C-Cup Kids
Damian Kulash, lead singer of OK Go, has his interviewer in tears of laughter as he describes the first time a fan ever threw a bra on stage at one of their shows. “A female friend of mine picked it up and said, ‘Man, you guys are pretty awesome. This…
Cyber Phantom
People who spin records for a living do it for one of two reasons. Most simply seek a vibrant, rhythmically energetic mix of dance music. A few do it to come up with something greater: a concept, a pattern — even, they swear, the secrets of the universe. Author/art critic/teacher/publisher/…
The Real Battle of the Bands
Some time back Racket wrote about the trouble nightclubs have filling Tuesday-night slots and the way one club, Paesanos, took care of the problem. Paesanos had what seemed to be a win-win-win plan for themselves, local and regional bands and midweek clubbers: a battle of the bands competition with four…
Seven and Seven
People have an unusual, superstitious interest in the number seven. Look at the proof: 7UP and Seagram’s 7 (which, if you mix them together, make the ever popular seven & seven cocktail), the Seven Signs of the Apocalypse, The Magnificent Seven, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, 7th Heaven (Jessica Biel,…
Elvis Presley
Although Elvis sightings continue to be reported by the tabloids, little notice was given to the Presley CDs that quietly vanished from the BMG catalog in recent months. The conglomerate has been making the Hillbilly Cat’s music scarce in anticipation of a six-month campaign to cash in on the 25th…
This Old House
The rambling, two-story blue-and-white house on Rusk Avenue sits behind a pair of locked iron gates. Nearly 100 years old, it has been added on to numerous times and is in need of some repair. A statue of St. Vincent de Paul made in France in the 1840s has been…
The Pixies
Pixies, the belatedly released recording of the nine songs laid down at the band’s first studio session, reveals that the Pixies had already come up with some of their best tunes as early as 1987. Fans will recognize all of these songs; six of them were variously rerecorded for Surfer…
Pay Snubs
Judy Danneman’s shift at Wal-Mart started at 6 a.m., before the store even opened, and she always arrived on time. She and fellow employees would have to wait outside in the darkened parking lot until an assistant manager showed up to let them in. But the manager was often up…
Owen Temple
At first blush, Owen Temple seems like yet another Texas singer-songwriter in a field already rather littered with those who strive to be contenders but fall flat. He also once appeared to be aligned with the “Texas Music (Bowel) Movement” led by such slimly talented frat-rat cheerleaders as Pat Green…
Reality Check
Jesus, Mary and Joseph would feel right at home in Houston these days. The county’s mental health agency is turning away new nonemergency patients. The NeuroPsychiatric Center has gone on drive-by status three times since May — no matter how sick the patient trying to get in to receive its…
The Vines
It’s a journalistic convenience to lump the Vines in with neo-garage rockers the Strokes, White Stripes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Hives. But it also happens to be accurate. The Australian quintet fills the bill both physically (rail-thin, foppish mod haircuts, pasty white skin) and sonically (buzz-saw guitar riffs,…
Summer Games
The competition has been fierce in the battle over the 2012 Olympics. And we’re not talking about the cities involved, we’re talking about the newspapers from those cities. Papers from each of the four remaining cities bidding to host the 2012 Summer Games went out of their way to breathlessly…
Maura O’Connell
The tag line on Grammy-winning chanteuse Maura O’Connell’s Web site reads: “Just a singer.” Talk about understatement. Her loamy Irish alto voice is the sort of magical instrument that can take possession of a song and then convey its full meaning in a fashion that’s profoundly moving. O’Connell is the…
Falun Follow-up
Falun Follow-up Not a fanatic: Wendy Grossman’s article on my situation and on Falun Gong [“The Gong Show,” July 11] reports on the Chinese government’s persecution of me and my family, and I am grateful for that reporting. I find it unacceptable, though, to be painted as a fanatic for…
Fight the Powers
Not much has changed in the 11 years since Mike Myers used the first Wayne’s World movies as a personal launchpad, only tipping his James Bond-spoofing Austin Powers hand when he was strong enough at the box office to reap the rewards of his licensed characters. Now those spy-movie send-ups…
Eight Minutes to Fame
All Rushion McDonald wants to see is eight minutes. The Houstonian can’t stress enough how important it is for a comic to have eight minutes of good jokes. “You do Letterman, you gotta do a showcase,” says the stand-up veteran. “You do Leno, they gotta see your eight minutes. Well,…
Coo Coo Ca-choo, Mrs. Robinson
The advent of digital filmmaking has been essentially a good thing, allowing cameras to go places their larger, celluloid-spooling cousins cannot, generally requiring less specialized lighting and, above all, making it affordable to put together a film while maxing out only one credit card. Sure, for every Celebration you get…
Wiley Has Issues
There are certain entertainers who stun more than they entertain. Take, for example, the unintentional surrealist Larry “Bud” Melman from David Letterman’s NBC days, or the surprisingly long-lived teen sitcom Saved by the Bell. In these cases, a lack of talent — mixed with confidence and ambition — resulted in…
Promise?
Calling your film Never Again is like handing an ax to a critic and meekly placing your head on the chopping block. Will some of my colleagues write “Never See Never Again” or “Not Even Once, Let Alone Again” or “Another Eric Schaeffer film? Never Again!”? You betcha. The latter…
The Great White Pizza
Kamal Alnasleh throws another log on the fire. The owner and head chef of La Barmigiana is preparing the melanzane pizza I ordered. This is my third visit to the restaurant, and I think I’ve finally figured this place out. I lean on the counter, watching him alternate between flipping…
Summer of Love
Imagine Cupid as a grown man with a big belly. He smokes fat brown cigars, sports black nylon old-man socks held up by garters, and wears a gold lamé diaper under his dirty white T-shirt. Just like his legendary pretty-boy counterpart, he flits about, stabbing unsuspecting mortals with his arrows…
That Sneaky Tex-Mex Camel
The head chef at the hottest new restaurant in the city tells an immigrant’s rags-to-riches story. Hugo Ortega grew up in Mexico City and got started in the restaurant business washing dishes at Backstreet Cafe in 1987. A couple of years later, he signed up for the culinary program at…
Sugar High
Through August 10 at Moody Gallery, 2815 Colquitt, 713-526-9911.
Light Blue Special
The Rainbow Lodge (1 Birdsall, 713-861-8666) is blessed with spectacular views overlooking Buffalo Bayou — and a spectacular Texas blue crab salad ($12.95). Blue crabs, so named because of their blue claws and shells, are readily available on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. But the presentation here is not as…
Chiaroscuro at Churrascos
The rain was coming down in buckets when we left the Latin American Film Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts, but we managed to stay dry enough to enjoy a nightcap at Churrascos (2055 Westheimer, 713-527-8300). With most customers already seated and the storm still lighting up the evening…
Prodigal Hijos
Texas music history swarms with stories of Texans who went to Nashville dreaming of fame and fortune. The most celebrated stories hinge on spectacular failure, which is followed by a return to Texas, and after regrouping back on home turf, eventual triumph. The most famous of these tales is that…
Judge Love Strikes Again
It’s not often a member of the Harris County judiciary gets to make local legal history, but Family Court Judge Doug Warne just might have done it last month. He issued an order temporarily restraining a fellow family court judge from overnight stays at her oilman boyfriend’s River Oaks mansion…