Ku Klux Klan

Ever Heard of a $427,500 Mix CD?

Back in the dark ages of Internet piracy, a Rhode Islander by the name of Joel Tenenbaum made the choice of illegally downloading/sharing music online and the mistake of getting caught. The record companies wanted to make an example out of him and nine years later, it looks like they're getting what ... More >>

13 Wacky Texas History Facts That Texas School Kids Need To Be Taught

This week Mother Jones uncovered a handful of spurious, less-than-scientific facts that Louisiana grade-schoolers will be learning while attending the state's new voucher schools. Obviously, people aren't happy. A new voucher program under the watch of Governor Bobby Jindal will allot money for st ... More >>

True Blood: Care Bears on Fire & Some New Wallflowers

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood -- which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. Have I mentioned that Tina Marjorino is running around True Blood ... More >>

Top 6 Rap Songs That Criticize the USA

Word to your mamas, sucka emcees. It's the Fourth of July (or, as the Native American guy that I went to college with used to half-jokingly refer to it, "The Most Fucked Up Holiday I Can Think Of... Why Don't We Just Go Ahead And Start Celebrating 9/11, Because That's Basically What This Is For Me") ... More >>

Look Out, Sheyla Hershey & Your 38KKK Rack: Lacey Wildd Thinks You're A Member Of The Itty-Bitty Tittie Committee

It was bad enough when Florida beat us in crazy-ass crimes, but now they're leaving us in the dust in breast enhancements? Texas, we don;t even know who you are anymore. For years, Lone Star residents have looked on proudly and in horror (well, mostly in horror -- jaw-dropping, WTF horror) at Shey ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: The Foreigner, King Hedley II, Made in America, Next to Normal

The Foreigner

Cover Story: How Black Riders Made Their Way to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Jamie Francies, Jr. grew up in West Houston, for the most part flying under the radar of the local Ku Klux Klan operating in the middle of the 20th century. As a kid, he did see the victim of a lynching where Post Oak crosses Buffalo Bayou and he had to go to colored school in the segregated times. ... More >>

Rife Kimler, Odd SETX Attorney, Arrested for Harboring Wanted Young Woman

Photo via 12NewsNowRife Kimler: Only a coincidence that his name rhymes with Himmler.​Criminal defense attorneys are often colorful characters, but few seem as downright eccentric as Rife Kimler of Nederland. Kimler is currently in hot water for hindering the apprehension of an accused thief ... More >>

Print Industry Troubles, As Analyzed by Chronicle Street Vendors

The newspaper industry hasn't been in the best of shape for a while now, and layoffs and buyouts and declining subscriptions are common. Besides the employees directly affected, hard times have also hit the people who will sell you the Houston Chronicle while you're waiting at intersections across ... More >>

Broke Down: A Playlist From The Middle Of Nowhere

motiontowing.com​There are eight spark plugs in the Eddie Bauer edition of Ford's 2001 Expedition. Eight. And if one of them isn't working properly - if it becomes loose or stripped or a gremlin sneaks under the hood and gobbles it up (a common problem in Fords) - the whole car is pretty much ... More >>

"Change Your Name To A Symbol" & Other Dumb Ways To Derail Your Music Career

brightestyoungthings.comThe sign officially known as "Love Symbol #2"​Sunday marked the 18th anniversary of the date Prince changed his name to that confounded "Love Symbol", and we can't help but wonder if he would have had more success had he waited a decade or two. Like it or not, in toda ... More >>

Praying with Perry

Readers on The Response

Friday Night: iceage & Balaclavas At The Mink

Photos by Allison Wagoner​iceage, Balaclavas The Backroom at the Mink July 15, 2011 A lot of folks have a dirty habit of going full-throttle on a new band with only one album and a few singles, lumping praise on them before they can really live up to it. Aftermath has done it in the past (Die ... 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 >>

Comment of the Day: White Pride

​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 >>

Have A KKK Memorial Day

Come one, come (not really) all​If your white-power group is having trouble finding cool Memorial Day rallies where you can wave the stars 'n stripes 'n swastikas, then we suggest you check out reputable racist-friendly website Stormfront.org for cool holiday ideas. We especially recommend tha ... More >>

KPFT Knocked Off Air -- Not By The KKK This Time

No Elena Kagan hearings for KPFT listeners​Pacifica station KPFT-FM has been knocked off the air and may not be able to broadcast over the airwaves until tomorrow because of damage to its radio tower.Don't blame the KKK this time. Blame copper thieves.A group of what KPFT general manager Duane Bra ... More >>

Remember Willie Dee's Controversy?

The best album cover in rap history​Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Willie Dee Controversy (Rap-A-Lot, 1995) Note: Yes, we' ... More >>

The Day The KKK Bombed KPFT

Yesterday morning during KPFT's biannual pledge drive, the station was paying homage to recently deceased color-barrier breaker Lena Horne by giving away copies of her biography Stormy Weather and highlighting a 40-minute interview with the black singer/actress about her relationship with whites in ... More >>

"Santiago Forero: I Want to Live in America"

Want to live in America? You'll need a Molotov cocktail and a mask.

You Are Your Avatar, UT Study Declares

​Attention gamers: If you find yourself overflowing with hatred and killing your virtual teammates when you're supposed to be helping them, you might want to reconsider that Grand Dragon of the Knights of White Purity avatar -- a new study out of UT suggests that your online persona can ... More >>

Texas Is Doing Great -- In The Hate-Group Rankings

Photo by foxtongueThe count is in, and the number of hate groups in the U.S. exploded to 926 in 2008, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center's totally non-fearmongerishly titled "Year in Hate" issue of the Intelligence Report. And Texas can proudly boast the second-highest hate group count, at ... More >>

Have A KKK Christmas!

Since Hair Balls is here to serve, we have a Hints from Heloise-style Christmas decorating recommendation, courtesy of one loyal Hair Balls reader: the "Original Christmas Cross" yard decoration from the American Family Association. "Light up your front yard, porch, patio, driveway, business, o ... More >>

Harold and Kumar Go to Prison

The duo get shipped to Gitmo in this forced act two

“John Alexander: A Retrospective”

The Lone Star artist, on display at the Museum of Fine arts, Houston, made multiple points

Drenched in Blog: Listing 2007

Master P Makes the KKK Say “Ugh!”

Shot Fired at KPFT During Zydeco Program

Art Car Parade, Bad Street Repairs, Rep. Ted Poe

A popular Art Car gets booted

Kwoutable Kwoutes

Rebel Yell

Screwed-Up Klick

BAKER STREET PUB & GRILL'S

MONICA LEWINSKY

Dark and Lovely

He's Bill, Beeyotch!

A Chappelle's Show token offers some light comedy

Great Clips

Tennessee schoolkids teach the world a lesson in an inspirational documentary

Letters

Country Teasers, with NTX+ Electric Deth

Friday, January 23

Crash Course

A stuntman is mightily impressed by Houston's rail crashes

Fueling the Ire

Despite downpours and dwindling diesel, the Klan tries to mount a soggy comeback

Playbill

Steel Pulse

Road Outrageous

The Coens take Homer on a Southern-fried odyssey in O Brother

Shaka's Last Supper

He wouldn't eat it, so they did!

Black, White and a Few Shades of Gray

A Time to Kill does John Grisham proud

Shutterbug

Static

Cosmic Trash

Sincerity Forever boasts energy, but little intelligence

The Watchman of the Electronic Frontier

As the cyber-future creeps toward Houston, one group stands guard: EFH

Press Picks