Slideshow: Dr Pepper Mania
Robb’s story on soda bootleggers got you craving more DP action? Give these photos a try. There’s a monkey in there. We promise. – KP…
Longing for Sports Sunday
Jason had a post the other day lamenting the decline of long-form journalism. But there’s something else that’s disappearing, and that’s the local sportscast. Not only is it shrinking in the amount of time it’s given during the newscast, but at one Green Bay station, it’s disappearing completely and being…
Racket vs Racket Jr
So lately, my son and I have been going ‘round and ‘round about music. His hormones are starting to kick in, and he’s developing some strident, independent tastes. The little tyke who once listened to Buckwheat Zydeco’s Choo-Choo Boogaloo on a loop for a month and later developed obsessions for…
Last Night: X at Warehouse Live
Check out our slideshow of X at Warehouse Live… X Warehouse Live Studio June 3, 2008 Better Than: The same show in the Warehouse Live ballroom – for the audience, if not the band. Download: Here’s John Doe covering the Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” on his solo tour last year. Despite…
Reverberations: Young Mammals, Guilty Hearts, Born Liars, Pope Jon PPP, Welfare Mothers and Paul Collins’ Beat
If you can handle French Kicks, you’d probably better get to Walter’s this Friday to see openersYoung Mammals. And then Saturday at Rudyard’s you’ve got Guilty Hearts, with Born Liars, Pope Jon PPP and Welfare Mothers…
Astros-Pirates: Wait, So Now Houston Is a Pitching Team?
Coming into last night’s game, it was the Pittsburgh Pirates who had the actual vaunted offensive machine. They ranked fourth in the National League, having scored 285 runs for the season. And with Wandy Rodriguez on the mound, a historically bad road pitcher, things did not look good. Pirates pitcher…
Last Night: Barack Obama in St. Paul
Our sister paper up in Minnesota was there last night when Barack Obama officially (well, not quite, but you know what we mean) become the Democratic nominee for President. They’ve got a live-blog of Obama’s speech and plenty of pictures of the man and his supporters. — KP…
Clay Aiken Is Going to Be a Daddy? For Realz?
Susan Svirsky Click here for more Clay Aiken art… Okay, is this shit for real? Not to start out this post of my normally eloquent and thoughtful column so bluntly, but seriously, is this shit for real? Is Clay Aiken actually fathering a child via artificial insemination? Because if it…
Last Night: X at Warehouse Live
We just loaded up a slideshow from Daniel Kramer of last night’s X show. Carry on. — KP…
We Now Present… Steroids, The Musical
To save Broadway, great minds have changed the way they think. Instead of creating musicals, with music written directly for the show, the great minds are lifting songs en masse from other sources and planting them in shows. For instance, Mamma Mia! is nothing but an excuse to sell more…
Adios, Adrian’s Burger Bar
I stopped by Adrian’s Burger Bar in the 5th Ward this weekend with the intention of eating one of Adrian Cooper’s amazing one-pound burgers. I was saddened to see that Adrian’s has closed its doors. The old burger joint down the street from Wheatley High School was a neighborhood institution…
The Drive-In Theater in Kingwood Is Back in Business
The drive-in movie scene was pretty cool back in the day. At least The Outsiders made it seem that way. John Baxter thinks that scene still has some life. He recently purchased a drive-in about ten miles north of Kingwood. Baxter is calling the place the Kingwood Drive-In Theatre, but…
The Wayback Machine: 15, 10 and Five Years Ago in Houston Music
One the first week of June, 1993…Killbilly played the Brazos Bottom Grill out in Richmond…Siren held it down all weekend at Club Rock and Roll (128 Westheimer)…Little Brian played the Continental Zydeco Ballroom in Fifth Ward…People with Hands were at Dan Electros…Emo’s weekly line-up was as follows: The Cows, Janitor…
$7 at Chilosos Taco House in the Heights
Where: Chilosos Taco House, 701 E 20th Street, 713-868-2273 What $7 gets you: Three kinds of sausage and a lot of egg. Much like the Anonymous Eater over at Food in Houston, I too had questioned whether Chilosos Taco House really exists. I drove by the place all the time,…
John Royal’s Forecast for the Astros in June: Not So Hot
The Astros started May on fire, winning 12 of the month’s first 16 games. They finished the month in much the same fashion as they played in April, losing, going 5-7 to end May. And the month of June got off to an awful start, losing 10-1 on Sunday to…
Ultimate Fighting, Schmighting
Saturday night I went to a sports bar with a friend to watch the Stanley Cup – if you can’t be in attendance for a hockey game, the next best thing is being with a group of hockey fans. The problem was, we were it. I won’t give the name…
Bo Diddley, RIP
Of all the 1950s pioneers of rock and roll – Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry – Bo Diddley, who passed away today at 79, has always been my favorite. He was so much more than his trademark rectangular guitar and clave beat…
Russo’s New York Coal-Fired Pizzeria: Not Being Frank, But Still Tasty
I tried a sliced sausage and green pepper pizza at Russo’s New York Coal-Fired Pizzeria at 290 and Highway 6 over the weekend. The sausage was real Italian with a nice fennel aroma. But it was the crust that set this pizza apart. It was crunchy and slightly charred along…
Love the Look, Miss the Escalators: Houston Public Library Central Branch Reopens
It was like the crowd at the end of a 10-K run or marathon. “C’mon, keep going! You can do it!” Women and men in red Houston Public Library shirts were urging us on as we made our way up flight after flight of stairs for the very grand re-opening…
The State of Sports Journalism Today
I have a bit of a man crush on Wright Thompson. If you don’t know who he is, don’t feel bad. He’s not exactly a household name. Thompson happens to be a brilliant, young writer for ESPN.com. But you never see him on TV, screaming and attempting to shove his…
Friday Night: The Dresden Dolls at Warehouse Live
Be sure to check out our photos of the Dresden Dolls Brigade… The Dresden Dolls, with Smoosh May 30, 2008 Warehouse Live Better Than: What could be better than a costume party with killer live music? It’s like Halloween in May—complete with chocolate (keep reading). Download: Videos, concert clips, and…
Over the Weekend: Steel Lounge Underground, Absinthe Lounge, Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark, Astros and MTV Movie Awards
“Fool, it’s hot! I told you again! Were you born on the sun? It’s damn hot!” — Adrian Cronauer “Summertime and the livin is easy.” — Billie Holiday Both true, as this past weekend would attest. 9:28 p.m. at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston On Friday, May 30, it was…
Astros-Brewers: Ugly. Actually, Make That Fugly.
The Astros started the month of May by sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers. The Astros ended the month of May, and started the month of June, by being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers. And as pretty as the beginning of the month was, just as ugly was the end. There was…
The 2008 MTV Movie Awards Turn Back the Clock
So I totally do not know what the kids are listening to or even watching as I’m gettin’ a little long in the tooth, at least as far as MTV is concerned. (I remember the first video I ever saw on MTV was a-ha’s “Take On Me,” and I’m kind…
Get Lit: Nothing to Lose, by Lee Child
Lee Child’s use of allegory in his latest Jack Reacher novel Nothing to Lose would make William Faulkner proud. Caught between the towns of Hope and Despair in Colorado, Reacher gets stuck when people want him gone which only makes him more determined to stick around. Set upon by four…
The Early Bird Gets to Perch on a Stool at the Bar at The Grove
We walked in to The Grove restaurant at Discovery Green at the corner of Lamar and Crawford for an early lunch this Friday only to be told that all the tables were taken, but we could sit at the bar. Slightly dumbfounded, we moved on over, put in our orders…
To Do: Grand Opening for Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark
Be sure to scope these preview photos of the Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark… Fasten your grip tape and polish those trucks, all you skaters. Finally, there’s a place to grind the rails and carve up the bowls without the cops busting your balls. That’s right, the city’s first skate…
Barbecue and Bait in Navasota
The sign out front of this four-table barbecue joint on Business 6 (S. Lasalle Street) in Navasota read “3B Bar-B-Que: Buggies, Bar-B-Que & Bait.” I guess they used to sell crawfish along with the barbecue. And who knows what was up with the bait? When we sat down to eat,…
Astros-Cardinals: St. Louis Smacks Houston Again
The St. Louis Cardinals should not be able to defeat this season’s Astros. Even with the Astros’ lousy pitching, the Cardinals offense is essentially only Albert Pujols. But the Astros and Cardinals have now played nine games this season, and somehow, the Cardinals have found a way to win six…
Ted Nugent Reloads, and Lots of Gun Songs
Wang dang sweet poontang, Ted “High on Freedom” Nugent is at it again. Displaying a shrewd knowledge of his fanbase, Rick Perry’s hunting buddy debuted his new song “I Am the NRA” at the gun-lovers’ annual convention earlier this month in Louisville, Kentucky. Here’s a sample lyric from the NRA’s…
Last Night: Band of Annuals at Boondocks
Band of Annuals Boondocks May 29, 2008 Better Than: An empty bottle, a broken heart and you still on my mind. Download: Bob Dylan is still a little stingy about letting people have his songs for free, so try this on for size. I knew it wasn’t an accident I…
The Five Best Trades in the History of Houston Sports
Sports fans always talk about the trade that should be made, or the trade that was made. It’s just part of being a sports fan. So today I thought I would give you what I felt to be the five best trades in Houston sports history. 5. On April 6,…
Say It Ain’t So, Dr. Frank
When I first moved to Houston eight years ago, I found myself asking several questions: Is it legal to make freeways this wide? Is this furniture salesman for real and is he actually going to save me money? Oh my God, what the Hell is slime in the ice machine…
Raiding the Houston Press’s Photo Archives
So today’s New York Times has an article about how cash-strapped Sony Music is planning to open a new revenue stream: Some of Sony’s music executives believe there is a gold mine under the company’s New York headquarters on Madison Avenue. It doesn’t look like much: just a small room,…
Playbill: Mark Germino at Anderson Fair
After a five-year absence to write three works of fiction, Mark Germino came back to music with a great album in 2007. Unfortunately Atomic Candlestick hardly raised an eyebrow in the national music press. Even the Bible of alt-country, No Depression, passed on my offer of a review. If you…
The University of Houston Quiz, Continued…
I’d like to thank Richard Connelly for grilling the new president of the University of Houston, Renu Khator. As a proud 1988 graduate of the UH Honors Program (now Honors College), I of course keep up with all things Cougar-related. So it disappointed me that Dr. Khator did relatively poorly…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Justin Townes Earle, Dustin Welch and Jubal Lee Young Crawl Out of the Shadows
In spite of the old Surgeon General-like warning among industry insiders about musical fathers and sons (“like father, like hell”), several sons of important Americana figures seem to be rapidly coming well into their own. Longtime left-of-center Nashville writer Mark Germino, whose songwriting notches include cuts by Johnny Cash and…
Q&A: Rich Williams of Kansas Talks History, Houston and Will Ferrell
In the realm of classic rock warhorse bands, few have managed to straddle genres like Kansas. Fist pumping FM rock anthems (“Carry On Wayward Son,” “Point of Know Return,” “Play the Game Tonight”) share CD and concert stage space with much more detailed proggy fare (“The Wall,” “Journey from Mariabronn”),…
“Lost” Is Just a Big Old Tease, But I Love Her, and I Can’t Wait for Her Season Finale Tonight
If “Lost” were a girl, she’d be that girl who always lets you get to second base and then keeps her knees pressed firmly together even after you’ve told her she’s got eyes that are like the windows to her soul or some crap like that. If “Lost” were a…
Astros-Cardinals: Good Pitching Wins Again
I’ve got a confession. I didn’t watch all of the Astros game last night. I’ve got money on the Stanley Cup, so I flipped back and forth between the Astros-Cardinals and the Red Wings-Penguins – go Penguins. But I did see enough to know that the Astros lost 6-1. St…
Sushi for a Cure
There are already plenty of reasons to hit Ra Sushi – the delicious drinks and beautiful people chief among them. But here’s another one: Through May 31, the restaurant will be donating 100 percent of the proceeds from various items to treat and cure children with life-threatening illnesses. The national…
Authentic Cemitas at Puebla Bakery
I’ve often joked that if I wait long enough, all my favorite Mexican regional foods will show up in Houston (hence my ongoing search for the Guadalajaran birote and a torta ahogada). Well, I’m pleased to say that Puebla Bakery (6880 Telephone Road, 713-242-6850) does right by its namesake Mexican…
Without Air: Choreography Is King, But Where’s the Star Power?
Mireille Hassenboehler and Simon Ball in Little Dancer Trust Canadian choreographer James Kudelka to take the posture of Edgar Degas’s iconic sculpture La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans and impose the little girl’s titled head and hands-clasped-behind-the-back motif onto a bunch of men. That’s so cool. The world premiere of…
Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark Grand Opening
Houston, it’s time to cut some ribbon and grind some pavement. At the Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark Grand Opening, you can test out your kick flips, ollies, shove-its, 360s and more — that is, after the pros give it a proper christening. Big names in skating, such as World…
Sounds Like Fun!
The Houston Symphony’s annual community concert series Sounds Like Fun! is already in full swing with more than a dozen free shows at area schools, churches and neighborhood centers on the schedule. A program of kid-friendly classics that are perfect for introducing children to classical music, the show includes excerpts…
Creole Heritage Zydeco & Crawfish Festival
This weekend the bayou comes to Baytown for the fourth annual Creole Heritage & Zydeco Festival. On the bandstand, a generous sampling of the region’s top zydeco talent will keep you on your toes. Friday’s lineup includes Step Rideau & The Zydeco Outlaws, one of Houston’s musical mainstays for more…
Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey
What do the sci-fi movies of the ‘50s and the Rolling Stones have in common? They both owe something to Leon Theremin. An electronic genius, he invented the theremin, a musical instrument you play by waving your hands around two electrical coils. You don’t actually touch the coils, but by…
Central Library Grand Reopening Celebration
After two years and $17 million, expectations for the newly renovated Houston Public Central Library are high. Be the first to see the library enter the 21st century — with a cafe, gift shop, art gallery and new technology — at the Central Library Grand Reopening Celebration. The two-day event…
Wild Ocean 3D and “Sharks in Depth”
The IMAX film Wild Ocean 3D takes viewers off the coast of South Africa for the unbelievable feeding frenzy that happens when billions of fish migrate up the coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Created by the folks behind STOMP, Wild Ocean 3D shows thousands of sharks, whales, dolphins and others in a…
“30 Year Survey of Painting”
Tom Berg wants you to have a seat: his. His latest show at Wade Wilson Art, “30 Year Survey of Painting,” features a variety of styles, colors and views of chairs. See the summer’s most relaxing exhibit from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 4411 Montrose. The show runs 11 a.m…
“Immigrant Entrepreneurs”
Dallas photographer Paul Greenberg has chronicled urban life through his black-and-white panoramic images for the past 30 years. His new exhibit, “Immigrant Entrepreneurs,” is a collection of photographs featuring Dallas-based business owners who came from Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East to pursue the American Dream. Each entrepreneur…
Band of Annuals
Hopefully this visit by Salt Lake City’s Band of Annuals will be a balm to soothe the recent tension between Texas and Utah. From the Jazz once again vanquishing the Rockets in the playoffs to all that unfortunate polygamist-sect business, things haven’t been too cordial between us lately. The Annuals,…
Beauty and the Beast
The Broadway-style musical Beauty and the Beast might be one of the sweetest introductions to the world of live theater you could give your child. The fairy tale story of lovely Belle who falls for the ugly Beast offers a lesson on the nature of true love. Throw in a…
Poison Pen Reading Series
The monthly Poison Pen Reading Series offers the best place to see a mix of up-and-coming and well-seasoned local writers. With three books of poetry under her belt, Susan Wood can definitely be filed under the latter. A staple in the Rice University English department, Wood has also had poems…
Several Dancers CORE Salon
One of the most common complaints about modern dance is that it’s too cryptic — even to dance enthusiasts. Dancers and choreographers don’t like to confuse their crowds, but they don’t want to simplify their work too much, either. Thankfully, there’s a fun, creative solution to this disconnect at the…
Dan Cummins
Dan Cummins doesn’t like to be interrupted when using public bathrooms. (Who does?) So when people keep jiggling the handle and knocking on the door of a locked, single-occupancy restroom, Cummins has a plan. “I want to take off all my clothes except for my underwear and then answer the…
Writing Workshop Series
If the first thing you think about when you wake up is writing, and the last thing you think about before you go to bed is writing, and in between all you think about is writing — guess what? You’re a thinker. Writers write. They put pen to paper. You…
Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Stephen Sondheim’s gorgeously disturbing Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street hits the stage with an astonishing score, strange, bloody story of revenge and, of course, icky meat pies. About as dark as a play can get, this show is one of the most memorable in the entire canon…
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Films at Discovery Green
Both über-jocks and film geeks will appreciate a collection of film clips from the vault of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, showing today as part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Films at Discovery Green series. The two-hour montage of shorts and clips features both in-game highlights and…
“Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body”
Did you know that fresh urine is cleaner than spit? That it’s also cleaner than the skin on your face? How about that people who live in big cities make more earwax than those in the country? And who knew the average human’s skin weighs seven pounds? Find out more…
“2008 Houston Area Exhibition”
The “2008 Houston Area Exhibition” is a survey of the city’s art scene — narrowed down to 16 people. The quadrennial show at Blaffer Gallery features a range of paintings, sculptures, videos, mixed media works and more from select artists around town. Domy Bookstore patrons might recognize Seth Alverson’s somewhat…
Graveyard BBQ
Guitar Hero is a rising tide that lifts all boats. It certainly raised the fortunes of the Waltham, Massachusetts, four-piece Graveyard BBQ. Winners of the 2005 “Be a Guitar Hero” contest, the BBQers saw their song “Cheat on the Church” become known to button-mashing wannabe shredders everywhere when it landed…
Korean Cinema Now (and Then)
Okay, so you think your wife is having an affair. What do you do? In Driving with My Wife’s Lover/Aneeui aeineul mannada, stamp maker Tae-han, not usually known as bold or brassy, decides he’s going to confront his rival. After tucking some sharp tools into his bag, Tae-han leaves the…
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park, the story of a dinosaur nature reserve gone amok, was meant to be a “don’t mess with Mother Nature because payback is a bitch” cautionary tale. But most people were too busy screaming every time a huge dinosaur bit somebody in half to notice. The film features Sam…
Slant 8: Bold Asian American Images
Tired of YouTube, but still like your flicks in the five-minute range? Head to the Aurora Picture Show’s Slant 8: Bold Asian American Images, a program that features 11 short flicks, each dealing with some aspect of Asian-American life. Experimental and narrative, silly and serious, the films cover everything from…
“Round 28: Otherwise Constricted”
The artists featured in “Round 28: Otherwise Constricted” display their innovation through renovation. Jeff Williams literally has built up and brought down his Project Row House, an ongoing installation; he adds new walls and wood floors to show what could be, but also tears down old walls and lifts up…
X, with the Detroit Cobras
X are celebrating their 31st year in show biz, and while 31 might seem like an odd number to mark an anniversary, it makes some sense when you consider the triskaidekaphiliac band’s longtime fascination with and superstition of all things relating to the number 13. X’s most recent album of…
Augustana, with Paddy Casey and Wild Sweet Orange
The growing number of television series that employ mid-tempo rock songs and plaintive ballads to pump up the emotion in major scenes has resulted in a proliferation of bands eager to provide the same — and San Diego’s Augustana, which appears on this date with Paddy Casey and Wild Sweet…
The BellRays and Architects, with Vice and Deadbird
California soul-rockers the BellRays have a lot of things going for them: hard riffs, solid records, a wild live show. But nothing tops frontwoman Lisa Kekaula, whose super-high ‘fro and extra-short dresses make her quite a sight onstage. The title of the band’s latest album, Hard Sweet and Sticky, doesn’t…
Shots in the Dark
CANNES, France—No need for dreaming here. Each Cannes Film Festival generates its own metaphors for a 10-day regimen of visions in the dark. It’s impossible to forget, let alone transcend, one’s unnatural situation here. The opening film of Cannes’s 2008 edition clobbered participants with a cautionary allegory. Regardez: The civilized…
The Dresden Dolls, with Smoosh
Imagine Marlene Dietrich at Burning Man. That’s what singer/pianist Amanda Palmer and drummer Brian Viglione deliver with the Dresden Dolls, who are touring in promotion of No, Virginia, their third studio album. This compilation of previously unreleased tracks, as well as newly-written material, is a sequel to Yes, Virginia (2006)…
Daniel Adame steals the show at Lawndale
For his drawing/performance, Marker Head Marker at Lawndale Art Center, Daniel Adame encased his head in a giant chunk of plaster shaped like a huge piece of chalk. He then made a drawing on a blackboard hung on the gallery wall. The piece is a part of the group exhibition…
Matt Costa: Unfamiliar Faces
Despite the name, the faces on this SoCal singer-songwriter’s sophomore disc aren’t exactly unfamiliar: There’s the Shins, there’s Josh Rouse and, perhaps most of all, there’s Jack Johnson, who signed Matt Costa to his Brushfire label and has had Costa open for him on tour. So the pleasures of Unfamiliar…
Mental Anguish for West Oaks Hospital
Wow: This packs quite a punch [“Mental Anguish,” by Margaret Downing, May 8]. Is Downing “gunning” for West Oaks Hospital? I very well remember her other article, “Death in a Box” [October 25, 2007] from last year. Both these articles raise many serious issues regarding the kind of care that…
The Mother Truckers: Let’s All Go to Bed
A slight consonant shift in The Mother Truckers’ name yields Them Other Truckers, and where the Austin quartet’s 2006 debut Broke, Not Broken sagged in spots, Let’s All Go to Bed exudes a feisty confidence that recalls, well, them other Truckers. (Drive-By, that is.) They haven’t redefined their mixed-gender roots-rock,…
Self-Hating Mexican Americans, and Rednecks of All Colors
Dear Mexican, I’m a Mexican American, but I always lie and tell people my ancestors were from Spain and immigrated to the United States in the 1920s. My whole family says this. We feel embarrassed if we tell people that our heritage is Mexican because Mexicans in the USA are…
Pop Quiz with UH President Renu Khator
Since taking over as the new University of Houston president in January, Renu Khator has been on an extensive charm offensive. She’s met with all types of groups and she’s taken surprise tours of campus buildings. One thing she hasn’t done yet: visited a dorm. Which is bad news for…
Al Green: Lay It Down
Most producers who supervise reclamation projects for aging stars make the mistake of trying to contemporize the artist’s sound — the equivalent of dressing your eightysomething Uncle Jake like a 21st-century club kid. Not so Roots drummer Amir “?uestlove” Thompson, who helmed the Al Green comeback platter Lay It Down…
Banda meets ska meets the Smiths in the sound of Pistolera
Writers hear all kinds of reasons — some plausible, many contrived — why bands spring to life. Few match that of Pistolera, perhaps New York’s only fusion of the Smiths and Banda El Recodo, among many other trans-Rio Grande, trans-Atlantic fusions. “I write music to re-create some part of home…
THE HIDEAWAY’S CHOCOLATE MARTINI
I found out some of my favorite people in the world were moving to Boulder, and it was totally bumming me out. I figured The Hideaway on Dunvale (3122 Dunvale Rd., 713-977-3515) would be the perfect place to shake off my blues, and, boy, did I hit the jackpot. First, Big…
Robyn: Robyn
Way back in 1996, Robyn reached the Top 10 with “Do You Know (What It Takes).” She followed it up a year later with another big hit, “Show Me Love.” Then she disappeared. This comeback album by the thin-voiced but spunky singer, who’s now 28, was originally released three years…
Bun B’s II Trill
Back in 1987, when Chad Butler and Bernard Freeman were first writing the rhymes that would become their debut cassette The Southern Way, neither one of them ever would have dreamed that their music would one day echo off the walls of a Louis Vuitton boutique in the Galleria. But…
A Taste for San San Tofu
Try the tofu: Tofu has a reputation for being lifeless and tasteless. But the fried lemongrass tofu ($3) at San San Tofu (6445 Wilcrest, 281-988-5666) dispels any such notion. Presented in an unglamorous plastic container with a lid that says, “I’m ready to be taken home and eaten,” the golden…
Bayousphere
Ted Williams’s cryogenically frozen head is perhaps not being treated with all the dignity the last .400 hitter deserves. But at least he’s batting clean-up! This almost-gruesome scene comes from the Miller Career & Technology Center in Katy, where heads will roll at the cosmetology department. To view image larger,…
The Science of Pop
A few years ago, a psychology lecturer at a British college came up with the formula for the “perfect” mood-lifting pop song. Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic posited a certain equation involving pitch, positive lyrics and serotonin levels that, when tweaked in precise amounts, would result in a vastly improved emotional state…
Smiling with Joe Hernandez
Long ago, Joe Hernandez’s wife taught him that “the sale is in the smile.” That was back in 1985, when Hernandez, at the age of 50, inspired by Colonel Sanders, who started KFC at the age of 65, decided to open Joe’s Sandwich Shop. He smiled and smiled, and the…
Disney Channel fits Texan Demi Lovato for a glass slipper
Demi Lovato was eight when she knew. Or in kindergarten. Hard to recall, precisely. That was a long time ago. Years ago. Demi’s old now, all of 15, though sometimes she looks a good ten years older. The memory isn’t what it used to be. But the when is beside…
Sizing up the summer’s classic-rock scorecard
Deciding which classic rock shows to attend this summer might be as frustrating as enduring a drum solo by Yes’s Alan White, but Wack is here to help. So far, 13 are headed this way in May and June alone, with five coming this weekend. We’ll keep score all summer,…
Dr. Roger Wood’s Matagorda Island Discs
This week’s installment comes courtesy of Dr. Roger Wood, a one-time Press contributor and the author of Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues and Texas Zydeco. Wood apologized for what he termed the conventionality of his list, but says if he tried to get any hipper with his roll call,…
Cheap Sex and the City: The Movie
Oh, please — spoiler alert? Fine, I won’t tell you whether Carrie Bradshaw ties the knot with Mr. Big, even though you’ve already seen that gown winging its way around the Web. Given the Sex and the City vibe, some fans might be more interested in whether the frock —…
Capsule Art Reviews: “John Alexander: New Paintings and Drawings,” “Paul Fleming: Dither Complex,” “Sculpture”
“John Alexander: New Paintings and Drawings” Running concurrently with the John Alexander retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, this showing of new works at McClain Gallery is a testament to Alexander’s popularity and the collectability of his work. These pieces represent an interesting transition for Texas native Alexander,…
Super Cardio Bros. with Wii Fit
Somebody forgot to tell Nintendo that “strenuous indoor exercise” does not top anyone’s summer fun list. This, of course, does not explain why poor suckers everywhere are lining up for Wii Fit, an exhausting personal trainer disguised as a video game. Me? I’ll be kicking back with Mario Kart Wii…
Cannes Class of 2008
CANNES, France—Wading through 20-odd movies in half as many languages, each Cannes jury supplies its own dramatic narrative, to be interpreted according to its president’s presumed taste. Days before the 61st Cannes Film Festival ended, rumors were rife that the jury was having difficulties reaching consensus. As the award ceremony…
Isn’t It a Pity: The Gershwins’ An American in Paris
Except for a few establishing long shots and some introductory stock footage, every frame of MGM’s 1951 Academy Award-winner An American in Paris was shot in Culver City, California. Yet this golden musical from the studio’s legendary Freed Unit has more flavor and joie de vivre in any individual shot…
Capsule Stage Reviews: The Drowsy Chaperone, The Heiress, Mr. Marmalade, Present Laughter, Time of My Life, The Vagina Monologues
The Drowsy Chaperone Thank you, Canada! If that country didn’t produce anything else in its history, it would forever have our undying gratitude for this absolutely fabulous show. There’s nothing like The Drowsy Chaperone in the Broadway canon, and no original musical in recent memory can touch its free spirit…
Staying Cool at Joe Carmouche’s Legends Jazz Cafe
On the official list of Things That Are Cool, playing a mean jazz guitar is right near the top. Specifically, it’s directly above “catching a rattlesnake with your bare hands” and directly below “punching a guy in the face who’s been acting like a douchebag at a party.” It’s a…
The Sword, with Torche and Stinking Lizaveta
It doesn’t happen very often that people who collect back issues of Heavy Metal and the hipsters at SXSW hype the same band, but that’s exactly what transpired when Austin natives the Sword delivered a breakout performance at last year’s festival. A four-piece with the soul-sucking sonics of a classic…
Best Burger in Texas?
The double-meat, double-cheese at 105 Grocery & Deli in the rural hamlet of Washington was too much burger for me. I got exactly halfway through it. If I had known how big it was, I would have ordered a single. But the grill cook, a wisecracking woman named Pam Pennington,…