Sex, Drugs and Kitschy Art
John Slate had his first “whoa, cool man” visual trip in early-’70s Austin. Some hippie neighbors had plastered their walls with black-light posters, and listening to Slate talk about one particular poster — “Ghost Ship” — you can almost smell the marijuana and feel the sticky bean-bag vinyl. He says…
Urban Comedian
Make no mistake. Anthony Clark is not Boyd Pritchett. The star of NBC’s Boston Common, a somewhat successful and now syndicated 1996 sitcom, may have lent his life story to the show about a fish-out-of-water Southerner on a big-city college campus. But life stories change. At some point the fish…
Old Style
Faster than you can say “new American cuisine” or “Asian fusion,” the Nuevo Latino trend is sweeping the rest of the country. Of course, this is an instance where Houston has been ahead of the curve: For years, restaurants like Américas, Churrascos and Cafe Annie have produced interesting, high-end food…
Houston Highwayman
If Jimmy “T-99” Nelson could have foreseen it, he might well have adopted another nickname, something with a lower number. Known for almost half a century by the “T99” moniker, the big-voiced blues singer is tickled to realize that the year ’99 is unfolding as something extra special for him…
Punk: The Final Frontier
+Seattle’s Hovercraft remains best known not for its fascinating instrumental music but for the love life of bassist Sadie 7, a.k.a. Beth Liebling, who’s married to Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. In fact, Vedder played drums with the trio during its 1995 tour with Mike Watt and the Foo Fighters. But…
Besides “Let’s Stay Together”
First of all, Al Green is not Chubby Checker, and “Let’s Stay Together” is definitely not “The Twist.” When will people realize that this top-of-the-line performer is not a one-hit wonder? You have no idea how exasperating it is seeing Al Green on talk shows (especially Letterman, with his cranky…
A Civil Action
When the only trial involving the police killing of Pedro Oregon ended in acquittal last March, the cries of vindication began. Former officer James Willis openly sobbed after county court jurors cleared him of misdemeanor trespass — the only criminal charge filed by the D.A.’s office against any of the…
News of the Weird
Lead Stories In July the director of Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York, finally got around to forming a committee of physicists to explore whether the lab’s replication of the world-forming Big Bang, scheduled for later in 1999, could possibly backfire and destroy the Earth. Full nuclear collisions…
Amplified
There are lots of raucous, obnoxious, noisy bands out there. Some have cut CDs. Some have regular gigs around town. And some even manage to attract crowds at their shows. This is noteworthy for two reasons: a) most of the “noisicians,” folk who make this racket, don’t understand that an…
Rich Ragtime
At the turn of the 20th century, America burned with adolescent rage. It was a country struggling to find itself. Immigrants, African-Americans and gentrified white Protestants were thrown into the fires of capitalism and the industrial revolution. Alchemized by the forces of enormous change, they came together, banging heads the…
Playbill
Sometimes it’s easy to forget Al Jarreau is a tremendous jazz singer. For more than 15 years his recordings have been in the soft R&B/adult contemporary vein. Even though he scats a little now and then, “Jarreau the jazz singer” has become a victim of “Jarreau the versatile pop singer,”…
Murphy Magic
Filmmaker Bobby Bowfinger, the lead character in the intermittently funny Hollywood satire Bowfinger starring Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy, has a dream. Nothing so grand as an Academy Award, or even a front table at the Golden Globes. No, when Bowfinger allows his fantasies to run wild, he sees a…
Jana’s story
June 28, 1996: Jana Dreyer was about to turn 14, and she didn’t want to spend Friday night with her mom. A senior at Brenham High School was hosting a graduation party at a rental hall called Bilski’s Camphouse that night. Jana wanted to attend the party instead. She and…
KISS Off
Do not be fooled: Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss receive top billing in Detroit Rock City, but KISS doesn’t actually appear in the film until its final three minutes. And when its members do show up, clad in their de rigueur leather-and-greasepaint getups, it’s simply to…
It’s the Little Things
Antique shopping in the Houston Heights can be exhausting, and Carter & Cooley is the perfect place to stop and replenish yourself. In fact, the place looks a bit like an antique itself: It’s housed in the old Simon Lewis Building, in a portion once occupied by Ward’s Drugs. The…
Write Soon and Tell All
“I do miss you, but I am not unhappy that you are gone.” Edith Oliveros wrote those words to her 20-year-old daughter, Pauline, in 1952. Pauline had left Houston for San Francisco, driving with a family friend nicknamed “the Robin.” The Robin was a female-to-male transsexual; Pauline an aspiring composer…
Hot Plate
Heads up, pancake purists: It’s worth the pilgrimage to Rio Ranch [9999 Westheimer, Westchase Hilton, (713)952-5000] for a short stack of tender buttermilk pancakes, gems of the Ranch Hand breakfast ($11.95 buffet or $4.95 $egrave; la carte). So scrumptious, these made-to-order babies don’t need to boast a Texas-size girth to…
News Hostage
The Houston Chronicle just finished a fat, happy week, bulging with advertisements urging shoppers to take advantage of the state’s new three-day “sales-tax holiday.” The Chron also offered a long story August 6 telling shoppers how to shop, in a transparent attempt to win the Pulitzer committee’s Public Service Award…
The Insider
When Rice University financial officials and their lawyers packed their briefcases and drove to City Hall for a Council committee hearing earlier this summer, they thought they’d be discussing plans for new dormitories and academic facilities for their students. They had come seeking city sponsorship for $220 million in educational…
Out on a Limb
The worn planks that make up Gareth and Bram’s tree house rest in the tangled branches of an old Chinese tallow. A few steps affixed to the trunk lead to what looks like an old crate. A static line enables the kids to glide airborne from tree to house. With…