A Lucky Joe
A Lucky Joe Fouled pollution priorities: While Friends of Bush dump millions of tons of toxic pollutants into our air on a daily basis, Harris County harasses a regular joe just trying to make a living [“Dumped On,” by George Flynn, January 31]. It is hard to use the word…
Opera à la Enron?
Armed with a fresh MBA, he came to Houston in 1970 and took a struggling little company from near obscurity to the dizzying heights of international acclaim. But after 32 years, some curious accounting practices and complicated compensation packages, the organization is facing a $3 million shortfall and is talking…
Zaloom’s World
When Congress passed the Children’s Television Act of 1990, pushing stations to put some educational value in their programming, Paul Zaloom was the perfect guy to take on the title character of Beakman’s World. The show that tried to make science fun and accessible lasted six seasons, yet never quite…
Quarter Masters
Downtown’s somewhat depressed far north side at times can seem heavy with hard-luck types looking for handouts. But the most persistent of those street people pale in comparison to the most unlikely of spare-change panhandlers: county government. About 30 storage lockers sit along a far wall in the main lobby…
Really Italian
Some wags might suggest that Italian photography is mostly characterized by shots of executed mafiosos face down in a plate of linguine and clams. In truth the country’s shutterbugs experienced a burst of creative energy in the post-World War II era. After all, Rome was a center of international culture,…
Curdish Delight
Highly spiced Indian food calls for a swift antidote. That’s why lassi was invented (although it’s delightfully refreshing no matter what you’re eating). The yogurt drink comes in two versions: salty and sweet. My favorite is the sweet mango lassi ($1) at Raja Indian Restaurant (5667 Hillcroft, 713-782-5667). Made from…
My Finny Valentine
The herring salad at AnneMarie’s Bistro is very good, but you wouldn’t expect a grown man to get all choked up about it. It’s spread out on a bed of butter lettuce on a cute little fish-shaped glass plate garnished with tomatoes and pickles. I ordered it on a romantic…
La Tour d’Argent
Nestled beside White Oak Bayou, among trees, waterfalls, gazebos and birdhouses, is Houston’s oldest log cabin, and now its most romantic restaurant, La Tour d’Argent (2011 Ella Boulevard, 713-864-9864). Bypass the masculine room with its dark paneling and antler chandelier and head toward the bayou. There you’ll find a room…
Subterranean Astrodome Blues
Bob Dylan’s last studio album, 1997’s Time Out of Mind, was about as much fun as a eulogy. With its songs of remorse and regret, with its plaints of begged-for salvation and yearned-for deliverance, that collection sounded like a last will and testament — a big adios from the jokerman…
Grand Illusions
Having a voice like Sade’s must be a real pain in the ass — just ask San Francisco songstress Gina Rene. When her band Soulstice finally released its debut album, Illusion, last year, flustered critics who couldn’t quite pigeonhole this eclectic quartet tirelessly pointed out that the lead singer can…
Book ‘Em
Just about every musician who has ever had anything remotely resembling a hit eventually becomes an “author.” Most confine themselves to autobiography, and most are bad. On the other hand, some musicians’ autobiographies read like novels. Dr. John’s Under a Hoodoo Moon comes to mind, as does the Neville Brothers’…
Alicia Keys
Any day now, Alicia Keys will feed the hungry, cure the common cold and win some Grammy Awards. Okay, the first two might be a stretch, but it’s a lock that she’ll collect more than one trophy on February 27. On the other hand, considering this 21-year-old has been credited…
Alice Peacock
In a contemporary indie singer-songwriter scene littered with artists who are as sincere as they are unimpressive, newcomer Alice Peacock stands out like, well, a peacock among sparrows. Yes, she explores familiar gal-with-a-guitar terrain — inner emotion and interpersonal struggle — but Peacock does so with a rare authority that…
DJ Rap
Ask yourself this question, fellas: If you’re planning to see the exotic, half-Italian, half-Malaysian DJ Rap, are you coming to listen to what records she pulls off the rack or to ogle the one on her chest? Not that we’re hatin’ on her or anything. Hell, without her ample bosom…
Hart Failure
Hart’s War, like most mediocre films, is little more than a movie about the movies. Set in a POW camp during the final months of World War II, it owes much of its existence to far superior films, chief among them La Grande Illusion, Stalag 17 and The Great Escape;…
Impressive Iris
After a long absence from American screens, British stage director Richard Eyre, best known for his agreeably nasty The Ploughman’s Lunch in 1982, makes his return. Eyre’s Iris is an alternately depressing and uplifting drama about Dame Iris Murdoch’s descent into Alzheimer’s disease and the heroic efforts of her husband,…
The Kopper Caper
One of the finer ironies of the unfolding Enron scandal is that one of its executives found a way to turn the inherent financial disadvantages of a same-sex relationship into a business plus — albeit a possibly illegal one. Just last fall, Michael J. Kopper, the 37-year-old managing director of…
Net Loss
Maybe this won’t seem like such a big deal to you, since you don’t watch The Education of Max Bickford–which is on CBS Sunday nights. Or maybe you’re one of the 9 million who do, in which case, well, sorry about that. But stay tuned nonetheless, because this small tale…
Enron’s Judge Not
Enron’s political clout, money and family ties permeated almost every aspect of public life in Houston. That’s no secret, and it was dramatically underscored when newly installed U.S. Attorney Mike Shelby disqualified himself and his staff from investigating the economic rubble of the fallen giant. But one connection that stretched…
Apocalypse Wow
Somewhere between the silly absurdity of Lewis Carroll and the hilarious existentialism of Samuel Beckett is Jason Nodler’s cultish, youthful rock musical In the Under Thunderloo, running at Infernal Bridegroom Productions’ swank new northside theater. Thunderloo gives us an apocalyptic world where everything is brown rock, dark caves and red…
We’re Enron-Free!
The rodeo’s in town, and the annual local-media orgy of coverage has begun. Television reporters have once again chuckled their way through trail-ride pieces, breathless updates of ticket sales have been given, and enthusiastic descriptions have gone out over the air and in print about all the fun being had…
Under The Volcano
It was the day after Thanksgiving, and Tamathia Hough and her sister were trading anxious questions about their little brother. After the terrorist attacks he’d been called to active duty by the army, and they hadn’t heard anything from him for weeks. Hough tapped out her words in brisk flourishes…