San antonio current, may 20, 2015

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CONTENTS May 20 -May 26, 2015

10 NEWS Millennials And Baby Boomers Unite Curious generational mélange behind SA’s upscale living push Spark It Up SA pot legalization advocates feel rejuvenated with unexpected legislative backing Don’t Tread On Gov. Abbott Concerns over U.S. Army exercise overblown, SA vets say Knockout Power SA boxing great “El Torito” leaves behind long history on and off the ring

22 CALENDAR

Our top picks for the week

28 ARTS

Rough Start A disappointing premiere for the miniseries Texas Rising

35 FOOD Culture Plus Try Amaya’s Tacos & Bakery for healthy tacos and traditional faves Big Apple Alamo City Style A Texan away from home gives Jesse Perez’s Oxido a shot Flavor File There’s an all-female pop-up on the way next month

Bona Fide Beer Nerd Let Cured’s Certified Cicerone guide your beer choices Positively Nondescript Sweet patio cocktails are County Line’s latest addition

31 SCREENS

47 MUSIC

8 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

Willie’s Long Story The Red-Headed Stranger’s new autobiography Music Calendar What to see and hear this week

60 ETC.

Savage Love Free Will Astrology Jonesin’ Crossword This Modern World

41 NIGHTLIFE

Alternative Medicine Jesse Amado explores art as a remedy in “30 Day Rx”

Frontier Fairy Tale A gunfight worth waiting for in Slow West

great strides in linking the music of the two continents Staying Inside At 21, Earl Sweatshirt has lived the ups and downs of a lifelong career

African America Since the 1950s, jazz pianist Randy Weston has made

ON THE COVER

City officials, developers and newcomers say SA has finally caught on the Millennial and Baby Boomer demand for upscale living.

Illustration by David Senior Art direction by Eli Miller

sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 9

NEWS

MILLENNIALS AND BABY BOOMERS UNITE Dual Generation Push Drives SA’s Luxury Living Boom HERNÁN ROZEMBERG/@SCRIBEHERNAN

When 29-year-old Lindsay Bira began jobhunting last year after earning her doctorate in Miami, she kept an open mind as to where to move — provided the place at least offered her a good career opportunity.

San Antonio, to say the least, was not on her list of potential destinations.

For Lynn Knapik, 68, the question was where in the Alamo City to move, looking for a change after 16 years on the North Side.

Though they’re two generations apart and with presumably widely different tastes and interests, Bira and Knapik chose to live in downtown SA — in particular, the growingly popular Pearl Brewery enclave.

They couldn’t be giddier with where they now call home.

“I’ve been blown away,” Bira, originally from Dallas, told the San Antonio Current. “I had a job offer and I hesitated but I came to check out the city and as soon as I saw the Pearl, I said, done deal, I’m accepting the job.”

The duo represents the two-pronged driving force for the resurgence of downtown San Antonio as a residential hub composed of new high-end apartments. Millennials and Baby Boomers are the ones by and large gobbling up these new living spaces, in the process throwing the culture and identity of the city into a tizzy.

Core Momentum For years, the rise of luxury living in San Antonio was mostly kept to new homes in the city’s periphery, particularly the far North Side — spots like The Dominion and Stone Oak. And some high-end apartments have been around for years, but also removed from the city’s core.

Not anymore.

Beginning five years ago, fueled by the urban revitalization push from former Mayor Julián Castro’s SA2020 plan — the “Decade of Downtown” — as well as the city’s incessant population growth, developers opened up their wallets.

And, apparently, they realized they were playing catch-up.

“San Antonio’s late to the urbanization game,” explained Bill Shown, real estate manager for Silver Ventures, the main architect of the Pearl’s renaissance.

“So we’re still in the early stages — we haven’t even scratched the surface.”

When SA2020 kicked off the city started with 3,100 new apartments in and around the five-square-mile downtown core and, since then, 4,300 more have been added to the market, according to Lori Houston, director of San Antonio’s Center City Development and Operations Department.

10 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

Transplant Lindsay Bira can’t get enough of living at The Pearl.

The goal is to reach 10,000 units for the decade, she said. But even then, there’d still be plenty of room for growth, according to Shown, who estimated the downtown area could easily take in 30,000 apartments.

No matter the figure, it’s all happening thanks to the city. Its leaders, starting with Castro, crafted the blueprint for downtown revitalization — and opened the door for developers through tempting tax breaks and other incentives.

All well worth it, the city determined.

“Prior to 2020, downtown was thought of being just a place for tourists and 9-5 for employers,” Houston told the Current.

And it’s not like the city’s going to keep giving developers handouts forever, she pointed out. Forsale signs are already going up around downtown and eventually the city will be able to back off and let the market take over, she added.

Who Benefits?

Some longtime downtown area residents and their advocates would prefer if the city had let the market run things from the get-go.

They lamented that the new luxury development is turning them into SA’s latest casualties of gentrification.

“That’s all cool if it’s all a matter of private investment,” said Graciela Sánchez, executive director of the

Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. “But not if they’re spending $54 million of our tax dollars.”

Houston maintained that, unlike other cities such as Austin, SA has actually gone about planning new housing in a smart way.

Many of the new apartment developments offer affordable units, such as those earmarked for college graduates. Other measures include requiring that 10 percent of units go for the same rent year after year.

Even then, low-income renters who have lived in or near downtown — many who keep the local hugely profitable service industry afloat by taking low-paying grunt jobs — said they can’t afford to live in these new apartments.

“It’s great to see this renewed activity but there’s still a need for the city to offer more affordable options,” said Heather Monroe, president of the Downtown Residents Association. “We’re still very tourist-based and it’s very hard for service industry workers to afford $2,000 a month.”

Some of these residents are being forced to pack up due to skyrocketing rents or having to ship out to make way for new developments being built where they’ve been living.

Case in point: Residents of Mission Trails Mobile Home Park.

To make room for a new $75 million luxury complex, the mobile park had to go — so did its 300 residents.

The place had offered a humble but decent life for Oneyda Pérez, who lived there for six years and worked as a kitchen assistant at a restaurant nearby.

Forced to move, the only thing she could afford was a place in SA’s outskirts.

“Now it’s more difficult for me because there are a lot of other costs coming and also lots of work,” Pérez told the Current at the property in February. “Here in the city is where I have all my work, so it’s going to be more difficult to start again.”

Anti-gentrification groups like the Esperanza Center argued that the forced displacement of people will further split up an already class-divided city.

A study unveiled in February by the Martin Prosperity Institute listed San Antonio as the third most economically segregated large metropolitan area in the country.

“It’s not just that the economic divide in America has grown wider,” concluded Richard Florida, the report’s author, “it’s that the rich and poor effectively occupy different worlds, even when they live in the same cities and metros.”

Inevitable Change Some established downtown area dwellers who are better off economically may not have to worry about getting kicked out à la Mission Trails, at least not for the foreseeable future. To them, concerns stemming from new high-end apartments all around them focus on the impact on quality of life and lack of adequate infrastructure.

Mahncke Park residents are seeking historical designation for their neighborhood as a means of protection from new encroaching developments up and down Broadway.

Gabriel Shelton, president of the Mahncke Park Neighborhood Association, said he and his neighbors are concerned about out-of-control traffic and basic service

NEWS

BRYAN RINDFUSS

Lynn Knapik is part of SA’s Baby Boomer shift toward downtown living. She’s got two apartments at The Pearl, for both work and play.

problems because the area may not accommodate rampant population growth.

An engineer by trade who has experience in land development, Shelton clarified he’s not about “making it difficult for people who have a vision” and who want to invest in new luxury apartments.

It’s how they go about implementing that vision that makes all the difference.

“Change is not bad,” said Shelton. “But development for development’s sake is not good. Let’s just slow down a bit and do things more intelligently.”

It’s a similar call being made by homeowners in the King William neighborhood.

The area has traditionally been seen as south of downtown, but its commercial and residential boom has essentially turned it into an extension of downtown.

Yet there’s no turning back, according to Harry Shafer, president of the board of directors of the King William Association, established in 1967.

Shafer said the area has already reached “critical mass” with parking shortage and new apartments will put further strains on basic service needs.

But, he said, there’s no point in fighting developers and the city — better to negotiate with them.

“Whether we embrace it or not, it’s going to happen,” said Shafer. “Change is inevitable, so we have to address it in a way that benefits both us and the city.”

Worth The Money Just about everybody who sees the high-end apartment boom as a boon for San Antonio, from city officials to business owners, developers to tenants, all reach the

same conclusion: It has been awhile in the making and there’s real demand.

“This is not coming out of the blue,” explained Allyson McKay, president of the San Antonio Apartment Association. “We’re just bringing a product people are looking for — and willing to pay the price.”

No kidding.

The boom has brought about truly unprecedented rents, for SA standards. Folks up I-35 in Austin may be used to seeing these kinds of numbers, but not here.

We’re talking easily over $1,000 a month for small studios and pushing $2,000 for one-bedroom units. And it goes up from there.

Shown, the developer behind the resurgence of the Pearl, said the next project currently underway, the 10-story The Cellars next to the future Hotel Emma, will feature 122 luxury condos expected to rent at about $3,000 a month on average.

Over at the Agave Apartment Homes, under construction in King William, leasing manager Emily Lucero said rents will range from $1,135 for a studio to $2,625 for a two-bedroom.

But it seems that people are indeed gobbling them up.

Overall occupancy rate for the city stood at 93 percent for the first quarter of this year.

So, who are these people willing to fork over this kind of dough?

Renters like Bira and Knapik.

To them, and countless others, the price is simply worth it.

Knapik was so dead set on making a turn for urban life that she rented two units. The fourth floor of the Culinary

Institute of America building at the Pearl, commonly known as CIA, is all hers.

She pays $1,946 a month for the two-bedroom she calls home and $1,595 for the one-bedroom she uses for her real estate office.

So her work commute is three steps down the hall. And she’s got everything else she wants as soon as she walks out the door.

The only downside, she said, is that she’d much rather own the units than pay rent. She’s working on that, trying to convince the owners to sell.

“It’s just the price you pay to live downtown,” she said.

“Honestly, in all my years in San Antonio, I’ve never felt like I lived in a neighborhood until I came here — you have something in common with everybody.”

Luis Muñoz couldn’t have said it better himself.

He’s an internal transplant, moving from his house out

by SeaWorld to take over a brand new $1,300-a-month one-bedroom unit at River House Apartments on the River Walk, behind the San Antonio Museum of Art. To the 37-year-old former local TV executive producer and current consultant and bar owner, the downtown resurgence is putting San Antonio on the national map, beyond just a tourist destination.

“It all feels like a new SA,” said Muñoz. “It’s putting us in a different kind of spotlight. People are now saying we’re a cool spot to live.”

Alamo City Chic Many of the expensive, trendy apartments, lofts and condos are being taken by locals like Muñoz, who feel they’ve been finally given a reason to ditch the periphery for the core.

But without much fanfare, San Antonio seems to be quickly becoming a top draw for people from other Texas cities and even from those out of state, for whom $1,500 a month for a brand new high-end apartment smack in downtown is, well, a steal.

“The phenomenon we’re seeing is somewhat familiar to what took place in Austin,”explained Lloyd Potter, demographics professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio who doubles as official Texas state demographer.

“It’s led by two dominant groups: Millennials choosing location and lifestyle over career and high-income Baby Boomers who no longer want the house with the yard,” Potter noted.

According to the most recently available U.S. Census figures, the largest influx of out-of-towners came from Houston, with 4,207 permanently making the drive down I-10 between 2008 and 2012.

In that same time period, 3,381 moved down from Austin.

And many Californians opted to make the Alamo City their adopted home — 1,423 from Los Angeles, 1,075 from San Diego and 722 from opulent Orange County.

Curiously enough, 1,212 people traded the island paradise of Honolulu for our heat and humidity. And an additional 581 left their desert homes in Phoenix.

“When you’re getting tourists and conventioneers talking about living here and not just coming back to visit, you know something has changed,” Potter said.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 ►

sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 11

NEWS

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Luis Muñoz lives at River House Apartments, one of many new luxury developments in SA. ◄ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 (LUXURY LIVING)

Culture & Tradition The underlying current, the concern bordering on fear on the mind of many locals, is how long will this high-end living boom last and whether it will end up gobbling up more than just land.

Could it also usher in a permanent culture shift? Could San Antonio no longer be San Anto? Are we destined to actually become the next Austin?

The leaders of the boom readily affirmed there’s nothing to worry about.

Sure, there may be some demographic shifts, but change is coming about with the city’s longstanding MexicanAmerican culture and tradition in mind.

“It’s all about balance,” said Houston, the city’s point-person on downtown development. “We’ve done a great job of maintaining our authenticity as we’ve grown, and we don’t intend to change that.”

Yet activists said it has already changed and their goal is to try to prevent further loss of culture.

Sánchez, the Esperanza Center’s director, cited her own parents as an example. They stopped going to the River Walk years ago because they were made to feel that it wasn’t their place to be.

“You’ll always have pockets of Mexican culture but people keep being pushed out and all these new people coming in don’t have a clue,” Sánchez said. “I’m afraid of what will become of our city.”

Apparently, it’s a palpable fear shared by none other than by the man who came up with the vision for downtown renaissance — former Mayor Julián Castro.

A year ago, Castro and the rest of city council faced a crucial decision: whether to approve a zoning change green-lighting construction of new luxury apartments at the site of the Mission Trails Mobile Home Park.

The council approved the measure by a 6-4 vote. Castro, despite being the leading cheerleader for his “Decade of Downtown,” saw that there had to be some limits and development couldn’t be done willy-nilly.

So he voted against the move.

“We need to be smarter about how we handle the issue of gentrification in this city,” he said at that meeting.

Then he added: “We move mountains to create jobs in the city, we move mountains to preserve our aquifer, we move mountains to save bats, we move mountains to save historic buildings — and we need to move mountains for people.”

Instead, the city moved mountains for developers and business interests.

What will leaders decide next time a similar vote comes before them?

There must be a balance between pushing progress and denying change.

San Antonio is at that juncture. Nothing short of the city’s identity is at stake. hernan@sacurrent.com

sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 13

NEWS

SPARK IT UP SA Pot Advocates Make Gains On Unprecedented Momentum MARK REAGAN/@210REAGAN

For decades, Texas politicians and pundits have preached that marijuana reform advocates are blowing smoke.

But there’s a new normal — literally and figuratively — in the Lone Star State and in the Alamo City.

“Everybody feels the energy,” said Marisa Laufer, a board member of the San Antonio chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

“It’s great to watch this happen, that San Antonio is a part of it and it’s not a fringe issue anymore.”

Just a couple of weeks ago, SA NORML organized a march downtown to drum up support for marijuana reform. The public show of support for weed, which drew approximately 300 people, was a first for San Antonio.

Times do change.

Just a year ago, SA NORML was an organization that barely had a public presence.

That was because of internal disorganization and a lack of dedicated volunteers. But marijuana reform is a mainstream conversation now and 2015 has been a record session at the Texas legislature, as politicians seriously considered everything from legalization to medical marijuana.

It was enough to fire up Alamo City weed advocates, who are lobbying for change on the local and state levels.

Laufer said the group opened up a bank account and now members pay dues — anywhere from a $20 basic membership to $1,000 for a lifetime deal. As for the size of SA’s chapter, Laufer said the board is still working to identify how many members exist. “We don’t know how that’s been handled in the past, so it’s still a case of cleaning that up,” Laufer said.

Jamie Balagia, a defense attorney popularly known as the “DWI Dude” and for running for attorney general last year (he resoundingly lost) is interim executive director and there’s now a board of directors. The group is also working on outreach, particularly online with a website and by ramping up its social media presence.

“We’re getting help from the Austin NORML Chapter,” said Laufer. “We’ve been getting the support we needed to help get this chapter in a better position.”

‘Cite And Release’ Aside from organizational grunt work, Laufer said SA NORML has also set out new goals, including increasing membership and lobbying Bexar County District Attorney Nicholas “Nico” LaHood to implement a little known Texas law called “cite and release.”

This rule allows police officers to issue citations to people suspected of Class B misdemeanors, such as possessing small amounts of pot, rather than arresting them.

The accused would be expected to answer to allegations at a scheduled court appearance, skipping 14 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

What just happened? Texas not going the way of Colorado on legalizing pot, but the Legislature actually seriously took up the debate.

being booked, arrested and posting bond.

Police previously told the San Antonio Current that they wouldn’t use the law without a directive from the DA’s office.

Just days before beating former DA Susan Reed in last year’s election, LaHood told the Current that he would explore implementing the law in Bexar County.

But Laufer has her doubts. She has been trying to schedule a meeting with LaHood to talk about implementation but hasn’t been able to speak with him.

She did however, snag some time with a representative in LaHood’s office who promised the DA was not ignoring her.

“He’s not ready to comment or maybe he’s just buying time and they say they want to get back to us, but we don’t think he has made a decision,” Laufer said.

LaHood’s top deputy, Woody Halstead, told the Current that the DA’s office is still investigating whether the cite-and-release law would effectively improve Bexar County’s judicial system.

“We have talked a little bit with Sheriff (Susan) Parmerleau and Chief (Anthony) Treviño about whether or not we want to move that direction,” Halstead said.

But there are logistical issues, including whether people will show up to court and how to determine the identity of suspects when they show up for court, according to Halstead.

“Most people go through the booking process and are finger-printed so we can ensure the person is the right person,” Halstead said. “With cite and release, we have to work out logistical issues with that because we don’t want to have an issue later on.”

But even then, Halstead said Bexar County’s jail has a low number of people accused of Class B misdemeanors because most people go through booking and are released on a personal recognizance bond after a judge

magistrates them, which generally takes a few hours.

“It may not be effective because of the low number of offenders,” Halstead said.

Making History While Laufer and other SA NORML members may face dozens of hurdles trying to implement cite and release in Bexar County, the mood for reform advocates is celebratory.

“Texas is big. It’s quite the state. We need to make it better and there are plenty of people who can turn the history around,” Laufer said. “That’s what I truly believe.”

In fact, the mood is infectious and the reform movement is growing in Texas.

May marks the most unprecedented legislative conversation the Lone Star State has ever had about marijuana. This year, politicians filed 11 bills targeting full legalization, medicinal pot and decriminalization.

One of those proposals would legalize the sale of cannabis oil — it doesn’t cause euphoria — for treating severe intractable epilepsy.

Republican Senator Kevin Eltife came up with the proposal and both the Senate and the House approved the measure. Now it goes to Gov. Abbott’s desk.

Heather Fazio, Texas political director for the Marijuana Policy Project, a national pot-lobbying group based in Washington, D.C., that has set its target on the Lone Star State, said the fact that the state’s leaders have recognized medical marijuana is a huge victory.

However, the bill is not ideal because it is too specific and the way it’s worded would result in doctors breaking federal law, according to Fazio.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 ►

STRANGER DANGER = UBER “ D O N ’ T G ET I N TO C A R S W I T H ST R A N G E R S . ”

Houston. Los Angeles. Boston. Philadelphia. Chicago. Denver. San Francisco. Washington, DC. Uber passengers – mostly women – all over America are reporting attacks by Uber drivers.

When you get in an Uber, no one really knows who’s driving you.

That’s because Uber refuses to fingerprint new drivers to determine an accurate criminal background and establish their identity.

Is San Antonio next?

• Uber is currently being sued for what the San Francisco District Attorney calls a “completely worthless” background check.

• In some cities, Uber drivers’ rap sheets include assault, battery, aggravated robbery, indecent exposure and DWI. (“City of Houston’s Uber driver checks reveal numerous crimes”, Houston Chronicle, April 8, 2015.)

Until Uber takes steps to ensure passenger safety – especially women’s – every Uber ride is a gamble.

When you call an Uber, you might get a good driver. Or you could get a stranger who recently got out of prison. (“Uber driver charged with rape had federal drug conviction”, Houston Chronicle, April 7, 2015.)

With Uber, you have no idea who is driving you or your family.

G E T T H E F A C T S AT T X R I D E S F O R H I R E . O R G OR ON TWITTER @TXRIDESFORHIRE

sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 15

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16 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

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NEWS

◄ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 (POT ADVOCATES)

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Weed advocates in SA feel rejuvenated as the movement gathers steam across Texas.

While the legislation would allow doctors to prescribe the cannabis oil, there’s no way anyone who wants to hold on to their practice and their assets would do so.

“There’s a difference between prescribe and recommend with regards to doctors and patients. In several federal court cases, judges have ruled that doctors who are issuing prescriptions for marijuana are aiding and abetting a federal crime,” Fazio said.

Yet those same courts have ruled that physicians who recommend medicinal marijuana are exercising free speech and may not be punished for it.

Phillip Martin, deputy director for Progress Texas, a left-leaning advocacy group, said while the bill doesn’t go far enough, it’s historic.

“I think we’re leaving behind a lot of important people. This is a big opportunity to really improve health care for veterans with PTSD and children with epilepsy by not addressing the full-scale medicinal marijuana bill,” he said. “That being said, progress is progress. This conversation transformed the chamber from perceiving marijuana as something to giggle at to something serious.”

Then there was the bill that surprised everyone.

Republican Representative David Simpson wanted to legalize marijuana based on religious reasons. He dubbed it the “Christian case” for legalization, arguing that God didn’t make a mistake when he created marijuana.

While it never got scheduled for a vote, Simpson’s legalization push

actually made it out of committee.

“That was totally unexpected,” Fazio said.

Then there was El Paso Democrat Joe Moody, who proposed decriminalizing marijuana. His bill would have removed arrest and the possibility of a criminal record for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana, replacing the offense with a $250 civil fine.

Again, another progressive pot bill actually made it out of a committee and had a chance at being scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives.

The vote never took place, despite broad support. The Marijuana Policy Project crafted the bill and convinced Moody to support it.

However, last week marked the end of marijuana reform in Austin — for now.

Meanwhile, groups like SA NORML, the Marijuana Policy Project, Progress Texas and a host of other advocates plan to reorganize for the next legislative session, in 2017.

According to Martin, that gap between legislative sessions will be crucial in terms of growing the movement.

“We have legislation to organize around and can build on,” Martin said, adding that marijuana reform advocates will organize town halls and meet with law enforcement and health officials.

“We’ll talk about opportunities for marijuana policy reform in Texas and build off of that momentum to make 2017 the best.”

If 2017 is anything like this year for marijuana reform, it’s sure to be a doozy. mreagan@sacurrent.com

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Come join us at Historic Market Square for food and drinks, arts and crafts and fun for the whole family. Featuring live music by Ruben V, Villela, and The Palacios Brothers and more.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday 12 pm-8 pm Always FREE at Historic Market Square

18 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

NEWS

DON’T TREAD ON GOV. ABBOTT SA Vets Say Much Ado About Nothing Over Army Exercise MICHAEL MARKS/@MICHAELPMARKS

Ruben Ayala doesn’t get what all the fuss is about.

The San Antonio resident and former Green Beret spent 13 years in the U.S. Army before retiring as a captain. When he first heard about “Operation Jade Helm 15” — an eight-week special forces training exercise set to begin in South Texas on July 15 — it sounded like many of the exercises he took part in as a soldier.

“These things are commonplace,” Ayala said. “Once the exercise is done, [people] will see that it will be completed without fanfare.”

Operation Jade Helm will take place in seven Southwest states, including Texas. According to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, “the diverse terrain in these states replicates areas Special Operations Soldiers regularly find themselves operating overseas.”

But that’s not what conspiracy theorists, right-wing talk show hosts and even the governor of Texas would have you believe.

Shortly after the operation was announced, it became fodder for the tin foil hat crowd. On various unseemly corners of the internet, anxious rumors spread about the operation as the first step towards martial law, an effort to collect personal firearms, or an Obama administration takeover of the Lone Star State.

The chatter was met by most with a roll of the eyes until late April, when Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas State Guard to monitor the exercise. Abbott’s order legitimized the fringe’s fears.

In a letter to Major General Jake Betty, who commands the Texas State Guard, Abbott said “it is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed.”

Abbot continued: “By monitoring the Operation on a continual basis, the State Guard will ... ensure that adequate measures are in place to protect Texans.”

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have scurried away from that position — even fellow conservatives who would normally align with Abbott.

Former Gov. Rick Perry, who has all but declared to run for president again, said that questioning the Army operation may have gone “too far.”

Another former Texas legislator wasn’t as diplomatic.

Todd Smith, a Republican from Euless who spent 16 years in Austin, wrote to Abbott on April 30, chastising the governor for “pandering to idiots.”

“I am horrified that I have to choose between the possibility that my Governor actually believes this stuff

We pity anyone actually named “Jade Helm.” The Army’s moniker for its upcoming military exercise has riled conspiracy theorists.

and the possibility that my Governor doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to those who do. I’m not sure which is worse,” Smith wrote.

Abbott can take solace in the fact that one of the few politicians to stand beside him is Rep. Louie Gohmert, the infamous Republican from Tyler who’s perhaps best known for his position on “terror babies”: children born in the U.S. who would be reared to perpetrate terrorism against their home country.

Gohmert took issue with the fact that on the Jade Helm map, “the hostile areas amazingly have a Republican majority, ‘cling to their guns and religion,’ and believe in the sanctity of the United States Constitution.”

To Gohmert, this is no joking matter. Others may also doubt other suspicious activity such as lurking Islamic State terrorists, but he said they need to think twice.

“Such labeling tends to make people ... become suspicious of whether their big brother government anticipates certain states may start another civil war or be overtaken by foreign radical Islamist elements which have been reported to be just across our border,” Gohmert said in a news release.

The “Texas takeover” argument doesn’t hold water with Ayala, though.

“People gotta remember that there’s a human component to it. A lot of these soldiers and sailors that

partake in these exercises, they’re probably from Texas,” Ayala said. “If there was some secret order ... to take over the state in some form of martial law, some red flags would be raised up somewhere.”

But the hubbub surrounding the exercise seems to have seeped into the greater public consciousness.

A poll unveiled last week by Rasmussen Reports showed that 45 percent of voters are worried that the government will use the operation to impose greater control over some states, with almost 20 percent of voters “very concerned” about that possibility.

Bill Smith, another former Green Beret who now runs the San Antonio chapter of the Special Forces Association, said that exercises like Jade Helm are “critical” for adequate training of special forces members.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Smith said. “But it’s not a new thing.”

Smith declined to comment on Abbott’s move with the state guard, saying it’s something he didn’t want to discuss. But he noted that the public uproar stems from a “lack of knowledge” about the operation.

“It comes from a lot of misunderstandings of what’s going on,” Smith said. “These training exercises have gone on as long as I’ve been in the military. They’re very effective.” mmarks@sacurrent.com sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 19

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20 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

NEWS

MATT STIEB

KNOCKOUT POWER Top Local Boxer Tony Ayala Led A Hard, Abusive Life MATT STIEB/@MATTHEWSTIEB

In the mausoleum of grainy YouTube boxing channels, there lies the best of San Antonio boxer Tony Ayala, the “little bull” whose troubled life ended last week at the age of 52.

In the early ’80s, “El Torito” carved his way to the top of the junior middleweight class, disposing of his contenders with precise and unchecked aggression.

Carrying the baby weight of a teenager, Ayala went undefeated in his early years, knocking out 19 of his 22 wins as a pro. El Torito liked his fights quick. Closer to bull riding than boxing in length, he flattened 16 of his KO victims in four rounds or less.

His greatest display still on tape is a 1982 bout against the unfortunate Robbie Epps. In a sardine-packed Freeman Coliseum, Ayala came out red-hot, landing everything on the taller, slower boxer. With a left hook like a locked missile and right jabs like small, chattering gunfire, Ayala decimated Epps in 90 seconds.

Unfortunately, these riveting early fights also boast the flaring anger that would damn Ayala outside the ring.

After the referee called the Epps fight, Ayala kept landing blows on his white-flagged opponent over the ref’s shoulder. In 1981, at 18, Ayala spat on Jose Luis Baltazar after knocking him to the canvas.

Three years earlier, Ayala had landed himself in the first arraignment of his long criminal career. In the bathroom of a San Antonio drive-in theater, he sexually assaulted a young girl, severely injuring her. The charge went away when the Ayala family paid the girl $40,000 and he was given 10 years of probation, according to news accounts at the time.

Ayala’s contempt for women continued as he climbed up the undercard. He was charged for burglary when he entered a woman’s house in Northwest San Antonio. The victim received hush payment from the Ayala family and the charges were dropped, according to news reports.

He also took the mayhem on the road. In Indianapolis, Ayala strong-armed a hotel clerk into a back room. Again, he dodged criminal charges, with authorities agreeing to drop the case if he town immediately.

“Sometimes, I think this boxing has made my boys grow up too fast,” Pauline Ayala, his mother, told Sports Illustrated in 1981. “They found out about life, girls, everything, too early.”

El Torito certainly linked violence to sexuality at a terribly young age. While in prison, Ayala disclosed that a male friend of the family molested him for two years starting when he was 9.

“I wanted to impose myself on a woman as a way of proving my straightness, my heterosexuality,” Ayala told Texas Monthly in 2000. “Which goes back to my being abused, being sodomized, being pushed into things I

This nondescript spot in SA’s West Side was where local boxing legend Tony Ayala, who died last week, cut his teeth.

didn’t want to do, and blaming myself, thinking somehow I had invited the situation.”

By 1983, surrounded by trainers and enablers, the troubled 19-year-old had become a heroin user, a serial abuser of women and an elite boxer preparing for a $700,000 title fight against Davey Moore — which never took place.

After a New Year’s Party on a New Jersey ferryboat, some heroin and two boat-side brawls, Ayala came home and raped his neighbor at knifepoint. This time he couldn’t avoid paying for his crime. The jury didn’t take long, handing Ayala a 30-year sentence. El Torito became Prisoner No. 69765 at Bayside State Prison in Cumberland County, NJ. In doing so, Ayala lost a chance to contend in one of the great decades in the history of boxing, missing opponents like Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Marvin Hagler. He also became a prototype for champion batterers like Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. “I was Tyson before there was a Tyson,” Ayala told ESPN in 2001. “People feared who I was.”

For some fighters, fear and intimidation seem to have become part and parcel of boxing today. At this month’s showdown between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, a fight that generated a staggering $400 million, Mayweather refused to let into the arena journalists who would ask questions about the boxer’s checkered history of domestic violence.

“The money made is much, much more important than the lives that might be lost at the hands of people who abuse women,” Marta Prada Peláez, CEO of SA’s Family Violence Prevention Services, told the San Antonio Current. “We condone the violence. We participate in a double standard. When you ask specifically about it, people say ‘oh no, that’s wrong.’ But then we support and stand by people who are known to be repeat offenders and abusers.”

When Ayala got out of prison in 1999, articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer and New York Times prematurely framed his story as a feel-good sports narrative. Perhaps they thought the worst was behind him, that Ayala could still become one of San Antonio’s all-time great athletes.

But Ayala’s homecoming once again involved violence outside the ring.

In 2000, an 18-year-old woman shot Ayala in the shoulder after he invaded her home. In 2003, Ayala was accused of sex with a 13-year-old girl, a charge that was dropped when the she said she lied about the act, according to published reports.

In 2004, El Torito received a 10-year prison sentence for a litany of minor last straws, including violating parole, speeding, driving without a license, possession of heroin and possession of pornography.

In 2014, Ayala was released from prison nine days after the death of his father, Tony Sr. Since then, he apparently had managed to steer clear of trouble, sticking to training boxers at the family’s Zarzamora Street Gym. But the grip of heroin remained.

Last week, Ayala’s body was found at the family gym just south of Lerma’s Nite Club and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower. According to a police report, he was found with a needle in his arm filled with narcotics, with a ball of heroin on the table next to his body. Originally reported as cardiac arrest, the police report indicated “the cause of death appears to be an overdose.”

Outside the red brick gym, a makeshift altar popped up for the late, potentially great boxer as roosters playsparred in the street last weekend. Candles, flowers and an Everlast glove were laid by the gym’s door.

On the wall, in a crude and lovely frame of duck tape, a friend left an afterword in Spanish and English: “Yesterday, now tomorrow and forever you will live with God. From all the former boxers.” mstieb@sacurrent.com sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 21

CALENDAR

WED-TUE

20-26

‘Viva Zapata!’

ART

An advocate of early 20thcentury agrarian reform, Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata famously used ancient title deeds to fight for the rights of peasants. Drawn from the McMay’s collection of Mexican modernist prints, “Viva Zapata!” explores the icon through the eyes of famed Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. “Part history lesson and part survey,” the exhibit runs concurrently with “Voices of Suffering,” a selection prints by José Clemente Orozco and Käthe Kollwitz. $5-$10, 10am-4pm Wed, 10am-9pm Thu, 10am-4pm Fri, 10am-5pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun, 10am4pm Tue, McNay Art Museum, 5000 N. New Braunfels Dr., (210) 824-5368, mcnayart.org. — Bryan Rindfuss

22 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

THU

21

‘Dulce’ ART

In the last few years, Houston transplant Raul Gonzalez has proven an energetic presence on the local art scene, using his body as a medium in videos, painting road signs suggesting we “Werk Harder” and even engaging in artistic combat via War Paint — a live battle that employed paintings as weapons. Contemplative by comparison, “Dulce” combines two bodies of work Gonzalez created over the last five years. While one waxes nostalgic with poppy paintings of Mexican candies, the other takes shape in abstractions inspired by “the joys and challenges of being a new father.” Free, 7-9pm, Guadalupe Theater Gallery, 1301 Guadalupe St., (210) 271-3151, guadalupeculturalarts.org. — BR

SAT

23

Ludacris & Girl Talk MUSIC

For all those times you were relaxing by the river and thought you could use some bass in your life, rapper Ludacris and mash-up master Girl Talk have got you covered. While it may seem that both artists are past their cultural moment, Luda and Girl Talk’s Gregg Gillis have each remained musically active over the past five years. Girl Talk dropped a solid collaboration with Freeway in 2014 and Luda recently released his first album in five years. Will they play the hits though? Rest assured, with a pairing like this, the focus will fall squarely on crowd pleasers. $40$1,020, doors at 7pm, WhiteWater Amphitheater, 11860 FM 306, New Braunfels, whitewaterrocks.com.

— James Courtney

SAT-TUE

23-26

‘Discover the Ice Age’ EXHIBIT

Step back 2.5 million years into a world that was anything but sweltering with “Discover the Ice Age,” a traveling exhibition enhanced with animatronic models and life-sized skeletons. Visitors can channel their inner cave people alongside a woolly mammoth, a saber-toothed cat, and a gigantic “terror bird” while exploring extinction and whether our planet might see another ice age. In the words of Witte curator Thomas Adams, “It’s a great opportunity for people of all ages to explore and learn about megafauna that roamed here in our backyard.” $11$15, 10am-5pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun, 10am-5pm Mon, 10am-8pm Tue, Witte Museum, 3801 Broadway, (210) 3571900, wittemuseum.org.

— Murphi Cook

CALENDAR

SUN

24

River City Rockfest MUSIC

As the anticipation for summer mounts, you can almost feel the pent-up testosterone of the masculine masses just begging to be released. Enter the timely and therapeutic River City Rockfest. An annual one-day bash, the fest has a reputation for serving up the sweatiest, angriest bill around. This year’s rager will feature metal mainstays Anthrax, nu-metal, TRL-era darlings Papa Roach, alt-rap-rock forerunners Linkin Park, Taylor Momsen-fronted rock outfit The Pretty Reckless, local hard-rock group Lynnwood King and the Revival, Danish metal/psychobilly crew Volbeat and many more. $65$220, noon, AT&T Center, One AT&T Center Pkwy., (210) 444-5000, rivercityrockfest.com. — JC

MON

25

Échale! Latin Music Estyles MUSIC

With confirmed dates on both Memorial Day and Labor Day, the Pearl’s Échale! Latin Music Estyles is set to deliver an eclectic summer soundtrack.

Slightly reinvented late last year as a block party, the concert series gears back up with a triple bill combining Houston’s 10-piece “Gulf Coast soul” ensemble The Suffers, New York-based Venezuelan fusionistas Los Crema Paraiso and San Anto’s barrio big band Bombasta. To sweeten the deal, the kid-friendly shindig also promises beats from Austin-based Panamanian DJ Orión and Chulita Vinyl Club, plus artisan vendors, and food and drinks for purchase. Free, 1-6pm, parking lot under Hwy. 281 (south of Pearl Pkwy.), pearlechale.com. — BR

TUE

26

‘Gracias San Antonio’ ART

Cinnabar welcomes a gaggle of four-year-old Picassos with “Gracias San Antonio,” a pop-up show featuring original pieces created by Pre-K 4 SA students. The full-day prekindergarten for four-year-olds enters its third year this August and offers free programming for qualified students in its four education centers around the city. All art will be auctioned online and the proceeds will support service projects selected by the students.

“Through this voice, the children are ... exercising one of the most important lessons of the academic year: to say ‘thank you,’” says Pre-K 4 SA CEO Kathy Bruck. Free, 5-8pm, Cinnabar, 1420 S. Alamo St., (210) 557-6073, cinnabarart.com. — MC

TUE

26

PechaKucha vol. 18 TALKS PLUS

Making compelling evenings out of timed PowerPoint presentations since 2003, PechaKucha has spread from its birthplace in Tokyo to more than 800 cities worldwide. The SA chapter’s 18th outing gives seven individuals and one couple — including Avi Avalos (aka Mr. Piñata), clinical psychologist Jeremy Joseph, San Antonio Current art director Eli Miller and author/historian Lewis Fisher — six minutes and 40 seconds each in the spotlight on the Arneson’s open-air stage. Emceed by News 4’s Randy Beamer and cheese lover Molly Cox, the event kicks off with a happy hour with cocktails for purchase from The Esquire Tavern. $5, 7:30pm, Arneson River Theatre, 418 Villita St., pechakucha.org. — BR

sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 23

24 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

CALENDAR NIGHTLIFE

TUE

26

Giant

FRI

Texas Public Radio’s Cinema Tuesdays kicks off its quinceañera anniversary season with a screening of Giant, the Oscar-winning 1956 epic starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. The drama, which is set on a cattle ranch in the Lone Star State, picked up 10 Oscar nominations that year, including Best Picture and Best Director award for filmmaker George Stevens. Nathan Cone, director of cultural and community engagement at TPR, said the summer series is the perfect opportunity to revisit classics like Giant in the way they were intended to be seen. “What I like best about seeing movies on the big screen is the heightened emotions that come with experiencing a film together,” Cone said.

“This summer, for example, we’ll be showing The Freshman on June 30. Silent movies — especially comedies — really come alive with an audience.” Other films on the slate include Anatomy of a Murder (June 9), Mary Poppins (June 16), and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (July 14). With the exception of Giant, all screenings will take place at the Santikos Bijou. Season passes ($80) are available at brownpapertickets.com. $10$15 suggested donation, 7pm, Santikos Palladium, 17703 I-10 W., (210) 614-8977, tpr.org. – Kiko Martínez

Art

Art opening: “Nature on the Edge: Mutation and Hybridity in 21st Century Art” Are we still standing on the

precipice? Is there time to step back from the edge, to retool, retrofit and save the environment? Curated by David S. Rubin, Bihl Haus Arts’ new group show “Nature on the Edge” explores these concerns via works by 17 established and emerging artists, including Lloyd Walsh, Joey Fauerso, James Cobb, Kati Hibri and Leigh Anne Lester. Free, 5:30-8:30pm Friday; Bihl Haus Arts, 2803 Fredericksburg Rd., (210) 383-9723.

Blue Star Red Dot Hailed as “San Antonio’s most highly anticipated art sale of the year,” Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum’s Red Dot supports some of the region’s most talented artists while raising essential funds for operational support, exhibitions, MOSAIC educational programming, lectures and workshops.

Sara and Jeremy Jessop co-chair the 25th annual event. $150 per person, $275 per couple, 6-10pm Wednesday; Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum, 116 Blue Star, (210) 227-6960.

“It Takes a Village” Although based in New York, Alejandro Diaz’s influence can be felt all over his native San Antonio. A master of disarming viewers with humor while engaging them in conversations about identity politics, Diaz’s solo exhibition “It Takes A Village” employs reinterpretations of iconic styles to address current issues of class and culture. Free, noon-5pm

Wednesday-Saturday, SPACE Gallery; 111 Camp St., (210) 227-8400.

”Los Tejanos” The Institute of Texan

Cultures was faced with the daunting task of cramming 500 years of history into 2,000 square feet for its new exhibit “Los Tejanos.” The result? An interactive space that explores “how the culture defines itself” via five settings: a modern kitchen, an 18th-century ranch house, a 1940s classroom, a doctor’s office and a 1930s plaza created by celebrated painter Carmen Lomas Garza. $6-$8, 9am-5pm Wednesday-Saturday, noon-5pm Sunday, 9am-5pm Monday-Tuesday; Institute of Texan Cultures, 801 E. César E. Chávez Blvd., (210) 458-2300.

”Selfies: 50 at 50” Growing in leaps and

bounds since its formation in 1965, the Southwest School of Art is now Texas’ only independent art college. To celebrate half a century of educating, inspiring and showcasing artists, SSA presents a group show of diverse self-portraits created by 50 individuals associated with the school.

Also on view: “The Amazing Memorable Thing,” a poppy painting series by artist/ educator Christopher Rabb. Free, 9am-5pm Wednesday-Saturday, 11am-4pm Sunday, 9am-5pm Monday-Tuesday; Southwest School of Art - Navarro Campus, 1201 Navarro St., (210) 224-1848.

Film

10th Annual Native American Film Screening Presented by American

22

Loosen the Bible Belt: A Tour for Humanity

Put a small cross by this one: might be church. Stand-up comic Kristen Becker (founder of the Dykes of Hazard comedy tour, which should give you some indication of her style and subject matter) and evangelical Christian Pastor Jay Bakker are touring together as a double bill. Bakker is the son of the infamous televangelists/tabloid fodder Jim and Tammy Faye, but like Tammy Faye later in life, Jay is an advocate for LGBT rights and acceptance in Christianity so this won’t be a debate or a pray-the-gay-away bait-and-switch.

Whether it will wax more toward a “raucous and rowdy” comedy show or an admirably big-tent revival will cost you $10 to determine. None of the proceeds are earmarked for Jesus-themed waterparks, at least. $10, 10pm Fri, The Blind Tiger Comedy Club (inside Magic Time Machine), 902 NE Loop 410, (210) 828-1470, blindtigercomedy.com.

— Jeremy Martin

Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions in collaboration with the Native American Student Association, this 10th annual event opens with a welcoming by David TwoFeathers to be followed by a screening of director Henry Lu’s Run to the East. Set in the striking landscape of the Dinétah region and Zia Pueblo, the 2011 documentary explores the tradition of endurance running, which has long been a key spiritual element of Native American cultures. Free (donations appreciated), reception at 6pm, film at 7pm Wednesday; Riklin Auditorium, UTSA Downtown Campus, 501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., (210) 227-4940.

Family Flicks: Eleanor’s Secret SAMA

and Slab Cinema’s kid-friendly outdoor film series returns with a screening of Oscar-nominated French-American director Dominique Monféry’s rollicking animated adventure about a magical library where characters from classic fairy tales (including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, Peter Pan and Puss in Boots) come to life. Free (lawn chairs, blankets and picnics welcome), 8:30-10pm Friday; San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones St., (210) 978-8100.

Silver Screen Classics in the Garden: His Girl Friday Villa Finale hosts an

outdoor screening of Howard Hawks’ 1940 screwball comedy starring Cary Grant as an unscrupulous newspaper editor determined to sabotage his ex-wife’s plans to remarry. Food from select Southtown

eateries will be available for purchase through Getly Delivery. Free (lawn chairs, blankets, pets on leashes and small coolers welcome), gates at 7pm, film at 8:15pm Friday; Villa Finale, 401 King William St., (210) 223-9800.

Theater

4000 Miles Amy Herzog tackles loss,

relationships, and smoking pot with your grandma in 4000 Miles, her Obie Awardwinning drama following a young man in search of solace and the 91-year-old spitfire that gives it to him. Playwright Herzog modeled the central characters after her own zesty grandmother and a free-spirited cousin to offer what’s been called a “heartening reminder that a keen focus on life’s small moments can pay off in a big way.” Expect to laugh, and maybe cry, too. Bill Gundry directs Christopher Boneta and Sam Carter Gilliam in the Playhouse’s production through June 7. $12-$30, 8pm Friday-Saturday, 3pm Sunday; San Pedro Playhouse, 800 W Ashby Pl., (210) 733-7258.

53 Million & One In the vein of Billy

Crystal’s 700 Sundays and Mike Tyson’s Undisputed Truth, Jerry Ascencio’s oneman show 53 Million & One highlights the common challenges, experiences and aspirations that bind the 53 million Latinos that call America home. $23$33, 7pm Thursday; Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624.

sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 25

26 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

CALENDAR

Rumors Michael Burger directs the Vex’s

production of Neil Simon’s classic farce surrounding a dinner party that blows up when the host (the Mayor of New York) shoots himself in the ear lobe. $15-$21, 7:30pm Thursday, 8pm Saturday, 2:30pm Sunday, Sheldon Vexler Theatre, 12500 NW Military Hwy., (210) 302-6835.

The Journeymen and Womyn with a Y Written by Mike Wirsch and directed

by Liz Vermeulen, the Overtime’s latest dystopian drama brings together an absurd cast of characters (Satan, SuperPope, members of a suicide cult and “the most uninteresting man in the world”) for a Russian Roulette tournament. $10-$14, 8pm FridaySaturday; The Overtime Theater, 1203 Camden St., (210) 557-7562.

Comedy

Sheng Wang Not to be confused with the

identically named noodle shop in NY’s Chinatown, Sheng Wang is a Taiwanese stand-up who grew up in Houston and found early career inspiration from Def Comedy Jam commercials. Drawing from personal experiences, Wang crafts a unique brand of dry, slightly absurd observational comedy that’s earned him spots in Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival and on the second season of Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham. $16, 8:30pm Wednesday-Thursday, 8:30pm & 10:30pm Friday-Saturday, 8:30pm Sunday; Rivercenter Comedy Club, 849 E. Commerce St., (210) 229-1420.

Special Events

Brews and Blooms Co-presented by the

San Antonio Botanical Garden and the San Antonio Cerveceros, this adults-only event with live music from Event Ignition brings together an array craft breweries (offering blonde ales, Wits, pale ales, IPAs and limited releases) and food trucks (Chocollazo, Dixieland BBQ, Bite Street Bistro, Teka Molino and more). $15$25, 6:30-10pm Saturday; San Antonio Botanical Garden, 555 Funston.

FrankenBike San Antonio The

FrankenBike swap meet returns with a National Bike Month event featuring a raffle, live music by Stoic’s Descent, refreshments and an afterparty hosted by neighboring Taps y Tapas. Free, 10am-5pm Saturday; Alamo Bike Shop, 1016 N. Flores St., (210) 226-2453.

OPEN Downtown Pop-Up Shops After

activating vacant storefronts along Houston Street in December of 2013 and 2014, the OPEN Downtown Pop-Up Shops hop across 281 to take over four

spots in historic St. Paul Square. Besides tempting shoppers with everything from locally crafted apparel and pet jewelry to folk art and beauty products, OPEN features a steady stream of food trucks, live music and DJ sets, pet adoptions and yoga classes. Free, 5-9pm Wednesday-Friday, 10am-6pm SaturdaySunday, 5-9pm Monday-Tuesday; OPEN Downtown Pop-Up Shops, 1142, 1160, 1167 & 1170 E. Commerce St.

Talks Plus

“Emiliano Zapata and the Mexican Revolution” In conjunction with the

McNay’s “Viva Zapata!” exhibition, Aaron Navarro, associate professor of history at Trinity University and director of its Mexico, the Americas, and Spain (MAS) program, outlines the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and discusses the controversial revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. Free, 6:30-7:30pm Thursday; McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5368.

Nature Walk: Ethnobotany Master

Naturalist Janis Merritt leads this walk shedding light on how Native Americans and pioneers used native plants in their daily life and how some of these plants are still in use today. $3-$5 suggested donation, 8-10am Saturday; Urban Ecology Center, Phil Hardberger Park West, 8400 NW Military Hwy., (210) 492-7472.

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by Elizabeth Sanchez-Lopez, the 59th annual event showcases a “cavalcade of artists” in a seven-act spectacle celebrating songs and dances of Mexico, Spain, Argentina and Texas. $8-$20.

8:30pm Friday-Saturday, Arneson River Theatre, 418 Villita St., (210) 226-4651.

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ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE Jesse Amado Presents Art As Placebo In ‘30 Day Rx’ DAN R. GODDARD

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Jesse Amado considers his “30 Day Rx” a placebo, a placating response to a friend’s struggle to decide whether or not to take antidepressants. Cut out of felt and hung on the wall or placed on the floor like a rug, Amado’s newest work, on view through June 6 at Ruiz-Healy Art, is in bright pop colors — baby blue, candy pink, lime green, tangy orange and goofy grape — and almost guaranteed to lift your mood.

Typically for one of San Antonio’s best-known artists nationally, Amado’s painterly/sculptural cutout minimalist hybrids are about much more than what meets the eye.

“My modest proposal is that looking at this work might possibly make you feel better,” Amado says. “The candy colors are similar to the ones used by the pharmaceutical industry. Circles are generally pretty calming, evoking the earth, sun and moon. Felt is an ancient material, soft and sensual to the touch. I don’t have all the answers, but I think this placebo works pretty well. It definitely made me feel a lot better while I was working on it.”

One of the first artists to be selected for a residency at Artpace, Amado earned his MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. His sculptural piece, Me, We, acquired by the

ARTS

Smithsonian Museum of American Art, is featured in the national traveling exhibit “Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art,” currently on view through June 28 at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Salt Lake City.

Enigmatic and a little mysterious, Amado usually works on several levels simultaneously. With eye-pleasing colors and simple, geometric forms, his felt pieces in “30 Day Rx” can be seen as purely decorative. But considering the 63-yearold artist has survived a five-year bout with cancer, a lot more must be going on than simply coming up with combinations of colors and forms that look nice.

“Cancer has given me a new attitude about making art,” Amado said. “I used to go through a lengthy thought process about the art I wanted to make, but now I’m trying not to think about it too much. I’m relying more on my instincts. After more than a quarter century of making art, I think my instincts are pretty good.”

Amado spoke and answered questions at a Saturday afternoon roundtable discussion at Ruiz-Healy led by the exhibit’s curator, Patty Ortiz, who resigned last fall after serving for five years as director of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Currently working as a freelance curator, Ortiz included Amado in “Flatlander,” a show she curated for the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Colorado running through September 3.

After a little research, Amado learned that a national study discovered the fish in Boulder Creek contain traces of antidepressants.

“Antidepressants are prevalent everywhere in our world,” Amado said.

“Pharmaceutical companies are powerful and their influence is a little dark. Pills can do wonders, but they can also do damage.”

Amado said he has never taken antidepressants. He told a story about a friend of his who battled depression, a U.S. Army officer training for the Special Forces. But his friend decided instead to drop out of the Army and join the French

Foreign Legion.

“The legion has a reputation for fighting in some of the harshest conditions in the world,” Amado said. “But my friend said after two years, he was cured of depression. There are alternatives to taking antidepressants. I prefer the French Foreign Legion solution.”

Five years ago when he was first diagnosed with cancer, Amado said his priorities changed dramatically and he gave up making art.

“I didn’t have the strength to make art,” Amado said. “I just wasn’t in the mood — to tell the truth. After 25 years of working in a studio every day, I decided it was time to focus on my health and getting well. I had always been diligent about working every day, but I gave up the studio and moved everything to my home.”

However, one day at a flooring store where he bought paint, Amado noticed the new, tougher brand of felt, designed to be used like carpet.

“When I started feeling better, I picked up where I left off working with felt,” Amado said. “Now I can get felt in a variety

underwent a grueling operation that left him bed-bound. Unable to paint or sculpt, Matisse rediscovered the childhood joys of working with paper and scissors, cutting out swirling shapes inspired by ballet dancers as well as birds, flowers and abstract forms. Similar to Matisse, Amado began cutting forms out of felt and combining them in ways that are not quite painting and not quite sculpture.

“There is a lot of playfulness in the work,” Amado said. “Because I was in my home, I felt very close to the work all the time. It was almost like a relationship; there was a primal intensity to the work.

And there were happy accidents, things that can occur when you are just playing around. As I cut out the pieces, I started putting aside my scraps, just letting them pile up.”

The scrap piles led to related works, Consequences #1 and Untitled, dealing with the side effects and of colors and that’s given me a new palette other, more troubling aspects of taking for my work, about 30 colors. I’ve always antidepressants. Amado is also intrigued liked the transformative qualities of art and by the effect of gravity on his work; the the contrast of hard and soft materials droopy felt pieces suggest melted figures. in sculpture. I kept changing things “Remnants of waste felt, dangling from around until they look good. In this way, a nail, convey the strung out emptiness dissonance becomes resonance.” and anxiety that can accompany too much Working with circles divided in half by medicine,” Ortiz wrote. “The way Amado a vertical line between contrasting colors, uses scraps and trash as an aesthetic Amado’s series of Tablets are intended to ‘magic carpet ride’ speaks directly to the resemble pills, though they can be read in bad trip, a drug high gone wrong and the various ways, as perhaps maps of moods sad but inevitable failure of prolonged or differences in right brain/left brain pharmaceutical usage.” thinking depending on the type of pill you Felt is often associated with German take. Amado also arranges the Tablets into artist Joseph Beuys, who claimed Tatar minimalist grids and patterns. tribesmen wrapped him in felt and animal In her catalog essay, Ortiz notes: “The fat to nurse him back to health after his rigorously controlled presentation without Luftwaffe plane was shot down during compositional hierarchy evokes Donald World War II. The tale may be apocryphal, Judd and echoes the assembly but Beuys, who suffered from line of pharmaceutical mass depression, thought felt had Jesse Amado: 30 Day Rx production.” shamanistic qualities. For Free Amado compared his new Amado, the transformative 11am-4pm Tue-Sat Ruiz-Healy Art work to the cutouts of the qualities of art may offer an 201-A E. Olmos Dr. French artist Henri Matisse, alternative to prescription (210) 804-2219 who was diagnosed in 1941 pills, a soothing balm for the ruizhealyart.com with abdominal cancer and Through June 6 searching soul.

GAUGUIN, PICASSO, & VAN GOGH HAVE A SAN ANTONIO HOME. And it’s only ten minutes from the Riverwalk.

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SCREENS

SEE SAW FILMS

FRONTIER FAIRY TALE John Maclean’s Slow-Moving Acid Western Is Worth Your Patience JEFF MEYERS

“There’s much more to life than just survival.” - Jay “Yeah, there’s dying.” - Silas The acid Western is a small but esteemed genre, deconstructing or satirizing the myth of frontier heroism and moxie with panache that art house and European audiences adore and everyday American filmgoers (and probably more than a few Australians) find tedious and impenetrable. So, when you aim for your feature debut to sit beside Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man, Robert Altman’s McCabe And Mrs. Miller or Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, you’re not exactly seeking box office gold.

Former The Beta Band member John Maclean has stepped into the director’s seat with Slow West and has found a film festival circuit willing to embrace his sometimes jarring, sometimes sly, but mostly pokey frontier fairy tale. Sundance handed Slow West its drama jury award and it’s been a popular festival opener across the nation, but the true test will be whether an in-no-hurry, 84-minute Western shot in New Zealand with an almost all-foreign cast can attract attention in a season of big-budget bombast.

Narrated by a jaded Irish bounty hunter named Silas (Michael Fassbender), we’re told the story of starry-eyed, 16-year-old Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who’s come from Scotland in search of his one true love, Rose (Caren Pistorius). Jay has an idea of where his sweetheart is living, but is unaware that someone’s put a bounty on her and her pa’s head. Lost in the Colorado wilderness, he happens upon Silas, who agrees to protect the boy from bandits and natives and teach him how to survive on the lonesome trail.

Irish bounty hunter Silas (Michael Fassbender) teaches starry-eyed teen Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee) the ways of the trail in Slow West.

Meanwhile, another gang, led by the vicious bounty hunter Payne (Ben Mendelsohn), has picked up Rose’s scent and is looking to cash in. Jay, as Silas foreshadows, ends up a “jackrabbit in a den of wolves.” When they eventually find the remote cabin where Rose is living, things are quite different than Jay expected, resulting in an ending that’s as touching as it is tragic.

Maclean, who scripted as well as directed, offers up an odyssey in contrast, teaming a cynical and, if necessary, brutal man with a naive teen suffering from unrequited love. The two wind their way through majestic, otherworldly landscapes where almost everyone is a killer, or becomes one. While there’s little doubt that the film is building — albeit very slowly — toward a final gunfight (it’s worth the wait!), we can’t be sure how many other instances of violence we’ll encounter first.

Valiantly mixing storybook romanticism with the political and historical realities of manifest destiny, Maclean patiently

immerses you in the rhythm and pace of this simpler time, then punctuates the stillness with thrilling — and unsettling — moments of lawlessness or Coen Brothers absurdism. Ultimately, the lush forests and broad valleys are picture-book backdrops for merciless savagery, the kind where men and women are all too willing to murder one another.

As Maclean shifts his film from fantasy to tragedy, it becomes clear that both Jay and Silas are equally misguided about who they are and how the world works.

Jay’s notions of heroism are strictly of the flowery, storybook variety, and clearly out of sync with the dangers he faces.

Smit-McPhee handles his character’s dreamy confusion, dangerous naiveté and instances of shocked panic convincingly, but offers little substance beyond those obvious surfaces.

It may not be the young actor’s fault, however, as Slow West trades in archetypes rather than flesh and blood characters. Nevertheless, Fassbender

is excellent as a man who’s mistakenly bought into the idea that he’s a lethal lone wolf. He gives his hard-bitten gunslinger enough nuance and depth to compensate for the script’s shortcomings. Similarly, Pistorius’ fierce and indomitable Rose is a welcome surprise, balancing a real-world mix of innate kindness with hard-fought independence. She’s hardly the damsel in distress Jay imagines he must rescue.

In the end, after Maclean has staged one of the best and most vicious gun battles I’ve seen in a long time, Slow West subverts the Shakespearean-sized tragedy of its finish with a cheap sight gag. Surprisingly, it works. And yet it’s hard to decide whether Maclean, in the end, is a satirist or an artist who couldn’t make up his mind.

Slow West (R) Dir. and writ. John Maclean; feat. Kodi SmitMcPhee, Caren Pistorius, Michael Fassbender, Aorere Paki, Ben Mendelsohn Opens May 22 at Santikos Bijou

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Bill Paxton (center) stars as Sam Houston in the new miniseries Texas Rising.

ROUGH START

Texas Rising Comes Out Of The Gates Wounded With Poor Narrative

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After the less-than-impressive 2004 version of The Alamo, which starred Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton, came and went without much fanfare, it would be hard to fault any Texan for being a bit skeptical about whether or not History channel’s five-part miniseries Texas Rising can live up to the state’s iconic past without giving it the same Hollywood-type sheen that was detrimental to director John Lee Hancock’s big-screen attempt 11 years ago.

While the San Antonio Current still needs to see eight and a half hours of the 10-hour TV epic, the first episode, which premieres Memorial Day, starts off problematic enough to wonder if tuning back in for the rest would be worth it.

Texas Rising picks up right after Mexican troops, led by Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna (Olivier Martinez), defeat Texian defenders at the Alamo mission. When news gets back to other Texian fighters, they patiently await Gen. Sam Houston (Bill Paxton) to make a decision on their next course of action against the better-equipped Mexican Army. Ready to take revenge for the deaths of Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and William Travis, Houston’s men are not too pleased when he has to make them retreat until they are battle-ready.

The first episode of the miniseries makes no qualms about characterizing

Houston and Santa Anna on opposite ends of the spectrum. Paxton’s Houston is fragile, his military tactics questioned by his soldiers. He has nightmares and spends most of his time standing on a proverbial soapbox while stock cadences play over his speeches.

Santa Anna is played more ruthlessly.

He commands a firing squad to execute survivors and breaks a chicken’s neck. Martinez also gives an air to the character that’s different from previous adaptations, which might prove fruitful.

Other notable characters introduced in the premiere episode include frontiersman Deaf Smith (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Emily West, aka The Yellow Rose of Texas (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and a giggle-worthy Brendan Fraser sporting pigtails and shooting arrows.

When a grisly-looking drifter (Ray Liotta) slices open the neck of a Mexican soldier snacking on a nopal, it is evident Texas Rising isn’t playing by the same rules as other similar productions. The series might be able to get by for a while with its violence, but without a compelling narrative like History’s recent success Hatfields & McCoys, it could end up being another wasted opportunity to bring Texas history to the masses, and without including Moses as a Founding Father.

Texas Rising Premieres 8pm Mon, May 25 on History

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What

Chip-Timed Race Run •Walk •Roll Silent Auction Zumba Party Kids Run

When

Saturday, May 23, 2015 Registration 7:00 am Race begins 8:00 am Kids Run 9:30am

Where

Mission County Park 1 6030 Padre 78214

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Project QUEST Inc. is funded in part by the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, State of Texas, and the US Department of Labor.

34 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

FOOD

Amaya’s Tacos Sticks To Its Roots JESSICA ELIZARRARAS/@JESSELIZARRARAS

“Vegan or not vegan?”

That really wasn’t the question I thought I’d overhear as one of the few patrons inside Amaya’s Tacos & Bakery, which opened early this year at the corner of Hackberry and Commerce.

The day was dreary with imminent rain, and an elote soup did sound enticing, but so did the rest of the menu at the familyrun joint that fits no more than 20 people at a time, and even that’s a stretch.

Amaya’s was opened by a small army of brothers and a close family friend, with the intent of giving back to the community that raised them. The culinary team is made up of David Arciniega and Joel “Tatu” Herrera, both with an extensive history of cookery in San Antonio. Teamed up with big brother Ruben, and twin brothers Daniel and Samuel, the Amaya’s guys are trying to add a few more options to the East Side.

Though I had previouisly visited the eatery when they first opened, the menu vacillated between traditional taqueria offerings and the occasional Cubanoesque sandwich. That all settled with the launch of their latest menu, an extremely casual ode that features favorites with a heavy emphasis on highlighting local produce. Though the menu is teensy (even for my standards), the curated items are purposeful — there’s something for everyone.

The space, which housed a corner store for several decades, is painted a bold off-purple hue, but inside the eatery

could mirror the interior of your abuela’s home. It’s cozy and efficient, if a bit tight.

Thankfully, the patio does offer another handful of tables and is pleasant enough to fit in a quick lunch.

The breakfast tacos, available in the usual combinations (and roasted pork or lechon and brisket) are loaded with fresh cracked eggs on homemade tortillas.

Often times, I’m taking a restaurant’s word for their proclamation of homemade, but in this case it’s hard to doubt the tortillas when they’re made right in front of you.

Somehow the recipe was tweaked to make the flour-y vessels even better than when Amaya’s first opened. It helps to have connections within the Culinary Institute of America-San Antonio, where chef Alain Dubernard helped perfect their recipe.

But the real reason to get down to Amaya’s immediately is their lunch and their ridiculous prices, which should likely be raised. During my first visit, the fish tacos commanded my attention. Every restaurant worth their salt has an iteration of said dish these days, but it’s hard to find tilapia worth writing home about.

Their version delivers three tacos served open-faced inside modest diner baskets, playing down what’s inside. Three sturdy corn tortillas serve as the receptacle for two perfectly blackened fish filets, a massive dose of tangy red cabbage slaw, thinly sliced radishes and smoked poblano crema. The finishing touch — a smattering of fresh microgreens — reveals both chefs intensive upscale training. Yes, microgreens on the East Side presented in the most unassuming way.

The East Commerce plate with choice of lecho, or carne guisada, beans and rice with the magical (they’re that good) flour tortillas was on par with what you’d find at your local taco joint, but had less salt and lard and more flavor.

My lunching pal (side note: make sure

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Fish tacos meet a bright dose of veggies at Amaya’s Tacos.

to take in an early lunch. Amaya’s closes at 1 p.m.) ordered the elote soup of velvety roasted corn, red pepper oil and a dollop of greens and cotija cheese.

Available with or without cream (the aforementioned vegan option), the sopa is a subtle, but cheeky take on corn in a cup.

Make this your go-to when you don’t want to tackle an order of tacos.

Another open-faced number eaten during my second visit, the Hackberry Tacofication, might be the best vegetarian dish I’ve had this year, if not certainly the most boundary pushing. Squash, zucchini, radishes and onions were roasted and tender, paired with a spring pea salsa I need more of in my life. Made

with habanero, onion, garlic, spring peas and heavy whipping cream, as inspired by chef Elizabeth Johnson, the salsa is nuanced and a delight. Tie it all together with cotija and you’ve got a seriously tasty, almost guilt-free meal.

Were I pressed to find fault at this tiny eatery, I would point out two things. The chicken tacos of braised pollo in pinapple and chipotle could use some tweaking, perhaps a good chop. Otherwise, longer hours would be my only other quibble.

That will soon change with the addition of Sunday and Monday dinners starting the first weekend of June. I hear it’s going to be a BYOB affair. flavor@sacurrent.com

Amaya’s Tacos & Bakery 1502 E. Commerce, (210) 265-5449, facebook.com/AmayasTacos Skinny Family-run and efficient, this tiny corner eatery offers breakfast and lunch with healthy and often vegan options. Best Bets Hackberry Tacofication, fish tacos, elote soup Hours 7am-1pm Mon-Sat Price $1.50-$3 for breakfast tacos; $6-$9.50 for lunch

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A taste of Saytown provides a Texpat in the Big Apple some much-needed culinary relief.

BIG APPLE ALAMO CITY STYLE Jesse Perez Takes Fast Mexican To NYC There are lots of things I love about living in New York.

Most everything, actually, except maybe snow in March and Meatpacking District bars that charge $20 for well gin + tonic. (I’m throwing shade at you, Griffin.)

There are things I truly miss about San Antonio, though. Many of them are things that one eats and drinks (and then posts to Instagram, to make one’s Texpat friends jealous.)

My Yankee compadres know better than to suggest getting barbecue or Mexican food — “my standards are dangerously high,” I like to remind everyone who’ll listen. But thanks to Arcade Midtown Kitchen’s Jesse Perez, Mex just might be back on my menu.

Perez partnered with chain restaurant expert Daihwan Choi to open Óxido, a fast casual Mexican joint in the Flatiron District, at the beginning of March.

There’s no getting around it: The place has followed in Chipotle’s footsteps.

But when I’m feeling homesick, Óxido’s flavors take me back to the Alamo City.

The set up is familiar: Start by picking a bowl, burrito or two tacos; white or brown comino rice; and chipotle black or charro beans with smoked bacon. Rice and beans come alongside two corn tacos and inside the bowl and burrito.

While the rice was nothing to write home about, the charro beans were flavorful

MIRIAM SITZ

and comforting.

Things get more interesting in the proteins. Perez has spiced up the options, offering grilled garlic steak, Ancho pepper chicken poblano, a stewed New Mexican beef and, best of all, carnitas.

The tender shredded pork is seasoned with lime and red chiles — by far the standout protein. And instead of “sofritas” — Chipotle’s take on tofu, which, honestly, I find a little disconcerting — the herbivores among us can enjoy tasty red chili mushrooms. Óxido also offers a decent guacamole and a totally delicious queso blanco, either on top or with chips on the side.

Speaking of, here’s where Perez lost me: the thick, fresh corn chips get a heavy dusting of cayenne and paprika that overwhelms the flavor of anything else in close proximity. They’re not bad, but they steal the spotlight. I appreciate a more unassuming vehicle for guac or salsa.

But in the salsa department, Perez impressed: from a straightforward salsa fresca and pico de gallo (here, called salsa cruda) to smoky jalapeño and HOT (but great!) chile de arbol salsas, you’ll want to ask for a side, or four, of salsa. Óxido may not be yout first stop after landing at LaGuardia, but as a Texan in New York, I’m happy to fill myself up on familiar flavors for about $10.

Provecho, y’all.

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An All-Female Pop-Up, Houston Street Food And More JESSICA ELIZARRARAS/@JESSELIZARRARAS

Who’s ready for another all-female pop-up? This time, several kitchen goddesses will team up to support a fellow female badass in need.

Jessica Vargas of Locavore, Juliet Burley (Southerleigh), Libby Mattingsley (Uncommon Fare), Kat Sees (Folc), Nadia Casaperalta (Hot Joy), Caitlin Buchanan (Citrus) and Monica De La O (Tailgate Bistro) will host a pop-up dinner at Folc (226 E. Olmos Drive, 210-822-0100) with Hillary Woodhouse tending to the cocktails inside Park Social next door. Details for the June 14 dinner, which will help benefit Joan Cheever of the Chow Train, are still in the works. Cheever and her truck made news earlier this year after she was fined for feeding the homeless.

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Houston Street Charities, the nonprofit behind the San Antonio Cocktail Conference, will host Houston Street Food, a community picnic on Sunday, May 31 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. This picnic will pack in high-end snacks with baskets ($50, reservations required) provided by Bohanan’s Restaurant & Bar, Lüke San Antonio, Market On Houston, The Monterey, The Palm, Tre Trattoria and Catalyst Catering ($25 for their kid-friendly basket). Proceeds from the event will benefit the San Antonio Food Bank’s Summer Food Service Program, which helps provide meals and snacks for kids during summer vacation. For more details visit, sanantoniococktailconference.com.

I’ll try not to dip into my stash of fart jokes for this heads up. Two Step Restaurant & Cantina (9840 W. Loop 1604 N) will host the first-ever Borracho Bean Festival and Cook Off on Saturday, June 6. The event will include beer and margarita vendors, along with live music and entertainment, but perhaps most importantly, a cook off between Two Step, El Chaparral, Mia’s Mexican Restaurant, Blanco BBQ, The Art Institute Culinary Department and more. Visit borrachobeansa.com for tickets.

Two words: Beer breakfast. Barbaro (2720 McCullough, 210-320-2261) will host a release party for Founders Brewing Co.’s Kentucky Breakfast Stout on Saturday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. To pair with the imperial stout’s coffee and chocolate flavors, which are then cave-aged in oak barrels for an entire year, the kitchen will have Italian sausage links and porcini mostarda as off-menu specials.

Finally, San Antonio beer shelves will now feature the likes of Kräftig Lager and Kräftig Light, owned by the William K. Busch Brewing Company. If that sounds familiar, it’s because owner Billy Busch is the great grandson of Adolphus Busch, so he’s got brewing in his blood. flavor@sacurrent.com

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40 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

NIGHTLIFE

VERONICA LUNA

BONA FIDE BEER NERD Meet Cured’s Certified Cicerone, Forrest Hyde JESSICA ELIZARRARAS/@JESSELIZARRARAS

Beer drinkers, listen up: There’s a new cicerone in town. And no, he doesn’t have the (apparently) prerequisite beard. Forrest Hyde, a 25-year-old Alabama transplant, became the sixth certified brew nerd in the city this spring and beer lovers in the area can tap into his trove of knowledge at Cured.

Though he’s played the role of lead server and bartender since the Steve McHugh-owned restaurant opened in late 2013, Hyde, an avid runner, only recently took on his latest role of Certified Cicerone.

“From my history, from Lüke and coming here, I’ve always had such a strong focus on beer, and I’ve always been, in my own little world, kind of the expert when it came to beer,” McHugh said. The Wisconsin native, who makes a point of attending Denver’s Great American Beer Festival every year, found a kindred spirit in Hyde, an Alabama native.

“We would get new beer samples and [general manager] Robert [Rodriguez] would suggest I let Forrest try it. We would sit down and he’s pulling out all kinds of stuff,” McHugh said of Hyde’s sensitive palate — he’s picked up notes of bananas and almonds before the chef.

Hyde earned his bachelor’s in English Literature at the University of the South in Tennessee. He later made his way to San Antonio for a job (and purchased a homebrew kit with his first paycheck), but found a home at Cured. Once Rodriguez and McHugh discovered Hyde’s powerful palate, and his earnest passion for brewing and all things beer, they decided to invest in the future.

The trio began Hyde’s process of becoming a Certified Cicerone. The program starts off with beer server certification, which can be completed online. To gain Certified Cicerone status, individuals must pass a written exam, tasting and demonstration with an 80 percent grade overall and at least 70 percent in the tasting portion, according to the cicerone.org. Exams, which cost $395, are scheduled throughout the country, with retakes coming in at $100

and $175.

He almost didn’t pass the test because he didn’t’ have a beard,” McHugh joked.

To prepare for the exam, the lithe Hyde tasted between 100 and 150 beers in two and a half months. Combined with an intense reading list and a handful of tasting seminars at local breweries, studying took the bulk of his time. But at least there was beer to sample.

“We’ve got great stores around here that will sell you stuff by the bottle.

We’re lucky enough to have a lot of tap rooms around here that rotate their beers constantly,” Hyde said.

The other characteristic that sets him apart from the five other cicerones in town (he joins Alex Rattray of The Granary ‘Cue & Brew, Derek Lutz and Rebecca Roppolo of Whole Foods Market, Brian Tarver of HEB and Austin Tipps of The Boston Beer Company) is his proximity to an audience.

“He’s not some stuck-up beer master who’s in a brewery all day … This guy has to deal with people. It’s what we want as business owners, to have smart, knowledgeable people,” McHugh said.

Hyde has to translate his knowledge into digestible bits of information when describing beers to restaurant guests, but he uses the kitchen’s ever-rotating menu to help him along. Hyde dishes his recommendations based on what’s on your plate.

“Pairing food with the beers is a wonderful experience to share with somebody… to be able to combine those flavors together for somebody and help awaken a part of their palate they might not have tasted before,” Hyde said.

Rodriguez added: “It’s not just pairing to specific things, it’s understanding the underlying flavor profile. You have basic notes in the beers, and he knows what direction to go in a menu that changes very frequently. He’s able to make those decisions on the fly, but he’s also very studious and very meticulous whether he’s talking about percentages of ABV or bitterness scale, he’s able to speak to the staff with a lot of knowledge.”

Since Hyde’s taken over the beer

This young Certified Cicerone breaks the mold of today’s beer lover.

menu at Cured, which was formerly the chef’s baby, we’re seeing an increase in IPAs, but he’s not adding beers willy-nilly.

Another goal of his is to add more local products to the lineup, such as beer from Boerne Brewing Company and bombers from San Antonio’s Freetail Brewing and Branchline Brewing.

“I love seeing people get to enjoy something that was brewed only a couple miles a way,” Hyde said.

As to what he’s drinking? You can take the boy out of Alabama, but the brews of his home state are what he’s sipping these days. flavor@sacurrent.com sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 41

42 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

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POSITIVELY NONDESCRIPT County Line’s Line Of Fitting Country Drinks For Summer Series JESSICA ELIZARRARAS/@JESSELIZARRARAS

As summer makes its way ever Mule in the Mule Kick (Boris was filled closer to the Alamo City, the with vodka, Cletus enjoyed Rebecca usual mid-week distractions Creek Texas Whiskey and Pedro came are back — ranging from catching a San in with Dulce Vida organic tequila). One Antonio Missions game to squeezing can appreciate the nod to Texan spirits into a biergarten or checking out a offered by the Austin-based chain. country act at the County Line during While my partners enjoyed a Boris its Free Music Series.

Mule Kick (be prepared to leave your ID The series returned to its Wednesday as collateral for the copper mug) and an slot this past week with the Thieving almost too sweet tropical white sangria Birds and Roadside Libby. Cocktails with fresh lemon, lime, cherry, orange, are new this year. Created by manager/ peach and mango (not served in the pitmaster/chef and now mixologist advertised Mason jar, unfortunately), I Garrett Stephens, the list of drinks was committed to a Big BBQ Bloody. enticing enough to head to County Pardon the onslaught of adjectives, Line’s I-10 location and take in a show. but this is the cocktail: “House Despite its name, the music series cucumber/Meyer lemon infused isn’t actually free. Food or monetary Dripping Springs Vodka, Zing Zang donations to the San Antonio Food Bloody Mary Mix, lime juice, olive brine, Bank are strongly suggested to get in. and a dash of the following, Tabasco Armed with cans of spaghetti sauce, sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and tuna and beans, we dropped off our house BBQ bitters. Garnished with goods, received a fun sticker and made olives, a lemon wedge, a large celery our way to the tchotchke-filled bar. stalk and a slice of brisket.”

I’m not going to pussyfoot around I’m a sucker for presentation, though, this: the spring and summer cocktails and when my Bloody hit the table in dip into silly territory. But while I would an opaque plastic cup, it lost a few normally be turned off by the idea of an wow-points … quickly regained from its alcohol-filled sweet tea, County Line’s still-warm brisket chunk. patio calls for such kitsch. How else are Though the weather kept us from you going to enjoy live music other than confidently partaking in patio seating, by sipping cool beers or overly fruity the joint had plenty of ambiance. You sangrias? need to bop along to some Cocktails run the gamut from The County Line country, while decompressing a pit-smoked ice-laden Old on the tree-filled patio and 10101 I-10 W (210) 641-1998 Smokey (their take on an Old taking care of your good deed Fashioned), to blueberry mojitos countyline.com for the day at The County Line.

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Happy Hours Happy Hour of the Week

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V I S I T H A P P Y H O U R S . S A C U R R E N T. C O M 44 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

Northwest The Irish Pub

Happy Hour Every Day from 2-8 pm Discounts on everything in the bar including: $2.50 wells and domestic bottles $3.50 Jameson, Jack, Tito’s, Skyy & Deep Eddy $3 Sweet Tart and Starf*cker Shots $1 off all Draft Beers Daily Specials Sunday-Monday!

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46 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

MUSIC

AFRICAN AMERICA Piano Giant Randy Weston On His Trailblazing Jazz Career MATT STIEB/@MATTHEWSTIEB

Turned off by the American public’s matchstick attention span for jazz, in the late ’60s, pianist Randy Weston left his home in Brooklyn for Morocco. It was in Africa that Weston helped change the rhythmic language of jazz, while living a life like the setup of a post-colonial action flick.

With an ex-lion tamer as a business partner, Weston ran the African Rhythms nightclub in Tangier, a crowded and ancient city at the western gate of the Mediterranean. Above a movie theatre, expatriates, musicians and Moroccan big wigs crowded the spot from its 11 p.m. opening to closing around dawn — the jazz player’s ideal work schedule.

“We had everything in there from Chicago blues singers to singers from the Congo,” Weston told the San Antonio Current. “The whole idea was to trace African people wherever we are and what we do with music.”

When Weston repatriated to America in the ’70s, he returned with a griot’s knowledge of Africa’s vibrant rhythms.

More than any musician since AfroCuban and bop pioneer Dizzy Gillespie, Weston brought the rhythmic structure of jazz closer to Africa. The spry drum polyrhythm of West Africa and the highlife music of Ghana became the foundation of Weston’s arrangements.

Decades before his tenure in northern Africa, Weston had his eyes and ears set toward the continent. Weston’s father, Frank, a descendent of escaped Jamaican slaves, guided him to his roots.

“Because of my daddy, he always had me reading books about ancient African civilizations,” said Weston. “He gave me music and he gave me Africa.”

Growing up in Brooklyn in the ’40s, Weston quickly tuned into the creative class of African-Americans dominating the city’s music scene. As a young pianist, Weston immediately clang to the work of oddball stylist Thelonious Monk and grand master Duke Ellington.

“I was attracted to Ellington because he approached the piano as an

orchestra,” said Weston.

“And he could always get a particular sound, I know he used to do things in the bass. I love the sound of the bass of the piano.”

On his ’54 debut, Cole Porter in a Modern Mood, Weston betrays the influence of his 88key idols on an album of standards. On the keyboard, Weston runs around with Monk’s stop-start delight and Ellington’s stunning righthand melodies. In the left, Weston grounds himself in the low octaves. He hammers with a strong, percussive hand, courtesy of his six-foot-seven frame.

With his own compositions, on the sophomore ’55 LP Randy Weston Trio, the pianist is already aligned Randy Weston returned to the U.S. in the 1970s with a new ear for jazz after exploring rhythms in Africa. towards Africa with an unmistakable talent as Weston is a National Endowment for the a songwriter. On “Zulu,” Weston hurls Weston’s career is a suite called Seven Arts certified Jazz Master, the highest forward at a steady bop pace, breaking African Ancient Queens, telling the award available in the field. But in the into a full-bodied and rolling march in history of Africa’s great empires in song. undimming twilight of his career, Weston the head.

“Africa is the oldest civilization,” said still looks back to learn from the giants of “I just can’t play the notes, I have to tell Weston. “African music is as old as Africa the early 20th Century. a story,” said Weston. “I’ll never forget, I itself. But Africa’s contribution to America “I always concentrate on what I call met [groundbreaking saxophonist] Lester is not recognized, because we’re not our royalty,” said Weston. “The [Art] Young in the ’60s. He had some young taught the history of African civilization ...

Tatums and people like that. They’re musicians and they were playing a lot of ‘cause people today, all they know about irreplaceable. They were always notes, you know. He said, ‘excuse me sir, Africa is after colonialism, after slavery, committed to the African-American what’s our story?’ So when I approach that’s all they know.” community. The music was healing. Our the piano, I always have to tell a story.”

With his touring African Rhythms people went through a lot of pain in so In his seven-decade career, Weston quintet, Weston hones the tradition many ways, but it was music that lifted has become a master storyteller. he laid down in his time in Morocco. our spirits. You realize they were not only “Berkshire Blues” and “Hi Fly” have On Sunday, Weston will be backed great musicians but they entered the canon of jazz, tucked away in

by Texas tenor Billy were documenting the the pages of the fake book. “Little Niles,” Harper, altoist and Randy Weston African Rhythms Quintet history of our people.

Weston’s most famous tune, roars and flautist TK Blue, Free with RSVP 6pm Sun, May 24 And kept us proud and ebbs back with the power and vitality of bassist Alex Blake Ruth Taylor Recital Hall (Trinity University) wonderful through a time the great Egyptian River. and Neil Clarke on One Trinity Place of oppression.”

After a 2013 album with saxophonist African percussion.

(210) 464-1534 musicalbridges.org mstieb@sacurrent.com Billy Harper, the next chapter in At 89, Randy sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 47

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What’s he doing outdoors? 21-year-old rapper Earl Sweatshirt plays Alamo City Music Hall.

STAYING INSIDE

Rapper Earl Sweatshirt Turns Apathy Into Gold JAMES COURTNEY

Earl Sweatshirt’s latest album, Odd Future fans angry at his absence, it I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go took him a year and a half to put out the Outside, is an introspective, game-changing Doris, his proper début. anti-social and tortured beauty. An In the meantime, Earl proved unusually self-aware rap album, it’s an through a series of virtuosic guest easy standout, even in a year that’s verses that he was worth the wait already seen some stellar releases in and the hype. The best of these the genre. Synth half-syllables, Kubrick guest verses — including his crazy keys and vivisected trap beats create two-minute spot on the Odd Future the murk from which a bleary-eyed and posse cut “Oldie” and his glowing disillusioned Earl Sweatshirt creeps, his and gloating jaunt on Domo Genesis’ focus on sickly syntax and finding the “Gamebreaker” — showed that Earl middle road between doing what you had returned a more versatile rapper want for a living and selling what you love. and substantive lyricist.

When the Odd Future golden boy When Doris finally dropped in August and horror-core rap laureate returned to 2013, the hip-hop world had already LA from Samoan boarding school exile begun to tire of Odd Future as a whole. in February 2012, he was a changed It was clearly Earl’s moment. Album man. Or, more precisely, he left as an standouts “Hive,” “Chum,” “Hoarse,” angry boy, in love with the antagonistic, and “Whoa,” serve as divergent institution-smashing power of words. examples of Earl’s uncanny knack He came back a thoughtful young man, for wordplay, hip-hop metrics and determined to seek the good through uncommonly personal subject matter. the power of his obvious gift.

But, as the reluctant rap star The problem is that, through no small expressed in an enlightening recent fault of his own (see the oft-disgusting interview with NPR, he wasn’t altogether and undeniably brilliant Earl mixtape) pleased with how he presented himself the cantankerous and withdrawn Earl on Doris. With I Don’t Like Shit, Earl, also returned a celebrity, his Odd Future who also produced nine of the album’s compatriots having stormed ten tracks, is sounding how into the national spotlight. he wants.

Earl Sweatshirt As Earl focused on finishing Earl ain’t been outside in a feat. Remy Banks high school and patching minute, but that’s just because $25 8pm Sat, May 23 up his relationship with his he’s got some shit to figure Alamo City Music Hall mother, who’d been seriously out. Ours is just to revel in 1305 E. Houston maligned by hordes of rabid hearing him work through it. alamocitymusichall.com

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MUSIC

WILLIE’S LONG STORY New Autobiography Is An Endearing Piece Of Cultural History

May 21 Pat Green & Cory Morrow

JAMES COURTNEY

Willie Hugh Nelson, known by the whole world simply as Willie (or The Red- Headed Stranger, if you have a flair for the dramatic), was born in the tiny north Texas town of Abbott. At 7, he started writing poems and shortly thereafter, as he learned to play guitar, he started setting poems to music.

Long before he penned classic country radio hits like “Crazy,” or helped define the outlaw country movement of the ’70s, or created the Farm Aid benefit concert, or championed marijuana legalization, or wore a hole in his trusty guitar Trigger, or got screwed by the IRS, or received the Lifetime Achievement Grammy, Nelson was instinctually writing songs as a way of expressing himself and of telling stories he deemed important.

His latest book, It’s a Long Story: My Life, is really just a natural extension of these instincts towards self-expression and storytelling. Billed as the definitive Willie Nelson autobiography — perhaps to distinguish it from earlier, less complete attempts — Long Story thrives on the basis of two factors: Nelson’s short sentences, chalkfull of his deadpan wit and the largerthan-life tales he shares.

Nelson, 82, spins humorous yarns and tales of palling around with famous buddies like Waylon Jennings, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and even President Jimmy Carter. Also here, however, are heartbreaking stories of familial strife, addiction and remorse — though rarely ever regret.

Nelson’s story, as he delivers it in Long Story, is wrapped up in the progression of American culture in the 20th century. He quotes Whitman on contradiction, advocates for gay rights,

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remembers helping Charley Pride break down color barriers in country music, details “bitch slapping” his daughter’s abusive boyfriend and tells about how it could easily have been him instead of The Big Bopper in that plane the day the music died. Through these stories and liberal plugs of quotations from his songs, Nelson unravels himself, but he also tells a story about all of us.

Nelson’s sage and easy-going spin on these various yarns, and the morals he offers up in his summations, are endearing and entertaining. The true Williehead will likely find no particularly new factual information here, but fans and initiates alike, as well as those with an interest in popular music history, will nevertheless find it essential reading.

June 13 Steve Earle & The Dukes

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Ciara

“Body Party,” the career standout from Ciara’s self-titled fifth record, is a bedroom tune to induce heavy breathing/petting from all parties involved. Written by Ciara and then-boyfriend and move-thatdoper Future, the gold single revolves around a perfect turn of the tongue (“My body is your party”) and an oscillating Mike WiLL groove.

Fast-forward to 2015 and the tune’s a little different, due to Future’s extramarital sampling. On the new single “I Bet,” Ciara claims the status as tastemaker in the relationship — “You actin’ like you upgrading me, I upgraded you / You and me at fashion week in Paris, I put you onto that new.”

Jackie, the new album named after Ciara’s mom, largely focuses on Ciara’s new motherhood. On the cover in not-your-average-pair of mom jeans, the 29-year-old Austin native boasts of her greatest accomplishment yet: “Man, I just delivered a nine-pound, 10-ounce baby. I’m a bad motherfucker,” she beams on “Jackie (B.M.F.).” $20-$45, 7pm, Aztec Theatre, 201 E. Commerce, (210) 760-2196, theaztectheatre.com. — Matt Stieb

Wednesday, May 20

Flaw St. Louis’ Flaw creates lukewarm

hard rock destined for the off-hours of the Octane Sirius channel. With Seasons After. The Korova, 7pm

Guitar Wars XXVII The longest running

guitar competition in the U.S., Guitar Wars invites local musicians to flex their six-string skills. Fitzgerald’s, 7pm

Midtown Jazz Sound Drummer John

Fernandez, leader of Midtown Jazz Sound, returns to Soho for the sixth year of residency at the downtown club.

Soho, 10:30pm

Saving Abel With “Addicted,” Saving Abel

wrote the oversexed hard rock anthem of 2008. With McClinton. Alamo City Music Hall, 7pm

The Maine, Nick Santino As the album

name would suggest, The Maine returned with their most over-sugared record to date, 2015’s American Candy. The former frontman of pop-punk outfit A Rocket to the Moon, Nick Santino continues with his bubbly tunes on his 2014 album Big Skies. With The Technicolors. 210 Kapone’s, 7pm

Thursday, May 21

ELLINGTON! Youth Matinee at the Carver Presented by New York

nonprofit JazzReach, this performance celebrates the work of Duke Ellington, the master pianist and composer. Carver Community Cultural Center, 11am

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Horse Thief Although they’re sonically

mellow, there’s a fire in Horse Thief’s bluesy, folksy rock that is powerful in the way it knocks you off your feet. The lyrics are intensely personal, often dealing with internal demons and emotions, both good and bad. “I sniff a little dust and I feel a lot higher/all my friends are born to bred liars,” is a central theme in “Little Dust,” a highlight from their latest album Fear in Bliss. Catching the attention of pop diva Lana Del Rey (she included Horse Thief’s video for “Devil” on her YouTube playlist) and labelmates the Flaming Lips (they covered Horse Thief’s “I Am the Bear”), the band’s celebrity fanbase is expanding as quickly as its music. With Deer Vibes, Pageantry. Paper Tiger, 7pm

Lynnwood King SA frontman Lynnwood King ditches The Heroine for this quiet evening at the former punk spot. Viva Tacoland, 8pm

Metalachi A puro mariachi band at its

conception, Metalachi heard Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” spanglicized Ozzy’s creation to “Iron Tapatio” and forever changed the face of music. Well, not really. Somewhere between a novelty act and the realest of deals, the quintet lives up to its bastardized name, taking KZEP hits and placing them in mariachi context. Singer Vega de la Rockha remains faithful to the original metal melodies, while the band, comprised of guitarrón, trumpet, violin and guitar, take it full Son style. 210 Kapone’s, 7pm

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sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 53

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54 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

Scott Wiggins New Braunfels songwriter

Scott Wiggins’ new album Home Grown is an example of clean cut, neat-poured Jim Beam country. Sam’s Burger Joint, 8pm

The Suite feat. DJ Gibb and Donnie Dee

Two of SA’s finest soul and funk jockeys deliver a Thursday night soundtrack in original funky drummers. Southtown 101, 10pm

Friday, May 22

Billy Currington, Sam Hunt Georgia

rocker Billy Currington captures the current estival atmosphore of country with his impending album Summer Forever. After playing football in college and writing for Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban, Sam Hunt sounds like the country version of wishy-washy ’08 Drake on “Take Your Time.” Whitewater Amphiteater, 7:30pm

Engine Louisiana’s Engine finds a home for their spaced-out Southern-rockish take on indie folk on the album Red Moon Rises. With Josh Glenn Experiment, Sofa Kings. Bottom Bracket Social Club, 10pm

Four Hands Album Release Four Hands, a

friend of SA’s Sub.Culture electronic music collective, debuts the material on the new EP Home. Ritual Art Gallery, 9pm

Happy Birthday Morissey It seems

strange to celebrate a happy birthday for a man who wrote the ballad “Unhappy Birthday,” but isn’t that the whole point of Morrissey aka “the Pope of Mope?” As the frontman of legendary Brit-pop-rock group the Smiths and a solo artist, Moz’s legacy as a musician/outspoken animal rights activist/cult icon is legendary. Even though Morrissey is 55 going on 56, his razor-sharp wit and knack for clever lyrics are ageless. In the words of the quote king himself, “You’re either marvelous or you’re boring, regardless of your age.”

Unhappy birthday, Morrissey! With DJ Dc and Marky Mark. Brass Monkey, 10pm

Michael Martin and the Infidels Named after Bob Dylan’s 1983 album, Michael Martin and the Infidels play in the wordy spirit of the great American songwriter.

The Cove, 9pm

Star Wars & More: The Music of John Williams The San Antonio Symphony

takes on the music of legendary composer

Technicolor Hearts Effortlessly melding

synths with folky textures and psychedelic waves of sound, Technicolor Hearts is hypnotic and dreamy with a healthy dose of freak folk. The duo of singer/violinist Naomi Cherie and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Salazar craft a transcendental experience that incorporates live visuals and performance art to complement their music. In the video for “Pocahaunted,” a unique blend of tribal-esque vocals, modern beats and wisps of chugging electric guitar, Technicolor Hearts’ music became one with the visuals of feminine beauty, flower crowns, neon paint and a hazy atmosphere. With Rivers Want, Traducer, Artemis. K23 Gallery, 8pm

Ha a-7 ppy Hour 11

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Roots In The Shadows Of San Antonio presents a concert for Local Music Week, featuring music from Noah Peterson, The Josh Glenn Experience, Harvey Mclaughlan & The Bottomfeeders, D.T. Buffkin, The Please Help and Reconquista the Band. Ten Eleven, 8pm

John Williams, the man behind so many of the classic scores of American pop culture. Led by guest conducter Stuart Chafetz, the Symphony will perfrom pieces from Star Wars, Schindler’s List, Harry Potter, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. and more. Tobin Center, 8pm

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Tyler Farr In June, singer Tyler Farr will officially become the most “country” person alive when he headlines the NRA’s ‘Kegs and Eggs Breakfast’ at a Margaritaville in Nashville. Cowboys Dancehall, 7pm

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the Invisibles continues to turn in nothing but spectacularly soulful, ridiculously costumed one-man shows. Rebar, 10pm

Saturday, May 23

Crunk Witch Founded in Maine by

husband and wife duo Brandon Mile and Hannah Collen, Crunk Witch sounds like a paperback fantasy novel come to life. But instead of a quest to save a kingdom or a princess, their journey is to make the fairest beats of them all. With whimsical bass drops and virtuosic keyboard riffs, Crunk Witch’s sorcery comes in the form of interesting and unique dance music, a heavy feat. Their music video for “Moonbase Blues” is a deliberately campy homage to the sci-fi films of yesterday, but the song is almost completely future tense, while still winking at the forefathers of ‘80s synthpop. With Dawn of the Phoenix, Rivers Want, Pink Leche. 502 Bar, 9pm

Heritage Blues Orchestra Led by guitarist Junior Mack and father-daughter pair Bill and Chaney Sims, the Heritage Blues Orchestra plays blues in the big band setting. With bent guitar licks, harmonica framework and a powerful horn section, the band is under the heavy spell of the late B.B. King. Carver Community Cultural Center, 8pm

sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 55

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MUSIC

Local Music Week DIY Day: Indie Bootcamp Local Music Weeks presents

an informative panel on the how-to’s of being a musician. Topics include media relations, a DIY tour panel, a screenprinting workshop and a panel on the proper way to book and work with venues. The Korova, 1pm

Max Stalling A native of Uvalde, Stalling

sings of South Texas life with a cheerful electric slide. Sam’s Burger Joint, 8pm

Pree On 2015’s RIMA, the DC outfit’s

greatest achievement is realizing such a light aesthetic with such dense instrumental layers. With Octahedron, Ion. Paper Tiger, 9pm

¿Que Pasa? Cassette Release SA label

Yippee Ki Yay celebrates their newest collection of thoroughbred garage, ¿Que Pasa?’s Big Mistake. The 10-track effort is ripe with two-chord songwriting and fundamental brilliance, cruising on the same guitar tone through the effort. In true Texas style, the band swaps Spanish for English on two of the album’s tracks.

With Lochness Mobsters, The Bolos, Dark Planes. The Mix, 9pm

Thank You For Patronizing Us The

K23 Gallery takes over Phantom Room for a fundraising night of music. With FILMSTRIPS, Ilaminori, Chris Conde, This Is Where Two Oceans Meet, At War with Dust, Adam Madrigal, Rad Envelope, Glenn’s Gems, Smokey Robinsins.

Phantom Room, 10pm

Unscene Records Label Night Founded

in 2007, Unscene Records is a collective of local and national house and techno producers. Web House, 9pm

Sunday, May 24

Cryptopsy Since 1988, Montreal metal

quartet Cryptopsy has recorded indulgent and incredibly technical death metal. With Disgorge, Erimha, Soreption, Flesh Hoarder, Emperial Massacre. The Korova, 8pm

Doc Watkins Trio Unlike some jazz

musicians whose claim to a doctorate is just a nickname (looking at you, Dr. Lonnie Smith) and others who have won honorary degrees (congrats, Sonny Rollins!), Brent ‘Doc’ Watkins has a doctorate in music from UT Austin. It’s a degree he’s put to good use, swinging viciously on his piano or Hammond B3 rig. Esquire Tavern, 3pm

Monday, May 25

Emery Now in its fifteenth year, Seattle

emo outfit Emery just released its sixth album You Were Never Alone, the first on their BadChristian record label. With Sleeping Giant, Wolves at the Gate, Forevermore. The Korova, 7pm

Jim Cullum Jazz Band Playing the music of King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Bix Beiderbecke, cornetist Jim Cullum is a leader among a growing community of trad jazz players. Tucker’s Kozy Korner, 7-10pm

Small World Led by drummer Kyle Keener and guitarist Polly Harrison, Small World places world music in the jazz setting.

The band features music from the Great American Songbook and bossa nova sung in the original Portuguese. Olmos Bharmacy, 7:30pm

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Tuesday, May 26

APPETIZERS

Ghostpizza & Co. Hip-hop tastemaker

Ghostpizza hosts his weekly DJ night.

Faust Tavern, 9pm

Prime Time Jazz Orchestra Prime Time

saxophonist John Magaldi riffs through straight ahead standards with his big, breathy tone. He’s a worthy bandleader and first chair, having performed with Johnny Mathis, Boots Randolph, Tony Bennett and Marvin Gaye. Blue Star Brewery, 8pm

Villela Sam Villela, keyboardist

extraordinaire in Sexto Sol, leads his band through a journey in soul, funk, R&B and blues. The Mix, 10pm

210 Kapone’s 1223 E. Houston, (210) 279-9430, 210kapones.com 502 Bar 502 Embassy Oaks, (210) 257-8125, 502bar. com Alamo City Music Hall 1305 E. Houston, alamocitymusichall.com Blue Star Brewery 1414 S. Alamo, (210) 212-5506, bluestarbrewing.com Bottom Bracket Social Club 1609 N. Colorado, facebook.com/BottomBracketSocialClub Brass Monkey 2702 N. St. Mary’s, facebook.com/BrassMonkeyTX Carver Community Cultural Center 226 N. Hackberry, (210) 207-7211, thecarver.org Cowboys Dance Hall 3030 NE 410, (210) 646-9378, cowboysdancehall.com Esquire Tavern 155 E. Commerce, (210) 222-2521, esquiretavern-sa.com Faust Tavern 517 E. Woodlawn, (210) 257-0628, fausttavern.com Fitzgeralds 437 McCarty, (210) 629-5141, K23 Gallery 704 Fredericksburg, (210) 776-5635 Olmos Bharmacy 3902 McCullough, (210) 822-1188, olmosrx.com Paper Tiger 2410 N. St. Mary’s, papertiger.queueapp.com Phantom Room 2114 N. St. Mary’s Rebar 8134 Broadway, (210) 320-4091, rebarsatx.com Ritual Art Gallery 514 El Paso, ritualartgallery.tumblr.com Sam’s Burger Joint 330 E. Grayson, (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com Soho 214 W. Crockett, (210) 444-1000 Southtown 101 101 Pereida Street, (210) 263-9880 The Cove 606 W. Cypress, (210) 227-2683, thecove.us The Korova 107 E. Martin, (210) 226-5070, thekorova.com The Mix 2423 N. St. Mary’s, (210) 735-1313 The Ten Eleven 1011 Avenue B, (210) 320-9080, theteneleven.com Tobin Center 100 Auditorium, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org Tucker’s Kozy Korner 1338 E. Houston, (210) 320-2192, tuckerskozykorner.com Viva Tacoland 103 W. Grayson, (210) 368-2443, vivatacoland.com Web House 320 Blanco, (210) 531-0100 Whitewater Amphitheater 11860 FM306, New Braunfels, (830) 964-3800 whitewaterrocks.com

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CAR TALK

SAVAGE LOVE

by Dan Savage

Yesterday, I found my 5-year-old son putting things up his butt in the bath. This isn’t the first time—and it’s not just a “Hey! There’s a hole here! Let’s put things in there!” kind of thing.

The little dude was rocking quite the stiffy while he did it. I’m well aware of how sexual kids can be (I freaking was!), although I wasn’t quite expecting to be catching him exploring anal at this young age. I want to avoid a trip to the emergency room to extract a toy car or whatever else from his rear end, and I don’t want to see him damage himself. So do you have any suggestions of what I can give him as a butt toy?

Yes, I am serious, and no, I’m not molesting him.

I know he’s going to do this on his own with or without my knowing, and I want him to be safe!

Just today, he proudly showed me a toy car that he stuck up his butt. I told him that it wasn’t a good idea due to the sharp bits on it, and while he may have gotten this one out, one could get stuck and then we would have to go to the hospital. Help!

Helping Ingenious Son Make Other Moves “HISMOM has handled this really well so far, and I am impressed with her clarity and calm about this situation,” said Amy Lang, a childhood sexuality expert and educator, a public speaker, and the author of Birds + Bees + Your Kids (birdsandbeesandkids.com). “But NO BUTT TOYS for 5-year-olds! This is insane and will cause a host of problems—can you imagine if he says to his teacher, ‘Yesterday, I played with my butt plug!’

Instant CPS call!”

I’m going to break in for a second: Do NOT buy a 60 CURRENT • May 20-26, 2015 • sacurrent.com

butt toy for your 5-year-old kid — if, indeed, you and your 5-year-old kid’s butt actually exist. I’m way more than half convinced that your letter is a fake, HISMOM, something sent in by a Christian conservative out to prove that I’m the sort of degenerate who would tell a mom to buy a butt toy for a 5-year-old. I’m some sort of degenerate, I’ll happily admit, but I’m not that sort.

“This clearly isn’t a safe way for her boy to explore his body for a variety of reasons,” said Lang.

“His butthole is tiny, it’s an adultlike behavior, and it’s germy.”

And while adults who are into butt play are (or should be) proactive and conscientious about hygiene, grubby little 5-year-olds aren’t particularly proactive or conscientious about hygiene — or anything else.

You don’t want his hands and toys smeared with more fecal matter than is typical for the hands and toys of most 5-year-olds.

“It’s also on the outer edges of ‘typical’ sexual behavior in a young kid,” said Lang. “He may very well have discovered this sort of outlier behavior on his own, but there is a chance that someone showed him how to do this. HISMOM needs to calmly ask her son, ‘I’m curious — how did you figure out that it feels good to put things in your bum?’ Listen to what he has to say. Depending on his response, she may need to get him a professional evaluation to make sure that he’s okay and safe. She can find someone through rainn. org in her area to help. While it doesn’t sound like he’s traumatized by this — he’s so open and lighthearted about it — you never know.”

Regardless of where he picked this trick up, HISMOM, you gotta tell him that it’s not okay to put stuff up his butt because he could seriously hurt himself. I know, I know: You are a progressive, sexpositive parent — if you exist — and you don’t wanna saddle your kid with a complex about butt stuff. But think of all the sexually active adults out there, gay and bi and straight, who have overcome standard-issue butt-stuff complexes and now safely and responsibly enjoy their assholes and the assholes of others. If you give your son a minor complex by, say, taking his toy cars away until he stops putting them in his ass, rest assured that he’ll be able to overcome that complex later in life.

“She should tell him that she totally gets that it feels good,” said Lang, “but there other ways he can have those good feelings that are safer, like rubbing and touching his penis, and he is welcome to do that any time he wants — as long as he’s in private and alone.

You can also tell him the safest thing to put up there is his own finger. But he MUST wash his hands if he does that. Nothing else, finger only. And did I mention NO BUTT TOY? Seriously.” Follow Amy Lang on Twitter @birdsandbees.

I’m a longtime fan, but I disagree with your advice to CIS, the lesbian who wanted to add “not into trans women” to her online dating profile. I’m a straight guy, and if I met a woman online, I would want to be sure she had female genitalia under her clothes. It’s a requirement for me, and that doesn’t mean I’m not a trans ally. I’m not into people who don’t have female genitalia — should I go out on a coffee date with a trans woman just to make her feel better?

Not An Asshole There’s nothing about preferring—even requiring—a particular set of genitalia that will result in your being stripped of your trans ally status, NAA. The issue is adding a few words to your profile (“no trans women”) that might spare you from the horrors of having coffee with one or two trans women over the course of your dating life but that will definitely make every trans woman who sees your profile feel like shit. The world is already an intensely hostile, unwelcoming place for trans people. Why would someone who considers himself (or herself, in the case of CIS) an ally want to make the world more hostile and unwelcoming?

Awkwardness and “wasted” coffee dates are built into the online-dating experience. Trans women who haven’t had bottom surgery aren’t going to spring their dicks on you — they’ll almost always disclose before it gets to that point — and you’re not obligated to sleep with anyone you don’t find attractive.

I’m a cis straight woman. I went on dates with a lot of guys from dating websites (200+) before I got married. Just writing to say that I agreed with your advice to the lesbian dating-site user.

I agree that putting negative/exclusionary notes like “no trans women” or “no Asian guys” in a dating profile is a turnoff — and not just to the excluded group but to those who find those kinds of comments to be mean-spirited and narrow-minded. And are there really so many trans people out there that such a comment is even necessary? Are there really that many trans people out there causing massive confusion on dating websites? And honestly, if someone is trans and you wind up meeting them for coffee, what would be the big deal anyway? It’s just coffee! I don’t understand why this would be such a huge problem.

Straight Chick In DC My point exactly. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter

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ETC

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JONESIN’ CROSSWORD by Matt Jones

NOTICE OF ACTION FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, STATE OF FLORIDA FAMILY LAW DIVISION IN RE: TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS FOR PROPOSED ADOPTION OF TARYN MARIE HARBIN CASE NO.: 15-1725-FD DIVISION: _______________________________________/ NOTICE OF ACTION FOR PUBLICATION TO: Anthony Brian Harbin DOB: January 21, 1965 Race: White Hair Color: Brown Eye Color: Blue Height: 6’3 Weight: (Approximately) 227lbs YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an action for Termination of Parental Rights regarding Taryn Marie Harbin (DOB 05/16/2006: Place of Birth: Tampa , FL), has been filed against you. You are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to this action on Michael Gonzalez, Esq., Petitioner’s attorney, whose address is 5001 W. Cypress St., Tampa, FL 33607, on or before April 24, 2015, and file the original with the clerk of this court at Pinellas County Courthouse, 315 Court Street, Clearwater, Florida 33756, either before service on Petitioner’s attorney or immediately thereafter; otherwise a default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the petition.

WARNING: Rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, requires certain automatic disclosure of documents and information. Failure to comply can result in sanctions, including dismissal or striking of pleadings.

DATED this 30 day of March, 2015.

Answer on page 27

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1 Adjust accordingly 6 “The Many Loves of ___ Gillis” 11 Consumed 14 “Against the Wind” singer Bob 15 It’s not what you’d expect 16 Shins genre 17 V-shaped fabric pattern 19 Smith or Taylor 20 Chapter in history 21 “Disco Duck” singer Rick 22 Renaissance Faire title 24 Curly treatment 25 Molly formerly of “SNL” 27 Show up 30 Deli turnover 31 Kazakh character who’s been retired 32 Muscular jocks, stereotypically 36 “South Park” character Cartman 37 Wild hogs 38 Anti-piracy org.

39 Adult contemporary radio fare 41 Like Old King Cole 42 Band with a Ben & Jerry’s flavor named for it 43 Endowment recipients 44 Person on a pension 47 Dad’s sister

48 Big name in violins 49 Killer whale of a 1977 film 50 Hotel amenity 53 Instrument for Stan Getz 54 Lines seen outside the club?

58 50-50, for instance 59 Dasani rival 60 Blackboard stuff 61 Ice Bucket Challenge cause, for short 62 “Touched by an Angel” actress Reese 63 Sharpens

DOWN

1 Tennis Hall of Famer Arthur 2 “Caught in the headlights” animal 3 Taj Mahal’s locale 4 Part of MPH 5 Neptune prop 6 Mascot of Kellogg’s Honey Smacks 7 Odist’s spheres 8 Haunted house greeting 9 “Canterbury Tales” locale 10 Hair that’s wished upon 11 Reddy or Hunt 12 Chum 13 Amount of eggs 18 One short on social skills 23 Occurring naturally

24 It’s surrounded by the fuzz?

25 Sarcastic comments 26 Compilation album tracks, often 27 His mother raised Cain, too 28 “90210” actress Spelling 29 Advanced math course 30 Stacy of “Prison Break” 32 Bullwinkle, e.g.

33 Frigid follower?

34 Bold challenge 35 “Survey ___ ...” (“Family Feud” phrase) 37 Soft white cheese 40 Flourished 41 Black-and-orange butterfly 43 Air conditioning conduit 44 One who uses cannabis spiritually 45 Letter with an attachment, maybe 46 Perennial presidential debate issue 47 Venue for some football games 49 Toyota logo’s shape 50 C-___ 51 Brazilian hero 52 Makes inquiries 55 Night before 56 Rapper ___ Wayne 57 “So that’s your game!”

ETC

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY by Rob Brezsny ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): The danger of resisting a temptation too strenuously is that the temptation might depart.

I suggest that you prevent that from happening.

Without throwing yourself at the mercy of the temptation, see if you can coax it to stick around for a while longer. Why? In my view, it’s playing a useful role in your life. It’s motivating you to change some things that really do need to be changed. On the other hand, I’m not yet sure that it should become anything more than a temptation. It might serve you best that way, not as an object of your satisfied desire.

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): James McNeil Whistler was an influential painter in the latter half of the 19th century.

He advocated the “art for art’s sake” credo, insisting that the best art doesn’t need to teach or moralize. As far as he was concerned, its most important purpose was to bring forth “glorious harmony” from chaos. But the immediate reason I’m nominating him to be your patron saint for the coming weeks is the stylized signature he created: an elegant butterfly with a long tail that was actually a stinger. I think you’ll thrive by embodying that dual spirit: being graceful, sensitive, and harmonious and yet also feisty, piquant, and provocative. Can you manage that much paradox? I think you can.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): Renowned author George Bernard Shaw was secure in his feeling that he did good work. He didn’t need the recognition of others to validate his self-worth. The British Prime Minister offered him a knighthood, but he refused it.

When he found out he had been awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature, he wanted to turn it down but his wife convinced him to accept it.

The English government also sought to give him the prestigious Order of Merit, but he rejected it, saying, “I have already conferred this order upon myself.” He’s your role model for right now, Taurus. Congratulate yourself for your successes, whether or not anyone else does.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): “Aha!” is your mantra for the coming weeks, Gemini. Keep it on the tip of your tongue, ready to unleash. This always-ready-to-be-surprisedby-inspiration attitude will train you to expect the arrival of wonders and marvels. And that will be an effective way to actually attract wonders and marvels! With “Aha!” as your talisman, all of your wake-up calls will be benevolent, and all of the chaos you encounter — or at least most of it — will be fertile.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): Do you chronically indulge in feelings of guilt? Do you berate yourself for the wrong turns and sad mistakes you made in the past? These behaviors may be sneaky ways of avoiding change. How can you summon enough energy to transform your life if you’re wallowing in worries and regrets? In presenting the possibility that you

might be caught in this trap, I want you to know that I’m not sitting in judgment of you. Not at all.

Like you, I’m a Cancerian, and I have periodically gotten bogged down in the very morass I’m warning you against. The bad news is that right now you are especially susceptible to falling under this spell. The good news is that right now you have extra power to break this spell.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): In the TV comedy-drama Jane the Virgin, the fictional character known as Rogelio de la Vega is a vain but lovable actor who performs in telenovelas.

“I’m very easy to dress,” he tells the wardrobe supervisor of a new show he’ll be working on. “Everything looks good on me. Except for peach. I don’t pop in peach.” What he means is that his charisma doesn’t radiate vividly when he’s wearing peach-colored clothes. Now I want to ask you, Leo: What don’t you pop in? I’m not simply talking about the color of clothes that enable you to shine, but everything else, too. In the coming weeks, it’s crucial that you surround yourself with influences that make you pop.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): Are you willing to entertain an outlandish possibility? Here’s my vision: You will soon be offered unexpected assistance, either through the machinations of a “guardian angel” or the messy blessings of a shape-shifting spirit. This divine intervention will make it possible for you to demolish a big, bad obstacle you’ve been trying to find a way around. Even if you have trouble believing in the literal factuality of my prophecy, here’s what I suspect: It will at least come true in a metaphorical sense — which is the truest kind of truth of all.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21):

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18):

There are many possible ways to create and manage a close relationship. Here’s one of my favorite models: when two independent, self-responsible souls pledge to help each other activate the best versions of themselves. If you don’t have a partnership like this, the near future will be a favorable time to find one. And if you already do have an intimate alliance in which the two of you synergize each other’s quest for individuation, the coming weeks could bring you breathtaking breakthroughs.

Aquarian author James Joyce wrote Ulysses, one of the most celebrated and influential novels of the 20th century. The narrative is both experimental and tightly structured. Its chaotic stream-of-consciousness passages are painstakingly crafted. (Anyone who wonders how the astrological sign of Aquarius can be jointly ruled by the rebellious planet Uranus and the disciplinarian planet Saturn need only examine this book for evidence.)

Joyce claimed he labored over Ulysses for 20,000 hours. That’s the equivalent of devoting eight hours a day, 350 days a year, for over seven years. Will you ever work that hard and long on a project, Aquarius? If so, now would be an auspicious time to start.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): It’s a challenge to drive a car through Canada’s far north. For example, if you want to get from Dawson in the Yukon Territory to Inuvik in the Northwest Territory, you take Dempster Highway. It’s gravel road for the entire 417-mile trip, so the ride is rough.

Bring a spare tire and extra gasoline, since there’s just one service station along the way. On the plus side, the scenery is thrilling. The permafrost in the soil makes the trees grow in odd shapes, almost like they’re drunk. You can see caribou, wolverines, lynx, bears, and countless birds. Right now, the sun is up 20 hours every day. And the tundra? You’ve never seen anything like it. Even if you don’t make a trip like this, Capricorn, I’m guessing you will soon embark on a metaphorically similar version. With the right attitude and preparation, you will have fun and grow more courageous.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): The English writer and caricaturist Max Beerbohm moved away from his native land when he was 37 years old. He settled in Rapallo, Italy, where he lived for much of the rest of his life. Here’s the twist: When he died at age 83, he had still not learned to speak Italian. For 40 years, he used his native tongue in his foreign home. This is a failing you can’t afford to have in the coming months, Pisces. The old proverb “When in Rome, do as the Romans,” has never been so important for you to observe.

THIS MODERN WORLD by Tom Tomorrow

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): “Glory” is the theme song of the film Selma. It’s an anthem about the ongoing struggle for equal rights by African Americans. I want to borrow one of its lines for your use in the coming weeks: “Freedom is like a religion to us.” I think those will be good words for you to live by. Are you part of a group that suffers oppression and injustice? Are you mixed up in a situation that squashes your self-expression? Are you being squelched by the conditioned habits of your own unconscious mind? It’s high time to rebel. The quest for liberation should be your spiritual calling.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): If you’re planning on breaking a taboo, sneaking into a forbidden zone, or getting intimate with an edge-dweller, don’t tell boastful stories about what you’re doing. For now, secrecy is not only sexy; it’s a smart way to keep you safe and effective. Usually I’m fond of you telling the whole truth. I like it when you reveal the nuanced depths of your feelings. But right now I favor a more cautious approach to communication.

Until your explorations have progressed further, I suggest that you only discuss them sparingly.

As you put your experiments in motion, share the details on a need-to-know basis. sacurrent.com • May 20-26, 2015 • CURRENT 63

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