Static
Future a blur… Granted, Schrasj’s recent decision to embark on an indefinite hiatus doesn’t make a whole lot of sense — especially now. This last year or so has seen the ambient noise-pop trio (and sometime quartet) emerge from its self-absorbed shell and come tentatively into its own on-stage. Thanks…
Deifying Dah-veed
“They just found a syringe full of cocaine here.” This, my introduction to the more off-color side of singer/songwriter David Garza, is delivered via a muddy answering-machine message called in from a Texas nightclub that will remain nameless. Curiously, the second thing out of Garza’s mouth is a rebuttal to…
Heaven Sent?
All of them are devout Christians. Many of their songs reflect themes of devotion, temptation and salvation. They play a lot of gigs at churches and Bible study groups. And yes, a line in one of their most popular songs goes: “I can see Jesus hanging on the cross /…
Bang with Brains
Rock and roll has had its share of epic-length, “bathroom break for the deejay” classics: “Whipping Post,” “Freebird” and, yes, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” are just a few that spring to mind. But with their latest CD, A Pleasant Shade of Gray, longtime progressive metal band Fates Warning have taken things a step…
Rotation
Tab Benoit Live: Swampland Jam Justice Some sage or another once said that music matures within oneself as one grows older. That’s certainly the case for Louisiana blues guitarist Tab Benoit — if, that is, the new Live: Swampland Jam is any evidence. These days, Benoit paces himself, letting his…
Das Pits
Das Barbecu, currently showing at Stages Repertory Theatre, is a strange show indeed. The musical is loosely based on Wagner’s famous work Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle), which is a four-part cycle of operas about Norse mythology, magic and gods. That gargantuan achievement takes over 15 hours to…
DoV-ine Inspiration
It’s not easy to take Harvey Bott seriously. The 63-year-old with the Elmer Fudd hairdo is one of those kooky guys appreciated in the local art scene more for his DIY sensibility and volunteer work than for anything he’s actually created. He rarely exhibits in his hometown. His last local…
Meaning and the Movies
It’s an old joke, told by people who don’t write criticism, that those who do are failed practitioners of the art they critique. With London-born film critic David Thomson, who now lives in San Francisco, we get a specimen for whom the stereotype may be true. Many of his articles…
007 By the Numbers
Now that the Japanese Tora-san series — with fiftysome entries in 30 years — has presumably drawn to a close following the death of star Kiyoshi Atsumi last year, the James Bond films constitute the longest-running continuous series around. They’ve had their ups and downs, but something about the Bond…
Schlock Poetry
If one is in a Biblical frame of mind, the sinking of the White Star Line’s R.M.S. Titanic about 400 miles off the southern coast of Newfoundland in 1912 could well be characterized as an act of divine one-upmanship. The 46,328-ton “ship of dreams” was struck down on its maiden…
A Family Affair
Roland Garcia Jr. is, by all accounts, a nice guy. He has an earnest, sincere manner, a taste for hard work and an ability for quiet but determined self-promotion that have served him well as he’s climbed the rungs of the Texas legal and political establishment. A Corpus Christi native,…
The Insider
Bad Sports It usually takes a heroic effort to get fired from the Houston Chronicle, especially if you happen to be a high-profile columnist with a substantial following, like longtime sports scribe Ed Fowler. Nevertheless, the unthinkable happened to Fowler last week, apparently because his personal and journalistic style ran…
Justice Lost — and Found
For years, Donna Ringoringo railed against the corruption that she believed infested the Harris County Family Law Center –and the notoriously long time that it took to obtain a semblance of justice there. In a sad irony, some of Ringoringo’s family and friends have had occasion to feel the same…
Letters
Business As Usual Your recent series on the mismanagement, lax oversight and fraud that permeate the city of Houston’s public works programs [“Easy Street,” by Bob Burtman, October 30, November 13 and November 27] is a most welcome and, I might add, long, long overdue expose. It is a sad…
Press Picks
thursday december 18 104 KRBE Live Session with Aerosmith Though it’s too late to win a chance to rub elbows with these geriatric rockers, you can still listen to all the weirdness that’s bound to happen when the five original members of Aerosmith join the morning crew of KRBE. (A…
Boon to the Boulevard
It usually bodes well when a restaurant’s owner is visible on the premises. The first time I walked into Urbana, the person greeting and seating customers was none other than John Puente, whose hip, hot eatery opened earlier this fall. On a recent Saturday evening, when the ultra-cool dining room…