Rotation
Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five Passenger/Caroline In the true tradition of the guitar hero comes pianist Ben Folds, leader of the North Carolina trio Ben Folds Five. Just like the best fiery axmen, Folds commands and fuels his small, tightly wound Chapel Hill ensemble of piano, bass and drums…
Ascent of a Woman
In a sea of basic black, Susan Menke wore red. The occasion was the early December Holiday Spree benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the strawberry-blond Menke cut a striking figure in her low-cut, beaded gown of scarlet and matching over-the-elbow gloves. A few days later, a photo of…
Static
Johnny angel… It never surprises Houston-bred Johnny Goudie when discussions of his music turn quickly to his vocals. Sure, the effervescent hooks and crunching guitars that drive his bittersweet paeans to various malfunctioning emotions deserve their share of attention. But it’s his sugary croon — surely the high-pitched result of…
Cliche Positive
When a bisexual man tests positive for the HIV virus, who should he tell first — the man in his life, or the woman? This is one of the provocative questions that playwright Cheryl L. West asks in her domestic drama, Before It Hits Home, which is currently being presented…
Serious Dysfunction
About four years ago, Rob Nash — skinny Spring Branch boy and onetime TUTS junior thespian turned standup comic — was asked by the folks at Curtains Theater to give them “some kind of one-man show” to help fill their fallow summer season. Exactly what sort of performance Nash had…
Dreamscapes
Some moviegoers settling down to watch Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s City of Lost Children might think they’ve wandered into a Terry Gilliam film by mistake. All the signs are there: a dreary, moody community (this one a harbor town) as the setting; elaborate machinery that looks like a vision…
Independent Heaven
At the recently concluded Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford’s annual winter wonderland for independent cinema, the stakes were at an all-time high. Agents, producers and distributors tripped over one another and the snowdrifts filling the streets of Park City, Utah, in pursuit of the Next Big Thing. It was clear…
Station Break
“One minute to the floor.” The director’s countdown call brings to attention all the diverse guests gathered inside Channel 8’s studio this Monday afternoon. Off to one side of the main set — a pastiche of blue and earth-toned backgrounds fronted by two faux columns — a tittering assemblage of…
The Insider
Give ‘Em the Bird If you thought that set of glass tumblers the Chronicle sold last year to commemorate its takeover of the Post was in questionable taste, check out the latest self-congratulatory production over on Texas Avenue. For weeks, disbelieving employees have been trooping up to a tenth-floor conference…
Semper Fi
Charles Kruse sees things other people don’t. Unmarked graves, for instance. Kruse also sees devils and spies, ones he believes have been dispatched by a local politician to frustrate his effort to maintain a historic cemetery in southwest Houston. For a decade, the 55-year-old Kruse has been waging a private…
Letters
Due for a Censure Thank you for your excellent article about the Fitts family adoption case [“In the Child’s Best Interest,” by Bonnie Gangelhoff, January 18]. You are to be commended for your support and dedication to bringing the facts to the public eye. Obviously, it was Judge Bill Henderson,…
Press Picks
thursday february 8 The Best Kind of Loving: The Blackwoman’s Guide to Finding Intimacy Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant really wants black women to get married, but she’s titled her book “finding intimacy” because she’s not the type to force anyone into anything. Her golden rule for relationships is “friendship first, love…
Tropical Excursion
The recent cold snaps have had me craving warmth. Warm hearts, warm thoughts, warm feelings — they all start, I’m convinced, with a warm stomach. So when I noticed the tropical promise of the Reggae Cafe, tucked into a corner of the Briargrove Shopping Center, I rubbed my hands together…
Stellar Sandwich
It can be easy to be cynical about the opening of yet another coffee bar cum sandwich shop, but Star Pizza Expresso, while not conspicuously unique, is a solid comer in this genre of casual eateries. Of course, Star Pizza Expresso is probably the only restaurant of its type with…
Loose Gravel
“Do you have any wrap-it-up questions? Because we’re at a short stop here.” From a roadside pay phone in Oregon, Pavement drummer Steve West is offering his rendition of “Sorry, the interview is over,” backed by the faint chatter of goading bandmates telling him it’s time to get his ass…
Interstellar Drama
With a newly released CD in the stores, a European tour in the offing and a new label cooing pleasant tidings in their ears, the members of the Galactic Cowboys might be forgiven if they tried to forget that things were not always this sweet. But as much as any…
Loud Cloud
The early ’90s grunge explosion pretty much sealed the stateside fate of England’s noisy, atmospheric guitar invasion, relegating bands such as Swervedriver and My Bloody Valentine to America’s CD cutout bins in near record time. It’s an unfortunate bit of recent history that someone might want to pass on to…