Astronaut Causing Some Heartburn For NASA With His Immigration Stance
Astronaut Jose Hernandez, just back from two weeks in space, is gathering some attention for his statements on immigration policy.The Los Angeles Times reports that “NASA went ballistic” over comments Hernandez made on Mexican TV, comments which were definitely not along the lines of “build a fence and shoot the…
Oh, Great: Nashville Songwriters Name Redneck Doofus Toby Keith Artist of the Decade
Sadly, it’s official: Toby Keith, that big redneck doofus who is always threatening to put his boots up somebody’s ass or feuding with the Dixie Chicks, has been declared by Nashville Songwriters Association International the top songwriter/artist OF THE DECADE. Man, Lonesome Onry and Mean bets Kenny Chesney and Tim…
It’s The Middle of The Month — And The Beginning Of Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month started yesterday and if you didn’t notice, we’re betting you do today since the majority of Latinos in U.S. will be celebrating 16 de Septiembre — Mexican Independence Day.Maybe you missed it because no other month-long celebration begins in the middle of the month. Yes, it’s true,…
Bar-B-Que Smoker Blues
Bar-B-Que Blues, a new barbecue joint located in the Harry Green’s old place on Almeda, is the subject of this week’s Café review. The ribs I sampled there were outstanding, but the brisket could have used a little more smoke. When I asked pit boss Neil Wilkins what kind of…
Don’t Believe The Hype! The Press Mayoral Debate Is Not Only Still On, It’s Already Been Broughten!!
Anti-trust lawyers began searching collusion law last night as word began to emerge that Houston’s field of mayoral candidates had agreed to drastically cut back on the number of forums/debates they’d attend.Then they put the law books away, because even they agreed there were far too many mayor’s-race forums, especially…
Houston Music Fight Club: Brett Koshkin vs. Ceeplus Bad Knives, Late Nite Pie vs. Mai’s, Nick Gaitan vs. ???
This week brings three new bouts and a special announcement to all past winners and losers of our imaginary brawls on Houston Music Fight Club. Next Tuesday, Rocks Off is presenting David Fincher’s Fight Club at our (mostly) weekly Movie Nite at the Mink. We would like all past winners…
Houstonians Helping AIDS Victims In Big Media Push That Will Include Oprah
What do Oprah, the TV show 20/20, Houston crime victim advocate Andy Kahan and Houston lawyer Kim Ogg have in common? They’re all involved in the sordid tale of Philippe Padieu, a Dallas-area man who is in prison for knowingly having unprotected sex with dozens of women without telling them…
Ain’t No Feud Like A Food Feud. Or Maybe There’s No Feud At All
Cleverley Stone is a Houston food institution. Of sorts. For some, she’s a lively, well-informed foodie who offers great discounts and tips on her blog, on a weekly radio show on CNN 650 AM (Proposed Station Motto: You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Us), on local TV morning shows and on…
ACL Fest Preview: Ben Sollee and !!!
With eight stages rumbling with musical noises for nearly 12 hours a day, it’s hard to fully grab a hold of the Austin City Limits Music Festival without having one or two bands slipping through your hands. With the festival getting such ridiculously amazing talent each year on each stage,…
Ain’t No Feud Like A Food Feud. Or Maybe There’s No Feud At All
Cleverley Stone is a Houston food institution. Of sorts.For some, she’s a lively, well-informed foodie who offers great discounts and tips on her blog, on a weekly radio show on CNN 650 AM (Proposed Station Motto: You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Us), on local TV morning shows and on her…
The Penthouse Club Is Reopening, Allegedly Won’t Be Oriented Towards The Sex
If you’re the owner of a Houston strip club that’s slated to reopen Thursday, probably the last thing you want to see are media reports that the club may actually be controlled by an ex-Mafia boss (and alleged admitted murderer) who’s in the witness-protection program.On Monday, the New York Daily…
Vegan Cake from Jodycakes
Having a few things to celebrate with a vegan friend, I decided to order a cake from Jodycakes. Even though Jody Stevens bakes regular cakes, she specializes in vegan, gluten-free and organic varieties — not that you could tell from the flavor that anything is “missing.” My hand-delivered cake was…
Inquiring Minds: Chickenfoot Guitarist and “Completely Hopeless” Gearhead Joe Satriani
LeAnn MuellerJoe Satriani is a hero to Guitar Player subscribers and a bit of an enigma to everyone else. His name is synonymous with a distinctive style of guitar playing – highly advanced fretboard wizardry, often referred to as “shredding,” that draws equally from rock, metal, classical and jazz. Recently,…
Aldine ISD — The Waiting Was The Hardest Part
Dewey Beats Truman, or something: Aldine ISD is no longer the perennial best loser in the prestigious Broad Prize for urban education.The Susan Lucci of school districts has been a finalist for the award three of the past six years without ever winning. When there are only five finalists a…
BARC’s Change Agent Finally Gets A Contract
City Council unanimously approved hotly debated 6-month contract for Gerry Fusco, interim chief for the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care. The unanimity was a bit of a surprise, given the sharp critcism doled out two weeks ago by Councilwoman Jolanda Jones, who said she felt Fusco had refused to…
Coogs Try To Forget About Their Biggest Win In Years
“Everything just slowed down. It was in slow motion,” Houston Cougar running back Bryce Beall told Hair Balls yesterday. “I just told myself, whatever you do, do not drop this ball. When it got in there I just made sure I grabbed it and held on tight and took it…
Easy Risotto: An Oxymoron?
My friend Paul Howell makes risotto all the time. Pumpkin risotto and mushroom risotto are two of his favorites. I have always found the labor-intensive stirring and adding of liquid required for perfect risotto a little tedious. But Paul introduced me to the pressure cooker method. For my first attempt…
On the List: Jonx Drummer Danny Mee’s 11 Favorite Female Vocalists
The other day, Houston Press Night & Day editor Olivia Flores Alvarez – whom we’re so glad is feeling better and back at work again – handed Rocks Off Lisa Nola’s new book called Music Listography: Your Life In (Play)Lists, and the wheels started turning like “Proud Mary.” Because we’re…
Watching The Dynamo On The Road: Rating The Viewing Parties
Soccer fans in Houston have three main choices for watching the Dynamo play on the road — the official watch party or one of the viewing parties held by the two fan clubs: the Texian Army or El Battallon.What’s a fan to do? We’re here to help. We’re going to…
A Cafe Bites Nibble
In the space that housed Café Le Jadeite on West Gray emerges a new restaurant, Café Ginger (1952 West Gray, 713-528-4288). Jack Tsai is the manager. “I used to work for Toro Japanese restaurant before coming here,” says Tsai. “Toni Sha is the owner. He was one of the partners…
Bayou Body Count: Never Trust A Man With A Hatchet
Throughout history, the term “hatchet man” has meant different things. In the 1880s, it was slang for a Chinese hired assassin. In the mid-1900s, it was used to describe a journalist who assassinated the character of a public figure.Today in Houston, it means something much simpler: someone who assassinates a…
The Mid-Week Match-Up: Serena Williams Vs. Marsellus Wallace
In life, everything can be distilled down to chart form. It’s a truism born of the PowerPoint age.Each week we will examine some pressing event or trend via the easy-to-follow form of putting a chart together that explains things. Today’s subject: Serena Williams.Houston’s Serena Williams made nationwide headlines – and…
Cops Bust Big Identity-Theft Ring Here
The Houston Police Department announced today the bust of an identity-theft business that sold fake driver’s licenses and counterfeit checks to almost 200 clients, operating out of an office near Greenspoint Mall. The “ring leader,” 65-year-old Robert Lyles, allegedly purchased information to make the counterfeit checks. For example, police found…
ACL Fest Preview: School of Seven Bells and Prescott Curlywolf
For the next three weeks, Rocks Off will be bringing you two or three short previews a day of artists playing the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park October 2-4. That’s right, ACL is 17 days away – where is this year going? (Same place as all the…
Messing With an Icon: Campbell’s Tomato Soup
Created in 1897, Cream of Tomato was the first soup Campbell’s sold. The current can looks different than the one Andy Warhol immortalized, thanks to the smaller size and the new easy-open tab on top. And now Campbell’s is messing with the recipe too. Beginning this week, your old favorite…
The “No-Kill” Advocate Issues A Report Showing All’s Still Not Well At BARC
Hair Balls has just been making our way through “no-kill” advocate Nathan Winograd’s just-released assessment of the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care, and we have one question for city officials: When are you going to sue this guy for libel?!We ask that because the BARC described in this highly…
The Dynamo’s Newest Import Adapts To A New League
The Houston Dynamo are in the business of importing forwards these days. Currently, they employ forwards from the African nations of Ghana and Sierra Leone, and even their U.S. International hails from the far off island of Hawaii.The Dynamo’s newest signee, forward Luis Angel Landin, comes from just south of…
Songs Slightly Less Inappropriate Than R. Kelly’s Latest Single, “Number One”
So R. Kelly’s newest single is called “Number One.” Seriously? Okay, we know Kelly was found innocent of all child-related golden-shower charges by a jury of 12 idiots, but when the subject of Dave Chappelle’s “(I Wanna) Piss On You” releases a single called “Number One”… sorry, but we have…
Houston Community College Looks Toward (Semi-) Big-Time Sports
TP-ing the dean’s house, frat brothers hazing pledges, people getting some strange after the football team’s upset victory. These are some of the most sacred and time-honored college traditions, and Houston Community College would like its pupils to live them.Now HCC can’t guarantee that you’ll get paddled by the Kappa…
Chocolat du Monde in Rice Village
When it comes to chocolate, there’s the good stuff, and then there’s the really good stuff. Once you get past mass-market chocolate like Hershey’s, the next step up is Godiva and Ghirardelli, which are both certainly good-quality and widely available in Houston. But the really good chocolate traditionally comes from…
Ask a Rapper: Lil’ Flip – The Leprechaun Returns, Iced-Out as Ever
The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place -lots of times, you’re even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good- so once a week we’re going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask…
Seeking The Possibly Inaudible: Is There a Houston Accent?
The question of whether there exists a definable, distinct Houston accent has come up in the blogosphere, inspired from beyond the grave by Marvin Zindler. Sixty-year-old tapes of the white-suited wonder’s radio broadcasts, posted on J.R. Gonzales’s Bayou City History blog , reveal that the vast majority of interviewees and…
The Music of True Blood: Depeche Mode and Bob Dylan Bring Season 2 to a Close
Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He’s lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood – which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. Though we’re picking up midway…
The Gary Kubiak Experiment Should Be About Over, Shouldn’t It?
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.”We obviously weren’t ready to play and that starts with me,” Gary Kubiak said Sunday. “You play that poorly, that starts with the coach. I didn’t have them ready to go.”Yeah, that sounds pretty damn familiar to me. Take any Houston Texans loss…
No Reservations: Sardinia
When I was growing up, my family went to Macaroni Grill for food from Europe’s boot-shaped nation. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized that maybe I’d never had Italian food. Watching the last episode of this season’s No Reservations, in which Anthony Bourdain travels to Sardinia,…
Distant Early Warning: 311, AFI, HEALTH, Kanye West (Boo!), Regina Spektor, Rob Zombie, etc.
311, State Radio: Sun., Dec. 6. Verizon Wireless Theater. AFI: Sat., Nov. 21. Verizon Wireless Theater. An Albatross, Dark Meat: Sat., Nov. 7. Mango’s. Armin Van Buuren: Fri., Oct. 16. Planeta Bar-Rio. Art Brut: Sun., Oct. 25. Walter’s on Washington. Breathe Carolina, Cash Cash, Kill Paradise, Fight Fair: Fri., Nov…
An Update On Just How Safe Your Tap Water Is (Or Isn’t)
A little more than a year ago, the Houston Press brought you a story about a growing movement aimed at ditching those store-bought plastic bottles of water for the stuff that flows from the tap. After all, advocates claimed, tap water is safe, cheap and environmentally friendly.Then The New York…
I Am the Body Beautiful: Our Favorite Patrick Swayze Musical Movie Moments
It’s only been a few hours, and we already miss Patrick Swayze. The Houston native won our hearts as the sensitive yet murderous Dalton in Road House and the senstive yet Confederate Orry Main in North and South. Here at Rocks Off, however, we want to take a moment to…
Grass-fed Beef: Healthier Hamburgers
Grass-fed sirloin hamburger steak is downright delicious. No doubt grass-fed beef raised without antibiotics and hormones is better for you too. Grass-fed sirloins lack the marbling that makes for tender steaks. But grind it up, and you get all the bold herbaceous flavor without the tenderness and texture problems. My…
R.I.P. Houston’s Patrick Swayze, And Here’s To Your Five Best Characters
Houston’s own Patrick Swayze passed away last night at the age of 57 after an 18-month battle with pancreatic cancer, and we are poorer for it. I’m not ashamed in the slightest to say that I was one of the man’s biggest fans, and indeed have tried to live my…
Aftermath: Taylor Hicks’ Supper-Club Soul Patrol at Warehouse Live
Monday night’s Taylor Hicks show left Aftermath with way more questions than answers, mostly of the existential variety rather than the musical. Our minds were blown, and not in the same “Oh man, I finally got to listen to Zaireeka the other night” kind of way that the Soul Patrol…
Not Everything’s Bigger In Texas. Take Penises, For Example
All you gay guys in Texas, you have let us down.Manhunt, a website designed to encourage hook-ups between consenting male adults, has done an utterly scientific survey of dick size based on its ads. “Now that we have cock size as a feature on Manhunt profiles, we couldn’t resist getting…
Where Are We Eating?
Jars full of candy and cases full of fudge, stretching on towards the horizon: It’s every child’s (and a lot of grownups’) dream. But where is this magical sweet shop? Leave your best guess for where we’re eating this week in the comments section below…
Five Reasons Notre Dame Will Win The BCS This Year And Texas Won’t: Part 2
I admit, there will be Tuesday mornings when it will be difficult to write this item each week. Luckily, today isn’t one of them.In Week Two of the college-football season, Notre Dame continued effortlessly along its well-planned path to the BCS title, while UT stumbled badly.It remains to be seen…
Aftermath: Houston’s “Fab 40” Does Abbey Road at Discovery Green
Something about these Fab 40 concerts at Discovery Green makes Aftermath swell with pride at the mere fact of being a Houstonian. Seeing several dozen musicians of every age and race on stage together recreating a landmark album note for note, all in the shadow of the skyline, in front…
Miss Pop Rocks: Scooby Doo Hits 40, And A Nation Asks How
Last week saw the commemoration of a dark milestone in our country’s history. Millions of Americans used this anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on the misery and hardship many are still enduring as a result. In writing this, I hope not only to correct certain revisionist interpretations of the…
Coming To The Corner Of Westheimer & Montrose: Something Not Too Exciting
The former Taco Cabana at the high-profile intersection of Westheimer and Montrose has been sitting empty for a while, but now it looks like it will be reborn.The folks at Swamplot are speculating the building will become a Smoothie King; we couldn’t reach the actual king himself, but a spokesman…
Obama Causes Kids To Miss Lifetime Dream Of Meeting Cowboys
Last week we told you about the Arlington school district, which refused to show President Obama’s “stay in school” speech but was fine with busing hundreds of students to Cowboys Stadium to hear George W. Bush.It sounded odd to us, but then again we don’t live in Arlington.Now, it appears,…
It’s 4:30 p.m. and Taylor Hicks, Clay Aiken, John Mayer, Nickelback and ICP Still Suck
In the world of rock writing, there are just some artists’ fans that you can’t help but fuck with. While you’re alternately enamored and disgusted by their chosen obsession, they exert a near religious fanaticism for their fixation of worship, making them all too open for mockery. In the past…
Houstonian Going Off-Road In Africa To Fight HIV/AIDS
What are you doing next month to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and poverty in South Africa? Hair Balls admits we didn’t get around to scheduling any time for that, but Houstonian Ganesh Krishnan is heading to South Africa to participate in Enduro Africa, an eight-day motorcycle ride through the country’s…
The 100 Best Bars in America: None For You!
The venerated Esquire has released its list of the Best Bars in America, compiled after what we imagine was some serious and excessive binge-drinking that had either mind-erasing or mind-altering effects on the editors, because guess what: Not a single Houston bar made the list. The list dutifully covers all…
Aftermath (Literally): Area Musicians Remember the Days Following Hurricane Ike – “You Could Smell Rotten Stuff About 13 Miles Away from the Causeway”
Rocks Off originally meant to post this on Friday, but one thing led to another and if memory serves, on September 14, 2008, we were still without power, living out of an ice chest and wondering what the hell just happened. So were a lot of people, not least the…
The Horse Boy Has One Heck Of A Mom, It Appears
You’ve got to love a woman who is willing to do anything to help her child, including washing out her vagina with vodka and being whipped by shaman. Oh, and then there’s that bit about being kicked by a horse. As seen in the documentary The Horse Boy, Kristin Neff,…
All Falls Down: Kanye West’s Six – Well, Seven Now – Douchiest Moments
If you’re aware of Kanye West’s – whom Pollstar is reporting stops at Toyota Center with Lady GaGa January 22; good luck selling tickets for that one now, kiddo – past behavior at all, then you’re probably surprised this article isn’t longer. His habit of blurting out inappropriate, nonsensical non…
Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: What Ever Happened To The Yates-Madison Rivalry?
Hair Balls traveled to HISD’s Barnett Stadium on Friday to check out the James Madison Marlins play the Jake Yates Lions, a refreshing change of pace from last week’s Battle of the Super Suburbs. Madison and Yates are apparently old rivals, and we went to the game with high expectations…
Crisper Drawer Cast-offs: Broccoli and Cavatelli
Fresh broccoli used to lie around in my crisper drawer for a long time. That’s because plain, steamed broccoli is so tedious to eat. A couple of months ago, I bought some cavatelli at Nundini’s, even though I had no idea what to do with the weird-shaped pasta. I Googled…
Now You Can Watch The State Board Of Education Hijinks Live!! On Your Computer
Television just got a lot more entertaining this week. And we’re not talking about the Jay Leno show.The State Board of Education announced today that it will be televising its committee meetings for the world to see. (A new law requires them to do so, but we like to think…
Turning the Screw: Dustin Prestige: ESG, 50 Cent, Lil’ Jon (Whaaaat?!), Lil’ Wayne, Snoop & Dre, Taylor Swift’s Revenge, etc.
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: Dustin Prestige (right), Wire To Wire Counting down the days until ESG releases his album. Please don’t let it…
A Cruel Perfumed World of Amazon Women: Auditions for America’s Next Top Model
On Saturday morning women of all races, creeds, and subcultures converged on the Hilton Post Oak near the Galleria to take their crack at professional modeling. The producers and talent scouts for the Tyra Banks-helmed America’s Next Top Model were in town for the day to hold auditions in a…
Obscure Wine Grapes: Huxelrebe
Instead of combining grape juices to make a blend, German viticulturalist Georg Scheu crossed two popular varietals to make a new grape. Huxelrebe is a cross between sweet and aromatic Muscat and the austere Swiss wine grape, Chasselas. Invented in 1927, Huxelrebe was named after the late viticulturalist Fritz Huxel,…
Monday Morning Metal: And So Motorhead Week Begins…
Let this video serve as a reminder to everyone that possibly the world’s coolest band hits Warehouse Live Friday night . Seriously, the Rolling Stones are bitchin’ , the Beatles are timelessly stellar, and Metallica always gets us off, but Lemmy and company pretty much own us. We aren’t sure…
While You Weren’t Tweeting: That’s What YouTube Is For
We presume (and hope and pray and are biting our toenails off from the nervous energy) that your weekends find you enjoying the sights, sounds, and scents of the grand metropolis in which we live. We also assume (even at the risk of making an ass out of you and…
Aftermath: Local Music Takes Center Stage at The Festival at the Mink
Here at Aftermath, we’re aware that some people don’t always appreciate a good festival, especially when in terms of the logistics: attendance requires you to stay in relatively one place for an extended period of time and share the same small set of bathrooms with the same set of people…
Texas Traveler: Artesian Springs
The first thing you need to know about Artesian Springs Resort is that there is nothing resort-like about it. Nestled way in the middle of bumblefuck Egypt, ten minutes from the closest concrete road, and just a few miles west of the Louisiana border, the privately-owned “resort” is advertised as…
Chef Chat: Elouise Jones of Ouisie’s Table
Elouise Jones, aka Ouisie, was a food pioneer in early-1970s Houston. Her restaurant Ouisie’s Table, both on Sunset and in its later River Oaks incarnation at 3939 San Felipe, serves up creative Southern-eclectic meals, the result of Jones’s childhood memories and a fertile culinary imagination. Jones talked to Eating Our…
Aftermath: Balaclavas and Black Congress, Lacquering the Walls of Mango’s
It’s getting harder and harder every day here in Houston to find bands who know how to rock the ever-loving fuck out. Sure some of you do a good job at riding straight grooves and crafting shit-hot slabs of indie swoon. We appreciate the hell out of that smack, but…
Playoffs? Playoffs? We Just Hope The Texans Can Win A Game
In all of three hours, the hot topic of the 2009 Texans season might have transitioned from whether they can make the playoffs to whether they can lure Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan or Jon Gruden as head coach come January.Remember the Texans’ dynamic offense? The league’s third-best unit a year…
Sound Off on The Kanye’s Jackassery at Sunday Night’s VMAs
By now you’ve seen or at least heard about Kanye West’s latest bit of spotlight-grabbing at Sunday night’s MTV awards – Rocks Off doubts morning-drive DJs are talking about little else (Serena Williams, cough) – when Mr. “Love Lockdown” interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to let everyone know he thought…
Snackshot: Carnitas
This week’s succulent Snackshot comes to us courtesy of Stone Burner and a delicious pig. From the photographer’s description: “Carnitas on normal corn tortillas.”…
Yeah, That Was Quite The Upset On UH’s Part
“If we play as good as we can play,” Houston Cougars head coach Kevin Sumlin said last week, “I think everybody will be happy.”Saturday, the Houston Cougars played as good as they could play, and they pulled off the upset of the college football weekend, defeating the then fifth-ranked Oklahoma…
“Kill Yourself” or “Don’t Give Up”? Five Possible Theme Songs for the 2009 Houston Texans
[Ed. note: Due to an editing mistake, this should have been up Friday afternoon. Apologies… we sure hope it didn’t jinx the Texans or anything.] You may have missed it – what with there being almost no media coverage whatsoever – but football season started this week. Our own Texans…
The Notorious Sheriff Of Phoenix Drops In On Houston
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was in town this Saturday pimping his new book, Joe’s Law. Usually, where Sheriff Arpaio goes, protest and controversy follow, and this event was no exception.Even before the Sheriff made it to Houston, problems ensued. Texans For Immigration Reform (T.F.I.R.) and U.S. Border Watch had…
Taylor Hicks And Dominic Fortuna: Two Blue-Collar Stiffs Working Their Butts Off
Turns out Dominic Fortuna, who deftly plays the WAXX DJ Vince Fontaine in the national road company of Grease now at the Hobby Center, was a former contestant on the reality show Grease: You’re the One that I Want! — the reality series that searched the United States for budding…
This Week in Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where, after years of therapy, we’ve at last learned not to hate ourselves for dipping our fries into our shakes. After Sarah Rufka’s interview with the decidedly not-shy Geneva Gordon of Under the Volcano, Robb helped start the week…
Spec’s On Washington Avenue Closes, Vince Ryan Announces
A bad day for Spec’s — a (minor) fire this morning — and now the closing of the Washington Avenue store.Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan has just sent out a notice that the Spec’s, which has been embroiled over permits and how close it is to a school, is closed.His…
Openings and Closings
The big news this week is once again related to Bedford, the restaurant in the Heights that was up until very recently the home of heralded chef Robert Gadsby. A little birdie told us a few weeks back that Reef’s executive chef and co-owner Bryan Caswell had big plans for the…
Stuck In a Moment You (Still) Can’t Get Out Of: Remembering 9/11 In Music
Just as none of us will ever forget where we were the morning of September 11, 2001, Rocks Off will never forget what he was listening to most of the day of the terrorist attacks. Sadly, he admits it was System of A Down’s Toxicity, which had come out just…
UT And The National Merit Scholarships: Does It Really Cost $4.4 Million A Year?
A while back, the University of Texas announced it would no longer be participating in the National Merit Scholarship program, where brainiac students get $13,000 scholarships.All the stories mentioned that UT said the program cost $4.4 million a year. We had a question about that and e-mailed UT; we never…
Vanity License Plates: A Place To Tout Things You Like
A few days ago, the sterling college-football blog EDSBS (Every Day Should Be Saturday) noted a vanity plate designed for alumni of the University of Virginia. It had a large “V” decal on the left side, as all UVa plates do; the owner then purchased a vanity plate with the…
Inquiring Minds: “Sexyclectic” Philly DJ King Britt, at La Strada Tonight
He’s been around the world. He has played in locales as exotic as Paris, Rome, Berlin and Dubai. He has probably shagged women who would sooner cross the street than look at you. And yet, DJ/producer/remixer King Britt doesn’t mind coming down to Houston and entertaining us mortal folk with…
We Are Not Making Fun of Taylor Hicks or His Fans at All In This Post
Swoon Alert! Oh my stars you guys! Are you all sitting down? Really? You wouldn’t lie? For serious, OK! Lulz for days! Warehouse Live and Ticketmaster are running a special this weekend for all of us Soul Patrol devotees. Tickets for what is sure to be a life-changing and heart-melting…
Friday Night Noise: In the Land of Archers’ Misanthropic Crud; Venison Whirled’s Piercing Tonal Halos
In The Land Of Archers “I Am The Monster That Walks On All Fours”: Friday Night Noise is not even gonna try to decipher this Houston crew’s web site – which suggests that they’re still a going thing despite being entrenched in different projects – because we’re way more interested…
Houston Companies Don’t Do Too Badly In Survey Of Gay-Friendly Workplaces
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has issued its latest rankings of how businesses treat their gay and lesbian employees, and things look a little better than last year.The report gave 305 businesses a top score of 100 this year; that’s an increase from last year’s 260. Eleven of the top…
Top 5 Worst Food Fads
Fusion “Fusion” food came into vogue decades ago and has informed the food we eat in ways we don’t even realize. We have delicious things like banh mi and peach salsa thanks to fusion, but also borderline insulting innovations such as taco pizza. At what point do things go from…
Cleanse Your Dirty, Dirty Soul With the Blind Boys of Alabama at House of Blues
Ladies and gentlemen, Rocks Off doesn’t mind telling you he feels a little dirty after editing that last Britney Spears post. We swear, we ourselves have never, ever rubbed one out to the cover art of Oops… I Did It Again – we just wish we knew why we always…
Last Call for Art: Graffiti & Teen Angst
Saturday is the last day to see “Pieced Together, All Texas Graffiti Show” over at Aerosol Warfare Gallery & Boutique. The first traveling graffiti art exhibit to make its way around the state, “Pieced Together” features works by Austin’s Sloke (who curated), San Antonio’s Enks, and Houston’s WEAH and GONZO247…
Spank Me Baby One More Time: A Sordid Tale of Self-Gratification to Britney Spears Videos
Next week Britney Spears hits town for the second time in the past year, bringing her “The Circus Starring Britney Spears” tour back to town. Frankly we don’t know why Brit needed to hit Houston one more time, but pardon the pun. But anyhow, having Britney in town brings back…
15 Things To Watch For This Texans Season, And A Prediction
I can’t put it off any longer. The Texans season starts on Sunday. So I guess I better get my act together and get my thoughts about the upcoming season on the record before kickoff. So here goes.1. Some good news: The offense returns many of the key players that…
A Chat with Linda Salinas of VOICE
Ask Linda Salinas how she became such a wine guru (or wine nerd, to use her expression), and her answer is, “Actually, a few years ago I fell in love with a piece of mold.” Um…. Then she explains: “I used to work for Backstreet Café just as a waiter,…
Five Spot: A Crap N.O.R.E. Track Reminds Us of Bun B’s Better Days
Welcome back to 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. Yesterday, N.O.R.E. released “Set Trip,” a wispy, “Look How Tough I Am,” available-via-Internet track that nobody’s going to care about in…
Perry Announces Superhero Team To Patrol Border, Maybe Spawn Cable Series
Governor Rick Perry visited Houston Thursday to introduce the Ranger Recon Team, a new border security task force aimed at beefing up the Texas-Mexico border from cartel violence spilling over into U. S. cities. Gov. Perry cited two occurrences of violence along the Texas-Mexico border in the last week in…
Midtown Spec’s Has A Minor Electrical Fire, Houston Comes To A Standstill
Driving into work this morning, Hair Balls was passed by at least a dozen fire trucks and Houston Fire Department SUVs as they sped through Midtown. Naturally interested in rubbernecking if at all possible, we checked Twitter to see what the commotion was about and instantly saw an update from Coffee…
A Taste of the Divine
To paraphrase Wayne Campbell, Saint Arnold’s Divine Reserve No. 8 is “a fox. In France, she’d be called la renard. Hunted, with only her cunning to protect her.” And hunted she truly is. The extremely limited-production beer (only 1,500 cases were made) was released to the public in Houston yesterday…
Aftermath: Pine Leaf Boys at the Continental Club
Rocks Off is not exactly sure how to review a band like the Pine Leaf Boys. Cajun music, a series of two-steps and waltzes porous enough for liberal amounts of blues and country to seep in, is kind of critic-proof. For one thing, it’s in French, although we’re guessing there…
Coming To La Carafe: More Room To Smoke and Drink
In our Best of Houston issue last year, we selected the scant few tables in front of La Carafe as the Best Place to Smoke and Drink in town. We loved the place for its “prime view of the skyline” and the fact that outside speakers allowed patrons to “bathe…
City Council Candidate Lives A Life Of Danger, He Says
Houston politics can be a dirty business — and first-time City Council candidate Lonnie Allsbrooks says he’s finding out how nasty things can get: he says he’s been the target of shady dudes in tinted-windowed cars staking out his business and chasing him down the mean streets of the Heights.It’s…
How Many Mustards?
My afternoon snack of sliced ring bologna on crackers needed a little oomph. So I opened the fridge and looked for some mustard. Zatarain’s Creole mustard didn’t seem quite right — I keep that around for sandwiches. Gulden’s, my default hot dog mustard, didn’t appeal either. And I sure didn’t…
Five Memorable – But Not Necessarily Good – Astrodome Concerts
It was (semi-seriously) billed as the Eighth Wonder of World, the brainchild of Judge Roy Hofheinz was the first domed ballpark and – for better or worse – ushered in the era of the homogeneous, multipurpose stadiums. The Structure Formerly Known as Harris County Domed Stadium sits unused now, its…
Twitter, Get Your Gun: Facebook Lite’s in Your House
Oh, Facebook. Facebook, Facebook, Facebook. Sit down. We needsta chat for a spell. Looky here, Facebook. So, yes, it’s no secret that you’re getting a bit pudgy, what with all the apps and the games and the quizzes and the incredibly confusing filters lining both sides of any given user’s…
Another Texas Arrest In That A-Hole Prankster Ring
The Smoking Gun continues to stay on top of the effort to out and punish the juvenile a-holes (some of them sex offenders, some of them merely Mom’s-basement types) who go around ruining property and people’s days with “pranks.”The hilarity involves calling restaurants or hotels, convincing employees to turn on…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Lying Liars and the Songs Written About Them
After South Carolina representative Joe Wilson’s bush-league grandstander heckling of the President last night – imagine the hue and cry if Nancy Pelosi had done the same thing during one of W’s inane lie-filled speeches! – what Lonesome, Onry and Mean needs is some songs about lies and liars. One…
TDCJ Inmate Wonders What’s A Dude Gotta Do To Get His Wicca On In Prison
Charles Roberts — aka Alabama, aka Hell Boy (according to a lawsuit he filed from prison) — was recently transferred to Huntsville from Edinburg after he claimed, via lawsuit, that the prison didn’t allow him to practice his Wiccan religion. Michelle Lyons, the director of public information for the state’s…
Food Fight: Battle Truffle Fries
This week’s Food Fight was an exercise in learning valuable lessons. Lesson No. 1: Always do your due diligence before embarking on a trip to a restaurant that lies halfway across town. Perhaps check to see if that restaurant is actually open. This life skill will serve you well. Lesson…
Houston Music Fight Club: Michael Berry vs. Outlaw Dave, Don Walsh vs. Dirty Jeff Smith, Notsuoh vs. Mango’s
Another week and yet another clash of the sorta-titans, wherein we pit some of Houston’s best and brightest music luminaries against each other in brutal mortal combat. This week we will briefly take a step away from the burgeoning Bayou City indie scene to spotlight two of the town’s radio…
Judge Says No To Beards In The HPD
The effort by some Houston police officers to wear beards on the job (and off the job, too, we guess) was dealt a setback when a federal judge threw their lawsuit out of court.HPD brass trumpeted the decision by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal in a press release in which…
Cutout Bin: Loving the Metric System With Songs of Meter Park
George Greer (music by Jimmy Vann) Songs of Meter Park (Metric Records, 1976) In the generation before the Islamo-Commies in the government were trying to ensure access to affordable health care, they were busy converting America to the metric system. Good old American measurements were no longer good enough -…
Lunch at Le Mistral
Houstonians have a peculiar relationship with French restaurants. Many Houstonians (and many Texans and Americans) cast a suspicious glance toward anything French. During the 2004 Presidential election, an anonymous source in the George W. Bush campaign remarked that opponent Senator John Kerry “looked French.” The characterization, vaguely weak and effeminate…
That New Fancy-Ass HEB On Buffalo Speedway Hates Blondes
Yeah, we’ve all heard about the blonde who couldn’t call 911 because there wasn’t an “11” button on her phone. The one who took her scarf back to the store because it was too tight. The one who hates eating M&Ms because they’re so damn hard to peel.The new HEB…
Need Some Advice? Ask The Essential John Anderson
Dear The Essential John Anderson, Should you ask a girl out if she likes you but you are not sure if you like her? This chick is hot I guess, but her husband just died and she seemed to be kind of a prude for an older broad. I met…
If You’re Running A Huge Ecstasy Operation, Please Report It To The Feds
A man with the unlikely name of Dong Dang Huynh got some bad news this morning: He was sentenced to 22 years in a federal prison. Oh, and he also has to forfeit $24 million in ill-gotten gains.Why? He didn’t file the proper paperwork for all the money he was…
Health Department Roundup: We Are Chinese If You Please Edition
There are always plenty of Chinese joints on the Health Department’s online hit list. The reason: Like Mexican restaurants, Chinese restaurants are ubiquitous. The imaginatively named Chinese Cuisine (9888 Bellaire) was cited for general uncleanliness/disorder, dirty floors, and problems with the refrigeration unit, dressing room, locker room and utensil-washing area…
When We Was Fab: Rocks Off’s Beatles: Rock Band Night Was a Smashing Success
[Update: Click here for a slideshow.] The Pi Studios “blackshirts,” sitting on a corn flake… Hate to quote Nickelback, but what the hell: We all wanna be big rock stars, live in hilltop houses and drive 15 cars. Rocks Off is still working on the hilltop house and 15 cars…
Experts Ask The Pressing Question Tonight: Are You Ready For Some Football?
The NFL season opens tonight. We’ve already given you our astute and accurate take on the Houston Texans. (9-7, if you must know.) But what about the rest of the league? Do you actually want to sit through all the games, or learn what will happen in the next few…
Art Rock: The Fab 40 Does Abbey Road at Discovery Green
[Note: Rocks Off will resume posting non-Beatles-related entries…eventually.]…
There’s An Opening In Quality Control At The Astros, We Have To Assume
I’ve read that there are companies out there that employ people who do nothing but Quality Control. These people are supposed to make sure that the best product comes out while catching the errors. I’m not sure if Drayton McLane has such a person working for the Astros, but if…
Cooking Up a Storm: Shrimp and Corn Chowder
When I fell in love with the shrimp soup at Mama’s Cajun Cuisine, I knew just where to go to get a recipe. Cooking up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans is one of the most well-thumbed cookbooks on my bookshelf. This instant classic,…
The H-Town Countdown, No. 20: Z-Ro’s The Life of Joseph W. McVey
Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We’re counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com. Z-Ro The Life of Joseph W. McVey (Rap-A-Lot/Asylum, 2004) At any rate, in addition…
Millions & Millions On School Improvements Getting Voted On Today: You Getting Any?
Photo courtesy HISDThe Houston school board plans to vote later today on $121.5 million in school improvements over and above the projects approved in the 2007 bond election.Because each of the nine trustee districts has exactly the same amount of overcrowding/undercrowding and facilities in need of repair, the tubful of…
Bayou Body Count: Sometimes The Cases Are Easy, Sometimes Not
It may seem like it sometimes, but not all murders in Houston go unsolved.Take, for instance, a case last Friday inside a home at 10727 Lumber Ridge Trail. Sandra Martinez and her husband, Cesar Barrera, had been arguing most of the night when at about 9:30 p.m. Barrera decided to…
Love Me Some Dick
Spotted Dick is a boiled suet pudding. It’s really a lovely dessert when homemade — less tasty out of a can. Heinz Spotted Dick is a best-selling brand in England. Dick is an English nickname for pudding — spotted dick means a pudding with currants or raisins (the spots). You…
Five Unfairly Underappreciated Beatles Songs
Between the early bubblegum pop of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and the epic sentimental balladry of “Hey Jude,” the Beatles were always about much more than just the songs you hear on the radio. Even the biggest band there ever was has a few high-quality little gems that…
One More (Depressing) Statistic On That Very Controversial “Stay In School” Presidential Speech
The Houston school district provided some anecdotal evidence of how many parents ordered their kids not to watch President Obama’s speech on education (Westside represent!!), but we wondered if there was a little more info to be gleaned.The district put up on its website a link to a form that…
Dharma Punx
Spirituality is getting punked in Houston. Matt Brownlie — he of local band Bring Back the Guns, formerly The Groceries — recently started a chapter of Dharma Punx, along with friend Brandon Lamson. The style of Buddhism, founded by author and teacher Noah Levine, incorporates elements of punk rock ideology…
Sherlock’s Comedy Open Mike
Sherlock’s Comedy Open Mike brings laughter back to a familiar setting. “[Sherlock’s on West Gray] used to be the Laff Stop, and that’s where most of the comedians started,” says host/joke slinger Ryan Thauburn. Houston’s legendary comedy club moved down the road a couple years back, and the original Laff…
Museum District Day
Museum District Day is a field trip, free of charge and sans permission slip. Catch up on the latest offerings from 17 museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Contemporary Arts Museum; Children’s Museum; and Health Museum. There will be a complimentary bus to aid your museum hopping, with…
Mud
Doorman Actors Lab has picked an emotionally and physically intense script for its inaugural show. In Maria Irene Fornes’s Mud, protagonist Mae works valiantly to pull herself out of poverty, taking literacy classes as she cares for her ill foster brother. The situation unravels when the young woman, after entering…
“‘Now That I’m by Myself,’ she says, ‘I’m Not by Myself, Which is Good’”
For the season-opening DiverseWorks exhibition “‘Now That I’m by Myself,’ she says, ‘I’m Not by Myself, which is Good,’” independent curator Rachel Cook sought to amplify the connection between the personal and the performative in the work of artists Brian Bress, Wynne Greenwood, Laurel Nakadate and Yuki Okumura. Their video,…
House of Yes
Mentally trapped in the Camelot days of the Kennedys, the strange foursome that makes up the family at the center of Wendy MacLeod’s The House of Yes is having a hard day. First off, there’s a serious storm coming to the Virginia suburb where they’ve forged their bizarre reality. Then…
Big Lectric Fan to Keep Me Cool While I Sleep
Artist Wayne White picked an impressive way to honor Texas-born country legend George Jones — with a 15-foot sculpture of Jones’s head called Big Lectric Fan to Keep Me Cool While I Sleep. (The inspiration is a young, flat-topped Jones circa 1950.) White, who won an Emmy for his work…
“Artist as Performer”
YouTube-style video seems to have penetrated high art, and if “Artist as Performer” is any indication, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The exhibit features a slate of artists working with photography and video to re-create narratives and reconstruct memories. Christopher Pickett uses humor to take on narcissism in his…
he Lighter Side of the Recession
Sometimes, when a situation is really bad — like the state of the global economy — there’s nothing you can do but laugh. And what better in Houston to make that happen than Radio Music Theatre’s latest production, The Lighter Side of the Recession? Steve Farrell, Vicki Farrell and Rich…
Manon
Lordy, Lordy, look who’s 40 (and still able to tastefully sport tights). The Houston Ballet rings in four decades of dancing en pointe with Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon. Adapted from the French novel Manon Lescaut, the world-renowned ballet chronicles a young seductress who uses her good looks to woo would-be…
Bayou City Concert Musicals: On the Town
Three U.S. Navy sailors let loose on a 24-hour pass in the Big Apple — now what could go wrong? In the Bayou City Concert Musicals production of On the Town, high jinks ensue when three sailors decide to search for a woman they’ve seen on a poster. (One’s in…
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Except for Wolverine football and American cars, what else comes out of wintry Michigan? Try the Ann Arbor Film Festival. For 47 years — since way before Sundance — it’s been the leading purveyor of independent, avant-garde cinema. Each year, the festival culls a “best of” program from its international…
“Arts of Ancient Viet Nam: From River Plain to Open Sea”
Long before Vietnam was colonized by France, occupied by Japan and bombed by America, it was home to a flourishing artistic culture, thanks to its prominent position on East-West trade routes. This fall, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Asia Society Present 2,000 years worth of the country’s…
D Tour
Rock documentary D Tour chronicles the experience of a touring musician trying to keep his dream alive, even though his body is dying. While on the road a few years back, the multi-instrumentalist Pat Spurgeon of the band Rogue Wave was diagnosed with a serious kidney ailment. Spurgeon had received…
Myrtle, A Melodrama
It takes a hardcore cynic to resist a melodrama. When A.D. Players opens its 43rd season with Myrtle, A Melodrama, there will be plenty of the over-the-top comedy, villainy and romance that define the genre. The original musical from the group’s founder and artistic director Jeannette Clift George may not…
Zoya Shuhatovich plays Shostakovich
If Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich wasn’t going to be held back by Stalin’s regime, then by God, he wasn’t going to be held back by stylistic constraints, either. His music contains elements of Russian folk, jazz and early European classical music. Virtuoso pianist Zoya Shuhatovich, who is frequently featured on…
El Grito Festival de la Independencia
Newsflash for the gringos: Cinco de Mayo doesn’t mean much to most Mexicans. When it comes to national holidays, it’s all about September 16, known as El Grito, when Mexicans celebrate winning their independence from Spain. Whether this is news to you or not, one of the best places to…
Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story with Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
We’re a few months removed from Mother’s Day, but you can’t ask for a more perfect (or cringe-inducing, depending on your gender) girl-bonding event than the book signing and reading of Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story, a new memoir by Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor…
Life, Post-Ike
Seated at her desk in what used to be the servants’ quarters of the historic Moody Mansion on Broadway, Betty Massey, head of the Galveston Community Recovery Committee, recalled the words of legendary local politico Babe Schwartz, who once said something along these lines: “In 1900, God said to Galveston,…
LOLA’S GEORGIA PEACH at LOLA’S DEPOT
Houston isn’t my hometown, but I’ve lived here for ten years now. And yet, horror of horrors, until recently I’d never been to Lola’s Depot (2327 Grant St., 713-528-8342). Hey, jerks! I can see you all shaking your heads. Gimme a break. It’s not like the place is real easy…
Life, Post-Ike: The Comeback Kid
Three months after the storm, the Bolivar Peninsula still looked as if it had been strafed by B-52 bombers, or even like a Texas Gulf Coast version of post-tsunami Sri Lanka. Whole blocks of beachfront homes had simply vanished without trace, while timbers were all that remained of others. (Most…
Jail Hell
Twice this summer, on mornings in June and August, I stood at the corner of Commerce and San Jacinto as the inmates came shuffling out of the Harris County Jail, tired and dirty, squinting into the light. There was Charlotte Lavan, a 24-year-old black woman accused of passing worthless checks:…
Thingamabob vs. Machine
Early in Shane Acker’s computer-animated debut feature 9, a diminutive anthropomorphic whatsit, with wooden hands, copper fingers and the titular numeral emblazoned on his chest, awakens to the lifeless body of his human creator and sets forth into a decimated industrial landscape — all twisted metal and smokestacks — that…
Adios Bookstop and “Poll” Dancing
Spaced City Memories of A Bookseller Adios, legendary Alabama Bookstop By John Nova Lomax With the exception of legendary one-eyed bookseller Jim Brown, nobody knows the soon-to-shutter Alabama Bookstop better than John Cramer. The curmudgeonly guitarist in local psych-rock bands the Mike Gunn and Project Grimm worked there — mostly…
We Call Bull
Super Bull Rad Rich: That was a great article and a great primer for this season. I am passing this article on to all my friends [“No More Bull,” by Rich Connelly, August 27]. Oh yeah, and you’re hilarious. Rick Canales Houston So sorry: I just read your article “No More…
Blind Boys of Alabama
In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, Lou Gehrig gave his famous “luckiest man on the face of the Earth” retirement speech and a handful of students at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Deaf & Blind in Talladega (seriously, that’s what it was called) discovered a shared gift for harmonizing. Seventy…
Ghosts of Washington Avenue
Don’t weep for Washington Avenue. One of Houston’s oldest thoroughfares, it was a primary stagecoach route before eventually being paved, and the city’s principal Austin highway in the pre-freeway days. The neighborhoods surrounding the three-mile strip between the Westcott traffic circle and downtown have been in pretty much constant flux…
Pine Leaf Boys
Once a product of the college scene around Lafayette, Louisiana, the Pine Leaf Boys have, in a relatively short time, become world phenoms. They recently completed a three-day gig at the Edmonton Folk Festival and moved on directly to northern Europe for a series of festivals. In April, the Boys…
The Brunettes
Perhaps it’s New Zealand’s breezy way with pop music that bestows an extended life expectancy upon its inhabitants. The Brunettes are at the head of that class, crafting grown-up twee pop with the kind of coed cuteness that could make Mates of State all soft and sentimental. Duo Jonathan Bree…
Black Congress, Balaclavas, No No No Hopes
Fans of dirtbags and leather boots will converge on Mango’s to hear two of Houston’s most volatile bands skronk out long-gestating new material, with Austin’s No No No Hopes opening with their own brand of garage-skuzz. There is simply no more lethal band right now in Houston than Black Congress,…
The Festival at the Mink
In the wake of Summer Fest, Houston is quickly waking up to the fact that there’s enough homegrown talent here to fill out a festival anytime somebody wants to throw one — like Saturday, for example. Despite its rather generic title, the Festival at the Mink offers eight full hours…
SPECIAL EL EDITION
Dear Mexican, Why do Mexicans make the sign of mucho dinero with a gap between their thumb and index fingers, as if holding an imaginary wad of bills between both fingers? El Zorro Chupagringos Dear Gabacho-Sucking Fox, Because if a pendejo like you can get the gesture, imagine us normal…
Barker Cypress Poor Boy
The quarter roast beef poor boy at Mama’s Cajun Cuisine on Barker Cypress is piled so high with falling-apart roast beef, I can barely get my mouth around it. The meat chunks in gravy look like the stuff you get on a “debris” poor boy at Mother’s in New Orleans…
A cut above the rest
In keeping with the horror-movie theme of this funky little place, Ray’s Franks n More (1302 Nance, 713-224-6441), the onion rings are called Scissor Stix ($3), after the 1990 movie Edward Scissorhands. The onions aren’t rings but sticks, as their name implies, and each order also has some jalapeño sticks,…
Life, Post-Ike: A Full Recovery
Late last year, the troubled future of the University of Texas — Medical Branch was Galveston’s direst long-term threat. Ike slammed the medical school and hospital complex to the tune of $710 million in damages. The 550-bed John Sealy Hospital, UTMB’s main source of income, was closed by the storm,…
Be Happy or Die
Now known as one of Houston’s premier spots for eclectic, esoteric, eccentric and just downright insane music, in 2003 the original Super Happy Fun Land was slightly different. “We had imagined that the place would host a lot more arts and crafts and even some children’s events during the day,”…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Amy Blakemore: Photographs 1988-2008”, “Carlos Cruz-Diez: Crosswalk”, “Carlos Runcie-Tanaka: Fragmento”, “No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston”
“Amy Blakemore: Photographs 1988-2008” The photographs Amy Blakemore takes with a crappy plastic camera can make you cry. Dad (1999) is an image from this exhibition, a 20-year survey of the artist’s work at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The entire time I was in the gallery, people kept…
Why the Hell Not — Again?
“Going from musician to politician is definitely a step down,” says Kinky Friedman, who announced his Texas gubernatorial candidacy Tuesday morning. “But I’ll take it for Texas. Of course, it’s a step that Friedman, author of numerous mystery novels and songs such as “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Any…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Into the Woods, The House of Yes, The Lighter Side of the Recession
Into the Woods This Tony winner from 1987 is Stephen Sondheim at his most accessible, and Pasadena Little Theatre performs the fairy-tale infused musical with great charm and heart. Your favorite storybook characters and some new ones are here, all living next door to each other. There’s Cinderella (J.C. Barras,…
Seppia Restaurant & Wine Bar
Nancy Dougherty used to be the manager at Inka, before it closed after sustaining damage from Hurricane Ike. Now she works at Seppia Restaurant & Wine Bar (2800 Sage, 713-877-0457). “We’re serving American cuisine with an eclectic twist at reasonable prices: steaks, seafood, pasta, some great salads and interesting things…
