AK-47 Assault Rifle

Slow Fade: Yo La Tengo

Bloody Tide: How Puerto Rico Affects the U.S.

As Puerto Rico is battered by a wave of drugs and brazen murders, Houston and other continental U.S. cities feel the blowback.

Park City's Breakouts

The movies to know from Sundance - and the year ahead.

Chupacabras, Assault Rifles, and Busting Facebragging Hunters: True Texas Game Warden Adventures

Among crime blotters in the state, two of the best belong to the Lufkin Daily News and the Wise County Messenger. But those are both private sector news sources. Our favorite "socialist" crime blotter comes from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, whose periodic Game Warden Field Notes is must ... More >>

10 Cool & Cheap Weekenders: November 9-11

Glass the Sky Fitzgerald's, November 9 Glass the Sky has been around about a year, but consider Friday's show a coming-out party. According to bassist and vocalist Michael Mazzella, the five local musicians had been playing in other bands for years and gradually realized they were going through the ... More >>

Island Reunion

5 Great Songs by Psy Besides “Gangnam Style”

Remembering The Island: Where R.E.M. Played, but XTC Wouldn't

Despite the dust of time that usually befalls venues and lore from punk's rambunctious past, The Island has remained a steady icon of Houston's underground movement that swept to the surface as classic arena rock and cosmic country choked the FM airwaves. Rewind: Houston's Island of Misfit Bands B ... More >>

Houston's Island of Misfit Bands Briefly Resurfaces

While the hallowed ground of Fitzgerald's has remained steadfast, becoming a seemingly permanent fixture in Houston's indie, punk and metal communities, other clubs have receded into the dustbins of history. Fortunately, the fecund eras of two - the Axiom and the Island - are being celebrated during ... More >>

The Clash In Houston, 1979: A Case of Legionaire's Disease

By the time The Clash hit Houston's Cullen Theater on October 5, 1979, Lester Bangs had described their tour-de-force as "desperation uncontrived, unstaged, a fury unleashed on the stage ... real pain that connects with the nerves of the audience." Yet Texans had already been enthralled by the Sex ... More >>

Nayely Ruby Herrera, 21: Houston Woman's Strawman-Purchasing Spree Nets 15 AK-47-Type Weapons

A 21-year-old Houston woman has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for using false information to purchase at least 15 AK-47-type weapons over a two-month period. Nayely Ruby Herrera, 21, made her purchases at a Valley gun store called The Armory, located in McAllen. "During trial, th ... More >>

Facebook Weirdness

A&M Shooter Thomas Caffall's Disturbing Facebook Page: Yoda, Emily Dickinson, Commie Guns

Thomas Caffall's mother told the media yesterday that she had been worried about her son's mental state, and from looking at his Facebook page, it's easy to see why. Having a right-wing gun nut in the family is one thing. Having one who goes around quoting Yoda and Emily Dickinson is another. Caffa ... More >>

Texan Challenges Civil Forfeiture Law

Police can keep your cash, car and other property, regardless of whether you've been convicted of – let alone charged with – a crime.

Punk Rock's 10 Most Potent Women

David EnsmingerExene Cervenka at Cactus Music​Women are the resilient backbone of punk, providing creative DNA for the movement since the "zero hour," including Houston's own MyDolls and members of AK-47 and Bevatron, among others. Up 'n' comers like Vivian Pikkles keep the faith as Zipperneck ... More >>

Rene Huerta Jr.: Guesses Border Cops Will Forget the Secret Ammo-Holding Compartment In His Dashboard, Guesses Wrong

Hey, it's worth a shot.​It's difficult to say whether Rene Huerta Jr. was ballsy, dumb or maybe forced to do something against his will. But he dodged a huge bullet (ha HA!) in November 2010 when Customs and Border Protection inspected his car as it crossed over from Mexico to Brownsville. Th ... More >>

Too Much Pavement

Houston's strip malls increase heat, pollution.

Getting the Munchies: The 10 Tastiest-Sounding Weed Strains

Photo by seenyourherb​Though the New York Times story on "haute stoner cuisine" from 2010 has been mostly debunked by now, the general knowledge that marijuana has long been a part of the professional kitchen's culture remains intact. To wit, culinary terms have crept into the language of gro ... More >>

Pre-Bieber, Five Memorable Musician Interview Gaffes

​Remember in the days before "Bi-winning," when Twitter was all up in arms about Justin Beiber's interview with Rolling Stone? Was it really a surprise that some of the pop star's opinions, as told to the magazine last month, would be half-baked and maybe even a bit ignorant? Put aside for a ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

Photo by FuriousGeorge81You don't want to be the lone voice of reason in a gummi war. It's just too dangerous.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we've already rounded up all of our Thanksgiving turkeys and are just waiting to hear from their families about the ... More >>

Aggie "Gunman" Was Carrying Fake AK-47 For Halloween, Report Says

Photo via The EagleThe real-looking AK-47 that set hearts racing​The student who caused a frantic shutdown of the Texas A&M campus was carrying a realistic-looking fake AK-47 he planned to use as part of a Halloween costume, an official report says. The Bryan-College Station Eagle obtained th ... More >>

Rappers Vs. Uncle Sam: N.W.A., Eminem, Kanye...

​Mike Myers will probably go down in history as the most uncomfortable white guy next to a black guy in TV history, thanks to Kanye West's unscripted outburst during that infamous Hurricane Katrina telethon. It began with Myers reading his part of the script verbatim. Two-thirds into the PSA, ... More >>

Aggies Shelter In Place With Gunman Report (UPDATED: All Clear)

Texas A&M is in a lockdown mode after reports of a man carrying an AK-47 on campus.The school's "Code Maroon" warning page says no gunman has been found, but police are still searching.Reporters listening to the local police scanner say the shooter is described as a white male with olive or gree ... More >>

Pinalcchio

Renowned forensics experts say a Pinal County deputy's high-profile tale about getting shot after encountering drug smugglers doesn't add up

Rocks Off Seeking Local Bands For New Covers Night

​It's been a while since Rocks Off has put on our promoter hat because, well, we've been kind of busy around here, but also because we've been cooking up an idea we think you're all going to like. We hope so, anyway. As you may have noticed, it's not that easy for artists to sell tickets thes ... More >>

You'll Pry My Crafts From My Cold, Dead Hands

From The Bayou​ Our pals at The Bayou have been sent this heartwarming display of what a Texas Wal-Mart considers "crafts."The reader who took it didn't specify where in Texas it was taken.....Is there a Wal-Mart in River Oaks?We don't see Martha Stewart Living or Scrapbook Monthly here, but they ... More >>

Net Gains and Losses: Red Herring

Author has his own special take on the fishing industry.

This Year in Deliciousness

Photo by This Is Freaking RidiculousAn AK-47 made entirely out of bacon? Yup, that's pretty much 2009 summed up.​ So this is the time of year when we normally say things like "Wow, another year gone by already!" and "Can ya believe it's almost 2010?" and "Say there, how come you just broke my ... More >>

Sexy Halloween Costume Challenge For the Ladies

Halloween is coming, and that means many, many costuming mistakes will be made by normally sane adults. To help stop this scourge, each Thursday we will be offering tips and analysis of what to avoid, or possibly what to do. While we don't know when or where we'll black out/get sick this Halloween, ... More >>

The Feds Stage A Blitz On Illegal Gun Sales In Houston, And Rack Up Numbers

​For most of the spring and summer, a souped-up squad of 100 ATF agents was running all over Houston and South Texas doing everything possible to slow the raging river of guns illegally flowing into Mexico.Agents followed up old leads, tracked down new ones, made scores of arrests, confiscated hun ... More >>

Things to Do This Weekend If You're (Almost) Broke

Friday​Newly crowned Best Indie Rock winners Spain Colored Orange bring their florid psych-pop to the Contemporary Arts Museum's monthly Steel Lounge Underground, with Gracie Chavez and a showdown between Sasha Braverman and Henry Chow. 8 p.m., free. Houston industrial fiend Mike Terror menaces at ... More >>

Peter Case benefit

Flashing Back to the Heyday of DJ Screw

Ed. Note: To go along with this week's feature on Mike Jones, Mike Giglio takes a look at the origins of Houston rap's once and future calling card, "screw music." Photos by Mike GiglioScrew: The Next Generation (l-r): Randy, Big Bubb, Bird Wearing corn rows, a wife beater and green courdoroys, ... More >>

ID Theft

Someone gets your social, ruins your credit, upends your life. And gets away free and clear.

Amazingly, the Comets Couldn't Survive

Who's Got Next?

The Bank Robbery Record Has Been Broken!

Last year was a banner year for bank robberies in Houston, more than doubling the number from the year before.But last year's record has already tumbled, and we've still got a month to go.Doing their best to help in that effort are the robbers who keep hitting the IBC branch bank at 3939 Montrose, n ... More >>

Doll Parts: Mydolls

Amid Noise and Smoke, legendary Houston post-punks reunite

We Read The Small-Town Police Blotters, So You Don’t Have To

Aftermath: Valient Thorr and Early Man at Rudyard's

"Foxy Lady" to "Bitch": Dayna Steele's Houston Radio Odyssey

SXSW Day 1: Tricks of the Trade

It's Always Dead at The Club

Yet another clumsy first person shooter

Taylor Made?

Cred Sheet

Stuff you need to know to avoid musical ostracism

New Angels in Rock Heaven

Scoring the grim reaper's 2004 harvest

Arsenic and Old Lace

Mark Flood gets pretty, and Vik Muniz reproduces

Best 15 Minutes of Fame

A.J. McClure, Kaufman County

His Generation

The Hates' leader may be the last of Houston's original punks

Pushing the Artistic Borders

Mexico, America and La Frontera find expression in "Poison Amor"

Rotation