Daily - The Austin Chronicle (2024)

Oh, It's Such a Shame

Whoops.Earlier this month, Ryan Sambol of the Strange Boys told OTR the band wouldn’t be using the tracks produced by Jay Reatard for its upcoming debut LP for In the Red Recordings, but no one thought to clue in Reatard. After getting clued in, the Memphis-based punk refused to take the stage after the Strange Boys Aug. 4 in Dallas. Apparently things got pretty ugly. You can read the promoter’s account of the evening here, while Reatard and others have responded on the message boards of Brooklyn Vegan."It was just a misunderstanding,” says Sambol, adding with a hint of irony that the Reatard-produced “Nothing” may work its way onto the album. Before embarking on a West Coast run, the Boys appear on KVRX’s Local Live this Sunday, followed by an in-store at Trailer Space Records on Aug. 24.

Extended Hacienda

This week, Hacienda’s Abraham Villanueva expounded on the significance of the Band’s 1969 eponymous album as an influence on his own quartet. Next month, Hacienda releases its official debut, Loud Is the Night (Alive Natural Sound Records), which unloads slinky, Sixties garage pop embellished by soulful harmonies between the three Villanueva brothers (Abraham, Jaime, and Rene) and cousin Dante Schwebel. To expand the sound, Hacienda traveled to Akron, Ohio to record with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who became a fan after the group opened for the Keys and Dr. Dog at La Zona Rosa back in 2006. Auerbach also brought in members of Dr. Dog to contribute extra vocals to the sessions. Villanueva gave us an idea of how the recording went down as they prepare for the album’s release and a tour next month with Dr. Dog.

Aztex Roundup, UT Preview, and More

Wynn on Wind

Don't bother calling Mayor Will Wynn next Wednesday, he'll be Big Apple bound. In his role as chair of the Energy Committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Wynn will be part of a meeting, chaired by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with the McCain and Obama camps. They'll be discussing energy infrastructure, and how a future administration could develop some big picture solutions to electricity production.In his press release announcing his seat at the big table, Wynn touts big pushes in Texas towards Big Renewable, like the decision to sink $5 billion into transmission lines to West Texas, and large biomass plants.But there's still a missing component. The green energy paradigm pushed by people like renewables convert T. Boone Pickens in his new Pickens Plan still depends on centralized energy production (big plant, far away, lotsa cables). "Ah," you say, "but hasn't electricity always been generated in big power plants?" Well, no. That only started with the shift from small, local DC generators to big AC production during the War of Currents. New tech, like microhydro, solar panels and small turbines, could all work really well at making every building at least partially energy-independent. What's interesting is that it could be cities – through zoning and coding – that could take the real lead on that distributed production.Full press release after the jump.

Pete Collins, City's IT Chief, Resigns

Minutes ago, the City of Austin issued a press release stating that Pete Collins, the city's Chief Information Officer, was resigning his post.Collins had been on leave since June, amid unspecified allegations he had used city resources on personal projects, allegations which engendered a welter of rampant, unfounded Internet speculation. After the Travis County District Attorney's office found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, the city had said they would be handling the matter in-house, reviewing Collins' employment as a personnel issue; Collins resignation ends the city review. In the statement, City Manager Marc Ott says “The resignation allows the City to move forward on vital technology projects without the uncertainty for employees of what will happen next.”The city press release is pasted after the jump.

Cox to Sell 'Statesman'

Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, which has owned the Austin American-Statesman since 1976, has just announced it will try to sell the local daily sometime by the first quarter of 2009. You might as well get the initial details straight from the horse's mouth.

Yo, It's QB Mustard, Chillaxin' With the Axe in the Home Theatre Room!

Man, Hasbro is not making any friends these days.On the heels of the legendary game maker's lawsuit over net application Scrabulous – which resulted in the wildly popular Scrabble knockoff getting knocked off the Facebook site – Hasbro has now announced a radical revamping of its classic board game, Clue.In an ill-advised effort to reflect changing times, Hasbro has re-situated the game to "take place at a modern mansion – at a party of the rich and famous," according to a recent NPR piece. It's also scrapped Col. Mustard's military career and made him a retired football player, introduced new rooms, like (egads!) a spa, and dumped the lead pipe for the more family-friendly likes of an axe. Yup … an axe.No, it makes sense. I mean, really, why give kids a fun, sweetly fuddy-duddy game – one that puts murder at a gentle remove by placing it in another era of scullery maids and secret passageways – when instead you can make a buck by mashing MTV Cribs and torture p*rn?Way to be hip to the times, Hasbro.

Batfest Flies to South First Street

It ain't the hugest news, but the most interesting wrinkle to arise at last week's City Council meeting has been ironed out: Batfest, the outdoor Labor Day festival scheduled at Ann Richards Bridge, will be moving one bridge west, to the South First Street bridge.The case came before council since fest organizer French Smith couldn't procure the signatures required from nearby businesses. Gege Cordeiro, proprietor of Your Living Room, had withheld hers, as the event drastically cut into her Labor Day sales, traditionally a big weekend for furniture stores. At council last week, many members appeared sympathetic, with Will Wynn questioning the broader wisdom of closing parts of massive thoroughfares like Congress Avenue for events like Bat Fest. "The process by which, administratively, folks just filling out some paperwork can shut down major arterials in our Downtown … I think frankly, we have outgrown that luxury as a community," Hizzoner said. Check out the whole blow by blow in tomorrow's print edition of City Hall Hustle.Press release on Batfest's move below the fold.

Queen for a Day

Gender in and of itself carries enough expectation baggage. But when gender skew has a matching suitcase, you know you gotta do some unpacking: even if it means shaving your armpits.If one more person asked if I were going to wear a tux, I was going to scream.Both founding Empress Mona littleMore and current/outgoing Empress Simone Riviera sent along invitations to the United Court of Austin's annual Coronation: The Chronicle, "The Gay Place," Getty, and I were being acknowledged with an award and would I like to accept it. I knew that my guayabera and Sansabelts wouldn't cut it. Accessorizing, to me, usually means putting a Romeo y Julieta in the little cigar pocket over my breast.