Inter IKEA Systems BV

Miss Pop Rocks: The IKEA Catalog Gives Me a Complex

College Credit

Shopping spree for your first apartment: $2,500
Spring break in Cabo: $1,000
Avoiding college credit card debt: priceless

Aftermath: Hungry Villagers at Boondocks

Aftermath thinks the thing he likes the most about new bands is the sheer lack of pretense and ego. We love it when bands do sound check five minutes before they play to two dozen friends upstairs at a bar, with no setlist to be seen. Only armed with the songs they've been fine-tuning for ... More >>

Hybrid City

Aftermath thinks the thing he likes the most about new bands is the sheer lack of pretense and ego. We love it when bands do sound check five minutes before they play to two dozen friends upstairs at a bar, with no setlist to be seen. Only armed with the songs they've been fine-tuning for ... More >>

Press Picks

Aftermath thinks the thing he likes the most about new bands is the sheer lack of pretense and ego. We love it when bands do sound check five minutes before they play to two dozen friends upstairs at a bar, with no setlist to be seen. Only armed with the songs they've been fine-tuning for ... More >>

Pavement: Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition

Aftermath thinks the thing he likes the most about new bands is the sheer lack of pretense and ego. We love it when bands do sound check five minutes before they play to two dozen friends upstairs at a bar, with no setlist to be seen. Only armed with the songs they've been fine-tuning for ... More >>

What Mainstream Publishers Don't Want You to Know About Door-to-Door Magazine Sales

That kid at your door with a magazine order form will tell you a story -- part sad, part hopeful. The truth will be infinitely worse than you can imagine.

Capsule Art Reviews: "Mary Magsamen and Stephan Hillerbrand: Forced Fields," "The Old Weird America: Folk Themes in Contemporary Art," "Ruth Pastine: Ever Present," "Jason Salavon: Annex and Catalogue," "Volker Stelzmann: Experimental Arrangements"

That kid at your door with a magazine order form will tell you a story -- part sad, part hopeful. The truth will be infinitely worse than you can imagine.

Capsule Art Reviews: "Ruth Pastine: Ever Present," "Jason Salavon: Annex and Catalogue,"

That kid at your door with a magazine order form will tell you a story -- part sad, part hopeful. The truth will be infinitely worse than you can imagine.

Capsule Art Reviews: "Jason Salavon: Annex and Catalogue," "John Alexander: A Retrospective," "Learning by Doing: 25 Years of the Core Program," "Ruth Pastine: Ever Present"

That kid at your door with a magazine order form will tell you a story -- part sad, part hopeful. The truth will be infinitely worse than you can imagine.

Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

Girls' Night Out

Le Tigre and Electrelane bring an evening of transatlantic feminist mayhem to the Engine Room. Don't worry, boys -- you can come too.

Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

Party on the Patio

The Core Fellows make themselves at home in the Glassell

Nicolai Dunger

Soul Rush (Lakeshore)

Beyond Despair

Tired plotlines pummel Fight Club

Health Department Roundup: Westheimer Edition

Here's this week's roundup for restaurants on what is debatably Houston's most iconic thoroughfare. A pre-opening inspection of the new Aloft (5415 Westheimer), a hotel for the techno-geek that looks like IKEA on steroids, turned up changes in the proposed layout of the kitchen work area not shown ... More >>

Kevin Nealon's New Film Looks Like Absolute Crap And I Mean Crap!

​Who greenlit Aliens in the Attic? I mean, honestly, who? What film exec got tanked on margaritas at La Casa de Enchiladas and said, yes, let's make this film about aliens and a suburban family with Kevin Nealon as the put-upon Pop?I thought we were in a recession. Shouldn't it take a LOT to get a ... More >>

Cafe Zol Gets a Makeover

Photo by J.C. Reid​When Cafe Zol opened in early 2008 in the old Crostini location on Shepherd near Westheimer, the menu was billed as "Scandinavian tapas." Houston food cognoscenti responded with head scratching and mixed reviews, wondering if there really needed to be a challenger to the loc ... More >>

Taking That La-Z-Boy Out for a Drunken Spin? Don't Forget the Tunes!

Where are the cup holders?​As part of our court-appointed public service, we at Rocks Off don't condone driving while intoxicated. But if you must get behind the wheel after having a few, there are far worse things to be driving than a La-Z-Boy. From Yahoo! news this morning: "A Minnesota man has ... More >>

Wine of the Week - Phoenicia Specialty Foods

​Last year, Robb Walsh visited Phoenicia Specialty Foods's Bargain Bin section to stock up on some obscure Italian wines at low prices. We are always looking for a good deal, so we decided to pay Phoenicia another visit. Last weekend, we found ourselves wandering around the Ikea-like aisles, f ... More >>

Yes, Anastasia, You Too Can Cyber Land a Job in a Recession

​Pardon us, but we're about to impart some useful, seasoned knowledge on you. Don't get too accustomed to it, however. We'll return to our regularly scheduled programming of a wee bit of technology talk with a whole lot of intertwined innuendo in no time.But for today, we educate. Our topic? E ... More >>

"Bright" Stars

The MFAH hosts a masterfully curated show of works by 12 Korean artists.

The Top 10 Places to Eat on Long Point

There's more to Long Point than just taco trucks...​As more development and activity pushes consumers north of the Katy Freeway -- such as the giant new shopping center and mega H-E-B at Bunker Hill, the push from MetroNational to create a "Memorial City"-branded area around Gessner, the etern ... More >>

Top Ten Kitchen Essentials

A while back, Katharine Shilcutt wrote about her top 10 must-haves for her kitchen. Well, not everyone has the same kitchen needs, so here's a little different perspective. We find that a lot of specifics, like mixing/prep bowls, can be overcome by having mismatched dishes, and we are even guilty of ... More >>

Paul Wall's Got Your iPhone Goin' Nuts

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, albeit sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. We'll incorporate the number five in there somewhere. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. ​April 23, 2010. That was to be the most glorious day ... More >>

Twitter: The Five Most Annoying Things You Can Do

No Foursquare or proctologist visits, please​In this week's cover feature, "The Twitterverse", we dive into the world of Twitter to spotlight some of the best things going with the social networking hub, and also uncover some of the worst things permeating the site. We talked to tweeting Texans in ... More >>

Rocks Off's Handy Summerfest Survival Guide

Shelby Hohl​There's a slim chance you may have already heard that our distinguished competition, Free Press Houston, is throwing a little shindig this weekend, which they have for some reason chosen to call Summerfest. We understand it's some kind of outdoor festival and a couple of bands fr ... More >>

Ikea's "69" Ad: Too Racy For Houston?

Some Houston TV stations won't go down this road?​Music from bad `70s porn and graphics talking about 69 in the bedroom, in the kitchen, in the office, in the bathroom, and how 69 is "the best date ever" -- why would anyone think something like that is nasty?(Unless the bathroom is in some bachelo ... More >>

TUTS At Ikea: It's The Final Countdown, Whether You Want It Or Not

A salute to the synthesizer​Ikea, some type of foreign store that tried to pollute Houston airwaves with porn, had its grand-renovation reopening yesterday.For a certain segment of the buying public, this was a very big deal.So big, that kids from TUTS's Academy, part of the Humphreys School of Mu ... More >>

Food Fight: Battle Asian Supermarket

Sweet little baby octopus...a summer treat.​Ever since KoMart -- the long-standing Korean grocery store on Gessner -- closed earlier this year, the Asian grocery scene in Spring Branch has been dominated by Super H Mart and the newer 99 Ranch Market. They're both large national chains, and th ... More >>

Stuffed Cotton Food From IKEA

An IKEA bestseller. Will plush foods be next?​What's the best way to prevent childhood obesity? Give your kids FAKE FOOD! IKEA, the company responsible for such creepy stuffed toys as the Famnig Hjärta, that bestselling heart pillow with human arms and hands, will expand their popular Duktig ... More >>

Friday Meal Deals

​Know of more? Please share in the comments. This weekend and next, Einstein Bros. Bagels is offering 50 percent off a bagel bucket with this coupon. So for anyone toting kids around for Saturday morning sports, this might be an option for feeding them. If you're going to IKEA tonight and yo ... More >>

Musicians: Five Reasons Your Girlfriend Hates You

​For ladies dating dudes in bands, life can get rough. You are either seen as a trophy or a hindrance to his true rock and roll dreams, arm candy and not the actual real live human being you in fact are. Depending on how successful his band is, your man is constantly the focal point of dozens ... More >>

Last Night: Slayer, Megadeth And Anthrax At Verizon

Photos by GroovehouseSouth of Heaven: Slayer's Tom Araya​Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax Verizon Wireless Theater September 26, 2010 With the end of this concert, Aftermath was sort of sad. Not only did it mark the end of a marathon music week in Houston and for Rocks Off, it also signaled that we ... More >>

Lee Harvey Oswald's Coffin For Sale: Christmas Shopping DONE!

Photo courtesy Nate D. Sanders AuctionsOswald's coffin could be under YOUR Christmas tree​Forget trying to fight the crowds at Ikea or Toys R Us. Lee Harvey Oswald's coffin is for sale!! No, don't be so ghoulish -- you don't get the one he's buried in now. This coffin is the utterly unghoulis ... More >>

$7 at IKEA

​Hi, I'd like a Boren, a Barnslig, a Fixa, and French toast sticks. Where else on earth, besides IKEA, could you utter a sentence as beautiful as that and not be hauled off to the loony bin?

Valentine's Day: Nine Awful Gift Ideas

We're sure that the procrastinators out there just started sweating reading that headline. Yes, you only have days to get that special whoever something for Valentine's Day, which is closing in on us, coming up on Monday. There are good gifts (all-day sex marathons, beef ribs served in bed, cash) ... More >>

Come Here and Hang Out

Midtown Lounge has a prestigious location, but none of the usual neighborhood pomp.

Capsule Stage Reviews: Easter Catechism, The Marriage of Figaro, A Murder Is Announced, The Trip to Bountiful

Midtown Lounge has a prestigious location, but none of the usual neighborhood pomp.

Upcoming Events

​Sometimes wonderful things are born out of our comments section and we remember for a moment just how awesome humanity can be when it comes together for a good cause. The Lemonade Day Crawl is a perfect example of that awesomeness, suggested by commenter Chris Oakley in support of National L ... More >>

Game of Thrones: 7 Observations from a Newbie (and Pop Rocks Pinch-Hitter)

Yeah, he's my brother, so what?​Pete Vonder Haar couldn't file a Pop Rocks today, so it falls to me to do so. Since he is also our chronicler of all things Game of Thrones, I will pick up that mantle too. I'm not much of a fantasy person at all, but I find myself getting into this HBO minise ... More >>

Upcoming Events

Americas: So long, and thanks for all the dish.​It's been a long time coming, but Americas on Post Oak Boulevard is finally closing after 20 years. And while it will indeed be sad to lose its iconic dining room -- which I've always fondly thought of as "Dr. Seuss on acid" -- the restaurant is ... More >>

Crawfish Across the World

Ground crawfish powder, one of the "mother" spices in Nigerian cooking.​Louisianans like to think they've got the world on a string when it comes to crawfish, with small towns like Breaux Bridge laying claim to titles such as "Crawfish Capital of the World." But there are a few people in Niger ... More >>

Oasis in the Desert: Casablanca Brings Moroccan Food to Houston

Photos by Troy FieldsSee more photos from Casablanca in our slideshow.​When it opened late last year, Casablanca Couscous & Grill became only the second Moroccan restaurant in Houston. And the truth is, for a city that prides itself on being such a melting pot of ethnicities and cuisines, ther ... 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 >>

WarBeast: Oh Fuck, They Have a Time Machine

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. Beth Burton​We try real hard to avoid metal bands here in the old What's in a Name? column. We still haven't forgiven Owl Witch for the abs ... More >>

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 10 Hot Dogs

Photo by Jeff VogtYou can even get sauerkraut on your $1.50 Costco dog!​For the next 20 weeks, we'll be rounding up the runners-up to our 2011 Best of Houston® winners. In many categories, picking each year's winner is no easy task. We'll be spotlighting 20 of those categories, in which the w ... More >>

It’s a Pleasure

Photo by Jeff VogtYou can even get sauerkraut on your $1.50 Costco dog!​For the next 20 weeks, we'll be rounding up the runners-up to our 2011 Best of Houston® winners. In many categories, picking each year's winner is no easy task. We'll be spotlighting 20 of those categories, in which the w ... More >>