Al Gore

Five Educational Songs That Don't Suck

Remember being in school and having to listen to all those awful educational songs? Our teachers would do anything to teach us, but most often they really have no idea what will appeal to anyone under the age of 40, so it gets hairy when something perceived as cool, like "that rapping stuff," gets i ... More >>

Parental Advisory! Another Look at the PMRC's "Dirty 15"

In 1985, the Parental Music Resource Center was formed as basically a watchdog group over popular music. Essentially, their goal was censorship. However, there was one big problem: The group was made up of the likes of Tipper Gore (wife of then-Senator and future Vice President Al Gore), Susan Bake ... More >>

Tommy Lee Jones For Senate: Congressman Gene Green Says Why the Hell Not?

Senator Tommy Lee Jones?​Geoff Berg, host of KPFT's Partisan Gridlock show is leading the improbable battle to draft Tommy Lee Jones as a Democratic candidate for the Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison. They've got a Facebook page and everything, including a petition with an op ... 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 >>

The James Baker Monument: Five Things It Needs

James Baker: Not related to Velvet Revolver​Finally, there will be a reason to visit downtown Houston: A statue honoring former Secretary of State James Baker will be unveiled Tuesday.Why Baker? As the monument's official website so modestly puts it, he's "A Magnificent American."Some people might ... More >>

Texas Rangers: Five Things To Know About Them As They Begin The ALCS

Thanks for the Iraq War, Rangers​If you're an Astros fan, you might be surprised to learn that the baseball season did not end back in July -- that was just when the Astros season was deemed over. Baseball has continued to be played and, for the first time ever, the Texas Rangers are within a step ... More >>

Remedial Ed

Davis Guggenheim ignores too many inconvenient truths in Waiting for "Superman."

Ten Fun Facts About "God Bless The USA"

​As America (fuck yeah!) prepares to celebrate its 234th birthday over the long July 4 weekend, our proud yet troubled nation is about to be inundated once again by Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA." About as innocuous as a song can be on the surface, it's become one of the most polarizing t ... More >>

Author Gwendolyn Zepeda On Not Hating Men And Being The Actual First Latina Blogger Ever

Rejected title for Zepeda's first book: To the Last Man I Slept With and All the Jerks Just Like Him​Inprint ends its 2009/2010 Margarett Root Brown Reading Series season tonight with a Cinco de Mayo bang featuring two literary greats from Texas.The reading series, responsible for bringing four No ... More >>

Shooter Jennings On The Tarot, Stephen King, Crappy Radio And Frankenstein

Gabrielle Geiselman​ ​Here at Rocks Off, we like to make sure all our bases are covered. That's why we asked Shooter Jennings, son of Waylon, a few questions about his band Hierophant's spooky, deep, spooky-deep new album Black Ribbons (right) and put them in this week's print edition of the Pre ... More >>

The T. Boone Pickens Road Show

A former wildcatter and corporate-takeover tycoon preaches alternative energy across America.

Five Other Rock-Star Presidents

If Only I Had Bashed Houston, I'd Have Been President

No Country for Old Men, South Park: Imaginationland, Sleuth, Five Days

The Year In Film

Judd Apatow's pretty good year and much more

Kyoto Protocol: You're Getting Warmer

The Kyoto Accord began the race to halt global warming. On its tenth anniversary, why are we barely past the starting gate?

Rockets-Spurs from Press Row: Now with 75 Percent Less Jumping to Conclusions!

The Nuge. ‘Nuff Said.

Harry Potter and the Sisters of Mercy, or Goth Like Me

Evan Almighty

Why in God's name did Steve Carell take the paycheck?

Spoiler Alert

Doc reopens the Nader debate: Is it his fault?

Command Performance

Bill Clinton wakes 'em up, for a while, at Rice

Moby for Veep

John Kerry should hit the decks for his running mate

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Greendale (Warner Bros.)

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Mauled Eagles

The hipster’s First Commandment: Thou shalt not dig the Eagles

Dem Blues

The left, turning right, was plain wrong to attack pop culture

Trading Places

Who wants to be interim city controller?

Mayoral Minority Report

Who can avert the 2003 runoff from hell?

From the Grass Roots Up

A new Houston voting bloc reaches toward empowerment

Before the Fall

The Chron plays catch-up on the biggest local business story of the year

When Will They Learn?

GOP label doesn't sell in mayoral races

GOP Mayoral Pipe Dreams

West U rejected them, so how will they ever win Houston's City Hall?

How Dare You?

The White House gets offended by a Chron question

Shearer Delight

The voice of Flanders is the voice of reason, absatively posilutely

We Are Terrific!

Houston's latest image-boosting campaign gets a big hand from the Chron

Blocking Shots

We pay for the arena; they'll finance the campaign

The Spirit of '76

A musical history lesson

He's an Out-of-Comptroller!

Former city tourism official accused of paying mom's nursing home bills out of agency funds

Pie in the Sky?

The Day the Democrats Died

Learning to love the one-party state

Letters

From the week of January 27, 2000

The Compassionate Consumer

Double Image

Does selling George W. Bush mean Mark McKinnon has sold out?

Working the Rails, Part Two

Business As Usual

The State Bar of Texas tries again to KAYO John O'Quinn but can't lay a glove on him

Which Bug Gets the Gas?

Will the next house DeLay fumigates be that big White one or his own?

GOP Sweeps Week

Republicans complete Texas political reconstruction

The Watchman of the Electronic Frontier

As the cyber-future creeps toward Houston, one group stands guard: EFH

The Celluloid of the President

A winning documentary about the Clinton campaign's inner circle