YMCA

The Signature Sandwiches of Bocca Deli Are Fancier Than Usual

Bocca Deli sits on the cusp of change while embracing the now of this north of downtown neighborhood.

Tim Tebow Visiting Texas...to Speak in Corpus Christi

A few of you read that headline and thought, "Oh, dear God, no!" A few others of you read it and thought, "Oh, dear God, yes!" Either way, just like your thoughts, we're pretty sure Tim Tebow's visit to Corpus Christi will involve the big man upstairs. He will be speaking tonight at Whataburger Fiel ... More >>

Houston's Bcycle Program Begins, With More Kiosks To Come

Houston's maiden foray into a public bicycle program began just weeks ago, with kiosks full of sturdy red Trek bicycles at B-cycle stations open and ready to serve Houstonians adventuresome enough to leave a car -- or more than likely, truck -- behind and embrace Bayou City life on a bicycle. The ... More >>

Last Night: The Adolescents & Youth Brigade at Fitzgerald's

The Adolescents, Youth Brigade, The American Heist Fitzgerald's December 30, 2012 To end 2012 on a note of anti-apocalypse, in which the forces of vitality outmaneuver destruction and oblivion, Willow Villarreal of Hatetank Productions -- who has survived through the thick and thin of a fickle Hous ... More >>

Rest of the Best

Houston's top 5 local music venues.

10 Songs That Will Pack Your Wedding Reception's Dance Floor

Old Houston Photos Mashed With Modern Houston, Part 3: Cleaners, Carpets and Chevys

Check out the first and second installments of old Houston photos mashed up with modern-day Houston. Here we go with our third installment of vintage Houston photos mashed with their present-day locations. This round we show you several different locations surrounding downtown and Montrose. Also, ... More >>

Who Will Be DC Comics' First Gay Superhero? Our Top Six Picks

People everywhere with not much going on in their lives are all atwitter over the news that a DC Comics superhero is coming out of the supercloset in June. That's right: someone who wears skin-tight clothing and very likely a cape will reveal to a stunned world that they are, in fact, gay. But who w ... More >>

Play It Again, Sam: 10 Artists & Comedians Signed To Casablanca Records

Casablanca Records was a record company started by Neil Bogart -- no relation to the late legendary actor Humphrey Bogart, although Neil was a big Bogie enthusiast and admirer. In the 1970s, Casablanca Records was the go-to label for disco much like Death Row was the go-to place for gangsta rap in t ... More >>

Killin' Them Softly: Celebrating 75 Years Of Roberta Flack

To strike someone with the "underrated greatness" term always carries a bit of weight behind it. You know, the quick snap question of "do they deserve it" comes to mind. Sorry, in the class of underrated greatness, diva subsection, lives Roberta Flack who at the platinum age of 75 still takes risks ... More >>

Rocks Off's Annual Descent Into Sunny 99.1's Christmas Music K-Hole

Since 2008, I have spent an hour listening to Sunny 99.1 FM's Christmas music for the Rocks Off blog. Right after Thanksgiving, it's the first thing on my checklist, right next to finding new, weird holiday music for you and trying not to gain 20 pounds in merriment by January. Most of the time on ... More >>

Kriegie Wartime Log

Wade Phillips Is Back, And He's Dancing! (w/ VIDEO)

"Happy to do a solid, bro," Jesus replies​Yesterday, on my radio show at high noon, when the Texans' roster of free agent signings consisted of three re-signings of their own free agent backups on offense, I invoked prayer to help find what was clearly a disabled or trapped Wade Phillips. I as ... More >>

Top 10 Songs To Leave Out Of Your Wedding Reception

​'Tis the summer season for tying the knot. But curse the occasion for creating the ultimate breeding ground for bad music - wedding receptions. It's one thing to unplug the jukebox in an act of defiance or flee a venue playing bad songs (I've done all of the above), but one doesn't exactly h ... More >>

Closing of Independence Heights Pool Will Leave Some Kids Desperate

Photo by Mandy OaklanderThe Independence Heights pool is closed for business. ​Off of 35th and Main lies the heart of Independence Heights, a historically black neighborhood that's getting screwed by the mayor's proposed budget. If all is passed according to plan, the community center and the ... More >>

NFL Lockout's Next Victim -- The Texans Charity Golf Classic

Play golf with a Texan!! (Ummm, John Schriever, V-P of event management)​If there is one immutable law about the Houston sports fans, it's that we love our football. Football intrigues us unconditionally. Like pizza and sex, even bad football will get consumed (or consummated, as it were). ... More >>

Grilled Mac & Cheese Sandwich at Ziggy's

​For a restaurant known for its healthy dining options, Ziggy's Bar & Grill has an impressive edge when it comes to junk food of the highest order. To wit: The grilled mac & cheese sandwich seen above. The story of the grilled mac & cheese sandwich -- a special, limited-time creation inspired ... More >>

One Last Hit of K-2

Fake weed's final freewheeling days

Our Annual Hour In Sunny 99.1's Holiday Hell

​The day before Thanksgiving, Sunny 99.1, "Houston's Official At-Work Station" did its yearly change-over to all holiday music. It's now a Houston tradition to turn over the dial at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve to snort your first line of Burl Ives or Brenda Lee of the season, before you have ev ... More >>

Keyboardist Seeks Arabic Players To Explore Local Scene

​Rocks Off combs through Craigslist's postings hoping to find the genesis of some great musical endeavor. So when we saw a posting looking for Arabic singers, we were intrigued. After all, this is a time of mosque burnings and our upstairs neighbors passing anti-Sharia laws. It must take a he ... More >>

Big Fetish Fair Headed To Houston

May I believe in the Texans again, mistress?​Houstonians are deeply into S&M, if you're just judging by the behavoir of the city's sports fans, who eagerly pay to be humiliated, tortured and teased time and time again.So we guess it's only natural that the Fetish Fair Fleamarket, a big Boston- ... More >>

Twilight, Cleavage & Drugs

Banned books across Texas

Brisket Done Right at The Brisket House

​Only last week, I was lamenting the lack of truly good barbecue within the Houston city limits. The fourth largest city in the nation, the largest in Texas, and host to an annual barbecue championship that pulls in the greatest talent in the world should have a larger selection of solid 'cue ... More >>

A Cooler Coke: Ironbeer

​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. I was prepared not to like Ironbeer from the start. I don't like the packaging. It looks too reminiscent of Dr Pepper and, therefore, like a knock ... More >>

OMG: The Five Most Embarrassing Songs In Our Library

​If, like Rocks Off, you're an archivist (read: pack rat), then you've collected quite a few songs on your listening medium of choice. Hopefully you've done so legally, but this is the internet, so who are we kidding, really. However it happened, you've almost certainly got a few tracks that go be ... More >>

From Sudan To Houston To The Fashion Runway

Todd Parker of STP Images​The supermodel Alek Wek, a refugee from Sudan who had been resettled in London, was discovered by a talent scout at a market. Louice Ali was working his summer job last month when his break came. Born in Khartoum, Ali fled war-torn Sudan with his family just after middle ... More >>

Building The New YMCA From Above

Photos by Daniel MarshallThe old Downtown YMCA does have its architectural charms, but this is Houston, and we tear such things down and put up gleaming new glass towers.That's what's happening at the corner of Milam & Pease (across the street from the Houston Press, as it happens). Construction ... More >>

National Racquetball Tournament Hits Houston For Final Time

Photo by Leo VasquezPatric MascorroIt's Sunday afternoon, and Marcelo Laprea is screaming inside a glass box.  He just lost a point. Laprea is fending off rival Patric Mascorro in the rubber match of a USA Racquetball regional championship at the downtown YMCA. About 50 people watch from t ... More >>

WrestleMania: A Beginner's Guide

Gonna be upfront here: I don't get the whole pro-wrestling thing. Never did.I grew up in New Jersey, where every pizzeria had a glossy shot of Bruno Sammartino on the walls, but it just never took.With that in mind, here is my analysis of the matches in the upcoming WrestleMania 25, which is the sin ... More >>

Jack Valenti, Gay Blade?

Was the late Jack Valenti -- famous Houstonian, former Lyndon Johnson aide, former head of Hollywood's MPAA, namesake of the Valenti School of Communications at UH -- as gay as a Sondheim song?We don't care one way or the other, but it appears the FBI did.The Washington Post reports this morning tha ... More >>

'Round the Kitchen Table

Judging Books and Their Covers

Appearances aside, is the Houston Public Library doing the right thing for all?

Get Out of My Head!

Earworms bore in and won't let go

Have a Bowl

Big-time college pigskin comes to Reliant Stadium

Shallow Pop

Bernie Mac needs three more hits. He won't likely find one here.

Queer Eye for the Country Guy

Have today's C&W stars been consulting with the Fab Five?

The Pageant Must Go On

Bad kids learn good lessons at Christmas time

Holiday Puree

A pinch of this culture, a dash of that make Fiesta Navideña

Seventh-Inning Stretch

HISD's Stripling stalls while opposing sides clamor for a decision about the T.H. Rogers playground

Klan Comedy

Plus: Driving Him Mad, Cable Curse, Gay Players

Lost & Found

One year ago, the Lost Boys of Sudan came to Houston in search of America, a future, safety and an education simple things that got somewhat complicated in the translation

Protective Wrapping

Programs surround a kid and his family with services, hoping for success

Sacred Blues

Blues 2 Joy writes a new testament for the devil's music

Playing Hardball

Quentin Mease's drive to desegregate the Dome gave rise to a new black power in Houston

Out on the Town

Kids gather comfortablyfor a special prom

Child Trek

The devastation of Hurricane Mitch propelled thousands across our southern border in search of new lives in America. And those were just the kids.

Kicking the Gang Attraction

In Gulfton, soccer is much more than a game

Press Picks

It's Play Time!

Children's theater is alive, well and thriving in Houston