Fave Five Food Deals - 9/1/10

If you're going to be grilling and/or drinking beer for the final holiday weekend of the summer, this week's fave five Austin grocery deals will help you do both a little more cheaply.

1. Corn on the cob, 6 for $1 at Sun Harvest and Newflower (through 9/8/10)

2. Yellow nectarines, peaches, pluots, red and black plums, .88/lb. at Sprouts (through 9/8/10)

3. Organic red and green grapes, $1.50/lb. at Sun Harvest (through 9/8/10)

4. Boneless skinless chicken breasts or 85% lean ground beef, $1.88/lb. at Newflower (through 9/8/10)

5. J.W. Dundee Craft Beer 12-Pack Sampler, $10 at Sprouts (through 9/8/10)

Austin supermarket links (directs to weekly ads where available):
El Rancho Supermercado
Fiesta
H-E-B
Natural Grocers
Newflower Farmers Market
Randall's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Sun Harvest
Wheatsville Food Co-Op
Whole Foods Market

KTRU Leaving the Airwaves

The University of Houston Board of Regents voted 4-3 last week to purchase the transmitter and license of Rice University's KTRU 91.7 FM, effectively ending the station's 43-year run as a college radio trailblazer. KTRU will now become KUHC, a 24-hour classical music station, which frees up KUHF, UH's other radio station, to be a 24-hour NPR affiliate. KTRU will live on as an online streaming station, but that's a far cry from broadcasting with a 50,000-watt transmitter.

I first discovered KTRU as an impressionable 12-year-old listening to the S&M Show on Friday night. In 1980, KTRU was the only station in Houston where you were likely to hear anything to the left of "Whip It" on a regular basis. The first time my own music was played on the radio was on KTRU. Having worked as a DJ at UT Austin's student-run KTSB/KVRX in its cable radio infancy, I can authoritatively state that many of us considered KTRU's programming a benchmark to measure ourselves against.

Rice University's leadership shamefully engineered this $9.5 million deal in secret and made sure it went down in the dead of August to avoid the firestorm they knew would ensue if word got out while students were in town. Even so, a hastily assembled group called "Save KTRU" has formed in response.

Although the sale of KTRU to UH is still subject to FCC approval, it's unlikely the feds or anyone else can or will do anything to stop it. According to today's Houston Press, KUHF/KUHC is scheduled to take over KTRU's programming on Monday.

To some, the hue and cry over Rice's off-loading of KTRU may just seem like a bunch of music snobs whining about a station that played weird noise that most people don't listen to. But as someone whose student radio experience helped foster my career path as much as any class, I know there's way more at stake here. Former KTRU DJ Ray Shea sums it up as well as anyone:

KTRU was the driving force that would eventually propel me through six years and two college degrees. My best lifelong friends are all people I met at KTRU. And together we learned about music, about business, about media and promotions and organization and scheduling and budgeting. We learned how to deal with people, how to compromise and reach consensus. Sometimes we didn't learn as well as we should have, but goddammit, we learned.

And somewhere in all that craziness, all those late nights drinking beer and listening to records and arguing about music, we accidentally participated in a movement. A movement that would permanently change the face of the music industry forever.

Rice is short-sightedly gutting a learning laboratory that helped generations of students channel their passion for music and radio into viable skills for business and life. At $9.5 million, they're selling out cheap.

Fave Five Food Deals - 8/25/10

Temperatures aren't the only thing that's hot this week. Check out Austin's best grocery deals.

1. Strawberries (1 lb.), blueberries (4.4 oz.), blackberries (5.6 oz.) or raspberries (6 oz.), $1.25 ea. at Newflower (through 9/1/10)

2. Fresh Hatch peppers, $1.29 at Central Market (through 8/31/10)*

3. Yellow peaches, .48/lb. at Sprouts (through 9/1/10)

4. Organic Romaine hearts, 3 ct. package, $2 at Sun Harvest (through 9/1/10)

5. Green Bell peppers, 4 for $1 at Sprouts (through 9/1/10)

*You can also get roasted Hatch peppers for $2.79/lb. and just about any other Hatch-accented food item at Central Market.

Austin supermarket links (directs to weekly ads where available):
El Rancho Supermercado
Fiesta
H-E-B
Natural Grocers
Newflower Farmers Market
Randall's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Sun Harvest
Wheatsville Food Co-Op
Whole Foods Market

The Big 6-M

Alex hit the 6-month mark today. He celebrated this morning by tipping the pediatric scales at 20 pounds, 6 ounces. That was followed by a series of shots, which quelled the celebration somewhat.

The boy has started supplementing his heroic breastmilk intake with mushed-up solid foods such as brown rice cereal, bananas and avocados. I don't think he dug the latter too much, but he hasn't quite figured out how to refuse the spoon yet. I'm sure that will come soon enough.

As a dad, the best thing about this age is that he's starting to reciprocate my goofing with him by making funny noises and wet raspberries you'd swear were the work of an 18-month-old. Sometimes he'll even get right up in my face and go, "AAAGGH!" with a wide, two-toothed smile. Even when I'm dead-tired at 6 a.m., you just can't beat that.

Fave Five Food Deals - 8/18/10

This week's best Austin grocery deals include several dangerously low prices on produce. If you dare to brave the crowds today, you can really make a killing with Double-Ad Wednesday in full effect at all three of this week's featured stores.

1. Gala apples, .37/lb. at Newflower (through 8/25/10)

2. Yellow peaches, Bartlett pears and cantaloupes, .48/lb. at Sun Harvest (through 8/25/10)

3. Green or red leaf lettuce, .48/ea. at Sun Harvest (through 8/25/10)

4. 1 lb. baby carrots, .77/ea. at Sprouts (through 8/25/10)

5. Red bell peppers and Hass avocados, .77/ea. at Sprouts (through 8/25/10)

Austin supermarket links (directs to weekly ads where available):
El Rancho Supermercado
Fiesta
H-E-B
Natural Grocers
Newflower Farmers Market
Randall's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Sun Harvest
Wheatsville Food Co-Op
Whole Foods Market

Credits Roll for Dobie Theatre

It's the end of the line for the Dobie Theatre. The 4-screen cinema across the street from UT will close Sunday.

The Dobie was never a particularly great place to see a movie. Parking was a hassle, the screens were small and the auditorium seating configurations were weird. Despite all that, the Dobie's adventurous programming during its 80s/90s heyday made it an integral part of Austin's film scene. In many ways, longtime Dobie owner/manager Scott Dinger set the stage for the Alamo Drafthouse's ascendancy.

The first movie I ever saw at the Dobie was a midnight screening of Liquid Sky 23 years ago this month. I saw a lot of midnight movies at Dobie between 1987 and 1989 because it was an easy stumble from my dorm room. Alcohol definitely enlivened repeated viewings of low-budget, Troma-style gore vehicles like Blood Diner, Street Trash and Surf Nazis Must Die. Then there was the 3-D porn movie with the late John Holmes literally coming right at you.

I remember going to see Slacker there in 1990 when it was just a weird local indie film. The girl I went with thought the movie was pointless, but for me, Slacker epitomized why disregarding potential career opportunities to stay in Austin after graduation might not be such a bad idea.

The last movie I remember seeing at the Dobie was the Ramones doc End of the Century in 2005. After Landmark Theaters took over the Dobie in 1999, they gradually began shifting toward more typical art-house fare that could just as easily be seen at other cinemas around town. Landmark announced it was abandoning the Dobie earlier this year. The chain sought a new operator to take over, but like many formerly thriving UT-area businesses, the Dobie has become functionally obsolete.

When I came to UT, you could see movies at the Dobie, the Varsity and at several on-campus locations curated by the Texas Union Film Program. What a difference a quarter-century makes (adjusts dentures).

The Texas Troubles

This summer is the 150th anniversary of the "Texas Troubles," a forgotten spate of pre-Civil War racial hysteria started by a fire of disputed origin that destroyed the Dallas business district. The most likely cause of the fire was high temperatures combined with highly combustible phosphorus matches. However, other fires in Denton and Pilot Point fueled the notion that a coordinated slave revolt was underway.

Without any proof of the latter, the editor of the burned-out Dallas Herald called for vigilante justice to be carried out against suspect slaves and white abolitionists. This ultimately led to the public lynching of three slaves near Dealey Plaza. All told, at least 30 and as many as 100 blacks and whites alike died at the hands of vigilantes across North and East Texas. Some credit the Texas Troubles as a major-but-largely-unexamined factor in the South's swing toward succession.

Dallas-based writer Julia Barton has an very interesting story about the Troubles and their aftermath in this month's Texas Observer.

Stuff I Been Writing About

I did a bit of music scribing in this week's Chron, reviewing the latest releases from local pop bands Masonic and Household Names. I also wrote a preview blurb for the 7th Annual North vs. South Music Festival, which is taking place down at the Hole in the Wall as I write (sigh).

I'm still writing event picks for the local Austin and Dallas pages of go2.com, too. So check it out if you're into the whole mobile web brevity thing.

Fave Five Food Deals - 8/11/10

The seedless watermelon price cuts go deeper in this week's edition of Austin's best grocery deals.

1. Mini seedless watermelons, .88/ea. at Sun Harvest (through 8/18/10)

2. Pork loin roast, $1.88/lb. at Newflower (through 8/18/10)

3. Bartlett pears, .49/lb. at Newflower (through 8/18/10)

4. Blueberries, .99/pint at Sprouts (through 8/18/10)

5. Stonyfield Farms organic fat-free yogurt, .50/ea. at Whole Foods Market (through 8/18/10)

Austin supermarket links (directs to weekly ads where available):
El Rancho Supermercado
Fiesta
H-E-B
Natural Grocers
Newflower Farmers Market
Randall's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Sun Harvest
Wheatsville Food Co-Op
Whole Foods Market

Walking On a Thin Line

Here's some handheld video of the New Drugs trying to bring on Vietnam flashbacks with our rendition of Huey's "Walking On a Thin Line" last Saturday at Antone's.



Guitarist J.D. Fanning goes kinda nuts at the end. He later told me he'd accidentally been possessed with the spirit of Paul Leary circa PCPPEP.

Many thanks to the Diamond Smugglers for letting us start the show.

Prop. 8 Ruled Unconstitutional

Proposition 8 cannot withstand any level of scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause, as excluding same-sex couples from marriage is simply not rationally related to a legitimate state interest.
-Chief U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker

The Proposition 8 battle is far from over, of course. Nevertheless, Walker's full ruling is worth reading for the manner in which it systematically and logically lays waste to every argument against same-sex marriage made by Proposition 8's proponents.

Whole Foods Takes Aim at Newflower

Big grocery news yesterday with Whole Foods Market announcing its Austin area expansion plans. We already knew about WFM's delayed Domain store to replace their cramped Gateway location, but the new locations at Hill Country Galleria and William Cannon and MoPac will give Newflower's nearby stores some serious competition.

This is particularly true for the Hill County Galleria store, which will be right across the highway from Newflower. Although Newflower's sale prices are hard to beat, price point isn't necessarily the driving force for hill-dwelling Escalade moms.

Between Newflower, Sprouts, Natural Grocers and Sun Harvest (but still no sign of Trader Joe's), you could argue that Austin's budget natural grocer sector is starting to get overbuilt. Of all these stores, I think Newflower may be in for the toughest ride. The Colorado-based chain already had to shutter a Dallas store earlier this year.

It's worth noting that Newflower is an offshoot of Sunflower Farmer's Markets, which was started by Mike Gililland, the co-founder of Wild Oats. Whole Foods acquired Wild Oats in a contentious 2007 transaction that garnered plenty of attention from federal antitrust regulators. There is no love whatsoever between Gilliland and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey. When Whole Foods opened a store in Wild Oats' Boulder, Colo. backyard, Mackey famously sent Gilliland a copy of the board game Risk with a note reading, "forewarned is forearmed."

Fave Five Food Deals - 8/4/10

Now that your electric bill is about to spike thanks to triple-digit heat, it's time to start saving with the week's best Austin grocery deals.

1. Yellow peaches, .49 at Sprouts (through 8/11/10)*

2. Natural boneless, skinless chicken breasts, $1.88 at Newflower (through 8/11/10)

3. Texas seedless watermelons, $1.99/ea. at Newflower (through 8/11/10)

4. Sweet white corn, 5 for $1 at Sun Harvest (through 8/11/10)

5. Mr. Bubble bubble bath, .67 at H-E-B (through 8/10/10)**

*Central Market, which typically stocks superlative produce, also has yellow peaches on sale this week for .99/lb.

**Price with in-store coupon, and no, despite the fact that this is "Fave Five Food Deals," we do not recommend ingesting Mr. Bubble.

Austin supermarket links (directs to weekly ads where available):
El Rancho Supermercado
Fiesta
H-E-B
Natural Grocers
Newflower Farmers Market
Randall's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Sun Harvest
Wheatsville Food Co-Op
Whole Foods Market

The Bass Line from "The Brady Bunch" End Theme as Rendered by Some Guy in Shorts

Back off, Barney Miller! From Listener Kliph Nesteroff at WFMU's Beware of the Blog, get ready to experience "The Bass Line from The Brady Bunch End Theme as Rendered by Some Guy in Shorts."



The "Guy in Shorts" is actually named Jason Long, and the awesome bass line from The Brady Bunch End Theme was originally performed by the great session bassist Carol Kaye, who also played on the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep - Mountain High," Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons" and a bajillion other hit records produced in L.A. during the 60s.

Hot August Shite

Nationally renowned and exquisitely sequined Neil Diamond tribute band the Diamond Smugglers play their only Austin show of the year this Saturday night at Antone's. If you've never witnessed the Smugglers' turn "Longfellow Serenade" into "Long Duck Dong Serenade" - not to mention their versions of wholly inappropriate songs like Nirvana's "Rape Me" delivered in the Diamond brogue - well, now is the time.

As an added bonus, my Huey Lewis and the News cover band the New Drugs fills the spiral slicer slot on this bill.