Milan

MONSTERS, INC.

Lady Gaga brought her Born This Way Ball to Toyota Center January 31.

Capsule Stage Reviews: Menopause The Musical, Oscar in the Box, See Rock City & Other Destinations, The Tempest

The Tempest

Wine of the Week: 2000 Valpolicella by Giuseppe Quintarelli

Photo by Jeremy Parzen.Giuseppe Quintarelli, one of the greatest winemakers of our lifetime, passed away on Sunday in the Valpolicella, Italy. He was 84.​From the tiny village of Negrar in the picturesque Valpolicella (Veneto, Italy) to the upper reaches of the One-Percenter wine collectors in ... More >>

Wine of the Week: Another Oaky Buttery Chardonnay

Photo by Jeremy Parzen.The marketing campaign by Educated Guess wines is one of the most successful in recent history.​Yesterday, after arriving at the Newark, NJ airport from Milan, Italy (where I admired a statue of Leonardo da Vinci across from the famous Scala opera house), I headed straig ... More >>

Vermouth and the Lost Art of the Aperitif

​Many might think that vermouth should be covered by one of my excellent cocktail blogging colleagues like Nicholas Hall (as a fan of all things Italian, I loved his recent post on Fernet Branca). In the U.S. we only think of vermouth as a liqueur and an ingredient used in cocktails (and somet ... More >>

Lombardia Wines and Carmelo's: A Great Pairing

​I was recently able to attend a dinner arranged by the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of Texas and Harvest Importing to promote the wine of the Lombardy (North Central) region. The dinner was held at Carmelo's Italian Restaurant, the longstanding West Houston establishment. Lombardia wine ... More >>

Fine Fellows

This year's Core Exhibition brings good and not-so-good work.

Last Night: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals At House Of Blues

Photos by Groovehouse​Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights House of Blues February 17, 2011 For more totally tasteful pictures from Thursday, see our slideshow here. Ooh la la. Aftermath is going to be real up front here. We did not know a whole lot about Grac ... More >>

Eat a Condom, Fight AIDS

Photo courtesy of lifestyleasia.com​Look carefully at the photo above. That's not a used, partially-filled condom. (Thank God.) It's actually an entirely edible, fake condom on faux sand. And it's the brainchild of "Demon Chef" Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation, who created the presentation at Ide ... More >>

Blake Newman Wants To Know: Can You Play A Meyerland Stripper With A Heart Of Gold?

A young girl's strange, erotic journey from Milan to Minsk​If there's one thing everyone knows about strippers, it's that they have the ability to change people's lives. And that magic is the basis for the indie film Meyerland, whose creators have been scouring Houston to find a young actress to p ... More >>

Italian Expo This Weekend Features Lombardy Region of Italy

​Apparently the inaugural Houston Italian Expo was in 2009, but this is the first year in which the Regione Lombardia is partnering with the Italy America Chamber of Commerce - Texas. The Regione Lombardia is one of Italy's "regions," like their version of a state. Its capital is Milan, and ... More >>

The Woman Behind the Fascist

Il Duce's scorned secret first wife gets hers in Vincere.

See Dick Run

Invasions of privacy are "The New Normal."

"Maurizio Cattelan"

From Pope John Paul II to foosball, this Italian artist has something to say about it all

Strike a Pose

Tom Ford's A Single Man: It's better to look good than to be good.

Holiday Cocktails

The owners of a respected Vermont restaurant and wine bar visited T'afia last weekend to hold a holiday cocktail camp benefiting local charity Live It Big. Sommelier Deirdre Heekin talked guests through the history of many of the spirits they sampled as chef Caleb Barber prepared each drink. T ... More >>

NO SHORT/OLD CHICKS! America's Next Top Model Hits Town September 12

Photo by Gwen​On September 12, the casting team of the CW's America's Next Top Model will be hitting H-Town to destroy the fragile self-images psyches of women all over the area. The makers of the hit modeling show are having an open casting call for would-be Marissa Miller's and Naomi Campbel ... More >>

Inquiring Minds: Pop Princess Katy Perry

Mike Ruiz​They say man can't exist on indie-rock and metal alone, or something like that. Rocks Off firmly agrees, so when we hear good mainstream pop we ride that horse for all it's worth. That's why a little over a year ago, when Katy Perry hit with her single "Ur So Gay," we were enamored with ... More >>

Aftermath: Rod Stewart at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Craig Hlavaty​Ageism has always pissed off Aftermath immensely. There's something awfully arrogant and defeating about shamming older cats for still wanting to rock out, even if they are edging dangerously close to seventy years of age, as Rod Stewart is. No one begrudges B.B. King or Leonard Cohe ... More >>

Oh My God, How Did I Not Know Gwyneth Paltrow Has A Stupid Website?

I am such a Johnny-come-lately to this party, I fear. But then again, perhaps it is for the best that I did not realize any sooner that Gwyneth Paltrow has what has to be the most self-indulgent, ridiculous website ever, and it's named -- for some reason -- Goop (with the tagline "Nourish the Inner ... More >>

Here Come The Chieftains

Dublin Calling

The International's Assets Are Troubled Indeed

Bail Out This Movie

Top Ten Latin Music Albums of 2008

Americans who still think of Latin music as mariachi bands and gyrating Ricky Martins and Shakiras might want to lend a closer ear to the genre. This country's Hispanic population isn't just growing, it's growing more diverse. More and more unique musical styles are being gobbled up, and that should ... More >>

Artist of the Week: Andrew Karnavas

Leonardo’s Renaissance Table

Eat like da Vinci at this HMNS event

Ted Nugent Reloads, and Lots of Gun Songs

A Modest Proposal: Train the Homeless to Be Better at Being Homeless

A Night at the Opera

Milan Nightclub

Nightfly crashes a Greek Party

The Crudo at Bice

A new excuse to go to the Galleria and play dress-up

On the Down-Low

Shovel away all that Usher, Prince and Lil Jon you've been jamming, and dig this year's buried black-music treasures

Americana Pie

Grab a slice of 2004's best roots music while it's still hot

Americana Pie

Grab a slice of 2004's best roots music while it's still hot

On the Down-Low

Shovel away all that Usher, Prince and Lil Jon you've been jamming and dig this year's buried black-music treasures

Playbill

Gettin' Jiggy

The Chieftains rule with their traditional Irish tunes

Red Light Night

Calling all players to the Pimps-N-Ho's Ball

"Leonardo da Vinci and the Splendor of Poland"

Through February 17

Really Italian

Through film and photo, the MFA is showing a different side of Italian life

Full-Body Homage

A fitness expo for all body types -- as long as they're fit and thin

Fall For It

La Griglia

Stirred and Shaken

Grappino di Nino's Negroni

Choking on the Pit?

Houston Symphony musicians rate the conductors who dare to replace Eschenbach on the podium

The Sicilian Freeze-out

Birraporetti's Sicilian Swirl

Global Domination

As in the past, sleepers will steal this year's International Festival

News of the Weird

Night & Day

May 20 - 26, 1999

Shakespeare with a Twist

Quirky Gentlemen twins with belabored Lear at Miller

A Butterfly to Cry For