Static
Rap takes a Texas-style beating… By now, some of you probably know how Bill Ratliff, a Republican state senator from Mount Pleasant, feels about the rap industry — and if you don’t, you soon will. Recently, Ratliff snuck a rider into the state’s $86 billion budget proposal that pretty much…
Fit for a Fiddle
At times, people may not know that what they’re seeing is a musical phenomenon. At other times, though, there are clues, and the clue in the late ’80s in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was the horde of high-toned musicians lining up to hear the performances of a then twentysomething fiddle…
Missing Link
Not many guitar obsessives can rightly wear the label of legend; Link Wray, though, does. In 1958, the half Shawnee native of Dunn, North Carolina, grew frustrated with a song he was recording. He was after a brooding instrumental, something moody and caustic that would capture the dirt and grit…
Capital Idea
I would love to have been a fly on the wall the day that Providence, Rhode Island-based Rare Hospitality International decided Houston was where they wanted to open their eighth Capital Grille. I can hear the conversation now: “So, let me get this straight. We’re going to take corn-fed, certified…
Final Curtain
As if any more proof was required, the Houston Ballet’s current revival of Don Quixote shows just how consistent a company artistic director Ben Stevenson has crafted. When Stevenson’s version of Cervantes’s famous story premiered two years ago, much was made of how marvelously the then-new pairing of Lauren Anderson…
Petty Woman
Nothing against My Best Friend’s Wedding, but it’s a sign of just how vacuous things have become in Hollywood when folks start getting excited about a movie with a handful of partially engaging characters, a fairly intriguing story line and a smattering of clever remarks. Look, that’s what movies are…
Humblebees
To get into a good-lovin’ mood before each date, a college housemate of mine croaked along to Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey” while blasting it through his stereo. My fondness for the song survived. So as the end credits for Ulee’s Gold unrolled against the robust lyricism of Morrison belting out…
A Boy and His Toys
Toward the end of the day, when the Cy-Fair streets had cleared somewhat, Earl Tucker climbed behind the wheel. “Stand back,” said Buzz. “Watch out,” said Earl. It came alive with a roar and rolled growling out of the garage — 18 feet and 13,800 pounds. The V-100 Commando could…
The Great Decolorizer
In March, as Ed Blum was maneuvering to dismantle affirmative action in Houston, he made a pilgrimage to California. Accompanying the 45-year-old head of Campaign for a Color-Blind America were two allies “of color”: Clear Lake businessman Ed Chen and Bill Calhoun, chairman of the Black Republican Council of Texas…
The Insider
The Road Not Taken (Again) State Representative Sylvester Turner’s latest mayoral tease ended abruptly this week at his downtown law office, but not before he had managed to squeeze the lemon for one last cup of sweet-and-sour media coverage. In an anticlimax similar to his 1995 campaign tap dance and…
Trawling in Deep Water
It’s mid-afternoon in Kemah, and the winds from an approaching thunderstorm rock the pleasure crafts docked across the street from the law offices of Richard Morrison. Inside, framed by color sketches of hunters aiming shotguns at waterfowl on the wing, the 60-ish attorney is seated before a mounted 75-pound tarpon…
Letters
Misplaced Sympathy In reference to the “Rough Justice” article [by Steve McVicker] in your May 22 edition: My sympathy is for the family of Mr. Hall and not the criminal, Anthony Westley, who was put to death. I have a difficult time feeling sorry for a man involved in an…
Press Picks
thursday june 19 Eat Out & Chip In Too often, making the world a better place requires you to perform some bothersome volunteer activity or, worse, to contribute actual money. But for a limited time only, would-be do-gooders are in luck: The Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS has devised a…
Ever Earnest
At times, it’s hard to believe that it’s been over a decade since Emily Saliers and Amy Ray came out of Atlanta’s Emory University as the Indigo Girls — hard, because listening to the two today, they still sound like a pair of earnest recent college graduates out to shake…
Rotation
Abra Moore Strangest Places Arista Austin You might remember Abra Moore as the violin-toting co-founder of the airheaded bohemian-rock ensemble Poi Dog Pondering. But even if that’s so, there’s a good chance you’ve lost track of her since then. After abandoning Poi as the group was about to sign with…