Berkeley

Rice Offers Course on Batman's History, for the Second Time

I have no idea what the tuition is at Rice anymore. $40,000? $45,000? More? Not nearly the "Best Bang for your Buck" it once was - that buck had passed long ago - Rice has, over the past decade, stretched its costs to something approaching Berkeley, U. Chicago, and the Ivies. The ratings seem to be ... More >>

A Crunchy, Low-Alcohol Wine for Thanksgiving from California Naturally

Of the California winemakers who thrill me the most, three of them are bottling fruit grown in California's El Dorado AVA in the Sierra Foothills -- the heart of historic Gold Rush country. They've been attracted to the area, they tell me, in part because they've found older vines (some in vineyard ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 2: Bobby Matos of Ciao Bello, On Learning on the Fly in the Kitchen

Bobby Matos Ciao Bello 5161 San Felipe 713-960-0333 ciaobellohouston.com This is the second part of a three-part chef chat series. Read Part 1 here and look for Part 3 in this same space Friday. Yesterday, we chatted with Chef Bobby Matos about why he became a chef, and why he chose culinary sch ... More >>

Wittenberg

Harvard, CU-Boulder Design Downtown Houston of Your Dreams, Possibly

That up above, the dreamy rendering of the area that used to house the downtown Post Office? It's "Bayou Commons," which is "strategically designed to be downtown Houston's first residential district celebrating cultural diversity and urban lifestyle." But don't go looking for it yet.

Alice Waters: A Call to Arms for the Fate of America's Ill-Fed Youth

Alice Waters is a modern-day icon, the mother of the farm-to-table movement and of farmers markets across the nation, the originator of California cuisine -- for better or worse -- and of the notion that eating and cooking local, organic, seasonal foods shouldn't be a socio-political issue but one o ... More >>

Why We Love to Hate the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission

Image via Westerville Public Libary (Westerville, Ohio).To understand our state's peculiar relationship with alcohol, we need to look back to the early post-Prohibition era when the TABC was founded (1935).​In the wake of a recent post on the absurdity of wine shipping regulation in Texas, a c ... More >>

The 15 Best Bill Graham Presents Posters And Artwork

Photo By Tony MorelliBill Graham in 1974​Twenty years ago this week, legendary concert promoter Bill Graham went to the big backstage party in the sky after the helicopter he was riding in flew into a high-voltage tower in Vallejo, Calif. Also killed in the crash was Graham's girlfriend, Melis ... More >>

Odd Pair: Pappasito's Queso and 96 Sassicaia (Yes, It's True)

​One of my new-found Texas cousins' traditions is weeknight family dinner with Pappasito's take-out. And so, the other evening, when I just happened to have a rather remarkable bottle in my wine bag (reserved for my beloved Cousin Marty, the clan's patriarch, who recently and thankfully emerge ... More >>

Rock Of Ages: Big Hair, Big Fog, Big Cliches

Ed Note: Rocks Off and our sister blog Art Attack are conducting a "reviewer exchange program" for the '80s musical Rock of Ages. One of our "rock and roll" people will review the show soon, but the visiting team bats first. Dan LippittThe cast of Rock of Ages​The Setup: '80s Sunset Strip roc ... More >>

Sorry, Aggies: College Station Gets a "D"

Kazan is gonna be pissed.​Aggies may love their College Station, but the Daily Beast doesn't: The national Web site gives the city a "D" in its rankings of America's smartest college towns. College Station, you're no Cambridge or Berkeley. On the bright side, you're not South Bend, either: Th ... More >>

Poison Pen Reading Series: Matthew Zapruder

Al-Jazeera Headed For The Houston Airwaves?

Al-Jazeera: But first, a look at traffic on the Katy Freeway​The Washington Post broke a story this morning on previously undisclosed negotiations between Pacifica and Al-Jazeera that would see Pacifica's five self-owned stations broadcasting content from the controversial Arabic network.One of th ... More >>

A Comprehensive Guide to Houston's Food Blogs

Cartoon does not reflect reality (most of the time).​In a city as large as Houston and with as many culinary options as we're blessed with, it's no surprise that the food blogging community here is large and diverse. Say what you want about food bloggers: that we're arrogant, obtrusive know-i ... More >>

The Day The KKK Bombed KPFT

Yesterday morning during KPFT's biannual pledge drive, the station was paying homage to recently deceased color-barrier breaker Lena Horne by giving away copies of her biography Stormy Weather and highlighting a 40-minute interview with the black singer/actress about her relationship with whites in ... More >>

Block Party

Block 7 Wine Company serves simple food with fresh, local ingredients.

Sarah Vowell Comes To Beaumont (Of All Places)

​Something about the idea of Sarah Vowell, that This American Life star, regular NPR contributor, droll historian, frequent Jon Stewart foil, voice of Violet of The Incredibles and all around Person Who White People Like coming to Beaumont was utterly irresistible.It seemed like the exact inverse ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week In Food Blogs

Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Flavour Boulevard: We were introduced to a new(ish) Houston food blog this week ... More >>

Revolting Youth

Cult novel must continue its search for a worthy film adaptation.

Hot-Button Immigration Issue Gets Little Discussion Among County Commissioners

Photo by Liana LopezA packed room hears about 287(g)​It only took 15 seconds for the Commissioners Court of Harris County to approve three additional years of participation in 287(g) after hours of public testimony, mostly in opposition, to the program.The two Houston Garcias, who, by the way, wer ... More >>

Pete Newell, RIP

Basketball fans ought to stop for a moment this weekend and mourn the loss of former San Diego Rockets General Manager (1968-1972) Pete Newell, who died on Tuesday at the age of 93. Long before UCLA made John Wooden a coaching legend, the blue and gold UC university system discovered another coac ... More >>

Various Artists

Healing Force: The Songs of Albert Ayler

Texas Albums

2007's best Texas albums, from Houston, Austin and beyond

Rock and Roll and Rather Exhilarating

The best band in the universe does its Brecht thing with hooks

Ryan Adams

29

G'Dead, Mate

Zombies rise again, this time from down under

Ball Busters

The battle over Bonds's record-setting homer looks quaint four seasons later

Tiger Army, with Lost City Angels and the Unseen

Sunday, April 10, at the Meridian, 1503 Chartres, 713-225-1717

Time Out, Mack

Rewarding bad behavior by underachievers

Reality's Bite

Prose and post-9/11 prejudice combine in Chitra Divakaruni's Queen of Dreams

California Dreamin'

Rogue Wave, featuring former Houstonian Gram Lebron, rides a tsunami of good vibrations into town

Mind over Matter

In Ang Lee's Hulk, the big green guy gets existential

Peace Signs

Third–generation activist Luchita Rodriguez and her friends find the missing rally bus — and a fresh, family-style fight against war in Iraq

Lazy Arrow

Blackalicious takes its sweet time moving from underground to overground

Racket

Cedric Turner ventures into an abyss far deeper than ones traveled by most bluesmen

White Stripe Fever

Joy Ride parlays a CB radio prank into genuine highway horror

Racket

The Pacifica Campaign is slowly weeding out all of its opponents on the Pacifica national board

Tuning Out the Static

Protesters scream about censorship. The board denounces potentially crippling boycotts. Will the two sides in the Pacifica conflict ever learn that, beneath their shrill cries, they're on the same team?

Culture Shock

An East Coast company launches an "improvisational grill" that merrily swipes cooking methods from other countries

Green Party

A child of the liberal folk movement, Dar Williams isn't above rocking out

Mixing It Up

Saba chef Dylan Murray returns home to add even more spice to Houston's restaurant scene

Best Pizzeria

Star Pizza

Space Cadets

News Hostage

This Gun's For Hire

No Looking Back

They're the Queers, They're Here

Grand Kabuki, Grand Style

The SAs a girl, she tried to break the color barrier in Houston schools. As an adult, she worked in the African liberation movement and against apartheid.

Now, back in Houston, she's in the fight of her life. Struggles of Beneva Williams Nyamu

Alternative Notion Lollapalooza doesn't say much about its generation, but the music's fine

y Brad Tyer