For me, the holidays are just ho-ho-hum
Stopping by a friend’s house the day after Thanksgiving, I was amazed by both her lavishly ornamented tree and her breezy declaration of the Christmas colors she was considering for next year. Despite the...
Author: Anna
Patchwork of fond memories keeps us warm
We live in a culture of abundance, a society drowning in stuff. Off-site storage units are a growth industry, while houses keep getting bigger to contain the avalanche of possessions. Magazines such as Real...
If you must eat animals, kill them with kindness
We’re quickly approaching “Turkey Day.” That’s shorthand for Thanksgiving, and it emphasizes the meat-centric-ness of the holiday. These days, the Pilgrims are mere Yankee window-dressing to the “Festival of Turkey.” Thanksgiving is just one...
Which Ghouls rule on Halloween? In Austin, that’s a no-brainer
Zombies are the monster of the moment, at least in Central Texas. While the ’80s and ’90s had sexy bloodsuckers inspired by Anne Rice’s “Vampire Chronicles,” zombies are now the most fashionable undead. Sure,...
Apocalypto Previw at Fantastic Fest
A version of this ran in the French magazine L’Ecran Fantastique under the byline Anna Hanks Sicard No matter what you think of Mel Gibson’s religion and politics— especially following The Passion of the...
As the Stones say, you can make it if you try
It’s a cliché of the interconnectedness of the world that when a butterfly flaps its wings in Wales, it affects the weather in Waco. Yet sometimes global forces really do have very local consequences....
FANTASTIC FEST and Texas Chain Massacre: The Beginning
Swag from the premiere of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING I think that a version of this was published–in French– in L’Ecran Fantastique in 2006, as I remember getting paid for it. For the...
Films offer a glimpse of our global neighbors
Travel is often considered broadening, giving one panache, polish and a proper perspective on world events. Alas, the scandalous price of oil, the expense of mountain-climbing Sherpa guides and yaks, combined with the reality...
ACL Fest is just too much of a good thing
This is the tale of two bands. One’s country. The other, rock ‘n’ roll. Both are from Austin and both played ACL Fest on Saturday. The sultry heat made Zilker Park feel like a...
As victims bite the dust, ‘Snakes’ fans bond
When my mother was 6, she was bitten by a rattlesnake. The Boy Scout next door tied a tourniquet around her ankle and whisked her to a Houston emergency room. Sixty-odd years later, she...
