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Five Art Masterworks That Should Be Metal Album Covers

It's not often that you get the opportunity to combine masterpieces of painting and metal. It's not completely unfounded, considering Guns N' Roses copped from Raphael's School of Athens for the cover of their Use Your Illusion set. But it's rare, like mixing pro wrestling and classical literature. ... More >>

Randy Moss' And Chris Culliver's Nuclear Trolling Of San Francisco

As an NFL player playing in the biggest football game known to the free world, the last thing you want to do during Super Bowl week is give your opponent any bulletin board material. Trash talk is not highly recommended. This year, perhaps because (more likely, in spite of) the two head coaches are ... More >>

B(r)and Awareness: 5 Easy Tips to Maintain Your Web Presence

Doing research on famous bands is easy. If you're famous enough to have your own Wikipedia entry, then you're big enough to have dozens of pages on the Internet about you filled with the most interesting and boring bits of minutia. Anything a blogger needs to know to interview, write about, or make ... More >>

Ten Television Tech Advances That Have Made Watching Sports More Interesting

Seeing a sporting event in person is one of the more enjoyable parts of being a sports fan. From the smell of the grass to the roar of the crowd, it can be an exhilarating experience, particularly if you are fairly close to the action. On the other hand, tickets are expensive, sitting in the noseble ... More >>

Houston 101: Will Hogg, Houston's Forgotten, Eccentric and Downright Badass Philanthropist

What better time than Memorial Day to remember Will Hogg, the man who founded Memorial Park? If that (and the Arboretum) was all Will Hogg gave Houston, that would rank as one of the grandest local legacies anyone has ever achieved. But Will Hogg did so much more. He founded and developed River Oa ... More >>

One Pho the Money at Pho Saigon

This past weekend I was sick as a dog. I had to leave work early on Friday to go home and curl into the fetal position, a pitiful display which was broken only by frequent bouts of hydration and moaning. Being sick is the worst, but with the powers of modern science and medicine on my side (Z-pack ... More >>

No Wiki, No Worries: Our Wikipedia Entries for the Osteens, Astros, Michael Brown & Tom DeLay

As you might have noticed to your consternation, Wikipedia is down today to protest SOPA and attempts to curb Internet privacy. Fear not. We have available for use some Houston-related wiki entries, produced by us with all the care that goes into some of the online encyclopedia's offerings.

If the Wikipedia Boycott of SOPA Spread: Seven Examples of Horror

​With Wikipedia boycotting the Stop Online Piracy Act today by shutting itself down for 24 hours, the powers that be at the crowdsourced information giant hope we all get freaked out enough by their absence that we tell Congress we think SOPA should not be passed. If you don't know what SOPA i ... More >>

The 10 Most Real Artists of All Time; The Anti-Milli Vanillis

Milli Vanilli​On this day in 1990, the manager for recent Grammy winners for Best New Group Milli Vanilli held a press conference to tell everyone his act was a fraud. They did not do any of the singing on their best-selling record and they lip synced their shows. It was a startling revelation ... More >>

Numbers Game

Of hell spawns, dinner theater and a venue actually old enough to have traditions.

9 Musical Costumes Couples Should Avoid This Halloween

Norman See/last.fmNice threads, but... yeah. Don't go there.​The other day, a friend of ours asked us for our opinion on some ideas for "couple costumes," as in Halloween, including Han Solo and Princess Leia. Ugh. Do you happy couples really start this early in September? Rocks Off thinks ... More >>

Comment of the Day

​Joanna O'Leary wrote about her favorite retro sodas, inspiring readers to chime in with their own picks. We found one comment, from Bibulb, especially intriguing: While it's not THAT retro (although it's been fifteen years now...) and it never made it to Houston, I enjoyed OK Soda. While I l ... More >>

Herbes de Provence

Kristen MajewskiThe selection of herbes de Provence at HEB.​If I had to pick a favorite ingredient, it would probably be the creamy goodness that is butter. I don't indulge in this obsession too often, opting instead for my second favorite ingredient, dried herbs. Okay, so that's not really on ... More >>

R.I.P Joey Ramone: Top 10 Ramones Songs...

Besides "I Wanna Be Sedated" And "Blitzkrieg Bop" Dawkeye via Wikipedia​It was ten years ago today that the world lost their first Ramone, when Joey Ramone succumbed to lymphoma in New York City at the age of 49, one month shy of turning 50. The iconic punk frontman would lead the Ramones in ... More >>

Steak and a BJ Day: The Male Valentine's Day

​Although one of America's newest holidays does not yet have its own Wikipedia page, it does have two separate Web sites as well as an entry on Urban Dictionary. And that's good enough for us. For the uninitiated, Steak and a BJ Day is the "creation" of Tom Birdsey, a radio talk show host ou ... More >>

The Houston Rodeo: Ten Classic Pictures

Photos courtesy HLS&RLook closer​Rodeo excitement is here, as our version of the State Fair ramps up with the trail riders nearing the city and Go Texan Day Friday. The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo people were nice enough to let us rifle through their archive of pictures, and we've presente ... More >>

Common Social Media Mistakes Musicians Make

Note spelling in poster is different from band's actual name.​As we speak, Rocks Off is going through the concert listings one by one looking for something of interest for which to write amusing articles laced with the finest penis jokes. "What, ho?" says we. "This band Indiginis has a caprici ... More >>

Top 5: Good Food at Bad Restaurants

Cheddar Bay Biscuits: You know you love them.​I'm not talking about bad restaurants as in "that dumpy place down by the shipping lanes that Uncle Johnnie once saw a rat in" or "that place charges $50 a person and looks down their noses at you while they serve boring hotel food." I'm talking ab ... More >>

Which Rockers Are Best Suited For Autumn?

​What season are you? It's a question that doesn't get asked often enough in the world of rock and roll, but if the half dozen fashion and beauty Web sites Rocks Off consulted while writing this are any indication, seasonal color analysis is big. The phenomenon took off in the 1980s, which as ... More >>

Chilean Miners: The Important News You Have Missed, Some Of Which Involves Lindsay Lohan

Also, Texas is suing for trademark infringement​Hey there, Chilean miners -- you are climbing from the depths into the world's heart (copyright pending). As you surface, you are busy signing book and movie deals, getting some off your wife, tasting real food and beer, hoping your colleagues keep u ... More >>

Radio Is Dead, MySpace Too. How Do We Find New Music?

​As both a music journalist and an actual musician, one of the things Rocks Off is always interested in is finding out how you people are finding out about the music worth finding out about. When you work for a major music blog, new music is hurled at your head at an astounding rate by both t ... More >>

Crime, Punishment and Zack de la Rocha

The 10 Most Fun Musical Instruments To Destroy

​A company in Japan is making disposable guitars expressly made for smashing. At around $60 a pop, you won't be too terribly sad about hacking up the stage with it or clocking your bastard bassist or dullard drummer over the head at the end of the gig. Hell, at these prices you could open the ... More >>

In Dreams: 15 Songs For Mr. Sandman

Rocks Off Sr. is curious why Rocks Off Jr. chose a picture of Christina Hendricks for an article about dreams.​For some reason, Craig's Hlist has been sleeping way too much lately. Blame the booze, fear of the sun, or just plain lack of giving a rat's ass about the daylight. With sleep comes d ... More >>

A Cooler Coke: HiT Lulo

Yes, that's a Build-A-Bear in the background.​Each Tuesday and Thursday for the next few weeks, we'll be taking a look at alternatives to cokes for the sticky Houston summer that lies ahead. And so here we are. A Cooler Coke has finally hit (pardon the pun) a roadblock in attempting to disco ... More >>

A Cooler Coke: Almdudler

​Each Tuesday and Thursday for the next few weeks, we'll be taking a look at alternatives to cokes for the sticky Houston summer that lays ahead. Through the course of drinking various soft drinks and reporting back to you on them, I'll occasionally discover beverages like Vimto: something I ... More >>

Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring: The Buzzfest Of Its Day

​This weekend, the Houston Symphony performs Igor Stravinsky's ballet Rite of Spring, which, before it was featured alongside a bunch of dying dinosaurs in Walt Disney's Fantasia, was probably most famous for sparking a full-blown riot upon its premiere in Paris in May 1913. Seriously - check out ... More >>

Random Ingredient: Heirloom Tomatoes

​What is it? The "heirloom" in heirloom tomatoes refers to the fact that many of the seeds have been passed down through generations of families. Cultivated for any number of characteristics, heirloom tomatoes come in endless shapes, sizes and colors. Another distinct characteristic of these b ... More >>

Rocks Off Scavenger Hunt: Summerfest Lineup Announced At This Houston Landmark 3 p.m. Sunday

WhisperToMe, via Wikipedia​If you're following Rocks Off on Twitter (which you should), don't bother guessing since we let that horse out of the barn a little earlier today. If not, here's a clue: It's where an heiress' treasure meets the Heart of Dixie. And here's one more hint straight from Summ ... More >>

Giant Steps

Homey Heights cafe King Biscuit hosts a first-rate jazz jam.

Tonight You Can Be Filmed For A DVD With Chelsea Lately's Josh Wolf

​Hair Balls wanted to do a little background checking before talking to comedian Josh Wolf so of course we headed to that fountain of all knowledge, Wikipedia. Imagine our surprise when Wiki identified Wolf as an "American journalist who was jailed by a Federal district court ...for refusing t ... More >>

Google's New Music-Search Engine Will Be the Death of Us All

​ This past week, Internet search-engine giant Google introduced a new music-search tool that immediately opens a pop-up window for people searching for a song, where either the entire song or a snippet will play for them. It's still in the beginning stages, so not all songs are available. We star ... More >>

Inquiring Minds: Impressionistic Clarinet Blatter Arrington de Dionyso

www.myspace.com/arringtondedionyso​Now that you've had a chance to familiarize yourself with Old Time Relijun front man and solo aural dissembler extraordinaire Arrington de Dionyso, it's time to see what he's got to say for himself. Rocks Off put the screws to de Dionyso in a late-September email ... More >>

Houston's Top 5 Macaroons

The macaroon is a sort of existentially confused food. In France, a macaroon is a colorful cookie sandwich. In the U.S., we generally think of coconut macaroons first, but they are often made with nuts as well. Rumor (or Wikipedia) has it that in Australia, macaroons often have a jam filling - so je ... More >>

Slide Show: Albums Almost as Old as We Are

The other day, the Rocks Off brain trust was sitting around talking, and one of us happened to mention whatever album it was we were talking about - it might have been Duran Duran's Rio - came out the year one of us was born. That got us thinking, "How much have albums released within 12 months aft ... More >>

When the Moon Becomes Round: Songs for the Summer Solstice

Frederic Vincent/ Wikipedia In Houston, June 21 comes and goes with very little fanfare. While technically it's the first day of summer, anyone can tell you summer around here started about two months ago. Nonetheless, it seems like a shame to leave all the celebrating to the pagans; why, they don't ... More >>

Travis Elementary Gets Water

Photo courtesy of WikipediaWe told you last week that Travis Elementary, the school that was so afflicted with swine flu and/or the fears thereof, was starting its summer session of classes. This morning we heard from Houston ISD spokesman Norm Uhl who tells us the "water samples tested last week ... More >>

Stereo Total

Happy April Fool's Day: Fools in Popular Music

Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray In the Tarot, "The Fool is the spirit in search of experience. He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason within us, the childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world." Hat sold separately.As you've hopefully been able to t ... More >>

Blog On Blog: The Skyline's Ryan Clark

Name: Ryan "adr" Clark Blog: The Skyline Network URL: www.theskyline.netStarted: Late 2006, early 2007Typical Topics: Local music - concert reviews, album reviews, gossipDay Job: I do marketing and communication for an oil gas company.Hair Balls: How did The Skyline Network enter the blogosphere? ad ... More >>

The Year in Albums

Sinbad

This comedian/actor isn’t dead, and neither is his career

Al Green Goes All Rambo

Canadian Questions

Eddie Izzard

Dressed (Differently) to Kill

Strange Wikipedia Searches I Have Done

The Secrets of Houston Radio Station Call Letters, Revealed

Not Bad for a 22-year-old

Not-So-Breaking: Residents of Hell Told to Protect Pipes, Plants and Pets

Punk'd!

Graffiti artists get their moment to shine on camera