California

College Dreams and The Name Game

Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs

TX Wine Lover: As the still youthful Texas wine industry continues to grow and find its footing (shifting away from the California Chardonnay-Cabernet-Sauvignon-Merlot paradigm), a handful of European grape varieties (beyond the classics of Bordeaux and Burgundy) have emerged as winners. Their succe ... More >>

Careful With Those Karaoke Song Choices

oribek.net​A man was shot and killed after another man at the Southwest Houston restaurant where he had just sung karaoke took issue with his song choice, according to Channel 13. The incident occurred in a taqueria near Hillcroft and Sands Point around 2 a.m. Police say the two men began ar ... More >>

Odd Pair: Mile-High Wine

Photos by Jeremy Parzen.​"What are my white wine choices?" I asked the other day after boarding one of the roughly 24 Southwest Airlines flights that I will take this year, as I commute monthly to work with one of my clients in California. "Chardonnay," answered the steward. "Is there more t ... More >>

Top 5 Gifts for Wine Lovers

Photo by Jeremy Parzen.Decanters by Riedel take wine service to a higher level of aesthetic pleasure. ​If you're ever invited to dine in someone's home in France, please don't bring a bottle of wine. Nothing will spur a French host to recoil in abject dishonor and displeasure than the gift of ... More >>

Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs

Photo via @SanCrittenden.Houston wine blogger Sandra Crittenden.​Wine Thoughts: One of the things that we love about Sandra Crittenden's blog Wine Thoughts is how she seamlessly alternates between a big, boisterous Chilean red that she picked up at the Tasting Room for "approximately $100," an ... More >>

Obama's War on Weed

In a strange about-face, the president tries to hack medical marijuana off at the knees.

Am I Supporting the Mexican Drug Cartels if I Smoke Pot?

And why don't more Mexis appear on television news talks shows?

Nick 13

And why don't more Mexis appear on television news talks shows?

Houston, You Are the Tenth Most Promiscuous City, You Slut

Feeling at home in Houston.​Man, you host one slutwalk and.... Houston has been named the tenth most promiscuous city in the nation, in a study that we don't doubt for a second is rigorous, peer-reviewed and unassailable. It comes from a dating site called OKCupid, but the people at OKCupid ... More >>

Longhorns Still Reeling In Party-School Rankings

UT disappoints again​First they get dropped from the top spot by Playboy. Now the Princeton Review barely keeps them in the top 10. How is the University of Texas going to keep being known as a top Party School if it can't get no respect? The Princeton Review's various surveys of colleges ca ... More >>

Wine of the Week: Truchard 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir

At $11 by the glass, the Truchard 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir is a great value from one of California's most famous winemakers.

First Texas In-N-Out Location to Open in May

Photo courtesy of apartmentninjas.com​The OC Register described In-N-Out Burger's latest business move as "a giant leap into uncharted territory." Honestly, you'd think they were pitching tents on the moon. But in this case, they're referring to the beloved California burger chain's decision t ... More >>

Weed In Texas: The Top Seven Stories Of The Year

Merry Christmas: our Top Weed Stories. ​It's been a decent year for potheads. So what if Prop 19 didn't pass in California, because medical marijuana laws, even in places outside that dirty hippy state, expanded. This year ends with two more states, Arizona and New Jersey, along with Washington, D ... More >>

The Ballad Of Randy Quaid

Hopefully he learned a few tricks in Midnight Express.​Americans, as a people, are fascinated by stories of outlaws. English bandit Robin Hood has been dead for 500 years (give or take) and they're still making crappy movies about him. And the Old West remains a fertile ground for tales of rom ... More >>

First Look at The Counter

Peanut butter milkshake with real whipped cream: I could settle in here for quite a while...​There is indeed a counter inside The Counter (4601 Washington, 713-966-6123). The large, horseshoe-shaped counter is the centerpiece of the new restaurant -- a burger chain from California -- that look ... More >>

ManKind Project Faces Another Lawsuit, More Publicity About Wooden Dildos

Pass around that wooden phallus, boys​Looks like the folks at the ManKind Project are embroiled in another lawsuit, and along with it are getting a bit more media attention. On Monday, Bloomberg columnist Susan Antilla offered her take on a lawsuit filed in California by a lawyer who got pretty ri ... More >>

Houston Cougars -- An Early Lock of the Century

That's a very big lock​I realize that my Best Bets for the weekend are usually a Friday thing, and rest assured after my fast start last week, no one is chomping harder at the bit to get back to the business of picking winners than me. (By the way, did ya see? 4-2, bitches! I know 6-0 and 5-1 are ... More >>

The Lady Is Dead... And It's Wonderful (Semi-NSFW)

​However you feel about the Proposition 8 ruling that passed on Wednesday in California, Rocks Off hopes that you can appreciate the war that LGBTs have fought... and in all wars there are the wounded. Peaches Christ sent us this short musical film; "The Lady is Dead" directed by Roy Raz and ... More >>

Mark A. Williams, 28, Bayou Body Count No. 177

Shot in a Cadillac SUV​A California man was killed and his female companion critically injured after being shot multiple times as they sat in a Cadillac Escalade at a west side apartment complex.Mark A. Williams, 28, of Lynwood, California, was sitting in the silver SUV with Danielle M. Coats, 23, ... More >>

Quick and Easy Dessert: Peach Clafouti

​A clafouti, which is pronounced, "cluh-fooh'-tee" is a crazy word for a simple, easy dessert. The traditional clafouti, or clafoutis as it is often spelled, hails from France and contains unpitted black cherries in a batter that is a cross between a custard and a pancake.

Top 5 Fast Food Ads from the '80s

I like to think that fast food advertising hit its stride in the' 80s with special promotions, movie tie-ins and celebrity endorsers. Okay, maybe that is because I am a self-centered child of the late 70's/early 80's but so be it, these are MY memories, dammit! Here's a Top 5 list of some of the mos ... More >>

The Killer of His Daughter's Mother

A cunning American boy becomes a Mexican cartel soldier and East L.A. executioner.

Wine of the Week: Lost Summer California Rosé

​So you're shocked, right? Yet another "light, crisp, refreshing" wine review comin' your way. But guess the cuss what? It's summer, it's hot, and some super-nice lady was providing samples of this wine at the grocery store a few weeks ago. And I'm a total sucker for samples. With that disclai ... More >>

Robb Walsh's 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #65 Banh Cuon at Tay Ho 18 in Hong Kong City Mall

​ Over the course of the next few months, I'm counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations i ... More >>

Everyone's Packing Up Their U-Haul And Moving To Houston

​Houston is the top U.S. city for people relocating with U-Hauls, the company announced today.Last year we were second to Atlanta, but that city has dropped off the face of the earth, probably because it has too many Braves fans, coming in only seventh this year.More than 1 million U-Haul transact ... More >>

HISD Looks to Hire Teachers From California

​The Houston ISD is heading out to California (and later to Louisiana, Michigan and Florida!) to recruit teachers, its press office announced today.Specifically, it is looking for bilingual, secondary math and science teachers and cash-strapped California -- where reportedly more than 20,000 teach ... More >>

Finger Limes

​We found these tiny delicacies while perusing the shelves at Central Market this weekend. Finger limes come from a tropical rainforest tree that grows naturally in Australia. While the seeds and trees migrated over to California in the 1960s, the fruit has only been grown commercially in the ... More >>

ConocoPhillips Keeps A Ball Or Two

Houston petroleum giant ConocoPhillips never realized just how much people loved their balls.Not "their balls" in the sense of the guts it takes to charge four bucks a gallon for gas (Am I right or am I right, people?!), but their balls as in the red, round "76" signs that dot their gas stations.Con ... More >>

Ain't Nothing Wrong With A Texas Mathbook

Teachers in a California school district are up in arms over the fact that publisher McGraw-Hill mistakenly sent unedited copies of math textbooks riddled with errors. In addition to typos and problems with the answer-keys, the books, approved for California academic standards, came with covers for ... More >>

Mexican Homophobia

Teachers in a California school district are up in arms over the fact that publisher McGraw-Hill mistakenly sent unedited copies of math textbooks riddled with errors. In addition to typos and problems with the answer-keys, the books, approved for California academic standards, came with covers for ... More >>

The BellRays and Architects, with Vice and Deadbird

Teachers in a California school district are up in arms over the fact that publisher McGraw-Hill mistakenly sent unedited copies of math textbooks riddled with errors. In addition to typos and problems with the answer-keys, the books, approved for California academic standards, came with covers for ... More >>

Not Exactly a Hallmark Moment: Video of California Meat Packing Plant Ain't Pretty

Teachers in a California school district are up in arms over the fact that publisher McGraw-Hill mistakenly sent unedited copies of math textbooks riddled with errors. In addition to typos and problems with the answer-keys, the books, approved for California academic standards, came with covers for ... More >>

Is Lou Dobbs Lying about Hospital Closings?

Mexican-American Culture

Oh, Baby Baby

There's a lot of money to be made in adoptions. Jennalee Ryan moved to Texas to continue doing that.

Paper, Plastic or Chocolate

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant

Sand and Sweat

Hard-bodied volleyball players face off in Galveston

Katy Pie

Pizza Bella

Is Zin In?

Zack Ateyea gives up the ghost of continental cuisine and bets the bank on a California red

Paris Matched

Laurier Café is turning out Parisian bistro food at Paris, Texas, prices

Letters

Cell Medicine, Best Bamboozle?, Onward Christian Soldiers

Getting Stomped

Texas boasts the soil, the climate and the grapes for a strong wine industry. So what stands in its way? Bad taste and politicians.

Letters

Anime Crackers, Dot-com-plaint, Corps Dispute

Red Light, Green Light

With billboards of windmills promising gentle, nonpolluting energy, Green Mountain offers Texans a new power avenue. Will they take it? Should they?

Uncorking a Bargain

A champagne buyer's guide

Pumped Dry

Gas station dealers find big oil blocking the way in their struggles against extinction

Paying the Price

Major gas companies are driving away independent station operators, all in the name of greed

Sushi Safari

After years of denial, our critic learns the truth: She has to eat it raw

The Gospel According to John

After years of denial, our critic learns the truth: She has to eat it raw

Letters

After years of denial, our critic learns the truth: She has to eat it raw