Email Author John Nova Lomax

2009 Stories by John Nova Lomax

• The Buc-ee's Backlash Begins (Finally)

  published Oct 02, 2009

  The Heavens parted and we heard Angels singing...And on the eighth day, God created Buc-ees. And He saw that it was good.-- Testimonial on the blog at Buc-ee's official Web site. For what is, in the ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  A Handy Reminder: Houston Is Not a Human City

  published Sep 29, 2009

  r Out walking with our kids in the Binz section of the Museum District the other day, we came across one of those random little discoveries that makes you glad you live in Houston, even if it's ... More >>

• Houston 101: Townes Van Zandt's Lost Houston

  published Sep 24, 2009

  While Beyonce and Billy Gibbons (not to mention five or ten rappers) have undoubtedly sold more records, we're betting that neither of them have written anything that will endure as long as Townes Van... More >>

• New Orleans Brass Band Invades Big Top Tomorrow

  published Sep 18, 2009

  In a late and welcome addition to the Big Top Lounge's calendar, tomorrow night finds the New Orleans Hustlers Brass Band making their Main Street debut. Fans of the Rebirth, Dirty Dozen or Hot 8 bras... More >>

• Sayonara Savoy: Derelict Downtowner To Be Emergency Demo'd Soon

  published Sep 18, 2009

  The Savoy (1616 Main St.), one of the half dozen or so derelict high- and midrises in southwestern downtown, is to be imploded tomorrow next Friday in an emergency demolition, according to HPD public ... More >>

• Seeking The Possibly Inaudible: Is There a Houston Accentr

  published Sep 15, 2009

  The question of whether there exists a definable, distinct Houston accent has come up in the blogosphere, inspired from beyond the grave by Marvin Zindler. Sixty-year-old tapes of the white-suited won... More >>

• Aftermath: Houston's "Fab 40" Does Abbey Road at Discovery Green

  published Sep 15, 2009

  Something about these Fab 40 concerts at Discovery Green makes Aftermath swell with pride at the mere fact of being a Houstonian. Seeing several dozen musicians of every age and race on stage together... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Coming To La Carafe: More Room To Smoke and Drink

  published Sep 11, 2009

  rIn our Best of Houston issue last year, we selected the scant few tables in front of La Carafe as the Best Place to Smoke and Drink in town. We loved the place for its "prime view of the skylin... More >>

• Life, Post-Ike: A Full Recovery

  published September 10, 2009

  Late last year, the troubled future of the University of Texas — Medical Branch was Galveston's direst long-term threat. Ike slammed the... More >>

• Life, Post-Ike: The Comeback Kid

  published September 10, 2009

  Three months after the storm, the Bolivar Peninsula still looked as if it had been strafed by B-52 bombers, or even like a Texas Gulf Coast... More >>

• Life, Post-Ike

  published September 10, 2009

  Seated at her desk in what used to be the servants' quarters of the historic Moody Mansion on Broadway, Betty Massey, head of the Galveston... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Ranking the Best and Worst Big 12 Fight Songs

  published Sep 04, 2009

  When it comes to fight songs, the Big 12 lacks an undisputed classic. There is no nationally recognized rival to the instantly familiar and rousing battle cries of Notre Dame, Michigan or the Naval Ac... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  "La La La -- I Was On Drugs": Hair Balls's Seven Favorite Memories Of The Houston Zoo

  published Sep 02, 2009

  We recently stumbled on this video made by the Houston Zoo, wherein people recall their favorite memories of the place. With the long Labor Day Weekend coming up, Hair Balls has a few memories o... More >>

• The Alabama Bookstop Remembered By 14-year Employee John Cramer

  published Aug 28, 2009

  rWith the exception of legendary one-eyed bookseller Jim Brown, nobody knows the soon-to-shutter Alabama Bookstop better than John Cramer. The curmudgeonly guitarist in local psych-rock bands th... More >>

• Houston 101: The Short Happy Life of Dick Dowling

  published Aug 26, 2009

  Aside from the city's namesake, no 19th-Century Houstonian was more famous than Dick Dowling, the Irish-born saloonkeeper / businessman and Confederate war hero. In fact, when city leaders commissione... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  A Third Ward Pawnshop iPod and the Mysterious Fate of Previous Owner "Scooby"

  published Aug 26, 2009

  So a couple of weeks ago, after three or four years of increasingly faltering service, Rocks Off's 30 GB iPod finally died. Completely. Out of sheer broke-assedness, we had held on to it for longer th... More >>

• A Bizarre, and Sometimes Electrifying, Tribute to Michael Jackson, Luther and Marvin at Miller Outdoor Theater

  published Aug 24, 2009

  Saturday Rocks Off and a friend attended Keeping the Music Alive, a free concert at Miller Outdoor Theatre. The show was a tribute in honor of the late Michael Jackson, the later Bernie Mac, the even ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas: Houston and "Brazoria"

  published Aug 18, 2009

  The final installment of our Five States of Texas project brings it all back home, to the new state of Brazoria, encompassing all of Southeast Texas from the Brazos Valley to Sabine Pass. rPatron Sain... More >>

• The Queen And I: The Wiz With My 4-Year-Old Daughter

  published Aug 17, 2009

  My daughter Harriet is four and is a huge Wizard of Oz fan, so I thought she would enjoy taking in the Ensemble Theater's free production of The Wiz at Miller Outdoor Theatre Saturday night. (We skipp... More >>

• A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas: "Rio Grande"

  published Aug 14, 2009

  In the fourth in our continuing series on the music of the five states of Texas, we examine the fictional state of Rio Grande, comprising San Antonio and Corpus Christi, South and West Texas, and the ... More >>

• A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas: "New Texas"

  published Aug 13, 2009

  In the third in our continuing series on the music of the five states of Texas, we examine the fictional state of New Texas, comprising Austin and the Hill Country. See Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Ne... More >>

• David Duke Is Mad At Us; We Try To Muddle Through Life Anyway

  published Aug 13, 2009

  It's a red-letter day in our journalistic career. For the first time in our career, we are being called out in print by a former presidential candidate.Under the headline "The Eternal Life of a Lie," ... More >>

• Houston 101: Cruising Westheimer: The Favorite Teenage Pastime of Reagan-Era Houston

  published Aug 12, 2009

  For such a big city, '80s Houston was in some ways still a small town. Case in point: the teenage ritual of cruising Westheimer, in which the fourth largest city in America did its best to impersonate... More >>

• A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas, Part 2: "Trinity"

  published Aug 12, 2009

  [Note: This week Rocks Off is looking at the musical heritage, highs and lows, for each of the five possible states that might result should Texas secede from the U.S. like Gov. Rick Perry wants it to... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas: "Palo Duro"

  published Aug 11, 2009

  View Five States of Texas in a larger map As any proud Texan can tell you, the Lone Star State is entitled constitutionally to split into five states if it so wishes. The scenario has rarely been more... More >>