Song #64 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “Try A Little Tenderness”, originally by Bing Crosby and covered by everybody in the galaxy but for these purposes by Otis Redding. Here’s Der Bingle: Oh, that voice. Makes you want to go lay a pile of eggs, doesn’t it? Such a shame being a [...]
Posts Tagged ‘movies’
Alamo Drafthouse coming inside the Loop
Woo hoo! I am so thrilled to announce that we’re getting two new Alamo Drafthouse locations in Houston! I love living in Houston and I love the Alamo theaters here, and the expansion of the company in this wonderful city is nothing but great news. Northwest Houston is getting a theater, and we’re finally getting [...]
Saturday video break: Hallelujah
Song #72 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “Hallelujah”, originally by Leonard Cohen and covered by everyone on the planet many artists, in this case Rufus Wainwright. Here’s the original: That’s probably not the version you’re most familiar with; Jeff Buckley’s cover version, which was really covering John Cale’s version of the song, is the [...]
Supreme Court keeps beaches closed
Phooey. Affirming the private-property rights of shoreline landowners, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the public’s right of access to state beaches cannot be guaranteed when hurricanes or storms reshape the coast. The sharply divided ruling will limit the state’s ability to enforce the Open Beaches Act, a 53-year-old law that had been used [...]
Stephen Klineberg, superstar
I want to see this. David Thompson and his colleagues at ttweak are best-known for their work on the quirky “Houston – It’s Worth It” campaign, paying homage to the yawning potholes, soul-sapping humidity and all the other things that help to define the sprawling city. But they may have found the quintessential symbol of [...]
Friday random ten: The best little random ten list in Texas
A moment of silence, please, for Edna Milton Chadwell, the last madam of the Chicken Ranch brothel in La Grange, Texas, who passed away this week at the age of 84. In her memory, I bring you this list: 1. Best Damn Fool – Buddy Guy 2. Little Beggarman – Great Big Sea 3. The [...]
Friday random ten: Tongue twisters
Somehow I got to thinking this week about songs that are challenging to sing because of lyrical density and/or complexity. Tongue-twisting songs, in other words. I came up with ten from my collection: 1. Mari Mac – Flying Fish Sailors Here’s the refrain: Mari Mac’s father wants Mari Mac to marry me My father’s making [...]
Saturday video break: Kiss
Song #84 on the Popsode Top 100 Covers list is “Kiss”, originally by Prince and covered by the Art of Noise with Tom Jones. While I was able to find a Prince song video before, I regret to say that this time I struck out – every one I clicked on had the audio disabled. [...]
Friday random ten: With this ring
This past Monday was my 13th wedding anniversary. I’ve now been married long enough that I have a hard time remembering what it was like to not be married. Of course, I’m also very old, so that may just be the usual degeneration of my faculties. In any event, here are ten songs about weddings [...]
Saturday video break: How do you say “Heigh Ho” in Spanish?
Los Lobos makes everything better: Kind of fitting for Labor Day weekend, don’t you think? Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.
“Miss Representation”
The above is a preview for Miss Representation, which is showing this Thursday for one night only at the Alamo Drafthouse, West Oaks Mall, at 7 PM. I’ve got tickets for the screening, which is also a benefit for Annie’s List. There are similar screenings in Austin (Tuesday, 7 PM, The Drafthouse) and San Antonio [...]
Saturday video break: We’re off to see the Wizard
Bobby McFerrin sings “The Wizard of Oz” in seven and a half minutes. It’s even more awesome than it sounds. There’s a more recent version of this performance, with somewhat better video (not having been ripped from someone’s VHS tape, one presumes) here, but I prefer the embedded one, both for the stronger audience participation [...]
Film incentives
Stuff like this always fascinates me. In a legislative session marked by a slew of high-profile budget cuts, Texas lawmakers opted to continue offering [film and TV production] incentives, but they reduced the amount available by 50 percent. They approved $30 million to use over the next two years, according to Gov. Rick Perry’s office, [...]
Saturday video break: Seven in seven
Seven “Harry Potter” movies, summarized in seven minutes: I haven’t seen a Potter movie since the third one – we saw it two days before Olivia was born, if that helps you understand why I’m behind in my movie-watching – but I do hope to see this one. And now I’m prepared for it.
Saturday video break: It’s OK to be Takei
Ladies and gentlemen, George Takei: I suppose now is as good a time as any to show you this: That was taken at the Houston premier of a slightly bizarre, very cheesy, and mostly fun sci-fi western called Oblivion, at a now long-gone theater on Post Oak near San Felipe. The movie’s director, writer (Peter [...]
Friday random ten: Songs of the Century, part 7
Continuing with songs in my collection from the Songs of the Century as compiled by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. 1. I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown (#152) 2. Banana Boat Song (Day-O) – RJD2 (#156, Harry Belafonte) 3. Material Girl – Madonna (#161) 4. [...]
In your grill
I love the opening to this story about the people who call Weber Grills for tech support, and the people who take those calls. Man. Meat. Fire. It is supposed to be a foolproof formula. But the guy at the grill is frantic. He has a yard full of hungry guests, and he is fumbling [...]
“Born To Be Wild”
The family and I had the chance to see a preview of “Born To Be Wild”, a 3D IMAX movie at the Museum of Natural Science about saving orphaned elephants and orangutans on Thursday evening. We all loved it. I knew pretty much nothing about what the childhood (for lack of a better term) of [...]
Saturday video break: Select all robots
All movies should be like this: Plot? Dialog? Those pesky laws of physics, not to mention logic? Pshaw. Who needs them when you have that much awesomeness? Via Gizmodo.
Saturday video break: Ease on down the road
We took the girls to see a children’s-theater production of “The Wizard of Oz” last weekend, and that made me think of this: Alas, I couldn’t find a clip of this from the movie, but if you just want to hear the original, uninterrupted song, go here. Thinking about that also got me to thinking [...]
Friday random ten: The top 500, part 11
Continuing on with the songs in my collection from the Rolling Stone Top 500 list. 1. Train In Vain – Annie Lennox (#292, orig. The Clash) 2. Heart of Gold – Neil Young (#297) 3. Like A Prayer – Madonna (#300) 4. With A Little Help From My Friends – Big Daddy (#304, orig. The [...]
Saturday video break: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
The other day I heard Olivia saying – trying to say, anyway – fourteen-syllable words are quite the mouthful – that fabled construction from “Mary Poppins”, “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, to Audrey. I sang her a verse of the song, and they were duly impressed. Then Olivia wanted me to spell it for her. I’m a pretty good [...]
Friday random ten: The top 500, part 9
Continuing on with the songs in my collection from the Rolling Stone Top 500 list. 1. Walk Away Renee – Southside Johnny and The Jukes (#220, orig. The Left Bank) 2. Moondance – Van Morrison (#226) 3. Fire and Rain – James Taylor (#227) 4. Mannish Boy – Muddy Waters (#229) 5. I Got A [...]
RIP, Blake Edwards
The man who gave us the one true “Pink Panther” movies has passed away at the age of 88. One of Hollywood’s most successful specialists in comedy, Edwards was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1922 and started out as an actor. After appearing in about 30 films, he worked as a TV scriptwriter before becoming [...]
RIP, Leslie Nielsen
As Mel Brooks said when his friend Harvey Korman passed away, the world is a more serious place today. Leslie Nielsen, the actor best known for starring in such comedies as Airplane! and the Naked Gun film franchise, died Sunday of complications from pneumonia at a hospital near his home in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. He [...]
Saturday video break: This is Halloween
And this is how you celebrate it: Happy Halloween!
“Lunch Line”
Want to understand the history of the school lunch program and what’s going on with it today? Then you’ll want to see the documentary “Lunch Line”, for which The Lunch Tray is, fittingly enough, a sponsor: Here’s a trailer of the film and a recent review from The Atlantic Monthly. The film makers, Uji Films, [...]
“For the Sake of the Song: The Story of Anderson Fair”
From the inbox: Gish Creative (www.gishcreative.com) and Southwest Alternate Media Project/SWAMP (www.swamp.org) have come together to celebrate the arts and cultural landmarks with a public screening of “For the Sake of the Song: The Story of Anderson Fair” (www.andersonfairthemovie.com) on Tuesday, October 26, 7pm at the River Oaks Theatre, 2009 W. Gray. All proceeds from [...]
“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”
From the twisted mind that brought us Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new work that sounds just as excellent. Here’s the nickel description, from the Murder by the Book email newsletter: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (by Seth Grahame-Smith; Grand Central; $21.99) From the best-selling author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! Indiana, 1818. [...]
Saturday video break: Do the android!
I don’t even know how to introduce this one, so let’s just dive right in. Don’t be distracted by the fact that it starts out in French. It’s totally worth it, trust me. What can I say? It was the 70′s. You had to be there. My thanks to those hard-working websurfers at Wait, Wait, [...]
Hector Uribe may be my favorite candidate for this cycle
Anyone who can send out a press release like this is someone who can make the election season just a little more enjoyable. In Stunning Move, Land Commissioner Candidate Hector Uribe Already up on Statewide TV (Austin) Democratic candidate for Texas Land Commissioner Hector Uribe announced today that he’s already on TV state-wide, when the [...]
Happy 2010!
Happy New Year, everybody! May this year be a peaceful and prosperous one, and may any alien species we encounter be benevolent.