need to keep an open mind about a number of things when we’re thinking about heading out to dinner: “1) If the baby is already in a bad mood, her attitude probably won’t be changed by being in a restaurant setting. So if we’re at home and she’s throwing a fit, we’ll just stay in because it’s not worth the money or the stress of heading to a restaurant with a screaming baby knowing we’re not going to truly enjoy the experience of eating there anyway. Don’t force it.

“2) Know your restaurants. We’re lucky in San Antonio in that we can get some really well-executed cuisine in a laid-back atmosphere. Places with patio seating are great (assuming the weather is tolerable) because even if the baby starts getting upset, the other patrons will likely be blissfully unaware of what’s happening at our table and can continue enjoying their time,

Shutterstock

undisturbed by a crying baby.

“3) Have an exit strategy for less baby-friendly restaurants. One particularly memorable experience for us was when we attended a birthday dinner at Silo Terrace Oyster Bar. For those who haven’t been there, the dining room is only accessible from the street by elevator. Right after the waiter took everyone’s drink orders, baby went into nuclear meltdown mode, and every time we tried to take her outside to tend to the situation, we were stuck with a screaming baby waiting on the elevator to arrive. Not fun. Which brings me to...

“4) Save the fancy places for date night. The baby is the square peg, the fancy restaurant is the round hole.

Most upscale places are not set-up for a baby and all the equipment you must bring along. They also tend to

be quieter and more structured than your more everyday type restaurant, and bringing a baby along always makes your situation more fluid. And, of course, a baby’s happiness definitely has a time limit, and dinners tend to last much longer at the fancier places.

So make sure you’ve got a babysitter lined up before you go for the tasting menu at Mixtli.

“5) Be prepared. Babies require lots of things, so we try to make sure we have everything we need before leaving home. Always have that extra bottle handy, along with pacifiers, fans, meds and anything else they require. If the baby is happy at the restaurant, everybody’s happy.

“6) Start early. We made a point to start taking our baby out and about as soon as the pediatrician gave the O.K. We would take her for walks on the riv-

er and make regular stops at the Luxury or another one of the neighborhood establishments. That helped to keep a sense of normalcy in our lives, and those excursions seem to have gotten the baby used to restaurant noise and being around people so she doesn’t get fazed when we’re out in public.

“Again, by no means is this a “how to” guide on parenting, but I just wanted to share what has worked for our particular situation. With a baby it’s almost impossible to stick to a routine, but by keeping an open mind and going with the flow, we’ve been able to go out to eat at least once or twice a week as a family and have had overwhelmingly positive results.

“So, in conclusion, it IS possible to have a baby and still keep a social life and support the San Antonio restaurant scene.”

- Clint M. sacurrent.com | August 8–14, 2018 | CURRENT

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food | nightlife as a cumulus cloud, with a romp through the wildflowers — elderflower and heather tips, in this case — applying a cold compress to your metaphysical forehead. SPA is also dry-hopped with Cascade and Mosaic hops, but they’re playing tambourine here, not lead guitar, and so this pint finishes dry with a refreshing uplift — a reminder that it will not always be summer.

Real Ale Hans’ Pils A faithful companion and trusty sidekick during the dog days of summer, Real Ale’s Hans’ Pils is the ur-Texas hot weather craftie. Sleek as a BMW with none of the entitlement, this German pilsner cools you down without piling on too many calories or denying any flavor. The peppery yeast and assertive hop profile lends just enough tongue-tingle to set this puppy ahead of the pack.

Plus, if you’ve blown your alcohol allowance by face-hugging the air conditioner, cases of HP have been known to pop up on sale for about $1.25 a can. Maybe Real Ale will run a $1.09 sale to ease our suffering. It doesn’t hurt to dream.

Lance Higdon

Summertime Sippers 5 cool beers we’re drinking to survive the season

BY LANCE HIGDON

1

09. Not the number of taps at the Flying Saucer. Not the IBU for a new IPA. Not the bottle count for your favorite barrel-aged seasonal release. It’s San Antonio’s recent record high temperature, aka Too Much Of Heat For Anyone Living.

Who can drink beer at a time like this, when you can fry eggs on the sidewalk and bake Tollhouse cookies on your dashboard? You can, daring reader. I know you can. It just might be in your best interest save the stouts for a day with merely double-digit temperatures.

We’ve gathered a clutch of light-bodied but stilltasty brews to sustain you in the meantime.

5 Stones Spring Pale Ale As we said about this time last summer, the battle against the heat is largely psychological. That’s why we recommend starting with a beer that brings to mind more temperate climes, like the Spring Pale Ale from 5 Stones Artisan Brewing. It drinks pillowy

Dogfish Head Sea Quench Session Sour You lose a lot of sodium when you sweat all day. As a remedy, try the Dogfish Head SeaQuench Session Sour. Sold as tall boys in a striking seafoam green, SeaQuench blends gose, kolsch, and Berliner weisse beers into a single dehydration-fighting crusher. DHB threw green and black limes and straight lime juice into the pot along with sea salt harvested from the Maine coast. They also chose grains high in potassium to help stave off cramps.

The outcome is juicy and salty, with an insouciant smidge of coconut. Salty, key-lime pie beverage?

Your move, Powerade.

Independence Redbud with Cucumber Berliner Weisse Austin’s Independence Brewing rolled the dice on an unorthodox adjunct to their Berliner weisse a few summers ago, and thank goodness they did.

Rather than producing spiked Vlasic juice, Independence cans a beer recalling the lemony kiss of fattoush salad. Effervescent, sour but not too tart, Redbud drinks light like wheat beers do, while cukes temper the soggy-fruit-on-the-roof-of-themouth quality that can plague lesser Berliners. Indeed, the vegetal dimensions to the Redbud would go down well with some Doner kebab — once it’s just a little less heiss.

Künstler Brewing King Willy Kolsch One cannot live on liquid bread alone, even during a heat wave, and so we suggest dropping into Künstler for a true Teutonic classic combo. There, you can quaff a pint of the King Willy Kolsch: golden-hued, mellow-bodied, politely malty with a zippy little yeast profile, it’s the ideal foil to a soft pretzel and some cool mustard. We must lean on familiar comforts in trying times, so tear off a bite, take a sip and daydream about Oktoberfest. It’ll be here before you know it.

COCKTAIL OF THE WEEK

Sangria all the way from New Orleans

T

his past week marked the 16th year that the Tales of the Cocktail had been held at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. The conference, which is one of the largest of its kind, celebrates cocktails, spirits, bartenders, bars, writers and more.

There were many great cocktails being created and served all around New Orleans during the week’s worth of classes, tasting rooms and parties.

One of my favorite concoctions, and one that is pretty simple to make at home, was the Copper Sangria. The unusual sangria was served during Absolut Elyx’s Garden Party hosted at the Auburn Cottages. While most red sangrias (and even white ones) tend to be made with a juice that gives the drink some color, this one was clear and made with a peach-infused Cocchi Americano, cedarwood syrup, Ting (a soda similar to Squirt), Champagne and topped with a mini bottle of Absolut Elyx (the brand’s latest spirit that takes single estate winter wheat, and ages it in copper stills).

The drink was refreshing, perfect for sipping by the pool and contained a little bit of whimsical charm, which didn’t end with the drink – the venue itself was a little tropical garden getaway in the middle of the French Quarter. The cottages were filled with little gnomes, tons of greenery and even mermaids relaxing in the pool. The Copper Sangria captured all that the Elyx Garden Party represented – a little bit of whimsy combined with class and unique rustic charm.

Make a similar sangria at home by combining ¾ ounce of peach schnapps into a glass, topping half of the glass with sparkling grapefruit water or Squirt, and the other half with Champagne. Top the glass with your mini vodka bottle (or a splash of your favorite vodka) and you are good to go!

Erin Winch writes about boozin’ in the Alamo City on her blog Drinking In SA. —erin winch

Erin Winch

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music

Courtesy of Karma

Catching Up With Karma

San Antonio-born Karma Styles Talks About Dancing on Ryan Murphy’s Pose

BY CHRIS CONDE

I

t’s been almost a year to the day since we first mentioned Karma Styles, one of the original members of the San Antonio-based vogue/dance/art collective House of Kenzo. Karma moved to New York City in 2015 to pursue his dreams as a dancer.

Born Charles Wilborn, Karma graduated from Communications Arts High School at Taft in 2008 and, shortly after, landed a gig with the Harlem Globetrotters, which took him dancing across the United States for four years. After returning to San Antonio, the dancer connected with a few other dancers who would eventually become the first inception of House of Kenzo, which now gets booked regularly at festivals like SXSW and Day for Night).

Before House of Kenzo began blowing up, Karma moved to New York, originally to learn how to teach yoga. That didn’t work out, but Karma had already moved, so he figured he’d try to make it work as a dancer.

And we’ve been cheering him on since.

From dancing for Lil Mama to landing Nike and Alexander Wang X Adidas ads, Karma has tirelessly pushed to fulfill his dream to be a professional dancer.

Recently, San Antonio-born Karma was featured in the new Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, Glee, American Horror Story) show Pose, which takes place in 1987 during the initial AIDS crisis. Similar to Paris Is Burning, a documentary that chronicled the mid-to-late 1980s Harlem ball culture in New York City, and the black, Latin, gay, drag queen and transgender communities involved in it, Pose goes steps further and highlights the unique struggles of QPOCs in the late ‘80s as well as the discrimination transgender women (especially transgender women of color) endure from cisgender, gay, white males.

It’s a powerful show and pretty cool that someone from San Antonio is able to be a part of it. We caught up with Karma to talk about what it was like working with Ryan Murphy and what it was like working on such an important new show.

“Ryan Murphy is on set right there with you,” Karma said over the phone. “I’ve worked on a lot of different sets, and sometimes you don’t even get to talk to the director. But he’s very hands-on. It was cool to see him in action and working right there with us, in the

cold, seeing the scene, putting it together, seeing his vision and just talking to us, and giving us [direction].”

On many of the sets he’s been on, Karma said, a lot of the extras get “hushed,” and aren’t really allowed to talk very much – it’s a strict atmosphere. He said he thought it would be similar on the set of Pose since this was going to be one of Murphy’s productions.

What Karma found was the opposite.

“You would think, ‘Ryan Murphy – American Horror Story. I gotta come in in tip-top shape and come in up-tight,’ but it so wasn’t like that. The set was super fun and relaxed. He allowed the ballroom community to be the ballroom community. The [show] really tried to do their best to take care of the ballroom community [and] show appreciation [for] them.”

From the stars of Pose to the extras dancing in the background to the consultants on the show (some of whom worked on or were in Paris Is Burning), Karma says he felt that Murphy and the show did a good job of making sure the NYC ballroom scene past and present was welcome and that the history was treated with respect. “[Murphy] seemed really honored and happy to meet us and have us on the show. It was cool to see someone appreciate us and not use us – like he wants this to actually look legit and put [the ballroom community] in a good light.”

To keep up with Karma and all his adventures, follow his instagram @karmastylz

Find more music coverage Find more news every day at sacurrent.com

music | music Picks

Tory Lanez

M TORY LANEZ Wednesday, August 8

HAPPY

HOUR

A L L D AY SUN-MON

This summer is fixin’ to be lit, y’all.

Tory Lanez is coming to San Antonio for the North American leg of his Memories Don’t Die Tour, and we’re looking forward to making memories … that don’t die. (Excuse the dad joke – we need more coffee.) The Grammy-nominated R&B crooner kicked off his tour in May and will be here Wednesday to tear us to “Pieces” (our personal fave off of Memories Don’t Die). $27-$47, 8pm, The Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., theaztectheatre.com. – Chris Conde

6 MONEY CHICHA + DOS SANTOS Thursday, August 9

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ATX’s Money Chicha, which features members of Grupo Fantasma and Brownout, two bands our readers should be familiar with, plays an update on the style known as Chicha.

Named after a beverage made from maize, sometimes fermented and sometimes not, which is popular in South and Central America, Chicha is a derivative of cumbia music fused with elements of psychedelic rock and surf, as well as the Peruvian highland’s folk music form huayno. Hugely popular in the 1960s, when psychedelia seeped into everything, Chicha music still captures the imaginations and mystical yearnings of folks across continents

and generations. As a style of music, Chicha represents the heady possibilities of cross-cultural pollination exceptionally well, and Money Chicha delivers on the promise of the genre with mind-bending alacrity, blending in its own touches of extra fuzz and raging percussion. Chicago quintet Dos Santos, with its groovetastic pan-Latin sound, will also perform. $10, 8pm, Luna, 6740 San Pedro Ave., lunalive.com.

— James Courtney

music | music Picks

Eric Ryan Anderson

M NEEDTOBREATHE Friday, August 10

Don’t hold your breath because Christian rock kings and chart-toppers NEEDTOBREATHE are bringing their anthemic ballads to the WhiteWater Amphitheater. If you have a penchant for this sort of thing, then the fourpiece, South Carolina-based ensemble fronted by brothers Bear and Bo Reinhhart is sure to lift your spirits.

Their most recent album, HARDLOVE,

debuted #1 on Billboard in 2016, and their 2014 single “Brother” went triple gold. The band will open to performances by husband-and-wife duo Johnnyswim and singer/songwriter and young Johnny Depp-lookalike Billy Raffoul. If you enjoy some solid Christian stadium songs, then you might want to book some tickets for this show. $33.26-$775.98, 6PM, WhiteWater Amphitheater, 11860 FM306 #1, New Braunfels, whitewaterrocks.com.

— Camille Sauers

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music | music Picks q SIRENS OF ROCK MUSIC FESTIVAL Saturday, August 11

It is an unfortunate fact that we, in the U.S. and the world over, still have a lot of work to do to provide for the true equality and empowerment of women.

This is a pervasive truth, affecting every industry, and music is no exception.

In fact, in the testosterone-dominated world of rock music, it’s even worse. As such, a show like this weekend’s Sirens of Rock Music Festival – while some might rightly cringe at the use of the word “siren,” which alludes to female figures in Greek mythology that lured unsuspecting (boo hoo) men to their deaths (insert shruggie emoji) – is a welcome and necessary endeavor. The show/mini-festival puts the spotlight on ten acts comprised of or fronted by women, some of whom are familiar to our readers and some that are new on the scene. Performers include Kenzie Kellerman, Lloronas, Lola Pistola, Celestial Descent, War on Sunday, Fox Motel and more. $5-$10, 5pm-midnight, Alamo City Music Hall, 1305 E, Houston St., alamocitymusichall.com. — JC

LOS #3 DINNERS Friday, August 10

In the words of former San Antonio Current editor Enrique Lopetegui, “#3 Dinners isn’t just a band — it’s a San Antonio icon, like the Alamo or the Spurs. The band is beyond good and evil.

Too often, perhaps, they’re taken for granted: they’ve been rocking for over 30 years and, barring some unforeseen cataclysm, they’re here to stay.” According to a review of one of their shows a couple years ago, it seems that the Dinners are very much alive and kicking ass. Judging from how often these dudes continue to gig, they are gonna be here for a while.

“Old guys play first,” charismatic vocalist/guitarist Lenny Friedland told the Current before their set, “so we can go home early and hook up the morphine and watch the Weather Channel.” For an opportunity to see one of the bands that helped create a real music scene in San Antonio, you won’t want to miss this show. $7$30, 8pm, Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., samsburgerjoint.com. – Chris Conde Josh Huskin

Lloronas by Ellie Perish

a VIOLENT PRACTICE Saturday, August 11

Violent Practice

Throw on your pentagram T-shirt (or leather jacket) and head on over to Limelight to see this local, old-school percussive punk band. Leads Adrian Cardenas and Briones are veterans of the scene, having handfuls of former projects under their belts. Their songs with Violent Practice are energetic, chaotic and will deliver all the clamoring, repetitive hooks, riffs and society-weary refrains you need to hear to get your punk fix. Punk outfits Klax and Austin’s Blood Hammer will also be taking

KUZU Facebook

the stage. 9pm, Limelight, 2718 N St. Mary’s, (210) 735-7775, themimelightsa. com - Camille Sauers

MKUZU AT CONTEMPORARY WHATEVER Tuesday, August 14

KUZU is the newly forged collaborative project of Dave Rempis (saxophonist), Tashi Dorji (guitarist), and Tyler Damon (percussionist), something of an obscure experimental/instrumental music super group. Ahead of the upcoming release of the trio’s first album Hiljaisuus,

KUZU will make a welcome surprise of a stop in SA thanks to musician/composer Dane Rousay’s regular experimental music night Contemporary Whatever.

Fans of improvisational playing and high-level, challenging instrumental collaborations between master musicians will want to be in attendance for this one. On the real, though: if we support fantastic independent acts like this when they come through, then more and more will come through. Rousay and the Jared Flores Ensemble will provide the impeccable local support for this show. Free, 7pm, Ventura, 1011 Avenue B, (210) 802-6940, venturasatx.com. — JC sacurrent.com | August 8–14, 2018 | CURRENT

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8 Tory Lanez: Memories Don’t Die Tour A songwriter and producer who flits between and fuses R&B and rap, he made steady strides toward the mainstream with numerous mixtapes, guest appearances and self-directed videos. His song “Luv” was also nominated for a Grammy in Best R&B Song in 2016. $27$102. Aztec Theatre, 8pm.

Ulterior Motive Ulterior Motive’s high-energy jazz sound is packed with intensity and complexity.

The group’s music is influenced by past jazz masters and rhythms of jazz, R&B, rock and Latin.

Free. Jazz, TX, 5:30-7:30pm.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9 Artist Robinson & His Texas Boogie Band Country musician Artist Robinson & His Texas Boogie Band are performing live at Fitzgerald’s. Fitzgerald’s Bar & Live Music Venue, 8pm-2am.

The Blues Lawyer The band will perform covers from Clapton, BB King, Muddy Waters and others. Free. Hidden Tavern, 8-10pm.

The Jazz Protagonists Their specialty is classic jazz in the tradition of Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson. No fancy noisemakers, no electronic gimmicks — just great improvisational music. Free. Jazz, TX, 5:30-7:30pm.

Los Aztex Los Aztex continues to diversify their sound with a fusion of cumbia, blues, and rock.

The Texas group is led by accordion whiz Joel Guzman and singer Sarah Fox. $10-$40. Sam’s Burger Joint, 8pm.

Marcia Ball American blues singer and pianist raised in Vinton, Louisiana. She was described in USA Today as “a sensation, saucy singer and superb pianist... where Texas stomp-rock and Louisiana blues-swamp meet.” $30. Jazz, TX, 8:30-11:30pm.

Money Chicha Austin-based latin-psych and cumbia band with members of Grupo Fantasma and Brownout. $5. Luna, 8pm.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10 Brad Stivers Brad is on his way to becoming a staple in the blues and roots music scene. He has shared the stage with local heavy-hitters such as Greg Izor and Jai Malano. $10. Luna, 8pm.

Devan Jones & the Uptown Stomp Devan Jones & The Uptown Stomp will dish up a spicy Texas blend of jazz, swing and blues at the Historic Braun Hall. $15. Braun Hall, 8-10:30pm.

Julien-K DIN Productions presents Californian electro-rock band Julien-K for a live performance at the Rock Box. $12. The Rock Box, 8pm.

NeedToBreathe Rock band NeedToBreathe is performing live at Whitewater Amphitheater.

Special guests include JohnnySwim and Billy Raffoul. $33.26-$775.98. Whitewater Amphitheater, 7-11:30pm.

New Orleans Night Poree South Texas jazz musician Doc Watkins is joined by Pierre Poree of New Orleans and friends to perform live $10$30. Jazz, TX, 8:30-11:30pm.

Randall King Humble beginnings, a strong work

ethic and the influences of classic country legends make up singer-songwriter Randall King from the West Texas Plains. $10. John T Floore’s Country Store, 9pm.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 11 Aaron Watson Aaron Watson continues to bring a unique style and brand of country that can only be classified as independent. His “Outta Style” hit made it on the Top 10 Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart. $27.50. John T Floore’s Country Store, 8pm.

MysterE Psychedelic blues duo MysterE takes the stage with The Wizard, House Pollocks and Youth & Canvas from Austin. $5. Imagine Books and Records, 8pm-midnight Ruben V Ruben has a vast catalog of songs to pull from. They may play a familiar song but change the tempo or instruments. Ruben V shows are enlivened jams. $10-$45. Sam’s Burger Joint, pm.

Pat Waters Country artist Pat Waters is performing live at the Tejas Rodeo Company. The rodeo starts at 7:30pm while the live music and dancing event starts at 9pm. $6-$12. Tejas Rodeo Company, 7:30-9pm.

Gold Steps with Silent Minority Strike Down Entertainment presents punk bands Gold Steps with Silent Minority at Fitzgerald’s. $10. Fitzgerald’s Bar & Live Music Venue, 8pm-2am.

Sirens Of Rock Music Festival The first annual Sirens of Rock Music Festival is hosting local band We Sirens. The event will have artists, vendors, food trucks and, of course, live music. $5-$10.

Alamo City Music Hall & Club, 5pm-2am.

Violent Practice Thrash punk band Violent Practice is releasing their debut record Deadly Sins. Guest performers include psychobilly group Klax, Bloodhammer and more. Limelight, 9pm-2am.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 12 BillyRay Sheppard’s Second Sunday Smooth Jazz: BIllyRay Sheppard and friends celebrate summer at the Club at Sonterra. Enjoy an evening of dining with friends in an “all white attire” event $35. The Club at Sonterra, 6:30-9:30pm.

The West Side Horns The King William Association Concerts in the Park presents the West Side Horns. Enjoy great music at the Friendly Spot in the King William Neighborhood. Free.

The Friendly Spot, 5:30-6:30pm.

Dawes The San Antonio Current and KRTU Indie Overnight presents this folk rock group, Dawes, live at the Rustic. $25-$65. The Rustic, 8-11pm.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14 Kuzu The band consists of saxophonist Dave Rempis, guitarist Tashi Dorjiand and drummer Tyler Damon. Free. Ventura, 8-11pm.

Katchie Cartwright’s Brazilian Trio The great Jimmy Heath has hailed Cartwright as “a soulful intellectual with a velvet sound and uncommon ability.” JazzTimes has described her as “one helluva singer.” Free. Jazz, TX, 5:30-7:30pm.

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ACROSS 1 “There ___ there there” (Gertrude Stein comment on Oakland) 5 Go to the mat, slangily 11 Dog breeders’ org.

14 Unknown, as a citation (abbr.)

15 Stella ___ (Belgian beer) 16 ___ Locks (Sault Ste. Marie waterway) 17 Amorphous amounts 18 “Oh, crud!”

19 It looks like 2 in binary 20 Tootsie Roll Pop biter, in a classic ad 21 Chops into cubes 22 Word after blessed or catered 24 “Hush!”

26 Ornate 27 Bengal beast 28 Upper limit 30 Milan-based fashion label 31 Got a hold of, maybe 32 1960s campus protest gp. restarted in 2006 33 Sounding like a complete ass?

35 Tax pro 38 Bluegrass artist Krauss 39 Message on a tablet, maybe?

41 “And Still I Rise” poet 43 Shelve indefinitely 44 Larry, e.g.

45 Vacation vehicles 48 Uniform preceder?

49 Metallic mix 50 Close 52 Singer-songwriter Rita with the middle name SahatÁiu 53 Grocery sign phrase that’s grammatically questionable 55 Steve of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 56 Elan 57 ___ bag 58 Go around 59 New Orleans-to-Miami dir.

60 Equilibrium situations 61 1990s point-and-click puzzle game DOWN 1 Foe of Othello 2 Part-time Arizona resident, perhaps 3 Xenon, e.g.

4 Put-___ (shams) 5 Ulnae’s neighbors 6 “It’s ___ to the finish” 7 Take advantage of room, or demonstrate what four themed Down answers do?

8 Beau and Jeff, to Lloyd Bridges 9 Number in a Roman pickup?

10 She played one of the Golden

Girls 11 Shipboard direction 12 Chekov portrayer on Star Trek 13 “See next page” abbr.

21 Purchases designed to last a long time 23 Null’s companion 25 Math proof ending 26 Sawyer’s friend 27 “Decorates” a house on Halloween, perhaps 29 Irish-born children’s book author Colfer 31 El ___, Texas 34 Provoke 35 Jim Carrey title role, with “The” 36 Some light beers 37 Cakes and ___ (W. Somerset Maugham book) 38 Intensely eager 40 Ewe in the movie Babe 41 Pioneering video game systems 42 Generic 44 Back burner location 46 Westworld character ___ Hughes 47 Mr. Potato Head pieces 49 Seaweed plant 51 Body shop challenge 54 Spoil 55 Withdrawal site ANSWER ON PAGE 15

etc S AVA G E L O V E B Y D A N S AVA G E

Après Pill, Le Déluge I’m a 27-year-old woman living on the East Coast. I’ve been sexually active and on birth control since I was 16 – almost always on the pill. I recently switched to the NuvaRing, which I had a bad reaction to. I had no libido at all and extreme mood swings/bouts of depression I could not live with. My boyfriend and I decided it would be a good idea to go off hormonal birth control for a while, just to see what would happen. We’ve been together for almost four years, so we agreed condoms would be fine, and I would try the route of no more supplemental hormones. I stopped a couple of months ago, and it’s been a mix of good and bad. The good is that my moods are more even. Another good thing is I feel like I’m having a sexual awakening. My libido came back! But the bad thing is… my libido came back in a way I wasn’t expecting. My sexual appetite is insane. I want to have sex with everyone! Men, women, friends, colleagues, acquaintances. My boyfriend has been amazing through all of this. He’s agreed to let us open up our relationship under specific terms. I agree with the terms we placed, but I still feel like my urges are going to get me in trouble. I know not to have sex with friends and colleagues, but a lot of situations come up that make it hard to resist – especially when alcohol is involved. I’m very good with self-policing, and I don’t think I’ll actually act on my urges. My question is one you get a lot: Is this normal? Can removing a cocktail of hormones from my life really change me this much? I used to want sex, but now I WANT SEX. I want a lot of it, and it’s overwhelming. I don’t want to blame it all on the birth control, but I can’t help but feel it to be true since it was the only variable in my life that changed in the last couple of months. I want to be faithful to my boyfriend, who has been great and understanding, allowing us to open our relationship to casual encounters with strangers. (Also: No friends, no one we both know, DADT and no intimacy with anyone – it must be purely sexual/physical.) But I’m feeling sexual connections to so many more people now, and often to people I’ve known for a while. I see this all as mostly positive, but the adjustment to the new sexual hunger has been strange and difficult to wrap my head around.

Suddenly Horny And Going Gaga Isn’t Normal “I’m so glad to hear this woman sees the increase in her libido as positive,” said Dr. Meredith Chivers, an associate professor of psychology at Queen’s University, a world-renowned sex researcher, and – I’m proud to say – a frequent guest expert around here. “At the same time, I understand how overwhelming these urges can feel, especially when they are new.”

Luckily for you, SHAGGIN, you’re with someone who’s secure enough to let you feel the fuck out these new feelings. Whether or not you act on them is one thing – DADT agreement or no DADT agreement – but not having to pretend you aren’t suddenly interested in fucking men, women, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances is a real gift.

Another example of your good luck? Dr. Chivers is about to give you the Actual Science download on hormonal birth control, complete with qualifications about what we know, what we don’t know, and areas that require more research!

“It’s difficult to say what is and isn’t normal when it comes to the effects of hormonal contraception (HC) on women’s sexual interest,” said Dr. Chivers. “To my knowledge, researchers have not specifically examined the question of what happens to women’s sex drive after stopping HC.”

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But lots of women have stopped using hormonal contraception for the exact same reason you did, SHAGGIN: worries about how it might be affecting their libido – and there is some indirect evidence that HC can negatively impact a woman’s desire for sex.

“The NuvaRing is a combined hormonal contraceptive containing synthetic estrogens and progestins (the same as many birth control pills),” said Dr. Chivers. “HC like the NuvaRing works, in part, by raising and stabilizing progesterone levels throughout the menstrual cycle, which helps to prevent ovulation and implantation.”

And it’s those stabilized progesterone levels that could be the culprit.

“Progesterone is one of the hormones involved in the menstrual cycle and pregnancy; levels are highest in the week before menstruation (called the luteal phase) and are also high during pregnancy,” said Dr. Chivers. “A recent, large-scale study reported that women with higher progesterone – women who weren’t using HC – had lower sexual interest, on average. Because using HC is associated with reductions in sexual interest, we could predict that stopping HC, and thus progesterone levels returning to more typical lower levels, could be associated with increases in sexual motivation.”

Since you definitely experienced an increase in sexual desire after you removed your NuvaRing and started using condoms, SHAGGIN, Dr. Chivers was comfortable saying… that you definitely experienced an increase in sexual desire and that might be related to going off HC. “Given that she has been using some form of HC since she became sexually active, my guess is that she’s never had the chance to experience her sexuality while naturally cycling,” said Dr. Chivers. “Part of her process could be learning about her unmedicated hormonal cycle, her sexuality, and the variations in her sex drive. For example, does her sexual interest fluctuate over her cycle? She might want to consider collecting some data with a cycle tracker app. Flo, Clue and Period Tracker are among those that my women sex-researcher/educator colleagues recommend.

This might help her notice patterns in her libido, attractions and sexual pleasure – and help her to develop strategies to manage, and perhaps even capitalize on, her sexual desires.”

As for your boyfriend, SHAGGIN, and your desire to be faithful to him: So long as you honor the terms of your openness agreement, you are being faithful to him. But check in with him more than once before you fuck someone who isn’t him. Because when a partner agrees to open the relationship but then places a long list of restrictions on who you can fuck – a list that excludes most of the people you wanna fuck – that can be a sign your partner doesn’t actually want to open the relationship.

The last word goes to Dr. Chivers: Whether you’re having fun with others or you decide to remain sexually exclusive with your boyfriend, “Have fun!”

To learn more about Dr. Chivers’s research, visit the SageLab website (queensu.ca/psychology/sexuality-and-gender-lab) and follow her on Twitter @DrMLChivers.

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etc FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZNY ARIES (March 21-April 19): Palestinian American writer Susan Abulhawa writes that in the Arab world, to say a mere “thank you” is regarded as spiritless and ungenerous. The point of communicating gratitude is to light up with lively and expressive emotions that respond in kind to the kindness bestowed. For instance, a recipient may exclaim, “May Allah bless the hands that give me this blessing,” or “Beauty is in the eyes that find me beautiful.”

In accordance with current astrological omens, I propose that you experiment with this approach. Be specific in your praise. Be exact in your appreciation. Acknowledge the unique mood and meaning of each rich exchange.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you need this advice from mythologist Joseph Campbell: “Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.” He says it’s “a rescue land . . . some field of action where there is a spring of ambrosia – a joy that comes from inside, not something external that puts joy into you – a place that lets you experience your own will and your own intention and your own wish.”

Do you have such a place, Taurus? If not, now is a great time to find one. If you do, now is a great time to go there for a spell and renew the hell out of yourself.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): When he was 20 years old, future U.S. President Thomas Jefferson had an awkward encounter with a young woman who piqued his interest. He was embarrassed by the gracelessness he displayed. For two days afterward, he endured a terrible headache. We might speculate that it was a psychosomatic reaction. I bring this up because I’m wondering if your emotions are also trying to send coded messages to you via your body. Are you aware of unusual symptoms or mysterious sensations? See if you can trace them back to their source in your soul.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): There’s a zone in your psyche where selfishness overlaps generosity, where the line between being emotionally manipulative and gracefully magnanimous almost disappears. With both hope and trepidation for the people in your life, I advise you to hang out in that grey area for now. Yes, it’s a risk. You could end up finessing people mostly for your own good and making them think it’s mostly for their own good. But the more likely outcome is that you will employ ethical abracadabra to bring out the best in others, even as you get what you want, too.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You probably gaze at the sky enough to realize when there’s a full moon. But you may not monitor the heavenly

cycles closely enough to tune in to the new moon, that phase each month when the lunar orb is invisible. We astrologers regard it as a ripe time to formulate fresh intentions. We understand it to be a propitious moment to plant metaphorical seeds for the desires you want to fulfill in the coming four weeks. When this phenomenon happens during the astrological month of Leo, the potency is intensified for you. Your next appointment with this holiday is August 10th and 11th.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In her poem “Dogfish,” Virgo poet Mary Oliver writes, “I wanted the past to go away, I wanted to leave it.” Why? Because she wanted her life “to open like a hinge, like a wing.” I’m happy to tell you, Virgo, that you now have more power than usual to make your past go away. I’m also pleased to speculate that as you perform this service for yourself, you’ll be skillful enough to preserve the parts of your past that inspire you, even as you shrink and neutralize memories that drain you. In response to this good work, I bet your life will open like a hinge, like a wing – no later than your birthday, and most likely before that.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran fashion writer Diana Vreeland (1903-1989) championed the beauty of the strong nose. She didn’t approve of women wanting to look like “piglets and kittens.” If she were alive today, she’d be pleased that nose jobs in the U.S. have declined 43 percent since 2000. According to journalist Madeleine Schwartz writing in Garage magazine, historians of rhinoplasty say there has been a revival of appreciation for the distinctive character revealed in an unaltered nose. I propose, Libra, that in accordance with current astrological omens, we extrapolate some even bigger inspiration from that marvelous fact.

The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to celebrate and honor and express pride in your idiosyncratic natural magnificence.

Here they are: a practical freedom song and a mature love song; an exciting plaything and a renaissance of innocence; an evocative new symbol that helps mobilize your evolving desires; escape from the influence of a pest you no longer want to answer to; insights about how to close the gap between the richest and poorest parts of yourself; and the cutting of a knot that has hindered you for years.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “It has become clear to me that I must either find a willing nurturer to cuddle and nuzzle and whisper sweet truths with me for six hours or else seek sumptuous solace through the aid of eight shots of whiskey.” My Capricorn friend Tammuz confided that message to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were feeling a comparable tug. According to my assessment of the Capricorn zeitgeist, you acutely need the revelations that would become available to you through altered states of emotional intelligence. A lavish whoosh of alcohol might do the trick, but a more reliable and effective method would be through immersions in intricate, affectionate intimacy.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Not even five percent of the world’s population lives in a complete democracy. Congratulations to Norway, Canada, Australia, Finland, Ireland,

Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Sweden. Sadly, three countries where my column is published -- the U.S., Italy, and France -- are categorized as “flawed democracies.” Yet they’re far better than the authoritarian regimes in China and Russia. (Source: The Economist.) I offer this public service announcement as a prelude to your homework assignment. According to my astrological analysis, you will personally benefit from working to bring more democracy into your personal sphere. How can you ensure that people you care about feel equal to you, and have confidence that you will listen to and consider their needs, and believe they have a strong say in shaping your shared experiences?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Mystic poet Kabir wrote, “The flower blooms for the fruit: when the fruit comes, the flower withers.” He was invoking a metaphor to describe his spiritual practice and reward. The hard inner work he did to identify himself with God was the blooming flower that eventually made way for the fruit. The fruit was his conscious, deeply felt union with God. I see this scenario as applicable to your life, Pisces. Should you feel sadness about the flower’s withering? It’s fine to do so. But the important thing is that you now have the fruit. Celebrate it! Enjoy it!

THIS MODERN WORLD BY TOM TOMORROW

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Maybe happiness is this: not feeling like you should be elsewhere, doing something else, being someone else.”

This definition, articulated by author Isaac Asimov, will be an excellent fit for you between now and September 20. I suspect you’ll be unusually likely to feel at peace with yourself and at home in the world. I don’t mean to imply that every event will make you cheerful and calm.

What I’m saying is that you will have an extraordinary capacity to make clear decisions based on accurate appraisals of what’s best for you.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I’ve compiled a list of new blessings you need and deserve during the next 14 months. To the best of my ability, I will assist you to procure them. sacurrent.com | August 8–14, 2018 | CURRENT

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