Democratic National Convention

What's Behind Gary Douglas's Scientology Knockoff?

Access Consciousness promises to help you reach a higher plane. For a price.

Capsule Art Reviews: "Dieter Balzer: Objects," "Endless Disharmony and Telltale Ashes," "Flyaway: New Work by Aaron Parazette," "Glass Graphica," "Hilary Harnischfeger and Tommy White," "Hillevi Baar: Ambrosia" and "J. Hill: New Sculpture with Implied

Which Joe Biden Will Show Tonight? Hopefully The One From The Onion

"Sensual, powerful, Biden." So says The Onion. Vice President Joe Biden has been quite possibly the most-parodied man over the last four years. Gregarious, toothy, and with that "Hey-just-call-me-Joe" air about him, he's been the exact opposite of Obama, who's brains and little fire. Biden, meanwhi ... More >>

Capsule Art Reviews: "Dieter Balzer: Objects," "Endless Disharmony and Telltale Ashes," "Flyaway: New Work by Aaron Parazette," "Glass Graphica," "Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows"

Alabama Teabagger's Trial Begins In Louisiana Today: What To Look For

On the night of January 9, 2012, the city of New Orleans saw Alabama commit one of the most heinous assaults in the city's history on the LSU Tigers. And no, I'm not talking about the University of Alabama's 21-0 whitewashing of Les Miles' completely overmatched bunch of Tigers in the Superdome that ... More >>

Julian Castro: Three Things We Learned About San Antonio's Mayor At Last Night's DNC

At first, it seemed strange that, on one of the most important nights for Democrats, they would open with a a guy with a sprawling white smile who no one had heard of before. But hey, Dems must have thought, it worked in 2004 -- why not play this hand again? So they did, trotting out Julian Castro ... More >>

Score One For Tom DeLay: His Democratic Judge Gets Tossed From Case

Former U.S. House Republican leader/Dancing With the Stars contestant Tom DeLay scored big Friday with the recusal of a Democratic judge from his appellate case for money-laundering. Houston attorney Brian "Money-Quote" Wice told Hair Balls he had originally asked Justice Diane Henson to voluntari ... More >>

Is Tom DeLay Actually (Gasp) Correct That A Democratic Justice Can't Judge His Case Fairly?

Long before his tragically brief heyday on Dancing With The Stars, Sugar Land's Tom DeLay was convicted of campaign-finance violations. He's appealing that conviction to the state's 3rd Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin, but many of the judges have taken themselves off the case. One justice who ... More >>

Keith Judd: Texas Prisoner/Presidential Candidate Does Shockingly Well in West Virginia Primary

Majestically mulleted Texas prisoner-cum-presidential candidate Keith Judd has picked up 41 percent of the vote in West Virginia's Democratic primary. (We examined the Keith Judd phenomenon back before he was just a gleam in West Virginia's eye.) The Associated Press reports that Judd, serving time ... More >>

Jekyll and Hyde

KTRU Departs FM Airwaves Defiant, Unique As Ever

Marc BrubakerPatricia Bacalao at the statue of Rice founder "Willy" Marsh Rice​"I'm so nervous," declared former KTRU station manager Joey Yang as he took over the helm for the final hour of programming that would be broadcast on the FM band. "Since 1971 we've been on FM, and it's all coming d ... More >>

“The Whole World Was Watching: Civil Rights Era Photographs from Edmund Carpenter and Adelaide de Menil”

Honoring Barbara Jordan's 75th Birthday: Five Video Clips

Starting tomorrow, Texas Southern University will begin a year-long celebration of what would be the 75th birthday of alumna Barbara Jordan. Jordan was steeped in Houston, a Wheatley High grad who represented the Fifth Ward in Congress throughout the '70s. Here are five video clips of her career: ... More >>

Inside "American Pie," Pop Music's Longest Allegory

​Rocks Off has always been a fan of symbolism, hidden meanings and puzzles in general, so besides Raymond Chandler, Stephen King and Larry McMurtry, our favorite form of "lit-rah-chah" is allegorical stuff like George Orwell's Animal Farm, William Golding's Lord of the Flies and Edgar Allan Po ... More >>

Houston 101: A Convention Center Built In 64 Days

​In 1928, Jesse Jones -- grand poobah of Houston, Lord of Suite 8-F -- was determined to bring national glory to his town by hosting the 1928 Democratic convention. Cleveland, San Francisco and Detroit also wanted the prize, but Jones took a $200,000 check to the bidding committee and got the nod. ... More >>

Tapeworm? What Tapeworm?

If you want musical comedian Neil Hamburger to play your benefit, you better have proof.

U.S. Military Deserters Once Again Flock to Canada to Avoid War

Looks like this time they picked the wrong country.

This Year's Rodeo Scandal: Diversity, Or The Lack Thereof. With Dueling Memos!

This year's rodeo brouhaha -- there usually is one -- surrounds the alleged lack of diversity of the event's staff, vendors and performers.State Sen. Mario Gallegos has filed a bill calling on the rodeo to open its books and get better about being inclusionary; local ctivist ben Mendez has circulate ... More >>

ACL Notebook Dump, Pt. 1: Gentrification, Acid, Obama Shirts and More

Battle Of The Feisty Governors: Sarah Palin vs. Ann Richards

Nice Try: Bob Barr Wants John McCain and Barack Obama Thrown Off the Texas Ballot

Clear Channel Has The Balls CBS Doesn't, When It Comes To Semi-Controversial Billboards

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

David Leaf’s documentary shows the giant steps the feds took against a cultural icon

Stage Capsule Reviews: Blue, Dreamgirls, Rumors, Sordid Lives and A Streetcar Named Desire

Stage Capsule Reviews

Positive Exposure

Joan Didion became sane again through sharing personal grief

Assassination Tango

Controversial docu-drama imagines a post-Bush scenario

Space City Snapshots

The Blog Age

Matt Mullenweg helps usher in the real information revolution, one Web log at a time

Summer Camp

Demme's Candidate overhaul goes for the knowing giggle

Spreading the Jams

There'll never be another MC5, but Wayne Kramer will settle for 3

Moby for Veep

John Kerry should hit the decks for his running mate

A Grand Guy

How Steven Soderbergh kept the Terry Southern tale from turning tragic

The Real Motor City Madman

Former MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer is still kicking out the jams

Getting Lonely at the Top

A recycled city official comes home to roost

Mid-Summer Daydreams

The Democratic Party chief is full of promises -- and attitude

Shearer Delight

The voice of Flanders is the voice of reason, absatively posilutely

Rose, By Any Other Name

Jim Rose got a makeover, but he still has fans rolling in the aisles

Overblown and Underrated

So you know Houston's goats, heroes and high points? Think again.

Rubber Fetish

Glory days for KHOU and Anna Werner

Meltdown at Fox

Several staffers move over to Channel 39's start-up effort

Letters 08-31-2000

Spaced Out, We Were So Wrong, Woe to the 'Stros

Letters 07-13-2000

The Harley Party

Texas Motorcycle Rights Association

Billie's Last Convention Summer

The queen of Texas liberals hands over her reign

The Good, the Bad, the Imprisoned

Houston's best politicos were not always the ones elected -- or the ones who stayed in office

Brother, Can You Spare a Vanity Video?

Houston Endowment paid, so they had to come

All That Glitters

Now that the hype is over, the Crystal Method just wants you to listen

Sixties Survivor

Gene Locke rises from the streets to City Hall without disavowing his past

The Trial of Joe Russo

An intimate look at how -- and why -- Houston's high flyer of the '80s was taken apart in court