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The Knowles sisters are among the few superstar musicians who belong as much to Houston as to the world, and since Beyoncé's Lemonade came out just before our timeline, Solange doesn't even need to flex. Her first No. 1 album, A Seat at the Table, is as much an artistic statement as a public one, speaking to issues of race, gender, injustice, self-care and self-reliance, in language that is both poetic and plainspoken. It's a self-assured work, recalling the confidence and content of Nina Simone, a soundtrack to the pain and promise of America, with a loose-fit, unstuck-in-time production style filled with '60s spoken-work interludes, '70s funk zing and '90s R&B zang.
Though it's now served all over the world, ceviche, or cebiche, originated in Peru, a reason why contemporary Peruvian restaurant Latin Bites in Memorial is so good at executing this dish. It's traditionally made with a diced raw fish that is "cooked" in a fresh lime marinade called leche de tigre (tiger's milk), and Latin Bites offers three versions that are fresh, beautifully plated and brimming with authenticity. Their Market Cebiche, made with a seafood medley of seasonal white fish and octopus, is especially fantastic, striking the perfect balance in terms of flavor and texture with a well-balanced rocoto pepper leche de tigre and crispy-crunchy pieces of fried yucca and calamari.
When you dine at Picos, each table is served a red tomato-based salsa and a green, spicier tomatillo salsa, and while the green is excellent, it's the red that sets the bar. Chunky, yet smashed through so that it has an almost whipped, fluffy consistency, the roasted tomato salsa is made fresh daily from a tried and true family recipe. Smokey and well seasoned, with a rich tomato flavor, it's a study in salsa perfection — thick enough that you can scoop up small mounds on each chip with the barest minimum of drip — and utterly addictive.
Arne's Warehouse has been Houston's source for costumes for all occasions for more than 60 years now, and so far there haven't been any signs that will change anytime soon. Whether you just need to come up with a costume that's more creative than a sheet-over-the-head ghost, or are looking for the perfect Elvis wig to top off your own zombie-Elvis creation, Arne's has you covered. And if you can't find what you're looking for after wandering the lengthy aisles — all marked with signs to indicate what holiday section you're in — don't worry, because the employees at Arne's seem to have an almost clairvoyant knowledge of what's in the store and where it's located.
Many people will see this category and first think of Day For Night, and for good reason — that immersive festival of art and music was an amazing spectacle. But direct from various fighting pits of the local artistic landscape, the most recent of which being the gladiatorial ring of Lawndale Art Center's Studio Program, artist Randi Long managed to pull off a dark horse win with her installation in the Temporary Havens exhibition organized by guest curator Dean Daderko of the Contemporary Arts Museum. Long installed various scrappy-looking metamatics and messy assemblages of homemade contraptions, hard-wired for noise and scribbled all over with someone's handwriting, presumably the artist's. The overall effect was both that of a crash, with various things scattered hither and thither, loudening up the place, and that of a crash course, namely in Dada, with plenty of shade-tipping to Jean Tinguely, Marcel Duchamp and Hugo Ball.
Nominally a record store, but nearly a Narnia for lovers of music and devotees to the slightly faded utopian notion of a counterculture, Vinal Edge fits into the landscape of things somewhere between a public literacy program and a Borgesian labyrinth of endlessly forking paths. When it comes to the more adventurous forms of music, if Vinal Edge doesn't have it, or doesn't hurry to acquire it, you probably don't need it. Head vinal-ist Chuck Roast first alighted in these parts in the mid-'80s, landing in the then-bland north Houston suburbs like a noisy Mary Poppins, with mischief in mind and an overflowing carpetbag of freaky notions. He's since moved his base nearer to town, carrying on the good work of edifying feral children and rehabilitating wayward adults.
The first two seasons of Jadeveon Clowney's NFL career were a frustrating combination of injuries and unfulfilled expectations. Then came September 2016, and Texans fans finally were about to learn how life without J.J. Watt was going to feel, with the three-time Defensive Player of the Year undergoing season-ending back surgery after a Week 3 loss to New England. It was time for Clowney to step up and fill the Watt-size breach left behind. Thankfully, for Texans fans, the 2014 No. 1 overall pick did just that. The 2016 season became Clowney's breakout campaign, as he earned his first Pro Bowl selection and managed to stay healthy for virtually the entire season. The best part about Clowney's 2016 season is that he got better as the season went along — in December games against the Colts, Jaguars and Bengals, as well as the playoff game against the Raiders, Clowney was the best player on the field. Without Watt for most of the season, the Texans were still able to have the No. 1 defense in football, as measured by yards allowed. Now, with Watt healthy again, it's scary to think what a fully unleashed combination of Watt and Clowney is going to do to offensive linemen in 2017.
Normal people living everyday lives, as seen through the eyes of artist Ron Mueck, are transformed into dramatic vignettes through imagination and artistry. Mueck has a way of telling a story that transcends race, age and gender, and reminds us of our common experiences. The 13 hyperrealistic sculptures on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, this spring and summer demonstrated fear, tenderness, weariness and love — our collective journey from cradle to grave — in scale both small and large. Props also to curator Alison de Lima Greene for letting the stories unfold so beautifully.