James Howard Kunstler Finally Drags His Ass to Houston
To anybody who has read so much as a page of his work, the fact that James Howard Kunstler has revealed on his blog that he is no fan of the city of Houston will come as absolutely no surprise. To say that Kunstler is anti-oil and anti-car is an…
Pullem’ Up? Sometimes Dallas Makes It Way Too Easy
As loyal Houstonians, far be it from us to pass up a chance to make fun of our neighbors a few hundred miles up I-45, but this time we’re hardly the only ones. Dallas showed up on NBC’s Today show, popular music blog Idolator and XXL magazine’s Web site –…
Rotation: Chicago, The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary Edition
When, exactly, did Chicago jump the shark? Since the good people at Rhino were kind enough to arrange this double-album greatest hits package chronologically, we have the opportunity to arrive at a conclusion more or less scientifically. Of the fact that Chicago jumped the shark there can be no debate…
John Royal’s World Series Prediction. But First, a Few Words on Joe Torre and Paul Byrd.
It’s World Series time. Just think, at most we’ve only got to put up with, at most, a week more of Dane Cook commercials (speaking of Dane Cook, can someone explain to me how this untalented hack could get a major role in a film with Steve Carell and Juliette…
Chamillionaire: Not So Dirty
Chamillionaire might be the most strait-laced rapper alive. In the current issue of Blender magazine – featuring Pussycat Dolls lead singer Nicole Scherzinger on the cover, topless of course – the Jersey Village-reared Grammy winner and Swishahouse alumnus is queried in the mag’s back-page feature, “Who Does [Blank] Think He…
Aeros Win, Cal Cutterbuck Gets Called Up
Win some, lose some. That seems to be the story with the Aeros season. For instance, the Aeros won game number one Friday night, defeating the San Antonio Rampage 6-5 in a shootout. The loss comes in terms of another player. But unlike Roman Voloshenko, who split to go home…
$13 at Big Woodrow’s on Chimney Rock
Where: Big Woodrow’s, 3111 Chimney Rock, 713-784-2653 What $13 gets you: Good, greasy bar food. The menu at Big Woodrow’s is vast, going well beyond the standard nachos, wings and burgers. Here you can get everything from state-fair staples such as fried pickles ($3.99), fried alligator ($7.99) and con queso…
Miss Pop Rocks: A Brief Love Note to Amy Winehouse
A few posts back, I promised all of you that I would never write about Britney Spears again. And I’m not going to. Because Britney Spears and her army of fellow tartlets have been boring me to tears for way too long. But you know who’s not boring? Amy Winehouse…
Drenched in Blog: Amy Wino
Amy Winehouse, the world’s pre-eminent lush and nodded-out soulstress, has a new DVD, I Told You I Was Trouble, coming out. It documents the past year in her career, with added live footage. This is pretty standard stuff in the industry these days, when even Jesus-Bros like Switchfoot can put…
Cover Story: Mental Patient Beaten to Death in West Oaks Hospital
Mario Vidaurre never attracted much good attention in his 41 years of life – at least not after his teenage years when he was a featherweight boxing champ in Louisiana. He had a family who loved him, but that wasn’t able to keep up with his increasing insanities due to…
Three Nights Ago: Hometown Showdown at Warehouse Live
Hometown Showdown Warehouse Live October 20th, 2007 Better than: When I was 11 years old and bumped into that black guy from the movie Nerds at the airport. (Which is to say it was pretty boss.) Download: “Run, Go Get It” (Lower Life Form); “Wasteland” (Sounds Under Radio); “Swimming Stephen”…
Jay Francis, Food Explorer: El Angel’s Gigante Tortaburger
Jay Francis tackles a Tortaburger. Food explorer Jay Francis roams the city in his spare time looking for cool things to eat. Bicultural burgers are one of his favorite genres and he really hit the jackpot with this one. The $7.99 gigante tortaburger at Tortas El Angel is a double…
High School Photo Contest: Back to School
We’re still accepting entries for the latest round of our photo contest for Houston-area high school students. Winners get bookstore gift certificates and become eligible for a $1,000 college scholarship. The theme is “Back to School.” A very broad theme, indeed. Use your imagination and get snapping. Deadline is the…
Solidarity, Baby
Last week we told you how Michael Lacey, the executive editor of Village Voice Media, our parent company, was tossed in jail along with Jim Larkin, the chairman and chief executive officer. The case against them has been dropped. Completely. You can get the nitty-gritty here. In a show of…
Single File: “Tranquilize,” the Lou Reed/Killers Collaboration
“Tranquilize,” a Lou Reed/Killers collaboration from the Las Vegas band’s upcoming B-sides/covers album Sawdust, doesn’t really make sense. If that assessment seems vague, the song’s non-specific lyrics and opposing styles aren’t any clearer. Case in point: can anyone explain what “Live it down, baby don’t talk that much, baby knows,…
It’s Mathew Knowles’s Town. We Just Live Here.
This guy can definitely pay the bills, bills, bills. Mathew Knowles, sire of singing sisters Beyonce and Solange Knowles and impresario of Houston’s Music World Entertainment, has been selected by the Greater Houston Partnership and Kiwanis Club of Houston as the 2007 recipient of the International Executive of the Year…
Two Tickets to Paradise (or Galveston, anyway): That’ll be $500, Please
It’s never too early to start making New Year’s Eve plans, so if you’d like to ring in 2008 with the man responsible for “Shakin’,” “Be My Little Baby” and “Walk on Water,” better act fast, because these two tickets to paradise won’t be around forever. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) That’s…
The College Football Review, Week Eight: Rice Is Just as Good as Notre Dame
It’s becoming increasingly obvious, as the college football season progresses, that the worst place to be ranked is in the Top 10. Four more teams that were ranked in the Top 10 lost this week, and several other Top 10 teams had tough battles in which they also could have…
The Nuge. ‘Nuff Said.
Listen up, people, and listen well, because no one is ever gonna take The Nuge’s words out of context again. The Nuge just put the stranglehold on the folks behind the Muskegon (Michigan) Summer Celebration, where, in 2003, the Atrocious Theodocious was supposed to sacrifice his axe upon the Altar…
Shrimp Wars: Texans, A Perverse Subset of Humanity
Jim Gossen checks out the shrimp fleet in Grand Isle, Louisiana. Alison Cook, my counterpoint at the Chronicle, describes people who like the iodine-like flavor of Gulf brown shrimp as “a perverse subset” of humanity. As the self-appointed spokesman for this perverse subset, I interviewed Jim Gossen, president and CEO…
We Need Ricky Williams. We Don’t Need Richard Justice.
You know, I really get tired of being Mr. Negative. Of being the one telling you the emperor has no clothes. I want to write nice things. I want to rave about the local team heading to the playoffs. I really do – and for anyone who doubt I can…
Get Lit: The Pesthouse, by Jim Crace
If Cormac McCarthy’s The Road got you interested in the sort of post-nuclear-apocalypse novel that’s usually left to cheap science fiction, then you’ll find Jim Crace’s The Pesthouse a worthy successor. Set hundreds of years past whatever it was that decimated America, The Pesthouse depicts the lives of two people…
Drenched In Blog: Kid Rock Waffle House Fight
Few things in life are tantamount to getting into a fist fight at a Waffle House. Maybe crapping your pants at a dollar store, or going to a porn shop with Dad. There’s just an inherent level of class to these situations. Late Saturday night, Kid Rock, the late ‘90s…
Dear Diary: Somebody Save the Houston Texans from Themselves
Any time Vince comes to town, it’s a special occasion. And what better way to commemorate the occasion than by breaking out the best gimmick in sports journalism? That’s right, it’s time for the first running diary of the regular season! Let’s get started. 10:35 AM: Welcome to the second…
Miss Pop Rocks: Dumbledore Is Gay…and Ron Weasley’s Into Leather
She revealed a couple of other things too… This past week, Harry Potter author J.K. “I’m Richer Than the Queen” Rowling announced that, in her mind, beloved headmaster Dumbledore had always been gay. As faithful readers of Miss Pop Rocks are aware, I am way loving the gays. So I…
$13 at Mucho Mexico on North Wayside
Where: Mucho Mexico Restaurante and Seafood Bar (formerly Molcajetes Restaurant), 1310 N. Wayside, 713-673-4598 What $13 gets you: My favorite carnitas in the city, hands down. The Carnitas Estilo Mexico plate (Mexican style carnitas) checks in at $11.90 including tax, so you’ll have to drink water in order to leave…
Radio Houstoned: The Cinema of East Germany
Click the button below for a Radio Houstoned interview with University of Houston professor Sandra Friedan and Houston Press Night & Day Editor Olivia Flores Alvarez. University of Houston professor Sandra Friedan says there’s a funny thing about East German cinema — some of it is actually, well, funny. The…
Hittin’ the Note with Gregg Allman
“Hi Greg. It’s Gregg.” I felt a rush and a little bit of a chill. Gregg Allman, the man who was my gateway drug into the world of blues and soul, was on the line. I asked him where he was calling from, and he told me he was in…
Parish Predators: Are Daniel DiNardo and Juan Carlos Patino-Arango Cut from the Same Cloth?
The wet blankets over at the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests have issued a statement about Texas’s first cardinal. Seems that every time the Catholics want to have fun and build multi-million dollar cathedrals while at the same time paying Vinson & Elkins to drag victims’ names through…
Last Night: Ryan Adams and the Cardinals at Verizon Wireless Theater
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals October 18, 2007 Verizon Wireless Theater Click here for a slideshow of crowd shots. Now with extra hatin’! Better Than: Being confronted with the fact that Kid Rock is now an elder statesman rock star. Download: The song about a past romantic grievance. The one…
Two Village Voice Media Higher-Ups Thrown in Jail Last Night
Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey It’s not often that you come into work and find out your boss has been thrown in jail the night before. Michael Lacey, the executive editor of Village Voice Media, our parent company and the guy who hired me almost ten years ago, was tossed…
Sing for the Cure, Sing for Life, Sing for Breasts
The Houston Press cares about breasts, and not just the enormous bazangas in our ads (not to discount said bazangas, which, of course, pay all our salaries). The paper is sponsoring Sing for the Cure, featuring the Gay Men’s Chorus of Houston and the Bayou City Women’s Chorus singing songs…
John Royal’s NFL Picks, Week Seven: Sorry, Mario. Even If Vince Young Doesn’t Play, It’s Gonna Be a Tough One.
Right almost 40 percent of the time? Jimmy would be proud. Yeah, I know, I sucked last week, and I now stand at 35-54 on picking against the spread this season. It’s a good thing I’m not picking the scores, like Jason. There’s no telling how bad I’d look then…
$13 at Hafez Restaurant on Westheimer
The sign company messed up at this new Iranian joint. It’s Hafez, the owner says, not Hafaez. They are coming back to remove the extra “A.” Where: Hafez Restaurant, 11312 Westheimer 281 558-8181 What $13 gets you: Chicken Soltani plate, an iced tea, tax and tip The $10 Chicken Soltani…
Jason’s Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Seven: No Light at the End of the Tunnel Just Yet
I have to admit, I’m starting to lose faith in the Gary Kubiak era. My concern has very little to do with Gary Kubiak the coach. Actually, it has very little to do with Gary Kubiak at all. Sure, his clock-management too often evokes memories of Jack Pardee, but he’s…
Where’s Robb Walsh?
He’s at our new food blog, Eating…Our Words. Robb will still be dropping in on regular ol’ Houstoned from time to time, but we’ve decided to give him his own space to talk tacos, shrimp, wine or whatever else is on his mind. But don’t worry. He won’t be lonely…
Shrimp Wars: Calling Bullshit
Gulf brown shrimp have a bold iodine tang. I like the iodine flavor of Gulf brown shrimp, especially in gumbos and other highly seasoned dishes. Alison Cook, the restaurant critic at the Chronicle, hates the taste of iodine in seafood. And she is trashing the local shrimp. In an October…
Get Lit: Prince: A Thief in the Temple, by Brian Morton
At first glance, it looks unlikely that this slim volume could do justice to the life and music of His Purpleness; it seems more like one of those quickie clip jobs. But Morton, co-author of The Penguin Book of Jazz, has written a scholarly but highly readable bio, filled with…
Miss Pop Rocks: Is Jennifer Lopez Pregnant? Is Jennifer Lopez Pregnant? Huh, huh, huh?
For all I know, by the time this blog hits the computer screens, it will have been announced that Jennifer Lopez is, in fact, pregnant. And if she is, I know we as Americans will all take a moment and thank the good Lord above that we as a nation…
The College Football Preview, Week Eight: More Babes. And More Babes.
Well, it’s time for another weekend of college football. And as I did last week, I’m celebrating Charlize Theron and linking games to sexy women. Yes, I want the readers anyway I can get them. Let’s get to it. The Charlize Theron Sexiest Games of the Week Award: No. 14…
What Kind of Vehicle Is Each Democratic Presidential Candidate?
What, you thought we were just gonna have fun with the Republicans? Come on now. Click here for a slideshow of candidates from both parties, or scroll down for the Dems. Bill Richardson: Who? Oh, yeah. The guy who’s not named Clinton, Obama or Edwards. Sometimes we even wonder if…
Gee, Drayton, Thanks for Rushing, Here’s Another One You Missed Out On
Well, leave it to the New York Yankees to steal the thunder from tonight’s Boston/Cleveland play-off tilt. It’s being announced that Joe Torre has turned down the Yankees offer to return as manager for next season. It’s still unclear, at least to me, if this means that Torre definitely won’t…
Aeros Lose to the IceHogs
The Aeros came out strong last night, scoring twice in the first period and holding the Rockford IceHogs to one point in the first two periods. Defenseman Clayton Stoner claims the team came out strong for 40 minutes. They skated hard. They forced the action and spent a majority of…
Drenched In Blog: Drenched in MySpace
Yes, that’s right, folks! Drenched In Blog has a new MySpace profile. We promise no annoying spam about ringtones and gift cards if you add us. We will never post late night drunken bulletins detailing our suicidal plans or ruined dates, but we will warn you about illicit content in…
Get in the Zone: The Houston Hip-Hop Marketing Zone, That Is
You know how if you go to New York, and get up early enough, you can watch the network morning-show hosts of your choice chatting it up with various celebrities and Food Network personalities right through their studios’ plate-glass windows? Well now, if you’re a hip-hop fan, you can do…
What Kind of Vehicle Is Each Republican Presidential Candidate?
Gov. Rick Perry announced his backing of Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani this week, according to Reuters. You don’t really need to read the story, because we at Houstoned have courteously distilled its essence and will provide the key passage: “Perry likened the choice to buying a new pickup truck,…
Get Lit: The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman
In The World Without Us, author Alan Weisman asks a simple question: What would happen to the Earth if human beings were suddenly wiped out tomorrow? Not in some nuclear blast that would ravage the planet, but in some way (the how is unimportant) that removed us from the scene…
Long Snaps with Bryan Pittman: Talking Titans and Missing the Peach Pit
www.houstontexans.com Houston Texans’ long-snapper Bryan Pittman returns for more thoughts on life both on and off the gridiron. This week, while going one-on-one with Ballz columnist Jason Friedman, Pittman talks about the upcoming grudge match with the Titans and his affinity for the gang from 90210. JCF: From an outsider’s…
“My God Told Me to Kill Your God”
At first glance, Mel Chin’s CROSS FOR THE UNFORGIVEN seems to be a beautiful rose window, but look a little closer and you’ll see that its straight lines are made of rifles and its circle’s made of ammunition magazines. Chin’s striking piece is just one of the many thought-provoking, challenging…
Renaissance Festival
Just because they’re stuck in uncomfortable and itchy medieval garb doesn’t mean King Henry and his various better halves can’t get with the times and go high-tech. Or so it seems from the revamped Web site of the Texas Renaissance Festival, which is chock-full of video clips of Shakespeare, Ded…
Alas, alak, Alaska!
Jocelyn Noir, the voice behind Alas, alak, Alaska!, has the eerie beauty of a young Ani DiFranco. The young singer/songwriter’s folksy ballads are sung in a screechy vibrato conjuring up the image of an old bag lady singing for a pittance in the park. Noir totters between sweet and creepy…
A Masked Ball
Ah, Verdi’s tragic love triangle, A Masked Ball. In it, King Riccardo loves Amelia, Amelia loves her husband and her husband works for the King. See what lies in store for the trio when the Houston Grand Opera presents soprano Tamara Wilson in her role debut as Amelia and HGO…
Oktoberfest
“Just because you’re drunk and it’s October, it doesn’t make it Oktoberfest,” says Bill Maher. “When you drink in November, it’s not November-fest; it’s just Thanksgiving and you hate your relatives.” That’s harsh, but Bill has a point; the big draw for Oktoberfest celebrations, such as this weekend’s at St…
Craig Robinson
Comedian Craig Robinson, of The Office fame, once picked up a woman with a song called “Can I Have Some Booty?” “I was in college and I was talking to this girl, and I was like, ‘I’m going to tell you something,’ and I started playing the song,” he says…
On a Scale of One to Ten, How Much Do You Love Me?
Teatro al Sur presents Chilean comedy On a Scale of One to Ten, How Much do You Love Me? Whoa, there, that’s a trick question if ever there was one. That indiscreet inquiry is also the title of Teatro al Sur’s inaugural production. The new theater company is working with…
High Rollin’ Roulette
Have you ever watched the cleavage-flaunting Aphrodites of the Houston Roller Derby grab, claw and tackle each other into a bruise-inducing crash and thought, “What was the point of all that?” (that is if you weren’t too distracted by cleavage-flaunting Aphrodites grabbing, clawing and tackling each other to think). Well,…
“Morena Moderna: Virgin of Guadalupe”
You’ve seen her on altars, you’ve seen her on key chains, you’ve even seen her tattooed on the back of lifers at TDC. Now you can see the Virgin of Guadalupe at the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s “Morena Moderna: Virgin de Guadalupe” exhibit. A collection of photographs and installations…
Independent Black Film Festival
Raise your consciousness while enjoying some great films and hands-on workshops at Houston’s first Indie Black Film Festival. An extension of the monthly PopCornN-Lemonade.Films screenings produced by Songhai News: The Black Collegiate Voice, the daylong event will feature a range of films that promise to challenge mainstream cinematic depictions of…
Unborn in the U.S.A.: Inside the War
Unborn in the U.S.A.: Inside the War on Abortion is not meant to change your mind. Much like the films Jesus Camp and Hell House, the documentary simply chronicles the lives of antiabortion activists and lets the viewer decide if their tactics are fair and reasonable or completely misleading and…
The Sleeping Beauty
Singing birds, flitting fairies and girlish innocence are all commonly associated with The Sleeping Beauty, thanks mainly to the light-as-a-feather Disney version. It turns out, however, that the Brothers Grimm and Giambattista Basile and Charles Perrault, who wrote earlier versions of the tale, actually concocted a much darker narrative. With…
“Race & Class”
When Chuy Benitez began work on his contribution to “Race & Class,” the latest group exhibit at Project Row Houses, the El Paso-born photographer decided to look at those issues from a 360-degree angle. Benitez took leaders of Houston’s Latino community, leaders of what he calls Houston’s “cultura,” and photographed…
Lawndale Art Center’s “Día de los Muertos”
Lawndale Art Center asked artists across Texas to create art based on traditional Mexican retablos (personal devotionals remembering a dead loved one). Nationally known artists including The Art Guys, Dixie Friend Gay and Jesus Moroles as well as up and coming talent such as Nina Craig, Bill Davenport, and Dawolu…
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples leads an all-star roster at the Solid Blues show. Staples, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee with a spot on VH1’s “100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll” list and a recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, is an undisputed gospel/R&B legend. She won acclaim…
Steven Wright
We called comedy legend Steven Wright to ask him what else he had going on besides his upcoming national tour to support his new album I Still Have a Pony. “I gotta put air in one of my bike tires,” Wright said, then realized he had inadvertently answered the question…
KnitKnit
Knitting has transcended the realm of just scarves and sweaters. Extremely creative folks are using needle and yarn as their medium to create everything from political statements to high fashion to avant-garde installations. KnitKnit, a newly released book by knitting zine-creator Sabrina Gschwandtner and photographer Kiriko Shirobayashi, illustrates this cross-section…
Theft
Theft is not just another gay movie. “The most common movies are coming-out stories, ‘my boyfriend is a porn star or a prostitute and I didn’t know it’ or ‘my lover is dying of AIDS,’” says Austin filmmaker Paul Bright. His comedy Theft, about an evangelical preacher who is trying…
Alt-Weeklies Provide Web Links to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Home Address
Member papers of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) this week are providing links on their websites that direct their readers to the many places on the Internet where the home address of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is listed. AAN papers are doing so to show solidarity with the…
28th Annual Asian American Festival: TexAsia! Deep in the Heart of Asian Art!
If you have a title as long as the 28th Annual Asian American Festival: TexAsia! Deep in the Heart of Asian Art!, you better deliver. Thankfully, TexAsia! does. The festival transforms City Hall’s Hermann Square into the enchanted Orient (or at least as close as we can get, given Texas…
Jihad Abdulmumit
When Otabenga Jones & Associates partnered with the Menil Collection for the exhibit “Lessons from Below,” the idea was to encourage dialogue about the civil rights movement, African history, black culture and the continuing struggle of African–Americans in this country. The dialogue will be led today by Jihad Abdulmumit, the…
Oni-Con
Oni-Con offers anime fans a break from questions like, “You dress up like a what and pretend a what is a what to do what with?” The convention offers a chance to be around others who see the Japanese-derived animation, and all the hobbies it’s spawned, for its artistic and…
Avenue Q
Muppets grow up and do the nasty in Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx’s inspired, Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q. The coming-of-age comedy has a cast of puppets (and a handful of humans) who sing and frolic, but they aren’t at all kid-friendly. They’ve got names like Lucy the Slut and…
Eleanor Sandresky’s A Sleeper’s Dream
Move over, Tori, there’s a real piano goddess in town. Eleanor Sandresky, darling of the Modern Music set, performs her piano ballet A Sleeper’s Dream at DiverseWorks. The composer, performance artist and pianist comes with quite a reputation, having collaborated with experimental giants such as Philip Glass. The concept may…
Mariza
Fado, a style of music from Portugal, counts Mariza as one of its brightest stars. “Fado” means “fate,” and the music is dramatic and melancholy, like torch songs. Mariza, with her soaring, powerful voice, circles the globe bringing her passionate music to an ever–growing audience. Although fado most often deals…
Bruce Springsteen, Magic
Let’s be honest: The critical hosannas hailing Magic as Bruce Springsteen’s “Return to Rock” are a bit much; it’s only been five years since The Rising. Magic is a solid, often transcendent, effort closer in quality to Darkness on the Edge of Town than Lucky Town, roughly in the middle…
David Bowie, Buddha of Suburbia
Originally released in 1993 — though not in the U.S. until 1995, when it was overshadowed by Bowie’s drum ‘n’ bass experiment Outside — as a sound track/companion to the eponymous BBC TV series, Buddha of Suburbia has unjustly flown under the radar ever since. Bowie’s 19th studio album, rereleased…
Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam
In what might be the best stoner album in years, maybe this decade, Brooklyn’s nearly spent Animal Collective have finally delivered on the volumes of praise they’ve accumulated. A few tribal elements of 2004’s Sung Tongs and the distorted, haphazard vocals of 2005’s Feels are still present, but Strawberry Jam…
Local Motion
Vinal Edge Records 13171 Veterans Memorial Dr., 281-537-2575 1. Insect Warfare, World Extermination LP/CD 2. Om, Pilgrimage CD 3. Fiery Furnaces, Widow City LP/CD 4. Iron & Wine, The Shepherd’s Dog LP/CD 5. Animal Collective, Peacebone 12″/10″ 6. Ulver, Shadows of the Sun CD 7. Angels of Light, We Are…
Caribou Times Two
When you spend the first 20 years of your life in Alaska, you notice when a synth-pop soloist comes around calling himself Caribou. But how does he stack up against the real thing? Musician Caribou is Ontario native Daniel Snaith, psychedelic dream-pop performer extraordinaire. Originally calling himself Manitoba (also very Canadian),…
Glen Cheek, Sexual Harassment, Randall Kallinen, Dildos, Ed Emmett and Property Taxes
Maybe it’s no surprise that the late Glen Cheek, longtime constable of Harris County Precinct 5 who died in April, is not going quietly into that good night. After all, Cheek built a reputation as a hard-ass throughout his 40-plus-year law-enforcement career. When he died, the Houston Chronicle obit gleefully…
“War”
E-mailing a form letter to your congressman is one thing, but getting out your welder, your tubes of paint or your needle and thread to make an artwork about war is an especially personal form of protest. After the 4th of July holiday, the Art Car Museum sent out an…
Arsenic and Old Lace
It may be old, but it’s certainly not weary — Joseph Kesselring’s murderous comedy Arsenic and Old Lace premiered on Broadway in 1941, and you’d think the story about two old-maid killers would feel a little bit tired at this point. After all, just about every high school and community…
Gone Baby Gone
“Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid,” Raymond Chandler wrote in 1950’s The Simple Art of Murder, smacking the ascot off the drawing-room mystery and all its crime-solving dilettante dandies. “He must be…a man of honor, by instinct,…
Feature Photo
Any visit to a bird proctologist is likely to produce such a wide-eyed look of surprise at the big moment. Actually, Chewy — a Blue and Gold Macaw — is simply getting his nails clipped at the store called Adventures in Birds. To view image larger, click here…
2007 Halloween Guide
Don’t look now, but sloppy Britney costumes might be all the rage this Halloween. Who doesn’t like their festivities decked with little clothes (and shame), lots of drink and lots of candy? Whether you’re tethered to kids or tired of wearing undies, we have an activity for everyone. There’s no…
Sleepovers With Uncle Jeff
“We prosecute aggressively in Jefferson County. I don’t want you guys in Houston to think we don’t.” — Waylon Thompson, Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office “My eyes were always shut…There was a few times that he never knew I saw. But I saw dead into his eyes. I looked dead into them.”…
Jackass: The Game
Love him or despise him, head Jackass Johnny Knoxville has made millions from getting kicked in the yambag. Had YouTube arrived before Jackass, Knoxville, Steve-O and the show’s other gutterpunk masochists might still be slinging French fries, getting burnt by hot grease in a strictly nonrecreational way. But with a…
The ManKind Project
Grateful for ManKind: I am disappointed at what I consider to be a very biased and inaccurate representation of the ManKind Project [“Weekend Warriors” by Chris Vogel, October 4]. I for one am very grateful for the project, its training and the Integration Groups. I am certain that much of…
Dozo
The “king crab legs grilled in cheese sauce” listed on the menu ($24) at Dozo (2938 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. S., 713-785-8899) may not sound too inspired, but don’t let this simple description fool you — this is a startlingly flavorful dish. After being boiled and split in two, four…
Gerardo’s Drive-in Grocery
We could smell carnitas frying half a block down Patton Street when we got out of the car. It was a quarter to 11 on Sunday morning and the sidewalks in front of Gerardo’s Drive-in Grocery were a street party. There were families carrying their food home in white paper…
Mexican Body Parts, Güeros
Dear Mexican, What is it with the Mexican hang-up on body parts? When General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was struck by a cannonball at the knee in one of his 8,000 wars, his right leg was removed from the knee down. When he returned to Mexico City, he ordered…
Tuesday’s Gone
Tuesday is Nightfly’s unofficial night off. The best service-industry nights are usually Mondays, while bars and clubs begin their descent into the weekend on Wednesdays. It’s unwise to expect anything great out of a Tuesday night — you might scam a few drinks if you’re lucky, but that’s it. There…
Art Capsule Reviews: “Chemical City,” “David McGee: El Soñador Elegante,” “Practice Makes Perfect” and “To 25!”
“Chemical City” The chemicals in “Chemical City” are supposedly the metaphorical kind, but in downtown Manhattan during the punk rock and disco heydays, chemicals of the pollution variety as well as mind-altering drugs permeated the lifestyles of art world movers and shakers. At Deborah Colton Gallery, the strongest representation of…
How (Not) to Name Your Band
Ya know, there are worse things in the world than naming your band something annoying — things like killing people, or donning a diaper and chasing some astronaut cross-country or, I dunno, literally getting away with murder, only to years later bust into some Las Vegas hotel room with a…
Kentucky Club
Heading into the Kentucky Club (2707 Fountain View, No. 2, 832-252-7267), I expected an homage to the Bluegrass State. Nothing of the sort. No pictures of thoroughbreds. No Wildcat jerseys. Not even a sad Loretta Lynn song on the jukebox. Hell, there wasn’t even a jukebox. However, I did find…
Stage Capsule Reviews: Blue, Dreamgirls, Rumors, Sordid Lives and A Streetcar Named Desire
Blue Playwright Charles Randolph-Wright creates an indomitable character in his black family drama from 2001. Elegant Peggy Clark (Detria Marie Ward), a former supermodel, doesn’t belong in the small mill town of Kent, South Carolina, where she moved with her husband many years ago. Successful, upper-middle-class and well-off, they’re the…
Qui
First with Austin skronk-punk legends Scratch Acid and then with Chicago’s abrasively heavy Jesus Lizard, David Yow had the perfect voice to channel his bands’ caustic noise. Pitched between a sneer and a scream, it emanated anger and contempt — when you could tell what he was saying at all,…
Gregg Allman
When concertgoers see an Allman Brothers Band show, they expect — and usually get — an epic experience, as the powerhouse group belts out staple after staple like “Whipping Post,” “Statesboro Blues” and “One Way Out.” But for decades, Brother Gregg has also slipped in looser, lower-key, solo tours. They…
Minus the Bear
Call it experimental pop, math-pop or just pop — it really doesn’t matter. Minus the Bear doesn’t need labels to draw a Houston crowd anymore. They’ve played shows at Walter’s (which technical difficulties forced across the street to the venue formerly known as Fat Cat’s), the Warehouse and now an…
(No) Beer at Concerts
For all the complaining I did growing up about wanting to buy beer at concerts (which was a lot), now that I’m of age I can’t be bothered. I know what you’re thinking: Beer and concerts go together like kegstands and house parties. But somewhere between being too cheap and…
Alice Cooper
Even when he was branded a genuine danger to decent society by hysterical critics in the ’70s, the man born Vincent Furnier always maintained that “Alice Cooper” was nothing more than an exaggerated horror-movie character he played. The fact that today, the 59-year-old teetotaling, golf-loving, born-again Christian is still dismembering…
The Cult
As stand-in singer with the surviving Doors (godawfully rechristened Doors of the 21st Century at first, then the much better Riders on the Storm) on their tour a couple of years back, Cult lead singer Ian Astbury finally got to indulge his deep-seated Jim Morrison fantasies to the hilt. It…
Transformers, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Crazy Love and Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film
Transformers (DreamWorks) No doubt, Michael Bay’s slam-bang action-figure commercial doesn’t play nearly as well on TV, no matter how high or high-def your screen; this demands to be seen on a screen the size of a skyscraper and heard on speakers as large as jet engines. As such, the first…
Charlie Musselwhite
Considered among the greatest harmonica players of all time, Charlie Musselwhite’s upbringing in Mississippi and Memphis was steeped in the blues. It wasn’t until moving to Chicago in the early ’60s, however, that he considered a career in music. There the 18-year-old harper soon found himself sitting in alongside his…
Rendition
Late in Rendition, in case you’ve been blind and deaf enough not to have cottoned to the drift, a tense Washington exchange on the legitimacy of bundling dark-skinned Americans off to secret prisons abroad takes place. On one side is a driven young senatorial aide (Peter Sarsgaard), on the other…
Nothing Happening Here: Protest Music, Then and Now
You’re feeling your freedom, and the world’s off your back, some cowboy from Texas, starts his own war in Iraq.” So runs a line from “Some Humans Ain’t Human,” a song from John Prine’s latest album, Fair and Square. For Blanco resident Dave Collins, a former Marine who fought in…