Covering Music, Film and Pop Culture
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...
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,...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
This summer, I’ve seen the pirate flag, the jolly roger, more often than I’ve seen the Stars and Stripes. The distinctive black flag usually includes a white skull with swords, or bones, crossed underneath....
Like numerous other women across the globe, I spent July preparing for the “Miss Universe” pageant. As the contestants were practicing keeping a straight face while wearing one of those overspangled, Vegas-inspired “national costumes,”...
