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Five Ways the Inaugural Mass is Different from the Presidential Inauguration

Pope Francis had his inaugural mass in the Vatican Square and, much like a presidential inauguration, a bunch of people came from all corners to bear witness. In some ways, the two inaugurations are not that dissimilar. There is singing. There are speeches. There are glimpses of the new pope and pre ... More >>

Hates Singer Looks Back on 35 Years of Houston Punk Rock

As the singer, guitarist, and chief songwriter for the Hates -- Houston's most enduring punk rock band and a local institution -- Christian Kidd (nee' Christian Arnheiter, Christian Oppression, and Christian Anarchy) has seen a lot. And with the band nearing its 35th anniversary (with Kidd as the ... More >>

Top 10 Wine Lists in Houston

It's exciting to run across a well-priced favorite on a restaurant's wine list, or to discover something new as you dig through its pages. But there's more to making a world-class wine list than just stocking a cellar with Cakebreads and Chardonnays. To spotlight the best wine lists in Houston, we ... More >>

Texas Crimes of the Year, 2012

As it turns out, Texans indulged in all seven of the deadly sins.

7 Formerly Jinxed Houston Restaurant Locations That Have Reversed the Curse

Late in 2009, Eating...Our Words took a look at the then-Top "jinxed locations" in Houston. The compiled addresses had such a long and storied history of failure they made the Astros look like the Yankees. Looking back at the list today, there may be hope for hometown baseball. Of the eight restau ... More >>

Last Night: Eddie Vedder at Jones Hall

Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard Jones Hall November 12, 2012 Aging grungers are the new aging hippies. When the first wave of grunge hit in the late '80s and early '90s, the world was still rife with greybeards and their old ladies just two decades removed from cultural nirvana. Before the other, bigger ... More >>

Texans-Titans: The Best Rapper Tweets

UPDATED: Memorable Houston Concerts of 1992

UPDATE (2:03 p.m.): Alice In Chains was advertised but dropped out, and was replaced with Australia's Baby Animals. The year 1992 was an important one for me as far as Houston concerts are concerned: It's the first time I went to a concert within the Houston city limits, the "Outside Broadcast" leg ... More >>

Cover Story: The Rise and Rise of Santa Muerte, with VIDEO

It was sometime back in the early 2000s, or maybe even the late 1990s, that I started seeing them at the late beloved Dunlavy Fiesta: in the Hispanic aisle, alongside the colorful votive candles to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Saint Jude, and the Most Powerful Hand of God, there were these stark monochrom ... More >>

Rock vs. Rap: Who Really Ruled H-Town?

The early to mid-'90s were good times for underground music in Houston. At clubs like the Axiom, the Vatican and Fitzgerald's, an eclectic mix of punk, metal, funk and ska bands like deadhorse, Sprawl and more regularly played packed shows in front of 500 fans. Much has changed since, but those o ... More >>

'90s Rock Doc "When We Ruled H-Town" Premieres Tonight

Remember the '90s? When it comes to Houston's rock scene, a lot of people don't. Sure, local bands were drawing large crowds to venues like the Axiom, the Vatican and the Unicorn, but much of the music of that era never made it outside the Beltway, and those clubs have been closed down for decades. ... More >>

True Blood: The Monsters We Make, We Own

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood -- which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. There's a very interesting metaphor going on right now in True Blo ... More >>

Readers Poll: The Most Underrated Rock Albums Of The '90s

For this week's readers poll, I asked our Facebook and Twitter chums their choices for the most underrated and unsung albums of the '90s. We all agree on things like Nevermind, Harvest Moon, Mezzanine, The Soft Bulletin, Odelay and OK Computer, but what about albums that fall through the cracks of ... More >>

Food Poison(ed): A History of Death By, For and From Food

On December 16, 1916, the Russian monk, mystic and politically polarizing figure Grigori Rasputin was invited to a bit of a soiree, one which ended with his body being bound, wrapped in carpet and tossed into the frigid Neva river, but only after he was beaten, stabbed and shot. All of this, becaus ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: Dinner with Friends, Late Nite Catechism, Oscar in the Box, Whatever Happened to the Villa Real?

Sister's Holy Humor Is Back with Late Nite Catechism

The setup: Denise Fennell, as the teaching nun "Sister," starred in Easter Catechism last year in an extended run, and she returns again with fresh material in a one-person show, Late Nite Catechism, to chide us for our sins, offering the joy of laughter and the forgiveness of holy humor. The ex ... More >>

Cover Story: Uncle Charlie Is Houston's Poster Boy

​Uncle Charlie isn't just a Houston legend. Ask anyone in the poster-art scene the world over, and they'll know his work. Charlie Hardwick, the subject of this week's cover story, designs posters advertising some of the biggest names in music - from Wilco to Green Day to The Decemberists. But ... More >>

Dan Shea, The Man Who Sued the Pope, Sounds Off on Joe Paterno

Penn State and the Catholic Church​Bella figura can mean many things, but at its core is presentation...how one looks, how one comports oneself, how one makes the best possible impression in all things. That such a concept is hardwired into the Italian psyche is no surprise: what else could be ... More >>

Top 5 Musicians Whose Art Trumps Their Politics

Once again we have yet another example that if a musician opens his or her mouth without the benefit of a guitar or piano close by, trouble is usually not far behind. In this case it's Rockin' Randall Hank Williams Jr., who compared this year's Obama/John Boehner "golf summit" to Adolf Hitler hittin ... More >>

“Valentin Gertsman — 30 Years in Art”

Bartender Chat: Mike Marquez of Big Star Bar

​If you haven't been to Big Star Bar but think that Mike Marquez looks familiar, it may be from one of his previous gigs in Houston. A California native, Mike has been in Houston off and on for about 20 years, working in establishments such as Emo's, the Vatican, and Griff's. In fact, he's b ... More >>

Last Night: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion At Warehouse Live

Photos by Groovehouse​Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Warehouse Live Studio May 5, 2011 A few months back, when the White Stripes finally officially broke up, Aftermath made the inference that had it not been for the duo that most of the new rock music hitting the charts, namely the rootsy and bl ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

"Hi there! We're a squirming mound of tiny Lovecraftian horrors who live in stagnant muck! Put us in your face!"​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where if it can't be eaten with gravy, it's not worth eating. Luckily, everything can be eaten with gravy, even frozen d ... More >>

More Local Music News Than Open Drummer Jobs

Magnolia City Mixtape might have taken the week off in order to cover SXSW last week, but Houston's music scene kept right on rolling. That means that we've got not one, but two full weeks of news wrapped up in this installment. ​For our soundtrack this week, we've a brand-new album from Buxt ... More >>

When We Ruled H-Town

Doc revisits Houston's '90s music scene.

Top 10 Worst Top 10 Lists Of 2010

​Now that's a headline, ladies and germs. It has the added benefit of being succinct as well. That's exactly what we're summing up here, the worst Top 10 lists our peers have written this year. Let's get started, as we've got a lot of ground to cover. 10. This One Not really, this is just t ... More >>

Money and Mercy

Readers comment on Bolivar's loss of Our Mother of Mercy Church

Happy 32nd Anniversary, Rudyard's

Mark C. AustinJandek (right) at Rudyard's, April 2009​Sunday, Rudyard's celebrates its 32nd anniversary with an afternoon barbecue buffet and night of free music with sharp-witted singer-songwriter Teresa Kolo, holy terrors the Hell City Kings and the stuff Rocks Off's dreams are made of, an a ... More >>

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 >>

One Was Nude and One Wore Tails

It's an attack of the wardrobe in Dario Fo's satire

The Pope Problem

Readers respond to "The Man Who Sued the Pope."

Five Memorable Artist-Audience Altercations

Chris GrayWilco's Jeff Tweedy in a much better mood, March 2008There may be a very good reason Van Morrison said practically nothing from the stage Saturday night at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Judging from the plentiful comments here, here and over at the Chronicle's review, it would have ... More >>

The Man Who Sued the Pope

Houston's Daniel Shea thinks Joseph Ratzinger has a lot to answer for if he'd talk.

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 >>

Enjoy This Fine Selection of Uncle Charlie Posters - and Buy One Saturday

All artwork by Uncle Charlie​ In our alter ego as a print journalist, this week Rocks Off sits down with Uncle Charlie, whose vibrant posters have been adorning Houston concert halls and living-room walls (like ours, for example) since the Vatican and Unicorn days when Charlie did gig flyers for h ... More >>

Meridian Primed

Hate sports bars? Then you'll love the Old Chinatown rock venue's new sports bar.

Walter's on Washington Leaves Its Namesake Avenue Behind.

Moving on up!

"A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People"

A pontiff bridges a centuries-old divide

Meryl Streep Is Pretty Much Scaring the Hell Out of Me Right About Now

So I get the fact that this new movie Doubt starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman is really supposed to be about faith and trust and, well, doubt (duh), but am I the only one who is totally and completely freaked out by the trailer / commercials and the image of Meryl as a mean, nasty nun ... More >>

Doubt Wags the Finger of Moral Relativism

J'Accuse!

Why Are Mexicans Obsessed with Scarface?

Whistling Mexicans

The Eclectic Company

Inman Gallery's latest show offers an assortment of West Coast artistic souvenirs

Letters

Holy Father

When it comes to the Catholic hierarchy, Mel Gibson’s dad is one Mad Max

Letters

Last Chance, Revival of the Fittest

Pastor to the Port

In the changing world of the Houston Ship Channel, one thing remains constant: Father Rivers Patout.