Letters
God Bless Dunnington To reply to criticism of Dr. Joel Dunnington’s efforts to stop M.D. Anderson from accepting tobacco money [Letters, “Smoking Out That Dunce Dunnington,” December 8]: the writer apparently did not read D.J. Wilson’s article [News, “Hard Habit to Break,” December 1], or failed to understand what she…
Press Picks
thursday december 29 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers — Live The Power Rangers are the hottest ticket in town. Need evidence? News of this appearance of the youthful do-gooders caused more of a stir than any of Barbara Streisand’s recent American concerts. In fact, if Ms. Streisand had more business savvy,…
That Indefinable Something
It’s the most predictable cliche in music writing: all blues-rock power trios — especially if the frontman’s from Texas — must be compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Why doesn’t every profile of an electric guitar player carry a comparison to T-Bone Walker? Many guitar players — Texan and otherwise –…
New Year’s for the Irresolute
There are plenty of local and touring shows this week, all of which have some degree of merit to recommend them. But at this late date in the year, sentimentality, nostalgia and increased alcohol consumption replace the standard critical criteria, making it a virtual lock that the best show of…
Panini Passion
At the corner of Westheimer and Augusta, in full view of the celebrated Becks Prime live oak, sits the low-profile surprise of Cineplex-Odeon World: Milano’s Cafe Italiano, a sleek little gelateria where the panini sandwiches are as crisp and triangular as the surroundings. This may be the only ice-cream shop…
Post-Christmas Clearance
I’ll tell the truth: with the rare exception, I don’t buy CDs. Record company schmoes send ’em to me for free, hoping I’ll review them in some space like this. So I don’t spend a lot of time in record stores, and I don’t know if they, like Dillard’s (now…
News from Nowhere
There’s no particular reason why things have to be this way, but with the year drawing to a close, it seems like all the news is broken up into tiny little bits. So instead of real stories or anything genuinely compelling, there’s a pile of news bites on my desk…
The Year of Living Anxiously
From the bouncing Bud Dome — first here, then there, then nowhere — to October’s Great Flood and Biblical Ship Channel fire, 1994 yielded exciting new sources of anxiety. Rabid bats were sighted in The Woodlands. NASA scientists discovered the existence of an insatiable black hole. We confronted the awful…
Promises, Promises
Some menus read better than they taste. With its green chili, buffalo fajitas and brown-ale chicken, The Rock Bottom Brewery’s is one such document: ambitious, clever, well-matched to the cavernous new watering hole’s house-made beers and Rocky Mountain feel — and full of unrealized promise. If only everything were as…
The Joy of Being Stupid
In Dumb and Dumber, Jim Carrey and his rubber face are shown in top, albeit tortured and contorted, form. This is good news to his legions of fans. However, I’m aware that there are people who don’t find Jim Carrey funny; these people should not see Dumb and Dumber, because…
Little Women, Big Film
Gillian Armstrong, the director of Little Women, isn’t a daring, kinetic film artist, like Martin Scorsese or Peter Jackson or Jane Campion. She’s a storyteller of a purer, less flashy sort — like William Wyler, George Stevens and other directors from Hollywood’s studio era. Armstrong has faith in the strength…
Shooting In the New Year
Three years ago on New Year’s Eve, Danny and Joann Harries threw a small party at their home near the intersection of Montrose and West Gray. Although they had lived in the house for several years, it was the first time they had marked the beginning of a new year…
Condoms! Homosexuals! Lesbian Adoption!
Mary Knotts Perkins is a 62-year-old mother of four and grandmother of five who’s lived in Lufkin for 40 years. She’s a graduate of the University of Texas, a former school teacher and a member in good standing of the First Methodist Church in her hometown. “I am,” Perkins says,…