First Dance
FRI 5/16 The best way to keep an at-risk kid from risking it is to nurture his passion. “Dance kept me on the earth,” says Jane Weiner, founder of Kid’s Play, the performing arts program for underprivileged children. “For kids to have the kind of handle on life that art…
The Power of 12
As Pantera would put it, both Arthur Yoria and Matt Maloney are far beyond driven. Maloney parlayed his relatively small size and average talent into a basketball career that took him from the Ivy League to six years in the NBA. Yoria is one of Houston’s most perfectionist musicians, and…
Lighting Seven Up
If you stop by Seven Lounge in Midtown this Friday, don’t be alarmed by the freaky LL Cool J video vibe. The candles brightening up the joint will be lit for a good cause, so just check your dirty mind.The charity event “Illume,” benefiting the Candle Lighters Childhood Cancer Family…
Live, Nude Actors
FRI 5/16 In Jerker, two men have erotic phone conversations while completely NUDE. Got your attention? Joe Watts, the theater’s artistic director, thought it would. He’s up front about one reason he’s producing the play: “Nudity sells.””But once the audience is in there,” he’s quick to add, “and realizes how…
Chipotle off the Old Block
Just like the old-fashioned Tex-Mex version, Serranos’ cheese enchiladas are crispy on the ends and covered with chile gravy. But unlike the classic kind, these stuffed tortillas are also topped with a pile of mesquite-grilled “chicken fajitas.” (Chickens don’t actually have skirts, but you knew that.) Combine this dish with…
Classic Cubano
The pollo a la plancha en ajo ($11) at Boca Chica (2100 Waugh Drive, 713-523-2662) is an assertive dish full of the flavors of Cuba and Mexico. The boneless, skinless breast of chicken, marinated in lime juice and olive oil, is first butterflied and then cooked on the griddle. It’s…
Parting Shots
Reflecting a solid cross-section of Houston, the crowd of about 2,000 arrived at the Wortham Theater Center to watch Lee P. Brown become the first black mayor of Houston. The swearing-in itself, however, was upstaged minutes earlier, in the hush that followed “The Star-Spangled Banner.” A strong, solitary woman’s voice…
The Velvet Viking
They say opposites attract, and that’s definitely true in the case of Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche. Lerche comes from Bergen, Norway, a city on the North Sea where it rains about 300 days a year and is dark about 20 hours a day through the long winter. Bergen is a…
MUD-Slinging Breakaway
Attorney Joe Bailey Allen, in the wake of a divorce 28 years ago, pulled up stakes in Waco and lit out for Houston, where he took an unglamorous role as a municipal utility district (MUD) specialist for the powerful Vinson & Elkins law firm. During the next quarter-century he would…
Punk of the Month Club
Here’s how you get on the cover of Rolling Stone: First make it big on a local scene, so big that you get signed and Stone pronounces you an artist to watch. Next, they’ll want you to do a fashion spread for them. They’ll give you some nice expensive clothes…
Profiles in Boredom
Connoisseurs of the Houston Chronicle now have something new to savor: the pointless profile. Editor Jeff Cohen apparently loves the idea of having a flowery profile anchoring the Metro front whenever possible, so we’re going to be seeing a lot of these. Cohen is not alone in this, of course…
Trading Spaces
Monique Powell is driving to The Home Depot. That’s an interesting thought, isn’t it? Monique Powell, the sassy, vivacious lead singer of the ska-core collective Save Ferris, is driving her Dodge Durango through the hills of Los Angeles to the nearest branch of the hardware superstore. Anyone who’s seen the…
Passive Aggressive
Two years ago Roger Haseman, the Harris County D.A.’s environmental crimes chief, had reason to celebrate: He had just won a case unprecedented in the history of the state. His office convicted the L.B. Foster company of “passive disposal” violations — allowing hazardous paint waste from a container to contaminate…
Kings of Leon
This debut EP clocks in at just over 15 minutes, but it drops an explosively powerful sonic chunk, a perfect melding of ’90s garage rock and ’70s Southern boogie. Despite its brevity, it may be one of the best rock releases of the year. The Nashville-based Kings of Leon all…
Letters
On the Grill No barbecue bias: Each year the Cold River Cattle Company BBQ Team, consisting mainly of small businesses and private sponsors in the $500 to $2,000 range, raises money for the Sunshine Kids, and this year the Small Steps Nurturing Center. We also throw a Miss Blue Jeans…
Opie Hendrix & The Texas Tallboys
F. Scott Fitzgerald was dead wrong. There are second acts in American lives. Dubya went from drunk to president. Willie Nelson went from Nashville songwriter to Texas icon. Craig Biggio went from mediocre catcher to outstanding second baseman to an unknown quality in center field. Ron Howard went from freckle-faced…
The Highs and Lows of Life with Lee
Lee Patrick Brown’s allotted three terms have come and almost gone, and the man has remained a mystery, even for many of those who served in his administration. Was he clueless in management or just stubbornly loyal in hanging on to subpar subordinates? He came across best when assuming his…
Chuck Prophet
Chuck Prophet is an Americana lifer. Back in the Paisley Underground ’80s, he slung guitar for scruffy roots rockers Green On Red. And since 1990, Prophet has been crafting little-heard records for little-known labels like China and Cooking Vinyl while being sought after by such diverse acts as Cake, Kelly…
Exploring the Subcontinent
The Anand Patwardhan documentary War and Peace (2002) may have won Best Film at the Mumbai International Film Festival, but that didn’t stop the Indian Censor Board from banning it. The work frames footage of 1998 pro-nuclear arms celebrations in India and Pakistan with images of the assassination of Mahatma…
Neo Sparrin’
Talk about tough acts to follow: The original 1999 Matrix, a critical and commercial smash, came almost as a revelation out of nowhere. The Matrix Reloaded, the first of two sequels, faces a level of expectation that probably can’t be met. Creating a satisfying sequel under any circumstances is rife…
This Week’s Day-by-Day Picks
Thursday, May 15 Are there folks out there who can talk to the dead? Dallas Morning News religion reporter Christine Wicker was skeptical, to say the least, when she visited the strange town of Lily Dale. Residents of the community, which lies 60 miles south of Buffalo, New York, say…
The Art Is a Lonely Hunter
Ross Hunter, dead seven years, hasn’t been this alive at the movies since the ’50s and ’60s, when he produced some of the weepiest melodramas and cheeriest romantic comedies ever to barely stick to the screen. His ghost has been wandering up and down the aisles ever since Don Simpson…
No Blue Balls
Louis C.K. performs at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15; and 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 16 and 17. The Laff Stop, 1952 West Gray. For more information, call 713-524-2333 or visit www.laffstop.com. $12.50 to $16.50.
Terror Firmer
In March 2002, days before President Bush was scheduled to visit Peru, a car bomb exploded near the U.S. embassy in Lima, killing nine and injuring dozens. Government officials, here and in Peru, blamed the attack on Shining Path, a Marxist terrorist organization with roots dating to the 1960s, only…
Leatherface to Picasso
University of Texas alumni will tell you that it’s the dullest-looking building on campus. But the Harry Ransom Center houses a world-renowned collection of manuscripts, books, artworks, photographs and artifacts. Visitors will discover everything from a copy of the Gutenberg Bible (c. 1450) to the world’s first photograph (c. 1826)…
Beer Nuts
About his new play Meat/BAR, playwright and Infernal Bridegroom Productions artistic director Jason Nodler has said it’s all true except the facts. Sure enough, the grungy neighborhood hangout at the center of the play looks and sounds like most any dive in Montrose. Darts, longnecks and the usual oddball suspects…
The Munigolfer
Eighteen holes of golf at Pebble Beach costs $380. That’s about $21 per hole — or, if you play like me, about $3.50 per stroke. But for the price of one Pebble Beach hole, or even less, you can play an entire round at any number of Houston’s municipal courses.Wortham…
Onion Tears
Twinkling red Christmas lights surround exposed pipes that line Onion Creek Coffeehouse in the Heights. There’s a comfortable lounge where patrons sit on overstuffed chairs and flip through old Rolling Stones and abandoned copies of The New York Times. The menu behind the wide, shiny counter offers sandwiches in addition…