Pittsburgh

National Tour on Minimum Wage Tosses Houstonians Between Rocks and Hard Places

Qvtaive Harris is 20 years old. He's slender, with knobby elbows and a small afro, wearing sharp white pants and a teal shirt from the Texas Organizing Project. He's sitting, surrounded by a half-dozen mothers, another half-dozen reporters, and a small woman from the Department of Labor. The women ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, NFL Divisional Round Nut Cuttin' Time!

This past Monday night, I had the privilege of attending the BCS Title Game in person in Miami. I say "privilege" because, despite my Notre Dame background, the trip itself and the magnitude of the event were amazing. Yes, my team lost, but it the vibe in the building before kickoff was surreal. As ... More >>

Looking Forward To The Astros In 2013

With 2012 coming to an end, let's kiss this lost year of the Astros goodbye and take a look at what's coming in 2013. The key word is "new," as in new uniforms, new logos, new TV network, new broadcasters, new players, new manager and coaches, and on, and on, and on. 5. Welcome to the American Lea ... More >>

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 10 Steakhouses

With this week's news that meat magnates Ronnie Killen of Killen's Steakhouse and Ricky Craig of Hubcap Grill are teaming up to create a mega-steakhouse, Wonder Twins-style, it seems as good a time as any to examine the steakhouse scene here in Houston. (It should also serve as succor for those carn ... More >>

Last Night: Steve Earle & The Dukes At Stafford Centre

Steve Earle & the Dukes, The Mastersons Stafford Centre for the Performing Arts April 25, 2012 After three decades of music, mischief and critical accolades, it might come as a surprise to some to find Steve Earle performing at the relatively out-of-the-way (by Inner Loop standards) Centre for the ... More >>

Ed Crawford & Co. Rekindle Their fIREHOSE

It seemed like someone's idea of a joke at Harlow's in Sacramento in late December 2011 when this announcement was made: fIREHOSE would be playing the club next April. Whaaat? fIREHOSE? The hugely influential power trio of the '80s and '90s that alternative, indie and grunge fans could all agree up ... More >>

Lia Cook Weaves Photographic Magic at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

There is a great illusion at work in Lia Cook's work. Her massive, black and white photographs of human faces -- children gazing calmly at the camera, or extreme close-ups of lips and noses -- are not photographs at all. Rather, they're comprised of intricately woven cotton that, when viewed from af ... More >>

Texans Offseason Blueprint: Five Moves Needed to Become AFC Favorites

​If Sunday's AFC championship proved anything, it's that the Texans with T.J. Yates were a legitimate threat to reach the Super Bowl. The same Ravens that the Texans so thoroughly dominated in Baltimore one week earlier (save mostly-unforced turnovers) had the title in Lee Evans's grasp and o ... More >>

Watch Out Big East, Here Come the Cougars

The Cougars are going to have a new home starting in 2013.​The expansion of the Big East has been a long-expected announcement, especially seeing as how several members of the conference are on the verge of departure. And one of the long-rumored names of this expansion has been the University ... More >>

Trader Joe's is Trading on Texas: Dallas to Get First Store

Photo by davyninInside a Trader Joe's store in Pittsburgh.​The Dallas Morning News roused a lot of food-lovers across the state with some happy news this morning: Trader Joe's, the specialty grocery chain based in California, is coming to Texas. Hot on the heels of another California import, I ... More >>

The 10 Worst Things Texas Has Given To The Modern World

It's not nature's way, it's Houston's​If we were to list all the great, terrific things Texas, Our Texas has given to civilization, we would be here all day. (Two words: Jessica Simpson.) Unfortunately, Texas has also gifted America and the world with some things the world and America would n ... More >>

Imran Mynuddin: He's Not Stalking His Former Psychiatrist, He's Just Trying to Help

Paris Hilton: Another overriding interest of this dude​It's only April, but thanks to KHOU, we became aware of a top contender for the Alleged Creep of the Year Award: Imran Mynuddin has been charged in Harris County on suspicion of stalking his former psychiatrist, who's now on the faculty of ... More >>

MasterMinds 2011

Foodways Texas is among our three winning arts groups.

Over and Out

Sarah Oppenheimer's impressive D-17 breaks out of Rice Gallery.

Texas A&M Aggies: Care To Make The Rest Of The Season Interesting?

Headed for a life of disappointment​I had other things I wanted to get to today, other anecdotes and information I wanted to share with all of you. Really, I did. But this one is time sensitive.If I wait even 48 more hours, the impact is lost because by then Notre Dame will have beaten Boston Co ... More >>

Goodbye, David Thompson

Mystery fans mourn the passing of a Houston bookseller

Game Time: Watch Me Compare Astros GM Ed Wade To Jennifer Love Hewitt

​The mood in the Astros clubhouse yesterday after the 2-1 loss to the Phillies was about what you'd expect. Michael Bourn tried to stay upbeat, citing that the team is fighting hard and they know they have good players. (Fortunately, unlike many around Minute Maid Park, Bourn sounded like he act ... More >>

Me, the Mob, and the Music by Tommy James with Martin Fitzpatrick

​Talk about a Cinderella story. At 17 years old, Tommy James of Michigan was a high-school senior, already married with a baby, working in a record store, and failing miserably to get his band, The Shondells, off the ground after a recording a single. Two years later, a Pittsburgh club promote ... More >>

Ohio Barbecue

The art of smoke, ten years later, at Bobbie Que's Rib Shack.

Troy Ward, The Aeros' Man Behind The Scenes

Photo by Jason Villanueva/Houston Aeros​Houston Aeros fans hear his name announced every night. They sometimes see and/or hear him interviewed by Joe O'Donnell during pregame or one of the intermissions. Yet ask most fans about assistant coach/assistant GM Troy Ward, they probably won't be able to ... More >>

Texans 16, Rams 13: Staying Alive

​It's often noted how the difference between the 7-7 Texans and an 11-3 powerhouse is two Kris Brown kicks and two conversions of a single yard. Turns out, the difference between 7-7 and 1-13 isn't all that great, either. As the Texans seem to do in late-season road games where they're hea ... More >>

Lola's Burger and Yellow Mustard Orthodoxy

​Lola, the modern diner on Yale, is the subject of this week's Café review. Lola's exceptional burger is made with a certified Angus beef patty, tomato, a pickle and cheddar. The sandwich is served on a moist sweet bun that has been toasted. For a dollar, you can add some applewood bacon. It ... More >>

Site Scavenging

Internet content is the "found object" of the 21st century.

An Open Letter to Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Jenny Lewis and the Heartless Bastards

Poster by Uncle CharlieDear Eric, Steve, Jenny and Heartless Bastards (and all your band members), First of all, Rocks Off would like to welcome you back to Houston. We'd apologize about the heat, but hey, it's Texas in June. Just be glad you weren't routed through here six or eight weeks from now. ... More >>

Austin ISD Decides Not to Get On Board The CEP Gravy Train -- At Least For Now

Last night the Austin school board squelched, at least for now, any consideration of a partnership with Community Education Partners, the Nashville-based, for-profit operator of alternative schools that has two facilities in Houston. CEP would have operated an alternative center for students in the ... More >>

Austin School District Plans To Board The CEP Train To Nowhere

It looks like Austin ISD is ready to take the Houston ISD route and dump some of its troubled kids into the hands of Community Education Partners, the for-profit operator of alternative schools throughout the country. CEP operates two facilities here in Houston and as we've noted before, seems to be ... More >>

Astros-Marlins: Tough Loss for Houston

MLB All-Star Game: Shucks, No Home Field Advantage in the Word Series for the Astros This Year

John Royal’s NFL Picks, Week 17: Betting Against the Texans for the Last Time (Till Next Year)

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week 13: Are There Not 32 Men in This Country Worthy of Being Starting QBs?

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week 12: Lions, Turducken and Bears...

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Six: Forget Dog Fighting. Parity Is the League’s Biggest Problem.

Mean Joe Greene Meets Avril Lavigne: Texans-Cowboys from the Press Box

Bring On the Backlash!

Flinging poo at the haters with the Arctic Monkeys

Capsule Reviews

Our critics weigh in on local theater

Dressing the Part

Michelle Ellsworth's ED will save your id

Black to the Future

Two Trains Running and A Love Story weave strikingly different -- but intimate -- stories of the African-American experience

Letters

Signs of Ignorance

Just chop 'em where it says "Do Not Chop," boys

Center of Gravity?

Tal's Hill at Minute Maid takes on an uprising

All Duct Up

From leftist camps and corporate security to semi-panic and port patrols, Houstonians tackle terrorism threats. Sort of.

Barbecue Breakout

Pit boss Thelma Williams becomes a star

Played Out

The filmmakers have consumed all the standard clichés and yakked them up in the humorless Rock Star

The Reluctant Romantic

Amy Rigby softens her cynical edge with the pop-inflected Sugar Tree

People Try to Put Us Down...

Almost Famous talks about its g-g-generation -- of misguided rock and roll fans

Listen In

KISS - The Suspects - Gestapo Pussy Ranch

Movie House Madness

Houston's Megaplex Theaters are building up for the ultimate battle-Overbuilding, in fact

Static

Rotation

Light Lesson

The Ensemble does too good a job of finding the fun in August Wilson