New Hampshire

I Regularly Open My Home to Strange Touring Bands... Why?

The sheriff department's officer was standing on my doorstep, still trembling with excitement. The red and blue lights from the patrol car flashed over his face, which was incredulous at the site of the person who opened the door at three in the morning - me, a middle-aged, gray-haired man in Nick & ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: Leading Ladies, Life Could Be a Dream, Next Fall, Our Town

Lita Ford: Still Living Like A Runaway

In the '80s, Lita Ford was one of the most prominent female voices in hard rock. With hits such as "Kiss Me Deadly" (which was named the 76th "Greatest Hard Rock Song Of All-Time" by VH1), "Back To The Cave," and "Close My Eyes Forever," she was on a winning tear. Plus she still had (and has) oodl ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: Happily Ever at the Box, KOOZA, Leading Ladies, Next Fall, Our Town

Capsule Stage Reviews: Happily Ever at the Box, Life Could Be a Dream, Mr. Marmalade, Our Town, Tamarie Cooper's DOOMSDAY REVUE (the greatest musical ever)

The Rick Perry Comeback: The Chart Mitt Romney Doesn't Want To See

The GOP is still stumbling about, looking for someone to run against President Obama. After vastly outspending his opponent, frontrunner Mitt Romney managed to eke out a victory in his home state. And it was over an all-but-demonstrably certifiable opponent. That's not good. So the "GOP Establishm ... More >>

The 5 Best Disses of Religious Zealots in the Greatest Prayer-in-Schools Ruling Ever Written

Last week U.S. District Judge Fred Biery agreed to a settlement in a long-running case involving prayer in a Central Texas school district. His ruling got some ink, but perhaps not all it deserved, for it is a concise masterpiece of sanity that comes from one of the most turbulent, extremist arenas ... More >>

Comment of the Day: A Rick Perry Supporter Baffled By Whole "Sarcasm" Concept

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 involving wit ... More >>

Rick Perry Nearly Doubles Buddy Roemer's New Hampshire Vote in Impressive Show of Strength

The Rick Perry juggernaut continued to lay waste to GOP primary opponents, neatly dispatching former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. Perry grabbed 1,735 votes in the Granite State, almost doubling the 920 votes received by Roemer, who had been perceived as the f ... More >>

Health Department Roundup

At least you know the hot dogs will be 100 percent beef. ​Watching the New Hampshire Republican debates got us thinking feeling that maybe all this regulation nonsense is just preventing local restaurant owners from realizing their full economic potential. On the other hand, what would happen ... More >>

Pop Rocks: A Few (Updated) Non-Pokemon Speeches for Herman Cain

"Over?"​It was fun (to watch) while it lasted, but Herman Cain officially "suspended" his Presidential campaign last weekend. The former Godfather's CEO had long been dogged by accusations of sexual harassment (to say nothing of his unfamiliarity with the Libyan crisis or how to pronounce "Uzb ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Drink More, Rick Perry

​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 >>

Rick Perry "Brothers" Up Herman Cain

We watched the GOP debate last night, all of its glorious jaw-dropping moment after jaw-dropping moment. Analysis seems to indicate Rick Perry did better, but to us he came across as peevish, ill-prepared and flailing. In other words, like Rick Perry in a debate. We did love his criticism of Herma ... More >>

Let the PerryMania Begin!!

It's twue! It's twue!​Everyone is reporting it: Rick Perry's spokesman says he will announce his intent to run for president this weekend. The suspense is over!! It looks like he'll announce it in visits to the early primary states of South Carolina and New Hampshire, according to the Associ ... More >>

“Perspectives 175: Marc Swanson: The Second Story”

The United States Of Music

Monica FuentesFull-size image below​Rocks Off's sister blog Hair Balls did it with murderers and serial killers. Food blog Eating Our Words, riled the beer snobs with one about the best beers from each state in the union, and a teetotaling follow-up chronicling the best soda pops. For the pas ... More >>

Straight-To-DVD Music Sequels Soon To Come

​If you're a struggling writer, musician or filmmaker trying to work up the nerve to kill yourself, have we ever got good news for you! Your morale may have been damaged or even crippled by seeing bad music, bad movies and bad stories dominating the upper echelons of their respective fields, b ... More >>

The United States of Soft Drinks

Full-size image below.​In 1998, Nebraska set a precedent for all other U.S. states when it formally declared Kool-Aid to be the state soft drink. Sure, plenty of other states have state foods or state dishes, but a state soft drink? The popular children's beverage was developed in Hastings, N ... More >>

President Rick Perry: Five Reasons It Will Happen, Five Reasons It Won't

President Rick Perry.​Governor Rick Perry, the man who has shown the ability to ride a crest of not really being liked to three gubernatorial wins, has done it again.He beat a Democrat in Texas, in the Tea Party year of 2010. A stunning achievement. Still, from now on the press will breathlessly b ... More >>

Go Vote, Texans...In The Least Competitive State Legislative Races In The Country

It's nolo contendre in Texas legislative races​Not much action so far on this election day, although we have folks checking out the polling places (and feel free, readers, to pass on any reports of your own).We guess the quiet shouldn't be so surprising because, according to a new study, Texas has ... More >>

A Very White Guy Explains Why "Granite State of Mind" Is Better Than Jay-Z's Original

To: Jay-ZFrom A Very White PersonRe: Why "Granite State of Mind" is better than your originalSir:First, I'm sure you're wondering how I, a very pale Irish-American, might be quailifed to critique so-called "rap" music. My answer is simply that, as a white person who reads the Internet, I feel qualif ... More >>

GG Allin Is Back, And He's Bringing Milo From the Descendents With Him

​Just a few months back, Rocks Off became the proud father of his own seven-inch-tall GG Allin bobblehead doll. Aggronautix, a small Internet toy company created a diminutive and bobblin' version of the tattooed New Hampshire-born "Poo Poo Rocker" complete with soiled underpants, blood-splatters, ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: The Lighter Side of the Recession, Little Shop of Horrors, Our Town

FDA to Ban Raw Gulf Oysters in the Summer

​You won't be eating raw live Gulf oysters in the summer anymore if a promised FDA ban takes effect. At the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference meeting in New Hampshire on Saturday, an FDA official announced that as of 2011, the agency would no longer allow fresh, live oysters from the ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: Little Shop of Horrors, Seven Guitars, Red Light Winter, Our Town,

Alley Theatre: Our Town

With James Black as the stage manager, this production promises to shine

Going Viral

The infestation of classic-rock threatens the cultural legacy of an entire generation and must be stopped.

Why Do Mexicans Take So Long To Warm Up Their Cars

Mississippi Has Got Our Back When It Comes To Pregnant Teens

Thank you, Mississippi!!Ably fulfilling its traditional role of letting other states off the hook, the great state of Mississippi has replaced Texas (and New Mexico) as the worst state when it comes to teen pregnancy.A new federal report released this morning shows that Mississippi has 68 births for ... More >>

The Queers

A Review of Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death, and Country Music by Dana Jennings

Nicky Click: I'm On My Cell Phone

Mike Huckabee Will Rock You

America Wants Its God Dang Whoppers

Greyhound Racing

Tracks and breeders struggle as attendance declines

The Queers

The Queers perform Wednesday, January 31, at the Meridian, 1503 Chartres, 713-225-1717.

Rock and Roll and Rather Exhilarating

The best band in the universe does its Brecht thing with hooks

He Will Rock You

Steven Gilbert wants you to see whatever you lichen

Gallo's Pole

The weirdo auteur drives morbidly toward his own money shot in The Brown Bunny

The Real Shock Rock

From California to New Hampshire, blackface minstrelsy is re-emerging. Should it?

Dead Weight

Kathryn Bigelow gets Water-logged with too many plots

Scott Miller & The Commonwealth

Thus Always to Tyrants (Sugar Hill)

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

Houston S&M Ball VII

Campaign Appearances

For Bush, the legislative session shows it's better to look good than do good

Affecting Affliction

A grimly compelling film searches for souls and a murder suspect

Traviata: Racette's Latest Triumph

Static

They're the Queers, They're Here

Little Women, Big Film

Louisa May Alcott's classic novel makes another classic movie

The Celluloid of the President

A winning documentary about the Clinton campaign's inner circle