On Second Thought
Does anyone know a good whiplash doctor? They’re going to need one at the Houston school district, where soft-tissue injuries are rampant — especially in the public relations department — over the Breakfast in the Classroom fiasco. When the Houston Press first broke the story about how the district and…
Just One Hitch
One should expect little from the man who has directed an Olsen twins movie (It Takes Two, the one with Steve Guttenberg, no less), Matthew Perry’s first Friends-to-film entry (Fools Rush In, its title an apparent nod to audiences who went to see it) and Sweet Home Alabama, one of…
Letters
Expiration Dates Social (ab)norms: I enjoyed your article on courtship [“The Canons of Courting,” by Michael Serazio, January 27]. Although my children are grown and gone, my sister and brother-in-law have four daughters. They decided, even though it is “abnormal” to most, that courtship is in their daughters’ best interest…
Same Old Song and Dance
Bride & Prejudice is the third major film released stateside in the past few years to fuse the epic romantic musical stylings of Indian “Bollywood” movies with more Westernized, “Hollywood” elements. It’s also the most successful of them, but when the only significant competition has been The Guru and Bollywood/Hollywood,…
“Red” Hot
. 810 Pacific.
Pole Position
David Ives’s Polish Joke, now running at Stages Repertory Theatre, is a difficult play to like, but it’s also one that’s hard not to admire. The narrative about a man who comes to embrace his Polish heritage is as old hat as they come, but in the frame of this…
This Week’s Day-by-Day Picks
Thursday, February 10 It may piss off politicos, chamber of commerce types and local constables, but graffiti art is the bomb, and it’s here to stay. If you’re a champion of the spray-can aesthetic, check out what the Hill Country homies are doing in Clogged Caps 3: The Movie. The…
Capsule Reviews
A Doll’s House It’s the most famous door slam in history. At the end of Henrik Ibsen’s influential 1879 “problem play,” Nora leaves the confines of her outwardly happy and conventional marriage and abandons her children, husband and social standing in order to “find herself.” She might as well be…
Black to the Future
Between the schoolroom recitations of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the regular car-radio blaring of 50 Cent’s latest single, it can be difficult to pinpoint the essence of Black History Month. Thankfully, Houston’s theater scene is offering up some enlightenment in the form of two plays: August…
Preserving Hair-itage
In the late ’50s and early ’60s, a foreign plague threatened to wipe out an integral part of Nigeria’s indigenous culture: Nigerian women started wearing wigs. Nigeria has a rich history of elaborate hairstyle traditions; for centuries, women had braided their hair into gorgeously intricate constructions. They would pass down…
Farb-ulous Parties
SAT 2/12 She’s the reigning queen of Houston’s society pages. Her name has become synonymous with highfalutin charity benefits and galas. So if you think the life of Carolyn Farb is simply big-time events and parties, well, you’re pretty much right. But Farb, who has raised more than $30 million…
Capsule Reviews
“Color” If you were around in the ’80s and looking at art, you probably remember Peter Halley. His Celotex-covered, fluorescent work was ubiquitous. But even if you’re over Halley’s stuff, you should check out his small silk screens in “Color” at Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery. It’s a clean show…
Basket Cases
FRI 2/11 So, you just lost your ass on the Super Bowl with a genius wager that the game would wind up in quadruple overtime or something. Don’t sweat it, you would-be Pete Rose, we’ve got the tip of the century: the Harlem Globetrotters. Those guys never lose! So scrape…
Radio Daze
“Houston radio sucks.” You hear that truism everywhere you go. Google that unique phrase, and you get no fewer than 44 hits, and that doesn’t count all the people who share the sentiment if not the identical phrasing of it. But is it true? Does it in fact suck? All…
Panty Rave
SAT 2/12 Last July, Aimee Jones threw a party called Summer Sucks to give a sweaty send-off to her boyfriend, who was leaving town to attend art school. The boyfriend is no longer in the picture, but that won’t stop Jones and friends from partying on Valentine’s Day — even…
Banana Breakfast
Sweet, gooey, piping-hot fried plantains are an ideal breakfast food. Especially the way they serve them in Central American restaurants: with warm, creamy refried beans and cold sour cream on the side for dipping. My kids and I used to order the plátanos fritos for breakfast all the time at…
Dancing to Death
SAT 2/12 It’s not that she’s sick of waterfalls. But after Michele Brangwen saw FotoFest’s 2004 exhibition “Water,” she realized that water isn’t always beautiful. So with the help of composer Thomas Helton, she choreographed Black Rain, which refers to the poisonous drops that fell on Hiroshima after the atomic…
Hot Plate
Ah Kinchil, the Mayan sun god, would be proud of the Mayan chicken ($9 at lunch; $12.50 at dinner) at Cafe Red Onion (3910 Kirby, 713-807-1122, and other locations). Its many tones of gold and yellow seem to pay homage to the fiery orb. A generous pool of rich yellow…
Deep in The Throes
So, just who are Two Gallants? Looking at their CD can throw you off. The cover art — a hawk dead and bleeding on the snowy ground — suggests maudlin indie rock. Pop the CD in the computer and you see a bunch of seven- and eight-minute song lengths, which…
Get Out of My Head!
Her name is Annie. She’s Norwegian and beautiful, not an unusual combination. She’s big in Europe right now. And if you’ve heard “Chewing Gum,” the lead single from her debut, Anniemal, you hate her. But you can’t get her out of your head. “Oh no / Oh no / You’re…
Rock Radio (and Rock Romano) Redux
“Every time I think I’m out, they pull me right back in.” So said The Sopranos’ Silvio Dante, channeling Michael Corleone in The Godfather: Part III. You’ll remember that Dante was talking about leaving the Mafia, and while Racket isn’t mobbed up, these days he feels trapped in much the…
Playbill
Kristin Hersh No mere precious folkie, Kristin Hersh is a living, breathing rock titan, a highly idiosyncratic and influential force in modern rock music for 20 years and counting. Plus she pretty much discovered the Pixies, so shut up. Starting in Boston in the mid-’80s, Hersh unleashed bushels of youthful…
Altar Egos
On a recent Sunday morning, Anita Darras showed up at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church with her husband and a friend with a handful of cash. The former was for moral support; the latter was for bail in case of arrest. In preparing for Darras’s arrival, the South Houston church’s vestry…
Rotation
The Great Destroyer Sub Pop The Mind of Mannie Fresh Universal/Cash Money Records Push the Button Astralwerks Unforgettable Capitol Nashville
Mixed Blessings
It’s a week away from her trip down the aisle with the love of her life, and Michelle Dean still hasn’t figured out what she’s going to wear. “It’ll be something lacy and frilly, I’m sure,” giggles the 35-year-old Bellaire High School science teacher. The dress may not be decided…
Words to the Unwise
Dear cities, You know, when our fair town grabbed its bid to host a Super Bowl, you all scoffed. Houston was too fat, too hot and too humid — a ridiculously spread-out town with battered ozone, fake tits and swarms of mosquitoes…and mosquitoes with fake tits. Believe it! Well, we…
The Smartest Film at Sundance
Please don’t misunderstand: Alex Gibney has no great beef with capitalism. Indeed, many of his best friends back in Summit, New Jersey, are investment bankers. But when Gibney looks at the prodigious rise and precipitous fall of Enron in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, the remarkable documentary that…
Jaa Rules
If you want to know what Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior is all about, it’s pretty easy to sum up. It starts with a big fight, as a group of local villagers plays capture the flag in the branches of a large tree. Then there’s a brief stretch of plot, as…