Labor Day

Houston Restaurant Weeks Kicks Off August 1

Houston Restaurant Weeks is less than two months away and is gearing up to raise funds for the Houston Food Bank, once again, beginning August 1 and lasting through Labor Day to September 2. This year will mark the tenth year of installment, after launching in 2003. While the complete list of resta ... More >>

10 Things to Do Before Labor Day: My 2013 Summer To-Do List

Summer's back, and although it feels like it's here to stay, Labor Day has its way of creeping up on you. Every year, I give myself a list of things I'd like to accomplish before the end of summer (this usually involves a promise of nightly laps in the pool that I never ever do). Last year, I thou ... More >>

Last Night: T.S.O.L. at Fitzgerald's

T.S.O.L., Spastic Fit, Dead to the World, Crime Wave Fitzgerald's September 4, 2012 It seemed as though I was the only Rocks Off blogger who failed to catch a show over Labor Day weekend, so I was looking forward to Tuesday night. This summer has evolved into something of of a punk-rock history cou ... More >>

Labor Day Laughs: Real Actors Read Yelp Reviews

On the off chance that you haven't been exposed to the thrilling beauty that is "Real Actors Reading Yelp Reviews," we've compiled the entire series into one post for you. So take a break from doing...whatever the hell it is people do on Labor Day...and remember that dining at the Olive Garden in Ti ... More >>

What's Cooking This Week? Gourmet Grilled Cheese & More

I love cooking for my fiancé and me, but most of the time, cooking for two proves to be difficult. If I don't make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredients I've bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter What's Cooking This Week -- my weekly meal ... More >>

#MadeInAmerica: The Heat, Crowds & Fireworks of Day 1

Rewind: #MadeInAmerica: Translation's Steve Stoute Talks Diversity, Honesty, and The Digital Revolution "If you put on a festival full of good music, people will find you". That was advertising executive and Jay-Z inner circle member Steve Stoute's answer to my question regarding the who/what/why ... More >>

Drunk Melon Balls: The Labor Day Party Must-Have

Although it'll stay hot here through at least the "fall," Labor Day weekend is traditionally the last big pool party and/or barbecuing weekend of the year. And nothing goes better with swimsuits and/or smoked meats than cool, refreshing, healthy fruit. That's been saturated with booze. Drunk waterm ... More >>

Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan: Don't Let That San Jac River Dioxin Be Part Of Your Holiday Meal

The Labor Day weekend is fast approaching, and what better way to celebrate than taking the family out fishing for some good ol' Texas seafood fresh from the water? Especially if it's fresh from dioxin-laden water, like the stuff down by the San Jacinto Rover Waste Pits. Frankly, any family outing ... More >>

Bastrop State Park, One Year After The Wildfire: Almost Ready For Its Close-Up

Just about one year after a devastating wildfire that torched much of its 6,000 acres, Bastrop State Park is getting ready to show visitors its made a comeback. Symbolizing the recovery is "a shade shelter originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps at Bastrop State Park during the 1930s," ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Low, Slow and EaDo

Next Thursday night from 7 to 10 p.m., help support Foodways Texas while enjoying some terrific Texan beer and bites at the Saint Arnold brewery with Low and Slow: An Evening of Smoked Food & Film. The evening will feature short films by Keely Steenson about Texas barbecue traditions along with tast ... More >>

3rd Annual BrewMaster Craft Beer Festival

10 Things to Do Before Labor Day: My Summer To-Taste List

Summer's back, and although it feels like it's here to stay, Labor Day has its way of creeping up on you. Every year, I give myself a list of things I'd like to accomplish before the end of summer (this usually involves a promise of nightly laps in the pool that I never ever do). This year, I though ... More >>

Hofmann Sausage Co: Texas Is About to Get Real ... Hotdogs! If You Live in Dallas Can You Bring Me Some?

So if you are from Upstate New York (like me), and if you love hot dogs (like me), and you live in Texas (like me), then you probably really, really miss Hofmann hot dogs. Like me. Because when I tell you I miss Hofmann hot dogs, I mean that I miss them super-duper terribly, especially when holidays ... More >>

Oyster Po' Boy with Remoulade: Only One Wine Will Do

At our house, we're already cranking up the A/C and bracing for the Texas summer. But with the arrival of the heat also comes my favorite time of our yearly gastronomic cycle, when fried and grilled foods are guiltlessly consumed in mass quantities. Summertime holidays -- from Memorial Day to the ... More >>

Garden Fresh: Radishes

Photo by John Kiely​A Master Gardener will know the ideal dates to plant and harvest each crop, but a Casual Tiller like myself requires a simpler scheme, so I go with holidays. Tomatoes and hot peppers go in after Valentine's Day; broccoli comes out on St. Pat's. Parsley and cilantro get pl ... More >>

Protect Yourself

10 Sex toys as weapons

Ben & Jerry Whip Out Their Schweddy Balls: Five Other Pervy Food Names

sheknows.com​Neat. Good times. Ben & Jerry have exposed their newest, limited-batch flavor "Schweddy Balls" based on the mock-NPR SNL sketch starring Alec Baldwin because "It's never too early to start celebrating the holiday season." (Wasn't it just Labor Day?) According to the company sit ... More >>

Texas Pop Festival Finally Getting Historical Marker

Mike PorterBathe, hippies, bathe!​Rocks Off can't do anything about the drought, but this weekend we will be breaking our own personal drought and returning to the Austin City Limits Music Festival after taking 2010 off. But long before ACL, there was another massive musical gathering in Texa ... More >>

Odd Pair: Turkey Chili, Fritos, French's, and Demi-Sec Vouvray

​Labor Day weekend found us in Orange, Texas, visiting with Tracie P's parents and family. Following our nephew Brady's football game, Mrs. B -- my mother-in-law -- had a lot of hungry mouths to feed on a rainy East Texas evening, including her three grandchildren, a six-months pregnant daught ... More >>

State Fair Fare: Checking Out the Competition in Minnesota

foodanddrinkdigital.comBig Tex, State Fair mascot who turns 59 this year, wears a 75 gallon hat and size 70 boots.​As soon as you walk through the gates of a state fair, whatever "diet" you may be on becomes null and void. If you're watching your carbs, trying to stay away from fried foods or ... More >>

Unidentifed Male Left For Dead Outside After-Hours Club, Bayou Body Count No. 136

Left for dead outisde a nightclub​The body of a man who was shot to death was discovered outside a southwest-side after-hours club early Monday morning, but that's about all police know. The body was found about 6 a.m. Labor Day outside the La Raza Discotec on Hillcroft near Bellaire Boulevar ... More >>

For Labor Day: 10 Songs About Childbirth

kidzcareonline.com​Cyril Connolly said "There is no more sombre enemy of good art than the pram in the hall." The famed English literary critic knew, like several here at Rocks Off, that having kids puts a hell of a dent in a parent's free time, and the constant demands of children can make at ... More >>

Lesbian Lube, And Three Other Sex-Based Pick Up Lines To Try At Your Labor Day Barbecue

Sure to blow her skirt up​Today is Respite from Labor Day, which means it's best spent lying on your back for a full 24 hours. Like seesawing or tie dancing, lazing is best executed with a partner. Partnerless? Never fear. Chicks at the barbecue will be powerless against your arsenal of time ... More >>

What's Cooking Next Week?

Lauren ViggianoOven-baked fish tacos with homemade guacamole.​Mmm, last week's menu plan hit the spot, and we're looking forward to a fabulous long weekend followed by another week of easy cooking. Since it is a long weekend, and long weekends mean we can drink more, you may want to add a drun ... More >>

We'll Be Here Labor Day, Just for YOU, EOW Nation

​So, we thought these pillows were kind of kinky, until we realized they're for people with babies...Thank God it's the weekend. Anyway, get a pencil, make a note: Eating Our Words will be reporting for duty this Labor Day. We taking eating and words that seriously. Oh, and drinking. We ta ... More >>

Texas, You Got Your Drink On: 1,400 DWI Arrests Over the Fourth of July Week

More than 1,400 learn a hard lesson.​Texas, you know how to drink. You apparently just don't know when not to drive. The Department of Public Safety has released the stats for its DWI crackdown for the week surrounding the Fourth of July, and they're impressive: 1,406 arrests were made across ... More >>

The Best Summer Movie Soundtracks Of The '90s

This movie is old enough to drive.​Summer is officially here, even though it's been ball-dripping sweaty since at least early May. This is also about the time that we are already steeped in big-budget Hollywood summer would-be blockbusters, the kind of movies that have fast-food promotions and ... More >>

No Refusal DWI Crackdowns: Every Weekend For The Next Three Years

Because you're mine, you walk the line​Every holiday weekend, it seems, the Harris County District Attorney's office puts out a release touting a "No Refusal Weekend," where law-enforcement sets up locations targeting drunk drivers.Normally, DWI suspects who refuse to take a Breathalyzer (as attor ... More >>

Dimitri Fetokakis on the New Niko Niko's in Market Square

​When I met Dimitri Fetokakis on the patio of his Montrose Greek-American cafe on Labor Day morning he was calm, cool, and as bright as one of the sunny side-up eggs that come nestled in the pitas on his new breakfast menu. He didn't seem at all like a restauranteur on the brink of opening da ... More >>

Working Girls: A Labor Day LP Gallery

​What better way to wish y'all a happy Labor Day than with a gallery of album covers featuring working women in uniform? Obviously, we couldn't think of one. Enjoy, and for the love of God, we hope you haven't been doing, and/or won't be doing, any actual labor today.

August 28 to September 3: The Week in Photos

Each week, we take a dip into the Houston Press Flickr pool and see what our talented photographers have been up to. Got big Labor Day plans? Or just taking a staycation, maybe hosting your last barbecue of the summer? No matter what you do this holiday weekend, be sure to add your images to our Fli ... More >>

Five Reasons Labor Days Means Next To Nothing In Texas

Enjoy your Labor Day, pinkos​Labor Day weekend is almost upon us -- we can see you glancing at the clock, you know -- and lots of celebrations and events are planned. It's great to have a long weekend, but whoever made Labor Day didn't have Texas in mind. Five reasons why: 1. It sounds vaguely c ... More >>

Deal of the Day: What Would You Like To See?

​Times are hard. So maybe you can't make it to the beach for Labor Day weekend. But at least you can look like you did with today's Voice Deal of the Day, two VersaSpa spray tanning sessions at Glo Sun Spa for a whopping $10.That's normally a $90 value which means you save... uh... a lot of money. ... More >>

Upcoming Events

Fresh meat at Samba GrillePhoto by Gary R. Wise​This Sunday, celebrate Labor Day by enjoying the labors of others at Under the Volcano's 13th Annual Chili Cook-Off. The cauldrons will be boiling all day, but the public are invited out to dig in from 4 to 9 p.m. at the popular Rice Village bar. ... More >>

Labor Day: Be Sure To Be Blogging

Chillin', sure, but don't forget us​Labor Day is a Monday of a long weekend, but don't worry -- there will still be blogging going on at the Houston Press.Be sure to check in here and with Rocks Off, Eating...Our Words and Art Attack.We'll have analysis of what we hope will be Cougar and Rice Owl ... More >>

1st Annual Brewmasters International Beer Festival

Everybody needs a hobby, right? Why not make yours beer?

Five Easy Steps To Beer Pairing Nirvana

SamuelAdams.comAnd you thought only wine could be paired with food.​No, we're not talking about the way the subtle notes of ice-cold rocky mountain air in that Coors Light accentuate the cool ranch flavor in Doritos, not here at least. The knowledge that different varieties of beer compliment ... More >>

Benefits, Outdoor Shows Fill Up Fall Concert Season Quick

​"Winter changed into spring, spring changed into summer, summer changed back into winter, and winter gave spring and summer a miss and went straight on into autumn" - Monty Python and the Holy Grail That's what it's starting to feel like at Rocks Off HQ, especially on the local front. The su ... More >>

Brewery Lineup Posted Here: Brewmasters International Beer Festival

Marty.FMYes, this is a Homer beer-label mosaic. ​This morning I was visited by the Beer Fairy. If you haven't had the pleasure, just imagine a miniature Mike Ditka, aviator glasses and all, in a non-descript sports jersey and tutu yelling "Da Beers!" The reason for tiny Ditka's visit: Da Brewm ... More >>

Summertime Blues: MADD And Cops Gather To Threaten Drunk Drivers

Photo by John Nova LomaxHave props, will travel​In what is now a time-honored pre-Labor Day Weekend/dog days of summer ritual, police and members of several anti-drunk driving advocacy groups gathered yesterday to stress what they claim is a multitude of alternative modes of transport for nocturn ... More >>

Brewmasters International Beer Festival

​Legally putting on a beer festival in the state of Texas is about as easy as sitting down at your favorite Tex-Mex place and limiting yourself to one chip and one scoop of salsa. Probably not going to happen. Moody Gardens is hoping to change the former -- Richard Simmons might be able to hel ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 3: John Brand of Las Canarias and Pesca on the River

​This week we chatted with Chef Brand and tasted a smattering of the dishes he helped develop for the Omni Hotel's Texas Triple Play menu. Because Chef Brand was visiting, he did not prepare the meal himself - it was prepared by Omni Houston's Café on the Green. We started with the crab cake ... More >>

Educating Females and Musical Etiquette

Soulfest

25th Annual Labor Day Cup

300 boys’ and girls’ soccer teams descend on Houston for one of the largest tournaments of its kind

Labor Day Show

Cinema Bomar’s latest installment features filmstrips about a hard day’s work

Labor Day Show at Proletariat

McAllen sextet will wind down audiences from three-day weekend

23rd Annual Labor Day Classic

T.S.U. vs. Prairie View, in a fight to the death (almost)

The Barbeque People

This family has more dirty secrets than the Sopranos