Albee’s Law
“You’re here to interview Edward Albee?” the secretary blurts, her expression changing from mock shock to mock pity. Albee has a reputation for being a difficult interview. It’s not that he’s uncooperative, mind you — in our experience, he’s quite accessible to reporters. It’s just that showing up does not…
Lone Star Upgrade
Cheap beer may be the beverage of choice at a honky-tonk, but open-mike night at a honky-tonk requires something stronger. As the nasal Robert Earl Keen imitators droned on one Wednesday night at Blanco’s Bar and Grill (3406 West Alabama, 713-439-0072), I traded in my Lone Star for something that…
Racing for Slackers
Riding a bicycle 176 miles over the gusty back roads connecting the Gulf Coast plains to the Texas Hill Country could easily be the kind of trip one regrets for years. But add more than 12,000 pancakes, 3,000 Taco Cabana tacos, 48,000 Oreos and 1,500 rolls of toilet paper to…
Do Look Back
On a Friday night in March, it was hard to tell where to look: at the flickering movie screen, where The Band was wrapping up a 16-year career with a farewell concert, or at a still Robbie Robertson, who was sitting in the audience at the Paramount Theater in Austin…
Short Courtship
Wearing a white guayabera shirt and black pants, our waitress delivers a menu decorated with a photo of Desi Arnaz talking on the phone while Lucy soaks her feet in a washtub. The text beneath the photo says, “The Little Havana: A Taste of Cuba in Houston.” A vertical arrangement…
The Old Switcheroo
Almost nine years ago, Givral’s Sandwich Shop at 2704 Milam was one of the first Vietnamese sandwich eateries to open in what was to become Houston’s Little Saigon. It quickly became a mecca for the tight of wallet, who could fuel up on bahn mi, the crispy and delicious $1.50…
Continental Error-lines
Aries was the critics’ choice for top restaurant in the Press’s 2001 Best of Houston issue, so we take a special interest in what chef-owner Scott Tycer is up to. Imagine our surprise when Aries showed up recently under the “continental” cuisine heading in Inside Houston magazine. Tycer worked for…
Lemon Aid
There’s something different about the old standby veal piccata ($14.99) at Palazzo’s Italian Café (3215 Westheimer, 713-522-6777). “Ah,” says the waiter with a smile. “It’s the lemon juice.” But doesn’t all veal piccata have lemon juice? I ponder the question silently as I take another bite of the light meat,…
Rocksteady Ska-lawags
Ska — that venerable Jamaican-born music — has endured as many ups and downs as the Democratic Party, and right about now it’s just as dead and buried as an avowed McGovernite’s chances of winning a criminal court judgeship in Lufkin. These days, respectable critics must speak of ska if…
Sacré Bleu Bayou!
To look at retail stacks or Amazon.com, the selection of France as the Houston International Festival’s spotlighted nation seems an odd choice. While record stores devote entire sections to Afro-pop, reggae, Celtic music and myriad Latin offerings, it’s hard to find much with an obvious French connection beyond the usual…
Creative Interpretations
This Saturday, when South African Zulu mbaqanga singers Mahotella Queens bring their indestructible sounds of Soweto to the stage at the Houston International Festival, I-Fest band booker Susie Criner says she will feel “wonderfully vindicated.” That’s because Criner booked the Afro-pop superstars for last year’s festival, only to see the…
Lost & Found
On the wall of the simply furnished apartment in southwest Houston hangs a large religious calendar, the cheaply made kind that churches sometimes give out for free. It is opened to March. This year, the most holy Christian holiday of Easter falls on the last day of that month. But…
Jungle Safari
Tell John Kurian you’re interested in drum-and-bass, and you’ll have a friend for life. The relentless Kurian, who occasionally goes by the nickname “Jungle John,” is a man on a mission. By day, he tends the counter at the Montrose techno warehouse Atomic Music. By night, he spins underground mixes…
A Split Decision
Last week, Superintendent Kaye Stripling got word to Jones High School Principal Lawrence Allen that he could keep his job, but she was pulling the prestigious magnet Vanguard program for gifted and talented students away from him and putting it on another campus. Her decision was greeted with cautious optimism…
Chroniclers of History and Heartbreaks: Tom Russell, Katy Moffatt and Dave Alvin
Every songwriter who’s ever penned a tune has written a heartbreak song, but few have managed to chronicle heartbreak properly, and fewer still have performed songs that give sadness a historical context. Tom Russell, Katy Moffatt and Dave Alvin are three of that rare breed. Public Domain: Songs from the…
Going off the Rails
The baby did not have his usual vigorous appetite. In fact, he refused to eat at all on that February day. He was also running a fever. Greg Rincon and his wife decided not to take any chances with their 13-month-old, and packed him into their SUV for what should…
Cracker
What the world needs now is another Cracker album, like I need a hole in my head. Apologies to David Lowery, but that twist on the delicious line from his band’s 1992 crackling chestnut “Teen Angst” was a sentiment shared by more than one of his fans in light of…
Telling Secrets
The new white T-shirts are covered with bright colors. Some of the painting is messy and frantic, some exactingly precise. In most cases it’s not hard to make out that the letters and the words are excruciating — especially when you know they were written by children. I don’t like…
Blood Simple
The perpetrators of the new Sandra Bullock vehicle, Murder by Numbers, could be hauled in on any number of charges, including plagiarism and child abuse. But their most obvious crime is first-degree dullness, giving us a thriller without thrills and a mystery devoid of urgent questions. This bloody piece of…
Over the Rainbow
It wasn’t easy for Texas Democratic Party leaders to design a rainbow dance card for next November’s statewide elections, but the last partner fell into place neatly last week. With a convincing 60-40 margin, Senate nominee and former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk sent Victor Morales grousing into the night –…
Rock in Role
Say this about World Wrestling Federation Entertainment head honcho Vince McMahon: He knows what his fans want. Few movies have ever been as specifically tailored to an existing audience as The Scorpion King, in which McMahon’s prize champion, The Rock, portrays The Rock wearing a loincloth and going by the…
One More Time
There are certain things that are simply immutable about Houston. The Astros are always going to disappoint. The freeways are always going to be clogged. And the Houston Chronicle will always be using up its precious news space to piss and moan about the image of our fair city. The…
Crouching Bandit, Hidden Princess
Kikue Tashiro’s Sakura, The Bandit Princess begins to spin its magic even before the houselights go dark. Tucked into a corner of Theater LaB’s small stage sits Allen Nyoshin Steir. Surrounded by his simple Zenlike flutes, he bangs a slow, rhythmic call to the audience on an ancient drum. As…
Preaching to the Choir
Preaching to the Choir Equal-opportunity evangelists: As a serious student of the Pentecostal movement, I can only amen the observations of writer Jennifer Mathieu in regard to the general openness of said movement to minorities and women [“Power House,” April 4]. Far too often news organs such as yours wrongfully…
Art, Lies and Videotape
In the notorious 1920 “Little Albert Study,” J.B. Watson, the founding father of behavioral psychology, conditioned an 11-month-old orphan to fear a pet white rat by repeatedly startling the child with a loud noise. Research photos also show Watson holding a pipe with a terrified infant dangling from it by…