sunday
july 20
Use of Medication in the Treatment of Infertility Almost one in six couples in the Houston area experiences the frustration and pain of infertility. During this difficult time in a marriage, information can be both hard to come by and confoundingly contradictory. Tonight, Dr. Robert McWilliams, medical director of the Center for Reproduction at Gramercy in Houston, will present an overview of medications currently being used in the treatment of infertility. The pros and cons of drugs such as Fertinex, Pergonal, Humegon, Clomid, Estrase, Progesterone, Provera, Parlodel and Lupron will be discussed in plain old layman's language. 2-4 p.m., Columbia Woman's Hospital, 7600 Fannin, Room AB (ground floor near cafeteria), 723-2299. $2; $3, couples.
Friends of Kathleen Benefit and Fundraiser Got the sorrowful Sunday blues? Soften the slide into Monday with a slew of local blues acts, including the Sonny Boy Terry Band, Grady Gaines, Joe "Guitar" Hughes and Sweet Mama Cotton and the Sugar Daddies. Those of you familiar with "The Blues Broad" Kathleen Kern, former Sunday morning disc jockey for KPFT's Little Blue Corner, might be especially interested: Proceeds from the evening's show will help her defray the medical costs of fighting cancer. 4-10 p.m. Shakespeare Pub, 14129 Memorial Drive, 869-7746. $5 minimum donation.
German Celebration As part of the Houston Symphony's salute to Deutschland this weekend, guest violinist Kyoko Takezawa will be featured in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, and the symphony will play pieces by Bach, Brahms and Strauss. Christoph Eschenbach conducts. Pre-performance sideshows are also themed to Oktoberfest in July: There'll be oom-pah bands, costumed characters and (shudder) something termed "German cuisine." Prepare for the wurst. 8 p.m. at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, off I-45 in The Woodlands, (281) 363-3300. $8.50 and $10, reserved seating; $7, lawn.
monday
july 21
A Night with the FBI Imagine the worst sort of fiend set loose in the nation: Would he lace the medicine bottles of children? Hide plastic explosives in the planes of dog-tired commuters? Even worse, would he threaten Mickey Mouse and all his fans by setting an Ebola-type virus free in DisneyWorld? What if he does it? Then you'd have the "Cataclysmist," current baddest of the bad guys emanating from the imagination of former FBI agent cum author Paul Lindsay in his latest novel, Freedom to Kill. This evening, Lindsay will discuss his book and maybe even some high-level national secrets. 5:30 p.m. Murder by the Book, 2342 Bissonnet, 524-8597. The reading is free; the hardback costs $24.
tuesday
july 22
Numerology Mystics tell us that numbers are seriously potent. And every culture has its own ideas about the power in each of those little squiggles with which we so arbitrarily add up our lives. The ancient Chinese believed odd numbers were masculine and yang and symbolized the heavens, while even numbers were feminine and yin and symbolized the body of mother earth. The Greeks, on the other hand, thought each number vibrated its own individual variety of cosmic turmoil into our days. See how the numbers are shaking things up in your own days and nights by telling your birth date to Karl Mason, numerologist and astrologer. 2-3:30 p.m. Spring Branch Community Center, 1721 Pech Road, 932-9573. Free; sponsored by Harris County Precinct Four.
Wine Tasting Classes Are you a secret sommelier? Do you consider Bacchus an ancient relative? If so, you might be the one to answer those troubling old questions on the table tonight: Who makes a better chardonnay, France or California? How many glasses of wine does it take not to give a damn? Spend about two hours blind-tasting the wines in a Riedel glass, which you get to take home as a party favor. 7:30 p.m. Yapa, 5161 San Felipe. Call for reservations: 626-9272. $45.
wednesday
july 23
Houston Golf Tournament to Benefit Crime Victims Be a crime-fighting crusader, even without Joel Schumacher and his Batcave. In fact, all you need to be a hero today is a set of golf clubs and the strength of will to play in the Houston heat. And if the temperature is too much, you can sponsor a team, or a player or even a tiny hole. If golf doesn't interest you in the least, send over the white elephants crowding your attic for the silent auction accompanying the tournament. All monies benefit the 23rd Annual National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) Conference, an international symposium on crime. Tee up at 8 a.m. Memorial Park Golf Course, 1001 East Memorial Loop, 845-1358. $150 to play or to sponsor a player; $550 to play in or sponsor a foursome; $5,000 to sponsor a hole.
