Family Matters
Talking about remakes is always sticky ground for reviewers. There are valid reasons for reminding people that a story is not original — especially when the remake is not sold as such, but is foisted on an innocent public by lazy, plagiarizing filmmakers. However, when earnest, enthusiastic people simply want…
Critic’s Choice
Blessed with R.E.M.’s mystical sense of Southernness and Uncle Tupelo’s command of the loud-and-soft dynamic, and possessing Toad the Wet Sprocket’s clouded sensitivity (the jury’s still out on whether that one’s a blessing or a curse), Jolene has an unshakable sense of its own identity. This North Carolina quintet is…
Trading Places
In the parallel universe of White Man’s Burden, things really aren’t all that different from what they are in the real world. America continues to be a place where the population is divided into the haves and the have-nots, the powerful and the powerless. The powerful are impossibly smug in…
Having outlived the good ol’ boy era, when it had a hand in every deal, houston legal giant
Having outlived the good ol’ boy era, when it had a hand in every deal, houston legal giant Vinson & Elkins is entangled in a legacy of litigation from its past. By Tim Fleck “The Second Government of Texas” The arrogance of power was revealed to Ann Moran one day…
Into the Mystic (Book)
Vinson & Elkins’ political clout is a legacy of its founder, Judge James Elkins, but it does not come cheap for the firm’s 237 partners. Dues for V&E’s state and federal political action committees are on the order of membership fees for a downscale country club — roughly $3,000 a…
Stadia Boys
The Houston/Harris County Sports Facility Public Advisory Committee has a mission even bigger than its cumbersome title would suggest. Even as Mayor Bob Lanier was waving his fist in Washington last week about the injustices of the modern sports marketplace, the committee was undertaking a comprehensive look at how Houston…
Farewell to Arms
o how do you feel when you preach? Phil Arms leaned back in his leather chair and thought a minute. “Have you ever seen Chariots of Fire?” he said at last. “There’s a line in there that says, ‘When I run, I feel this pleasure.’ Something like that, I think.”…
Letters
Sceaming fro Just a Little Attention The article on the child support collection business featuring the seemingly corrupt Fred Pfaff was very informative [News, “Trading on Desperation,” by Steve McVicker, November 9]. This kind of story is what warns unsuspecting victims like the struggling single mothers and the desperately deprived…
Press Picks
thursday december 7 Candlelight Vigil We know, we know. By now, you’re sick unto death of hearing about the homeless. But if you’re tired of hearing about the folks who live on the streets, just imagine how tired they are of living there. The problem won’t be solved by turning…
Rotations
Dwight Yoakam Gone Reprise Always a two-step ahead of expectations, Dwight Yoakam can nose out the faint odor of critical backlash from a mile away, covering his tracks with fresh methods before critics can catch their breath to comprehend his next move. In this case, the move at issue is…
Digital Bloating
Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m a slave to technology. When laser discs resurfaced in the late ’80s, I couldn’t pass up owning one of the magical machines. And having shelled out the bucks for a laser disc player, it seemed to make sense to upgrade to a home theater system,…
Ardent Idea
The guys in Spot consider themselves a pretty lucky group, and well they should: the Dallas band has found itself plopped smack dab in the middle of a minor recording renaissance. This wondrous celebration of renewal is happening not in Texas but in Tennessee — Memphis, to be exact, the…
Pure Puerto Rico
Teo and Carmen Gonzalez, the sixtysomething owners of Tex Chick, tell an interesting tale of how they ended up running their tiny, homey restaurant on Fairview. It begins, as do so many immigrant stories, with the first frightening move to the States. For the Gonzalezes, that came in the 1950s,…
The Insider
Dave’s Stocking Stuffer To paraphrase another Bob (Dylan, that is), Bob Lanier can’t help it if he’s lucky. It now appears there’s a good chance that businessman David B. Wilson may be leaving a giant gift for Lanier under the towering Christmas tree that the mayor and his missus lit…
Oh, Carol!
Dancing from the spirit world. Rapping from uptown. Stripteasing from the wrong side of the tracks. Something from the avant-garde, perhaps? Nope. A performance piece? Hardly. It’s A Christmas Carol, of all things. This past week I checked out three versions of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic — a ghost story…
A Prince in Disguise
First things first: is the Houston Ballet’s current production of The Nutcracker worth seeing? The answer, which will likely come as a surprise to no one, is yes: it’s entertaining, it’s meticulously performed and the kids will love it. (Certainly the kids I saw seemed riveted, keeping quiet and in…