Nigeria

Fat Tony Remains Houston's Smart Ass Black Boy On New Album

On Monday, Houston's affable, not-really-overweight rap superfriend Fat Tony gave his Smart Ass Black Boy album (out next Tuesday, June 11) to National Public Radio and thus the rest of the world's open consumption and pre-purchase perusal. (Stream it here.) The last part of that statement is what ... More >>

World Beat: The Music of iFest

Performers from New Orleans to Zimbabwe enliven this year's Brazilian-themed Houston International Festival.

Here, Eat This: A Beginner's Guide to Argentine Cuisine

For this week's edition of Here, Eat This, we venture into South America, where hardy Houstonians possessed of a hearty appetite will find much to love in the pampas of Argentina. See also: - Here, Eat This: A Beginner's Guide to Nigerian Cuisine - Here, Eat This: A Beginner's Guide to Korean Cuisi ... More >>

MKT Bar: Tale of an Unexpected Hotspot, Act 5 (Finale)

CHARACTERS The Manichean; apparently intoxicated gentleman; our narrator; assorted children up past their bedtime SCENE 1 A breezy Saturday. 8:55 p.m. Tonight, we're told, is MKT's "Vinyl Night," sponsored by Heights Vinyl. This week's vinyl group is Justice Tirapelli-Jamail and Cory Sinclair of T ... More >>

Move Over, Jeff Bagwell! Brian Cushing's House Is For Sale, Too!

Maybe after the tidal wave of a sports week that we all enjoyed/endured last week, we needed a bit of a breather. After Manti Te'o's phony baloney girlfriend, Lance Armstong's phony baloney apologies, the Patriots' and Falcons' phony baloney Super Bowl aspirations, a slow sports week leading up to ... More >>

Manti Te'o Fake Girlfriend Saga: How Fake Twitter Accounts and Digital Trickery Fooled America

Lots of people have been fooled online. Some have had entire relationships with people only to find out they weren't the person they thought they were...some not even the right gender. It is as disturbing as it is frustrating to imagine that anyone you speak with on the Internet might not be who the ... More >>

Lucy: Making Ethiopian Food Look Good

One of the complaints I've always heard leveled against Ethiopian food is that it isn't "pretty," or that it doesn't photograph well. The latter may often be true, because the texture and consistency of many Ethiopian dishes has a tendency to get lost in translation when photographed. A lovely, well ... More >>

Is One Halfway Decent Thanksgiving Pop Song Too Much to Ask For?

Not so long ago, Rocks Off was wondering why there has never been a decent pop song about Thanksgiving. Not despairing, just wondering. Apart from all the complete shite, you could fill an entire wing of your iTunes library with quality tunes about Thankgiving's yuletide neighbor, but Turkey Day its ... More >>

Some Real World Techie Advice for Petraeus, His Wife, His Mistress and Cheaters in General

I'm no Dear Abby (she's shorter than me), but reading the sordid details of the David Petraeus affair and how the whole thing blew up in his face causing him to resign from the CIA helped to confirm the fact that way too many people do not understand technology and need some help. Oh, sure, my first ... More >>

Dogs Seized From Spindletop Need a Loving Home, So What's Your Deal?

A dozen dogs seized from the Spindletop Dog Refuge last month are still at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter and in need of forever homes. So what the heck are you waiting for? They all vary in breed, age, and temperament, but they're all the same in one crucial way: they've all languished in th ... More >>

Dustin-Prestige, The Niceguys Help Us All Grow Cooler

Here's a way to say some new rap music is good without talking directly about it: There are a few different categories that emails from rappers/friends of rappers pretending to be publicists/publicists are separated into. As it is: Category 1: Yeah Fucking Right Reserved for aggressive spammers ... More >>

Texas AG: Don't Fall For the Utility Payment Scam

The Texas Attorney General's Office is warning folks about yet another identity theft wave that's been separating people from their money: the so-called utility bill payment scam. The AG's Office writes that "using in-person solicitations, social media, fliers, phone calls and text messages, scamme ... More >>

Bayou City Art Festival

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

SXSW: Echoes Of Festivals Past In A Vastly Different Landscape

The most telling, most poignant comment about SXSW 2012 came on Twitter. Texas Monthly music writer Jason Cohen tweeted something to the effect that watching the band with the current No. 1 song in the country -- in this case Brooklyn's fun., who plays Warehouse Live tomorrow and whose "We Are Young ... More >>

We Heart Houston -- and All of Its Food, Too

What's not to eat in Houston? That's the question we pose in this week's cover story, "We Love Food." The answer -- in case you hadn't already guessed -- is very little. There is virtually no cuisine you can't find in Houston, and most of what you find is very good. With 8,000 restaurants and count ... More >>

5 Surprisingly Sexy Dinners for Valentine's Day

So you've decided to buck the traditions this year and take your sweetheart somewhere for dinner that won't be an overpriced, overcrowded mess of boring pasta dishes and flourless chocolate cakes. Good on you! Valentine's Day -- or any good date night -- can be much more romantic when you mix it up ... More >>

Nigerian Child Witch Hunter Visiting Houston for "Marathon Deliverance"...and Folks Are Pissed

Former steamrolling NFL running back Christian Okoye isn't The Nigerian Nightmare, according to folks like Deana Holmes. Self-proclaimed witch hunter Helen Ukpabio is. "Not sure that we need to have this crap where little kids are accused of being witches that need to be prayed over and exorcised," ... More >>

Friday Night: Slim Thug, Z-Ro, Devin & Friends At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marco TorresMouths of the South (L-R): Z-Ro, Slim Thug, Devin the Dude​Slim Thug, Z-Ro, Devin the Dude, Afroman, Fat Tony, Killa Kyleon, Jack Freeman, UZOY, Mezou Warehouse Live August 5, 2011 9:08 p.m.: Oh my. So, the show tonight - Slim, Ro, Devin, Afroman and openers - is mostly ... More >>

Police Use Free Football Tickets to Capture Deadbeat Dads

I can't believe my luck!!!​For a divorced parent, paying your child support should be one of those simple, automatic tasks each month. First and foremost, it pays to feed and clothe your children, who should be the most important people in your life (even when they're acting up in the back se ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

The Brisket House rules their brisket with an actual iron fist.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we kind of want our old pizza delivery job back just so we can hang out in the walk-in freezer. Yes, it's hot as balls here in Houston, and that's why we started t ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

For some reason, this picture of the wine festival at Brenner's makes us very excited about the commencement of filming on The Hobbit.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where our constant tinkering in God's domain is about to pay off with the imminent discovery of a ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs

Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Chili Bob's Houston Eats: "Bissonnet is one of our great food streets with a ve ... More >>

Pop Rocks: No One to Blame for Rebecca Black but Ourselves

Rebecca Black WANTS YOU to keep Twittering about her.​The Internet is a strange place. Its most dominant and pervasive bandwidth hogs are spam and porn, both completely voluntary (people actually open those Nigerian money request e-mails or they wouldn't still be sending them). It drives news ... More >>

Jessica Tata: Feeling the Hate on Facebook

Jessica Tata is not loved on Facebook​No local Houston figure in recent memory has become so hated so quickly as Jessica Tata, the fugitive owner of the day care where four children died in a fire last week. Believed to be in Nigeria, Tata, who lied about her juvenile record on her regist ... More >>

Jessica Tata: DA Pat Lykos Says Don't Blame Me for Her Getting Away

Jessica Tata is in Nigeria and is wanted​District Attorney Pat Lykos had an afternoon press conference today to rebut claims that her office did not act quickly enough in the case of Jessica Tata, who owned a daycare where four kids died in a fire, allowing Tata to escape to Nigeria. "Suggest ... More >>

Jessica Tata, Owner of Daycare Where Four Kids Died, Escapes to Nigeria

​The Houston Fire Department says the owner of the daycare where last week's heartbreaking fire killed four kids has escaped the country. Jessica Tata, 22, is in Nigeria, HFD tells the Houston Chronicle. Tata has been charged with reckless injury to a child involving serious bodily injury, b ... More >>

Sweet Potatoes Versus Yams: The Real Story

Now that's a yam. ​Sweet potato season is upon us. And though most Southerners, such as ourselves, correctly refer to the orange root vegetable by its rightful name "sweet potato," some people (i.e. Yankees) insist on calling them yams. Intrigued by the various appellations, I set out to dis ... More >>

The Lyrical Crimes Of Nickelback's Chad Kroeger

Photos by Craig HlavatyNickelback at Toyota Center, April 2009​Today is Chad Kroeger of Nickleback's birthday. Huzzah. For years, Nickelback has been like those Nigerian bank scams; Dangerous, annoying and, frankly, not something anyone can do just a whole lot about. However, anti-Nickelback ... More >>

Openings & Closings

Photo by Robb WalshOyster season is permanently over for Shuck Daddy's.​Lasting only a little over a year, the not-quite-Hooters seafood spot Shuck Daddy's (1511 Shepherd) has shucked its last oyster. With Mak Chin suffering a similar fate in the same location in 2009, could it be that Houston ... More >>

Black Crowes Pull the Plug

Band celebrates album's 20th anniversary by going on hiatus.

Remember Nosaprise's Horse Shoes and Hand Grenades?

Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or un, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Nosaprise Horse Shoes and Hand Grenades (self-released, 2010) ​For a while, it appeared that th ... More >>

Primordial Gumbo at Finger Licking Bukateria

It only looks like the underside of a giant scarab beetle; it's just the midsection of a catfish.​If you try to order primordial gumbo at Finger Licking Bukateria (9817 Bissonnet), they obviously won't know what you're asking for. Our waiter on Saturday night was completely befuddled when I tr ... More >>

New-School Pirates Are No Longer After Your Buried Treasure

We miss the old-school pirates​Being a pirate on the high seas isn't what it used to be. The rum-swigging, foul-mouthed, unkempt groups in search of buried treasure have evolved in the 21st century. Their new concern: Fueltrax systems. How's Disney supposed to make a movie around that plot line? ... More >>

Capsule Art Reviews: "Claire Ankenman: Phase", "Hand+Made: The Performative Impulse in Art and Craft", "Round 32: eco, xiang, echo: meditations on the african, andean & asian diasporas", "The White Album"

World Cup 2010: These Teams Will Make It Out Of The Group Stage. Guaranteed

Now THAT was a USA World Cup squad​The 2010 edition of the FIFA World Cup is finally here. Thirty-two teams made it to the big dance to see just who is the best in the world. Realistically though, only a handful of teams have a shot of winning the cup. It's all going to come down to matchups ... More >>

Chevron Protests Result In Arrests Downtown

Photo by Liana Lopez Carted away in comfort​ At least four protesters were arrested this morning at a demonstration outside a Chevron shareholders' meeting downtown. The protesters moved past temporary police barricades and sat on the ground after they were refused entrance into the buildin ... More >>

Capsule Art Reviews: "Bert Long's RED Book", "Group Show: Shoman, Benhelima, Forero, Zet, Wilson & Wolfson",

"Keep It Slick: Infiltrating Capitalism With the Yes Men", "Round 32: eco, xiang, echo: meditations on the african, andean & asian

George Clinton To Play Extended iFest Set For King Sunny Ade

​The Houston International Festival has adjusted its schedule to accommodate the cancellation of Nigeria's King Sunny Ade & His African Beats, who scratched their tour after talking drummer Gabriel Ayanniyi and percussionist Omo Olope were killed in a car accident on their way to a video shoot ... More >>

Miss Rockefeller's? Marcia Ball and Texas Johnny Brown Headline iFest Benefit February 12

brides.com​Like many of you - we're guessing, anyway - Rocks Off never saw a show at Rockefeller's. We didn't get inside the Loop much during high school (too busy checking groceries) and, although we managed to go to Mary Jane's, the Satellite Lounge and maybe the Abyss (it's a little fuzzy) on v ... More >>

Violence And Kidnapping In Nigeria Makes Its Way To Houston Courtrooms

photo courtesy of beckstir01 Kidnappings, pipeline bombings and vigilantism has become a way of life for both offshore oil workers stationed along the coast of Nigeria as well as the oppressed native insurgency groups who carry out the violence. (Check out this week's feature about one Texan's re ... More >>

The Center Cannot Hold

All Africa Theater Productions presents an adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s classic novel Things Fall Apart

Houston's Nigerian-Born Battle-Rapper Godwon

Balls and His Word

Indie Rock Rediscovers the Motherland

Kinky Afro

Paneer and Pizza at Gourmet India and Kings Chicken

Now That's Some Gonzo Journalism

AFRICAN SOUNDS TAPES, CDS AND VIDEOS

Other record stores have bitten the dust, but not this one

Preserving Hair-itage

A photographer documents traditional Nigerian hairstyles

We're Gonna Get You, Soccer!

If they want a team, Houstonians have got to represent

Rotation