Texas State University

Stars and Bars

$13 at Pesquera’s Ocean Grill & Oyster Bar

Weekend Music: Sublime Lives (Sort Of)

Big Bad John Cornyn Is One Tough Cowboy, Apparently

Sunday: Gospel Brunch at House of Blues; Pete Mayes Tribute at Big Easy

Rocks Off isn't sure what sort of currency a slogan like "Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits" would muster beyond the Pearly Gates - maybe, if he's really lucky, he'll get a chance to find out one day - but it works well enough for House of Blues' weekly gospel brunch, which debuts Sunday with 1 ... More >>

All in a Day's Work

Lockheed Martin's welfare-reform efforts have cost taxpayers across the country millions. So naturally, Lockheed Martin has been hired to train and find jobs for the poor in Houston and Harris County.

His and Hers

Lockheed Martin's welfare-reform efforts have cost taxpayers across the country millions. So naturally, Lockheed Martin has been hired to train and find jobs for the poor in Houston and Harris County.

A Politician's Blog Actually Worth Reading

Every politician these days is doing The Twitter, or having some unpaid intern blog for them. It's great if you're looking for the latest in boilerplate rhetoric.And then there's Texas State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat from San Antonio.Check out his blog, Poli-Tex.Here's a note to former ... More >>

Best Adventure Race Series

Texas State Championship Sprint Adventure Races

“Quest for High Bear: A Boy’s Odyssey through Indian Country 1925-1939”

Web exclusive!

Mexican-American Culture

Web exclusive!

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Web exclusive!

Texas Decks

Baytown native D:Fuse helps put Austin's dance scene on the map

Bull Session

A state clerk goes bonkers over legislative bills

A Really Bad Apple

A state clerk goes bonkers over legislative bills

Best Place to Play Racquetball

Northwest Fitness and Sports Club

Unmasked At Last

After a half-century of effort, local African-American artists are emerging to the forefront of the arts, both in Houston and nationally

The Badge Means You Owe

A nursing home turns into another target for questionable cop telemarketers

Rice Hosts NCAA Baseball Regional, Doesn't Get Top Seed

Photo by Daniel KramerYesterday saw the announcement of the NCAA's 64-team bracket for the College World Series, and it was a mixed bag for local fans.Good news: Seven Texas teams are in it.Bad news: Rice didn't get a top regional seeding, for the first time in three years, kind of a slap to the new ... More >>

A Lottery Winner And A County Judge Candidate Equals A Reprimand

Oopsie, Peggy Sue, you've got some 'splaining to do. Brazoria County judge wannabe Peggy Sue Bittick, a family court attorney in Pearland, violated a Texas State Bar rule when she failed to return more than $7,000 to a client who had paid her in advance to represent him in a child custody case. Th ... More >>

Community Gardens Can't Stop A Crime Wave, Study Finds

​The "broken-window" theory of fighting crime states that if a neighborhood is allowed to deteriorate to the point where broken windows are left unfixed, crime will increase because residents don't give a shit.An offshoot of this says that doing beautification stuff such as planting small, public ... More >>

TUTS' Sound of Music: The Nuns Will Be Singing But Thank God They Don't Have to Tap Dance

Photo by Joan MarcusShe can climb ev'ry mountain, but she can't tap-dance​It's been years since Roy Hamlin, associate artistic director at Theatre Under the Stars, has had anything to do with The Sound of Music -- not since his high school days when he was playing Uncle Max.Now he gets to direct i ... More >>

Coog Baseball Gets Off To Rough Start

Photo courtesy UH​Teams never want to start 0-3 on the season, no matter the sport. And starting 0-3 for the season is definitely not something the Houston Cougars baseball team wanted to do, yet after being swept by Texas State in this season's opening series, that's exactly the hole the Cougars ... More >>

The Dynamo Stadium Plan Is Magic

​The greatest plan ever has been unveiled.Using absolutely no public funding, the city, by April 1, 2012, will get a 20,000 seat, $80 million Dynamo soccer/Texas State Southern University football stadium that will create a new section of downtown, which will undoubtedly boom with economic growth, ... More >>

R&B Legend Ivory Joe Hunter To Get State Historical Marker

​Rocks Off's predecessor John Nova Lomax, who normally reports on much more sordid goings-on in East Texas, tipped us off to a story in today's Beaumont Enterprise that reports late Texas R&B legend Ivory Joe Hunter will have an official Texas State Historical Marker erected at his gravesite n ... More >>

Coogs Ready To Hit Someone Besides Each Other

Case Keenum, media darling, is ready to hit the field​There has been talk this off-season of the Houston Cougars being a BCS-buster, putting them in some of the same conversations as Boise State and TCU.With those kind of discussions, one would think that the Cougars would have to worry about gett ... More >>

UH Opens Season Like It Should, And In Front Of A Sellout Crowd

Case Keenum gets off to a hot start​Playing a school like Texas State to open up a football season is never quite as easy as it looks. Just ask Michigan and Ole Miss.The Houston Cougars were very aware of the upset possibilities, and they were very aware of the opposite danger, that they could a ... More >>

UH Looking For Lots Of Crowd Noise For Tonight's ESPN Game

Bring the noise to Robertson Stadium for ESPN​Strange as it may seem, if things had gone a bit differently in the college career of Drew Bledsoe, Kevin Sumlin might not have ended up in Houston. But strange as it may seem, that's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.Sumlin's first ... More >>

Lightnin' Hopkins Historical Marker Dedication

Bring the noise to Robertson Stadium for ESPN​Strange as it may seem, if things had gone a bit differently in the college career of Drew Bledsoe, Kevin Sumlin might not have ended up in Houston. But strange as it may seem, that's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.Sumlin's first ... More >>

NFL & College Football -- Weekend's Best Bets (with Tales of Deceit, Adultery and Ron Artest)

We see....FAIL in Ron Artest's future​Drayton McLane apparently has plans to sell the Astros. This comes as no surprise, those rumors have been swirling for some time. Now I don't know if he'll get his $800 million asking price, but I did call Drayton and make an offer and we now know that $9 ... More >>

State Rep. Leo "Birther Bill" Berman: CNN With Another Texas Beatdown

Texas State Representative, Leo Berman, you have joined the hallowed ranks of Congressman Louie Gohmert and your colleague Debbie Riddle: You have been utterly humiliated on CNN. Berman, as we reported earlier, has introduced a "birther" bill in the Lege, demanding that no candidate can get a Texan ... More >>

The Daily Show's Latest Texas Takedown

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cThe Daily Show on Facebook Man, you get wrapped up in dealing with an upcoming Snopocalypse and there's no telling what you'll miss on TV. Last week The Daily Show finally aired the long-awaited piece on Joe Strauss, the Jewish House Speaker who ... More >>

For Sale: LBJ's Old Montrose Digs

HARLBJ's Houston home: Where "Jumbo" no doubt got an airing​While Hair Balls has been going all Doris Kearns Goodwin with our presidential history, we might as well tell you that LBJ's one-time Montrose crash pad is on the block. The 107-year-old white clapboard home is at 435 Hawthorne or 34 ... More >>

Eirin Ann Hicks: Texas State Student Killed by One-Story Jump

Texas StateEirin Ann Hicks: Killed by first-floor jump​If you're a parent who wonders why you worry about your kid, fresh evidence today that you need to: A Texas State student has died by jumping out of a first-floor window. Eirin Ann Hicks, 24 and from Temple, was taken off life support ye ... More >>

Lyle Lovett, Billy Gibbons Named Official Texas State Musicians

ZZ Top's Dusty Hill and Frank Beard were rumored to be appointed Texas' Offiical 2012 Alternate State Musicians.​With apologies to Townes Van Zandt, there's good news from Austin today. Good news for Houston. The Texas Commission on the Arts has chosen arguably the Houston area's two most rec ... More >>

Texas House Approves Concussion Bill: Student-Athletes Would Have to Be Medically Cleared Before Returning

​Late last week, the Texas House voted 94 to 42 in favor of "Natasha's Law," a measure that would disallow a concussed student-athlete from competing in his or her sport until cleared by a physician. Additionally, HB 2038, which now awaits a vote in the Texas Senate, would require preseason n ... More >>

Roxann Michelle Thomas: Actually (And Illegally) Got Something From Those "Are You Owed Money?" Lists

Yeah, that's my name, give me my check.​Newspapers and media Web sites regularly publish lists of people who are owed money by public institutions; if anyone bothers to read them, they check their name hoping to see they've forgotten all about that five-digit deposit in some bank they used to ... More >>

Dear Penis: 20 Songs About The Tube Snake Boogie

prince.orgGuess who turns 53 today?​Good Lord, what would we do if not for Weinergate? It's hot as hell outside, the Astros are terrible and Rick Perry might run for president next year. But as long as there are congressmen tweeting pictures of their junk to women they barely know, Rocks Off h ... More >>

Eirin Hicks: Misdemeanor Charges Filed In Death of Texas State Woman Who Fell to Death

TABCEirin Hicks: Dead from a fall out a window​The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and Texas State University police announced a handful of charges stemming from the death of Eirin Ann Hicks, a student who fell to her death from an elevated first-story dorm room last month. The charges ar ... More >>

ZZ Top Will Release New Album By Year's End, Gibbons Says

Jim BrickerZZ Top at The Woodlands, September 2010​After years of hemming and haw-haw-haw-hawing about how far along it is, who they are working with, and whether or not it even actually exists, ZZ Top singer/guitarist (Rev.) Billy F. Gibbons said the trio plans to release its first studio alb ... More >>

Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt

Jim BrickerZZ Top at The Woodlands, September 2010​After years of hemming and haw-haw-haw-hawing about how far along it is, who they are working with, and whether or not it even actually exists, ZZ Top singer/guitarist (Rev.) Billy F. Gibbons said the trio plans to release its first studio alb ... More >>

Knocked Out

Medical effects of concussion far worse for kids.

Cover Story: Concussions in Youth Sports: Is The Risk Worth It?

​Kayla Meyer was a normal kid growing up on the family farm in New Prague, Minnesota, where she used to ride horses around the property. But now, the 14-year-old can no longer ride or even attend school on a regular basis after receiving two concussions in ice hockey. Ali Champness, too, is ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Sarah Daniel of The Davenport

​It's early on a Friday night at The Davenport , but there's already a pretty decent crowd. The interior is dark, almost romantic, lit by candlelight and a faux fireplace. Throw a bearskin rug on the floor, and I bet some people would forget they're in public. A few folks are still in post-w ... More >>

Kansas State As "Texas State Football Champs": You Didn't Play UH, Chumps

​These are apparently the latest in fashion in Manhattan, Kansas. The K-State football team is touting its victories over Baylor, Tech, A&M and UT. Fine, Jayhawks whatever you call yourselves, tout away. But if you want to declare yourself "Texas State Champs," you'd have to beat the best fo ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Let the Coog Hatred Bloom

​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 >>

Drought-Ravaged Texas Parks Need Money & Visitors, State Says

Texas parks: Visit or send cash or both, please.​The crippling drought of 2011 left Texas parks under-visited and in need of cash to make up a budget shortfall, officials are saying. The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is putting out a call for people to come to the parks (and therefore gen ... More >>

5 Replacements for The Jim Rome Show

Jim Rome = Not Burning in Houston.​Jim Rome is done in the Houston sports-talk radio market after KILT-AM 610 dropped the popular The Jim Rome Show last week. Rome's show had become more than a little tedious in recent years, so replacing it should be easy; here are five replacements that wo ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Curtis Cunningham of Onion Creek

​This week we went over to the Heights to visit neighborhood coffee joint, eatery and bar Onion Creek, one of our favorite spots to perch on a picnic table in the sun and enjoy a good, dark brew, whether it's coffee or beer. Since they're open from 7 a.m. till late, it's good for breakfast, lu ... More >>

One Year After Woman Gets Masters In The Beatles, We Hunt Down Most Bizarre College Music Courses

photo via torontolife.com​ A year ago today, Mary-Lu Zahalan-Kennedy of Ontario became the first person in the world to earn a master's degree in The Beatles. I'm not quite sure what she's doing now, but I do know she could probably kick anyone's ass in Beatles trivia. This little anniversa ... More >>