AltWeeklies Wire
Fruitcake, That Traditional Holiday Brick, Need Not Be Inedible: Try This Onenew
There's only one fruitcake in the entire world, right? Wrong. Here’s a recipe for an entirely edible fruitcake, made more delicious with a side serving of creole whiskey sauce, and some egg nogg to wash it down.
Artvoice |
Katherine O'Day |
12-18-2009 |
Food+Drink
Murky Waters: Memphis is Dumping Sewage into the Mississippinew
A city plant is discharging sewage into local rivers and streams, and the Tennessee Clean Water Network, an independent environmental advocacy group based in Knoxville, has filed notice of its intent to sue the city over violations of the Clean Water Act.
The Memphis Flyer |
Bianca Phillips |
12-18-2009 |
Environment
Penelope Cruz on Almodovar and 'Broken Embraces'new

“The first time I worked with him, I was a whore giving birth in a bus. Then, a nun that gets pregnant from a transvestite. Every time I have my moment of ‘Really, isn’t this going to be too much? How are we going to make this believable?’ And then, he does it. Every single time.”
Montreal Mirror |
Mark Slutsky |
12-18-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Is it Possible 'The Road' Isn't Grim Enough?new

Wanting the movie version of Cormac McCarthy's The Road to be even more bleak may sound like the ultimate in moviegoer masochism—thank you, sir, may I have another cannibal holocaust?
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
12-18-2009 |
Reviews
Crossing Over: When a Calligrapher Meets a Graffiti Artistnew

One afternoon, Lisa Engelbrecht invited Jose Martinez and his crew to her house, on the east side of Long Beach. They spray-painted a fence in her backyard. When two street artists collaborate, she saw, they don’t speak. They just paint, in a kind of dance.
L.A. Weekly |
Gendy Alimurung |
12-18-2009 |
Art
'Nine': Rob Marshall Tries to Connect the Dance Numbersnew

An assault on the senses from every conceivable direction—smash zooms, the earsplitting eruption of something like music, the spectacle of a creature called Kate Hudson—Nine thrashes about in search of “cinema” the way a child thrown into the deep end of a pool flails for a flotation device.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-18-2009 |
Reviews
LAPD Audit: New Chief Releases a Report Showing Broad Mismanagementnew
The city may not be as safe as the 1950s like Bill Bratton often boasted, but apparently the bookkeeping by the Los Angeles Police Department is “stuck” in that decade, and a new and embarrassing audit is roiling City Hall—by explaining how bad things really are.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald and Christine Pelisek |
12-18-2009 |
Economy
The New Gay Romance, By and For Straight Womennew

One evening, a small crowd gathers at the Hustler Hollywood store on Sunset Boulevard for a reading of James Buchanan’s new romance novel, Personal Demons. In the book, a gay FBI agent is about to make love to his boyfriend, an LAPD officer.
L.A. Weekly |
Gendy Alimurung |
12-18-2009 |
Books
A Reporter Uncovered a Scandal at the City Jail: How Nothing (Almost) Happenednew

Complaints languished about the city jail until last fall, when the city and the court finally asked the police department’s Internal Affairs to take them over. What made the city do the right thing? A story that never saw the light of day.
San Antonio Current |
Elaine Wolff |
12-17-2009 |
Media
Foreclose on the Banks
It was widely understood at the time that the federal government expected looser credit markets in exchange for the bailout. Obviously Obama should have gotten it in writing. But oral contracts are just as legally binding as written ones.
FDA Late to Fight Rampant Abuse of OxyContinnew

An estimated 70 percent of Central Coast heroin addicts start out on pharmaceuticals like OxyContin. Now, after widespread abuse, the FDA is looking to clamp down on drug makers. For Stefan R., a recovering addict, the efforts are too little, too late.
Good Times Santa Cruz |
Curtis Cartier |
12-17-2009 |
Drugs
Moon Walk: Art of the Cosmos Unveils a Creative Look at Explorationnew
"I think in a way, art and science come from similar kinds of sensibilities, in terms of discovery and in terms of pushing our known boundaries," says Blake Milteer, curator of a new exhibit of space art.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Edie Adelstein |
12-17-2009 |
Art
The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum Has One More Year to Save Itselfnew
Time is ticking away. You can almost feel it in the ancient halls, reverberating off the intricate metal bars of the old elevator, graying the faces of the bright wall murals. One year.
Colorado Springs Independent |
J. Adrian Stanley |
12-17-2009 |
Education
Man Up: Another Side to the Domestic Violence Storynew
Publicly, Joshua Gonze supports a controversial cause known as “fathers’ rights.” Less known is that for years, Gonze has been able to suppress and counter domestic abuse claims made by two former spouses.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Corey Pein |
12-17-2009 |
Children & Families
Before the Cheesecake Factory, Arlington Was Home to Storied Punk Residencesnew

Collin Crowe, 26, the guitarist for Buildings, was among the final tenants of Kansas House, a tiny single-family home on the corner of N. Kansas Street and Wilson Boulevard that was among Arlington’s last underground art spaces.
Washington City Paper |
Aaron Leitko |
12-17-2009 |
Music