Gulf of Mexico

Spring Breakers: Girls Gone Godard

A thrilling corruption of the Disney princess set.

James O'Donnell Writes His Own Funny, Score-Settling, Honest, Tragic Obituary

James O'Donnell knew he'd die some day, so he decided to write his own paid obituary beforehand. "I've sat in too many funeral homes watching people struggle with a creative writing exercise while their hearts were breaking. So they usually get it wrong," the Galveston resident wrote in it. The re ... More >>

Galveston's Red Tide Appears to Have Dissipated, Oysters Recovering

Photo by mintprofusionOysters affected by red tide are toxic to humans.​On January 27, two small portions of Texas Gulf waters were conditionally opened to shellfish harvesting after a red tide epidemic forced the indefinite closure of oyster season in October. San Antonio and Espiritu Santo ... More >>

Tilman Fertitta's Galveston "Pleasure Pier" Will Be World-Class, Tilman Fertitta Says

Ye olde pleasure piere and shoppes​Fun magnate Tilman Fertitta unveiled his plans today for turning the old Flagship Hotel pier in Galveston into a -- wait for it -- a "world-class amusement park for all ages." Scheduled to open in May, the project will look (and cost) a whole lot like the Ke ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

Real champagne is from the French province of Champagne. Real Sparkling Thunderwine, however, is brewed in the stills of Valhalla.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where the good Christmas cookies have all been eaten out of the assortment, and the remaining raisin-y ... More >>

Eight Businesses We Expect Will Be Getting Custom Texas License Plates Soon

​We recently wrote about a new crop of Texas license plates with a variety of themes, most of them sports related. One of the designs, however, was for the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain that isn't even based in the Lone Star State. We certainly understand the passion of a sports fan, but ... More >>

9/11 Idiocy, To Go

TS Don: And Then, Depression Set In -- Tropical Storm Could Bear Down on Texas by Friday (Updated)

Courtesy National Hurricane CenterLittle Donnie is getting bigger.​The National Hurricane Center reconnaissance plane found winds strong enough in Invest 90 to declare it the fourth tropical depression tropical storm of the 2011 hurricane season -- their next full report is at 6 p.m. As we m ... More >>

Too Much Pavement

Houston's strip malls increase heat, pollution.

Drought Time: Five Fun Alternative Texas Water Spots When Rivers And Lakes Are Low

Twin Lakes Scuba Park: There's a bus under that water​As we noted yesterday, the ongoing drought is kicking the ass of Texas rivers and lakes. The Guadalupe is just inching along, low in its banks, formerly underwater roots exposed, making toobing not the traditional summer romp it usually is ... More >>

On The Road Again: Bikinis And Bands At The Hangout Festival

Photos by Craig Hlavaty Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, duh.​See the bands and bikinis of the Hangout Festival in our slideshows. Imagine the Austin City Limits Music Festival or even the rapidly approaching Free Press Summer Fest on pure, white sand just feet away from a (variably) blue ocea ... More >>

Professor Fish Heads Wants to Give You an Education

Photo by Robb WalshP.J. Stoops at his old booth in the Bayou City Farmers Market.​P.J. Stoops, also known by his blogging name as "Professor Fish Heads," wants to educate you about fish. And not just the same old salmon, tuna and tilapia you see at the store, either. Stoops once had an indepe ... More >>

"Sixth Annual Open Call Exhibition: Good Gulf"

Dickens on the Strand

Summer AND Hurricane Season Over For Houston (Unofficially, But We're Going With It)

We are NOT jinxing anything​Not to jinx anything, but it looks very much like Houston has avoided any real tropical storm experience in what was/is supposed to be the hyperactive hurricane season of 2010.When Eric Berger of the Houston Chronicle says so, that's good enough for us. And if we're ove ... More >>

East and West Coast Rich With Waves, The Gulf Gets Nada -- Five Surfing Alternatives

Photo by Chasen MarshallWhere the waves, brah?​AtlanticDude: Would you say I have a plethora of waves?GulfDude: A what? AtlanticDude: A "plethora". GulfDude: Oh yes, you have a plethora. AtlanticDude: GulfDude, what is a plethora? GulfDude: Why, AtlanticDude? AtlanticDude: Well, you told me I have ... More >>

Pop Rocks: They're Baaaaack!

As with government, we get the reality entertainment we deserve​Tonight marks the return of MTV's Jersey Shore. Season 2 moves the juice-headed, monosyllabic cast from East Coast to South Beach (which is still technically the East Coast, but let's not worry about that right now). The gang's a ... More >>

Grouper Sandwich From Frenchy's Rockaway Grill

​With an empty stomach and a heart full of hope, we headed to Frenchy's Rockaway Grill in Clearwater Beach, Florida on the recommendation of a local on our quest to find the ultimate grouper sandwich. After a dip in the Gulf of Mexico, which is only about the length of a football field away f ... More >>

What Rhymes With Anahuac? We Ask The Rapping Weatherman

Nick Kosir, Beaumont's Rapping Weatherman, has a posse​We wrote about Beaumont's rapping weatherman Nick Kosir last week, and as we mentioned then, we weren't the first to do so. ESPN2's Sports Nation, The Huffington Post and the ever-illustrious Ryan Seacrest have all recognized Kosir for his ... More >>

BP Spill: Good News For Texas, Bad News For East Coast?

If there's anywhere that the majority of Americans are wishing the Deepwater Horizon oil would go to, it's probably Texas, the U.S. home of BP.BP's in Houston? Send that oil to Galveston beaches and see how they like it!!It looks, though, like that won't happen. Here's one simulation from the Univer ... More >>

The 5 Best Satirical Twitter Accounts

​Probably the only good thing to come out of the Gulf oil disaster (other than the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader-style discovery that dog hair is super absorbent) is @BPGlobalPR.Satirical Twitter accounts -- created by anonymous users to mock and skewer public figures or celebrities -- have been ar ... More >>

Pappas Files Lawsuit Against BP and Halliburton

The Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, engulfed in flames.Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard​It was only a matter of time before the Gulf fishing industry -- whose entire livelihood has been threatened by the Gulf oil leak -- struck back at the organizations responsible for causing the m ... More >>

Fight The Oil Spill By Giving Your Dog A Haircut

Blow-drying after the cut is optional.​Until today, Hair Balls thought pet hair clippings were only good for making you sneeze, but apparently the hair is incredibly absorbent, which could come in handy in the case of, say, a gigantic freakin' oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Pet Paradise, a ... More >>

Houston Company Hit With Claim Its Fish Contain PCBs

​A Houston-based fish-oil manufacturer might be exposing consumers to a harmful carcinogen, according to a lawsuit filed by environmental activists earlier this month.Filed in a California Superior Court, the suit accuses Omega Protein and seven other fish-oil manufacturers of failing to warn cons ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

Hi there, Minsa! Take your seat next to Sun Maid raisins and Land-O-Lakes butter in the "Totally Bangable Food Mascots" section.​ Welcome back to the weekly round-up here at Eating Our Words, where we're waiting until there's a public health care option to organize our Inappropriately Fried Fo ... More >>

We Lost 500 Cows During Hurricane Rita!! Just Don't Look Too Closely

​Earlier today we had hurricane victims ripping off the feds and the sacred cow of Oprah Winfrey; now we have hurricane victims allegedly ripping off the feds with virtual cows.Six people were indicted today on charges that they told the federal government they had more than 500 cows that were swe ... More >>

Taking Stock of Galveston's Restaurants

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt Casey's giant fiberglass shrimp looks out from the restaurant onto the Gulf of Mexico.Driving along Broadway on your way into the heart of Galveston, it would appear that the island has finally sprung back to life five months after Hurricane Ike passed direc ... More >>

Bill White, the F-word and "Gatemouth" Brown

Bill White offends Georgians

Gatemouth Brown Gets Hit By A Third Hurricane, Doesn't RIP

Gatemouth Brown's Grave Intact... Sort Of

Galveston -- Exhibit A Against Offshore Drilling?

Maybe the East Germans Can Help

Letters

Hudson, Texas

The Social gets an NYC spin

Shrimp N' Ice Cream

What to order at the Indian seafood restaurant Fish N' More

The Munigolfer

Golfing in Houston on the cheap

Keep On Shuckin'

Live dangerously with the Double Dumbass Combo at Gilhooley's Raw Bar

Fish Fraud

Passing off cheap fish for expensive red snapper is against the law. But no one enforces the regulations. So Texas restaurants are free to rip you off.

Freddy Fender / Doug Sahm

Exitos en Español: The Spanish Side of Freddy Fender (Music Club) /The Roots of Doug Sahm, Son of San Antonio (Music Club)

End of the Bend?

Jetports and elite resorts may do what border bandits, blistering heat and harsh desert life couldn't: rob Big Bend of its rugged beauty.

The Long Haul

Immigrant shrimpers survived Vietnam and the wrath of Texas rednecks. Can they do the same with new fishing restrictions?

Night & Day

January 14 - 20, 1999

Dish

Static

A Place of His Own

Jack Laurenzo cuts the apron strings from Mama Ninfa

Letters

Letters

Taste of Texas

Rancho Tejas does guy food a gal could learn to love

Hot Plate