Making Change on Montrose
Photos by Katharine Shilcutt Vaya con dios, Taco CabanaThe intersection of Montrose and Westheimer is nothing if not mutable. From being a sleepy residential neighborhood in the 1920s to the 40s to a run-down hangout for drug addicts and rough types in the 1970s and early 80s to a haven…
PBK Architects Brings Its “Build Big” Sales Job To League City
PBK Architects, the Houston firm that’s in a messy battle because it wanted to build Taj Mahal facilities at a suburban Austin district and that is making Fort Bend parents uneasy with plans to build a Taj Mahal science facility there (official estimate from the superintendent: It’s going “to cost…
Still A Rough Transition For The Chronicle
Check the box in the upper-left corner. Doing less with more sometimes doesn’t work out well. (You can click on the picture to make it bigger.)…
Happy April Fool’s Day: Fools in Popular Music
As you’ve hopefully been able to tell from our previous two entries (and yes, we were KIDDING about both of them), Rocks Off has been having some fun with April Fool’s Day today. According to Wikipedia – unless, you know, they’re joking – the day springs from a discrepancy when…
Does Catastrophic Theatre Live Up To Its Name Too Well?
Catastrophic Theatre’s Hunter Gatherers, originally set to open last week, has been pushed back to tomorrow because of “technical difficulties.” This comes after the company’s previous show, Spirits to Enforce, was delayed a week in December due to “illness in the cast.” Which made Hair Balls wonder: Is the company,…
Notsuoh to Become “Scout Bar Main”
In a move long telegraphed but never consummated, Notsuoh owner Jim Pirtle has reportedly made good on his threats to sell the venerable downtown hipster haunt, but not to a greedy developer looking to build luxury housing or some chic mandatory dress-code bar. Rocks Off has learned that Tom Wilson,…
Smiths Reunion Rumored at Morrissey’s Jones Hall Show
Strangeways, here they come: Rocks Off has learned that former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has requested passes for his ex-bandmate Morrissey’s sold-out April 11 show at Jones Hall, leading to speculation that the two will perform onstage together for the first time since the influential Manchester band’s acrimonious 1987 split…
KBR’s Iraq Adventure Now Includes Child Porn
KBR (Halliburton to the old-schoolaz) has had its share of troubles on its way to making untold billions of dollars of profit in Iraq.There’s the rape and sexual harassment (Female and male-on-male!). There’s the electrocuting soldiers. There’s the dogs running around chomping on human remains intended for an incinerator.You know…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: New Sam Phillips Free Download – With a Catch
One of Lonesome Onry and Mean’s favorite L.A. chanteuses, Sam Phillips, announced a free download of a new song today. The catch is you have to click on the link above and join her mailing list. I’ve already signed up, but after 30 minutes I still haven’t received the email…
HISD: Too Big For Mere Texas Meetings
The Texas Association of School Administrators is a high-powered organization of superintendents and other education bureaucrats. They recently held an important legislative conference in Austin, dealing with pressing issues like stimulus funds.Attendees got updates from key state senators and reps, like Senator Florence Shapiro, chair of the Senate Education Committee,…
(Maybe) Final Score: Ryan Moats 1, Dallas Police 0
This just in — the police officer who hassled Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats has resigned.Officer Robert Powell, who gave an apologetic interview yesterday, today quit the DPD.His written statement: “With a heavy heart and great sadness, I resigned from the Dallas Police Department this morning. I made this…
Tex-Cajun Poutine
“The Tex-Cajun Virgin” at BB’s Cajun Cafe is a plate of hot, crispy, shoestring French fries topped with thin roast beef slices, chile con queso and brown gravy. In this amazing triumph of Gulf Coast folk cuisine. BB’s owner Brooks Bassler has concocted a Tex-Mex Cajun version of poutine. When…
A Pardon For Galveston’s Jack Johnson? McCain’s On It
Senator John McCain is announcing today that he wants President Obama to issue a pardon for Jack Johnson, the “Galveston Giant” who ruled boxing’s heavyweight division in the early 20th Century and was convicted of transporting a woman across state lines to get him some.Because McCain is all about the…
Artist of the Week: Caretta Bell
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. We are all about making predictions, assumptions or…
The City Of Houston Wants You To Give Out Free Food
Want to give away free food to hungry kids? The city of Houston wants to help you.City officials are actively seeking non-profit organizations or other community groups who want to sign up to provide free lunches for the economically disadvantaged this summer.”Every day throughout the summer, 448,753 Houston-area children are…
This Season’s MLB Predictions: The American League
With baseball season due to start next week, I thought I should put myself on the line and make some predictions. I’m going to do the American League today. I’ll follow up with the National League and postseason picks tomorrow, and I’ll give a more in-depth look at the Astros…
This Season’s MLB Predictions: The American League
With baseball season due to start next week, I thought I should put myself on the line and make some predictions. I’m going to do the American League today. I’ll follow up with the National League and postseason picks tomorrow, and I’ll give a more in-depth look at the Astros…
Idol Beat: The Top Nine
Remember last week’s requiem for the Sarvernator? Turns out that Anoop – Season 8’s Great Dork Hope – is in the same damn leaky boat: a phenom before the judges, a lamestain when serenading America. His put-on Usher turn last night cemented his unworthy status, and officially killed any affection…
More Bits And Pieces From The Chron Cuts
We know have a new leader in the clubhouse for Worst Way To Find Out You Lost Your Chronicle Job.Dai Huynh, one of the paper’s food writers, was scheduled to come back from maternity leave. The night before she gets a call telling her, in effect, “don’t bother.”Cold.Remember, our list…
Recession Lunching at Rainbow Lodge
It’s becoming more affordable than ever to dine in our city’s finest restaurants, and Rainbow Lodge is no exception to that rule. Three years ago, the long-time Houston institution moved from its original location into a charming rambler on White Oak Bayou just off Ella and is now under the…
For April 1: The Five Best “Fool” Movies, No Kidding
Whether somebody posted those drunken emails you mistakenly sent to the entire company on their MySpace or you merely wasted valuable internet time last night making sure your computer was protected against the “Conficker” virus (*cough*), you may very find yourself the victim of a prank this April Fool’s Day…
JoyStix and Eighteen Twenty: We Love The `80s!
On the first and last Friday of every month, getting drunk and playing video games doesn’t have to be a solitary pursuit. Or at least you can do it with other people aroundA good portion of the crowd at Eighteen Twenty and Joystix Friday night did come alone — and…
Metro’s Math Hitting The Homeless Hard
The price of bus tickets jumped by a quarter in November, to $1.25, and the increase was probably long overdue. Metro had gone 14 years without a hike.But a less publicized change that went into effect about a year ago has done far more to drain the pockets of some…
The Cop Who Hassled Ryan Moats Speaks Out, Softly
We’ve heard from Texans running back Ryan Moats on his experience with the Dallas cop who hassled him as he was trying to reach his dying mother-in-law, and now we’ve heard from the cop.KTVT in Dallas got an exclusive interview with Robert Powell.It starts off with a question that makes…
Austin ISD Decides Not to Get On Board The CEP Gravy Train — At Least For Now
Last night the Austin school board squelched, at least for now, any consideration of a partnership with Community Education Partners, the Nashville-based, for-profit operator of alternative schools that has two facilities in Houston. CEP would have operated an alternative center for students in the eighth and ninth grades who were…
Local Album of the Week: Little Joe Washington’s Texas Fire Line
Little Joe Washington Texas Fire Line www.dialtonerecords.com One of the easiest jobs in music has to be producer of a Little Joe Washington album. Make sure he shows up at the studio – itself no small feat, though not as difficult as it used to be – turn on the…
Fare Thee Well, Giff Nielsen, Maker Of No Waves
Giff Nielsen, the sports anchor at KHOU who’s been at the station 25 years, is leaving.And, ummm, there’s not much to say because Nielsen might be the single most boring television personality in Houston history.Not that’s a bad thing — Nielsen capably delivered the news, conducted interviews and analyzed events…
Aftermath: Britney Spears at Toyota Center
Britney Spears and her three-ring “Circus” came to Houston Monday night, and I unashamedly followed throngs of twenty- and thirtysomethings into Toyota Center to catch a glimpse of the comeback girl we love to pick apart, then pick back up again. We’ll skip right on over openers the Pussycat Dolls,…
Not Everyone Is Cheering DA Pat Lykos’s Latest Move
If you look up “throwing someone under the bus” in the dictionary of clichés, you might just find the following example from Pat Lykos’s braver, newer Harris County District Attorneys Office used as illustration. Not content to keep her ire in-house about a recent jury selection gone awry, Lykos lambasted…
Slideshow: Homopolice at Westheimer Block Party
Leather-loving noise-punks Homopolice’s show at Mango’s during Westheimer Block Party Saturday evening had it all: amplifier humping, instrument smashing, guest screaming from Rusted Shut’s Don Walsh, lots of blood and even more dude-on-dude action. It was so over-the-top outrageous it obviously deserved its own slideshow. Craig Hlavaty risked life and…
The Kids At Valley West Elementary Finally Recover From Ike
Like a drunk wandering a pub that has run out of beer, so fourth-grader Andrew Jok roams his school’s library looking for interesting books to read. He devours nearly a dozen books a month, you see, and he needs his fix. Jok’s problem, however, along with the rest of the…
T. Boone Gets Ready For His Million-Megawatt March
General T. Boone Pickens is invading Washington, D.C. tomorrow. Well, virtually. Members of his New Energy Army, numbering somewhere between 1.5 and 3 million strong, are planning to bombard Congress with emails and phone calls urging lawmakers to pass legislation favorable to Pickens’ plan to use less foreign oil and more…
The Drunk Bride & The Jail: The Continuing Saga From Someone Who Hates Publicity
So it’s your wedding night. Your new hubby is driving you from the reception to your hotel. You get stopped. He gets charged with DWI, and you get charged with public intoxication. You’re wearing your wedding dress in a courtroom and a photog snaps your picture. Suddenly you’re the face…
MySpaced Out: Vive La France!
France is easily one of my favorite MySpace music destinations. I’ve stumbled on so much cool stuff I’ve had to start keeping a notebook. Here are a few of the most interesting artists I’ve tuned in to lately. Les Kiffeurs (Paris): Loosely translating as people who like to take pleasure,…
UH Sweatshop Group Claims “The People’s Lawyer” Tried To Bribe Them
We long gave up trying to mesh the noble cause of UH’s Students Against Sweatshops with their inane, self-defeating tactics.Things are getting weird with them once again.In an e-mail announcing a press conference this week (in which they’ll discuss filing a new lawsuit), group president Timothy O’Brien takes off against…
Marilyn Manson Reminds Us Where He’s From
We hope we aren’t in the minority here at Rocks Off in saying that Marilyn Manson is the last living active rock star. True, Jagger and Bowie are still kicking around, but no one ignites tempers and soothes dark hearts like Brian Warner. Plus, the dude can’t hide his pop…
Yes, They’re Still Selling Vacuums Door To Door. And Not Exactly Answering Any Complaints About It, Either
So it’s 2009, and apparently some people are still buying vacuum cleaners from door-to-door salesmen. And some of those folks aren’t happy, based on Better Business Bureau complaints against a Houston-based Kirby Vacuum dealer called Dyro Productions.Frankly, Hair Balls was surprised that these customers shelled out around $1,500 for a…
Classic Rock Corner: Ian Gillan’s Deeper Shade of Purple
Though best known as the talented tonsils behind British hard-rock legends Deep Purple, Ian Gillan has also found the chance to log in some serious studio and road time both fronting his own bands and as a solo artist. Gillan’s new CD, One Eye to Morocco (Eagle Records) finds the…
Crawfish for Charity
The sixth annual MDA Crawfish Boil and Music Festival is taking place this Saturday, April 4th starting at 4:00 p.m. The annual event began as just a small get-together in 2004 with only 250 people in attendance and has grown to one of the city’s biggest and best crawfish boils. …
Colbert Finally Goes On The Offensive Against NASA
The Colbert ReportMon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cSpace Module: Colbert – Democracy in Orbitcomedycentral.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorNASA Name Contest It took a while, but Stephen Colbert has finally gone on the offensive over NASA’s hesitation to name its new space node for him even though his supporters won the…
10 Ways To Solve the Impending Astros Attendance Crisis
There’s a new study out there claiming that there is going to be a big drop in attendance for major league baseball this season. And as we’ve seen from another such report, our own Houston Astros are expected to have one of the major’s biggest attendance drops. So Drayton McLane…
10 Ways To Solve the Impending Astros Attendance Crisis
There’s a new study out there claiming that there is going to be a big drop in attendance for major league baseball this season. And as we’ve seen from another such report, our own Houston Astros are expected to have one of the major’s biggest attendance drops. So Drayton McLane…
Sobriety-Checkpoint Bill Advances; Some Legislators Should Start Worrying
The American Beverage Institute is still keeping up its noble fight to stop the Texas legislature from passing a bill that would allow sobriety checkpoints on the roads.SB298 has been passed by the Senate and now goes to the House.”By calling for sobriety checkpoints, this proposal ignores the root cause…
Flirty Girl Fitness? Oh No You Din’t.
Okay, okay, so all of you are like, yes, Miss Pop Rocks, with your feminism and your women’s rights thang, we didn’t expect you to like Flirty Girl Fitness.And you know what? You’re right! I hate Flirty Girl Fitness! I think it is completely sick and twisted. What that Hell…
Ed Emmett Is Officially Pretty Pleased With The Ike Response
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett’s official and final scorecard on local-government response to Hurricane Ike: “Pretty good.”At a press conference Monday he addressed what worked and what didn’t, and announced that most things worked out well.”A state has the primary responsibility, if you will, and if we just look at…
Slideshow: Westheimer Block Party
Somehow Rocks Off managed to survive Saturday’s Westheimer Block Party and its onslaught of local/regional bands like Tontons, Guitars, Cop Warmth, McKenzies, B L A C K I E and many, many more. We even got a few pictures out of the deal – click here for a slideshow…
Ron Paul’s Hot, Gay Bedroom Tape
We’re two weeks late with this, but then again we don’t keep up as well as we should with Ron Paul/hot gay man-on-man sex stories.But in Bruno, the upcoming semi-sequel to Borat, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen reportedly tries to seduce Paul with champagne, caviar and dancing. It doesn’t work, if…
Austin School District Plans To Board The CEP Train To Nowhere
It looks like Austin ISD is ready to take the Houston ISD route and dump some of its troubled kids into the hands of Community Education Partners, the for-profit operator of alternative schools throughout the country. CEP operates two facilities here in Houston and as we’ve noted before, seems to…
Those of You Not Going to Britney Tonight…
…will just have to make do with her parenting advice to little sister Jamie Lynn: “Shakin’ babies is really bad. But there’s nothing wrong with a little leg-slappin’.” Preach on, sister…..
The Montrose Firetruck Crash: More Photos & Info
Photos by Justine SchmiderThe site of today’s big crash is shut down for at least another hour, according to Tommy Dowdy, district chief with HFD. Utility crews are working remove the power pole, he said, so they can tow away the ladder truck. The injury total is nine firefighters and…
MP3 Monday: Music from Dominique, Fiskadoro, Chocolate Crucifix and Dave Wrangler
Welcome back to MP3 Monday. We’ve been away for a bit due to SXSW, but we’re back now and dedicated to bringing you tantalizing tidbits of local music from all over the spectrum. If you think you’ve got what it takes, email your MP3s to chris.gray@houstonpress.com or hprocksoff@gmail.com. We’ll start…
Aftermath: Chris Cornell at Warehouse Live
Timbaland, who produced Chris Cornell’s new album Scream, has been making the promotional rounds telling the media he thinks it could make Cornell “the first rock star in the club.” Judging by Cornell’s prodigious set at Warehouse Live Sunday night – onstage around 10:15 p.m., off sometime around 1 a.m.,…
The Epic 1969 UH-Harvard Debate Competition Still Haunts
Things we did not know until today: The University of Houston had a kick-ass debate team in 1969, one that swaggered in to the national finals predicting victory only to lose to Harvard. And one of the members of that team has never gotten over the loss, and gotten so…
Spectacular Firetruck Crash Makes Huge Hassle In Montrose
Firefighters and at least one civilian were injured in a nasty crash at about 11 o’clock this morning at Westheimer and Dunlavy in the heart of Montrose.The two fire trucks collided while responding to an emergency call, flipping the ladder truck onto a white Infinity, according to one person who…
Townes Van Zandt and the Demise of Moe the Rooster
So over the weekend I reconnected with my stepfather Chip Phillips. As a good friend of the late Townes Van Zandt and a decades-long friend (and former long-time roadie for) Steve Earle, Chip’s got plenty of good tales from the old days, such as this one from about 1978… Back…
Over The Weekend: Hitting The Heights
The place to be this weekend was in the Heights. How do we know that? Because our intrepid Bill Olive was there to provide the photographic evidence.Clieck here and here for slideshows on the happenings…
Stuffed Tenderloin Cheeseburgers
On the subject of cheeseburgers, James Beard wrote in American Cookery, “this means a piece of processed cheese atop a cooked hamburger patty and broiled just long enough to melt. It is not very good.” Instead he offered his own recipe for cheeseburgers in which one cup of cheddar, gruyere,…
Houston Doesn’t Get Any Sondheim Shows, But It Does Get Sondheim
We’ve written before at the disappointment, the dreary malaise, the gloomy oppression that comes with learning Houston theatergoers will endure yet another season of Broadway warhorses like Sound of Music without getting to hear any Stephen Sondheim.While Houston won’t likely be hearing any Sondheim shows this year, it will hear…
Aeroes Plagued With Goalie Problems
Before their Friday night game against the Rockford IceHogs, the Aeros sat in second place of the AHL’s West Division by three points with ten games to play. After Sunday night’s loss to Rockford, the Aeros are tied for second place with only seven games left in the season. The…
Aeroes Plagued With Goalie Problems
Before their Friday night game against the Rockford IceHogs, the Aeros sat in second place of the AHL’s West Division by three points with ten games to play. After Sunday night’s loss to Rockford, the Aeros are tied for second place with only seven games left in the season. The…
Turning the Screw: K-Rino, Nosaprise, Method Man, T.I., Devin the Dude, Trick Daddy, Flo Rida, The Kanye, Jim Jones, Botany Boyz 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: K-Rino, “Past, Present, Future” Wire To Wire In case you forgot about him, here’s the link to Houston rapper…
Texans’ Moats Goes National, Accepts Apology
Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats went nationwide today, appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America and accepting the apology of the Dallas police officer who harassed him as he tried to spend a few last moments with his dying mother-in-law.Moats, who grew up in Dallas, was calm and professional –…
Yet Another Winning “Question of the Day” From KTRH
It’s always a pleasure to be driving in to work and hear what pressing issue is “The Question of the Day” on alleged newsradio KTRH.Will it be “Obama: Disaster, or Just a Disappointment?” Will it be “Is the Democrat Party a Stalking Horse for Socialism?”Today, though, it was a far…
Crafty Cocktails at Anvil Bar & Refuge
Anvil Bar & Refuge opened quietly last week, without fanfare. It’s fitting for a bar that prides itself less on pomp and fuss and more on the simple art of the cocktail. The bar represents the life’s work of 25-year-old Bobby Heugel, the former wunderkind bartender at Beaver’s Ice House, and his crew of like-minded spirit aficionados. Anvil’s focus lies almost exclusively in Prohibition-era…
Houstonian Won’t Be America’s Next Top Model, But She’s Fine With That
The Houston area got hit with a double-shot of suck last week when Jasper native Michael Sarver got the boot from American Idol and Houstonian Kortnie Coles was kicked-off America’s Next Top Model. We’re not sure if Sarver is okay, but Hair Balls caught up with Coles, who is back…
Album of the Week: Chris Cornell’s Scream
Chris Cornell Scream www.chriscornell.com The good news? This oft-delayed collaboration between Chris Cornell and overpriced hip-hop producer Timbaland isn’t quite the creative debacle snarkster trainspotters have prophesied. The bad news? Scream doesn’t even approach Cornell’s best moments fronting Soundgarden or that mental triple CD-R set of Timbaland deep cuts you’ve…
Saturday: Chris Knight at Conroe’s Crighton Theater
Update: Sounds of Texas is giving away ten pairs of tickets to this show. Call 936-441-7469 ext. 201; mention you saw the offer on houstonpress.com to win. Perhaps no artist in Americana other than Steve Earle has been compared to Bruce Springsteen as much as Kentuckian Chris Knight. Knight’s songs, mostly…
The Houston Ballet Takes Its Marie On The Road
Photo courtesy Houston BalletThere’s quite a buzz in New Orleans today about the Houston Ballet’s performance there of Marie. The story of the ill-fated French queen Marie Antoinette, the ballet is having its first performance outside of Houston in New Orleans’s Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts (its grand…
This Week In Deliciousness
Okay, so maybe this week didn’t start out so hot. First of all, Robb Walsh made the mistake of ordering a hamburger at BB’s Cajun Café, a place renowned for its excellent poor boys, not so much its burgers. So not only did his week start out with a dry-ass…
Translating The Dallas Cop Who Hassled Ryan Moats
By now you’ve no doubt read accounts and watched the video of a Dallas cop harassing Texans running back Ryan Moats, who was rushing to the hospital to see his dying mother-in-law in the few moments she had before dying.We’ve lived in Dallas in the past, and it’s obvious what…
Embarassing Moments In TV Cooking History: Welcome to the List, Padma
Padma Lakshmi isn’t technically a celebrity chef. Yes, she’s published two cookbooks and hosted/starred in an array of food-related programming. But she’s also known for plenty of other endeavors, chief among them being married to Salman Rushdie and her career as a highly successful Indian model/actress. This doesn’t make her…
Charges Against Wayna Dismissed; T.I. Off To Jail
It’s good news today for two performers, even if one of them is going to jail. Don’t look so confused; we’ll explain in just a bit. But first we have to congratulate Grammy-nominated R&B singer Wayna, who got picked up last year at Bush Intercontinental Airport right here in Houston…
Not Your Usual Doctor’s-License Suspension (This One Includes a 107 MPH Cop Chase)
Hair Balls reads many Texas Medical Board notices of license suspensions, and they usually involve doctors keeping poor records or maybe popping a few pills. But Thursday’s announcement of the suspension of Victoria doctor Shirley Pigott’s license was in a league of its own.Pigott has had a long-standing beef with…
One Potential Metro Contractor: For God’s Sake, Don’t Make Us Office Out By MacGregor Park
Back when Metro was trying to finalize its huge deal with Parsons Transportation Group, we asked to see all the letters and e-mails between Metro and the Washington Group — negotiations there had fallen apart in early 2008 — to possibly shed some light on the hold-up. We’re still not…
Five Spot: Flipperace Is Magically Delicious
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It’s five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Last year (around September or October, we think), The Game and Lil’ Bow Wow…
No-Kill Animal Shelter Speaker Comes To Town Tomorrow
Tickets are still available for no-kill animal shelter advocate Nathan Winograd’s seminar Saturday. The California-based Winograd will present his “Building a No Kill Community” workshop at the South Texas College of Law, 1303 San Jacinto Street. Tickets are available at www.NoKillHouston.org for $14.99, or $20 at the door. (It runs…
R.I.P. “England” Dan Seals
I didn’t know until he died Wednesday that “England” Dan Seals was originally from the tiny, remote West Texas oilfield outpost where my father was born, McCamey. A country singer by predisposition, Seals went on to pop fame as part of the duo England Dan and John Ford Coley in…
Yet Another Strange Houston Connection To Tech-Savvy Terrorists
For of those of you who are tired of getting your War on Terror information from biased western media sources who are doing the bidding of the American capitalist infidels, you might want to check out this allegedly Taliban-sponsored site — hosted by a server right here in Houston! The…
10 Ways Miguel Tejada Can Do His Public Service
To: Drayton McLane From: Pam Gardner Cc: Ed Wade, Tal Smith, Cecil Cooper Re: Miguel Tejada’s Community Service _____________________________________________ Mr. McLane: As you are no doubt aware, the team yesterday agreed to help Miguel Tejada, shortstop, fulfill the 100 hours of community service that is part of his sentence for…
10 Ways Miguel Tejada Can Do His Public Service
To: Drayton McLane From: Pam Gardner Cc: Ed Wade, Tal Smith, Cecil Cooper Re: Miguel Tejada’s Community Service _____________________________________________ Mr. McLane: As you are no doubt aware, the team yesterday agreed to help Miguel Tejada, shortstop, fulfill the 100 hours of community service that is part of his sentence for…
Westheimer Block Party Preview: Updates from Woozyhelmet, Hell City Kings, Gold Sounds, Heptic Skeptic and More
Woozyhelmet: “Woozyhelmet is one word. We’ve been spreading the love of our new album, Get Down, for the last several months and are working on a follow-up EP that will only feature Brandi singing with the working title “Crop Brandi Out.” It may end up being a 7″ on Soda…
Lay Off Copy Editors, Lose Opening Paragraphs
We all make mistakes in journalism — “first edition of history” and all that — but sometimes mistakes happen immediately after you lay off a bunch of copy editors.Or maybe the Chronicle just has a new policy of, in these tough budgetary times, getting rid of lede paragraphs…
You’ve Got Crabs! Of the Soft-Shell Variety
Take me to your eater For true seafood lovers, one of Mother Nature’s greatest inventions is undoubtedly the soft-shell crab. “Softies” are one of those rare creatures that seem engineered specifically for human consumption. For the uninitiated, a soft-shell crab is a crab that has just molted (shed) its hard…
Rothko Chapel: Yahoo! Says To See It Before You Die. (That Way You’ll Be Depressed Enough, At Least)
We’re way late to the game on this – like four or five months – but way back in early December Yahoo Travel compiled a list of ten American places to see before you die. Our excuse for even mentioning this now is that we came across the list in…
Idol Beat: The Top Ten Results
I dare you. I double-dog dare you. Try not to break out into a toothy, mile-wide grin while watching Stevie Wonder command a stage, loop-de-looping through a handful of his zillions of classics in that inimitable zig-zag, running-through-tonal-mazes-at-light-speed style of his. Was he actually playing those keys live last night…
Restoring The Londale Hotel, Step By Difficult Step
Getting rid of the roaches was the (relatively) easy part.The Londale Hotel, on the corner of San Jacinto and Prairie, is “the longest continually operating hostelry building on its original site in Houston,” according to its protected landmark designation. But it’s been better known as a dilapidated, pest-infested flophouse smack…
Houston Is Loving Its Rush Limbaugh Again
Houston has always been a big Rush Limbaugh town — it was one of the first to sign on to his show, when a small Tomball station run by Dan Patrick picked it up. (Patrick rode that rocket to KPRC and eventually a state-senator gig, much to the chagrin of…
The Search For A Lonely Houston Web Phenom
This is the story of an overweight, lonely, possibly lesbian, cheating, married, Christian and, at the moment, anonymous Houston woman. She was one of 650,000 AOL users whose Internet queries were publicly posted by the company for three days in 2006. By the time AOL removed the data, it was…
F***in’ A: The Wal-Mart Curser Is Free!!!
Kathryn Fridge, the woman who got a ticket for cursing in a La Marque Wal-Mart (Store motto: “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”) is a free woman.The city of La Marque has dropped the disorderly conduct charges against her, the Galveston County Daily News reports.A city prosecutor issued a…
Should Rocks Off Pay $150 to Review Britney Spears?
It seems the recession is even beginning to cut into superstars like Britney Spears’ pocketbooks. Rocks Off found out today that Spears’ current “Circus” tour, which stops at Toyota Center Monday night, is what they call in the biz a “no-comp” affair, meaning the block of tickets usually set aside for…
Out On A Limb Over Rosharon, For A Good Cause
If you happen to be driving through Rosharon Saturday and see 50 skydivers headed toward you, don’t panic – it’s not Red Dawn come to life. And don’t freak out over the fact that they all just happen to be amputees, ’cause it’s not a coincidence: It’s the second annual…
La Bête Noire du Cepage Noir
Photo courtesy of Bob.Fornal Cepage Noir, the wine store begun in 1999 as Christopher’s Wine Warehouse, closed its doors last week. The store’s ten year run under the stewardship of owner Christopher Massie was a bumpy one that included name changes, price wars with Spec’s and other large retailers, and…
When Publicists Attack: The “Dirty Tourney”
Admittedly, here at the Press we receive all kinds of stupid shit, especially from publicists. But seldom have we gotten a press release with less social merit and higher scuzz factor than this one from WMG (Warner Music Group), entitled “Screw The NCAA’s…Welcome To the DIRTY TOURNEY!” I know record companies…
Tonight: Battle of the Bar Bands at House of Blues
A more cutthroat distant cousin to the rock/soul package tours of the late ’50s and ’60s, “Battle of the Bands” competitions were never really in style – except maybe in the Sunset Strip hair-metal heyday of the mid-’80s – but they never really go out of style either. Tonight at…
By The Closest Of Margins, Texas Escapes National Ridicule
The Duke of Wellington famously called Waterloo “a close-run thing,” but he ain’t got nothing on Texas’ battle to escape being a laughingstock.Thanks to a 7-7 vote, the State Board of Education rejected the infamous “strengths and weaknesses” curriculum that called for schools to make sure that God knows that…
The Meatball Debate
Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen by Pino Luongo and Mark Straussman is a cookbook written by two Italian restaurant owners in New York. Pino is a purist from Tuscany, Mark is a populist from Queens. And the two men don’t see eye to eye on meatballs. For Mark’s American…
Ummm, Yay? Astros’ Miguel Tejada Gets Only Probation For Lying To Congress
Note to former Bush administration people who may yet be called to testify before Congress: Don’t sweat it. Lie your ass off. You won’t get much more than a slap on the wrist.That’s the lesson to take away from today’s sentencing of Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada, who admitted to…
Tonight: Masshysteri (Early Show) at the Mink
America’s long love affair with all things garage and punk from the frozen, liberal land of Sweden has gone unabated for years, even replacing our tongue-wagging brouhaha for fresh British “iconoclasts” soon to be collecting dust in used bins. Masshysteri proves that such Scandinavian fetishes are worthwhile. Rising from the…
Methodist Hospital Gets Hit For Medicaid Fraud
Usually when the Justice Department announces the settlement of a Medicaid-fraud case, it’s a small-time operation dealing with wheelchairs or even adult diapers.Not today.Today they’ve nabbed a nearly-$10 million settlement out of Methodist Hospital here for defrauding the federal program.The US Attorney’s office announcement said: The government alleged that, between…
Protests Over The Proposed Shutting Of Ben Taub’s Pediatrics Unit
A few years ago, Carla Sageth was in high school, and she was dying. Her lungs were wasting away. Doctor after doctor at clinic after clinic diagnosed asthma and sent her on her way. She became unable to walk, and still her mom, who had no insurance, kept trying to…
Conroe Cop’s Arrest Might Mean Good News For His Fellow Defendants
Photo courtesy Conroe PDWhile the federal indictment unsealed earlier this week against Conroe police officer Michael Tindall – accused of robbing a bank where he occasionally worked – surely came as sad and shocking news to some, there’s at least one group of people who may have cause to celebrate:…
Maynard James Keenan, Rock’s Most Unusual Winemaker
Maynard Keenan has to be one of the most enigmatic and musically schizophrenic men in rock. A soldier in the U.S. Army in the ’80s, Keenan did a four-year tour of duty and then entered civilian life. He met future Tool guitarist Adam Jones in 1988 and one year later,…
Westheimer Block Party Preview: Updates from Elaine Greer, Bolt, Linus Pauling Quartet, Future Blondes and More
The second in Rocks Off’s series of self-penned updates from bands playing Saturday’s Westheimer Block Party. If this also applies to you, please send yours to chris.gray@houstonpress.com. Elaine Greer: “I have been working on my first-ever EP, which is set to be released in May, and am playing next on…
For This Awful Economy: The Five Best “You’re Fired” Scenes
As someone who’s been there, I can empathize with the folks from the Houston Chronicle, Schlumberger, and a host of other companies whose employees have gotten the axe in recent weeks. Not being an HR manager, I can unfortunately only offer up a collection of “laid-off scenes” to help you…
Idol Beat: The Top Ten
Man, Sarvernator! What happened? When first we met, you were so dope, flexing serious white-soul chops – minus a soul patch – and you had the sort of blue-collar backstory that seemed to make you a lock for the Top Seven or Top Eight. But it turned out that you…
Please Note: The Chronicle’s Joe Conway Was Not Laid Off
As we noted by including a call for omissions and corrections, putting together a list of the cut Chronicle employees may be a process that includes some mistakes.With management not talking at all, we depend on sources. Several of them gave us lists that included Joe Conway, who did online…
Chron Guts Sports Department
On Tuesday, the Houston Chronicle laid off a whole bunch of writers and reporters, including Michael Murphy, MK Bower, and Terrance Harris, the beat writers for the University of Houston, Rice, and TSU. On Wednesday, while they were laying off people over on the advertising and sales side of the…
Chron Guts Sports Department
On Tuesday, the Houston Chronicle laid off a whole bunch of writers and reporters, including Michael Murphy, MK Bower, and Terrance Harris, the beat writers for the University of Houston, Rice, and TSU. On Wednesday, while they were laying off people over on the advertising and sales side of the…
Further Breakdown Of The Chron Cuts
It might seem like we’re harping on the recent round of layoffs at the Houston Chronicle just because we’re journalists too (“Hey, how come you don’t do ten posts about the layoffs at Schlumberger!!”), but — as we’ve said before — we perhaps naively hold to the thought that there’s…
The World of Flomax…It’s About Getting on Boats and All Kinds of Manly Shit Like That
(Editor’s Note: No, the Miss Pop Rocks crown was not recently passed to our ex-web editor, Keith. It was an unfortunate byline error; Jennifer is still in charge.) Flomax. First of all, the name is ridiculous. I get that the ads are targeted at dudes with enlarged prostates who can’t…
Layoff Tales From The Chron
The layoff tales are spreading from 801 Texas, home of the Houston Chronicle. Here’s one. A former copy editor relates her day: my favorite part of the whole experience was being greeted with an offhand joke about copy editors by the bigwig who told me my copy editing job was…
The Fortune Cookie
At the center of The Fortune Cookie is Whiplash Willie, a.k.a. William H. Gingrich, the mother of all shyster lawyers. As described by director/co-writer Billy Wilder, “this guy is so full of angles, he starts to describe a donut, it comes out a pretzel.” This mordant — and funny —…
“Ta Marmaruga”
Reading Plato’s Republic is at once a pleasure and a pain; the sheer mental exertion of it is worthwhile once the message becomes clear. Still, it’s nice to have a little visual help in understanding the story, which you can get with “Ta Marmaruga,” an exhibition by David Waddell and…
Steel Magnolias
The title says it all — Steel Magnolias. Playwright Robert Harling’s most well-known work, Steel Magnolias is the touching story of a group of Southern women who seem to be delicate and fragile but are in fact as strong as iron. With undying optimism, well-worn friendship and the belief that…
DiverseWorks 2009 Fire Sale! Gala
DiverseWorks is throwing a big bash, the DiverseWorks The 2009 Fire Sale! Gala. Because it’s a gala, it’s a little pricey (tables run from $2,500 to $10,000), but if you wait until after 10 p.m., you can join in on the fun for just $50. True, the dinner and auction…
“Relational Dialectics”
Religion, memory, gender identity and the taco trucks that populate Houston are just some of the heavy subjects that the senior B.F.A. candidates at the University of Houston’s photography and digital media program have addressed in “Relational Dialectics.” In a culminating gallery event at BOX 13 ArtSpace, they’ll show off…
Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park
If it’s March, it’s time for the Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park. With a slew of awards and titles to its credit including being ranked as the #3 art festival in the country by American Style magazine and Best Festival in Houston by the Houston Press Best of Awards…
Laurie Halse Anderson
What comes after size double-zero? Lia and Cassie are eager to find out in Wintergirls, the newest novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. Best friends, the girls are in a race to see who can be the skinniest. And they’re not too worried about staying alive while they do it. When…
Barbara Ras One Hidden Stuff
Author Barbara Ras’s career got off to a good start — her first book of poetry, Bite Every Sorrow, won the Walt Whitman Award. That was 12 years ago. Her latest title, One Hidden Stuff, a collection of 41 new poems that has been described as having been written with…
The Triplets of Belleville
The innovative cartoon fable The Triplets of Belleville is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Maybe if you mixed Jacques Tati, Alfred Hitchcock and Tim Burton you’d come close, but no combo could be as entertaining and weird as writer/director Sylvain Chomet’s 2003 trip to the wild side of obsession and…
Bradford Gray Telford and Jericho Brown
In his book Please, poet Jericho Brown speaks for the dead, living and imagined. Brown uses his verses to interpret the tortured minds of Janis Joplin, the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz, Diana Ross, the burning bush and more. Brown adds to the drama with a delivery style that…
The Clean-up Woman
Terri Adams has a problem in The Clean-up Woman. While she’s off building a career, her husband is left alone at home. And because Terri’s busy with other things, that home isn’t too tidy. When her husband gives her an ultimatum — “Take care of the house or else!” —…
Rice Theatre Program Stop Kiss
Katy Perry, who sings the much adored “I Kissed a Girl,” isn’t the only one who knows about girl-on-girl affection. It’s been over a decade since Diane Son opened her critically acclaimed Stop Kiss at the Public Theater in New York, but the Manhattan love story with a sweetly Sapphic…
CAMH: Slide Jam!: Lovie Olivia and Shannon Duckworth
Meet writer/mixed-media artist Lovie Olivia and painter Shannon Duckworth during this installment of Slide Jam! at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Find out what these two up-and-coming players in the local arts scene are doing these days and how their work reflects current trends in contemporary art. 6:30 p.m. 5216…
Maz Jobrani
Comic Maz Jobrani is an Iranian American, a group which — at least according to popular media — isn’t exactly known for their wacky sense of humor. So when George Bush named Iran as part of a nefarious network of bad guys, Jobrani and a group of other Middle Eastern…
Poison Pen Reading Series:Antonya Nelson, Rus Bradburd and Kathleen Lee
Writer Antonya Nelson, who reads at today’s Poison Pen Reading Series, lets her characters take the lead. “I might create characters whose actions I don’t understand,” she explains. “[The] process of writing and inventing is to make that person’s actions make sense.” In her new book Nothing Right, Nelson fills…
Falstaff
The folks behind this production of Falstaff say this is “opera unplugged,” and we believe them. Opera in the Heights is known for performing black-tie shows without the black-tie trappings — or prices. Today you’ll enjoy Verdi’s story of the knight with a serious Romeo complex and big, big plans…
Sandra Cisneros
Join Nuestra Palabra and author Sandra Cisneros as they celebrate the 25th anniversary of her most famous work, The House on Mango Street. The coming-of-age story, based in part on her own experiences, about a girl on a journey of denial and acceptance, so resonated with readers that it launched…
InPrint’s Margarett Root Brown Reading Series: Edward Hirsch and Charles Simic
Even without the National Book Critics Award or his current gig as president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Edward Hirsch would be a familiar face to Houston’s writing community — he was a faculty member of the UH Creative Writing Program for several years during the 1980s. At…
Hunter Gatherers
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s farce Hunter Gatherers is about modern couples — and it isn’t. Pam and Richard are having their friends Wendy and Tom over for their yearly get-together. Things start off normally enough; there’s the usual animal sacrifice, then some sex, a little violence, a bit of dancing and…
DiverseWorks: “Solution”
This is your last week to catch Jeffery Gibson, Nina Katchadourian, Michael Waugh, Jeanine Oleson and all the other artists participating in “Solution,” an exhibit at DiverseWorks. Curated by Janet Phelps, “Solution” features work in mixed media installations, digitized images, video, sound, performance and drawings, all examining the idea of…
Gigi
Houston Grand Opera continues its build-up to the upcoming world premiere of the André Previn opera Brief Encounter with an outdoor screening of Gigi. The 1958 film, which won both an Oscar and a Grammy, features Previn, who was music director for the Houston Symphony for several years, at the…
SPA Houston: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s signature work, Revelations, is one of the most well-known pieces in contemporary dance. Even the 1976 photo that captured the ballet’s highlight (dancer Judith Jamison with her right leg swinging effortlessly high above her head, while she stands in a flowing white dress) has become…
16th Annual River, Lakes, Bays ‘N Bayous Trash Bash
Join in on the biggest backyard cleanup in the state — the 16th Annual River, Lakes, Bays ‘N Bayous Trash Bash. Sixteen sites have been selected around the Houston area, so it’s easy to find one near you. Put together a group of friends or co-workers, tackle a waterway and…
Paint the Town
Okay, so there’s a high violence quotient in Paint the Town, but isn’t that the way with all anarchy? The play from Milwaukee-based Insurgent Theatre, performed today at Sedition Books, concerns Nadia, a young revolutionary, and Big Red, the guy who murders her family so that she can be free…
Core 2009 Artists in Residence Exhibition
Every year, 11 lucky art students are given Core residency at the Glassell School of Art (that’s the Museum of Fine Arts’ teaching arm). After a year of working and studying, they’ve got something to show for it — the Core 2009 Artists in Residence Exhibition. (Thankfully, the art is…
“Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave”
The exhibit “Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave,” the first-ever mid-career exhibition for the painter, covers the years from 1980 to the present. Dumas is well known for using the human face and figure to explore the ideas of social identity, race and sexuality, and now we can see how…
Sharks 3D
Sharks get a bad rap as ruthless killing machines. Yeah, yeah, they do eat people every once in a while, but the truth is that bees kill more people each year than sharks do (we will admit, sharks are way scarier than bees). You’ll get a better picture of the…
Woodlands Heights Home Tour
See homes in a variety of sizes and styles on the Woodlands Heights Home Tour, a visit to six private residences that are examples of the best architecture in one of Houston’s oldest neighborhoods. There’s a contemporary loft in a historic building, a Craftsman’s restoration, a bungalow with Japanese influences,…
Andrei Codrescu
NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu reads from his new book, The Posthuman Dada Guide: Tzara & Lenin Play Chess today. The book, arranged in small sections, recounts an imaginary game of chess between Tristan Tzara, the father of Dada, and V.I. Lenin, the father of communism. It’s poet vs. mass murderer,…
Texas Fetish Ball
The FAQs on the Texas Fetish Ball Web site have some questions/answers you rarely see anywhere else: “May we bring a toy bag?” Answer: “Absolutely! There will be a full dungeon setup provided by E.R.O.S (Erotic Rose Society), Whip Society and other members of the community.” If you’re wondering what…
Conspiracy Lectures
Are you sure the government is watching you? That there’s a secret organization tasked with keeping the truth from us? Then you’re going to love this pair of lectures coming up. Today’s there’s Imagining Evil Conspiracy: From Early Christian Cannibalism to Satanic Ritual Abuse with David Frankfurter from the University…
Murder by the Book: Walter Mosley
Mystery author Walter Mosley left mid-20th-century Los Angeles behind, exchanging it for contemporary New York City. The move brought a new sense of urgency to his work and a new character, Leonid McGill, the central figure in Mosley’s new title The Long Fall. McGill is a low-rent PI living in…
King Tut Is Back
There was a moment during my viewing of “Ritual Prototypes for the Afterlife,” Dennis Harper’s delightfully subversive installation at Lawndale, when it felt like the bottom dropped out of the room. It came during one of the show’s two video elements, an interview with a man describing his religious upbringing,…
SPECIAL APRIL FOOLS’ DAY EDITION
¡ASK A MEXICAN! BY GUSTAVO ARELLANO Dear Readers, In honor of April Fools’ Day, I’m turning over the column this week to those who think America can stop the Reconquista. Following are the winners of my challenge to Know Nothings a couple semanas back asking people to explain in 100…
Aftermath: SXSW
Well, thank God that’s over. There’s no bigger feeling of relief than watching Austin recede in the rearview mirror on that post-SXSW Sunday afternoon. Though some aspects of the annual music festival were inevitably affected by the current recession — according to the Austin Chronicle, the number of registrants to…
Flamin’ Hellcats
When you get right down to it, perfect rock and roll is a pretty simple thing. All too many people forget that, and cut pure rock with all kinds of additives in the name of creativity. Some of these divergent blends are interesting in their own right, true, but sometimes…
The Refugees
If Messrs. Clapton, Bruce and Baker chose their supergroup’s name because they were the “cream” of ’60s blues-rockers, then Mlles. Waldman (Wendy), Bullens (Cindy) and Holland (Deborah) might claim the same as contemporary Americana/folk pickers and singers. These three ladies, with 19 solo records between them, joined forces as the…
Michael Schenker Group
Michael Schenker should have learned to stay put. Despite his considerable talent and high-caliber pedigree, Schenker’s tendency toward band-hopping — along with his predilection for substance abuse and a karmic knack for missed opportunities — has relegated him to cult status. Rock-indoctrinated at an early age by brother Rudolf, a…
Chick Corea & John McLaughlin
Issued hard on the heels of the revolutionary chaos of 1968 — the Chicago Democratic Convention riots, the street battles in Paris, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy’s assassinations — Miles Davis’s album Bitches Brew stood the music world on its ear. Often referred to as…
Don’t Ever Count Britney Out — Just Like These Others.
Less than a year ago, most people expected Britney Spears would ultimately wind up the target of a massive, overly televised police-car chase that would, we all secretly hoped, end with her driving her SUV off some overpass Thelma & Louise-style. The quickie marriage and annulment, second quickie marriage and…
Hit the Evening Showcase and Keep Corporate Hands Off the Westheimer Block Party
You could say the Westheimer Block Party has had its ups and downs. “The first one was this big cluster fuck,” says Omar Afra. “‘Cluster fuck’ would be a really big understatement.” Afra, the event’s coordinator — and the editor/publisher of Free Press Houston — was all ready for his…
Pitbull
Born Armando Cristian Perez, the Cuban-American rapper known as Pitbull is one of the main voices responsible for bringing reggaeton to the mainstream. Through his various collaborations with the likes of Daddy Yankee and Elephant Man, he successfully introduced the style to non-Hispanic audiences, expanding its reach well beyond Spanish…
The T. Boone Pickens Road Show
T. Boone Pickens looks tired. Standing in the sunken pit of a packed lecture hall at Rice University, he’s hawking his Pickens Plan for energy independence, saying we need to use more wind power and natural gas. The 80-year-old, with flesh-colored hearing aids set deep inside his ears and tanned…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Doubt, Five Flights, The Objectification of Things
Compleat Female Stage Beauty In 1660, when the English monarchy was restored after the conservative rule of the Puritan Roundheads, one of the first acts of “merry monarch” Charles II was to reopen the theaters that had been shuttered for 20 years. Unfortunately, the boy actors who played the female…
Angus Grill Brazilian Steakhouse
Airton Demoraes is one of the owners of Nelore, the popular Montrose-area Brazilian steakhouse. He decided to open a second location near the Galleria with his brother Juarez, and this venture is called Angus Grill Brazilian Steakhouse (6106 Westheimer, 713-574-7727). “Houston is the best place in the U.S. to open…
Military Deserters and Tycer’s Textile
Deserter Storm Learn to cope: Your article “Gimmie Shelter” [by Megan Feldman, March 12] seems to want people to have a “pity the poor girl” attitude towards Kim Rivera. From what I gathered from the article, she (1) married someone who is unable or unwilling to hold a job long…
Jang Guem Tofu & BBQ House
There were so many stone bowls on our table, it looked like we were eating with the Flintstones. At Jang Guem Tofu & BBQ, the signature “soon tofu” comes in a stone bowl so hot the liquid boils over the side. Another heated stone bowl holds the rice that you…
DreamWorks, In Your Face: Monsters vs. Aliens
At the end of 2008, DreamWorks Animation bossman Jeffrey Katzenberg embarked on a cross-country tour, toting 20 minutes’ worth of Monsters vs. Aliens. The reason for his trek? To convince critics that 3-D movies are no longer the snake-oil salesman’s hustle, but the future of filmmaking — if not the…
Boxty Breakfast at The Angel & The Ox Pub & Restaurant
In America, we call them hash browns. In Switzerland, they’re rösti; in Germany, they’re Kartoffelpuffer; in Yiddish, they’re latkes; and in Ireland, they’re known as boxty, or bacstai in Gaelic. They’re all versions of the potato pancake, and as for boxty, you can only find it in Houston at The…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Face Off: A Selection of Old Masters and Others from The Menil Collection,” “Get a Rope,” “Perspectives 165: Contents Under Pressure,” “The Puppet Show”
“Face Off: A Selection of Old Masters and Others from The Menil Collection” This is a relatively small exhibition at The Menil Collection, which, according to museum materials, “examines one of the most primary elements of human interaction: to look upon the face of another.” The work, in both selection…
Skybar’s Saturday-Night R&B “Party With A View”
On any given Saturday evening, even if you’ve never seen his face before, you can usually tell which of the 200 or so patrons inside of Scott Gertner’s Skybar (3400 Montrose) is Scott Gertner. Gertner, for the uninformed, owns the decade-old Skybar, so named because it occupies the entire tenth…
Michael Berry vs. Bill White
Political Animals Berry V. White The Death match! No politeness allowed!! The folks at bloghouston listen to Michael Berry’s talk show on KTRH, so they’ve become aware of the recent run-in between Berry and Mayor Bill White. They provide mp3s of two recent Berry segments: one, a somewhat contentious interview between…
