The Wall Street Journal

Five Reasons Getting Super Bowl LI is a Good Thing For Houston Even if You Hate Sports

As noted here yesterday, the NFL awarded Super Bowl LI to Houston. The game will be played at Reliant Stadium in February 2017. There are plenty of you out there who could care less about football and sports in general. Frankly, the Super Bowl is often anticlimactic as a sporting event, but it is st ... More >>

From Tacos to Tikka Masala

Houston's 10 best classic food trucks.

Zack Kopplin Appears on Maher, Informs WSJ Editor that, No, He Doesn't Research Snail Mating

For those who've forgotten, our recent profile subject Zack Kopplin, the 19-year-old pro-science/anti-creationism advocate we're fortunate enough to have living in Texas, was once a meek-mannered boy who could barely stand eye contact and direct speech. His path from his shell has continued, and las ... More >>

Houston Makes Great Strides In Selling Its Own Music Scene

A few months ago, Rocks Off wrote an article expressing our surprise and disappointment at the paucity of musical content on the City of Houston's tourism site, visithoustontexas.com, the Texas-friendly smiling face it offically presents to the Web and thus the world. There wasn't much at all, just ... More >>

Relax, Houston: Your Pumpkin Spice Lattes Are Safe

I know people who mark the passing of the seasons by Starbucks' seasonal lattes, and I am very much not joking about this. Fall has officially arrived when the coffee chain starts carrying Pumpkin Spice-flavored lattes. Winter is here when the Peppermint Mochas arrive. It's become a cycle as constan ... More >>

Looking Glass: Rock Music's Five Most Famous Four Eyes (Other Than Buddy Holly)

Holly had no idea what he was starting.​The Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting article about Buddy Holly's optometrist. That's not something most people would think about when it comes to music, but fashion has been significantly influenced over the years by music. In much the same way C ... More >>

Yao Ming: Basketball Player, Shark Saver, Wine Maker

The last time we wrote about Yao Ming, it was to cover the former Houston Rockets center's fight against shark fin soup consumption in his home country, China, where the soup is considered a luxury and a necessity at large banquets and parties. Now, the retired basketball player is making news for ... More >>

St. Ides & Hip-Hop: Would Today's Rappers Endorse Malt Liquor?

​The early '90s was a time when some of the best hip-hop music ever was being made, and the beverage of choice was malt liquor. Before rappers glorified Cristal, Ciroc and even their own branded alcohol, there were many hip-hop-inspired malt liquor ads. St. Ides in particular enlisted several ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 2: Morty Parsa of Kasra Persian Grill

Matthew DresdenMorty Parsa and his son Adam, in front of Kasra Persian Grill ​In Part One of our Chef Chat, we learned how Kasra Persian Grill chef/owner Morty Parsa came to open a restaurant in Houston. Today we discuss his approach to cooking and his philosophy of running a Persian restauran ... More >>

Mark Lanier Hits The Big Screen

When we read in the Wall Street Journal that Houston mega-lawyer Mark Lanier had a role in a new movie called Puncture, we assumed it was about a class-action suit involving defective killer tires, and that the above video was an early trailer for it before a name change. Alas, no. Puncture involve ... More >>

Rodeo Houston Sets Attendance Records

Photo courtesy of the Houston Livestock Show and RodeoBrad Paisley brought 'em in Saturday night.​The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo set an attendance record this year with 2,262,834 total visitors including a single-night record of 150,948. That same night, the rodeo recorded its third high ... More >>

Cry for Yelp

The popular Web site has buckled to pressure, but it isn't enough.

Bill Gates Helps Out Houston's KIPP Charter School In A Big Way

​The KIPP charter schools in Houston are getting a huge boost from Bill Gates, according to the Wall Street Journal.The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it is guaranteeing $30 million worth of bonds so that KIPP can expand operations here "from 4,500 in 15 schools to 21,000 stude ... More >>

More Junk from Whole Foods

Photo by Robb Walsh​"We sell a bunch of junk," Whole Foods founder John Mackey told the Wall Street Journal when he announced the new focus on health foods that's supposed to be taking place at Whole Foods this fall. Mackey hopes to stop the decline in the sales of beans, nuts and whole grains ... More >>

Conservatives Defend Whole Foods While Liberals Boycott

Photo by That Other Paper​Irate progressives are calling for a boycott of Whole Foods after the health food store chain's founder John Mackey came out against Obama's efforts at reforming health care in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece last week. After stating his fears about socialized med ... More >>

Stimulus Funds Helping Houston Firm Give Out Free Home Fixes

Photo courtesy Sheltering ArmsPeople are sometimes suspicious when one of Scott Pool's inspectors calls. The offer -- to weatherize one's house for free -- sounds too good to be true. "We have to convince them that, really and truly, nobody's going to charge them," says Pool, the weatherization ... More >>

Hard Economic Times Coming To Sports Franchises

The NHL doesn't have a team in Houston, so I'm pretty confident that most of you don't follow the league, and don't have any idea about some of the severe financial problems facing many of the southern teams.  The NHL has intervened in Phoenix in an attempt to find new ownership for the club.&n ... More >>

Live Nation and Ticketmaster Near Merger

The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that entertainment megacorp Live Nation and Ticketmaster, the world's leading ticketing agency and an important player in artist management, are in talks to merge the two companies. "The resulting firm" - called, appropriately, Live Nation ... More >>

What This Area Needs Is A Good Nanotechnology Center

David Goswick is thinking small -- very, very small. No, even smaller than that. Goswick, the head of Historic Real Estate, wants to build the Nano World Headquarters right here in River City, ah, ... we mean Houston. The idea behind the Headquarters is that Houston (well, at least the Sam Houston T ... More >>

Continental Wants Its Pilots to Work Harder, Fly Righter

If you're flying Continental to Mumbai in the near future, you might want to pay close attention to how rested the pilot is. Are her eyes bloodshot, or are the lids propped up with toothpicks? Or is she perhaps knocking back little pills with gallons of coffee? Well, the FAA seems a bit worried tha ... More >>

Parking Tickets and Clamato

"Lessons from Below: Otabenga Jones & Associates"

Otabenga Jones & Associates teach us a few things at the Menil

Kyoto Protocol: Chill Out

Skeptical environmentalist Bjørn Lomborg questions the Kyoto Protocol's effectiveness

Radio Houstoned: Martin Limón and The Wandering Ghost

Junior High Kid Goes Big-Time, Zero Tolerance

She's glad her 15 minutes are up

A Mighty Heart

Angelina Jolie kidnaps Daniel Pearl's movie

They Did What?

The top WTF moments of 2005

"Double" Vision

The CAMH hosts an ambitious show about black conceptual art

Ready for a Rumbo?

News wars return as two Spanish papers go mano a mano

Adieu, Monsieur Mojo

...And other SXSW adventures

Drastic Unilateral Action

Universal hopes to JumpSTART flagging CD sales with aggressive price cuts. Who benefits the most?

Duck Soup

The fancy French food or the fizzy water? What to trust at Papillon.

Criminals Beware

KPRC has an FBI man to state the obvious

Thai Raid

In America, Thai dishes are being toned down. The Thai government wants to step in to stop it.

What's in a Name?

Everything, if you're in the band called Anthrax

If Six Were Nine

The Chron cooks the books for a circulation boast

Starry, Starry Night

The Chronicle gets honored at a downtown bash

Letters

Residency Woes, Good God!, Organ-ic Giver

Calling All Scabs

Hearst looks to Houston for strikebreakers

Potty Training

The Chron's annual fight against "smut" is on again

Hell Phone

Some diners would like to bite into cellular telephone users at upscale restaurants

Conventional Wisdom

Houston media hit the GOP convention

Joining the Battle

Real or Satire?

Dish

News of the Weird

Trivial Pursuit

Should taxpayer dollars help prosecute a reporter with a big mouth and inoperable cancer?

Two Thumbs Up

The Insider

Dish