News Hostage
Be Happy, Serfs In a not-exactly-shocking development, the Houston Chronicle editorial page has come out against a proposed increase in the minimum wage. “Many employers would be forced to raise prices to compensate for higher employment costs, and the inflationary spiral likely would ignite,” the editorial said. “[A] higher minimum…
Troubled Waters
The nondescript box of a building at the corner of Hillcroft and Westpark hardly merits a second glance, even with the giant blue tank perched nearby like a bloated steel sausage awaiting a bun. Inside the steamy prefab structure, a pair of city workers earnestly rinse, fill and cap five-gallon…
News of the Weird
Lead Stories *Professor Kevin Warwick of Reading (England) University told The Times of London in May that “several” firms had approached him about surgically implanting transponder microchips into their workers as a way of keeping track of their hours and whereabouts. Cybernetics expert Warwick last year put a chip into…
Letters
Taking Shots What a fabulous job you’ve done with this subject [“Immune to Reason,” by Brian Wallstin, June 3]! Your skill at presenting all sides of this issue in a very sane, nonhysterical, logical, sense-making way is impressive. Too bad you couldn’t work for the Chronicle and write the same…
Brothas and Sistas
Nearly every Terry McMillan novel, WB rerun of Living Single and TLC song (particularly its latest hit/dis, “No Scrubs”) depicts black men as low-down dogs. But contrary to popular belief, it’s not a good black man that’s hard to find; it’s the image of a good black man that’s a…
Night & Day
Thursday June 17 Hmmm… Comedic neurosis about nothing… Extensive examinations of everyday experiences with toasters, airlines, coffee shops and celibacy — why does all this sound familiar? Oh, yeah, that sitcom with the guy named Jerry. Well, Jake Johannsen says he was doing the “nothing” shtick before Seinfeld was cool…
Duchess of the Dance
Why do Irish folkdancers dance with their arms glued to their sides? “Well, none of us really knows what’s true,” says the leading lady of Riverdance – The Show’s North American touring company, Eileen Martin. But there are two main theories that circulate among the youngsters in Dublin’s dance schools:…
Krayzy Krayolas
There’s an anecdote that Red Krayola singer/guitarist Mayo Thompson likes to tell. It’s about philosopher of science Sydney Morgenbesser: “He’s at some philosophical conference, and some linguist is up there saying, ‘A double negative is always a positive, but there’s no language where a double positive is a negative,’ and…
Jumping Genres
Back in 1947, a then-23-year-old Clarence Brown left a San Antonio boarding house and moved to Houston. Pretty much ever since then, he has been a multidimensional force of American roots music. Though Brown, a master of the violin, mandolin, viola and other various instruments, actually started his professional career…
Peerless
Houston Ballet caps its spring season with a brand of theatrically rich dance that continues to set this company apart. Like Dracula, Peer Gynt features a suppressed, depraved male antihero from the 19th century who turns innocent women into victims, while keeping audiences in his charismatic thrall. Peer is a…
Living Doll
The time for a musician to think about releasing a “greatest hits” record is actually fraught with more danger than most fans might realize. On one hand, the artist can consider herself quite fortunate to have amassed enough popular material to even put one out. Of course, at the same…
Easy Target
Beauty pageants, with all their silly hoopla of helmet-haired, endlessly grinning girls parading about in high heels and swimsuits, are an easy target for satire. Some might say too easy. The jokes are pretty obvious. There are the moronic speeches about patriotism and family, the hugely untalented talent routines, the…
Guinness Time
Just the mention of the phrase “Guinness beer” is enough to start many connoisseurs of barley and hops a-salivatin’. But while you can name just about any brand of brew and find loyal adherents, Guinness drinkers are especially known for their monogamous relationship to the dark porter with the frothy…
The World Made Visible
The great photographer Diane Arbus once claimed that if she didn’t take her pictures, no one would ever see the things she photographed. She was talking, in part at least, about the circus hermaphrodites, Sunday nudists, Russian dwarfs and shy transvestites on whom she trained her rather anthropological lens in…
What’s in a Name (and Sex) Change?
Now that virtually the entire Harris County judiciary is Republican, the influence of conservative ministers who deliver key blocks of GOP primary votes has never been stronger. Case in point: a furor raised last week among civil district judges by a Baptist minister. He is upset over routine court action…
Twice Is Nice
Twice Upon a Yesterday seems almost too geared for the Sliding Doors crowd. By relying on the same kind of conceptual sleight of hand as that recent Brit hit (which owed a giant debt of its own to Groundhog Day), this romantic fable’s sense of originality and wit is greatly…
Deja Barbecue
I ate at Barbecue Inn on the recommendation of my next-door neighbor. It’s not the kind of restaurant that would normally draw me in. First off, the neon sign scares me. Barbecue, steaks and seafood. Call me a purist, but to my way of thinking seafood belongs in a barbecue…
All Things Irish
It has not been lost on the Quinn brothers — actor Aidan, cinematographer Declan and writer/director Paul — that in old Gaelic culture the tribal bard, or storyteller, was held in the highest esteem. The Quinns want to be Irish storytellers, too, and to that end they have loaded up…
Hot Plate
Breakfast buzz: Some get their a.m. kicks from coffee, while others jump-start the day with a jolt of sugar. Satisfy that early-morning sweet tooth with an almond croissant, $2.31 each from Croissant Brioche [2435 Rice, (713)526-9188]. A big, buttery-layered croissant is split and spread with sweet almond paste, then topped…
B-boys to Men
Mosquito-bitten dance devotees had snoozed respectfully through more than an hour of Karen Carpenter music, dancers on dollies, women dressed as men, sleep-dancing, and performers with buckets on their heads at last fall’s Miller Outdoor Theatre Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance, when they finally sat up on their blankets and…
From Brussels with Love
Each time I discover a new restaurant with wonderful food, I am happy. If that same restaurant is difficult to find, hidden in an unlikely location or disguised by an unpromising facade, so much the better; then I am smug. But when I unearth not just a new cafe but…
The Man Who Would Be Kingmaker
Consider the challenge: It’s your job to sell a presidential hopeful who, compared with his rivals, possesses only the skimpiest national resume. Even magazine publisher Steve Forbes, running for vanity, notoriety, whatever, has driven around the block once before as a presidential candidate. But your guy, despite his youthful good…
Sex Among the Armoires, Part II
Screeching Halt at Staccato You may recall our recent titillating tale of an over-the-top display of public, ahem, affection [“Sex Among the Armoires,” June 3] at The Brownstone [2736 Virginia, (713)520-5666]. Fellow diners seated ringside told us that a fortysomething couple celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary with coitus and oral…