Muhammad Ali

How the Mafia Helped Your Mama Do the Twist

Peppermint Twist: The Mob, the Music, and the Most Famous Dance Club of the '60s By Joel Selvin & John Johnson, Jr. with Dick Cami Thomas Dunne Books, 304 pp., $24.99 As far as dance crazes go, the Twist might go down (swiveling, of course) as the best known of all time. In 1961 and 1962, the sligh ... More >>

Gorilla Monsoon: A Birthday Playlist For A Wrestling Legend

Growing up as I did in the '80s, professional wrestling was more than entertainment, it was religion. The Hulkster, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage and Andre were all unapologetically over-the-top, one-dimensional; comic characters that did glorious battle for dubious reasons. It was a great time to watch ... More >>

Festival Alert: The Montrose Winter Social Set For December 3

​The music festival family in Houston just gained another with the Montrose Winter Social, coming December 3 to AvantGarden, Sole Purpose, Numbers, and Mango's, all at the corner of Westheimer and Taft. Shiny Toy Guns are set as the national headliner for this inaugural event. The California ... More >>

The Price is Right, Dr. Brown Style

An impressively chaotic inventory​In honor of this week's feature story on former hand surgeon and all-around weird dude Michael Brown, and seeing as how it's Friday, we thought we'd have some fun with a Price is Right-style walk through the inventory of belongings in Brown's 2005 bankruptcy f ... More >>

30 Seconds With Astronautalis

Rocks Off hitched a ride on a space whale in order to hook up with Andy Bothwell, also known as Astronautalis to see what we could learn about our biggest hope for rap in 30 seconds. paperocean​Rocks Off: What is the worst song in the world? Astronautalis: "Love in an Elevator" by Aerosmith. ... More >>

Knocked Out

Medical effects of concussion far worse for kids.

I Think We're Alone Now, Except for the Mega Pythons

My cup runneth over.​I realize Egypt is in chaos and everyone north of the Mason-Dixon line is going to be flash frozen like a bag of Birds Eye broccoli florets and Charlie Sheen is apparently the reincarnation of Grigori Rasputin, but that is no excuse, no excuse, for the criminal lack of att ... More >>

Photobombs Through the Ages

The pinnacle of modern-day photobombing​Photobombing might have reached its peak at the Golden Globes when Michael Douglas PB'd his way into a picture with his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angelina Jolie. The phenomenon has become popular on the internet, of course, and as with everything el ... More >>

Sports Illustrated's 10 Strangest Covers Of The `60s

We all know Sports Illustrated, for decades the leading athletic magazine around. Even in its heyday, though, editors felt the need to be hip and edgy.Sometimes.Or maybe they just did a lot of drugs in the Time-Life offices, and occasionally the boss who was supposed to stop terrible cover ideas was ... More >>

Weird Party

Magnolia City Mixtape: New Videos, 7-Inches, Poster Shows, National Blogpress... Enough to Make You Think We've Got an Actual Scene Around Here

Well, the Justice Department has approved the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly merger. What does this mean for you, the average concertgoer? Well, even more inflation on the already-ridiculous $6 Lone Stars at House of Blues. Free Press Houston had a well-written cover story last spring about the ... More >>

That Other Rumble in the Jungle

Documenting an epic concert in Zaire, Soul Power puts on quite a show.

Aftermath: Double Dagger at Super Happy Fun Land

Craig HlavatyWallet, keys, lighter, cellphone, camera(s). We had it all last night as we walked into the arty confines of the East End's Super Happy Fun Land. But one thing we didn't have was a pair of earplugs, and right about now we feel kinda silly not dishing out the extra buck for the ones sitt ... More >>

Mp3: Black Congress' "Davidians"

Up until about three or four months ago, Black Congress had been rather reclusive. The veritable indie supergroup, made up of scene vets Roy Mata, Chris Ryan and Bret Shirley, with Dann Miller and singer Bryan Jackson from the Jonbenet, had only played a handful of shows since Black Congress's incep ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Blink-182, Clutch, Jaime Foxx, Poison the Well, Wooden Birds and More

Blink-182: Wed., Sept. 23. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Clutch, Baroness, Lionize: Wed., July 15. House of Blues. Computer Club: Thu., June 18. Escobar. Crosby, Stills & Nash: Fri., Aug. 28. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. D. Ramirez: Fri., Aug. 14. Rich's Houston. "FallCore 2009": Sat., O ... More >>

Cop Warmth Poaches Rocks Off's Artwork on New Cassette

"Jesus Sanchez"... sorry, Craig Hlavaty Rocks Off loves getting local tapes and vinyl in the mail here. That's not a cry for free shit or a sad call for pity. We just dig hearing new music off something other than an Apple product or a boring plastic round disc. That being said we just got in the ne ... More >>

Tonight: Muhammad Ali at White Swan

With a helluva live show and already garnering a devoted following, Muhammad Ali is knocking 'em dead left and right. (OK, we had to get the boxing reference out of the way, because as much as we tried to sidestep it, we couldn't resist.) Since releasing a split cassette with party boys Black Co ... More >>

Notsuoh to Become "Scout Bar Main"

www.scoutbar.com Move over hipsters... it's body shots time!In a move long telegraphed but never consummated, Notsuoh owner Jim Pirtle has reportedly made good on his threats to sell the venerable downtown hipster haunt, but not to a greedy developer looking to build luxury housing or some ch ... More >>

Local Rotation: Muhammad Ali & Black Congress' Split Cassette (That's Right, Cassette)

Yesterday afternoon, Rocks Off bought his first new cassette tape since 1996. The last tape we bought was the Schoolhouse Rocks soundtrack that came out the year before. It was a collection of 90's indie rockers like Pavement and Daniel Johnston doing covers of tunes from the classic Saturday mo ... More >>

Opening Reception of "Gordon Parks: Crossroads"

Web exclusive!

A Review of Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed The World

“Rhapsody in Black and White”

The photography of Charles “Teenie” Harris documents the life of African Americans over 40 years

Elizabeth Alexander and Taha Muhammad Ali

Inprint hosts African-American and Palestinian poets

Art Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

Art Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

Art Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

A Real Knockout

Fight Night Round 3 comes out a winner, despite taking punches

Dave to the Rescue!

Dave Chappelle

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Increased Clout

Interest in the fight game grows in the Bayou City

He Ain't Heavy, He's a Boxer

Lighter fighters keep it real at Reliant

Best Sports Talk Show

Sports Rap

Slanguage Arts

It's not your father's English class

Best Calendar

Life as a Sport

Sly Foxx

He steals Ali, but will Hollywood give Jamie Foxx a shot at the title?

Sting Like a Bee

Ali lands some solid blows, but sadly it's no knockout

Racket

Cedric Turner ventures into an abyss far deeper than ones traveled by most bluesmen

In Ali's Corner

Once a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs, Lloyd Wells caught the champ's attention with all his "pretty girls"

Real Life

When He Was King: The city that convicted Muhammad Ali now hosts a film about the boxing legend

Preservation Hall

Project Row Houses will revive Houston's first home of black music

Fighting Chances

Third Ward boxing club gives kids a place, a goal, a change

News Hostage

Into the Folds

A Sharp Right

In When We Were Kings, Ali delivers the performance of a lifetime

Press Picks

Dog's Best Friend?

The inside story from dogfighter Bobby Hall

Holy Warrior

God loves evander Holyfield. Everyone else is betting on Tyson.

On the Ropes

In 1966, Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams fought Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight championship. In 1996, he fights just to get by.

Rabbit Was a Boxer

The education & travels of the natural-born fighter, fierce homeless poet, charming talker, convicted felon, begetter of children & receiver of messages from Heaven