John Nova Lomax

29-95 Releases Another Dive Bar-Free List of Dive Bars

Three years ago, the Houston Chronicle released a pretty much dive bar-free list of 20 dive bars, and now their scrappy little sibling 29-95 has inflicted a similarly hapless collection of ten of the same. On the 29-95 list: Rudyard's, Boondocks, Warren's, Poison Girl, Catbirds, the Continental Clu ... More >>

Rocky Hill: Ballad of a Lone Star Legend

The late Rocky Hill was a handful. Even his widow, Joy, told the small but attentive Saturday-afternoon crowd celebrating the (very) belated release of Hill's album Lone Star Legend at Cactus Music's Record Ranch that being his bride was "like being married to a tornado." Hill was a man of tremendo ... More >>

Comment of the Day: De-Funkification Edition

We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involving wit ... More >>

2011 Music Awards Showcase

Your guide to the bands and venues.

HPMA Preview: Nobody Leaves Without Singing The Blues Edition

Photo by Brittanie SheyLittle Joe Washington​In the movie Adventures in Babysitting, Houston native bluesman Albert Collins inadvertently assists the getaway of young Elizabeth Shue (meow) and her charges from a gang of thugs, but only after she sings. Collins blocks the attackers with the sam ... More >>

Six Of Houston's Creepiest Places, In Honor Of Halloween

Halloween always brings with it a bunch of temporary "haunted houses" designed to be creepy and scary. That's all well and good, but there's no need to pay good money to be creeped out. Houston offers several locations that can send a chill down your spine, especially on a lonely night. And they're ... More >>

Comment of the Day: James Edwin Durham

We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involving wit ... More >>

Readers React to our River Oaks Monster Tale

Comment of the Day: Penis Envy

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Leadbelly's "Midnight Special" Prison in Sugar Land Closing (Although It Might Not Be the Prison He "Wrote" It in)

Texas legislators are likely to agree to closing the century-old Central Unit prison in Sugar Land, mostly because it sits on land near the airport that can be developed. It's one of several Texas Department of Criminal Justice units in the area; a compound of four units is nearby in unincorporated ... More >>

Bluefinger: The Bald Truth

Our Art Attack blogger on the slippery role of editor/actor.

Our John Nova Lomax Explains The Wilting Of The Richmond Strip To TV Viewers

 Channel 39 did a recent piece on whatever happened to the Richmond Strip, and turned for expert advice to our own John Nova Lomax. Includes exciting footage of Lomax preparing to type.

Money and Mercy

Readers comment on Bolivar's loss of Our Mother of Mercy Church

Diving Into Houston's Best Dive Bars

​Although the number of "true" dive bars is shrinking by the day, that didn't stop our own John Nova Lomax from tracking down the best ones left in the city and covering them in last October's feature story, "Dive Bars: A Handcrafted Tour of the Best, Most Obscure Places to Lean on a Stool in ... More >>

The Wheel World

Commenters get angry on both sides of the road over "Ghost Riders."

Forchuns Tolled

Photo by John Nova Lomax​We spotted this beautifully painted sign outside a Flower Alley fortune teller's house. There should probably be an asterisk after that bottom claim. With four of 15 words misspelled, this seer is clearly in no position to offer "advise" on every "aspec" of life.

Houston 101: The Smallest Cemetary, Right Next To The Tire Store

 Way out Long Point, at the corner of Pech Road in the heart of greater Spring Branch, there stands one of the most surreal sights in a city full of them: a tiny Old German cemetery tucked in the corner of a Bridgestone mechanic's shop. For over 100 years, 80 of the surrounding acres belong ... More >>

Mack Brown vs. Iraq & John Lomax vs. a Metro bus

Highlights from the Blog at HOUSTONPRESS.COM

The Most Dangerous Game: Man Vs. Metro

Photo by Mike GiglioLomax, keeping to his strict warm-up regimen for the big raceIt was to be the ultimate contest between man and machine. Hair Balls announced in earnest at this afternoon's staff meeting its plans to sample the new 402 Quickline Bellaire, which was unveiled by Metro on Friday ... More >>

Ike, Cancer, KBR and Oysters

Waking Life

Ike's Wake -- The Video

This week's feature story by John Nova Lomax looks at the struggles on Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula in the wake of Ike. Photographer Dan Kramer filmed a video to accompany it, and art director Monica Fuentes edited it. We were going to hire Varnaline to write a new song to go with it, bu ... More >>

Merry Christmas from the Rocks Off Family

...and so say all of us! - Chris Gray, Craig Hlavaty, Dusti Rhodes, Keith Plocek, William Michael Smith, Bob Ruggiero, John Nova Lomax, Ernest Barteldes, Brandon K. Hernsberger, Jef With One F, Michael Arceneaux, Linda Leseman, kris ex, Kathy F. Mahdoubi, Rosa Guerrero, Nick DiFonzo, Jason Fergus ... More >>

Pirate Proposal and Dogfighting Outrage

Finding The Best Christmas Lights In Houston (And We Don't Mean "Tasteful")

 Every year, we scour the papers and Internet looking for Houston's definitive guide to spectacular residential Christmas lights displays, and every year, what we find what comes up a little lacking. A handful of neighborhoods are invariably cited, and we've already been to most of them. There' ... More >>

Ganging Up

The Waterways of Harris County

Indie Bands Skipping Houston

There’s a New Sheriff in Town

Mp3: “Sit Shiva,” by Judas Bear

Mp3: Studemont Project’s “Mont Rose”

Mp3: Nosaprise's "Grown Folks Music"

MP3: Jackie Wilson and Laverne Baker, Like You’ve Never Heard Them Before

Lame Scenes and Upscale Lounges

Mad about Music

Rusted Shut,A Thousand Cranes

Web Extra: Seven Magnificent Moments in Guitar Hero / Rock Band

Into the Ashes: Cosmos Cafe, RIP

Noise for Toys

Mucky Duck does it for Christmas

Top Houston Songs, High-Tech Turntables, Dave Matthews

Songs of Ourselves

Blue October

Mood rockers are racking up the hits

How Low Can Lidge Go?

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Letters

Letters

Monsters of Hip

Five bands' worth of Urban Outfitters employees grace Cardi's stage with shopworn licks and attire

¡Viva H-town!

Latinos come to the fore in this year's music awards

Letters

Letters

Letters

Meet the New Boss

John Nova Lomax