Scandals

After Pastor Accused of Sexual Assaulting Young Girl, Church Attempts to Whitewash Sympathy for Victim

For those under 30, it's a distinct reality that much of what we've known of organized religion is one sex scandal after another. Granted, those of us raised in the Catholic Church had a closer look than most -- I'm still unsure if the Father Nguyen to whom I once confessed, and who was later defroc ... More >>

Chain of Command

A Few Good Men at the Alley delivers strong performances while showing the perils of unsupervised power.

Promoter Sues Owners of Club Where Jay-Z, Beyonce, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade Celebrated All-Star Weekend

A group called All Pro Management is suing the owners of Rich's, where Jay-Z (aka Mr. Beyonce Knowles) hosted an NBA All-Star par-tay, accusing them of cheating All Pro out of proceeds from liquor sales. The promoters claimed to have paid $25,000 to host the event, according to the Courthouse News ... More >>

The Trailer For the Al Pacino/Phil Spector Movie Looks Pretty Great

On March 24, HBO premieres Phil Spector, a biopic centered around the years leading up to the legendary producer and madman's 2009 murder conviction. Al Pacino steps into the shoes of Spector, whose production credits read like the Rosetta Stone of modern pop music. Judging by the trailer -- relea ... More >>

Top 5 Albums Lost to Us Because of Thieving Dicks

Songs are like babies. Some of them drop into the world with barely a push, while others require yanking out with a wicked set of tongs after a long labor. Generally the latter is more common than the former, which is why any musician worth his or her salt carries around some sort of notebook to kee ... More >>

Alleged Armed Gunman Shot Dead During Botched Armored Car Robbery Outside Movie Theater

I honesty wonder if people planning on committing robberies ever watch TV or the movies. Time and time again films and television shows depict masked bandits attempting to rob banks, armored cars, stores, fast food restaurants, people on the street...you name it, they try and steal from it. Yet, the ... More >>

Five of the Least Important Reasons Not to Drive Drunk on New Year's Eve

We all know driving drunk is dumb. We all know doing it is dangerous and literally kills a lot of people every year. We also know it is completely avoidable. With New Year's Eve coming up, the drunkiest holiday of the year, it is time for us all to reacquaint ourselves with the concepts of a designa ... More >>

Marvin Gay, Sr., and the 10 Worst Rock-Star Parents of All Time

Twenty-eight years ago this week, Marvin Gay, Sr., received a six-year suspended sentence and five years of probation for the voluntary manslaughter of his son, the R&B legend Marvin Gaye. Gay pled guilty after shooting his namesake dead in the L.A. home given to him and his wife by Gaye, who was 44 ... More >>

Texas Southern University Athletics: NCAA Calls Foul Once Again

The Texas Southern University Athletics Department was once again cited for infractions by the NCAA Tuesday and placed on five years probation, something which certainly has to leave both its supporters and detractors discouraged. As the NCAA report noted, TSU "either has been on probation or had v ... More >>

Ashlyn Treadway: An Educational Fund in Her Honor

Child Abuse and Forensic Services, a Beaumont-based non-profit, has created the Ashlyn Tilea Treadway Educational Fund, in honor of a sexual abuse survivor who was killed in a car accident last August. Treadway was just 23. We first wrote about the abuse Ashlyn, her younger sister Brea, and two oth ... More >>

Father Ronald Bollich: Two More Men Accuse Beaumont Diocese of Negligence in Alleged Abuse

Two more men have joined a lawsuit accusing a deceased Beaumont priest of molestation. Identified as John Does, the two men join another anonymous plaintiff who sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Beaumont and Bishop Curtis Guillory in April over abuse that allegedly occurred in 1976 and 1977. The ... More >>

Fiona Apple Arrested In West Texas For Hash Possession (UPDATED)

Sierra Blanca, Texas -- that wonderful city in far West Texas that loves to pinch leaf-loving musicians like Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg Lion -- has claimed another trophy, arresting singer Fiona Apple Wednesday night for pot possession. According to TMZ, the singer-songwriter was arrested for po ... More >>

Food & Film: Laguinats Beer Dinner - Boogie Nights

Play It Again, Sam: 10 Artists & Comedians Signed To Casablanca Records

Casablanca Records was a record company started by Neil Bogart -- no relation to the late legendary actor Humphrey Bogart, although Neil was a big Bogie enthusiast and admirer. In the 1970s, Casablanca Records was the go-to label for disco much like Death Row was the go-to place for gangsta rap in t ... More >>

You Got Served: The Top 10 Legal Battles In Rock History

Ten years ago last week, one of the most vicious legal battles in rock history took another ugly turn. Ex-Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl found themselves in King County Superior Court over a dispute with Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, over the band's considerable royalti ... More >>

Christina Hendricks, Olivia Munn, Scarlett Johansson: 22 Famous Leaked Cell Phone Pics That Stopped All Office Productivity

This past Sunday, naughty cell phone pictures of both Mad Men's redheaded bombshell Christina Hendricks and television personality Olivia Munn leaked onto the Internet. No, they weren't together in the photos -- Dear God -- these were separate leaks. Two of the most lusted after female celebs, Hend ... More >>

Jerry Sandusky's Wife Nearly Runs Over a Reporter (w/ VIDEO)

It's been awhile since we've had a Jerry Sandusky update, and frankly since there's no Web site that's able to track his whereabouts GPS-style (at least not one that we as citizens have access to), it's probably best for everyone that when news breaks regarding the alleged pedophile that I volunteer ... More >>

Rape, Scandal, Greed and Cockfighting -- The 2011 Sports Year In Review

2011: Penn State's horrible year​You know how, in the series 24, the way a season unfolds? How just when you think there has been some sort of resolution to the bad guys being bottled up, right then and there a new (often worse) layer is introduced, and ultimately in like Hour 22 Jack Bauer wi ... More >>

Teen Angels: 10 Musicians with a Penchant for Young Girls

In the great 80s comedy Night Shift, there is a scene where Michael Keaton is driving down what appears to be the West Side Highway in New York in a brand new Cadillac with "Jumpin' Jack Flash" blaring from the speakers. In a bid to impress a mildly terrified Henry Winkler, Keaton attempts to demons ... More >>

High-rise Robbery

Stealing from the rich to...oh, whatever. Funny is the message in Tower Heist.

Willie Nelson Will Not Get Off Easy for World's Most Overblown Weed Arrest

Free Willie!​Discovering weed anywhere near Willie Nelson shouldn't count as a surprise, so his November 2010 arrest for possession in West Texas didn't figure to become a national circus. But it has, especially when word first somehow spread that his sentence would be to sing "Blue Eyes Cryi ... More >>

Willie Nelson's Sentence: Sing "Blue Eyes" In Court

​Readers will recall that Willie Nelson, red bandana and all, was stopped last November and arrested on charges of marijuana possession. We wrote a little something about it. Let's try to forget that arresting Willie on possession charges of what officially amounts to under three ounces is rid ... More >>

Lady Gaga, NBA Stars' Names Forged on Contract, Lawsuit Claims

Lady Gaga never showed, lawsuit says​Taiwanese promoters probably couldn't believe their luck when a Houston businessman sent them signed contracts promising appearances by Lady Gaga and NBA stars Shannon Brown, Nick Young, Carl Landry and Will Bynum (okay, maybe they're only "stars" in Taiwan ... More >>

Chase Langston Wiatt: Facebook Chronicles a Year of Alleged Petty (And Not-So-Petty) Crime

Chase Wiatt: Letting it all out on FB​Chase Langston Wiatt has had quite a run, but with his latest felony arrest, the 19-year-old Crosby resident's luck might just have run out. For the second time since June of 2009, Wiatt stands accused of assaulting someone with his car, and you would th ... More >>

Voter ID Is a Texas Emergency, Rick Perry Declares

Rick Perry: It's a red-meat special in Austin today​Remember that vast tsunami of voter fraud that swept across Texas, coming close to throwing into chaos the very concept of democracy? Neither do we. Even Karl Rove, using every bit of the federal government he could get his hands on, couldn ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Suspecting Jeff Bagwell

​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 >>

Jeff Bagwell Denied Entrance Into Hall of Fame

Bagwell won't be a Hall of Famer this year.​Rumors of steroid use likely prevented former Astro first baseman Jeff Bagwell from being elected into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame as voters denied him entrance today. This was Bagwell's first time on the ballot. Bagwell will remain eligi ... More >>

Witchy Woman

Weirdo, chola, pop princess, MySpace sensation...La Catrin is Houston's newest goth star.

"Rachelle Vazquez: Where Pigeons Dare"

Texan Duane Brown, Accidentally Taking Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Our Cowboys Week logo should have Duane Brown peeing in a cup​Texans offensive tackle Duane Brown has been suspended for four games because of a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.His explanation? "I unknowingly took a supplement tainted with a banned substance and now have to deal with ... More >>

1 In 5 Texas Republicans Support Secession; 1 In 5 Texans Support Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens: Texas does not have your back​Public Policy Polling is a respected firm that recently did a survey on the governor's race and other political matters.They threw in some other questions, too, and found some intriguing results. A full 21 percent of Texas Republicans support secession, ... More >>

Dog Day Afternoon

Only the truth could be this strange

Dan Shea: The Man Who Sued The Pope Not Mollified By Vatican's Latest Sex Abuse Plan

The hits keep coming​"The Pope and the Vatican just can't stop showing their ass, can they?"So asks Daniel Shea, the former Roman Catholic deacon turned plaintiff's lawyer who once hoped to put the Pope in a Houston court docket.Shea is referring to the Church's latest official directives on the o ... More >>

Roger Clemens: Ex-Red Sox GM Jumps On The Steroids Bandwagon

The smell of indictments in the air...​I'll admit that I've taken my share of potshots at Roger Clemens. I've tried to rely on matters that have been part of some record, or have some evidence for support, like The Mitchell Report, Clemens' public statements, and things said to Congressional inves ... More >>

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

The moral of the story is: Never play cards with mobsters

USC Trojans: They're Different From 1980s SMU How, Exactly?

Snoop & Pete: BFFs​The Southern Methodist University football team was hit with NCAA sanctions on February 26, 1987 because of a slush-fund created to pay players. Seeing as how the Mustangs were a repeat offender -- they were already on probation for recruiting violations -- the NCAA le ... More >>

Pop Rocks: The Passion Of The K-Stew

​Much hay is being made of Kristen Stewart's ("Bella" in the Twilight movies) comments to British Elle magazine about the perils of fame. This one in particular: On the paparazzi: "What you don't see are the cameras shoved in my face and the bizarre intrusive questions being asked, or the peo ... More >>

Pop Rocks: The Celebrity DUI Conundrum

​I've always preferred brunettes. Aside from making me not a gentleman, this simply meant I favored Jaclyn Smith over Farrah Fawcett, Lynda Carter (or JoAnna Cameron) to Deidre Hall, Yasmine Bleeth to Gena Lee Nolin, and Jane Seymour over, well...just about any of the other Bond Girls. Given ... More >>

Pop Rocks: With Friends Like These

​Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski remains under house arrest in Switzerland, awaiting possible extradition to the United States for fleeing sentencing after pleading guilty to "unlawful sex" with a 13-year old in 1977. His attorneys are, naturally, fighting this possibility, while a numbe ... More >>

Bun B Joins Gumball 3000 Rally; Nirvana Chopped And Screwed

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Mark C. AustinNosaprise at the 2009 Houston Press Music Awards Showcase​ Single of the Week: "Start Today," Nosaprise Wire ... More >>

This Week's Cover Story: The Man Who Sued The Pope

​Most times when you ask Houston lawyer/theologian Daniel Shea a question, you get a treatise in response, one that can take in everything from the Edict of Constantine and to the deeds of Admiral Rickover to the sins of many a modern-day bishop in the ongoing sex abuse scandal roiling the Rom ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Five Fictional Pedophiles Who Could Teach The Vatican A Thing Or Two

It's hard out here for a priest. The sex-abuse scandals rocking the Roman Catholic Church refuse to go away, with more cases coming to light and casting doubt on the actions of those in the highest offices of the Vatican, including Big Pope-a himself: Critics have charged that Pope Benedict XVI, ... More >>

Fails Of The Week: Glastonbury "Ice Ice Baby," Sony "No Beyonce On YouTube," Fat Mike The Peeing Clown And... Bono

If you're reading this, you're either on the Internet, or else you've mastered multi-dimensional thought-projection processes that would make Michio Kaku cry like a little girl. We'll assume the former, and just in case you don't already know, the Internet has decided that the word "failure" is too ... More >>

No Sparks

Hannah Montana gets upstaged by sea turtles in The Last Song.

15 Years Later, Selena's Death Still Leaves A Hole In Corpus Christi's Heart

www.panoramio.com​ Rocks Off pretty much spent half our life down south in Corpus Christi, so it was a big deal in our family when Tejano pop star Selena Quintanilla-Perez was gunned down 15 years ago today. We grew up hearing her music on the radio down there, and you couldn't walk into a taqueri ... More >>

Was Chris Brown Shopping For A Birthday Party Spot At The Galleria?

celebrityevil.com (Warning: Some NSFW content on site)​ Channel 39 recently posted a short video of Chris Brown as the embattled R&B singer visited the Galleria over the weekend. The video is about a minute of Brown, a small entourage and a phalanx of security guards leaving a shoe store and h ... More >>

Al Edwards Takes His Vote-Fraud Allegations Against Borris Miles To Court

​Voter fraud in Harris County? Could it be so?Well, State Representative Al Edwards says it is, and to try and prove it he filed a petition late Tuesday in Harris County District Court contesting the recent primary election results which put him 10 votes behind his long-time Democrat rival Borris ... More >>

The Week In TV: Mad About Mad Men Barbie Dolls

The Barbie version of Joan appears to have just escaped from Dachau.​I have no idea what day it is, my veins run thick with taquitos, and I took my shirt off in public. This was the week in TV Land: • I'm a little amazed at the amount of TV I was able to watch this past week considering I' ... More >>

Baylor Chooses A Sex-Obsessed Pornographer As Its New President

​Baylor has ended its search for a new president, and the straitlaced Baptist school has chosen a famous smut peddler.Kenneth Starr, the out-of-control special prosecutor who felt the need to salaciously include every last sordid detail about Bill Clinton's extra-marital activities, is the new ... More >>

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

For 40 years, the Episcopal Church of Texas turned a blind eye to a priest who was sexually molesting male students.