U.S.S.R.

The 5 Dumbest West Fertilizer-Plant Explosion Conspiracy Theories On The Web

Investigators are nowhere near declaring what caused the explosion of the fertilizer factory in West April 17. Other investigators, however, have come to their own conclusions, or raised their own questions. Their own nutty, farcical, inane conclusions and questions. They are the West Truthers on ... More >>

Kiarostami in Exile

The great Iranian director lost a home but gained a planet.

Rick Perry Has An International Ally For His (Possible) Secession Plan: The Brutal, Civil-Rights-Crushing Government Of Belarus

The campaign to have Texas secede from the U.S. has been a long struggle with little to show for it so far beyond helping to torpedo Rick Perry's presidential hopes, and as it turned out Perry was entirely capable of doing that himself without any secessionist torpedoing. But now -- just as it seem ... More >>

Alexander Fishenko: Houston Company Schemed To Get High-Tech Hardware To Russian Military & Spies, Feds Say

Did you feel a chilling breeze of Cold War nostalgia wafting though Houston today? Yeah, neither did we. But we could have, because the elements were present as U.S. Department of Justice officials here and in New York announced they'd busted a major ring credited with supplying secret high-tech h ... More >>

10 Best Modern Political Speeches

We'll be hearing a lot of great speeches this election season, but lets take a second to remember the true giants of political rhetoric. 10. Martin Luther King: I've Been to the Mountaintop King delivered this speech in Memphis, Tennessee the day before he was assassinated. After talking for a whi ... More >>

Anastasia: The Mystery Is Over, But the Songs Go On

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was the youngest daughter of Russia's last Tsar, Nicholas II. During her father's reign, her life was rife with scandal due to the association between the royal family and Grigori Rasputin. By all accounts, the relationship that Rasputin had with the you ... More >>

Russian Radio: Top 5 Tasty Cold War Synth Jamz

Hey, remember the Russians? Before they had a gajillion oil dollars and all those supermodels, they wanted to kill us all. But it wasn't all creeping dread and mutually assured destruction. Until the Berlin Wall came down, the Cold War was a common subject in popular culture. Besides KGB trenchcoat ... More >>

Last Night: Bret Michaels At House Of Blues

Bret Michaels House of Blues March 29, 2012 Bret Michaels already had one foot firmly planted in "rock star parody" territory long before VH1 ever got a hold of him. His band Poison, those four horsemen of the '80s hair metal apocalypse, were such a personification of that decade's rock cliches it' ... More >>

The Fall of Sputnik: 6 Songs for a Satellite

On this day in 1958 Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to be put into orbit, fell to Earth after completing 1,440 orbits. The launch of Sputnik was seen as a major blow to the American quest for space superiority, and a significant step forward in the space race by the Soviet Union. In the ... More >>

Pop Rocks: A Few (Updated) Non-Pokemon Speeches for Herman Cain

"Over?"​It was fun (to watch) while it lasted, but Herman Cain officially "suspended" his Presidential campaign last weekend. The former Godfather's CEO had long been dogged by accusations of sexual harassment (to say nothing of his unfamiliarity with the Libyan crisis or how to pronounce "Uzb ... More >>

Happy Birthday, Nintendo: 6 Awesome Retro Game Covers

​Today is the 122nd anniversary of the founding of Nintendo. Yes, you read that right. Nintendo is older than the automobile, Dracula, and the country of Iraq. In a just world, we would brave an abandoned warehouse haunted by tentacle monsters in order to win a cache of steampunk video-game ha ... More >>

The 95th Anniversary of the Tank: Nine Iconic Moments

Ninety-five years ago today, the tank made its debut at World War I's Battle of the Somme. It played a role in bringing an end to that appallingly bloody and stupid battle, and tanks have since gone on to become vital symbols of military might. Here are nine iconic moments or personalities involvi ... More >>

Berlin Wall at 50: Five Iconic Moments

Just another brick in the wall​Fifty years ago today, East German construction crews were in the last stages of preparation for building the Berlin Wall. On August 13, they began, instantly giving an incredible propaganda tool to the free world. The Wall has been down for 22 years and will so ... More >>

Babushka

Hell Is the Harris County Admin Building

Hope, abandoned​An Icelandic saga as written by Franz Kafka. That is the best way we can describe what happens when you attempt to register and transfer title to a car given to you as a gift by your dad who lives out of state. Through what is now four trips to the Harris County Administration ... More >>

Is A Hit Rap Song The Texans' Key To The Super Bowl?

​Want a worthy Super Bowl pick? In the words of Wesley Snipes in 1992's Passenger 57, "Always bet on black," ... and yellow. Don't thank Rocks Off for that profitable betting tip. Thank Wiz Khalifa, who is going to bring glory back to his frigid blue-collar hometown of Pittsburgh. It's only ... More >>

The Ten Worst Beatles Songs Of All Time

​Rolling Stone is about to release a special issue counting down the magazine's choices for the 100 best Beatles songs of all time, and previewed the list by posting the Top 10 on rollingstone.com. Maybe it's just that Rocks Off doesn't have quite the encyclopedic knowledge of the Fab Four as ... More >>

Game Time: Celtics, Feel Better -- Five Officiating Decisions That Were WAY Worse Than Kendrick Perkins' Second Technical

Sorry about that fifth down.....​It's funny, because I'm from New England, people automatically assume that I am a fan of all the Boston teams. To wit, last night as the Celtics were imploding in Orlando, my iPhone was blowing up with text messages asking if I was starting to get worried about th ... More >>

ACL Or Summerfest: Which Commercial Is Better?

Control Group A: The Flaming Lips are playing both Summerfest and ACL.​As you probably know by now, the Austin City Limits Music Festival released its 2010 lineup of the 130 acts playing Zilker Park October 8-10 under cover of darkness 'round midnight Monday. Meanwhile, Houston's scaled-down ... More >>

For San Jacinto Day: Five Victories More Lopsided Than The Texas Army's

​I probably didn't need to remind you that today is the 174th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto, where Sam Houston led the Texas Army to victory over the forces of General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The battle brought an end to the bloody Texas Revolution, and made siestas unfashiona ... More >>

Dr. Manhattan, Meet Dr. Hollywood

Whew! Tinseltown's go-to graphic-novel guy didn't ruin Watchmen. But he doesn't get it either.

Risky Business for Valkyrie

Tom Cruise plots to kill Hitler in his latest impossible mission

Balls...Hair Balls: Best Bond Villains

In compiling a list of the best Bond baddies, one has to establish a few parameters. For starters, you must take into account the bad guy's ultimate objective, weighting plans for global conquest/destruction more heavily than mere monetary gain. Then there are more esoteric factors, like backgro ... More >>

You Not Only Get An Aggie Degree, You Get A George W. Bush Speech!

A Review of Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death, and Country Music by Dana Jennings

Review: Legacy of Ashes, by Tim Weiner

Get Lit: Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics’ Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams, by Jennifer Sey

Aeros Win, as Does Britany

Bribes in the Soviet Union, Jesus Christ on PBS and Gavin Newsom at La Strada

The oil business ain't pretty

Immigration: Cubans Enter U.S. at Texas-Mexico Border

Sailing with Captain Jack

Get Lit: Stalin’s Ghost, by Martin Cruz Smith

Art Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

Capsule Reviews

A picture of our opinions on local exhibitions

Bombs and Bikinis

Stealth aims low but hits its mark

Score!

When it comes to hockey movies, Miracle is as big a winner as its heroes

Opera Is Cool

The "Elvis of Opera" plays down his pop-star status

Dumb Waiters

Ignorance, thy name is waitstaff

Catherine the Great

Deneuve shows the depth of her talent in Place Vendême

International Film Festival 2000

Film Reviews

Bear Hug

You can't say nyet to Cafe East's hearty Russian menu and family charm

Amplified

Local Music News

Amplified

Punk: The Same in Any Language

Rebmaster

Web designer George Kalas wanted to re-fight the Civil War. Instead, he started one in his own movement.

Dish

Post-Commie Depression

In A Friend of the Deceased, our hero longs for the U.S.S.R.

Rotation

Press Picks

Press Picks

Socialist Surrealism

FotoFest curates the work of a brave new generation of Cuban photographers