The El Orbits
Rock and roll has always been rife with rivalries: Beatles vs. Stones, Skynyrd vs. Neil, Leif vs. Shaun. But none measure up to the level of animosity and pure hatred between these two bands. And the El Orbits’s recent victory as Best Cover Band in the 2002 Houston Press Music…
Rush
After nearly 30 years together, the members of Toronto power trio Rush have little left to achieve. The band has released a slew of albums (at one point, three in 18 months) that will be fodder for classic-rock radio stations until well after the polar ice caps melt away. They’re…
Deryl Dodd
If it’s true that the third time’s the charm, then this Comanche, Texas, native and son and grandson of Pentecostal preachers should kickstart his stalled career with the 2002 release of Pearl Snaps (Lucky Dog). The singer-songwriter and former Martina McBride guitar player has certainly been through quite a country…
Batalla de las Bandas
The third annual Latin Rock Battle of the Bands could prove to be more than a day-long romp in Latin alternative sound and hot Houston sun. One of the 15 international and local bands and DJs competing could be the next victor in Banda Elastica’s Budweiser Battle of the Bands,…
Gooding
Even if you’ve never heard of Gooding, you’ve probably ear-checked his music once or twice. The Kansas-based multi-instrumentalist’s creations have cropped up everywhere from MTV to a slew of indie and big-budget films. Those already intimate with Gooding’s catalog might be shocked by the new direction of his sixth full-length…
Cinema Dog Daze
Since the days when Rin-Tin-Tin was all the rage, movie mutts have influenced pet vogues — and given shelter staffs a heads up on which breed will be showing up in about six months or years to come. Colleen Hodges, education coordinator for Harris County Rabies/Animal Control, cringes at memories…
Cruel Summer
Let’s all agree on one thing from the outset: The poster for Blue Crush is fantastic. It has a great color scheme and actresses Michelle Rodriguez (Resident Evil), Kate Bosworth (Remember the Titans) and Sanoe Lake (a professional model and surfer making her film debut) look as good as they’ve…
Building a Case
When 72-year-old Herb Janzen needed his house repaired from Tropical Storm Allison’s flooding last year, he turned to a handyman in the truest sense of the word. Janzen’s son, an attorney, had referred his father to Dale Calcerone, a 54-year-old Clear Lake area contractor who learned the trade from what…
Say Cheese
Robert Evans wrote his autobiography in 1994 as much out of desperation as out of hubris. It cried out, “Damn it, look at me…please?” He’d produced one film during the past ten years, The Cotton Club, which was such a colossal failure it rendered Evans a moot point in Hollywood,…
Trading Places
With the campaign for November’s general election heating up, several indicators point to a New Year’s departure from City Hall by City Controller Sylvia Garcia. And that in turn is heating up speculation about who might be her interim replacement — assuming she beats Republican Johnny Isbell and moves into…
A Friend in Need
Sometimes when a director shoots at a barn, the satisfaction comes in simply watching him hit it dead center. So it is with The Good Girl, wherein Miguel Arteta (Star Maps) targets Middle American ennui with wit, compassion and no shortage of ornery malaise. Like Arteta’s second feature, Chuck&Buck, this…
Bashing Bush
The Web site www.buzzflash.com bills itself as the antithesis of the Drudge Report, and it lives up to its claim: The links to mainstream-media anti-GOP stories are summarized with blurbs like “The Bush Politburo ‘Unlimited Powers’ Executive Branch Gets More Fascist/Soviet Every Day. Boy George Is Our Eddie Haskell With…
Joystick Cinema
Up to a certain point, Paul Marino’s story is a familiar one, especially to any single guy in his 20s who likes playing with his joystick. Four years ago, Marino and his pals would leave their offices on a Friday night and go to another friend’s workplace, where they’d play…
At What Price?
At What Price? Wal-Mart misdeeds: After reading the story titled “Pay Snubs” [by Jennifer Mathieu, July 25], I find it almost impossible not to add my two cents — which, in my opinion, is more than what Wal-Mart is worth. The way they treat their employees is awful. Wal-Mart used…
Love Under the Umbrella
These days, pop psychologists like Oprah’s Dr. Phil would have us think that love is a relatively simple thing. We solipsistic nincompoops of the 21st century just need to slow down, be reasonable, think things through and use the old noggin. All those horrifying complications — the aching mistakes that…
Increasing the Flock
If you can’t be bothered to track down the odd little church-turned-art-house-theater on Aurora Street, here’s your chance to see what all the fuss is about. The Best of Aurora Picture Show 2002 will be screening at Mixture Contemporary Art gallery, on easy-to-find Westheimer. Armed with a sizable grant from…
Hello, My Name Is Simon…
Everybody with an operational limb — and even some without — draws. Human beings seem to have a need to make marks — whether childhood scribbles, obsessive phone call doodles, lines drawn in the dirt, grand schemes outlined on cocktail napkins, or caricatures of high school teachers on blue-lined notebook…
Collector’s Items
If you still believe in the posterity of vinyl and regularly apply cleaner sprays and Gruv Glide to your prized albums, the time has come for you to get your records out of storage and start making some deals. With the Infinite Record Convention setting up shop this week, the…
Global Warming Is Good for You!
Above all, Gerald T. Westbrook is a man concerned with truth. For hours he works at his computer in the small office of his Memorial-area home, writing his latest scholarly paper or drawing up a lecture. He’s the kind of guy who writes everything out in lists, and packs boxes…
Great Sonoran Hope
Last September, Roger Clyne organized a gathering at a southern Arizona fairgrounds to celebrate the Festival of the Chubascos — chubascos being shorter and fiercer Mexican versions of the monsoons that Arizonans contend with every year. The part of the chubascos phenomenon that Clyne really loves is that people in…
The Family Formula
Ask any restaurateur, and they’ll tell you that Tuesday is a painfully slow night. Carefree weekend celebrations are either forgotten or as yet unplanned. Tuesday lacks Wednesday’s midweek relief or Thursday’s sense of pre-party anticipation. It’s on this second night of the work week that restaurant owners know who their…
Lazy Arrow
Blackalicious sits on plush couches in an office at its new home, MCA, where platinum plaques line the walls. The trappings of a mega-label are fairly new to Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel, who have spent the last ten years distributing their music by hand. Today, with Blazing Arrow…
Blazing Burger
The first bite of the Five Alarm Burger ($7.29) at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers & Spirits (7620 Katy Freeway, 713-476-9096) gave little indication of what was soon to build to a reasonable afterburn. What was clear immediately was that Red Robin follows one of the simplest rules of food preparation…
Home from La-La Land
When he arrives for his brown-bag lunch date with Racket, Tony Avitia of Broken Note Records apologizes for his clean-cut appearance. His huge, Juan Epstein-shaming Afro has been swept into a barber’s trash, and he’s clad in business casual. “I’m working for the man these days,” he says, laughing. He…
The Wayback Machine
I’m not sure if it was the number of patrons with long hair and beards, the sunken room layout or the cover band belting out Jimi Hendrix tunes, but the first time I ventured into Cosmos Cafe (69 Heights Blvd., 713-802-2144) I thought the time machine had traveled back to…
Bruce Springsteen
Like most of America, Bruce Springsteen spent September 11 and many days after in a whirlwind of rage, sorrow and confusion. Though he never addresses the tragedy directly (no lines about the WTC or bin Laden), the day’s events permeate almost every track on The Rising, a work more about…