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iFest: Top 5 Argentine-American Musicians

The Houston International Festival enters its second weekend tomorrow, with featured musical acts WAR, Joe Louis Walker, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Texas Tornados, Del Castillo, Steel Pulse and lots more. Although iFest's performers come from all over the world, all around the main stages will be the sig ... More >>

Why Do Mexicans Paint Murals on Lowriders?

[¡Ask a Mexican!!] And why do they love scratch-off Lotto tickets?

Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs

Eat My Words: This week Texas Monthly wine writer Jessica Dupuy gives a glowing review to new releases by the Duchman Family Winery, the Texas Hill Country winery owned by Houston's own celebrity cardiologist Stan Duchman. "I'll be honest," she writes, "I fell in love with all of these wines, which ... More >>

Gothic Council Gets The Summertime Blues

Well, folks, the last of a most inadequate winter is behind us and now nothing looms ahead for months except endless overexposure of the yellow hurty thing in the sky. It's probably no surprise to you that the average goth has no use for sunlight, even less for hot summer, and living down here in Ho ... More >>

Bonna-What?: How 7 U.S. Music Festivals Got Their Names

This whole week, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, featuring the Black Keys, Radiohead, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, Pulp, At the Drive-In, the Shins, AVICII, David Guetta and maybe one or two others, will be all anyone who follows music these days will be talking about. Then early next week, it' ... More >>

Getting Thumped

The bass line is everything in dubstep, whose core moves like robo-elephants, stomping and booming along.

Frito Pies (or Not) Across America

I suffer under no delusions that Frito pies -- whether Texan in origin or not -- are as popular outside of Texas/Oklahoma/New Mexico as they are in this Frito tied-triangle. I understand that Frito pies are to our region as lutefisk suppers are to Minnesota or lobster rolls are to Maine. However, I ... More >>

Kaylan Goodman: Her Company's Owner, Who Has a Warrant Out for His Arrest, Says 18-Year-Old Girl Is Just Fine!

Photo Courtesy Crime StoppersKevin Davis: The company he works for is totally legit and non-sleazy, so you don't have to worry.​Although an Oklahoma woman who suddenly vanished after joining a traveling magazine sales crew was located in Illinois Wednesday night and was allowed to call family, ... More >>

Kaylan Goodman: Houston Area Family Looking For Woman Who Disappeared With a Magazine Sales Crew

An Update to our Update: Kaylan is back in Bay City with her family. UPDATE: Goodman was located late Wednesday night by Fairmont City, Illinois, police, according to the Kingfisher Police Department. "We have verified her well being" through a phone conversation, the department stated. We hope to ... More >>

Last Night: Agent Orange At Warehouse Live

Agent Orange, The American Heist Warehouse Live February 21, 2012 In retrospect, Mardi Gras might not have been the best night for venerable surf-punk outfit Agent Orange to kick of their 2012 tour. The crowd in the Warehouse Live studio was sparse, and Rocks Off would like to tell ourselves other, ... More >>

Tasting Notes: This Week in (Women's) Wine Blogs

Photo by Margaret Shugart, curator of a new blog, The Wine Roads of Texas.​The Wine Roads of Texas: "If you've never seen the communities that run across that vast stretch of road," writes Margaret Shugart, author of a new blog called The Wine Roads of Texas, "you are missing one of the most u ... More >>

Proper Pronunciation and UT Fans

Photo by Margaret Shugart, curator of a new blog, The Wine Roads of Texas.​The Wine Roads of Texas: "If you've never seen the communities that run across that vast stretch of road," writes Margaret Shugart, author of a new blog called The Wine Roads of Texas, "you are missing one of the most u ... More >>

Animal House

Oh, don't be such a cynic. Matt Damon needs your love in We Bought a Zoo.

Natalie Wood Pictures 30 Years After Her Tragic Death: 10 Plus 1

It was 30 years ago today that Natalie Wood's corpse was found floating off the coast of Southern California's Catalina Island. The 43-year old star of films such as West Side Story, Rebel Without a Cause, The Searchers, Sex and the Single Girl and many other classics had been aboard the Splendour, ... More >>

Terrell Owens' Downward Spiral (w/ VIDEO of his workout)

Finding fitness, if not a job​"I definitely feel there are some teams out there that are interested." -- Terrell Owens after his workout on Tuesday "Just because they weren't there doesn't mean they weren't interested. I can guarantee that all 32 teams were interested." -- Owens' agent Drew ... More >>

Texas Invaded By SoCal Pimps

Kojuan Miles may not be playing football for a while.​Maybe it's the meltdown of the California economy. Maybe they heard about Rick Perry's alleged Texas miracle. Whatever the reason, the Lone Star State appears to be undergoing a plague of transplanted pimps from Southern California. Must ju ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Jeremy Trujillo of Warren's Inn

Photo by Ginny Braud​ Warren's Inn is, unquestionably, a revered downtown Houston landmark. No stranger to winning Best of Houston® awards, most recently for Best Downtown Bar 2010, Warren's boasts charm, character and cordial, heavy handed bartenders. The space definitely has a vintage vibe, ... More >>

Manischewitz, a Kiddush Cup Full of Memories

It had been years since I'd tasted Manischewitz Concord Grape Wine: Last week, at my cousins's Rosh Hashanah celebration, we passed around a kiddush cup of Manischewitz and said the traditional blessing as we welcomed the Jewish New Year. When we sat down for our luncheon of Russian-style braised b ... More >>

Friday Night: Incubus At The Woodlands

Photos by Groovehouse​Incubus Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 30, 2011 Aftermath's dirty little theory is that Incubus is probably one of the most critically underrated modern-rock bands of the past decade. Or, they are justly compartmentalized as a blustery Southern California grou ... More >>

Why Do Mexican Business Owners Hire People Dressed as Shrek to Advertise Their Business?

And why do Mexicans Want to Redistrict Political Boundaries in their Favor?

The Modern Age: 10 Facts You May Not Know About The Strokes

Marco TorresThe Strokes' Julian Casablancas at ACL 2010​This week marks 12 years since the Strokes debuted as a live band, at NYC's Spiral on September 14, 1999. The crowd, they recall, was five paying customers and assorted band girlfriends - humble beginnings for a band that would be both ex ... More >>

Odd Pair: What Wine Do You Serve with Doritos?

​When asked what factors had shaped his palate and his wine collection when he first began collecting fine wine, rockstar (literally, not just figuratively) and winemaker Maynard James Keenan answered: "Mountain Dew and Doritos. Like most American kids, that's what I grew up on." This was a fe ... More >>

The Modular Trailer v. Guest Chef: Throwing It Down at Grand Prize Bar

Photos by Mai PhamKim Chi Wings by Team Les Sauvages' Chef Justin Basye. Six wings for $6, or 12 wings for $10​Despite the growing number of "gourmet"-type food trucks in Houston, the fact that I follow most of them on Twitter, and the many crave-worthy Facebook posts by friends, I haven't rea ... More >>

Odd Pair: Fish and Red Wine

​Whenever I am faced with a conundrum like the age-old question of whether or not it is imperative to pair white wine exclusively with fish, I look to antiquity. Indeed, in more cases than not, the ancients were much wiser and more well informed than we are. And as I pore over (excuse the p ... More >>

Four Artists Who Died Before Playing Houston

theindependent.co.uk​When Amy Winehouse died Saturday, almost everyone noted how the troubled British soul singer had joined the "27 Club," the list of legendary musicians who passed away at that age that also includes Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, ... More >>

Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs

​Know a Houston-based blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. The Blend: We're not sure how we missed the photo (above) of Houston's top Italian wine specialist Joseph "Grappa Joe" Kemble, statewide wine buyer at the flagship Spec's. ... More >>

Dynamo's Disappointing Tie Has Coach Happy?

Courtesy of Houston Dynamo​The Houston Dynamo finished their game Saturday night at Robertson Stadium the same way they started it -- by giving up a goal. The New York Red Bulls were able to sneak one in 39 seconds into the match. Then in the 90th minute, a corner kick spelled doomed for the O ... More >>

Pet Sounds

Animal psychic Sonya Fitzpatrick hears voices - the dog and cat kind.

Art from the Arctic

The Menil Collection presents ancient objects in a spectacular all-white display.

Mikey Goes To Hollywood: Stinson Visits Country-Starved L.A.

Photos by Alan Downs​It's no secret that California has long since squandered away a stunning country-music heritage, but for those of us in Los Angeles who give a damn, Mike Stinson represented an almost mystic renewal of the Freddie Hart/Wynn Stewart transplanted-genius equation that damn n ... More >>

Saturday Night: TSOL At Walter's On Washington

Photos by David Ensminger​TSOL Walter's on Washington May 7, 2011 In the dramatic, razor-sharpened lens of TSOL songs, suburbia is far from a sleepy wonderland bedecked with slick malls and coiffeured lawns. Those tracts of same-samey homes are chock-full of demons such as singer Grisham hims ... More >>

TSOL

Photos by David Ensminger​TSOL Walter's on Washington May 7, 2011 In the dramatic, razor-sharpened lens of TSOL songs, suburbia is far from a sleepy wonderland bedecked with slick malls and coiffeured lawns. Those tracts of same-samey homes are chock-full of demons such as singer Grisham hims ... More >>

TSOL

Photos by David Ensminger​TSOL Walter's on Washington May 7, 2011 In the dramatic, razor-sharpened lens of TSOL songs, suburbia is far from a sleepy wonderland bedecked with slick malls and coiffeured lawns. Those tracts of same-samey homes are chock-full of demons such as singer Grisham hims ... More >>

Last Night: The Low Anthem At Fitzgerald's

Photos by Jim Bricker​The Low Anthem Fitzgerald's May 2, 2011 In another lifetime, and another location, Fitzgerald's could have been a barn. Every time we see a show upstairs, Aftermath halfway expects an owl to swoop out of the rafters and sink its talons into an errant field mouse. Note t ... More >>

Lingerie-Clad Man High On "Bath Salts" Kills Pygmy Goat (w/ Fantastic Mugshot)

"Almost heaven, West Virginia...."​I understand my responsibility on Hair Balls is to provide sports-related content. But frankly, sometimes a story comes across my desk that is so transcendent in its dysfunction and so detrimental to my faith in mankind that it must be covered in this space, ... More >>

Pete Anderson: Ex-Yoakam Guitarist Evens Things Up

Courtesy of Michael HyattDwight Yoakam, J.D. Foster and Pete Anderson in Santa Monica, Calif., circa 1984​Pete Anderson hasn't worked with Dwight Yoakam since 2002, but his association with Yoakam was so successful and visible he may never shake free of that shadow. "We had such a great run," ... More >>

How Do Mexicans Propose Marriage?

And we finally stop insulting Guatemalans!

Don't Feel Turbulence

And we finally stop insulting Guatemalans!

Kim Lenz & Her Jaguars

And we finally stop insulting Guatemalans!

Agent Orange

And we finally stop insulting Guatemalans!

Absolutely Fabuloco

East L.A.'s Los Fabulocos have big zapatos to fill — and are up to the challenge.

Strike a Pose

Tom Ford's A Single Man: It's better to look good than to be good.

Sounds of the Universe

Synth-pop icons Depeche Mode do read their reviews.

Immigration... and What's In A Name

Synth-pop icons Depeche Mode do read their reviews.

Bob's Steak & Chop House

If steak is a sin, then Bob is the devil

The Seoul of Sharpstown

Broaden your horizons at Houston's most eclectic Korean eatery