Email Author Mandy Oaklander

2011 Stories by Mandy Oaklander

• Free Break-In and Giant Dump With Your Heights Car Repair

  published Aug 05, 2011

  Last week, Chris Lawless dropped his car off at Tech Auto Maintenance in the Heights for a repair. He stopped by the next day to find it fixed but picked clean of loose change, hundreds of CDs and his... More >>

• Cover Story: Natalie Irish Paints With Her Lips (With Video Of Her Painting This Week's Cover)

  published Aug 03, 2011

  Natalie Irish has Houston's most famous set of lips. The subject of this week's cover story, Irish has recently grabbed the attention of the world by making portraits with her lip prints. She puts o... More >>

• City Hall Packed for Red-Light Camera Showdown

  published Aug 03, 2011

  As far as city hall meetings go, yesterday's was raucous. Members of the National Black United Front, Houston Ministers Against Crime, city council hopefuls, and Citizens Against Red Light Cameras fil... More >>

• 

  COVER STORY

  Lips First

  published August 4, 2011

  Facing a large black canvas in a sunny kitchen, Natalie Irish puckers her painted white lips and cocks her head to the side, leaning closer to her... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  UPDATE: Now With Video: Sashay Away, It's National Dance Day!

  published Aug 01, 2011

  Our humdrum parking lot was transformed into an open-air dance floor this morning, when about 50 Houstonians came out to celebrate National Dance Day. The holiday, created by judge Nigel Lythgoe of So... More >>

• Chef Chat, Part 3: Matti Merrell and Rodney Perry of Green Seed Vegan

  published Jul 29, 2011

  Forget fat-bubbly steaks and cheese-drenched crab enchiladas. If there was one cuisine in Houston I had to dine on for the rest of my life, it would come from Green Seed Vegan. If you're just joining ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  GLBT Hate Crime Victims Memorialized on Charles Armstrong's Property

  published Jul 29, 2011

  Last night, throngs of people bearing candles filled an empty parking lot in Montrose, just off the main gay bar drag of Pacific Street. A block or two from here, Paul Broussard was murdered in 1991. ... More >>

• Chef Chat, Part 2: Matti Merrell and Rodney Perry of Green Seed Vegan

  published Jul 28, 2011

  In the sweltering Houston heat, we continue our chat about all things raw with Green Seed Vegan-ators Matti Merrell and Rodney Perry. Eating Our Words: Are most people who come here vegansr Matti Me... More >>

• Twyla Tharp's Come Fly Away, An All-Sinatra Evening, Is Coming To Houston

  published Jul 28, 2011

  Frank Sinatra is coming to town, and you'll never see him like this again. Twyla Tharp's Broadway production of Come Fly Away, set to the vocals of Ol' Blue Eyes blended with a live 19-piece band, is... More >>

• Chef Chat, Part 1: Matti Merrell and Rodney Perry of Green Seed Vegan

  published Jul 27, 2011

  In a little green truck in the Third Ward, 27-year-old Matti Merrell and her husband Rodney Perry, 32, create incredible vegan lunchtime entrees. Both are Houston natives, and both are all about makin... More >>

• John Kinsel, Claiming Wrongful Conviction, Is Denied New Trial: "Our Hands Are Tied", Says Court

  published Jul 26, 2011

  A few months ago, we wrote a cover story about John Kinsel, a Texas man sentenced in Louisiana to life without parole for the rape of his girlfriend's live-in daughter. That girl, 9-year-old Alyssa Me... More >>

• HISD: New STAAR Standardized Test Will Completely Change All Curriculum

  published Jul 21, 2011

  Texas public schools are trading the standardized test they currently use, TAKS, for a brand-new test -- one that's much harder. Said Superintendent Terry Grier, "This is probably the biggest thing th... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Free Birth Control: 5 Places to Spend Those Savings Outside of Your Womb

  published Jul 21, 2011

  For hating on your babymaker so hard, the government sure is spending a lot of time down there. Just ask Planned Parenthood: There's a lot of womb-shaming here in Texas. But finally, finally, a govern... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Where to Meet a Houston Millionaire

  published Jul 18, 2011

  Of all the cities in all the countries in all the world, Houston is attracting the most millionaires. Houston's millionaire population swelled 9.6% in just one year, according to Forbes. There are now... More >>

• Chef Chat, Part 3: Octavio Madrigal of Theo's Restaurant

  published Jul 15, 2011

  John, the lovable and sometimes cantankerous waiter who's worked at Theo's/One's-A-Meal for 28 years, remembers everyone who's ever walked through the doors. Either that, or he's great at faking it wi... More >>

• Chef Chat, Part 2: Octavio Madrigal of Theo's Restaurant

  published Jul 14, 2011

  Yesterday, we caught up with Theo's owner Ted Mousoudakis and chef Octavio Madrigal about Theo's many iterations. One thing has remained the same: the food. Eating Our Words: What's your favorite dis... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Harris County Sheriff's Diversity Training: Our PowerPoint Presentation

  published Jul 14, 2011

  Remember back in 2008, when the Harris County Sheriff's Office circulated those internal e-mails making fun of everyone (but white menr) And later that year, when deputies handcuffed a Sikh woman and ... More >>

• Chef Chat, Part 1: Octavio Madrigal of Theo's Restaurant

  published Jul 13, 2011

  One's A Meal, the beloved Greek spot in Montrose, has seen some changes this year. It has a new owner (Ted "Theo" Mousoudakis), a new name (Theo's), and best of all, a beer and wine liquor license tha... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  SlutWalk Spills Stripper Heels, Rape Survivors Into the Streets

  published Jul 11, 2011

  Houston woke up to a parade of fishnets, taped nipples and self-proclaimed sluts Saturday morning. Almost 100 allies and victims of sexual assault snaked through Montrose for SlutWalk, dropping jaws a... More >>

• Rod Castle, CEO of Osito Foundation, Dies

  published Jul 08, 2011

  Prominent GLBT fundraiser Rod Castle died yesterday, though the cause of death has not yet been determined. Rod Castle was co-founder and CEO of the Osito Foundation, a Houston nonprofit that donates... More >>

• Texas Is 12th Most Obese State: Five Excuses For Why We're Fat

  published Jul 07, 2011

  If every state in America was a schoolchild on a playground, Texas would be the fat kid playing by himself, dreaming of a day when he can float away and form his own playground, damn it. Basically, th... More >>

• Cover Story: Houston's First Co-op, Definitely Not a Commune

  published Jul 06, 2011

  Forget everything you thought you knew about co-ops. Houston's first has arrived, and it's not what you think. Are you picturing a bunch of unwashed hippies prancing naked through a dirty, disintegra... More >>

• 

  COVER STORY

  Our HAUS

  published July 7, 2011

  Check out pics from Houston's first... More >>

• Top Four Patriotic Sex Positions

  published Jul 04, 2011

  Recently, Houston's patriotism has been questioned by Stephen Colbert, who took us to task for our fireworks ban, and Men's Health magazine, who ranked us the 89th most patriotic city. Houston was bea... More >>

• Chef Chat, Part 3: Anthony Davis of Reggae Hut

  published Jul 01, 2011

  Whenever a new guest comes to Reggae Hut, Davis offers samplings of some of his most popular dishes: oxtails (bottom), jerk chicken (top left), and curry goat. The goat, good enough to make anyone a b... More >>