All the World’s a Cage
In John Cage’s essay “Where are we going? What are we doing?,” he wrote: “Here we are. Let us say Yes to our presence together in Chaos.” Yes is the order of the day, as throughout the spring a multiplicity of musicians, actors, artists, writers and skaters will enact a…
Letters
Close the Curtain Regarding the article “Bring on the Dancing Girls…” [by D.J. Wilson, December 30]: Was the editor sleeping or something? The word is “opinion,” not “oxymoron.” There actually are comparisons to be made for various “strip joints” or “topless clubs” or “gentleman’s clubs,” as one would call such…
Picks
Thursday January 3 CAM Talks Another nifty lunch-time cultural opportunity here in cowtown, this from the Contemporary Arts Museum. Noontime on Thursdays, a staff member takes art fans on a loosely structured tour. The current exhibit is “Texas/Between Two Worlds,” and the guide adjusts the speed and intensity of the…
Disco Knights
English playwright John Godber’s Bouncers meets you at the… title. Set in and around a Manchester “disco” called The Mr. Cinders Club, it is indeed anchored by four “bouncers,” muscular young fellows employed by the club to gatekeep the front door, keep order and, if all else fails, bodily eject…
A Star Is Porn
“I am a person who’s totally devoted to the subject of sex,” proclaims Annie Sprinkle, former prostitute, porn star and pinup model now turned performance artist, “just like a person who’s totally devoted to archaeology or doctoring or music.” She ain’t kidding: Her one-woman autobiographical show, Post-Post Porn Modernist (coming…
Last Call at Maud’s
Tired of the typical bar scene? Then check out Paris Poirier’s Last Call at Maud’s, a witty yet serious, entertaining yet informative, intimate yet historical documentary about the closing of the oldest lesbian bar in America. If you thought the Cheers of Boston was something, wait till you experience real-life…
The Silence of the Lambs
Given that the AIDS epidemic has been a matter of public record for a decade, it’s sobering to think that a film like Philadelphia is only now being made. Made extremely well by that extremely fine director Jonathan Demme and equally fine actors Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington (among others),…
Bad Behaviour
There’s a new kid on Mike Leigh’s block. The British director of acutely funny, character-driven, improvised films (Nuts in May, Life is Sweet) now has Les Blair to reckon with. Blair has created a goody in Bad Behaviour. Communal improvisation, Bad Behaviour, good show. A wry comedy of bad manners,…
The Chronicles of Lewis
If you want a good cry, a really good cry, watch the amazing Anthony Hopkins. Watch his staid, removed C.S. Lewis summon the courage to forsake insular bachelorhood in the name of love, only to have it tragically taken away when the spirited, forthright woman who’s made an honest man…
Who Ain’t Who
Want a way to dodge a minor traffic ticket or at least delay your fine? Here’s the plan: Memorize the name and address of an obnoxiously nosy neighbor, your girlfriend’s new lover or the cousin who forgot your Christmas present. Better yet, pick a name and address at random from…
Neo-Mom Food
When is turkey pot pie not turkey pot pie? When it’s on Puente’s new lunch menu of mom-like standards in witty New American guise. Take that turkey pie: a gorgeous conceit housed in the crispest sweet-potato pastry shell, filled with meticulous cubes of turkey and tiny pearl onions in a…
Lady Sings the Pinks
The first time I met Pinque, a Houston-born and -bred female vocalist, she was wearing dyed pink Doc Martens, pink pants, a white cotton shirt, checkered pink-and-white necktie, pink suspenders, a pink linen jacket and a low, wide pink cowboy hat with the left brim shaped into a vertical sweep…
My Oh My
If you want to keep your feet in a blues circuit as crowded as Houston’s — especially if you’re a 25-year-old white guy from Austin — you can’t afford to skimp. You need a bad-ass guitarist, a harp player with gale-force lungs, a rhythm section built like a nuclear bunker…
New Year’s Restoration
Feng Ling may not be the answer to my recurrent prayer — to find a Chinese restaurant I can love unreservedly — but I’m soft on the place for a number of reasons that speak to the intangibles of restaurant-going. Ordinarily food is paramount to me: I’ll endure bad service…
Rabbit Was a Boxer
“Hey Rabbit,” I asked. “How long were you a boxer?” This was one morning at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, where a lay ministry serves breakfast to the homeless and near-homeless. Rabbit, tall, dark and intense, known to me as the homeless boxer, or the boxing poet, or the homeless boxing…