Commercial Potential
Someone left the door open, and Butch, bassist Steve Wesson’s pug, whose eyes look the size of half-dollars, is missing. He’s cruising around somewhere in the southeast Houston neighborhood where Wesson’s band practices — small houses lining the dark streets a stone’s throw from the 610 Loop. It’s an iffy…
Secrets of the Sonora Aero Club
In 1899, Charles Dellschau, a grouchy retired butcher, began to paint amazing airships. His intricate collages show shiplike decks supported by striped balloon pontoons; they show bright-colored helicopters and evil-looking striped dirigibles outfitted for war; they show crews of dapper little gentlemen accompanied by the occasional cat. Many pages are…
The Master Interpreter
Frank Sinatra once called him the best singer alive. After being asked about that quote for probably the millionth time, Tony Bennett quipped, “What does he know?” Well, in this case, the Chairman of the Board knew a lot. Dubbed Tony Bennett by Bob Hope, the former Anthony Benedetto is…
Reality Check
According to the sparse information available in standard reference books, Chilean expatriate director Ral Ruiz, now in his late fifties, has made more than 100 films since 1960; apparently only 50 or so are features, but that’s still an impressive stat. He’s been a staple on the festival circuit for…
Rotation
Portishead PNYC London On PNYC, Bristol, England’s Portishead indulges itself and its film interest; this is the soundtrack to a concert film recorded and filmed at New York’s Roseland Ballroom (except two tracks, recorded elsewhere). The idea of a live record from a band with only two full-length records is…
Punk Put-On
This Is Spinal Tap and Fear of a Black Hat did their pseudo-documentaries, those savagely satirical takes on rock and rap. But those who think Hard Core Logo will do the same are setting themselves up for more disappointment than Johnny Rotten playing a bar mitzvah. Hard Core Logo, based…
Outsiders with Stamina
“God Save The Kinks!” That was the rallying cry for years among diehard fans of the seminal British Invasion band that has hovered somewhere between the musical mainstream and the margins for some 35 years. It would make a perfect title for a boxed set, but alas — or then…
Sound Evidence
Documentary films that take rock or pop music as their subject rarely succeed as anything more than extended-play cheerleading. Take the concert films The Last Waltz or Stop Making Sense, for instance. No matter how impeccably directed the films may be, no matter how visually striking moments of them are,…
Christmas Casts
Charles Dickens’s crotchety old Scrooge is the quintessential capitalist. He works hard, saves his money and gets very, very rich. But everyone hates him for it. It takes Ebenezer years of loneliness and one very scary sleepless night to figure this out. But once he does, he becomes the best…
The Truth is Out There
Someone is lying in Deer Park. Pharmacist Garland Gross says he’s been subjected to a decadelong campaign of police harassment — he’s seen teams of cops periodically storm into his store for no reason, their guns drawn on startled and baffled employees; he’s had foul-mouthed, belligerent cops routinely block his…
Absurdly Funny
Jason Nodler’s King Ubu Is King may be the silliest, most absurd and irreverent show that the folks at Infernal Bridegroom Productions have put together yet. Loosely based on Alfred Jarry’s late-19th-century script Ubu Roi, a seminal work of the absurdist tradition, Nodler’s bizarre play is filled with ridiculous characters…
Balancing the Bench
Texas Governor George Bush now has a chance to address the huge racial imbalance in the Harris County judiciary. Whether he does or not depends on a tangled set of judicial appointment considerations, including candidate resumes, party loyalty and festering grudges involving the aspirants for the jobs. With only two…
Suchu’s Smart
Jennifer Wood’s small, Montrose-based modern dance company has been through three incarnations in the past five years: first Duplex Dance Co., then Mudslide, and now Suchu Dance. But at TemplO last weekend, a concert of her choreography — appropriately titled Map — showed that she knows exactly where she’s going…
The Thoughts of Chairman Brown
Mayor Lee P. Brown must be getting tired of hearing that his administration can’t communicate, because at a recent senior staff confab he unveiled a new weapon in the war for little minds. Brown’s aides handed the assembled bureaucrats laminated pocket cards with the imposing title “Mayor Lee P. Brown’s…
Son of Psycho
First of all, if you’re among the benighted who’ve never seen Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 shocker Psycho, stop reading at the end of this paragraph. A movie review, even one as incisive and elegant as this one, is no way to be introduced to Hitchcock’s horror masterpiece. Your assignment is to…
Letters
Courtside Manners I applaud you for your investigative enthusiasm [“Risky Business,” by Brad Tyer, November 26]. You seem to have related a fair and objective story. It appears that the Norrises have been (and I hope still are) working well within the constraints of their permits. It is amazingly convenient…
Hot Plate
“I’m in the mood for something light but really tasty,” I told the girl behind the counter at Paulie’s (1834 Westheimer, 807-7271). “Oh, then you want the shrimp BLT,” she chirped, without a moment’s hesitation. How right she was. Paulie’s version of this lunch-counter standard ($6.95) starts with a sturdy…
News of the Weird
Lead Stories *Calgary, Alberta, construction worker Michael Pearse, age 22, an admitted hothead, pleaded guilty to making threats in 1996 while trying to find a friend’s ex-girlfriend, but at his sentencing hearing in November 1998 he claimed to be a gentle man and had the report of a government neuropsychologist…
Night & Day
Thursday December 10 He’s not John Glenn — but John Glenn can’t paint. In fact, Apollo 12 Captain Alan Bean is the only artist to have ever walked on the moon. His book Apollo: An Eyewitness Account by Astronaut/Explorer Artist/Moonwalker Alan Bean is a collection of his painted reflections on…
‘Bourne Again
When we were younger — amid the myriad musical oddities of the 1980s — there was Eugene Chadbourne. A self-proclaimed “avant-garde country protest troubadour,” Chadbourne seemed to be everywhere at once; he’s recorded and performed with John Zorn, Kramer, Elliott Sharp, They Might Be Giants, Violent Femmes and Camper Van…
Holiday Decor Contest
Interested in becoming a Christmas card designer? Here’s your chance via the Internet. Your work could be seen by thousands. And you could win a Polaroid camera and film, with more prizes to be announced. Www.houstonpress.com and Hypercon, Inc. present “Christmas (Holiday) Cards from the Edge” Gallery & Contest. See…
Independent Means
“I didn’t want to be that guy,” says Joe Grisaffi, referring to the recent crop of writer/director/producer/star darlings of the indie film world. Turns out it’s hard to make your first movie and not be that guy. As we watch dailies of Grisaffi drunkenly French-kissing the chin of his co-star…
The Hogg Sisters
What’s the difference between postmodern industrial chic and Salvation Army shoddy? After several visits to the Palace Cafe and its companion, the Hogg Grill, side by side in the fashionable Hogg Palace lofts downtown, I’m still wondering. Cinda Ward and Armando Palacios (of Armando’s fame) own both cafes. The Palace…
Dish
Head for Business Pundits proclaimed the death of handbrewed beers in Houston prematurely, it would appear; at least according to Scott and Lauri Littlewood, owners of The Bank Draft in the Village (2424 Dunstan, 522-6258). Not only are the Littlewoods marking their fourth year of purveying microbrews to appreciative Houstonians,…