Most Popular
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Barack Obama and Me
It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator
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A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita
For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.
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Movie Pirates
That couple in the back row — they're making out big time, but not in the way you think
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It's Hip to Be Square at Masraff's
Continental cuisine is over, so why would anybody want to eat at this retirees' hang-out on South Post Oak Lane?
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Barack Obama and Me (257)
It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator
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A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita (24)
For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.
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What's the Problem Houston? (6)
The city's skuzzy alt-rock scene thinks it is dying
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Are You Hot Enough for Citizen Lounge? (8)
All This Useless Beauty
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X-Clan's Brother J Drops Some Knowledge (4)
Revolution Through Evolution
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What's the Problem Houston?
The city's skuzzy alt-rock scene thinks it is dying
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The Last Word from the Press on SXSW 2008
We swear, we're done now
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Marilyn Manson's celebrity dating club
Mechanical Animals
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Goodbye, Chango Jackson. Hello, Chango Man and Yoko Mono
Out of the ashes of Chango Jackson come two new denizens of the primate house
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Javajazz: No java, no jazz, lots of rock
Coffee Grounds
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Slideshow: Chuy Benitez's "Houston Cultura"
06:06AM 03/25/08 -
Drenched in Blog: Emilio!
02:19PM 03/24/08 -
Rockets-Kings: The Art of Adelman
09:35AM 03/25/08 -
David Wildbur's Sage Decision
06:06AM 03/25/08
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Recent Articles By Linda Leseman
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Garbage
Absolute Garbage (Deluxe Edition)
National Features
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Village Voice
A Long Way Wrong?
Another celebrated memoir threatens to blow into a million little pieces.
By Graham Rayman -
LA Weekly
Hoop Dawg
Billionaire Donald T. Sterling owns the L.A. Clippers and loves the ladies. And those are just two of his problems.
By Patrick Range McDonald -
The Pitch
Children of the Porn
Elvin Boone's sex-shop empire crumbles as his offspring feud.
By Justin Kendall -
Westword
The Good Soldier
When the Army tried to take down Andrew Pogany, they messed with the wrong coward.
By Joel Warner
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Dolly Parton pokes fun at her image on Backwoods Barbie.
Where:
Subject(s): Backwoods Barbie, Dolly Parton
At 62 years old, Dolly Parton is beyond legendary proportions. Don't laugh — in fact, say what you want about her appearance, chances are she's already beaten you to the punch. Parton's latest effort, Backwoods Barbie, is as self-aware as it is rife with her salt-of-the-earth sensibility. The poignant "Only Dreamin'" and sassy "Shinola" tap into Parton's innate knack for songwriting as she warbles sentiments sung time and again, yet somehow manages to remain fully herself. "I'm just a backwoods Barbie, too much makeup, too much hair," she sings with characteristic humor and honesty on the title track. "Don't let these false eyelashes lead you to believe that I'm as shallow as I look." Continuing the oddball covers tradition of her recent bluegrass albums ("Stairway to Heaven," Collective Soul's "Shine"), here Parton chooses "Drives Me Crazy," otherwise known as Fine Young Cannibals' 1989 hit "She Drives Me Crazy," and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' 1965 classic "Tracks of My Tears." Here and elsewhere, Parton's vocals have astonishingly retained virtually all the youthful luster of her "Coat of Many Colors" days. At its worst, Backwoods Barbie is mere fun; at its best, it's a keen insight into the heart of a country-music icon.
