North Pole

Last Night: Grizzly Bear at House of Blues

Grizzly Bear House of Blues April 9, 2013 The best move that Grizzly Bear made Tuesday night was possibly their only move. What I imagined to be electric-light squids danced high and low in time as lights flashed in bursts, the band frozen silhouettes in the foreground. The music was at moments po ... More >>

10 Reasons to Be Thankful Christmas Is Over

After a full blast Christmas season, most of us are worn out to the point of exhaustion. The time spent with family, the commercialism, the "sounds of the season" and the gluttonous embarrassment of feasting is enough to drive anyone to drink, which you probably also did too much of this year for a ... More >>

Elusive White Christmas Evades Houston Again, But Cold Weather On the Way

In 2004, Houston recorded snowfall on Christmas Eve in the rarest of rare circumstances for our city, an actual white Christmas. It didn't stick and, ultimately, it was just damn cold, but for a brief moment, we were living the dream, assuming your dream is a cold, snowy Christmas. For those of us w ... More >>

Christmas Past: Top 10 Christmas Movie Soundtracks

While we celebrate the holidays, Rocks Off is resurrecting a few of our best Christmas-themed blogs from the past few years. (Wait... resurrecting is Easter. Never mind.) This blog originally appeared December 14, 2010. No doubt you have all been chin-deep in Christmas movies since you undid your b ... More >>

Christmas Past: Top 5 Christmas Rap Songs

While we celebrate the holidays, Rocks Off is resurrecting a few of our best Christmas-themed blogs from the past few years. (Wait... resurrecting is Easter. Never mind.) This blog originally appeared December 20, 2010. Show us one hip-hop head who isn't obsessed with corny Christmas sing-alongs an ... More >>

Rest of the Best

Houston's top 5 local music venues.

So This Is 5 Years of Listening to Sunny 99.1's Christmas?

2008: An Hour in Sunny 99.1's Holiday Hell Every year, Sunny starts playing non-stop, 24/7 Christmas tunes by the end of November. You can pretty much bet that by the time you hop in the car after Thanksgiving dinner that Perry Como will be riding shotgun with you up to the gas station for smokes ... More >>

Capsule Art Reviews: "Cleve Gray: 1967 Silver Paintings," "CraftTexas 2012," "[Houston Times Eight]," "Liz Ward: Cryosphere," "Structural Impermanence: New Works by Renée Lotenero," "Translucent Trajectories"

Capsule Art Reviews: "Cleve Gray: 1967 Silver Paintings," "CraftTexas 2012," "Debra Barrera: Kissing in Cars, Driving Alone," "[Houston Times Eight]," "Liz Ward: Cryosphere," "Structural Impermanence: New Works by Renée Lotenero"

Capsule Art Reviews: "CraftTexas 2012" "Debra Barrera: Kissing in Cars, Driving Alone" "[Houston Times Eight]" "Liz Ward: Cryosphere" "Ruth Shouval: Settle," "Andrea Bianconi: Romance" and "Anthony Thompson Shumate: Sweetly Broken" "Translucent Trajectori

Capsule Art Reviews: "Flyaway: New Work by Aaron Parazette", "Liz Ward: Cryosphere" "Ruth Shouval: Settle," "Andrea Bianconi: Romance" and "Anthony Thompson Shumate: Sweetly Broken", "Tony Feher: A Work in Four Parts", "Translucent Trajectories"

Capsule Art Reviews: "Ariane Roesch: Simple Machines and Simple Dreams," "CraftTexas 2012," "Dieter Balzer: Objects," "Endless Disharmony and Telltale Ashes," "Endless Disharmony and Telltale Ashes," "Texas Eclectic," "Tony Feher: A Work in Four Parts"

Capsule Stage Reviews: Cinderella, A Contemporary American's Guide to a Successful Marriage @ 1959, Dear Santa

Dear Santa

Modern Holiday Classics Veer Off from Feelgood and into Cynicism

This week, as Christmas movies began their assault on cable and network television, it occurred to us that in the past decade or so, holiday film tastes have begun to veer from lighthearted feelgood affairs and straight into stress-filled, caustic celebrations of the things we will all hate for the ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: Cinderella, A Contemporary American's Guide to a Successful Marriage @ 1959, Dear Santa, My Fair Lady, Oliver Twist

Capsule Stage Reviews: Cosi fan tutte, Dear Santa, Speed-the-Plow, There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, When the Day Met the Night (a moosehunt experience)

Amy Blonn: HISD Teacher to Freeze Her Butt Off Near North Pole

HISDAmy Blonn (left) is going to need to dress a little more warmly​A Houston schoolteacher has been selected as one of six across the country to be sent to the Arctic as part of a National Geographic program, HISD announced today. Amy Blonn teaches fifth graders at the district's Outdoor Edu ... More >>

Merry Christmas and 4 WTF Questions About Christmas Specials (w/ video)

Yeah, my dad's kind of a jerk​First, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas (or Festivus or Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate this time of year)! It's definitely a time to be thankful, and I want to use this space to thank everyone who clicks on my stuff here on Hair Balls and espe ... More >>

Top Five Christmas Rap Songs

​Show us one hip-hop head who isn't obsessed with corny Christmas sing-alongs and we'll show you a liar. Nothing says "hip-hop" like cheery holiday tunes about sharing and caring. In the spirit of holiday music, Rocks Off compiled a list of five Christmas rap songs guaranteed to make you the f ... More >>

Top 10 Christmas Movie Soundtracks

​No doubt you have all been chin-deep in Christmas movies since you undid your belt on Thanksgiving evening. Rocks Off made sure to steal a copy of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation from our folks' house before the calendar even hit December. Unlike other blogs, we don't hate all Christm ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

Photo by Ms. PantsNothing can warm you up on a chilly Houston night quite like a nice, tall glass of anti-freeze.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we're already rigging our rooftops up with traps and buying ingredients for our famous reindeer chili. We starte ... More >>

Frosty the Snowman

The Five Most Annoying Christmas Ads

Anyone who's watched football (or What Not to Wear, we guess) recently knows that the onslaught has begun: The horror of Christmas commercials. These heinous 30-second bits of torture can abuse viewers in several ways. Here are five of the worst. 5. Jewelry for the Meek, Submissive Weaker Sex Whet ... More >>

The Polar Express 4D

Fun to the fourth power

Elf

No, most elves aren't as clumsy - or as hungry - as Buddy

I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat): Last-Chance Specials

Photos by Robyn Arouty​An open letter from some long-time Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care dogs to Mr. S. Claus, Esq. The dogs, lovingly photographed by Robyn Arouty, would like to remind everyone that the first six Hair Balls animals to be adopted come with a PetSmart giftcard. Dear Santa, W ... More >>

God Help Ye Merry Gentlemen: 10th Grade Cutie's Christmas Album

​Christmas came early for Rocks Off this weekend in the form of Dr. Feelgood, a vaguely holiday-themed album from our favorite little brothers in the increasingly prolific 10th Grade Cutie. You guys can now cancel the order for the black Yamaha V-Star 1100 and the lock of Lemmy's hair, because we ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Better Than Ezra, Cursive, Flogging Molly, Jay-Z, John Mayer, Yo La Tengo, etc.

​40 oz. To Freedom (Sublime Tribute): Fri., Jan. 22. Scout Bar Clear Lake. "4th Annual Rudz Thanksgiving Eve" With Born Liars: Wed., Nov. 25. Rudyard's. Bowling For Soup, Smile Smile: Sat., Dec. 5. Scout Bar Clear Lake. "104.1 KRBE Not So Silent Night" With All-American Rejects, Justin Bieber, Co ... More >>

Things the Devil Should Have Done Besides Go Down to Georgia

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down To Georgia." The song, which climbed all the way to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and lives on today as a "boss battle" in Guitar Hero 3, made its first appearance on the group's 1979 album Million M ... More >>

Houston Blows Up Real Good

Photo by foxtongueThe awesomely morbid folks at Carlos Labs have created a "Ground Zero" nightmare generator for every city on Earth. Using Java Script and some Google Map magic, anyone can pinpoint a location in the world, AND BLOW IT THE HELL UP. You can choose your own weapon of mass destruction ... More >>

Elf

Web exclusive!

Santa’s Polar Blast 4D

Web exclusive!

What's Not To Like About Hanukkah? Lots

Christmas is approaching, which means it's time for gentiles the country over to condescendingly recognize the existence of one of the least significant Jewish holidays - the frustratingly spelled Hanukkah.While it's certainly nice to wish others well during their respective holidays, Hair Balls bel ... More >>

HEB Thanksgiving Day Parade

Hannah Montana star Mitchel Musso leads the entertainment for this year’s Turkey Day extravaganza

Rudolph Rides Again

Web exclusive!

Sanity Claus: Separating Holiday-Music Gifts from Seasonal Disorders

Gayle Fallon Named to Competitiveness Council, Whatever That Means

$13 at Goode’s Armadillo Palace on Kirby

Slay Bells

An X-mas mixtape from hell

Beer Time in Austin

Houston's microbrewer starts lobbying

Let's Be Unreasonable

Houston's art crowd looks to show up L.A. with some "Immodest Proposals"

My Life in Oils

David McGee gives good autobiography at DiverseWorks

Waves of Fascination

Shortwave radio: Where the lunatic fringe lives, breathes and flourishes

Christmas in Hell

The Slump XXXmas Show takes irreverence to a new (lower) level

Growing Up's For Suckers

They're crude. They're crass. They're scatological. And Houston's art crowd loves them. Have Slump's Keith Reynolds and Cathy Power discovered the secret to success -- childish behavior?

Everyday Art

Mundane objects make for "Out of the Ordinary" works

The Insider

Political Goodfellows Editor: Gabe and Gary get new toys; Lee and Mario cry in their stockings

Rich Ragtime

An epic musical maps the emergence of America

Night & Day

December 24 - 30, 1998