Month: October 2007

MECA helping youths for 30 years
— Houston Chronicle²

[snip]

The nonprofit organization started at St. Joseph Catholic Church, but
moved in 1993 to the three-story, 45,000-square-foot Dow Elementary
School in 1993. The Old Sixth Ward Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone’s
board purchased the school from Houston ISD for MECA on Jan. 7, 2004.

[snip]

MECA EVENTS

• Until Nov. 24: Day of the Dead mask artists, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; free

• Nov. 9-30: Celebrating the Life and Passion of Frida Kahlo

• Nov. 9: Frida Kahlo’s 100th birthday celebration performances, 7 p.m.

• Dec. 7: La Pastorela by La Camerata Teatral de Guadalajara, in collaboration with the Mexican Consulate, 7 p.m.; free

• Dec. 10-11: Winter Recitals: Classical Violin and Guitar, 7 p.m.; admission is $1 for children and $2 for adults

• Dec. 12: Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts Concert Series presents Fiesta Guadalupana exhibit with contributions from Houston artists, 7 p.m.; free

• Dec. 13-14: Winter Recitals: Contemporary Dance, 7 p.m.; admission is $1 for children and $2 for adults

All events are at the former Dow School, 1900 Kane. For details, call 713-802-9370.

Footnotes
2 = article may expire in a few weeks

Authors to converge at book festival
— Houston Chronicle²

Novelist Tom Perrotta, first daughter Jenna Bush and historian Joseph
J. Ellis are among headliners at this weekend’s Texas Book Festival in
Austin. More than 200 writers — some Texas-rooted, others with a
national profile — will be on hand at the annual event on the grounds
of the Capitol.

[snip]

This is the 12th year for the book fest, which Laura Bush started to
raise money for Texas libraries. More than 45,000 people attended last
year. For a complete schedule, visit www.texasbookfestival.org.

Footnotes
2 = article may expire in a few weeks

The Houston Chronicle staff list their picks for best horror flicks.

Lana Berkowitz picks “Die, Monster, Die! (1965) / Planet of the Vampires (1965)”
Syd Kearney & Louis B. Parks pick “Alien (1979)”
Andrew Dansby picks, of all things, “Evil Dead 2 (1987)”
Eric Harrison picks “The Sixth Sense (1999)” (with which I agree)
Tracy Scott picks “Audition (1999)” which I’ve never seen
Andy Olin picks “The Shining (1980)”

The Houston Press has this post:

Halloween: The haunting score, the moment
Laurie Strode looks out the window of her high school classroom and
sees Michael Meyers standing in broad daylight staring at her, Donald
Pleasence’s weird little accent, the scene in the closet between Laurie
and Michael. This is a perfect scary movie from start to finish.

Suspiria: When little Suzy Banyon arrives
at a prestigious dancing school, she has no idea what’s in store for
her. Italian director Dario Argento has created a masterpiece of horror
with bizarre camera and lighting effects and an obsession with the
color red. You’ll never walk your dog alone again after this one.

Rosemary’s Baby: Mia Farrow plays the
paranoid pregnant mother of Satan’s spawn with such a mix of fear and
despair it made me want to get my tubes tied. Artsy effects mixed with
a weird theme song (sung by Farrow herself) and Sidney Blackmer and
Ruth Gordon as the nosiest neighbors ever add up to a total frightfest.
This is not a dream, this is really happening!

Scream: Scary and ironic at the same time,
which is a hard one to pull off. Wes Craven filled the movie with so
many inside jokes that horror movie fans needed to watch it at least
three times to catch all the references. Yummy!

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The original, of
course. It’s got odd moments of humor, and Houston’s own Marilyn Burns
as the sole survivor kicks total ass! The blood on her face and body
was really hers as she was filmed being chased through the woods by
Leatherface. She earns every letter of the title Scream Queen. My heart
races just thinking about it.

Which do you think is the scariest movie ever?