Harry Potter

Julie & Julia Redux: Top 5 Cookbooks I'd Work My Way Through Besides MtAoFC

I admit, I've got a bit of a copycat streak in me. When I first read Julie and Julia , I was so intrigued with the project I wanted to try it myself. (Me and one million other foodies. Here's hoping Powell believes imitation is the sincerest form of flattery). But I would repeat with a difference: ... More >>

5 Fictional Foods That I Wish Were Real

As a child, I dreamed of diving head first into Roald Dahl's famous chocolate river. As an adult, I still do. Every. Single. Day. Here are five other Fictional Foods That I Wish Were Real (in no particular order because truly, I want them all):

The Mean, Evil, Bored & Ashamed Faces on 13 NFL Team Logos, Ready for Their Close-Ups

Our long national nightmare, otherwise known as the football offseason, is nearing an end. Exhibition Preseason games are in full swing, for better or worse. (If you watched all -- or even most of -- the Cowboys' 3-0 win over Oakland Monday, seek help.) Still, the appearance of the pads and unis i ... More >>

Top 5 Pop Literary Lexicons

When you get right down to it, the concept of books about books is a little weird. After all, if you'd read the book in question, what could you have possibly missed that required another book to explain to you? Well, it turns out a lot. Sometimes you're dealing with a huge series that is so full o ... More >>

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen Deathly Hallows Part 2 Yet?

"You can't wait until the 2nd week...grosses will drop 60%!"​Well, that was quick: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" set another debut mark Monday by racking up $481.5 million in worldwide receipts, a media report said Monday. The film -- the last of eight "Potter" installments - ... More >>

Six People Who Should Have Never Tried To Rap

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place -lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good- so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. ... More >>

Rappers And R&B Stars Who Would Make Great Tween Authors

Beanie Sigel will NOT be asked to illustrate 50's book.​So did you hear the one where 50 Cent writes a young-adult book about bullying called Playground? No, this one is not a joke. Apparently, 50 wants to explores his inner tween and examine the negative effects of bullying on young people be ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Twilight vs. Harry Potter And 9 Other Geek Throwdowns

Still the only crossover I'd pay to see.​Anyone watch the MTV Movie Awards? Anyone? I didn't think so, mostly because I suspect the majority of Hair Balls/Art Attack readers are over the age of 12. And while I have no intention of revisiting the whole "'Music?"Television line of jokes, I did ... More >>

English Desserts for the Royal Wedding

Flickr user: Allerina & Glen MacLartyBanoffee Pie​Well, ladies, the jig is up. It's official; none of us will be the future queen of England. As the world waits with bated breath to see what Kate Middleton will wear, whether anyone will make a faux pas, and how much better Prince Harry will lo ... More >>

App of the Week: Are We Over-Sharing?

Imagine DeNiro's stalker fan character with an iPhone.​Normally, each week we'd reserve this space for some awesome mobile app or cool website that would help improve your mobile experience. This week, instead of an app, we have a question: are we, as a society, over-sharing? When skimming ov ... More >>

Weasley Brothers Coming to Houston: Ummm, Yay?

The Weasleys: One's Fred, one's George​Comicpalooza has announced a new bunch of guests for its Memorial Day Weekend event, and the biggest news is that they include some Harry Potter stars!! Well, co-stars. Actually, let's just say they're characters. But they do show up in every film!! Th ... More >>

Harry Potter Fans Take on Bullying

Is this a wizard-movie poster or an indie-rock publicity shot?​Say what you will about fervent Harry Potter fans who are above legal drinking age, but many of them want to use the characters and plotlines in JK Rowling's series to make the world a better place.While they're counting down the month ... More >>

Five Musicians Who Would Make Kick-Ass Parade Balloons

howstuffworks.tlc.com​Rocks Off does not go to actual parades because we'll be damned if we'll waste clean pants on something that doesn't involve booze or Harry Potter, but we always make sure to catch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the teletube. We are, however, getting a little sick ... More >>

Harry Potter: Wizard Rock's Greatest Hits

​For the past few years, a genre centered around J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter universe has been growing on the Internet and elsewhere. We don't think anyone involved in it is older than 25, but that's okay. Sometimes sheer youthful enthusiasm can make up for the songwriting being a little green ... More >>

The End Is Near

In Harry Potter finale the kids are not alright

Top Five Non-Alcoholic Beers

Lukas VermeerThere's non-alcoholic beer in here somewhere. ​The city's beer nerds are all excited for Houston Beer Week. But for some random reason, this brew celebration has just made me crave my favorite non-alcoholic "beers." Here are my Top Five: 5. Birch Beer. Earlier this year I blogged ... More >>

A Second Chance at The Chocolate Bar

​I quickly forgave The Chocolate Bar for my mediocre slice of Really Rocky Road Cake. It wasn't hard. I'm far too much of a cocoa-crazed fiend to spurn the town's only establishment solely dedicated to my drug. As some readers pointed out, I probably should have immediately returned the cak ... More >>

To Get You In The Mood For Summer Movie Season, The Worst Blockbusters Of The '00s

​For better or worse, the summer movie season kicks off this weekend with the release of Iron Man 2 (which I believe is a Black Sabbath documentary).It's the time of year when temperatures rise and IQs drop as folks looking for relief from the sweltering heat seek shelter in air-conditioned theate ... More >>

Geeks Who Drink: The Quiz that Must Not Be Named

Muggles to the back of the line

Bullies and the Name Game

Year in Film: Three Critics' Top Three

Win A Free Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince DVD By Answering A Few Not-So-Simple Questions

​As the release of the sixth Harry Potter DVD -- Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince -- comes closer, it seems like the perfect time to review your Harry Potter knowledge.Sure, you know the name of Ron's pet rat and his true identity, but are you a true Potter aficionado? Try yourself on the qu ... More >>

Last Clue For Our Harry Potter Trivia Test: The Non-"Dumbledore Is Gay" Edition

​This is it -- the last day before our freakin' difficult Harry Potter trivia quiz which could get you a free DVD of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.Of course, the actual contest will be posted tomorrow at 6 p.m., at which time all of Houston will be blanketed by six feet of snow, if the we ... More >>

More Help For Our Hard-Core Harry Potter Trivia Contest

​Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out on DVD Tuesday, and we here at the Houston Press are giving them away.Well, we're not actually giving them away -- we're making you earn them.At 6 p.m. Friday we'll be posting one hard-ass Harry Potter trivia quiz, and the first three people to sen ... More >>

Here's Some Help In Winning A Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince DVD

​Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out in DVD a week from today, and we are giving away three of them to only the most devoted Potter fans.We've asked a local expert to work up a 20-question quiz. Now, we've read all the books and seen all the movies, so we expected to do somewhat all r ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Sell Me On New Moon

​I'm going to step away from the sarcasm for a minute and present you with an honest overture that will hopefully foster understanding and goodwill between yours truly and certain segments of the Hair Balls readership. To wit: can somebody -- anybody -- tell me what tell me what the big deal is a ... More >>

And So It Begins: Do You Know Where Your Children Are? (Updated With Speech Analysis)

It's too late, parents....Unless you filled out the proper paperwork offering definitive proof you're a right-wing radical blinded by Fox News, your kid is being subjected to the amazing hypnotic power of Barack Obama at this moment.You can watch here, if you dare.Will you recognize your kids when t ... More >>

InPrint: Bill Bryson

The author of I’m a Stranger Here Myself pays a visit to Houston

Top Ten Hip-Hop Albums Of 2008

A couple of weeks ago, an expert on the Harry Potter series told an audience of high school kids how lucky they were to have this Big Shared Experience--these seven books and 41,000 words in common. What does Harry Potter have to do with hip-hop in 2008? In an age when many year-end lists should ... More >>

Lisa Lampanelli

Special Delivery

The Remus Lupins

Accio music!

Junior High Kid Goes Big-Time, Zero Tolerance

She's glad her 15 minutes are up

Harry Potter and the Sisters of Mercy, or Goth Like Me

Harry Hallowed Potter

Jim Dale Reading

The voice of Harry Potter stops off in Houston

Maybe the East Germans Can Help

Wooing Lord Voldemort

Touchdown Harry!

A new look at nerd trivia

Don't Be a Squibb

Take the whole damn family out to see Harry and the Potters

Hogwarts Holiday

Turning Japanese

Like the anime, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja is goofy fun

Fire Flies

The fourth Harry Potter rushes through its paces

Where's Harry?

Nab the new Potter book at these parties around town

Harry Goes Scary

The Prisoner of Azkaban takes a Sirius-ly dark turn

It's My Party

Not everyone was celebrating Juneteenth in Harris County

Sleepy Muggles

The Blue Willow Bookshop hosts a Harry Potter read-a-thon

Wonder Boy

Harry Potter's second adventure delights exactly like the first

The Magic Touch

The big-screen Harry Potter lives up to its considerable hype

Midnight Fire

When kids and parents press for the hottest book ever, Potter's world turns Harried