Columbus

The Wait Is Finally Over!!: Way-Too-Early Odds On March Madness 2014 Are Out

As is the case in almost everything in 2013, the shelf life for enjoyment of the 2013 NCAA men's championship game (a thrilling 82-76 Louisville win over Michigan) was a total of about five minutes before we started looking ahead to 2013-2014. Almost immediately after the game was over, already odd ... More >>

College Football: Bear Bryant Award Finalists Revealed (Aggies Will Be Happy)

If you're a prominent, successful college football player or coach, it is usually necessary to block out the second week of December. This is when most of the college football awards are handed out, the week after the regular season ends. For many, it's an exhausting, circuitous journey across the n ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, Charlie Weis Celebration Practice Video Edition

This week's tale of gambling riches comes from Branford, Ontario, where locally their version of the lottery is actually an NFL parlay card of sorts, where if a player picks 15 games 100 percent correctly, they will win a sizable six-figure payout. In Week 3 of the NFL season, a man named Gino DiFe ... More >>

Top 5 Halloween Treats of Yesteryear

Remember Halloween of yesteryear? Those decades when costumes weren't necessarily slutty and Oreo cookies came in one variety? Probably not, unless you're a Baby Boomer. If you've ever wondered what America's favorite October holiday (sorry, Columbus) was like in the 1940s and 1950s, here are five ... More >>

Why Do Mexicans Boycott Columbus Day?

And why do white people like to brag about where they travel?

Know Your Local Media: Laura Reynolds and Her Sexy Traffic

Each week, we will profile an esteemed member of the local media and ask them five questions, for better or worse. Name: Laura Reynolds Employer: CBS Radio Title: Assistant Program Director/Traffic Reporter Laura Reynolds wears a lot of hats for the various CBS-owned radio stations including 610 A ... More >>

Relax, Evildoers: KPRC's "Screamin' Stephen" Dean Leaving Houston (Includes Spanking Porn!)

After 11 years of undercover scoops and dramatic stand-ups, KPRC's Stephen Dean is leaving to take a job in Columbus, mikemcguff.com reports. Umm, Columbus? Turns out he and his wife have family there. "Screamin' Stephen" won a Peabody Award and other honors both at KPRC and at KTRH, when that ra ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Chef Junnajet "Jett" Hurapan of Blu Loves Race Car Driving

Executive Chef Junnajet "Jett" Hurapan of the new Blu Restaurant and Lounge (2248 Texas Dr; www.blusugarland.com) in Sugar Land's Town Square, couldn't stop smiling when I was taking pictures of him in the kitchen. "In New York, the photographers didn't want me to smile," he says, but for me he smil ... More >>

Football! A&M-UT, LSU: This Weekend's Best Bets

So yeah, about that "Bully Theory" from last week. Um, well, um....sorry? In case you missed it, I shared a theory of mine last week, and without rehashing the details it all led up to me telling all of you to take Wisconsin, Oregon, Oklahoma State, and Stanford laying the points. The theory had a ... More >>

Egypt Central: The Anthem of Hate Day

It's a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off we're trying hard to find meaning in the oddest monikers. ​It's a good thing Egypt Central caught us in a violent rage because we're pretty sure that's how their music is supposed to be heard. Your ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Jack of Brewery Tap

Last week, filmmaker Ken Burns was a guest on The Colbert Report promoting his new three-part documentary Prohibition, part one of which aired this past Sunday, October 2, on Houston PBS affiliate KUHT. The series examines our country's infamous failed social experiment, also known as the Eighteenth ... More >>

Rap's Mortal Kombat: Why Red Bull's Battle Is Better Than Black Star

​This coming Thursday, the same day that Black Star performs at House of Blues, the Red Bull EmSee Freestyle Battle will come stomping into Warehouse Live. Six immediate reasons why you should go to the latter instead: Bun B will host (trill awesome), Trae will perform (deadly awesome), ESG ... More >>

The Moon Landing 42 Years On: Five Odd Facts (Includes Urine, Wine and a Petty Refusal To Take Photos)

The flag: Better than a solar-wind experiment that just looks like a flag​Wednesday marks the 42nd anniversary of man landing on the moon. One small step, and all that. It's an odd anniversary, the 42nd, so here are five odd facts about the mission. 5. Buzz Aldrin, First Man To Piss On The M ... More >>

Folk Family Revival Unleashes Unfolding

​Back a bit before we typed this sentence, Jeffery Armstreet over at Magnolia Red asked us to brave the cannibal-infested jungles between Houston and his studio/label in Magnolia to come do some listening of his latest project. Seriously, it is like driving to another country where the exports ... More >>

Efforts To Deport Terrelle Pryor To Canada Fail

Not on a CFL salary, Terrelle​"My house is not for sale, but for the right price, it's on the market." -- Larry James, Terrelle Pryor's attorney discussing his client's possibly signing with the CFL There are lots of life lessons for Terrelle Pryor to take away from the events of the past two ... More >>

My Favorite 12 Nuggets from the Sports Illustrated Piece That Exposes Jim Tressel

Jim Tressel, tattoo victim​By now, you probably know the story at Ohio State. It's the age-old story of "football players befriend drug trafficking tattoo parlor owner, players swap memorabilia for tattoos (and quite possibly drugs), head coach finds out about scam via e-mail and does nothing ... More >>

Comment of the Day

​Katharine Shilcutt posted the story "No Franklin's BBQ for Hitler," and we felt like the last people on earth to learn about the Downfall meme. Most of the EOW commenters were already in the know, especially commenter Eric Sandler, also a Franklin's devotee: Generally speaking, I'm pretty t ... More >>

Wild Flag, Wu-Tang, Erykah Badu and Yelawolf: Liveblogging the Village Voice Media SXSW Showdown

Marc BrubakerTimes New Viking gets the party started.​The doors didn't open exactly at 5 p.m., but that didn't stop the Austin Music Hall from filling quickly just before Austin-by-way-of-Houston locals Ume took the stage, the first band in the all-night line-up for the 2011 Village Voice and ... More >>

What to Buy at Costco

​ It's like a not-so-secret, secret society. The devotion it inspires may even be cult-like at times. Folks who shop at Costco love shopping at Costco. And they love talking about how wonderful shopping at Costco is. The selection! The samples! The sizes!

Texas Traveler: Independence Day

Photo by photine​How did you celebrate the 174th anniversary of Texas' independence from Mexico? You probably didn't do anything like what a group of stalwart runners spent their weekend doing -- running the 203 miles from Gonzales to the San Jacinto Battleground in Deer Park.Dozens of teams ... More >>

Eyeballin': Little Feat and Meat Loaf Via Rockin' German TV Show Rockpalast

​We can blame the Germans for a lot of things. World War I...World War II..."99 Luftballoons." But classic rock fans can at least thank them for Rockpalast. Running on German TV and broadcast throughout much of Europe since the mid-'70s, "Rockpalast" has presented concert-length shows from hundred ... More >>

Thanksgiving Recipe: Pork Chops in Apple Butter Mole

Photo by Jasmine&Roses​Calvin Trillin has lobbied to replace the Thanksgiving turkey with spaghetti carbonara --something to do with Columbus being Italian, I think. In the Tex-Mex Cookbook, I pointed out that Juan de Onate and his Mexican pioneers held a Tex-Mex thanksgiving in El Paso ... More >>

Social Distortion: Getting Off the Grid in Texas, Sorta Kinda

​You've probably heard the expression "getting off the grid" more times than you can shake a BlackBerry at.  These days, completely eliminating yourself from civilization (temporarily, mind you; for other self-removals, please see here immediately) is a task almost exclusively reserved ... More >>

What Is It About Houston and Burgers?

More Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurants are on their way to Houston. Last August, Robb Walsh told you about the new chain location at 24004 Southwest Freeway in Rosenberg brought in by John Hooff who told us he plans 10 in all in Houston Now, the big kahuna Bob Dorfman, president of TCH (Tampa ... More >>

A Whole Lot of HEB Stores Are Now Open

Celtic Scots and Hispanic Mexicans

Great Gado Gado at Noodle House 88

A nondescript noodle shop on Bellaire is serving some of the best Indonesian food in the U.S.A.

Toxic Town: Cancer and Birth Defects in Somerville

In Somerville, chances are far better than normal that you will die of cancer or give birth to a deformed baby

No Sleep for Brooklyn

Indie-rap fireplug El-P returns...bombastically bleak as ever

Cantinflas He's Not

Eric Taylor

Saturday, January 21, at Anderson Fair, 2007 Grant, 713-528-8576.

Roadie Royalty

Houstonian author and Webmaster Karl Kuenning is a prince among road dogs

Wet Kisses

Riding Giants gushes over the legends of "big wave" surfing

Electric Shtick

The Electric Six's shenanigans have them laughing all the way to the bank

Ray Charles

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Katy Pie

Pizza Bella

Groupie Grooves

Little Feat can only hope to receive the same "welcome" they got here 31 years ago

The Bambi Syndrome

Texas is overrun with native whitetails, so why do restaurants have to buy their venison from game farms?

Their First 100 Years

Will the Chronicle's celebration turn up the headlines of August 24, 1917?

Mount Coy

South Park Mexican carves out his place in history with the 2001 Music Awards

Viking Makeover

There's more to Viking culture than just pillaging and plundering

Best Tube Trip

Howell's Tire Supply

News of the Weird

Child's Play

From Brussels with Love

A charming new cafe sprouts in Montrose

Semper Fidelis

Who needs innovation? Pasquale's stays faithful to the Italian classics.

Roll Out the Barrel

Hackemack's is a barrel of fun

Hello, Columbus

Is the mayor's housing adviser about to hand the Fourth Ward over to a for-profit developer?

What It Is, What It Was, What It Shall Be

A review of the films of '93, and hopes for an adventurous '94