Subject: Chicago

• Let's Yacht Rock, Chum

  July 13, 2006

• Fighting Tech with Tech: Red-light Camera Detectors Soon Available in Houston

  August 29, 2007

• Houston Aeros Overcome Three-Goal Deficit to Take Down Chicago Wolves

  March 23, 2008

• Going to the Chapel, Going to Jail

  April 28, 2008

• Relatively Well-Known Younger Sister of Fabricated Pop Star Marries Hot Topic Punk Wannabe in Non Denominational Ceremony in Encino

  May 19, 2008

• The Hot Dog Holiday

  July 4, 2008

• Dog Days

  How to find a real Chicago hot dog without flying to O'Hare

  July 18, 2002

• Tango and Cash

  Chicago dances its way through the origins of the celebrity crook

  January 2, 2003

• Semi-Catastrophe For Catastrophic Theatre

  Catastrophic Theatre, the successor to Infernal Bridegroom Productions, has had to delay its production of Spirits to Enforce by a week and also cut that week from the planned three-week run of the play.It's because of illness, says CT's Jason Nodler."With a cast of 12, who are all on stage from start to finish and are often speaking at the same time, any illness is a serious setback," he says. "We have been hampered throughout the rehearsal process with various maladies, but in our final week a

  December 3, 2008

• Classic Rock Corner: The Greatest Band Logos of All Time, Part 2

  An early example of rock art... We're back to reveal the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the cappo di tutti cappi of classic-rock band logos evah! And when we say "greatest," we look for a combination of things including memorability, longevity, graphic design, influence and appearances. And yes, there will be shouts of joy, tears of rage and many fists shaken at computer screens from those whose faves either made it, didn't make it high enough or were left off. Leave comments and de

  December 22, 2008

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra Coming to Volcano

  Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra with John Cale (third from left) As usually happens just after New Year's, bands and venues are scrambling to line up Houston gigs during South By Southwest. Under the Volcano (2349 Bissonnet) owner Pete Mitchell has scored an early coup, lining up Chicago powerhouse the Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra for March 19. According to Mitchell, his phone has been ringing off the wall, but so far he's keeping his powder dry, waiting to hear from several acts he hopes to cherr

  January 13, 2009

• Digitalia: Discobelle

  So maybe not everyone is into the Swedish music scene, but for all you club-music enthusiasts out there, Discobelle has a number of free MP3s, videos and fun mixes. The three-year-old site posts daily tunes by producers residing anywhere from Brazil to London. You'll find selections from house kids like Lorenz Rhode, Barcelona duo Meneo and Australian quartet BMX. The site also includes some more familiar names like Rick Ross, Young Jeezy and Chicago femcee Kid Sister, adding a bit of

  January 21, 2009

• Mail Call: Diagonals, Fountains of Wayne, Jason Isbell, Chess Records, Sally Crewe and More

  After a hot minute, Mail Call returns in a slightly revamped format... Pick of the Litter Diagonals (Austin), Valley of the Cyclops (Monofonus Press) They Say: "A sweet-and-sour dark-pop soundtrack for the dawn of the post-Bush era." Rocks Off Says: Loose-fitting, lo-fi melodic garage that may have been inspired by a bong hit or two (think the desiccated Sub Pop '90s blues of Chicago's Red Red Meat). Never cooks, never stalls, but Steve Garcia's lyrics keep it interesting - "Suitc

  January 26, 2009

• Sound Check

  August 29, 1996

• Free 7" from Room 101

  Local/Chicago one-man noisenik Room 101 isn't letting a silly thing like the economic crisis stop him from releasing music - he's just decided to give it away. Email him at robface1@hotmail.com and he'll send you a copy of his brand-new four-song 7", complete with artwork by Winston Smith, who doctored up some Dead Kennedys covers real nice back in the day. Mr. 101 was kind enough to send Rocks Off MP3s of two songs from the EP, squawking blues "In Uniform" and narcotic daydream "The

  February 17, 2009

• Windy City Wonder

  August 13, 1998

• News of the Weird

  October 29, 1998

• Grab Some Kielbasa

  photo by Robb WalshAnytime I find myself anywhere near the Polish food store next to Polonia restaurant at 1900 Blalock, I stop in and buy six or eight kabonosy sausage. I am guessing the long skinny Eastern European pork sausages were the inspiration for Slim Jims--both varieties of dried sausage are eaten as a snack without any preparation. I like the ones at the Polish food store because they are moist and juicy. I eat half of them in the car and the rest at home with bread, beer, and pickles

  March 25, 2009

• Best Freeway to Get Lost On

  September 21, 2000

• ZZ Top's Dusty Hill is 60 Today

  You didn't think we'd get out of here without wishing happy birthday to Houston's own Dusty Hill, the ZZ Top bassist who turns 60 today, did you? Hell no! To celebrate - and give any neophytes an idea of just how widely loved the Top really is - here's a pair of covers from about as far apart as you can get on the rock and roll spectrum: Phish doing "Jesus Just Left Chicago" and Ministry's version of "Just Got Paid." Can't wait for the Top/Aerosmith twin bill July 17 at the Woodlands... happy bi

  May 19, 2009

• Deconstructing Joe

  Star Pizza

  September 4, 2003

• Wesley Willis

  Wednesday, April 23

  April 17, 2003

• Season in the Sun, Part II

  Sizing up the summer's classic-rock scorecard

  June 12, 2008

• MONARCH LOUNGE'S SCORPION ZINGER

  March 20, 2008

• Barack Obama and Me

  February 28, 2008

• Chicago Italian Beef

  Take A Dip

  November 15, 2007

• Rock over Houston

  The Daddy of Rock N' Roll will whip your ass

  April 13, 2006

• Eleventh Dream Day

  Zeroes & Ones

  June 1, 2006

• Racy Roxie

  Chicago delivers a night of naughty theater

  October 20, 2005

• The Killers vs. the Killers

  How do these pretty boys stack up against some real dealers of death?

  August 18, 2005

• Gear Head

  Ron-E fades into the night

  June 3, 2004

• Hound Dog Taylor

  Release the Hound (Alligator)

  May 20, 2004

• The Way We Wore

  Vintage Vogue shows how fashion went from pillbox hats to pantsuits

  January 22, 2004

• Hit the Decks

  Chicago DJ luminary Bad Boy Bill keeps the house raw and raunchy

  November 6, 2003

• Old Masters and Young Guns

  Filmmaking in 2002 wasn't just for the boys

  January 2, 2003

• Golden, with Rye Coalition and *mytwilightpilot*

  Tuesday, August 27

  August 22, 2002

• Tippling from Tap to Tap

  Down and out (and drunk) in NoDo

  December 13, 2001

• Playbill

  The Blacks

  June 7, 2001

• Irrelevant Reverence

  Dismissing artistic pretension

  March 1, 2001

• The Authenticity Myth

  The Mex-Mex issue

  October 26, 2000

• Down for the Count

  "El Matador" Chavez fought his way to the top of the boxing ranks. Now he hopes to make his greatest comeback - if the INS will let him in the ring.

  June 29, 2000

• My Kinda Sound

  Chicago plays home to the blues in Houston

  April 29, 1999

• Meat Market

  Morton's of Chicago has surprises, as well as steaks, on its menu

  May 2, 1996

• Screen Plays

  May 21, 2009

• Advanced Mexican Studies

  May 28, 2009

• Yourself and The Air

  July 16, 2009

• Mos Def

  August 13, 2009

• Chef Rick Bayless: Reluctant Rock Star

  Photo by J.C. Reid​A visitor to Macy's at Memorial City Mall last Wednesday would have been surprised at the more than 100 people -- many of them young women -- lined up in the Kitchen and Home area. Were the Jonas Brothers endorsing a line of tableware? No, but it was a rock star of sorts -- Chef Rick Bayless, hot off his recent win in the Top Chef Masters television series. For those not familiar with Bayless, he's the chef/owner of Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, and XOCO in Chicago and s

  October 7, 2009

• CenterPoint Hits The Jackpot At The Federal Stimulus Feeding Trough

  Photo courtesy White House Flickr group​Let them bitch all they want in Chicago about getting shut out of federal stimulus funds for "smart-grid" power projects. Here in Houston, we're kicking ass.The federal gummint, that socialistic, fascist Big Brother, announced today how it is spending $3.4 billion of your grandkid's money, and Houston's two largest power companies were big winners.CenterPoint is getting $200 million to help with a nearly $640-million project to install 2.2 million smart

  October 27, 2009

• Pickles, Mustard and Pierogi

  ​I am not sure the Polish food store beside Polonia actually has a name. The sign just says "Kielbasa, Golabki, Pierogi." The store is justly famous for its fabulous jelly-filled paczki doughnuts and outrageous kabonosy and kielbasa. (They fly in 600 pounds of sausage from Chicago each week.) But I am usually in such a hurry to get my doughnuts and sausage out to the parking lot that I ignore the rest of the store. Last week my housemate demanded a full tour, and we ended up at the cash re

  October 29, 2009