Houston Rockets: This Needs To Be Yao’s Team
Coming off a 2-3 road trip, plus wins over OKC and the Hornets, the Rockets make me feel the same way I did a few weeks back. Good, not great. They convincingly won the games they should have, home or away (Clippers, Thunder, Suns), and lost the games they should…
Houston Rockets: This Needs To Be Yao’s Team
Coming off a 2-3 road trip, plus wins over OKC and the Hornets, the Rockets make me feel the same way I did a few weeks back. Good, not great. They convincingly won the games they should have, home or away (Clippers, Thunder, Suns), and lost the games they should…
Have A KKK Christmas!
Since Hair Balls is here to serve, we have a Hints from Heloise-style Christmas decorating recommendation, courtesy of one loyal Hair Balls reader: the “Original Christmas Cross” yard decoration from the American Family Association. “Light up your front yard, porch, patio, driveway, business, organization or church this holiday season with…
Houston Gets Another Final Four
They’re holding the press conference right now to announce that Houston is getting another Final Four. In 2016. That’s a long way away, but you take what you can get. But Dallas, of all places, will get one before us. The plan is to play in Jerry Jones’ billion-dollar Cowboys…
Tonight: Danielson at Walter’s on Washington
The career of Daniel Smith, leader and mastermind of Danielson, has a strange irony: his music promotes spiritual healing, oneness and love, but by and large, his audience has been attracted by its joyous perversity. Smith sings exclusively in a high, squeaky voice, and his twee, disorientingly ad-hoc compositions have…
How Could Anyone Criticize Texas’ Anti-Smoking Campaign?
Here’s yet another list that Texas finds itself at the bottom of: the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’ report of how states have been spending (or not spending) the money they’ve been receiving from the landmark 1998 multi-billion dollar settlement with Big Tobacco. Texas comes in at 46, spending $12.6 million…
Artist of the Week: Room 101
Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. Here at Rocks Off we’ve interviewed groups, we’ve…
Cheerleaders Indicted For (Unfortunately Enough, Non-Sexual) Hazing
Let the drooling begin! The Harris County DAs office announced this morning that they have indicted seven high school cheerleaders for hazing. Glenn Quagmire of Family Guy immediately went into overdrive with his giggity-giggitys. Cosmo Kramer started stuttering “ca-ca-ca-catfight.” What kind of naughty fun did these imps get into? And…
Aftermath: Coldplay at Toyota Center
Photos by Mark C. Austin The problem with Chris Martin isn’t the fact that the Coldplay frontman writes lyrics that resemble something that might come from the diary of a seventh grader who sniffs magic markers (snow, it turns out, is white after all). No, it’s the fact that he…
A Safe, Free Way To Get Rid Of That Electronic Junk
There’s a lot of very bad stuff in old computers, and we’re not just talking about your dad’s porn still lurking somewhere on the hard drive. The screens, the plastic, the guts all contain some bad crap. Not to mention that much of the hardware, once it’s freed from that…
How Rocks Off Spends a “Night Off”
[Note: this was written at 1 a.m. this morning while Rocks Off listened to Wilco’s A.M. for approximately the 15th time in the last two weeks.] Rocks Off would just like to state for the record how happy he is. Tomorrow I may feel like shit, and probably will, but…
Wednesday Morning Quarterbacking: Special Post-Amsterdam Edition
So I was in Amsterdam for the weekend – working on those frequent flyer miles – and I missed the Texans’ 33-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. However, the BBC World Service did manage to show highlights from the Titans/Jaguars game. After the game, Gary Kubiak went with the “we…
Wednesday Morning Quarterbacking: Special Post-Amsterdam Edition
So I was in Amsterdam for the weekend – working on those frequent flyer miles – and I missed the Texans’ 33-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. However, the BBC World Service did manage to show highlights from the Titans/Jaguars game. After the game, Gary Kubiak went with the “we…
Mindy McCready’s Regrets, In Chart Form
Country singer Mindy McCready has confessed to Inside Edition that her years-long adulterous affair with Roger Clemens “is not something I’m proud of.” He treated me like a princess,” she said. “We never had a meeting in secret. We went on vacations together. We went to Palm Springs. We went…
Mindy McCready’s Regrets, In Chart Form
Country singer Mindy McCready has confessed to Inside Edition that her years-long adulterous affair with Roger Clemens “is not something I’m proud of.” He treated me like a princess,” she said. “We never had a meeting in secret. We went on vacations together. We went to Palm Springs. We went…
We’re All A-Twitter
Barack Obama Twitters. John Culberson Twitters. Why can’t the Houston Press? We can, as it turns out. So if you’re interested in the latest updates on what we’re offering on the web and in the print edition, get yourself over to our Twitter page and get connected. Otherwise, we’ll be…
Mindy McCready’s Regrets, In Chart Form
Country singer Mindy McCready has confessed to Inside Edition that her years-long adulterous affair with Roger Clemens “is not something I’m proud of.” He treated me like a princess,” she said. “We never had a meeting in secret. We went on vacations together. We went to Palm Springs. We went…
DICK CHENEY INDICTED!! (Kinda)
The long arm of Rio Grande Valley justice has reached out and nabbed….Dick Cheney? Yes, apparently. A grand jury has indicted the vice-president this afternoon. Hasn’t the stature of limitations passed on “accidentally” shooting innocent bystanders? It turns out that it’s not the shooting, it’s all about Cheney’s investment in…
Yes, You Can…Make A Giant Obama-Head Sculpture
It’s pretty easy to guess what was going through the minds of most Houstonians after Barack Obama was elected. When would David Adickes get to work on his 7,000-pound concrete and steel Barack Obama head? The answer: the very next day. All he’s got so far is a model –…
The Honorable Gentleman From Tyler, Fighting The Illegal Hordes
Atencion! Things will get tougher for pesky border-crossers in Texas if any of Rep. Leo Berman’s (R-Tyler) nine illegal alien bills filed Monday pass. And if they don’t, then he might just have to run for governor – or at least that’s what he told the Austin American-Statesman. Among the…
Ambassador Schechter On Secretary Of State Clinton
With the world media coming dangerously close to announcing that Hillary Clinton plans to accept the Secretary of State position in Barack Obama’s cabinet, Hair Balls thought we’d reach out to longtime Clinton-family ally and former Ambassador to the Bahamas under President Clinton, Houston attorney Arthur Schechter. Schechter says he…
Pickled Pequins in a Pancake Syrup Dispenser
If you don’t have a shaker bottle, try putting your “sport peppers” in a pancake syrup dispenser. I got the idea after visiting Jamaica many years ago. Every little rasta restaurant I visited had a pancake syrup dispenser full of Scotch bonnet peppers in vinegar sitting on the table with…
Area Man On TV Tonight
If you got the TV on tonight, click over to TBS and see a local comedian making an impression on television. Mike MacRae, who got his start at Houston’s Laff Stop, is now a cast member on Frank TV. The weekly sketch show – now in its second season –…
Rusty Yates On His Life Now
Rusty Yates, the husband of baby-drowning Andrea, has thrust himself into the spotlight again. He was on Good Morning America today, talking about how happy and terrific life is for him right now, seven years after Andrea drowned their five babies. Reports ABC: The new father has even shared pictures…
Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe Making Progress
Daniel Kramer Some very good news out of Galveston, via the Hands Up Houston message board (thanks, Ron). As John Nova Lomax reported back in September, Galveston roots/singer-songwriter venue the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe was ravaged by Hurricane Ike, and owner Wrecks Bell said at the time he thought the…
La Grange Hotel Liked Ike, AG Says
La Grange has been heretofore known mostly as the home of the fabled “Chicken Ranch” immortalized by ZZ Top and The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. Now it can be known as the home of The Most Heartless, Coldest Bastard of a Motel In Texas (Allegedly). Texas AG Greg Abbott…
Tonight: Lil Keke Listening Party/CD Release at Venue
Two years in the making, original Screwed Up Clik member Lil Keke’s – whose 1997 hit “South Side” remains a milestone in Houston rap – new LP Loved by Few, Hated by Many is out today on Swishahouse/TF, with distribution by Universal Motown; guests include Slim Thug, Paul Wall and…
Texas’ Mess Of A Democratic Primary System May Be Changing
The Democratic Party of Texas caught some grief this year for its strange method of choosing delegates to the national convention, an odd and confusing hybrid of a primary and a caucus. The system ended up favoring urban, liberal parts of the state this year — Hillary Clinton won the…
Next Hurricane, Use Window Screens Instead Of Plywood
So Ike kicked your ass. It blew in a couple of windows and let in rain and debris and left your rugs soaking. But putting up plywood is such a pain in the ass. Plus, you would kill yourself before you’d become one of the living cliches of a hapless…
Double Dip: The Chocolate Iced at Shipley’s
You’re looking at a true guilty pleasure here. The chocolate iced is a specialty of the Shipley’s at 3932 North Main. It’s a donut that is sugar glazed and then dipped in chocolate. A lot of Shipley’s skip the glaze — “too sweet,” they say — but you can always…
The Five Best Bond Themes
Critics may have found the 22nd James Bond caper, Quantum of Solace, “grim and downcast” (The New York Times), but audiences didn’t seem to mind, turning out in sufficient numbers for Quantum to set a new 007 opening-weekend record of more than $70.4 million (domestic). But never mind the movie…
News You Can Use, Deer Park
If you live in Deer Park — well, any sentence that begins that way is unlikely to end well. And that’s the case this morning, as a large chunk of the town is under a shelter-in-place order because of a fire at a plastics plant along 225. We’re lucky we…
Miss Pop Rocks’ Letter from the Future
Have you heard about the future according to right-wing freakies Focus on the Family? According to FOF, it will be bleak, full of gays running everything and the Boy Scouts banished from the Earth (along with the Pledge of Allegiance). This is all according to a “Letter from 2012” that…
Take Our Shuttle Quiz And See If You’re A Space Expert
NASA is back in space, via a dramatic nighttime launch of the space shuttle Endeavour. The mission will expand and repair the International Space Station, and exchange out crew members. NASA has largely dropped from public consciousness — at least until the “Mars, Bitches!!” program begins — but we here…
Is Delicious Milk the Best Band In Houston?
The picture Delicious Milk sent Rocks Off was just slightly NSFW, but you can see for yourself here. Well, Rocks Off doesn’t know about that, but the mysterious Montrose-dwellers certainly are the most persistent, not to mention possibly the most mammary-fixated musicians on the planet. DM has been bugging Rocks…
How Quantum of Solace Stacks Up
As you may have noticed, a new James Bond movie opened last weekend. Sony executives are celebrating Quantum of Solace’s $70 million opening – the biggest for any Bond movie – by snorting gold-plated cocaine atop a palanquin borne by castrated former Viacom employees, but we at Hair Balls are…
When BBB Complaints Go Wrong
An aggrieved party filed a complaint with the Houston Better Business Bureau recently. It’s sadly familiar, to some black people trying to get into clubs around here: The bouncer that gives out ID for your drinks stopped us in the line and told us we could not get in because…
Five Spot: “Thriller” Goes Global
[Ed. note: Five Spot got bumped by the Latin Grammys Friday, so better late than never…] Welcome back to Five Spot. Every week, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it’s either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Because it makes perfect sense,…
A Different Kind Of Traffic Problem For Houston
Harris County, be proud — you’re a leader in…well, in human trafficking. Maybe you shouldn’t be so proud, on second thought. Texas AG Greg Abbott released a lengthy report today on human trafficking in Texas, and the news isn’t too good. Up to 17,500 people are brought into the US…
Book Review: Howard Stern’s Sidekick Writes
Given the amount of personal information he’s spilled on the radio over the years, avid listeners of “The Howard Stern Show” probably know more about the private life of cast member/comedian Artie Lange than most of their close friends and relatives. A natural-born storyteller, Lange has entertained audiences with tales…
Turning the Screw: Chamillionaire, Immortal Technique, 50 Cent, Damon Dash, Lil Wayne, Timbaland, Raekwon, South Park Mexican and More
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off’s weekly rap post. It probably won’t rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: Chamillionaire, “Swagger Like Us Freestyle” We normally reserve this section for unknown local artists, but goodness gracious Cham went…
Whistleblower Wants To Blow Whistle On Texas Ethics Commission
For the last couple years, Clear Lake’s John Cobarruvias has been outing local representatives who get slipshod with campaign finances, and he’s filed numerous complaints to the state legislature’s Ethics Commission. Now he’s after the commission for taking it easy on the reps who violate the law. Cobarruvias is heading…
Aftermath: Madonna at Minute Maid Park
Photos by Daniel Kramer “Did you cry?” Aftermath asked a new friend during the mass exodus from Minute Maid Park after Madonna’s first Houston show since she opened 1990’s Blonde Ambition tour at the Summit. “Yes,” she said, and from what Aftermath could gather from an informal straw poll, she…
Over the Weekend: Madonna, D.J. Melodic and Prop. 8 Protest
We’re gonna give the Queen of Pop top billing and work our way backwards on this glorious Monday… Madonna at Minute Maid Park She came. We saw. She conquered. 1 p.m. at Block 21 for D.J. Melodic Benefit D.J. Melodic and D.J. Sun On Monday, November 3, D.J. Melodic had…
Slideshow: Madonna at Minute Maid Park
With a career-spanning set from a punked-up “Borderline” to the outsize mega-disco of her latest album Hard Candy, the Material Girl brought several people at Minute Maid Park to tears last night in her first Houston show in 18 years. Click here for a slideshow, and stay tuned for a…
Aggies Don’t Take Kindly To Saddam Hussein’s Scientist, Lawsuit Claims
Lawyers at Texas A&M want a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit that claims Aggie scientists harassed an Iraqi researcher and his wife. A&M lawyers aren’t saying the scientists didn’t harass Dr. Mundhir Ridha, only that Texas A&M should be exempt from litigation because it’s a public institution. In fact,…
Aftermath: Madonna Pre-Party at Meridian
Photo by Craig Hlavaty / Click here for more. On Saturday night, 104.1 KRBE held a Madonna Pre-Party for those people either unlucky enough to have tickets or those who just wanted a chance to gloat and be catty. There was a look-alike contest, with a blonde-wigged ‘80s Material Girl…
Sole Of Houston — With Music
Well, it’s been awhile since we’ve posted an account of one of our long, boozy walks across Houston, and no, we don’t have one under our belt or even one coming up soon. Still, the project is dormant, not extinct, and there will be another one done before the end…
A Short History of Shrimp Grits
Shrimp grits started out as a seasonal fisherman’s dish of shrimp cooked in bacon grease served over creamy grits in the Low Country where they were also known as “breakfast shrimp.” The simple seafood breakfast became an iconic Southern dish after Craig Claiborne wrote about it in the New York…
Balls…Hair Balls: The Five Best Bond Movies
Everyone has their own criteria for answering the all-important question: Which of the 22 (official) James Bond movies is your favorite? For example, I was never a huge fan of the gadgetry and thought Lazenby, though underrated, never was a good fit. Your mileage may vary according to your tolerance…
The Rally at City Hall to Protest Proposition 8
Hundreds of people gathered on the steps of Houston City Hall this afternoon to protest the passing of Proposition 8, California’s constitutional amendment taking away the right to marry for same-sex couples. Along with the passing of other anti-gay measures across the nation, Prop. 8 made November 4 a day…
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 background, motivation, and even…
Tonight: Bayou Monster at Fitzgerald’s
Bayou Monster The Rising www.myspace.com/bayoumonster Bayou Monster has the blues-rock formula down; now it’s time to do something with it. The local quartet’s debut The Rising makes up in talent what it lacks in originality. Throaty, yearning vocals lamenting about “baby being gone”: check. Perfectly placed, wah-wah-pedal-kissed guitar solos: check…
Today: Johnny Falstaff at Cactus Music
Johnny Falstaff Honky Tonkin’ Daddy www.myspace.com/johnnyfalstaff Three local artists dropped albums either recorded at Sugar Hill Studios or with Sugar Hill connections in the past month: Johnny Falstaff’s Honky Tonkin’ Daddy, John Evans’ Lucky 13 and Kanude’s Kanude. Produced by John Evans and engineered by Sugar Hill vet Steve Christensen,…
Political Bloggers, Now’s Your Chance
Did the election ignite in you a passion for politics? Can you write and report? Pretty cheaply? Then give us a shout. Hair Balls is looking for a good political blogger, one who can keep up with local and state goings-on. We’re not looking for inside-baseball minutia, but we don’t…
There Are Traffic Lanes To Spare Downtown, Apparently
Did we lose a lane on Dallas Street? Up until recently, Dallas Street from Louisiana to Travis had five lanes, now it has four. In place of the far right lane, there are concrete platforms for METRO passengers to embark on to/disembark from buses at the end of each block,…
Standing Up For Jenna Bush’s Dignity
There’s a new “reader representative” at the Houston Chronicle — Jim Newkirk, who’s been at the Chron and the old Post for many years. His predecessor (save for an interim), James Campbell, was not exactly known for sticking his neck out on matters. Newkirk, however, has weighed in on an…
Paola Mayorga’s Latin Grammy Journal
[Ed. Note: Paola Mayorga is a 21-year-old Missouri City woman who won a contest sponsored by Reliant Energy for a trip to the Latin Grammys, including backstage and green carpet access and accomodations at the Four Seasons. Rocks Off asked her to write up her experience.] Paola Mayorga and her…
Dog Poop Has To Be Scooped — What About HPD Horse Poop?
Every now and then Hair Balls likes to stretch our legs and get some exercise. While running through Buffalo Bayou Park, we frequently encounter mounted police officers and, oftentimes, their horses’ manure. It made us wonder: Who is responsible for cleaning this (shit) up? The answer: well, nobody. The horses…
Not So Great News from the Health Department, Worst Offenders Edition
This week’s restaurant report is a look at the area’s biggest offenders. Starting off the list is Plallitas y Mexican Restaurant (3406 Mangum) with 14 violations. (Woohoo, that might be a record!) • Plumbing not sized/installed/maintained properly • Heating/air conditioning/ventilation not properly designed • Lack of effective measures to minimize…
Baked Eggs Over Creamed Spinach
Got any leftover creamed spinach from the steakhouse or saag paneer from the Indian restaurant in the fridge? You can use them to make yourself a decadent breakfast. Baked eggs over creamed spinach is like an easy version of eggs Florentine. Heres’s the recipe. Butter a small baking dish, spread…
Major Dog-Fighting Ring Busted Here
If you were planning to go to a dog-fight this weekend, change your plans. And contact the DAs office. Federal and local authorities announced today they’d busted a major dog-fighting operation based in Harris County. Standing before an armored truck, representatives of the US Marshal’s Office, the DPS and the…
Aftermath: Latin Grammys at Toyota Center, Pt. 2
Gloria Estefan meets the media/ Photo by Olivia Flores Alvarez The woman of the hour Thursday night was unquestionably 2008 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Gloria Estefan, whose “Mi Tierra” was big, brassy, jazzy, horn-heavy and as Cuban as a fine Cohiba cigar. So was “Oye Mi Canto,”…
Latin Grammys Backstage Report
There were a couple of big winners at last night’s Latin Grammy’s ceremony, namely Juanes and Gloria Estefan. You heard their acceptance speeches, now find out what they said backstage. The night’s big winner was, of course, Juanes, who took home five awards, making him the winner of the most…
The Twilight Tour: We Have The Photos!
We’ve already told you about the Twilight stop in the Galleria last night. In case you didn’t believe us, here’s some photographic evidence, in slide-show form. Warning — there might be a temporary glitch with the captions matching up with the pictures. It will be fixed soon. In the meantime…
Aftermath: Latin Grammys at Toyota Center, Pt. 1
Carlos Santana backstage at the Latin Grammys/ Photo by Olivia Flores Alvarez Is music really the universal language? There was no better place to test that ragged old saw than at Thursday’s Latin Grammys at Toyota Center. As one of the few (if not the only) non-Spanish-speakers in the building,…
Bribery Time In Sleepy Ol’ Hempstead
Ahh, it’s nice to see that small-town corruption is alive and well. And only an hour’s drive from Houston, no less. It appears as though a pair of city officials in the Waller County ‘burg of Hempstead, the self-proclaimed “City of Character,” have gone and gotten themselves arrested for allegedly…
The Great and Mighty Oz, a/k/a CenterPointlandia
A little while ago we received a letter at our home warning us that CenterPoint Energy was thinking about disconnecting our service. Our offense was not an unpaid bill – it was that our meter had become inaccessible. Not only could we be disconnected, we’d have to pay for the…
Jenni Rivera’s Tough Latin Grammy Luck
Last night’s Latin Grammys biggest loser was Jenni Rivera – not because she didn’t take home any trophies but because her performances were so dismal. (Amalia Mendoza started spinning in her grave as soon as Rivera hit the first few notes of “Sufriendo a Solas.”) Rivera, who was announced as…
This Man Is Aiding America’s Space Program — By Being The Ultimate Slacker
As you might have guessed, a lot of research goes into to putting astronauts in space. And it’s not just figuring out how to launch them up there, but also keeping them alive and comfortable. Enter Ryan “Shaggy” Hull. Houston rock fans know him as the bassist for Bring Back…
Texans’ Downhill Swing Likely to Pick up Momentum Against Colts
Peyton to Texans: “See you sissies in Hell” Wow, was it just three weeks ago that the Texans were 3-4 and people were talking playoffs? Time sure does fly, doesn’t it? The Texans are now 3-6 and are playing the Indianapolis Colts this weekend. The Texans haven’t had a lot…
Texans’ Downhill Swing Likely to Pick up Momentum Against Colts
Peyton to Texans: “See you sissies in Hell” Wow, was it just three weeks ago that the Texans were 3-4 and people were talking playoffs? Time sure does fly, doesn’t it? The Texans are now 3-6 and are playing the Indianapolis Colts this weekend. The Texans haven’t had a lot…
Baylor Says That’s Not A Noose, That’s A Swing
The president of Baylor University has sent out an e-mail to students and staff explaining that a rope, found hanging from a tree on Election Day, was not a noose. President David Garland said students had come forward to explain the rope was merely the remnants of a swing that…
The Twilight Tour Hits Houston
The Twilight Tour hit Hot Topic in the Galleria last night, and while there were a few screams and a few tears, the chaos that hit malls in other cities was avoided here. That could be because neither of the movie’s main stars, Kristen Stewart (human Bella) or Robert Pattinson…
Balls…Hair Balls: Five Best Bond Songs
What do Rita Coolidge, Sheena Easton, and Chris Cornell have in common (aside from jockeying for position in a future “Where Are They Now” segment on E!, that is)? That’s right, they all sang the title song in a James Bond movie. They also are conspicuously absent from this list…
What’s Wal-Mart Got Against Sex Offenders?
Sex offenders have rights too. Don’t they? At least one Missouri City woman who was convicted of a sex crime is out to prove just that in court after being fired from her job at Wal-Mart. Rebecca Vlasek, 37, claims that Wal-Mart fired her and more than 800 registered sex…
The Real Presidential Race In Harris County
>The final, though unofficial, Harris County election results were just released by County Clerk Beverly Kaufman. We finally have an answer to the burning question: Who received more votes here, the Madisonian-Federalist Party led by a Blinn College professor, or the Heartquake Party, which promised a “massive cultural transformation triggered…
This Just In: Notsuoh For Sale?
If you happened to have read the latest post on Notsouh’s MySpace blog, you may be hysterics right about now. It seems owner/curator Jim Pirtle fielded an offer this morning from a wealthy investment banker to buy the venerable downtown landmark for the sum of at least $2.8 million, as…
Wikipedia’s Secret Life Of Wayne Dolcefino
By the looks of the little infobox on his Wikipedia page, it appears that somehow, some way, Wayne Dolcefino has antagonized somebody. The Channel 13 investigative reporter’s occupation is listed as “gossip columnist / local punchline,” his religious beliefs are listed as “Satanic orthodox,” and his spouse is said to…
Aftermath: Of Montreal at Warehouse Live
Photos by Brandon Hernsberger”>Photos by Kristy Hutto Seeing Of Montreal is the feeling I’d imagine having if I were to walk inside a kaleidoscope after having smoked way too much mescaline laced with crushed-up diet pills from a bottle of unicorn blood. We are the polka-dots. From the looks and…
This Just In: Making Faces Again
Fans of the rooster haircut and pub rock, rejoice! London’s The Mirror is reporting this afternoon that the surviving Faces are gearing up for rehearsals next week with a reunion tour to follow in the summer. All original living members are said to be involved, including keyboardist Ian McClagan, who…
Party’s Over In Houston, Guru Barton Smith Says
Every year at this time, Houston’s leaders gather to hear the pearls of wisdom that come from UH professor Barton Smith as he predicts where the city’s economy will go in the future. Today, as in the past, the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency was sold out. If the 1,000…
The Power Of Facebook Will Make Bill White Energy Secretary
Mayor Bill White is being coy about his political future — run for Governor? Senator? Get a job in the Obama administration? — but others are not. Utilizing the single hippest method of communication since the princess phone, a cadre of White fans has a Facebook page calling for White…
R.I.P. Mitch Mitchell
The Jimi Hendrix Experience (l-r): Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell and Hendrix Drummer Mitch Mitchell, the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was found dead Wednesday morning in his Portland, Oregon, hotel room, Billboard reported today. Mitchell, 62, most likely died of natural causes, the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s…
Living the Cash Life in the Big City
The downtown Houston Randall’s on Milam was in full after-work mode yesterday when right around 6 p.m. an announcement came over the PA system to the gist of: We’re sorry. Something is screwed up. Everyone has to pay in cash. It might as well have been an announcement that the…
NASA Has To Deal With Crummy Contractors, Just Like The Rest Of Us
Don’t you just hate it when some contractor tries to pass off some shitty work on you? When he covers it up and crosses his fingers that you’ll never discover it? NASA does. And so does the Department of Justice. They announced this morning the indictment of Richard Harmon of…
Balls…Hair Balls: Best Bond Villain Deaths
It’s a time-honored rule of mainstream cinema that evil never triumphs. And in the case of the James Bond franchise, evildoers often come to an elabroate and overly painful end. Here then are the best villain death from the 007 series. 5. Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) – Goldeneye (1995) Sorry,…
Aeros Have Lost That Scoring Feeling
When last I wrote about the Houston Aeros, they had just lost a game at home to move their record to 6-4-0-0 for the season. The team was playing some excellent offensive hockey, but the defense wasn’t quite clicking. Then the Aeros’ best offensive weapon, Krys Kolanos, was called up…
Aeros Have Lost That Scoring Feeling
When last I wrote about the Houston Aeros, they had just lost a game at home to move their record to 6-4-0-0 for the season. The team was playing some excellent offensive hockey, but the defense wasn’t quite clicking. Then the Aeros’ best offensive weapon, Krys Kolanos, was called up…
Building Entrepreneurship on the Backs of Toddlers Gets All Kinds of Notice
It turns out Susan Landry, head of the State Center for Early Childhood Development, who has recently received a lot of publicity throughout Texas because the pre-K program she runs is said to be three times as expensive as the usual pre-school program, was recognized last year by the University…
Twilight The Movie: Feminist Nightmare Transferred to Screen
Oh just STOP it, Miss Pop Rocks. Stop being such a buzz kill with your whining and complaining about what’s not feministy enough for you. I know, even I feel that way sometimes, and I’m me, Miss Pop Rocks! But I often get the sense that I’m the only one…
Cinematheque Series: God’s Country
The film that eventually became God’s Country was started in 1979 when Louis Malle filmed the residents of Glencoe, Minnesota, then a prosperous farming community. Overwhelmed with other projects, Malle put the footage aside. When he returned six years later in 1985 to finish the film, Glencoe was in crisis…
Katherine Neville Author of The Fire
What do the Ottoman Empire, a chess set, Charlemagne and computers have in common? You’ll have to read Katherine Neville’s just released novel The Fire to find out. The long-awaited sequel to her 1988 debut novel The Eight, The Fire blends romance, the supernatural, history and mystery. In The Eight,…
The Ottavia Project
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, unless it’s a woman singing opera scorned. At least that’s what Divergence Vocal Theater’s inaugural performance shows us. The nontraditional production, The Ottavia Project, blends Monteverdi’s opera L’incoronazione di Poppea and Seneca’s play Octavia with music by Bach and Rameau. “Poppea and…
Allison Amend Author of Things That Pass for Love
Relationships are about more than just dating, and Things That Pass for Love, a collection of short stories by Allison Amend, tackles amore in several incarnations. There’s a teacher who’s sexually obsessed with a student, a cyber-erotic writer who may be competing with her own dog for the affection of…
Damon Wayans
There are some things you have to forgive Damon Wayans for: his movies. Flicks like Blankman, Major Payne, Bulletproof and most of the others pale in comparison to his efforts as a comedian, television actor and writer. He was at his late-night best on Saturday Night Live, In Living Color…
The Phantom of the Opera
KUHF will complement the nippy November weather with a few manmade chills when it presents an outdoor screening of Rupert Julian’s The Phantom of the Opera. The phantom in the 1925 silent classic is played by the inimitable Lon Chaney, who apparently tapped into the most twisted of his 1,000…
Cinema Bomar: A Bit on the Arty Side…
A Bit on the Arty Side… is a Cinema Bomar potpourri. The vintage filmstrip collective’s latest round of offerings is a multi-genre, multi-topic mix of its 16-millimeter movies. Assassination Extra (1963) is a silent strip chronicling the Houston Chronicle’s chronicling of President Kennedy’s assassination. Trade Tattoo (1937) and Musical Poster…
Rudolph Rides Again
Kids will be surprised to find out that Houston has a close connection to the North Pole in Rudolph Rides Again. As the play starts, it’s Christmas Eve and Alvin the Elf is stranded in H-town. Since Alvin is Mrs. Claus’s favorite little helper, Elvis the Elf and Rudolph the…
Big Night
Welcome to Paradise — brothers Primo and Secondo’s Italian restaurant in Big Night. Primo is an excellent chef, but he’s determined to serve only authentic cuisine and refuses to serve up typical pseudo-Italian fare such as spaghetti and meatballs. That makes him a very lonely chef as well, as droves…
District B-13
The extreme sport “parkour” is the star of the movie District B-13. Athletes who practice parkour achieve magnificent feats by treating city architecture as their own personal playground — leaping and bounding from rooftops and walls at frightening heights. David Belle, the inventor of parkour (yes, it’s actually real), is…
Mormons, AstroWorld, Tokio Hotel and Sweet Potato Fries
What’s mainstream? As the author of Acts of God: A Primer for Atheists, Agnostics, and Those Who Have Lapsed, I’m impartial when it comes to the competing beliefs and practices of those who claim to be “real _________s” (fill in your favorite religion). So it is without partisanship that I…
Las Nuevas Tamaleras
How hard can it be to make a few tamales? You smear some dough on a corn husk, add a little pork filling and you’re done, right? Well, in Las Nuevas Tamaleras, three young Chicanas try their hand at making the Mexican food staple and find out it’s not so…
O. Rufus Lovett
With their signature cowboy hats and white boots, the legendary Kilgore Rangerettes are the most well-known high-kicking, smile-happy cheerleaders in the state. Today they’ll be at the Houston Center for Photography — in book form, that is, as fine-art photographer and Kilgore College professor O. Rufus Lovett signs his book…
“Leandra’s World of Fantasy”
Saying that artist Leandra Dibuelna Jr. is in his own fantasy world isn’t an insult — it’s just accurate. The 73-year-old Dibuelna’s paintings are based on an imaginary planet he created called Triversi. “He takes his figures, which live on the planet he devised and have a life of their…
“What’s Cookin’? Two Centuries of American Foodways”
Ah, the good old days, when a root beer cost five cents and a filet mignon was only $2. What? You never had dinner at the Crystal Palace? You don’t remember the ABC Food Store or Weingarten’s? Get over to the “What’s Cookin’? Two Centuries of American Foodways” exhibit at…
“We the People”
The election is over, but the issues remain, including immigration, which was much ignored during the campaign. But it, and the racial tensions accompanying it, are still very much on the collective mind, as seen in “We the People,” a new exhibition displaying the photography, multi-media and video work of…
“Quest for High Bear: A Boy’s Odyssey through Indian Country 1925-1939”
Texas has one more thing to be proud of with the exhibition “Quest for High Bear: A Boy’s Odyssey through Indian Country 1925-1939,” rightfully thought to be a state treasure. Fort Worth’s Gordon W. Smith was just a child in 1925 when he started collecting Native American artifacts. Over the…
Keith Sonnier: “Selected Works 1994-2004”
“Keith Sonnier: Selected Works 1994-2004” suggests the artist was parked inside a garage for ten years. The collection includes mixed-media sculptures that incorporate neon lights and items you might find in your car hole. This fits right in with his MO: Sonnier was part of the Process Art Movement, which…
“Thrive”
Women explore the tests of time in “Thrive.” DiverseWorks’ latest exhibit features an all-female (and all–Houston) lineup exploring the battle against the clock, in day-to-day life and in a lifetime. Debra Rueb’s black-and-white photos transform minutiae into masterpiece with images of an elderly woman passing time with simple activities such…
Eyeopener Tour: Music Maestros
In the category of places that make you “stop and do a double take,” The Orange Show has to top anyone’s list. But their own kookiness isn’t enough for them, apparently, as the folks at the show host a series of Eyeopener tours, bringing busloads to other places that meet…
“Dinosaur Mummy CSI: Cretaceous Science Investigation” Behind-the-Scenes Tour
Paleontology fans will find out how crime-scene investigation techniques are being used by anthropologists during today’s “Dinosaur Mummy CSI: Cretaceous Science Investigation” Behind-the-Scenes tour. Participants will meet Leonardo, a 77-million-year-old Brachylophosaurus canadensis (more commonly known as a duckbill dinosaur), and learn how CSI techniques were used to find out what…
Quirky Works
Modern dance is a medium known for taking itself a bit too seriously at times. But you can’t accuse the folks at Houston Metropolitan Dance of that, as they take time each year to present a collection of Quirky Works, short pieces by up-and-coming and established choreographers that celebrate the…
“Cinema Remixed & Reloaded:” Artist/Scholar Talk with Carroll Parrott Blue and Neena Barnette
Delve into the thinking behind the work at the CAMH’s “Cinema Remixed & Reloaded,” a talk with artists Carroll Parrott Blue and Neena Barnette. The exhibition looks at the contributions of black female film and video artists over the last 30 years, including those of Barnette and Blue, who will…
“Monster Show 3”
There’s not a lot of thought behind Domy’s “Monster Show 3.” “It’s Halloween, people like to draw monsters — there’s really not much more to it,” says exhibit curator and Domy co-founder Russell Etchen. It might not be the deepest art show in town, but it is a cornucopia of…
David Morrell
Winner of three Bram Stoker Awards, David Morrell has been called “the father of the modern action novel.” He’ll read from his latest release, The Spy Who Came for Christmas, at today’s signing and discussion. Spy is a tale of espionage with Nativity story overtones. Undercover agent Paul Kagan spends…
Autumn Poetry Festival
Are your poems gathering dust? Take them to the first-ever Autumn Poetry Festival, where you’ll find some friendly listeners. The Festival includes several events on Friday and Saturday at two locations, including readings by local published writers, an open mike for aspiring poets, a panel discussion and more. Times vary…
Earth Entranced
Part of the Celebrating Brazilian Film Now and Then series, Earth Entranced centers on a young poet (played by Jardel Filho) caught between two corrupt politicians (Paulo Autran and Jose Lewgoy). Written and directed by Glauber Rocha, Earth Entranced is a restrained, intimate look at the struggle for power, both…
Metamorphoses
When Mary Zimmerman’s play Metamorphoses opened on Broadway in 2001, it was called “the most moving, intriguing and ultimately entertaining evening of theatre in New York.” Wowzer! That’s especially high praise for a play that is essentially a retelling of several of Ovid’s myths, each with grief and transformation at…
Art Car Drive-In Film Festival
The Art Car Drive-In Film Festival is a family affair, so, keep the funny business to a minimum. You never know when you might look up and see some bright-eyed, eight-year-old angel staring at you, trying to figure out why your windows are steaming up. Anyway, you don’t want to…
Black God and White Devil
The spaghetti western Black God and White Devil, directed by the then-25-year-old Glauber Rocha, is widely considered to be the greatest Brazilian movie of all time. Made in 1964 and set in the 1940s, the film is about a couple trying desperately to eke out a living on a farm,…
Hommage à Max Ernst: A Musical Collage
Hear a concert inspired by Germany’s most famous surrealist/Dadaist painter and sculptor when Sarah Rothenberg unveils Hommage à Max Ernst: A Musical Collage. Accompanying the exhibit “Max Ernst: In the Garden of Nymph Ancolie,” currently on display at The Menil Collection, Hommage includes performances on piano by Rothenberg, who is…
“Iraqi Artists in Exile”
Over the last 24 hours, $300 million has been poured into the Iraq war. But the actual cost of the conflict can’t be measured in money alone. Besides the thousands of casualties on both sides, hundreds of Iraqi artists and intellectuals have been forced into exile. The exhibit “Iraqi Artists…
Times Square Angel
Get a jump-start on Christmas with Times Square Angel, Charles Busch’s version of Scrooge. The play features Irish O’Flanagan, a sweat-shop worker who transforms herself into a nightclub sensation. On her way to fame and fortune, Irish manages to alienate everyone around her until she’s completely friendless. But all’s not…
Miguel Zenón
Saxophonist Miguel Zenón started off as a classical musician — he didn’t get the jazz bug until he got to Berklee in 1994, but once he did, he got it in a big way. And music fans have been thrilled ever since. Zenón, who carefully toes the line between Latin…
Impluvium
Don’t expect a storyline at Suchu Dance’s newest production, Impluvium. “We’re more abstract than that,” laughs Managing Director Louie Saletan. (The company’s abstract work won a Houston Press Best of Houston® award for Best Modern Dance Company.) Impluvium features only four dancers, including company member Dana Wessale Crawford, whose previous…
Tapas: A Sampler of Cinema and Media from the Americas
The clever folks at the Aurora Picture Show, Houston’s most charming and most enduring microcinema, are offering up Tapas: a Sampler of Cinema and Media from the Americas. The night travels far and wide, all the way from the southern edge of the U.S. to the South Pole. And in…
Carl Rimi
Get a face full of offbeat observational comedy at today’s show by Carl Rimi. The comic has opened for funnymen Dave Attell and Dave Chappelle, so you know he has chops. 8 p.m. Thursday; 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday; 7, 9 and 10:45 p.m. Saturday; and 7 p.m. Sunday. Laff…
Dead Alive
Meet Lionel, a momma’s boy with a serious problem — his mom is a zombie. In the movie Dead Alive, Lionel can’t bring himself to off his undead mom or any of her zombie friends, so he keeps them locked up in the basement. In between tending to his captives…
Doll Parts: Mydolls
In the late 1980s, on the Galveston Bay side of the island, my radio receiver just barely picked up KPFT’s Montrose-generated signal. Monday nights at 10 p.m., armed with two 90-minute tapes, I would hit “record” as soon as Dayglo Abortions kicked off Funhouse. That show was easily Houston radio’s…
Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin has been one of the enduring pillars of American roots music for the past 30 years. One reason the seasoned Californian remains evergreen is his knack for reinvention and reinterpretation; Alvin never lets his massive catalog or his stage shows grow stale. Since he split from seminal ’80s…
AC/DC: Black Ice
AC/DC’s first disc in eight years, the 15-song Black Ice, is also the longest in the Australians’ 33-year career. Rip out much of its lazy middle third, and it starts approaching For Those About to Rock levels of goodness. Which means that if you, unlike me, are within reasonable driving…
Supersuckers
Whether you were born with a tail or a pair of angel wings — or neither — the Supersuckers’ fire-and-brimstone rock and roll circus is guaranteed to get your blood up. From early punk blasts like 1994 Sub Pop classic La Mano Cornuda (translated: The Horned Hand) to the twang…
Bayousphere
Eve Suarez (top) and Iris Contreras truly get into the spirit of the Day of the Dead. The pair took second place in the altar-creation category at MECA’s weeklong celebration, honoring ancestors who have passed away. To view image larger, click here…
The Shredder
Julieta Venegas: Willowy Chicana singer-songwriter and multiple Latin Grammy nominee plays post-awards show. (Friday, Arena Theater) Forsa Pink’s Almost Famous Fashion Show: Locals Glasnost and Tontons glam it up with DJs Serj and Grrrlparts.(Friday, the Mink) Gary Hoey: Boston-bred surf-guitar slinger unleashes some “Hocus Pocus.” (Friday, Meridian) Who’s Bad: Michael…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Beatrice and Benedict, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Secret Order, Times Square Angel
Beatrice and Benedict Lush and utterly gorgeous, Houston Grand Opera’s production of Hector Berlioz’s Beatrice and Benedict is a treat for multiple senses. The charming love story, adapted from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, is the perfect backdrop for Berlioz’s complex and enchanting music. Rarely performed, the opéra comique about…
Eric Taylor: Hollywood Pocketknife
There’s a great story about Eric Taylor being intoxicated at a party a few years back when one of our local folkies was expounding ad infinitum about “being on the road.” The guy went on and on until, according to my sources, Taylor finally had enough, got off the couch…
Quantum of Solace Is Neither Shaken Nor Stirred
Those of us who adored Casino Royale, the 2006 reboot of the haggard, self-parodic James Bond franchise, had some trouble trying to decide where to place it among the series’ finest. Was it better than Goldfinger? Probably not, but close. The Spy Who Loved Me? Maybe so. From Russia with…
Bloc Party: Intimacy
Transitioning from overhyped buzz generator to perpetual powerhouse ain’t easy, even for figures as charismatic as the Bloc Party men; the strain shows on the Brits’ third LP. “Ares” is the sound of a band trying too hard, albeit with assists from some pretty interesting elements: screaming sirens, kinetic beats…
Middlebrow French Melodrama in I’ve Loved You So Long
Kristin Scott Thomas has gotten so locked into playing tragic victims or frigid grandes dames that few remember the actress got her big break as a wistfully amused friend in Mike Newell’s Four Weddings and a Funeral, or that she played Plum Berkeley on Absolutely Fabulous. Thomas has mischief in…
The McCain-est County
Nationwide county-by-county results are available on lots of interactive maps on the Web. We used one to find that — as far as some quick cursor-rolling can determine — the biggest McCain vote in Texas, percentagewise, came from King County in the southern Panhandle. Ninety-three percent of King County voters…
Bad Faith and Texas Mutual Insurance: Plausible Deniability
Just how well the workers’ comp system is working in Texas remains something of a mystery. While Amy Lee, director of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Research and Evaluation Group, can churn out report after report on initial denial rates — they have been increasing and were at 41 percent in…
What’s Hot at Komart Marketplace
When the folks at Komart Marketplace (1049 Gessner, 713-984-2277) refer to dish No. 5, the dolsot bibimbop ($5), as “hot pot,” they mean it literally. The “dolsot,” which means stone pot, can only be handled with well-insulated gloves, and because it’s so hot, it continues to cook all the ingredients inside…
Bad Faith and Texas Mutual Insurance
It was June 12, 2000, and Lance Morris, a volunteer firefighter for the small town of Justin in north Texas, was in a ditch, eight or ten feet below road level. He remembers six or seven firefighters handling the backboard with him, bringing out one of the 19 men who’d…
Bad Faith and Texas Mutual Insurance: Doctored Documents
Juan Narvaez was working as a Sheetrock framer for Greater Metroplex Interiors near Dallas when he said he injured his back on August 29, 2003, at work, while lifting a heavy metal stud. Texas Mutual disputed the claim, saying that his back problem was a pre-existing condition and not work-related…
Bistro des Amis
Odile de Maindreville and her brother, Bernard Cuillier, are from Biarritz, in the southwestern edge of France, on the border with Spain’s Basque region. They have just opened Bistro des Amis (2347 University, 713-349-8441) in Rice village, a really authentic, cozy French bistro. “I’ve lived in Houston on and off…
Rusted Shut: Hot Sex EP
As the gentrification of downtown and surrounding areas continues, the days when one could walk out of the abandoned evening and watch three lunatics turn a miscellaneous dive bar into an aural torture chamber for a hostile “crowd” of ten seem long gone. Happily, Hot Sex, featuring the classic Rusted…
Aztec Prophecy and Is “Brown” the New “Black”?
Dear Mexican, In a column some time ago, you mentioned the Aztec prophecy claiming that “their descendants would reclaim ancestral lands in the southwest U.S., and guess what.” I’d appreciate it if you shed a little light on this statement. This is the mythical state of Aztlán you’re referring to,…
Metallica’s Death Magnetic
I have not yet actually heard Metallica’s totally badass new album, because I am way too busy living it, tearing off magnificent spider-fingered runs during the manic breakdown in “My Apocalypse” on my doofy-looking plastic guitar, which corresponds to the on-screen actions of one Lars Umlaut, a morbidly obese face-paint-and-spiked-leather…
New Faces
Election season continues here at the Houston Press, where we’ve just finished counting the votes from the first round of the second year of our high school photo contest. The theme this time around was Faces, and we got mugs from students all over the Houston area. First place goes…
Capsule Art Reviews: “A Coarse Portal,” “Damaged Romanticism,” “Incident at Osbourne Grove,” “Juan Andres Videla: The Unsaid Word,” “Liz Ward: Crazy Weather,” “Machines, Buildings and Books,” “Remixed & Reloaded: Black Women Artists…”
“A Coarse Portal” “A Coarse Portal” is Philip Durbin’s largest showing to date, and it’s a fine rogue’s gallery of the characters that inhabit Durbin’s dreamy kingdom. The artist is obviously influenced by pop art and Warhol in particular — as seen in silk screens like Pop Skulls and OJ…
Houston Goes International with the Latin Grammys
Thursday night, for the first time in its history, Houston will be front and center on the international musical stage when the curtain rises on the ninth annual Latin Grammy Awards at Toyota Center. Broadcast worldwide on Univision (Channel 45 in Houston), the ceremony is expected to be watched by…
Surreal Genius: Max Ernst
The works of Max Ernst (1891-1976) are nothing new to fans of surrealist art, or for that matter, Menil Collection visitors. The museum has displayed the artist’s work, both in its permanent surrealism exhibit and subsequent exhibitions, to demonstrate universal themes in modern and primitive art. At the Menil, though,…
BeauSoleil
One of the hottest topics in Americana these days is the sizzling Cajun roots-music scene three hours east in Lafayette. As good as young bands like the Red Stick Ramblers, the Lost Bayou Ramblers and the Pineleaf Boys are, they owe a huge debt to BeauSoleil linchpin Michael Doucet. Doucet’s outfit…
Sangria and Sliders at Open City
The lamb sliders were the best thing I sampled on my first visit to Open City, the curious nightclub/restaurant on Bagby in Midtown. The miniature hamburgers were made with garlicky ground lamb patties on tiny buns decorated with lettuce, tomato and a Middle Eastern yogurt sauce. My dining companions were…
Celebrity Wedding Present
ith Coldplay hitting town, Chatter got to thinking about front man Chris Martin and his wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Given each spouse’s considerable success, who really wears the pants in that marriage — and a few others? Coldplay/Gwyneth Paltrow: Coldplay has won four Grammys, including 2004 Record of the Year…
Bring Me the Horizon
Man, young people today are morbid. Take British five-piece Bring Me the Horizon, whose new album is called Suicide Season and features images of a girl clasping a knot of internal organs and the band dripping blood from their frowning, sneering mouths. But dissatisfaction sells now more than ever, and…
FIRKIN & PHOENIX’S GIN GIMLET
All over the U. S. of A., last Tuesday was about decisions. Republican or Democrat? Liberal or conservative? Vodka or gin? On this most American of days, we posted up at the Firkin & Phoenix (1915 Westheimer, 713-526-3100), a Canadian-owned English-style pub that we later learned was hosting a mixer for the…
