First Tuesdays at the Houston Center for Photography
You can spend hours in the darkroom, numb your eyes with Photoshop or trek into the woods in search of the perfect shot, but if you never show anyone your photographs, you might as well point-and-shoot a blank wall. That’s why First Tuesdays at the Houston Center for Photography welcomes…
Public Tour at Discovery Green
A gazebo made of recycled license plates? A steel tree that rains? Guy Hagstette, Discovery Green Conservancy’s president and park director, explains it all on the downloadable Discovery Green Audio Tour. Fire up the half-hour audio on your iPod and take a self-guided tour that includes stops at each of…
Happy Birthday Screech
Rocks Off would like to say happy birthday to former Saved By the Bell actor, reality-show regular, stand-up comedian, mortgage-crisis harbinger and sometime musician Dustin “Screech” Diamond, who turns 28 today. Just be glad Rocks Off posted this video of the SBTB gang’s “cover” of Billy Idol’s “Mony Mony” – Diamond…
Continental’s Vegetable-Fuel Flight A Success
It’s safe to come out from the bunker now — the vegetable-fuel jet has landed safely at Intercontinental.A passenger-less Continental 737, half-fueled with regular stuff and half-fueled with fuel made from biofuel, took off from IAH a little after noon and spent almost two hours flying over the Gulf.No problems…
Art Rock: Sideshow Tramps and Magpies at the Continental Club
JW Design Studios…
Local Gays Marching For Obama On Inauguration Day
The gays haven’t exactly been pleased by Barack Obama since he chose Christian conservative Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. But Obama’s inauguration parade will be the first to have an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group — the Lesbian and Gay Band Association — marching…
The Water Wall — Finally Out Of The Hands of the Kuwaiti Government
The Water Wall. Scene of countless wedding proposals and photos. Houston landmark. Who knew that up until recently, the majority of the Wall was owned by a group of Kuwaiti investors? Or, as John Breeding, the president of Uptown Houston District, tells Hair Balls, “Literally, the Kuwaiti government.” But “99…
Beware the Mongol Invasion! (of BBQ)
The cuisine known as Mongolian BBQ is making the mother of all culinary comebacks. Legend has it that Mongolian BBQ was invented in the 13th century by the army of Kublai Khan when the cooks fried up shredded meats and vegetables on a warrior’s shield placed over a fire. Reality…
Ike’s Wake — The Video
This week’s feature story by John Nova Lomax looks at the struggles on Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula in the wake of Ike. Photographer Dan Kramer filmed a video to accompany it, and art director Monica Fuentes edited it. We were going to hire Varnaline to write a new song…
Radar Eyes: Digging Ditchwater and More
[Radar Eyes is a new recurring feature, peering at the underground from the unique mind of Indian Jewelry/Future Blondes shredder Domokos Benczedi. Proceed at your own risk… just kidding. Enjoy.] Our Focus = Underground/ Unreleased/ Underexposed/ Misunderstood/ Unappreciated/ Etc., etc. I am Chemical Mange. First of all: R.I.P. Ron Asheton…
Ike’s Devastation Hits Home
In reporting this story, nothing was harder to me personally than seeing the utter devastation of Bolivar. When Dan Kramer and I drove off the ferry, we knew it would be bad immediately. Just over the landing, there’s a huge impromptu junkyard, where ruined cars, water heaters, refrigerators and other…
SXSW Update: Volunteers Needed; Dead Man’s Bones, Dirty Honey Added
SXSW 09 performers the Homopolice at Rudyard’s, Christmas night 2008 We always hear our friends complain about not being able to score a wristband or a badge to SXSW. We understand, it blows hard being a discriminating music elitist and not being able to make it to any of the…
Carl’s Jr. Coming to a Corner (and TV Screen) Near You
From the Houston Business Journal comes news that burger franchise Carl’s Jr. will be opening over 100 stores in Texas, with several planned for the Houston area. Although it’s not yet known how many Carl’s Jr.’s will be opened or where they’ll be located, hamburger enthusiasts are already starting to…
Tickets for Los Campesinos, Broken Social Scene, Appleseed Cast, Monotonix On Sale Now
Local promoter Pegstar has just put tickets on sale for the following shows: Los Campesinos (with Titus Andronicus), January 29, Walter’s on Washington Broken Social Scene (with the Lymbic System), February 2, Numbers…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: The Gourds, Part 2
Andy Goodwin [Note: Part 1 of this interview is here.] Lonesome Onry and Mean: You guys have been on several labels, have probably heard all the too-good-to-be-true come-ons, been to the meetings with label radio gurus and all. How do you look at the label system and the way things…
Local Rotation: Something Fierce’s There Are No Answers
Something Fierce There Are No Answers www.somethingfiercemusic.com Open letter to the Warped Tour: If you don’t include Something Fierce on your 2009 80-something band docket, you deserve to have Andy Macdonald or Kyle Loza do one of their extreme-sports stunts right into your figurative nuts. Or whatever. Not every band in its…
Now We Know Why Wal-Mart Has That Smiley Face
The U.S. Attorney’s office has just announced the break-up of a major drug operation. It was run by Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, so you know it was convenient and cheap.Wal-Mart Stores paid the Southern District of Texas a $637,000 fine in order to close cases involving Wal-Mart Pharmacy and Sam’s…
Aeros: Consistently Inconsistent at the Halfway Point
Photo by Fred Trask Tonight the Houston Aeros will take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Bridgeport, CT. It will be the fifth game of an eight game road trip and their sixth game in their sixth state in nine days. It will also be their 40th game of the…
Aeros: Consistently Inconsistent at the Halfway Point
Photo by Fred Trask Tonight the Houston Aeros will take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Bridgeport, CT. It will be the fifth game of an eight game road trip and their sixth game in their sixth state in nine days. It will also be their 40th game of the…
Artist of the Week: Small Sounds
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. It seems contradictory, but sometimes you’ve got to…
KTRH Continues On Its Fox-ification
KTRH, the only major AM news operation in town (and it ain’t as major as it used to be) continues its ever-quickening descent into Fox News hell.This morning a major item was about….how the media have been trashing George Bush and hurting his legacy. We heard old quotes from his…
Fusion Donuts
The French-Korean breakfast pastries at Tous Les Jours bakery in the H-Mart Korean grocery store at 1302 Blalock are a little different. The cream puffs are filled with sweet red bean paste and the long buns are stuffed with sweet potato paste. My favorite is the sweet and savory croissant…
Mississippi Has Got Our Back When It Comes To Pregnant Teens
Thank you, Mississippi!!Ably fulfilling its traditional role of letting other states off the hook, the great state of Mississippi has replaced Texas (and New Mexico) as the worst state when it comes to teen pregnancy.A new federal report released this morning shows that Mississippi has 68 births for every 1,000…
Craving a Sneak Preview?
Crave Sushi, the long-anticipated late-night sushi joint in Midtown, blew past their scheduled December 2008 opening just like the equally-anticipated Little Big’s and Anvil have blown past theirs. With so many other projects around town being abandoned, people soon became skeptical that Crave would open at all. But there’s good news for…
U.S. District Judge Sam Kent, Playah
The sordid romantic life of Galveston federal judge Sam Kent, the bombastic and bullying power of the island courthouse for years, just keeps getting sordid-er.He’s been indicted again for sexual harassment, and for obstructing justice in the investigation of the first charges of sexual harassment. That charge comes from him…
The Menu of Guy Clark’s “Texas Cookin'”
If you’re like me, you’ve probably, finally, eaten your way through the last of the holiday leftovers. (If you’ve never had deep-fried Cajun turkey, by the way…) You could always start that healthier diet you’re always talking about, and exercise, but who are we kidding? It’s time to re-stock that…
Whitney Casey, Giving It All Up For You
Whitney Casey is fast turning into the gift that keeps on giving.We got an e-mail blast from “her people” today, touting the new book by the Houston Chronicle columnist and former Great Day Houston host.”Relationships expert Whitney Casey, who has dated Lance Armstrong and Rocco DiSpirito, and was married to…
No Need To Check On My Pot-Growing Empire, Officer
The Houston Fire Department was putting out a small electrical blaze last night at what looked to be an abandoned mechanic’s shop.They couldn’t be sure the fire hadn’t spread inside, so they asked the guy who was on the property if he could open the place up.He didn’t really want…
The Menu of Guy Clark’s “Texas Cookin'”
If you’re like Rocks Off, you’ve probably, finally, eaten your way through the last of the holiday leftovers. (If you’ve never had deep-fried Cajun turkey, by the way…) You could always start that healthier diet you’re always talking about, and exercise, but who are we kidding? It’s time to re-stock…
Texas-Thai BBQ
If there’s anything I like as much as Texas BBQ, it’s wacky only-in-Houston fusion cuisines. So imagine my glee when I noticed the sign in front of Mai Thai restaurant at 3819 Kirby advertising “Texas BBQ Thai Fusion.” I pulled over immediately. The special BBQ menu listed beef, chicken, spicy…
Houston Radio’s Sports-Talk Battle Goes On
The latest ratings are out, and there’s a bit of a surprise in Houston sports-talk radio — the fledgling outsider, KGOW, has made a bit of a name for itself.As we wrote about a year and a half ago, Houston is — very oddly — the home of four sports-talk…
Houston Radio’s Sports-Talk Battle Goes On
The latest ratings are out, and there’s a bit of a surprise in Houston sports-talk radio — the fledgling outsider, KGOW, has made a bit of a name for itself.As we wrote about a year and a half ago, Houston is — very oddly — the home of four sports-talk…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: The Gourds, Part 1
LOM recently conducted a wide-ranging interview with Kevin Russell of the Gourds. The Austin roots-rockers – for lack of a better term – released their 9th studio album, Haymaker! (Yep Roc), today, and play a Cactus Music in-store January 9 and later that night at the Continental Club. The Gourds will be featured in the January 8 -…
It’s Easier Than You Think To Get Shot By A Bellaire Cop
Unarmed 23-year-old black man Robbie Tolan was shot in his own driveway last Wednesday in Bellaire. The bullet pierced his lung and lodged in his liver, where doctors say it will likely remain for the rest of his life.The shooter was Sgt. Joseph Cotton, who evidently thought Tolan’s 2004 Nissan…
Happy Epiphany, Everybody
“We Three Kings,” a la Guitar Hero Time to take down that tree, y’all: Today is Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, the official end of the Christmas season. (It actually ended at midnight, so exhale… you made it.) Epiphany commemorates the arrival of the three wise men – or, in later…
Tweating Out
Twitter, the microblogging and social media tool that’s become increasingly popular among the technologically hip, both young and old, has literally thousands of applications. How any one person (or company) uses Twitter is unique unto them.While some people (also called Twitterers or Tweeple) use Twitter to keep in touch with…
Houston Radio’s Sports-Talk Battle Goes On
The latest ratings are out, and there’s a bit of a surprise in Houston sports-talk radio — the fledgling outsider, KGOW, has made a bit of a name for itself.As we wrote about a year and a half ago, Houston is — very oddly — the home of four sports-talk…
The Times Finds Yet Another Annoying Thing About Houston
Houston, The New York Times has found yet another thing you do that’s highly annoying.Earlier, it was our pathetic efforts at recycling. Now it’s the security announcements at what it terms “the grandly named” George Bush Intercontinental Airport.”I immediately start grousing about those annoying security announcements,” writes columnist Joe Sharkey,…
This Evening/Tonight: Hightide Blues at Cactus Music and the Mink
If you like your Southern rock with liberal doses of B-3 and a lotta bluesy swagger, try on Atlanta-via-Auburn, Alabama, quartet Hightide Blues on for size. After a couple of MySpace listens, HTB seems seem best suited for the same full-tilt boogie as the Allman Brothers (try “Katie Can You…
Digitalia: You Ain’t No Picasso
Not many people can appreciate the subtle brilliance of Kermit T. Frog’s “The Rainbow Connection.” Yes, that song from The Muppet Movie. Nor are there many outlets for people willing to listen to anyone who dares to cover Tone-Loc’s “Wild Thing.” But that’s just some of the fun you’ll find…
NASA’s Ongoing Pee-Drinking Problem
Once again, we learn via the Houston Chronicle, NASA is having trouble getting its astronauts to drink piss.It’s apparently not because they think the idea is disgusting; it’s because they can’t get their pee-cleansing machine to work.The Urine Processor Assembly has been balky ever since it was installed last year…
R.I.P., Trans Texas Corridor
Remember those glorious plans for space-age tollroads linking Houston, Dallas and cities all over Texas? The magnificent artists’ renderings that promised everything but flying cars?Forget them. The Trans Texas Corridor, Governor Rick Perry’s grandiose plan to pave massive roads through rural Texas, is dead.Not exactly dead, TxDot executive director Amadeo…
Green Eggs at Baby Barnaby’s
January 2nd was a funny kind of day. A Friday, the day after New Year’s Day, sandwiched between a citywide attempt to recover from a hangover and a weekend in which another one would soon take its place, January 2nd was eerily quiet and sober. My grandmother and I drove…
RIP Ron Asheton
The Stooges, “No Fun” Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, whose MC5-inspired gutter blues effectively laid the foundation for punk rock guitar, was found dead this morning in his Ann Arbor, Michigan, home, the Ann Arbor News reported. Asheton’s personal assistant contacted Ann Arbor police after not hearing from him for several…
What’s It Gonna Take To Get A No-Kill Expert To Look At The City’s Animal Shelter?
More bad news for advocates who want the city’s animal shelter to go no-kill: a proposed contract between the city and national no-kill consultant Nathan Winograd appears to be stuck in limbo….sorta like a puppy in a pound, come to think of it.Bett Sundemeyer of No Kill Houston tells Hair…
Longhorns Can’t Brag About Buckeye Victory
I want to thank The Ohio State Buckeyes. Sure, they lost to the Texas Longhorns, but because the Longhorns needed a bad spot by the referees to help get the victory, I’m pretty damn sure that the country has been saved from listening to Longhorn fans bitch about not playing…
Longhorns Can’t Brag About Buckeye Victory
I want to thank The Ohio State Buckeyes. Sure, they lost to the Texas Longhorns, but because the Longhorns needed a bad spot by the referees to help get the victory, I’m pretty damn sure that the country has been saved from listening to Longhorn fans bitch about not playing…
MySpaced Out: Gram Rabbit Stirs in the High Desert
Gram Rabbit, “California Christmas” In case you’re still in your holiday hangover mode like I am, here’s one wonderful holiday YouTube video that our gallant Mr. Rocks Off left out of his holiday onslaught. Cute doesn’t begin to describe this one. While we are on the subject, high desert California…
Eyeballin’: Down the Tracks: The Music That Influenced Led Zeppelin
Even the most naïve and surface Led Zeppelin listener tell you at least that they were influenced “by the blues.” But this insightful and surprisingly solid documentary goes way further in delving into the sound and the performers which were in the minds (and on the home stereos) of Mssrs…
Trying to Put Humpty Dumpty Together Again in Galveston
Got a historic photo that shows what Galveston looked like before Hurricane Ike came through town? How about any documents pertaining to commercial or residential properties on the island? The Galveston Historical Foundation is putting out the word that anyone in possession of either of these things should make his…
$13 at The Black Labrador Pub on Montrose
Where: The Black Labrador Pub, 4100 Montrose Blvd, 713-529-1199 What $13 gets you: Many of their main course dishes for either brunch or lunch. The Black Labrador during the daytime has the most wonderful ambience. Located next to the Montrose branch of the Houston Public Library, you can go in…
Continental Wants Its Pilots to Work Harder, Fly Righter
If you’re flying Continental to Mumbai in the near future, you might want to pay close attention to how rested the pilot is. Are her eyes bloodshot, or are the lids propped up with toothpicks? Or is she perhaps knocking back little pills with gallons of coffee? Well, the FAA…
Baba Ghanoush at Cafe Rita
George Sarikhanian, the Armenian-Lebanese owner of Cafe Rita (along with his eponymous wife, Rita), doesn’t act remotely surprised when I tell him that his baba ghanoush is the best I’ve ever had. “Of course it is,” he exclaims good-naturedly in his thick Lebanese accent. “Why you think we have so many customers? …
Cool Out on Your Commute
2009 is only a few days old, and Houston’s radio climate is already improving. Not on the FM dial, which remains a wasteland north of 91.7 (same as it ever was), but starting at 4 p.m. today, commuters can immerse themselves in the swinging sounds of Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony…
Art Rock: Boondocks Live at… Guess
Poster by Mr. Castillo…
True Blood Author Charlaine Harris Will Be Signing In Houston
The woman who wrote the comedic vampire books that inspired the HBO series True Blood is author Charlaine Harris. In what will be her only appearance in support of the reissue of her book Living Dead in Dallas, the second Sookie Stackhouse title, she’s set to speak at the Central…
The First Two Local Bank Robberies of the New Year in Houston
Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Houston Bank Robbery Task Force were probably still nursing their hangovers when they were called to not one but two bank robberies on the first business day of the new year…
Ex-Voto Is Back from the Dead… Almost
Ex-Voto, “I Never” I turned down several New Year’s Eve employment opportunities this year (some of them legitimate), and spent the last hours of 2008 quietly with family, friends and an excitable Papillion. Among the small group of relaxed revelers was a visiting Spleen, in town for a family holiday…
Rosa’s Photo Corner: Pierced Arrows, Six Organs of Admittance, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and X
“Tri-X 400. Nikon FA, F1.4 at 1/60 of a second. I accidentally overcooked the negative in a D76 soup that was too hot to begin with, but the resulting effect really illuminates the experience even with the scance information in the composition – his closed eyes, the microphone camouflaging his…
Big Ass Hole in Daisetta Still a Mystery
What’s that you say? There’s still no known reason for the giant hole in Daisetta? We figured the graphic simulation in our video below would’ve made everything clear. — Keith Plocek…
Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 9
[Note: This is the final installment of Aftermath’s survey of memorable 2008 concerts – the ones he attended and reviewed (mostly, but not always, by him) anyway; kudos to Valient Thorr, Ice Cube, Dr. Dog, Son Volt, Journey/Heart, Wilderness, the HPMA showcase and many others. Don’t miss parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,…
Turning the Screw: Dustin Prestige, Lupe Fiasco, Katy Perry/Travis McCoy, Dr. Dre, DJ AM, Lil’ Kim, Damon Dash/Jay-Z, Talib Kweli 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: “Funny Valentine,” Dustin Prestige Wire To Wire Lupe Fiasco, whom you’ll remember recently announced his retirement, is rumored to…
Smash My Mouth Burger
There was a band playing out in front of the new Smashburger location at Kirby and Main when I stopped by on Saturday. It was a radio station promotion for the modernistic burger stand’s grand opening celebration. Standing at the counter, I almost ordered the “Classic Smashburger” which is the…
Texans Throw Parties for Michael Chertoff and He’s Not Invited
Local South Texas officials didn’t like Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff too much to begin with and then when he pushed forward with the border wall despite every political and ecological plea they could make, the dislike morphed into something very akin to hatred. That hasn’t passed, apparently. This Saturday, Texas…
Metalocalypse: Getting to Know Scarlet Sins
[Note: this is the first entry in a partnership between Rocks Off and Houston-based metal Web site UNdergroWNd MiNdbloW. In the hot seat is all-female Toronto quartet Scarlet Sins. Enjoy.] My name is Chris, and I have a long ongoing love affair with music. Especially heavy metal, death metal, speed…
Ten Other Excuses Charles Barkley Could’ve Told the Phoenix Cop
For those of you who missed the news in all of the New Year’s reveling, former Houston Rockets power forward, current TNT basketball analyst, and renowned gambling addict Charles Barkley was arrested outside of Phoenix early on New Year’s Eve and cited for DUI. The Chuckster was pulled over because…
Ten Other Excuses Charles Barkley Could’ve Told the Phoenix Cop
For those of you who missed the news in all of the New Year’s reveling, former Houston Rockets power forward, current TNT basketball analyst, and renowned gambling addict Charles Barkley was arrested outside of Phoenix early on New Year’s Eve and cited for DUI. The Chuckster was pulled over because…
Sonidos y Mas: Hendrik Meurkens’ Samba To Go!
Hendrik Meurkens Samba To Go! (Zoho) www.hendrikmeurkens.com The music of Brazil has captivated a great number of fans and musicians around the world, and many of the latter have tried to emulate the country’s sounds and make them their own, for better or worse. Among those who have been successful…
Robb’s Oyster Book
My new book Sex, Death & Oysters: A Half Shell Lover’s World Tour was released January 1 and is now selling on Amazon. I’ll make the rounds of Houston bookstores this week signing as many copies as I can find. It was a 2004 cover story by the same name…
John Royal’s New Year’s Resolutions for 2009
In honor of the New Year, I thought I would go the cliché route and give you my Ten Resolutions for 2009. 10. I’m going to continue to be as objective as I can when it comes to my coverage of Houston sports. 9. I’m going to find some way…
John Royal’s New Year’s Resolutions for 2009
In honor of the New Year, I thought I would go the cliché route and give you my Ten Resolutions for 2009. 10. I’m going to continue to be as objective as I can when it comes to my coverage of Houston sports. 9. I’m going to find some way…
Honey Don’t: Seattle P-I Investigation Raises Concerns
If you’re eating honey because it’s supposed to be healthy, better think again. An investigative report titled “Honey Laundering” in the Seattle P-I has revealed that many American shoppers are unwittingly buying contaminated Chinese honey. With American beehives dying off, the United States is importing a lot its honey –…
Blog on Blog: The Skyline Network’s Ryan “adr” Clark
Be sure to check out this interview Rocks Off’s Dusti Rhodes did for our sister blog Hair Balls with king of the Skyline Network and Sammy Award arbiter Ryan “adr” Clark (right, who, we don’t care what he says, is kind of a pimp… just not the transacting-sex-for-money type). “I…
Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 8
Cheech & Chong/Willie Nelson, Verizon Wireless Theater/House of Blues, October 31: “This morning Aftermath thought his notes had vanished entirely before realizing he had simply mistook the back cover of his notebook for the front. Halloween 2008 was high times indeed.” Randy Weeks, Discovery Green, November 6: “New songs like…
Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 7
Jay-Z, House of Blues, October 16: “Jay-Z and his dozen-man band tore through the Brooklyn rapper’s phone-book-thick catalog — topped by the thunderstruck, ‘Back in Black’-borrowing “99 Problems” — as Bun B, several Houston Texans (and Texans Cheerleaders) and the rest of the sold-out house got their swerve on in…
KTRH Gives Up On The Extended-Morning-News Experiment, Goes Back To Choir-Preaching
We noted in October that KTRH, pretty much the only news operation left on the AM dial, had expanded their morning news program by getting rid of San Antonio shouter Joe Pags’ show.Sure, since then the expanded “news” hole was often filled by a chaotic hodgepodge of whatever guest the…
Blog On Blog: The Skyline’s Ryan Clark
Name: Ryan “adr” Clark Blog: The Skyline Network URL: www.theskyline.netStarted: Late 2006, early 2007Typical Topics: Local music – concert reviews, album reviews, gossipDay Job: I do marketing and communication for an oil gas company.Hair Balls: How did The Skyline Network enter the blogosphere? adr: It started out as a parody…
Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 6
Silver Jews, Walter’s on Washington, September 18: “[Silver Jews frontman David] Berman strode around the stage with confidence; you wouldn’t know he’s still getting used to playing live. At times, he looked so loose that he might slump to the floor had he not been leaning on the mic stand.”…
Galveston’s Grand Opera House Is Back, Baby
The 1894 Grand Opera House, socked with eight feet of water by that bastard Ike, is back.The facility officially reopens tomorrow with a free party featuring tours, sing-alongs and people reading from the best Ike survival stories. Then Jerry Jeff Walker will bring the place back for paying customers with…
Five Spot: Greeting 2009 Z-Ro Style
Welcome back to The Five Spot. Every Friday, 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. Just because you probably missed it, we’d like to take a second to bring to your attention that 2008 is…
Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 5
King’s X, Meridian, August 19: “[dUg] Pinnick’s bass was very much the lead instrument, negotiating the distance between the complicated vocal harmonies and searing chainsaw riffs with a low-to-the-ground, almost nonchalant assurance.” Masters of Metal, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, August 23: “Dilettantes contented ourselves with their screaming (for vengeance) renditions…
Free Tickets for Doors Tribute Band at House of Blues Tomorrow
About two dozen tickets for tomorrow night’s latest installment of House of Blues’ tribute-band series – weird scenes inside the goldmine from Huntington Beach, Calif.-based Doors fans Wild Child – are available until 6 p.m. in the lobby of the Press offices, 1621 Milam, Suite 100. First come, first serve, as always…
Cutout Bin: Bobby Krane & His Orchestra’s Teen Age Dance Party
Bobby Krane & His Orchestra Teen Age Dance Party (label, year unknown) “It’s that time of year again! Time for my big New Years dance party! I hope it goes better than last year. Who can forget the incident with Tommy and Leslie? And in my parents bedroom, too. Boy,…
Take The Time Capsule Back To 1965, Via KPRC
Via Mike McGuff’s blog comes a whole lot of time-capsule goodness: a 1965 mini-documentary by KPRC on how KPRC goes about putting together the news for its TV and radio audience.It’s a world where cigarettes are smoked manfully, reporters are uniformly white and the intersection of Westheimer & Weslayan is…
Nightlife Photos: New Year’s Eve at Rich’s
We hope you and yours had a good NYE. Here are some photos to help bring in ’09. — Keith Plocek…
Artist of the Week: Miss Buffy
Each Wednesday (barring holidays), 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. We’re pretty good about coming up…
The Innocence Project Of Texas Becomes A Victim
The Innocence Project of Texas has, apparently, become the victim of one of the bigger crimes of the present day.The IPT, for those who don’t know, is an Austin-based group of volunteer students and lawyers who take up the cases of those they feel have been wrongly convicted.One case they’re…
Craiged In Blog: My Year in Concerts
Metallica, Toyota Center, November 20: When Death Magnetic came out in September during Hurricane Ike, initially I dismissed it as I was knee-deep still in the new Black Keys and Beck albums and fence rubble. But somewhere along the line I picked this up again and destroyed my car stereo…
Classic Rock Corner: Blues/Soul/R&B In Memoriam 2008
Ah, that nasty Grim Reaper took a lot of great musicians this year, and his scythe cut a wide swath across all genres, including many heavyweights in the blues and R&B world. The greatest loss comes in the form of someone who was a man, a song, and a beat…
Retro Active: U2 Will Be With You Again
Bono and Luciano Pavarotti, “Ave Maria” Every year, at almost exactly this time, if you’re like me, you can’t get U2’s goddamned “New Year’s Day” out of your head. And, if you’re like me, it drives you insane, not because of the quality of the song, but … well, yeah,…
Chocolate Chip Cookie Redux
Few American culinary inventions have been experimented on, analyzed, tested, and dissected more than the humble chocolate chip cookie. Myriad variations in recipe, presentation and technique have been exhaustively documented. As a home cook I tend to be a traditionalist. So I call for a return to the recipe that…
Happy New Year from Ballz (and the Houston Aeros)
Those of you who read my Aeros post on Monday know that I mentioned the Miss Aeros Bikini Contest and my lack of photos from said contest. Jason Villanueava, photographer for the Aeros, saw my post and was kind enough to send me two photos of the lovely contestants out…
Happy New Year from Ballz (and the Houston Aeros)
Those of you who read my Aeros post on Monday know that I mentioned the Miss Aeros Bikini Contest and my lack of photos from said contest. Jason Villanueava, photographer for the Aeros, saw my post and was kind enough to send me two photos of the lovely contestants out…
College Bowl Preview: Picks By A Real Expert, The Finale
The college football bowl season is here, and it’s become such a confusing mess of odd-sounding games played in smallish towns with mediocre teams that you need an expert to figure it out. And nothing says “expert” more than a teen-aged kid, whether the subject is football, driving, or how…
College Bowl Preview: Picks By A Real Expert, The Finale
The college football bowl season is here, and it’s become such a confusing mess of odd-sounding games played in smallish towns with mediocre teams that you need an expert to figure it out. And nothing says “expert” more than a teen-aged kid, whether the subject is football, driving, or how…
The Best Local Songs of 2008, Part 2
“Whiskey Deuce,” News on the March: Oh, snap. Bet you thought we’d pick “Moving Pictures.” Nope, that’s a good one, but there is something a little more memorable track 2 off the country-fied/barber shop quintet’s first official EP, Glory Be! “Whiskey Deuce” has pitch-perfect harmonies, two-step-ready drums and guitars and…
The Best Videos of 2008, Part 2
5. Killer Mike feat. Ice Cube, “Pressure” 4. Weezer, “Pork and Beans” 3. Justice, “Stress” (above) 2. Hayes Carll, “She Left Me for Jesus” And the best video of 2008 is… …
Houston’s Future Is Now
When a new year dawns, it’s time to contemplate what lies ahead. So Hair Balls called UH professor Peter Bishop to talk about the future. Bishop specializes in long-term forecasting and planning. “What happens next year is already baked in the cake,” he says. Bishop says that if you read,…
Gallery Talk: The Artist’s Eye with Andrea Grover
Three seldom-seen treasures hit the screen for Gallery Talk: The Artist’s Eye with Andrea Grover. For her installment of the monthly series, The Aurora Picture Show co-founder unearthed a trio of rare Joseph Cornell films from the Menil’s stores. “There are so many films in the archives that no one’s…
First Annual Artist Owned Gallery Exhibitions and Art Walk
Get your art directly from the people who created it at today’s First Annual Artist Owned Gallery Exhibitions and Art Walk. Five galleries are participating — Archway Gallery, 2305 Dunlavy; Potters Guild, 1701 Dunlavy; Betz Art Gallery, 1208 West Gray; Gallery 3, 2101 Winter Street; and Galeria Regina, 1716 Richmond…
Bayou City Farmers’ Market
Start your New Year off with a resolution to go local. The Bayou City Farmers’ Market offers a wide variety of Houston-grown fruits, veggies, coffees, honeys, spices, meats, eggs and more. It’s fresh and made from the ground you walk on — well, the parts of the ground that haven’t…
Frank Olson and Mike Field
Frank Olson and Mike Field each formulate abstract e-art that’s as trippy as it is intriguing. Olson, who works under a pseudonym, swirls and mirrors images in Photoshop for kaleidoscopic works rich with color and detail. Field writes computer programs that create images that look like they’re inside you —…
Exhibition Tour: “Color into Light”
Think you’re up-to-date on all the latest offerings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston? Well, when a new and complex exhibition like the museum’s “Color into Light: Selections from the MFAH Collection” opens up, even the most ardent fan would enjoy a gallery tour. During the Exhibition Tour: “Color…
Lowell Sanders
According to comedian Lowell Sanders, the War on Terror isn’t something just being waged in the Middle East — it’s been going on for a long time on the home front. “My mother was a terrorist. It was Code Orange in my house every day growing up,” he remembers. But…
Silver Blades on the Silver Screen: It’s a Wonderful Life
Get your holidays on ice at Discovery Green’s Silver Blades on the Silver Screen series. As you circle the park’s frosty skating rink, you can catch the classic Christmas flick It’s a Wonderful Life. Jimmy Stewart stars as down-and-out businessman George Bailey, who sees it’s a horrible life without him…
Houston Zoo Free Admission Day
The holidays bring out a lot of animals. No, not your annoying relatives; we mean lions, tigers and bears (oh my!), along with African wild dogs, Komodo dragons and clown fish that would put a hurtin’ on Nemo. You can see them all today, without paying a dime, at the…
4th Annual Open Call Show: “Texas Green”
Artists answered the “Go green!” rally cry for the Art Car Museum’s 4th Annual Open Call Show: “Texas Green” with a variety of work that ranges from the humorous (Solomon Kane’s Eve An American Goddess Don’t Blame Me for Your Psychotic Religious Misconceptions, the torso of a female mannequin covered…
Catch Me if You Can
Marriage can be hard work. When you’re married to the wrong woman, it’s lots and lots of hard work. No, not the wrong woman as in, “I should have married Sally instead of Julie.” No, the wrong woman as in, “This Elizabeth isn’t my Elizabeth!” That’s exactly what happens to…
Carol O’Connell
It’s every family’s nightmare: A child disappears, never to be seen again. In Carol O’Connell’s new novel Bone by Bone, the nightmare is especially ghoulish. Twenty years after his brother Josh went missing, Oren, now an adult and an ex–investigator for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command, comes home for a…
Drawing Swords: War in American Political Cartoons
Whether they’re lampooning the enemy, celebrating the troops or questioning the government, political cartoons have been a potent force in America for the past two centuries. “One-Man Army” and “Dr. Seuss Wants You!,” two ongoing exhibitions at the Holocaust Museum, explore the importance of anti-Nazi cartoons during World War II…
Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris, the woman behind HBO’s True Blood, the megahit vampire series, is making just one appearance for the reissue of Living Dead in Dallas, and it’s here in Houston. The author of the Sookie Stackhouse books has, along with a few cohorts like Stephenie Meyer and Houston’s own Dean…
Classic Lit/Metamorphosis
Change is hard for anyone, but it’s especially hard for traveling salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes up to find himself transformed into a bug. That’s the premise of the novella Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Gregor isn’t as alarmed as intrigued by the situation. He watches his many legs wiggle in…
Mequitta Ahuja: “Flowback”
Design is weaved into Mequitta Ahuja’s exhibit “Flowback.” The artist’s crayon drawings explore the relationships black women have with their hair — the love, hate, tangles, locks, fussing, fighting and showing off. Her works feature women with their heads tilted back so their extra-long ‘dos flow down the canvas. Each…
Looking Back: History Boat Tour
Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s most storied body of water. In 1836, the Allen brothers speculated that, yup, there might be potential for building a city on the muddy banks of the bayou. You can see what they saw — albeit with a bit different scenery — while gliding along the waters…
Spring Awakening
Masturbation, sexual abuse, teenage passion — it’s all in Spring Awakening, one of the most applauded new Broadway musicals to come along in years. The rock score by Duncan Sheik and the lively lyrics and book by Steven Sater are based on the 1891 German play by Frank Wedekind. The…
Oliver!
Once the ‘60s delivered the megahit musical Oliver!, it became easy to forget that Dickens’s legendary novel is not chockablock with toe-tapping ditties, but is rather a dark, violent and action-packed saga. Director David Lean got it right, however, in his 1948 film Oliver Twist, which screens today at the…
The Radio City Christmas Spectacular
Legs, legs, legs. This, of course, is the first thing that comes to mind for many when they think of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which features the perfectly proportioned, high-kicking, megawatt-smiling line of ladies known as the Rockettes. Even if you’re totally burned out on Christmas, there’s always room…
Great Expectations
Nobody tells a better story than Charles Dickens. And when David Lean turned the great writer’s Great Expectations into a dark and brooding Academy Award–winning film in 1946, Pip and Estella became two of the world’s most loved characters. The black-and-white British movie is full of shadows, spider webs and…
Trudy Askew: “Pretense”
Painter Trudy Askew investigated facades for “Pretense.” Her latest works play with images of faces and masks. In Adornment, a portion of a person’s face has been squared off and painted black and white. It appears ready for a redesign. In Harlequin, a clown wearing the traditional costume of diamond-shaped…
Grindhouse
Grindhouse, the 2007 double feature from directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, takes its name from a term for American movie theaters in the 1970s that showed horror and action B-movies. Rodriguez has said they intended to produce a film of that style that actually lived up to its poster…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Always…Patsy Cline, A Fertle Holiday
Always…Patsy Cline Stages Repertory Theatre’s favorite cash cow is back and as much fun as ever. Created by Ted Swindley, the Stages founding artistic director, 20 years ago, Always…Patsy Cline is one of the theater’s biggest crowd-pleasers. With the current two-woman cast, which includes the hilarious Susan O. Koozin as…
Akon: Freedom
The Smoking Gun Web site exposed Akon earlier this year, unearthing police documents showing he’s greatly exaggerated his arrest record and incarceration time. And so on his third album, Freedom, he downgrades himself from “Konvicted” (his last CD’s title) to “Troublemaker.” Even this description refers more to his tendencies to…
New Year’s Resolutions from a Few Big Musical Names
Happy New Year, everybody. As the calendar starts over, everyone’s thinking about what they might do differently in the next 365 days: quit smoking, lose weight, not buy so much porn — you know the drill. Celebrities are no different, so Chatter polled the Houston Press’s music writers to speculate…
Tale of the 12-Year-Old
Around 700 Hair Balls blog readers responded to “Police Get the Wrong House in Galveston, Allegedly Assault the Wrong Girl,” by Chris Vogel, December 17. Here’s a selection of the response. Sue the city: Those “lawmen” are probably lucky they didn’t get shot kidnapping a young girl like that. I…
The Stars of HISD
You probably don’t realize it, but the Houston school district’s Web site has a page dedicated to prominent alumni, listed by high school. Unfortunately, many of the “prominent” alumni are politicians, especially current and former HISD board members. Any definition of “prominent” that includes HISD board members is probably a…
Monte Montgomery
Austin is full of monster guitarists. Eric Johnson, David Grissom, Charlie Sexton, David Holt and Redd Volkaert are generally acknowledged to be some of the most innovative six-string stylists in popular music, but Monte Montgomery doesn’t take a back seat to any of them. Montgomery may not be the best-known…
Scarface: Emeritus
“Emeritus,” Webster tells us, means to be retired but to retain an honorary title. And if this really is Scarface’s final rap LP (he’s mentioned playing in a rock band afterwards, of all things), it seems a reasonable request. He is, after all, a rap deity, his lethargic flow visceral…
The Magpies
My son, a guitar plunker raised on huge doses of Rockpile and Joe Ely, tipped me to the Magpies. He saw them at Hayes Carll’s Stingaree Festival last spring and pronounced them the hardest-rocking band of the whole soiree. Tooling over to MySpace, it only took a brief introduction to…
Through a Xerox Darkly
Just before Hurricane Ike played God’s Mighty Anvil on H-Town, my wife and I visited our friends Bear and Shelli Wilder in their new family home in Kingwood. The Wilders have been a major part of Houston’s Goth arts community for years, serving as fashion models, DJs, promoters of the…
Bayousphere
Jesus finds, as do we all eventually, that you have to keep a close eye on your contractor. Here He, apparently clutching a cup of coffee, looks closely at the sweeping job done by Chris Sanchez at the Allure Gallery. We guess He really is a micromanager. To view image…
Reckless Kelly
Since the Braun boys moved to Austin a decade ago, their band Reckless Kelly has always been considered a part of the Texas music phenomenon, but they’ve also always managed to stand slightly apart from that whole thing. To its credit, the band has never used the beer-taco-Mexico-tequila-Texas-Texas-Texas-more-beer lyrical template…
Blitzen Trapper: Furr
Let’s set the record straight. Despite a long list of rock writers claiming the contrary, Blitzen Trapper is not an Americana band. Sure, the band tinkers with roots rock: a little Creedence twang here, some Crazy Horse crunch there. But beyond the pedal-steel-led ballad “Stolen Shoes and a Rifle,” the…
What a Catch at Jazzie Cafe
The tilapia poor boy ($5.99) at Jazzie Cafe (1221 W. 19th St., 713-426-5299) is hard to put down, so when the waitress asks if you want six inches or a foot, do yourself a favor and get the foot. Here, they use authentic poor boy bread, which is flaky on…
Cancer Doctor Stanislaw Burzynski Sees Himself as a Crusading Researcher, Not a Quack
If you were writing the story of Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, he’d probably want you to start with him leaving Poland for America with $15 and a dream. He’d want it to end with him curing cancer. The events in between would describe a man leaving behind an oppressive regime for…
Over-the-Top Chophouse at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse
There was a seven-inch bone sticking out of the Fred Flintstone rib eye on the plate in front of me. I carved the monster chop with the heavy stainless steel chef’s blade that they call a steak knife at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse in the Galleria. My dining companion…
Ruggles Green
“I’m the cook, and he’s the green guy.” That’s how Bruce Molzan, one of the partners in the new Ruggles Green (2311 W. Alabama, 713-533-0777), describes his relationship with Federico Marques. Ruggles Green claims to be Houston’s first “green” restaurant, as certified by the Green Restaurant Association. “We’re 30 percent…
VOICE’S EAST INDIA
How do you respond to a bad pickup line? It’s not something I think about much. I’m a guy — I’m usually on the other end of that exchange, wiping the woman’s drink off my face. So it was a rare treat to watch my friend Ben react to being shamelessly…
2008 in Texas Albums and Local EPs
It always amazes Noise how many people manage to actually record and release music, never more so than when trying to play catch-up with all the Texas recordings from any given year. Down the street and across the state, music is as much a native natural resource (or supernatural resource,…
Metavenge
Metavenge scare me. Why, you ask, would a group of metal kids, some not old enough to buy porn, do that? Metavenge already have metal locked down and they haven’t even taken their first sip of legal booze, that’s why. They sound like they walked right out of opening for…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Blind Lines,” Hot and Grounded
“Blind Lines” In the 19th century, locks of hair from the living and the dead were considered sentimental mementos. In the 21st century, collected strands of hair are more often than not associated with DNA analysis for a crime lab or paternity test. Mexican artist Gabriel de la Mora uses…
Pavement: Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition
Eleven years on, Pavement’s penultimate long-player still sounds like the product of two inevitable, related factors: the onset of maturity and a heightened sense of professionalism. So rough edges are missing in action, the pacing is generally Sunday-drive slow and laconic front man Stephen Malkmus muses about God, slaved-over wedding…
