Lake Jackson

Chemically Burned: Dow Chemical Tries to Avoid Hot Water in Worker's Death

Brian Johns suffered chemical burns over 65 percent of his body in a Deer Park plant explosion. A representative of his company, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, tried to tell doctors Johns had just encountered some really hot water.

Big Boys: Texas Punk Pioneers Find a Fresh Towel With LP Reissue

Big Boys, the hugely influential Texas punk band that, among other things, inspired two Austin music festivals, have been getting some big press lately thanks to the reissue of their first full LP earlier this month. Industry Standard/Where's My Towel, a record born from Big Boys' frustrations with ... More >>

The Transforming Power of Houston-Grown Citrus

The first thing I noticed upon returning to Houston after 14 years away? Flipping citrus is everywhere. In December when I arrived, a laden grapefruit tree was around every corner, satsumas fell and gathered beneath their bushes, bright lemons winked from boughs, and kumquats -- those pellets of p ... More >>

We Scare Coyotes: Ambient Chupacabra Lies

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. Normally if you hand me a bunch of instrumental music I will respond with some variation on the famous Cave Johnson Lemon Speech except that I wi ... More >>

January 2013 in Openings & Closings: The Heights Heats Up

The eerily silent Shepherd Plaza near Highway 59 is now even dimmer this week after longtime tenant Le Peep closed up shop and vacated its space next to Amy's Ice Cream. Branches of the brunch spot are still open in Rice Village and the Galleria, according to a sign out front. Amy's and its other ne ... More >>

The Rocks Off 100: Fiskadoro's Richard Kimball

Who: Richard Kimball plays guitar and sings in one of Houston's finest noise bands, Fiskadoro. Over the years they've released a series of free EPs that have only gotten better and better, including the very dance-worthy Dubai earlier this year. The album dealt with a dystopian future where oil comp ... More >>

Alcohol Enemas: Texas Was "Butt-Chugging" Long Before Tennessee

Showcasing the strange and wonderful thing that is the frat boy's creativity and imagination, several members of the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter at the University of Tennessee decided that sucking down booze the old-fashioned way was boring and decided to administer alcohol enemas to one another. Bottoms ... More >>

Ron Paul Wants Feds' Hands Off Your Weed

Ron Paul and Barney Frank, probably discussing Phish​It takes a big issue to get US Reps Barney Frank and Lake Jackson's Ron Paul leading the fight together, but they have found one: Weed. Paul and Frank and four other Democrats (only one of whom has a last name that's also a first name) are ... More >>

Ron Paul: Yes, People Are Still Laughing If You Think You Will Be The 2012 GOP Nominee

Lake Jackson's favorite congressman, Ron Paul, proudly announced to the nation yesterday that no one's laughing at him anymore when he says he could become the Republican nominee for president and maybe get in the White House. "They mocked me for my foreign policy and they laughed at my monetary po ... More >>

Perv Learns Lesson: Don't Mess with Lake Jackson Teens; They'll Spit in Your Face

City of enchantment. And spit.​You're rolling in your gold-colored SUV and you see a 13-year-old girl walking home from school. Playa that you are, you ask her if she "needs a ride." Pro tip: First, determine if she's from Lake Jackson. Because apparently Lake Jackson 13-year-olds know how to ... More >>

Buy Ron Paul's House!! (You Can Donate It As a Historical Building Later)

The swimming hole of liberty (Pool noodles not included)​Congressman Ron Paul, everyone's favorite presidential candidate (in terms of entertainment value), is selling his longtime Lake Jackson home. He's got a website (buyronpaulshouse.com) about it and everything. "Generations of Liberty l ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Hasselhoff Was a Jerk in Lake Jackson

​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 >>

David Hasselhoff Was in Lake Jackson. And Lake Jackson Apparently Survived

Due to what sounds like the most original, thought-provoking, incisive reality TV show of all time -- D-list celebs trading places with normal people who have the same name (pause to let the genius of it sink in) -- David Hasselhoff apparently spent some time recently in Lake Jackson. Lake Jackson ... More >>

Stevens & Pruett Vs. The FCC: Beer Cans And Hershey Kisses

Rocks Off is in the process of collecting stories about legendary Rock 101 KLOL morning team Stevens & Pruett as a tribute to Mark Stevens, who passed away Tuesday morning from complications of Alzheimer's disease at age 76. We're especially interested in hearing from the duo's colleagues at KLOL, ... More >>

Post-Apocalyptic Videos, Rap Cartoons And Plenty Of Punk History

Catastrophic Skies (extended cut) from Chase Rees on Vimeo. • Pale, the mainstream-y dark rock band from Houston, has a new video out for their song "Catostrophic Skies," featuring a high-concept post-apocalyptic motorcycle gang. It's kinda goofy. But hell, look at those production values. • L ... More >>

3OH!3

Be A Total Badass And Win Neil Young Tickets

Rocks Off has a few bits of exciting news we'd like to share with you just in time for the weekend. First of all, if you hurry over to our Facebook page, you might be able to grab a pair of Steel Panther tickets for the L.A. hair-metal satirists' House of Blues show tonight. Like we told you yester ... More >>

A Few Possible Cures For Rocks Off's Acute "Can't Stay Home" Syndrome

Lev Kuperman/ myspace.com/viaaudio​ Monday night, an obviously delirious Rocks Off found ourselves upstairs at the Mink's Backroom instead of where we should have been, home in bed asleep. We enjoyed high-energy/lo-fi trio Vivian Girls, but at this point we are starting to realize we may have a pr ... More >>

He Said She Said: Albums From the Past Decade of Our Lives

​When this decade began, He Said was but 15 years old, bored, jobless and chubby. It ends with him 26, overworked, overstimulated and chasing away his self-imposed demons with too much of everything and too little of most things. But the one constant has been the power of music to lead him out of ... More >>

Westheimer Block Party Listology: Fiskadoro Chooses Artists They'd Bring Back to Life

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of. It's not too late for your band to be up here; just email chris.gray@houstonpress.com by noon Thursday if you want ... More >>

Lola's Burger and Yellow Mustard Orthodoxy

​Lola, the modern diner on Yale, is the subject of this week's Café review. Lola's exceptional burger is made with a certified Angus beef patty, tomato, a pickle and cheddar. The sandwich is served on a moist sweet bun that has been toasted. For a dollar, you can add some applewood bacon. It ... More >>

The Buc-ee's Backlash Begins (Finally)

​The Heavens parted and we heard Angels singing...And on the eighth day, God created Buc-ees. And He saw that it was good.-- Testimonial on the blog at Buc-ee's official Web site. For what is, in the end, merely a chain of roadside truck stops that don't even allow trucks to stop, Buc-ee's and it ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Blacktop Gypsy and Shurman

Two fine bands who don't come through much are playing just blocks apart tonight. Dallas's Blacktop Gypsy will be knocking the audience out with their amazing harmonies and the virtuosity of fiddler Heather Stalling (wife of Max Stalling) and former Lake Jackson resident Rodney Pyeatt. Stalling was ... More >>

Texas Traveler: Sea Center Texas

Photos by Brittanie SheyAbout an hour south of Houston on 288, in a modern residential neighborhood in Lake Jackson, stands Sea Center Texas, an aquarium and educational center operated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. As aquariums go, it's not the state's fanciest, but it does include e ... More >>

That's One Ugly Baby: The 10 Creepiest Babies Ever

We've been seeing pregnant bellies all over H-Town. From The Woodlands down to Lake Jackson, it seems every other woman we see is either in the family way or accompanied by a doting father lugging around a car seat right not too far behind. What gives? One conspiracy theory is that these are ... More >>

PJ Stoops' Fishmonger's Booth

Photo by Robb Walsh PJ Stoops has a fishmonger's booth at the Bayou City Farmer's Market at 3000 Richmond most Saturday mornings. He told me he lived in Lake Jackson and made the rounds of the docks where fishing boats pull in early in the morning. He buys good-looking fish right off the boat, vacu ... More >>

MP3 Monday: Music from Dominique, Fiskadoro, Chocolate Crucifix and Dave Wrangler

Welcome back to MP3 Monday. We've been away for a bit due to SXSW, but we're back now and dedicated to bringing you tantalizing tidbits of local music from all over the spectrum. If you think you've got what it takes, email your MP3s to chris.gray@houstonpress.com or hprocksoff@gmail.com. We'll ... More >>

Ornery, Possibly Horny Brazoria Judge in Trouble

Alex Arizpe Benefit

The SteelDrivers: The SteelDrivers

Tonk Blokes And the Mean Streets Of Da R.O.

Ten things I read about Houston on Urbandictionary.com, the Wikipedia of the hood

Biddy Biddy Diddy

Don't Ask, Don't Be

A Houston-area man leads the fight against the ban on gays in the military

Renaissance Man

A cop learns the pain of piercing

MOFRO

Rock and Roll Never Forgets

Classic rock finds a new generation of fans and keeps on keepin' on into the new millennium

Collision Course

Cyclists are finding out what really lurks along those serene country roads

Fishing Trip

Bring your shrimps to the gulf

Alphabet Soup

The Colour Clear knows exactly where it should be filed in the record store. But what about in real life?

Who Are Those Puckers?

Air hockey gets serious

Raw Roots

Excavations for plantation artifacts - and the real truth - are unraveling the genteel gloss covering Texans' old notions about the slave era here

Kristi's Gift

She gave up her infant son to two strangers who became her friends. Now, more than two years later, she's still in his life, visiting regularly. In an open adoption, they're all doing their best for Ryan.

Andy, Opie and the Almighty

A church searches for God in the good Mr. Griffith's TV series

Blue Highways

A trip to Surfside will land you a prize catch: The bait-camp delights of the Red Snapper Inn

In The Rough

In its quest for a Municipal golf course, Lake jackson learned a valuable lesson: Never buy land without checking it out first. Unfortunately, the lesson came six years too late.

Among Friends

Buster Brown's financial disclosure includes an interesting omission -- and addition

Murky Water

State Senator Buster Brown wants to make Lake Jackson safe for development. Guess who's one of the developers.

Letters

The Exterminator

Tom DeLay, the bug man from Sugar Land, has always despised environmental regulation. Now, as House majority whip, he's in a position to do something about it.

The Year of Living Anxiously

Are We Having Fun Yet? Or is it just the jangly buzz of advanced urban stress syndrome?