Press Picks
thursday january 18 Science Quest When many of us were schoolkids, the Houston Museum of Natural Science had the skull of Old Diamond, a rogue elephant, a shrunken head, some minerals in the basement and precious little else. Now, the museum is hip and happening with IMAX, major fossils and,…
Static
Blues of a lifetime… Glen Alyn made a hefty sacrifice setting aside a chunk of his life for one man. But looking back, he figures it was well worth it, considering what that man — Texas blues legend Mance Lipscomb — did for him and countless others. Alyn, a Lago…
Cute Threat
You might wonder whether we really need another dainty bleeding heart to join the already polluted pool of feeling females with pens and acoustic guitars — especially one who delivers lines such as “You’re my medicine” and “I don’t understand if you really care” like she’s talking to her cat…
Rock & Roller Coaster
“We’re not looking for a shot at the big time. We just want to make great music.” Funland singer/guitarist Peter Schmidt says he likes to do interviews, if only because they force him to think about the things he’s relegated to memory. As he sits on a couch alongside guitarist…
Rotation
UB40 The Best of UB40, Volumes 1 and 2 Virgin As Britain’s largely white ambassadors of dub, UB40 have always been crippled, to an extent, by their color. At first, the band used it as a motivator — a stumbling block that its leaders felt obligated to overcome — and…
Sly Evil
Very much in the tradition of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1991 film of Hamlet, in which Mel Gibson did himself proud as Shakespeare’s melancholy Dane, Oliver Parker’s new version of Othello is a solid and accessible piece of work. This is not an Othello for the ages, nor even — despite what…
Bloody Fun
Early in a marathon battle with undead predators, a clash that takes up most of the second half of From Dusk till Dawn, a flustered antihero is asked the inevitable question: how is he holding up under the pressure? Actually, he’s doing fine, thank you very much. “Except for the…
Seafood Special
The woman was utterly aghast. “You can’t review Connie’s,” she cried in anguish. “The Yuppies will find out about it and ruin the place.” Of course, just what she considers her Heights-home-owning, married-to-a-lawyer self to be, I’m not sure. But Connie’s Market Seafood and Oyster Bar is a place that…
In the Child’s Best Interest
A farm and ranch town of about 3,500 in north-central Texas, Seymour seems far removed from the complexities of urban life. The main streets downtown are still paved with brick, and residents who yearn to shop at big-city grocery stores must head to Wichita Falls, an hour’s drive to the…
A Few Problems of His Own
Like Brendon Baker, Bill Henderson has had his share of marital and financial problems. Henderson filed for personal bankruptcy in 1992, listing $91,000 in assets and $246,000 in liabilities, including about $20,000 in back taxes owed to the IRS. He eventually agreed to a five-year plan to retire his debts…
It’s a Fearful Life
What a wrenching workout Stages gives to Edward Albee’s searing Pulitzer Prize-winner, A Delicate Balance. With a withering grace, an overwhelming tenacity and a biting humor — not to mention a tantalizing wisdom, since Albee himself lent a hand to this production — Stages ensures that what was a stunner…
Sad Vacation
The last few weeks have been anything but a vacation for Big Holiday’s Lisa Novak. So as it turned out, an interview request was the best news she’d had in a while. Aside from offering the promise of recognition for her neglected Houston band, the phone call also offered a…
Selective Ethics
Eleven months ago, when he could still be depended upon to voice an independent thought, Lloyd Kelley dismissed the city’s Ethics Committee as a colossal waste of time and money. “If they are that ineffective,” the then-councilman remarked to the Press, “I’m not going to spend a dime on them…
The Insider
My Way, or the Highway District Attorney Johnny Holmes’ office is making waves, if not necessarily friends, on several fronts. While Holmes continues his dogged pursuit of the tell-tale grand jurors who chatted with Chronicle reporter Jennifer Lenhart, his subordinates are trying to housebreak freshman Republican Judge Lon Harper of…
He Spanked an American Hero
The candidate was very clear on at least one position, and that was his position on location. He certainly knew where he was. What you do is take the third Conroe exit, weave your way onto Lewis Street and begin looking for the house with pink-and-green trim and the sign…
Letters
Brown Nosing I greatly enjoyed Tim Fleck’s analysis of outgoing drug czar Lee Brown’s local political fortunes [“After Him, the Deluge,” December 28]. But I am curious: did your reporter happen to notice if anyone at Brown’s press conference asked a question along the lines of, “As a black man,…