Delaware

Tale of the Tape: Douchy Astro Boyfriend vs Frightened Diamondback Boyfriend

Through three games, your Houston Astros are 1-2. Believe it or not, that's the good news. Yes, a 54 win pace is the good news. Here's the bad news: They were one out away from having a perfect game dropped on them by Yu Darvish. They are the first team in the live ball era (since 1920) to have 1 ... More >>

The Complete SXSW Overflow Festival 2013 Guide: Week 1, Part 2

This year Rocks Off would like to help our readers get a handle on all the acts playing Super Happy Fun Land's SXSW Overflow Fest, and event that is longer than SXSW itself, with almost as many bands. There are nine nights left to go, and "season passes" are still available. See superhappyfunland.co ... More >>

Jonestown's Medicine Man

A young Houston physician designed a lethal cocktail that killed more than 900 men, women, children and babies at a place that was supposed to be a paradise but is better known as Jonestown.

Report: Texas Ranks Near the Bottom in Tobacco Settlement Spending

Texas is only spending 2.4 percent of the tobacco settlement money it collects on tobacco prevention campaigns, placing the state near the bottom of the Centers for Disease Control's recommended state-spending list, according to a December report. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' report states t ... More >>

Openings & Closings: Goodbye, Goldfish and Hello, Caballo

As our own Josh Justice hinted at in last week's round-up of jinxed restaurant locations, there is indeed a steakhouse moving into the old La Strada spot on Westheimer. According to a press release that went out this week, La Casa del Caballo -- the second location of "the most internationally popu ... More >>

Asian American Portraits

Grouping visual artists by ethnic identity is a tired curatorial tactic, but at least we get to see some great art in this one at the Asia Society Texas Center.

The Ten Most Corrupt Tax Loopholes

If Mitt Romney won't tell you which need to be closed, we will.

10 More Black Stars Who Should Try Country

Country Time is a new biweekly column for our sister music blog in Seattle, celebrating that city's favorite musical genre: Mainstream country. BY MIKE SEELY With the nation's major-party political conventions drawing to a close last week with a rousing reelection appeal from the nation's first bl ... More >>

The (Un)United States of Sandwiches: What Do You Call A Sub?

I grew up calling any sandwich on long French or Italian bread a sub, like any normal human being would. Or so I thought, until I realized my aunt called it a grinder...and my friend called it a hoagie. WTF. This is three people, from three states (New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania), callin ... More >>

A Deeper Look at the Best Beers in America for 2012

Recently, the American Homebrewers Association polled readers of its Zymurgy magazine to ask about their favorite beers. Some 16,000 respondents cast votes used to compile the list. Here's how it breaks down: By the numbers: 36 of the beers are commercially available in Houston 27 different bre ... More >>

10 of the Most Painful Joe Biden Gaffes

Yesterday at Houston's NAACP rally, Vice President Joe Biden gave a well-received speech arguing that a Mitt Romney presidency would hurt the black community. As expected, the audience liked him a lot more than Romney, who got booed during his appearance last week for his opposition to Obamacare. Pe ... More >>

Curated Festivals and the Changing Face of Summer Entertainment

While most Texans are spending their Friday counting down to ACL or speculating about the Fun Fun Fun Fest line up, I find myself thinking about a festival north of our fair state. We're halfway through June and that means that the 2012 Gathering of the Juggalos infomercial should be dropping any da ... More >>

Rockets Mascot Gets in the Ring

The man behind Clutch takes up the fight game on the side.

SXSW: Five Attractive Strange People Working for Tips

Ed. Note: This article was written by L.A. Weekly music editor Ben Westhoff. Paying homeless people $70 a day to serve as human wifi hotspots is a bizarre way to make a buck, but it's indicative of the hustler's spirit at South By Southwest this year. Folks are grinding hard and employing increas ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Roberto Castre of Latin Bites Cafe

Today, Latin Bites Cafe, the tiny seven-table Peruvian restaurant that received critical acclaim during its one year, five month reign in Houston's warehouse district, is having its grand re-opening to the public in its brand spanking new Memorial location (5709 Woodway Dr.). At the helm of the bri ... More >>

Obama's War on Weed

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

Richard Julian: Norah Jones Mate Makes Midtown Stopover

Juan Patino/Richard Julian on Facebook​Richard Julian, Norah Jones sideman and leader of Jones' side project The Little Willies, plays Midtown's Leon's Lounge this evening. Julian's 2010 Compass Records release Girls Need Attention made Lonesome, Onry and Mean's list of last year's best alb ... More >>

TV Dinner: This Week in Food TV

​With so many food-related shows on television, it's hard to keep up -- it's not just the Food Network anymore. I don't know what I'd do without my DVR. This week gave us premieres, finales and Liza Minelli. Here's a roundup of some of the shows this week. Spoiler alert! The Great Food Truck ... More >>

The Shuttle's Souvenir Load

20,000 flags and 10,000 patches aboard

For Flag Day: The 10 Worst U.S. State Flags

As we are sure you are no doubt keenly aware, Flag Day is tomorrow. We could give you a list of the ten prettiest flags, but we are Hair Balls, and that's not the kind of crap we like to cough up. Here instead is a list of ten state flags to tun up the flagpoles of your worst enemies: 10. Nevada T ... More >>

Texas AG Greg Abbott Grabs The Spotlight In Fight Against EPA's Tailpipe-Emissions Rule

Greg Abbott leads a mostly southern uprising​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wants everyone to know that he is doing everything he can to stop the federal Environmental Protection Agency from trying to implement greenhouse-gas limits on cars and trucks. In the latest of a series of lawsuit ... More >>

Five Reasons the Drought is Worse Than A Hurricane (i.e., Rick Perry Doesn't Make Us Pray About Hurricanes) (Yet)

Some storms are just more fearsome than others.​Hurricane season opens June 1 -- unlike deer season, you don't get to hunt so much as be hunted by nature's version of Bambi on steroids -- and the collective hand-wringing from local news, nervous nellies and weather nerds will soon commence. Bu ... More >>

Last Night: George Thorogood At House Of Blues

Photos by Groovehouse​George Thorogood & the Destroyers House of Blues April 26, 2011 George Thorogood is an odd sort of working-class hero. Like many of his bluesy forefathers, the Delaware-born rocker is as modest and self-deprecating in person (or at least on the phone) as his songs are s ... More >>

George Thorogood & the Destroyers

The United States Of Women In Music

​Rocks Off is no He-Man Woman Hater's Club. We like women quite a bit, actually, especially those women brave enough to wade through the rivers of bullshit in the male-dominated music business. If you'll page back a few weeks, you'll remember the discussion of our favorite female artists from ... More >>

The Rebecca Black Video (Bad Lip Reading, "Gang Fight" Edition)

She's no 14-year-old quarterback from Delaware.​Seemingly everyone with a forum to express an opinion has managed to come up with an angle on Rebecca Black, the 13-year-old viral sensation (as long as "sensation" is measured by "eyeballs viewed" and not "ability to carry a tune") whose hit sin ... More >>

Go Vote, Texans...In The Least Competitive State Legislative Races In The Country

It's nolo contendre in Texas legislative races​Not much action so far on this election day, although we have folks checking out the polling places (and feel free, readers, to pass on any reports of your own).We guess the quiet shouldn't be so surprising because, according to a new study, Texas has ... More >>

Dustin Dominiak, Christine O'Donnell's Kiss-And-Teller: Get Ready For The Pubes

Suitable for mailing?​Earlier today we mentioned the latest fracas involing Delaware senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell -- some jerk wrote about what he called his "one-night stand" with her three years ago, one in which she refused to have intercourse, which to us kind of stretches the mean ... More >>

Mission Accomplished: Your Buzzword Is My Band Name, Part 2

​We're getting closer to a midterm election that, more and more, is coming to resemble two dachshunds we had as a kid who would lose their little doggy minds over a chew toy and attack each other in a weiner-dog whirlwind of until separated by a garden hose. The attack ads are a-flying, and e ... More >>

The Littlest People

There are maybe 200 primordial dwarfs in the world, and Houstonian Sienna Bernal is one of them. She's also trying to be a regular 11-year-old girl.

Sienna Bernal: A Primordial Dwarf, A Bieber-Loving 11-Year-Old

​Sienna and Sierra Bernal of Tomball are identical twins, but no one would ever guess it: Sierra looks like most other 11-year-olds, while Sienna is a primordial dwarf.She's three-feet-ten and 27 pounds. She is maybe one of 200 people in the world classified as primordial dwarves.As Craig Malisow ... More >>

Local Musicians Stump For Rocks Off's "Hell Yeah!" Office

boogiewoogieflu.blogspot.com​A contentious and cantankerous mid-term election season is upon us, and the AM dial is so full of hot air that Rocks Off is surprised our Matrix hasn't started floating. Without taking a seat on either side of the aisle, it's undeniable that a real current of anti- ... More >>

Why Aren't There Any Good Conservative Comedians?

​It's a valid question, even in light of the specter of Satanism rearing its seven heads over Delaware last week. Actually, maybe that's the quick and dirty answer to my question: the reality of the Tea Party is funnier than any airplane food joke Christine O'Donnell could tell at the Improv. ... More >>

License Plate Auction: The Bidding For World's Dumbest Texan Will Open Soon

Vanity plates, thy name is Texas​Ever since the state privatized its vanity license plate business a while back, the company that's taken it over has gotten more and more creative.They greatly expanded the variety of plates you could grossly overpay for, and offered a groovy online app where you c ... More >>

SUMMER GUIDE: (100) Days of Summer Movies

Enjoy the great indoors!

NBC's Thursday Night: A Fond Farewell, For Now

We'll miss you, Mark.​Last night was season-finale night for NBC's comedies, and each show's sendoff matched its overall vibe: Community was strong and mock-conventional; Parks and Recreation was hilarious and engaging; 30 Rock was bittersweet but solid, definitely showing its slight age; and ... More >>

Aftermath: George Thorogood's Raucous Rock Party Destroys House of Blues

Photos by Groovehouse​ Since we have long since moved into a digital age of music journalism, Aftermath now takes notes on his cellphone or loads his thoughts onto Twitter. Sifting through our pecking from last night's George Thorogood and the Destroyers show at the House of Blues, we noticed that ... More >>

Chatter: Long Ball

Ex-ballplayer and busker George Thorogood: Now playing in a kid's movie near you.

What The Hell? Kemah Is One Of The Top Ten Boardwalks In The U.S.?

Photo by mhowry​We didn't notice this until KPRC pointed it out recently, but the website Forbes Traveler recently published an article entitled "We Don't Know Anything About Boardwalks."That wasn't the actual headline on the article, but it should have been. Unless you believe that the pre-fab sc ... More >>

Food Fight: Battle Frito Pie

In theory, Frito pie should be a relatively difficult thing to screw up. It's just a bag of Fritos and some chili with shredded cheese on top (and onions, if you're not one of those obnoxiously fussy eaters). But in reality, the Frito pie is greater than the sum of its parts: It's an ... More >>

Child Protective Services: Problems, Reforms and More Problems

A quick fix may only have created more problems for CPS and the families it serves

FDR U Experienced?

Catch the Wave

Lance Fegen's "New American Surfer Bistro" is like, epic, dude!

Letters to the Editor

FotoFatigue

With 140 venues, FotoFest makes you suffer for your art

Best Amnesia

Phillip Lopate

News of the Weird

News of the Weird

Critic's Choice

Wheel of Dysfunction

The Poison Connection

A "gas leak" in a Matamoros chemical plant wafts a poison and paper cloud toward a corporate office in Houston