Holiday Gestures
The Grinch hated Christmas, we were told by Dr. Seuss, because of “all the noise, noise, noise.” But in the beginning, at least, Christmas day can actually be extremely quiet. It’s become something of a Christmas-morning ritual of mine to drive through my neighborhood’s temporarily deserted streets. At a time…
Worlds of Wonder
It was a decade ago when Cirque du Soleil first crossed the Canadian border to introduce the U.S. to a whole new idea of what a circus could be. Gone were the familiar three rings, the sadly submissive “wild” animals, the “death-defying” human cannonballs. In their place was a combination…
Static
Raves and wave-offs… Believe it or not, most critics would rather sing a band’s praises than tear its work apart — and I’m no different. In general, I’m of the opinion that the less said about a lousy CD, the better, and I do my best to subscribe to that…
Denatured Dixie
In John Berendt’s beguiling travel-cum-true-crime book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, the people of Savannah (in Berendt’s words) “flourished like hothouse plants tended by an indulgent gardener. The ordinary became extraordinary. Eccentrics thrived. Every nuance and quirk of personality achieved greater brilliance in that lush enclosure than…
Twang of the ‘Burbs
Much has been made of Jack Ingram’s affiliation with roots-rock outlaw Steve Earle, and, needless to say, it’s done wonders for Ingram’s credibility. Prior to the release of his major-label debut Livin’ or Dyin’ — a CD co-produced by Earle — the 27-year-old Woodlands native was strumming away in the…
Workers of the World, Unite in Song!
Soviet film, whatever its glories, is not particularly remembered for its frothy musicals (or even, for that matter, for its comedies). Eisenstein, Pudovkin and Dovzhenko may have been among the founding fathers of cinema technique, but they weren’t exactly a barrel of laughs. The policies of Socialist Realism tended to…
Tacos with Ambition
The newish Taco Milagro isn’t your typical family-owned Mexican joint — not when the family in question is the del Grande/Schiller clan. Celebrity chef Robert del Grande, along with his wife, Mimi, and in-laws Lonnie and Candace Schiller, already rule an impressive empire. Their domain includes the redoubtable Cafe Annie,…
Outlaws in the Outback
This Australian answer to Bonnie and Clyde, inelegantly titled Kiss or Kill, is the kind of film that carries you along even as you know exactly where it’s headed. And where it’s headed, of course, is trouble — trouble for all involved. Two sweet and tender hooligans, Nikki and Al,…
War Story
In his 1993 book Sarajevo: A War Journal, the Bosnian journalist Zlatko Dizdarevic reported on an 11-year-old who was waiting in line for water when snipers killed his mother and father: “After the shooting, this boy started to fetch and pour water over the bodies of his dead parents. He…
East End Transit
It’s six o’clock on a Thursday evening, and in the East End, the buses are getting ready to roll. Crowds of travelers and their families are packing into a handful of bus stations that line a seven-block area on Harrisburg Boulevard between Wayside and 75th Street. They’re unloading suitcases and…
Who’s in Charge Here?
To city engineer Parke Reid, the choice was obvious: A major thoroughfare should be designed to minimize the possibility of high water in the streets, especially in a flood-prone city like Houston. And the existing “dual slope” standard the city had been using for thoroughfare construction, which calls for a…
See No Evil
On July 7, 1995, Gator Recycles International deposited $824 in the Rockets season-ticket account of Paul Gilmore, a senior inspector with the city’s Public Works and Engineering Department. The transaction likely would have raised more than a few eyebrows, if any of Gilmore’s superiors had known about it: Gator produced…
The Insider
The Poop’s on You Executing a political smear isn’t as simple as it sounds. There’s a large risk factor involved: If the foul poop doesn’t adhere to your opponent on first application, it might just stick to you for the rest of the campaign. A textbook example of this occurred…
Strange Currents
Two weeks ago, the Independent Electrical Contractors endorsed Bruce Tatro in the upcoming runoff for the District A seat on City Council. While the endorsement was unlikely to have much impact beyond the IEC’s membership, it did open the door on one of the weirder tales to arise in this…
Letters
What Polland Said The Anti-Defamation League is disturbed by the remarks attributed to Harris County Republican Party Chair Gary Polland in New York magazine and repeated in your November 13 issue [The Insider, “… And Look Out for the GOPstapo,” by Tim Fleck], in which Mr. Polland blamed “liberal Jewish…
Press Picks
thursday november 27 Thanksgiving Houston Superfeast In early medieval England, whole families and even whole villages would join hands and leap from cliffs to escape the terrible suffering of hunger. The problem of hunger in our land and century is even more poignant, because so many of us are fat…
Dish
Eggs, yes. Pastries, no. When DaCapo’s grew from a Heights bakery to a River Oaksarea eatery, it opened with a surprisingly short menu. But now that the place has expanded to serve brunch, it’s offering a far more extensive lineup. The restaurant’s trademark thin, elongated menu opens into a roster…
A Buck’s Worth
At a time when the life span of musical trends has shrunk to almost nothing, ska-punk’s time may be running out. If the pattern continues, the extended party that is ska-punk could soon find itself facing a lot of revelers looking for a bash elsewhere. Like hair metal and grunge…
Lab Work
The typical Stereolab tune goes something like this: two chords, a tick-a tick-a metronomic beat, a couple of buzzing analog synths and Laetitia Sadier’s voice delivering a sugary melody in an often indecipherable mix of French and English. It’s an instantly identifiable sound, something few ’90s pop bands have succeeded…