Picks

Thursday
January 3
CAM Talks Another nifty lunch-time cultural opportunity here in cowtown, this from the Contemporary Arts Museum. Noontime on Thursdays, a staff member takes art fans on a loosely structured tour. The current exhibit is "Texas/Between Two Worlds," and the guide adjusts the speed and intensity of the tour to the needs and wants of those who've elected to have an informative art experience instead of a three-martini lunch. Go, see, and ask questions, ask questions, ask questions. The museum staff is on a mission -- they want us to understand and appreciate, as in enjoy, art. CAM Talks are free, and everyone is welcome. (This is not a brown-bag event -- no food or drink is allowed inside the museum.) Curator Peter Doroshenko will be giving today's CAM Talk. Noon. Contemporary Arts Museum, 5216 Montrose, 526-0773. (E.S.)

Friday
January 14
Bitch goddesses are passe Ru Paul picked the wrong drag -- the new face of sexuality is friendly, eager and earnest, with a "please like me" attitude barely removed from needy. This according to self-proclaimed sex goddess Annie Sprinkle, porn star cum performance artist and opening act for DiverseWorks's All the Rage: Solo Women's Voices series. Sprinkle's one-woman autobiographical show celebrates sex and, although her props include showgirl-style headdresses and clinical scopes, her delivery is pure Pollyanna. No matter how nominally lewd her posture, Sprinkle delivers information such as her "Public Cervix Announcement" guilelessly -- she's not even arch. Sprinkle effectively demystifies sexual equipment and leaves us with the frightening possibility that sex is all in the mind. No one under 18 admitted. 8 p.m. DiverseWorks, 1117 E. Freeway, 223-8346. $12; $10 members. (E.S.)

Royal Trux Early last week, I walked into Blockbuster Videos at Westheimer and Montrose to pick up a copy of Song of the Thin Man. But before I reached the mystery section, some slug at the counter screamed across the room: "Hey, man, your top-ten list sucked!" This was, aside from unwelcome harassment, a reference to my recent round-up of the year's best albums. Said slug's biggest problem seemed to be that I'd left off the Trux's Cats and Dogs, and as uncivilly as the correction was offered, the slug was probably right. The Trux make scum rock, NYC lower East Side-style, with heavy, meandering references to blues rock a la Rolling Stones, back when the Stones remembered to leave lots of meandering holes in the dissipated fabric. Last time I recommended their show at Emo's, the Trux no-showed, but the Shimmy Shack folks promise that this time around is a sure thing. 9 p.m. Shimmy Shack, 4216 Washington, 863-7383. 21-and-up $5; minors $7. (B.T.)

Saturday
January 15
Texas Arbor Day Two parks have planned free woodsy celebrations because Arbor Day is about more than planting trees. Inside the Loop, the Arboretum's free Urban Nature Series: Texas Arbor Day program features games, tours, demonstrations and free seedlings. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, 4501 Woodway Drive, 681-8433. Outside the Loop, the Jesse H. Jones Park is serving pioneer tea while forester Carmine Stahl and horticulturist Darlene Floyd explain pruning, transplanting, tree care and the use of wood. Free seedlings, of course. Pioneer teas -- concoctions made from native plants -- will be brewed and served at the park's Redbud Hill Pioneer Homestead from 1 to 3 p.m.; other activities run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center, 20634 Kenswick Drive, Humble, 466-8588. Free. (E.S.)

Art 2 Auction The local art community is planning to go into the writing biz with a new monthly publication called Art 2. Planned to debut in mid-February at 16 pages and with a circulation of 5,000, the publication will contain reviews written by a variety of local artists and art-affiliated folks. To raise seed money, the Art 2 instigators are auctioning works by Dan Allison, Wade Chandler, the Art Giyes, Billy Hassell, Joe Havel, Benito Huerta, Giles Lyon, Mike Mazell and Rachel Ranta, among others. (A little lean on the women there, folks.) Prices are projected in the $500-to-$1,500 range. Entertainment and food will be supplied to loosen up your auction-waving hand. The event will take place in Dan Allison's studio, 1107 E. Freeway (just down the row to the left from DiverseWorks, in the same warehouse). Call 523-6529 for info. Bidding starts at 7 p.m.; live auction at 9:30 p.m. (A.W.S.)

Nik Turner's Hawkwind Space Ritual '94 Ahhh, to be a tripped-out, silver-faced rocker in 1972... I, of course, was five at the time, and have little to no idea what the original Hawkwind was all about, except that it provides the excuse for this reformed reunion, which has all the makings of something strange. Turner was the frontman way back when, on Hawkwind's first seven albums, recorded between '70 and '76. Shortly after bassist Lemmy left to form Motorhead, Turner cut the ties and went solo as well. Now he's got a new CD on the racks under the band name Prophets of Time, featuring the talents of guitarist Helios Creed (ex-Chrome), Genesis P. Orridge (Psychic TV and Throbbing Gristle), violinist Simon House (ex-Bowie, Japan, Hawkwind) and members of Pressurehed. The live lineup is uncertain, but Creed, at least, is slated to appear. There's gonna be a light show. There's gonna be psychedelic slides. And there will quite likely be a bunch of old freaks standing around in the corners telling you how cool Turner was when they saw him play the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. Ignore them. 9 p.m. Shimmy Shack, 4216 Washington, 863-7383. 21-and-up $5; minors $7. (B.T.)