Chronic is now your one-stop blog shop for buzz on politics, sports, music, film, television, gaming, technology, design, gay stuff, and – do we even need to say it? – opinion.
Our blogs as you knew them (Earache!, The Score, etc.) still exist – though the news/politics blog is now called "Newsdesk" – and you can still spin off into your own zone of interest if that's your preference.
But now all blog posts will also feed into Chronic, the better to keep you up-to-date on all subjects in the universe – newest on top, just like you like it. Love it, loathe it, but tell us what you think about it. – Cindy Widner
"At one past midnight on the third Thursday of each November, over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau begin their journey through a sleeping France to Paris for immediate shipment to all parts of the world. Banners announce the news: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive!"
The annual arrival of the new wines is always an occasion for celebration at Austin's popular French restaurants and this year, the Texas Culinary Academy joins in the fun, owing to the French heritage of their Cordon Bleu curriculum. Here's what's happening.
Chez Nous(510 Neches, 473-2413; www.cheznousaustin.com) The arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau always inspires a festive atmosphere at Austin's oldest French bistro. They will be open the regular hours with the regular menu, pouring plenty of fresh, new wines.
Aquarelle(606 Rio Grande, 479-8117; www.aquarellerestaurant.com) The proprietors of this little French jewel box invite you to attend their Beaujolais Soiree. The fete will take over the restaurant for the evening and will feature a variety of light, young wines paired with a casual street food menu. Look for reasonably priced wines by the glass and such delectables as a plate of imported cheeses, baguette sandwiches stuffed with steak, beef Burgundy,or coq au vin, served with pomme frites. Food items and glasses of wine will be priced individually. Thursday, November 20th, 5-9pm.
Ventana Restaurant, Texas Culinary Academy (11400 Burnet Road, 339-3850; www.txca.edu) Sommelier instructor Jane Nickles will host Beaujolais Nouveau and Beyond - an hors d'oeuvres and Beaujolais Nouveau reception followed by a four course dinner showcasing dishes and wines from the region around Lyon, France. $60 per person, reservations necessary. Friday, November 21st, 6pm.
Brown's Muschamp Scam Makes 2009 Glow Burnt-Orange Bright
Forget the Texas Longhorns' win over Kansas last Saturday. The bigger win came Monday, and it portends great things in 2009. Let's call it The Big Bluff. Mack Brown, the master recruiter, found a way, the only way, to keep red-hot defensive coach Will Muschamp for another year. It will take Muschamp that long at least to figure this hustle out. How to keep a young coach who's hungry for a head coaching gig with schools just as starving for gridiron success circling the campus?
Meet my successor, Brown says. I'll train him, then hand him the crown. Of course, I don't plan on leaving for a long, long, long, long time. Did I mention I'm not going anywhere? Oh, and Coach-to-be Muschamp, here's some extra cash... It's a plan that just might work. Muschamp is Conan O'Brien to Brown's Jay Leno. Only Leno's contract has a firm date. Muschamp's not so much.
According to Ohio State University researchers, tetrahydrocannibinol, or THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, may be good for the "aging brain by reducing inflammation there and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells," reads a press release. The OSU research suggests that the "development of a legal drug" that contains properties "similar to this in marijuana" might actually prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
THC now joins nicotine, alcohol and caffeine as "agents" that when used in moderation have shown some protection against inflammation, which can help ensure better memory later in life, reports OSU. "It's not that everything immoral is good for the brain," says OSU psychology professor Gary Wenk. "It's just that there are some substances that millions of people for thousands of years have used in billions of doses" -- and millions of people can't be wrong, right? (Of course, I wouldn't go so far as to call pot, booze or caffeine use "immoral.") "Could people smoke marijuana to prevent Alzheimer's disease if the disease is in their family?" Wenk asks. "We're not saying that, but it might actually work." Wenk apparently thinks that it might be better to come up with another "legal" substance that mimics natural marijuana -- or maybe we could just legalize marijuana?
I’m currently in meeting of the State Board of Education, which in a minute will be taking public testimony on proposals to revise the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills requirements on high school science classes. There is tremendous worry among supporters of the theory of evolution that the 15-member board, which is two-thirds Republican and has a major fundamentalist Christian faction, will try to push creationist/intelligent design ideas into school curricula. (The board is only scheduled to take public testimony today; a vote on the standards is not likely until the spring.)
The new tack of creationists in Texas is to point to a legal requirement that instructors teach the “strengths and weaknesses” of any theory. A seemingly sensible goal, except that many of the supposed “weaknesses” that creationists want to push are considered bogus by an overwhelming majority of the scientific community, and not legitimate scientific criticisms.
The UT Longhorns won their first game in the NCAAs, beating Washington State, 1-0, then were ousted, 2-0, by the host Portland Pilots, who outshot UT 22-4 and dominated play despite having three starters off in Chile, playing for the U.S. in the Under-20 Women's World Cup. It was the third time in five years that the Pilots have ended UT's season in the NCAAs. (Speaking of youth World Cups, the U.S. lost to North Korea, 2-1, in the final of the U-17 Women's World Cup on Sunday in New Zealand.)
And so, suddenly, the local college soccer season is over, though elsewhere it goes on. Texas A&M was the only Texas or Big 12 team to make it through the first weekend in Division I; they're at Florida on Sunday. Texas A&M-Commerce advanced to the final 16 in Women's D2. Still alive on the men's side: Wichita Falls' Midwestern State in Division II, and unbeaten Trinity of San Antonio in Division III. No Texas teams qualified in Men's Division I.
Below – seasons go on: Aztex, Stoke, WC2010, Champs League, MLS Cup Final
APD Among Texas Police Agencies With Poor Eyewitness ID Procedures
The Austin Police Department "meets the minimum legal requirements" for the administration of live and photo lineups of criminal suspects, but "does little to ensure that its lineup procedures provide the best evidence possible in any given case," according to a new report released this morning by the non-profit The Justice Project.
The group contacted more than 1,000 police departments across Texas requesting policies and procedures for photo and live lineup procedures; 750 departments responded, but just 88 had any written protocols for the administration of lineups – and among that group, TJP found that the policies and procedures provided are "largely inadequate" and are "inconsistent across departments." (More than 600 departments – including the Travis Co. Sheriff's Office – returned a form affirming that they have no written policies governing lineup procedures. Another 284 departments failed to respond to TJP's requests, as required by Texas' public information law. The group has sent those agencies a second open records request and has contacted the Texas Attorney General's Open Records Division.)
That's troubling news for criminal justice reformers: faulty eyewitness identification has played a role in 75% of the 223 exonerations nationwide. In Texas, mistaken identification has been implicated in 82% of the 38 cases where a defendant was exonerated by DNA. Texas now leads the nation in the number of DNA exonerations.
Merritt: "Partisan differences must be replaced with a system that respects the will of the House and the vote of every individual member."
So, before the House can work out who is going to challenge Speaker Tom Craddick next session, the big question is how to mount that challenge. The front runners don't want their attack on the big boss upset by some weird ruling from the parliamentarian (not like that would ever happen, right?) But how to ensure that?
Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview, thinks he has a plan.
Merritt has already filed his paperwork to run for speaker and is one of the regularly mentioned names that seems to stand a snowball in Hades chance. What he proposes is a speaker summit where the ground rules for campaigning and for actually holding the speaker election can be established by the contenders. That could be the most important step, considering that it was the lack of a secret ballot that derailed Rep. Jim Pitt's speaker challenge last session. "The reality is this is basically a split House," he noted, adding that this could be a great step towards genuine bipartisanship.
The real question is: Will this be perceived as him being the kind of above-the-fray leader that Craddick isn't, and can his attempt to level the playing field become a game-changing advantage? See below the fold for the full press release.
It looks like former Eric H. Holder, Jr., is likely to be tapped by President-elect Barack Obama as his nominee to become the next attorney general. Holder is a former deputy AG during the Clinton administration, who previously served as a judge and U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. If confirmed by the Senate, Holder would become the country's first African-American AG.
Oh, and he's also a fan of increasing penalties for marijuana possession and use. Indeed, unlike Obama, who has said he would forbid the Drug Enforcement Administration from using taxpayer funds to bust medi-pot patients taking the drug in compliance with state law, and, importantly, has come out publicly as a foe of mandatory minimum sentences, especially for non-violent drug offenders. It's a position that appears to run contrary to Holder's feelings about man-min sentencing.
One of the good things about Shout Factory absorbing Hightone is the resulting compilations. A recent set of releases features highly recommended best-of collections from Buddy Miller, Tom Russell, and Dave Alvin.
The Grammy-winning Alvin, who was perhaps Hightone’s signature artist, makes an appearance at the Cactus Café Friday night, so I thought this would be a good time to catch up with him. We spoke about his time at Hightone, being a flash in the pan versus having a career, the origins of the song “Fourth of July,” and his efforts to help the survivors of sometime-bandmate Chris Gaffney.
Geezerville: The show at the Cactus is listed as acoustic. What does that mean?
Dave Alvin: I’m going to have Chris Miller with me on guitar. We’ve done this a couple of times and it’s fun.
G: Why so stripped down? Are you trying something new?
DA: Part of it is that I tend to juggle things, juggle presentations.
G: I know you had an all-woman band you played with recently, and that sounded really interesting.
DA: That was a gas. In fact, we’re going to be recording in December out there in Austin. But to answer your first question, I tend to balance things out. Maybe two-thirds or three-fourths of my touring is loud with a band. Then I kind of like to do things quietly for a while. It’s a challenge for me and it’s a challenge for the audience, I guess.
Chip Rosenthalwrites about the local impact of Prop. 8 over at the Slackerwood blog. How close to home? Well, apparently Alan Stock, the Plano-based CEO of the Cinemark movie theatre chain, personally donated $9,999 to the "Yes on Prop. 8" campaign, which led to the banning of gay marriage in California.
If you follow movie news at all, you've already heard about the continued fallout from Prop. 8, in which contributors to the "Yes on Prop. 8" campaign are being publicly outed. Some call it a witch hunt; others say it's just desserts for those who helped fund the stripping of civil rights from a whole swath of American citizens. Frankly, I've got no problem asking contributors to put their mouth where their money was – I bet it was a lot more fun being "Yes on Prop. 8" when it just involved writing a check and not, you know, having to actually say out loud why you think gay people aren't good enough to get married.
