Static
Pistols packing promises… I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve always thought that the Clash were heaps more authentic than the Sex Pistols. For proof, simply compare debuts: The Clash holds up way better than Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols, a disc that seems destined to sound…
Balancing Act
When Alejandro Escovedo speaks, it’s in a near whisper. He begins his sentences slowly maybe two or three times before finding the right words to lead him where he wants to go. As often as not, the Austin singer/songwriter finishes those sentences with an inconclusive “so …” or a fading…
Secrets of the Sphinx?
Happy families, as Tolstoy wrote, are all alike. Unhappy families are unhappy in their own particular ways — and those particulars can make for a riveting divorce case. Especially when the family is very, very rich. If Sarofim v. Sarofim actually comes to trial next January, court watchers can expect…
Lit by Lightning
Watching Infernal Bridegroom Productions’ presentation of Woyzeck is something like sitting through church: it’s hard to do, but you feel good about it later. Written in 1836 by a man dying of typhoid fever, Woyzeck defies all the rules of classical theater: there is no noble hero, no clear sense…
Knowing Arnaud
Pierre Arnaud (Michel Serrault) is an aging Parisian gentleman of courtly manner and considerable means. Elegant in his speech and impeccable in his dress, he reveals little and misses nothing. He is an enigma to everyone around him. And, perhaps, to himself as well. One afternoon, Arnaud meets a former…
Six Legs, One Joke
All-singing, all-dancing — and, yes, all-crawling — Joe’s Apartment is the world’s first live-action musical comedy in which singing and dancing cockroaches perform elaborate production numbers. And if you can get past your initial impulse to reach for a can of industrial-strength Raid, you will find that there are at…
Lovely Latin Ladies
When the mail came, Bruce and James divided the world. James took the international post to one room, and Bruce, the domestic to another. One built a pile of pictures, the other, a pile of checks, and in this way, they separated supply from demand and the women from the…
Death and the Raccoon
When he saw Pedro dangling from a noose, Jimmy Vonderglotz knew his three-pound pal was history. Vonderglotz stood in his front yard and protested as a city animal control worker swung the little raccoon into his awaiting van. A vein popped in Vonderglotz’s neck, and he considered movie-style heroics. “Do…
Stadia Watch
As County Judge Robert Eckels scrambles to come up with a plan for a new baseball stadium to keep Drayton McLane happy and the Astros at home, Mayor Bob Lanier’s labors to provide Les Alexander with a new arena have taken a back seat in the media. But don’t think…
Among Friends
When corporate executives take politicians and public officials hunting, questions as strange as those in particle physics can arise. For example, how can the hunt be both a lobbying trip and not a lobbying trip? Can the lobbyist be a lobbyist if he’s not registered with the state when he…
The Insider
Crazy, Man, Crazy Janie Reyes, the personnel director for county government, warned against the potential for on-the-job violence in a July 12 memo that itself might send members of one particular demographic cohort over the edge. Reyes, the wife of attorney Frumencio Reyes and a longtime Democratic Party activist, informed…
Letters
Eccentric? Sez Who? I have been a resident of Houston for two years and have read your paper regularly. I enjoy your investigative work and have followed the responses from readers accusing you of bias with bewildered amusement. Now, I find, I am writing just such a letter. Your attitude…
Press Picks
thursday august 1 Shirley Hemphill You probably remember this comedienne as Shirley the waitress on What’s Happening, yet her career encompasses far more. When Moms Mabley passed in 1975, Jet magazine ran an article on “Who will succeed Moms Mabley as the top X-rated comedienne?” Hemphill was a contender –…
Heat from the Sea
Even in a city as rich in south-of-the-border eateries as Houston, there are many who continue to believe (wrongly) that Mexican culinary tradition is based exclusively on chicken, beans, rice, corn and tangy condiments made of tomatillos and peppers. This, despite generations of travelers who have returned from Acapulco raving…
Man Over Machine
“It’s amazing and terrifying at the same time.” Christopher Hall is basking in the weirdness of a soon-to-be real scenario — his band, Stabbing Westward, opening for the infamous anti-legends the Sex Pistols. Somehow, he admits, it sounds even more astonishing coming from someone else. “The Sex Pistols definitely brought…
Def Defying
Forget all those inspirational, made-for-TV tales of athletes overcoming hardship on their way to Olympic glory. For a real understanding of grit and perseverance, consider instead the 15-year-plus odyssey of Def Leppard. At last count, England’s platinum-caliber stadium rockers were leading most living bands in the hardship race. They’ve lost…
Rotation
Patti Smith Gone Again Arista There’s a whole generation of music writers out there who — ever since listening to 1975’s Horses as young, impressionable, not-yet rock critics — have been waiting to spill buckets of creamy ink all over Patti Smith. Gone Again is all the excuse they needed,…