“Into the Sunset”
What is it about Texas that makes it a recognizable place in our imaginations? Artist Leigh Merrill asks that question in her new show “Into the Sunset,” currently at Lawndale Art Center. Her meticulously crafted digital photographs are composed of up to hundreds of photographic snippets — what may look…
Under the Big Dark Sky
You could say every one of John Harvey’s plays takes place under a big, dark sky. The local playwright’s staged works are spectacularly grim, and his characters endure some pretty gruesome physical and emotional pain. Harvey’s ROT, for instance (our Best of Houston® pick for 2007’s Best Original Show) featured…
My Trump Card to the Texans’ NFL Draft Propaganda
Let me first say that I really like the Houston Texans’ public relations staff. The group that we, the media, interact with on a frequent basis (and during the season, on practically a daily basis) are some of the best at what they do. Smart, engaging, good people. Let me…
Friday The 13th Escovedo, Skarnales Fans’ Lucky Day
While Friday the 13th is universally considered a day of bad luck, in fact it just turned out to be Houston’s lucky day. This afternoon Miller Outdoor Theatre announced a free show for that date starring none other than Alejandro Escovedo and the Sensitive Boys plus Houston’s own favorite vatos,…
Comment of the Day
Nick Hall wrote about disturbing holiday cakes, which triggered a bad memory for commenter trisch: This post hits too close to home! I’m still traumatized from the birthday party I attended in 2nd grade where the cake was Miss Piggy’s head and when they cut it, it was chocolate cake…
Carl Lewis’ N.J. State Senate Run Going As Smoothly As His Anthem Singing
The political career of UH’s Carl Lewis has, so far, proven to be as successful as his “Star-Spangled Banner”-singing sideline. In other words, not very successful at all. Lewis, who is trying to run for the state senate from his hometown New Jersey district, has been thrown off the ballot…
Free Pizza at Ciao Bello for Happy Hour
I’ve gotten to the point where the thought of free food doesn’t excite me anymore. That’s why I’d never made the effort to try out Ciao Bello’s happy hour even though I knew that they had free pizza. When I found myself in the Galleria area one afternoon around 4…
Royal Wedding Can Go On: Annise Parker Has Given Her Blessing
Ending months of increasingly frantic, nervous speculation by Prince William and (especially) Kate Middleton, Mayor Annise Parker has greatly eased their minds by officially writing a congratulatory letter, the last big hurdle before any Royal Wedding in London. Preparations for Friday’s event can now proceed. As this official photo shows,…
Lisa Lampanelli’s Huge Nutsack
File this under Too Much Information: Lisa Lampanelli is afraid of her husband’s nutsack. “It’s freaking enormous and horrifying, “she tells Art Attack. “It’s not as big as what a hobo ties on a stick and throws over his shoulder, but it’s pretty close. Honestly, these freaking balls are disgusting,…
Health Department Roundup
You know what Jesus was doing around Easter? Getting crucified and coming back from the dead to hang out in the Middle East instead of in paradise with his dad, for some reason. You can learn about the first part of this in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ,…
Floorbound Wants To Party, Not Murder Anyone
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 sheaserrano@gmail.com. Floorbound is a rock group. They howl and…
UH Student Senate Supports Gays in the “Family Values Centers” Budget Fight
The student senate at the University of Houston has decided that even if some Aggies are wailing about “unchaste” gay sex, UH students oppose the bill mandating “Family Values” Centers on any Texas campuses that have gay resource groups. (Maybe the Coogs just don’t understand that gay students have gay…
Tunnel Explorer: Freshii
Not long ago, I mentioned over in Shiftwork Bites (God rest its soul) that my business unit had moved offices. Now on the other end of downtown, I have whole stretches of previously unexplored tunnel to roam, in search of the best Houston’s subterranean restaurateurs have to offer. Of course,…
(Not The) Royal Wedding Playlist
Planning a wedding is a real pain in the ass. Rocks Off knows, because we (and our fiancée) were forced by geographic and financial issues to do 99 percent of the legwork for our own nuptials. There’s the usual stuff like reception location, whether you’re going to make up your…
Last Night with Mr. Tony Bennett
In the late 1940s, Tony Bennett came in second in a talent contest; Rosemary Clooney beat him out for first place. (“We were the first American Idols, Bennett jokes.) Pearl Bailey happened to see his performance and invited him to join her show. Bob Hope dropped in to see Pearl…
Cover Story: Case Keenum’s Comeback Attempt
The underdog role is a familiar one for Case Keenum. The University of Houston star quarterback won the 2004 Texas Class 3A Division I state championship, but only received barely-audible buzz from recruiters. Then, when he arrived at UH in 2006, he was buried deep on the depth chart behind…
West Texas Teardrops: On Tour With The Last Place You Look
Ed. Note: This past weekend, Houston alternative/screamo rockers The Last Place You Look opened for Unwritten Law in Lubbock, Odessa, and Austin, and invited Rocks Off’s Matthew Keever along. This is his first of three reports. It isn’t even noon, and we are already getting pissed on. That isn’t some…
Anglophile Style Watching: The Royal Wedding
Judge me if you must, but I bloody love a royal wedding. I’m old enough to remember Princess Diana’s giant, puffy-sleeved, ivory-silk taffeta Elizabeth and David Emanuel wedding gown; it was the beginning of my love affair with her and with fashion in general. So it is with great anticipation…
Sundae Sundays: Baskin Robbins II: Soft-Serve Caramel Sundae
My Yogurtland Sundae Sunday was enjoyable but inspired me to find some real soft-serve ice cream. This weekend I put forth a little more effort and drove the extra two miles to Baskin Robbins. I last visited BR in search of a top-notch hot fudge sundae and was generally happy…
Oh, Joy: Another “Affirmative Action” Bake Sale, This Time at Texas Tech
The Texas Tech group called the Young Conservatives of Texas — yes, they’re the ones who protested a campus sculpture because it allegedly included lesbians and commies — have had yet another bright idea. Well, a bright idea that’s getting pretty worn out by now, but maybe it’s bright to…
Jenny Schlief at “Low Lives 3”: Local Artist Set to Perform in International Performance Art Festival
Thanks to Jenny Schlief, Houston arts will be linked with Mexico, Tanzania and Trinidad and Tobago. Beginning Friday night, DiverseWorks and Box 13 will participate in “Low Lives 3 – International Festival of Live Networked Performances.” The online-centric performance art festival will broadcast live and feature more than fifty works…
Stella Sola: Behind the Review
What happens when the chef de cuisine at a chef-driven restaurant — the man who, in Stella Sola’s case, runs the kitchen on a day-to-day basis — tenders his resignation after you’ve already written your review? You rewrite it. Mostly. Especially when it contains lines like, “And considering that Basye…
Last Night: Tony Bennett At Jones Hall
Tony Bennett Jones Hall April 26, 2011 Tuesday night was the 60th anniversary of Tony Bennett recording what would become first No. 1 single, a little tune called “Because of You.” After hearing the 85-year-old singer perform with his quartet at Jones Hall, sharing the bill with the Houston Symphony,…
Summer Jobs: Top Five Ways to Get Employed
It’s just about summertime, when the heat descends and the bugs surface, reminding you that you do actually live on a swamp. And if you’re a teen, there’s another thing a’coming to bite you in the butt — the summer job search. This season will be no picnic for Houston…
Literary Greats Cool Houston Down With Black Blizzard
We’re not going to sit here and try to define the Literary Greats. Instead, we’ll tell you why we just had to have their new album Black Blizzard. For three years now your humble narrator has been tracking the music that features on HBO’s True Blood. Each episode tends to…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Danton Nix of Danton’s Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen
In late 2007, after more than 20 years in the restaurant industry, self-taught chef Danton Nix (along with his longtime friend and business partner Kyle Teas) opened Danton’s Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen. Mere months before the economic crisis, it was, in Nix’s words, “the perfect time not to open a…
Pearl & Johnny B’s BBQ: A Little Bit of Crockett in Houston
“We’ve been open since February 5,” said Pearlie Thompson with a smile as she rang me up last Saturday afternoon. “But it’s been kind of quiet.” Thompson runs Pearl & Johnny B’s BBQ, a little gem out of my fondest slow-smoked dreams, that’s just off the main food court inside…
Leo Berman Not Buying Obama’s “Birth Certificate” Stunt; Has Greatest Question Ever
THANK GOD state rep Leo Berman is still bringing the crazy when it comes to President Obama’s place of birth. Obama, tiring of all the attention still being devoted to this issue (CNN has been pounding it lately), asked for, received and released this morning the official long-form birth certificate…
The Intergalactic Nemesis & Sludge Monsters From Zygon
“Each of us has a destiny…for good or evil.” — The Intergalactic Nemesis First it was a comic book.Then a radio drama. And now The Intergalactic Nemesis is coming to Houston’s Wortham Center in the form of one screen capture after another – 1,250 in all by Tim Doyle -…
UGK’s Top Five Most Underrated Songs
UGK has churned out tons of hits over the last couple of decades, with more promised. Still, there’s a bunch of notable songs that never gained the recognition they deserved. In the second installment of our Southern Way celebration, behold UGK’s most underappreciated cuts. We decided to keep this one…
Giving Calligraphy a Whirl & Getting Your Ommmmm On
The Houston Arts Alliance will host an interactive workshop on calligraphy in religious expression May 22, featuring artists from Islamic, Jewish and Buddhist traditions. Part of the Sacred Songs, Sacred Sites series, Calligraphy and the Call will offer attendees to give calligraphy a whirl (to use highly technical language) under…
Gabrielle Giffords Walks Up Steps to Board Jet
In case you were skeptical of the progress made by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at the Texas Medical Center’s TIRR rehab clinic, long-distance video showed her climbing the stairs to board the jet that’s taking her to watch her husband’s shuttle launch. KHOU’s camera shows Giffords, with assistance, walking up the…
Last Night: George Thorogood At House Of Blues
George Thorogood & the Destroyers House of Blues April 26, 2011 George Thorogood is an odd sort of working-class hero. Like many of his bluesy forefathers, the Delaware-born rocker is as modest and self-deprecating in person (or at least on the phone) as his songs are swaggering and braggadocious. Before…
Sex Dolls and the Texans Who Love Them
While intending to Google “existentialism and Sartre” Tuesday, Hair Balls accidentally typed “sex dolls Texas,” and wound up at The Doll Forum: A Meeting Place for Love Doll Owners & Admirers. Just as we were about to hit the back arrow, we were lured in by the site’s status as…
Lamb Cakes and Leprechauns: Holiday Cake Heebie-Jeebies
Many holiday traditions are built around food. One of my family’s traditions is lamb cake. As far back as I can remember, lamb cake has been a part of our Easter festivities. It is always plain white cake, with cream-cheese frosting and green-dyed coconut grass. Even after my brothers and…
My Favorite Meatball Banh Mi at Thim Hing
Walking into Thim Hing Banh Mi (11107 Bellaire Boulevard at Boone), it’s as if I’ve been transported to somewhere in Vietnam. The grayish-green linoleum has seen better days, the Formica- topped tables are chipped, the dark-brown diner chairs have that circa-1970s look, and if I worried about cleanliness, I would…
The Media Loves Your Album. Who Are You?
If Rolling Stone loves your album, it means… • You are a well-established musician with legions of loyal fans who may be interested in perhaps taking out some full-page advertisements in, oh, say, some kind of mainstream rock publication. • Your album was released 30 years ago and our critics…
Comment of the Day: Placing Blame for Facebook Addiction
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
30 Seconds With Kina Grannis
Rocks Off sat down with Kina Grannis to see what we could learn about the rising singer-songwriter sensation in 30 seconds. Rocks Off: What is the worst song in the world? Kina Grannis: The one that I write while I’m dreaming and slips out of existence as soon as I…
Playwright Rajiv Joseph Returns With The Monster at the Door
Playwright Rajiv Joseph,a Pulitzer finalist in 2010 for Bengal Tiger,has returned to the Alley Theatre and this time he’s bringing monsters. The Monster at the Door started out as a more naturalistic play, but in the two-and-a-half years it took him to write it, Joseph told Art Attack, it turned…
Milo Hamilton and the War on Lance Berkman
He’s a Cardinal now, get used to it.So it appears that in the time between being traded to the New York Yankees and signing with the St. Louis Cardinals, Lance Berkman has gone from being one of the good guys to Public Enemy Number One. At least if you can…
Tania Katrisse Ellington: Sheriff’s Deputy’s Wife Pleads Guilty to Knowing He Was Helping an Ecstasy Ring
The wife of a former Harris County Sheriff’s deputy has pled guilty to knowing about how her husband was helping to run an Ecstasy ring, a lesser charge than the original one she faced of aiding and abetting that enterprise. Tania Katrisse Ellington, 32, admitted guilt to a charge of…
Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs
Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Weapons Grade: How excited am I that Central Market’s beer and wine…
Charlie Sheen Brings His Torpedo of Truth to Houston
Houston is not Detroit, at least when it comes to Charlie Sheen. Sheen’s tour stop in Houston last night wasn’t a wash-out, a bomb, or the expensive meltdown that most in town had hoped for. In fact, he was embraced at every turn by fans of all stripes, with men…
Last Night: Charlie Sheen’s “Violent Torpedo of Truth Tour” at Verizon Wireless Theater
Charlie Sheen’s tour stop in Houston last night wasn’t a wash-out, a bomb, or the expensive meltdown that most in town had hoped for. In fact, he was embraced at every turn by fans of all stripes, with men and women alike fawning over him like he was a surviving…
Charlie Sheen Becomes Honorary Coog, Doesn’t Enter Creative Writing Program
Charlie Sheen, in town to appear in his disastrous live show, took batting practice with the UH baseball team Monday night. “Guess Charlie Sheen has Cougar blood, as well,” UH spokesman Richard Bonnin tweeted. Sheen thus edged out James Franco, who has been accepted for the Fall 2012 semester into…
The Truth About Lance Berkman’s Work Ethic
Lance Berkman returns to Minute Maid Park tonight for the first time since the Astros traded him before the 2010 trade deadline. He will be wearing a St. Louis Cardinals uniform, which for an Astro fan is the equivalent of Luke Skywalker showing up at the Jedi Temple in stormtrooper…
You’re Doing It Wrong: Blame Yourself, Not the Internet, For Your Addictions
The Internet is always being blamed for something. It seems like everyday, someone somewhere is complaining about how the web is distracting, easily addictive and a replacement for “real” life and friends. The reality is, it’s true. Much like the “real world,” the virtual version provides users with easy access…
Comment of the Day
Katharine Shilcutt listed her favorite patios for catching up with friends, leading commenter ostiones to suggest the Poop Deck in Galveston: Not Houston, but Galveston, and no food, but good strong drinks, the Poop Deck Club on Seawall Boulevard is mesmerizing at night, especially with a full moon. Add a…
Sir Douglas Quintet’s Augie Meyers Remembers Huey P. Meaux
To say that Huey Meaux was a complicated man is an epic understatement, but one guy who prefers to remember only the good in the late Crazy Cajun is Augie Meyers, keyboardist in the Sir Douglas Quintet. Though touring prevents him from attending Meaux’s funeral, Meyers says he will be…
Houston Mega-Lawyer Mark Lanier Plays “Mark Lanier” In New Courtroom Drama
You hear about a movie called Puncture, you gotta figure it’s about a killer tire, right? Even if there are lawyers involved? Sadly the above clip is not for Puncture, which is about syringes and lawsuits, and features Houston mega-lawyer Mark Lanier in a cameo role. The Wall Street Journal…
Charlie Sheen’s “Violent Torpedo Of Truth Tour” Hits Houston Tonight: Why Are We Going?
The situation all seemed so innocent just a few months ago. The embattled star of Platoon, Major League, Wall Street and TV’s Two & A Half Men was having a very public meltdown. There was the fight with Capri Anderson in New York last October, the lost weekend with various…
Mark Lanier Hits The Big Screen
When we read in the Wall Street Journal that Houston mega-lawyer Mark Lanier had a role in a new movie called Puncture, we assumed it was about a class-action suit involving defective killer tires, and that the above video was an early trailer for it before a name change. Alas,…
The 5 Best Dessert Menus
Toward the end of Lent, one faithful observer emailed me with a plaintive request: I am a native Houston who has been displaced to Texas A&M in College Station (read: total dearth of anything approaching the kind of food I’ve become accustomed to), and read the Houston Press as my…
Five Essential Boogie-Rock Albums
Boogie-rock has probably been derided by critics more times than people have torched a doob while listening to BTO. Intellectual types tend to write it off as guys with feathered bangs, mustaches and shirts open to their navel playing songs about cars, girls and partying (and partying in cars with…
One Texas State Senator Votes Against New Anti-Bullying Bill
Houston State Senator John Whitmire’s anti-bullying bill passed by a 30-1 vote today. SB 205 defines cyberbullying and sets out — say what now? Someone voted in favor of bullying? Not exactly. Jane Nelson, a Republican from the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound, did indeed vote against the bill. She’s…
Cutting Room Floor: Ben Westhoff’s Dirty South
This is an anecdote to talk about a book of anecdotes. Go figure. When asked how he felt immediately after completing his book, Ben Westhoff, author of Dirty South: Outkast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy and the Southern Rappers Who Reinvented Hip-Hop, responded with one word: Elated. It’s an automatic response,…
Slayer Girlfriend Reigns In Love
A few hours ago, while reviewing the OC Weekly’s coverage of the Big 4 metal festival in Indio, Calif., we came across this picture of a female metal fan with a sweet-ass Slayer tattoo in the middle of her abdomen. Why does God creates such beautiful things, and then keeps…
Garden Fresh: Cilantro
Flowers in the garden are beautiful, but not in the herb section. That’s the last step before herbs go to seed, and begin to fade. It’s been a good run for cilantro, which grows from the cooler days of October, until the soil temperature reaches 75 degrees. I’ll let mine…
Bob Lindsey: “No Such Thing As Debt” Financial Adviser Must Repay $14 Million to Texans
A guy who told debtors he could erase their credit card debt because there’s no such thing as “credit” just landed into some money problems of his own: Bob Lindsey must repay $13.8 million to hundreds of Texans who signed up for his Freedom From Debt Alliance program. “The jury…
The Intertubes: Between Two Ferns
Surly, hairy man Sourly, cluelessly grumbles At celebrities. There it is, the premise of Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis in haiku form. It seems so simple, and yet it is endlessly entertaining. Presented in a format akin to a low-budget early-80’s cable access show, complete with trumpet-heavy adult contemporary…
Yoga Fuel: Salade Max & Julie at Brasserie Max & Julie
I was excited about my recent visit to Brasserie Max & Julie for two reasons. First, my husband and I visited Paris for the first time last winter, and I’ve been missing the food. Second, Katharine Shilcutt’s piece on Houston’s best “vacation patios” had me in the mood to dine…
The Southern Way: UGK ‘s Top 12 Disciples
On April 26, 1988, 23 years ago today, UGK kicked off a long and influential career with the release of their cassette-only debut, The Southern Way. It’s impossible to overstate the duo’s Texas-sized influence on Southern rap. As showcased on seminal albums like Ridin’ Dirty and Super Tight, Bun B…
Tuesday April 26, 2011 Deals of the Day
Today’s VOICE Deal of the Day is at one of my favorite spots to have lunch: Bowl Café on Richmond. Woo-hoo! Here are links to that deal and more for today, Tuesday April 26, 2011: 1) VOICE deal of the day at Houstonpress.com: 50 percent off at Bowl Cafe: ($10…
UH Moves Three Football Games to Thursday Night For TV
UH has announced that three of the upcoming season’s games will be moved to Thursday nights to get TV exposure, including the Bayou Bucket game. Road games at UTEP and Tulane will be on Thursday, and the bragging-rights contest against Rice will be played under the lights at Robertson on…
Texas A&M: Where Men Are Women, When It Comes To Title IX
The New York Times is out today with an interesting look at how colleges cook the books in order to comply with Title IX, the federal law that requires equality in men’s and women’s collegiate sports. In order not to get afoul of the feds, you basically have to show…
Out Today: Steve Earle Is Alive, Bootsy’s Aged Funk, And The Late Poly Styrene’s Last Disc
Yep, it’s the third week now that we have been listening to the new Foo Fighters album, Wasting Light. We even acquired it on vinyl this weekend, so we are doubly screwed. Now we just need it on cassette tape and one of those toothbrushes that play music in your…
Greedo Came First: Stars Wars XXX Porn Parody Begins Production
Back in January I told you about the girth of pop-culture porn parodies that are suddenly the newest thing in the porn industry. This time around though it’s younger directors and actors armed with better production values and at least a sense of humor about Homer and Marge Simpson banging…
How to Use Up Leftover Easter Candy
The Easter bunny has come and gone, taking with him our excuse for consuming candy like a five-year-old and generally overindulging. If, despite your best efforts, you are still left with a huge basket full of candy, here are some unique ways to use up your stash before the Halloween…
Presidential Offspring: Seven Very Odd Outcomes of White House Fathers
Having a president for a father is not easy: The roster of children born to America’s chief executives is rife with alcoholics, suicides and failures. Some, of course, thrive. But still, there are oddities. Here are five (Bonus: Two instances of presidential grandkid weirdness!!) 5. John Van Buren The son…
ACL 2011 Rumors: Ten Bands Who Could Make The Cut
The Austin City Limits Music Festival’s big 2011 lineup announcement is imminent, scheduled for May 17, and Rocks Off will surely be on top of the news after it hits. Last year we sat on the computer, constantly pushing “refresh” for what seemed like hours until the lineup was sent…
Mortal Kombat: Legacy: Rattling the Cage
Episode 3 of the Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series is a profound shake-up in the narrative thus far. From the crime ridden streets, home to gun battles and cybernetic smugglers, we move to the depressing world of Hollywood and one of Mortal Kombat’s most famous characters, Johnny Cage. At first,…
Burger and an Oil Change at Facundo Cafe
Listen up, because I’m making your lunch plans for you right now: Drive over to Ella, just outside the Loop, and pull in to the Dr. Gleem car wash. Yes, the one with the palapas out front. Get your car’s oil changed, or get it detailed, or get your expired…
Lavelle Hopkins: Arrested After Stick-Up of East Texas Library
You know that old saying: You rob banks because that’s where the money is. Evidently Lavelle Hopkins of Hughes Springs never availed himself of that wisdom. How else can you explain the crime he is accused of committing yesterday morning? Simply put, police in the East Texas town of Daingerfield…
The Dwalin at The Hobbit Café
When I wrote about wanting to try the curry chicken salad at The Hobbit Café after enjoying the egg salad sandwich, reader Hobbitual responded: Beware that curry chicken salad. I do love curry. You’ll be sweating curry for a while though after eating that sandwich. “Hmm,” I thought, “I love…
Update: Last Typewriter Factory Closing
Update: Turns out the complete death of the typewriter hasn’t happened yet. According to Poynter.org, Godrej and Boyce is not the sole typewriter manufacturing business in the world. There’s also Swintec, an American company that boasts typewriter plants in the Far East. This update is brought to you by a…
Starchy Arch’s Top Six Rap Songs About Sex
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…
Upcoming: Arctic Monkeys, Emmylou Harris, R. Kelly, Etc.
“25th Annual Texas Crawfish & Music Festival” With Fuel, Lit, Earshot: Budweiser Crawfish Stage., Sat., May 21. Old Town Spring. Amplified Heat, The Happen-Ins: Sat., May 21. Continental Club. Arctic Monkeys: Wed., Aug. 3. House of Blues. Joe Jack Talcum, The Bassturd, Rival Wife: Thu., June 9. Super Happy Fun…
Comment of the Day: Back to the `50s, But All The Way
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Rocks Off Giving Away Pair Of Arcade Fire Tickets
Rocks Off recently reached a pretty cool milestone, and we’re about to hit another. So we’d like to say thanks. Last week we got our 3,000th Twitter follower on @hprocksoff, and we are a handful of folks away from our 2,000th Facebook “liker.” What are you waiting for? In related…
Meme Of The Week: Birds With Arms
Here comes this week’s meme, Birds With Arms, to wake you up from a candy and family-induced post-Easter stupor, to put you into a state of catatonic fear. Yes, these are cute, cuddly birds with massive guns that would make would-be hunters think twice about unloading bird shot into that…
Strip House Celebrating National Prime Rib Day
I bet you had absolutely no idea this Wednesday, April 27, is National Prime Rib Day. If you did know it, chances are you’re either a complete loser, or morbidly obese, or a combination of the two. If you’re up for celebrating this joyous occasion on Wednesday night, the fine…
Country Playhouse’s Come Back, Little Sheba Doesn’t Strike Magic
The setup: Playwright William Inge was not a party guy, and his first major success on Broadway (he had four in a row in the 1950s) is a blistering look at a failed marriage. The bright spots of life belong to others, but even the youngsters are tinged with failure…
DEFCON Dining: Brown Bag Deli
I’ve gone on record (see the comments section on Katharine Shilcutt’s recent post about dining with children) about my kids being pretty good when it comes to restaurants, both in terms of their behavior and their willingness to branch out and try what some might not consider “kid-friendly” foods. On…
Huey Meaux Not Forgiven Or Forgotten, Says Associate
The death of legendary – and genuinely kinked-up – record producer Huey P. Meaux is a time of mixed emotions for SugarHill Studios co-owner and chief engineer Andy Bradley. Bradley began working with Meaux in 1984 and eventually bought the studios with a group of investors. “Like so many people,…
NYC Mag Fast Company Sends Houston Some Monster Love
Houston is Number One and I am finally contracturally unbound and able to tell the world. Several months ago, an e-mail out of netherspace arrived in my inbox from one Jeff Chu from Fast Company magazine asking if I’d like to write a story for them about living in Houston…
Pop Rocks: Bill And Ted? Or Vince And Ari?
Or maybe even “Okay News/Bad News,” depending on your feelings regarding San Dimas High School football. That’s right, the rumors you’ve heard may or may not be true in that a third Bill and Ted movie might or might not be getting made: Keanu Reeves has been talking about the…
Pop Rocks: One Of Those “Good News/Bad News” Things
Or maybe even “Okay News/Bad News,” depending on your feelings regarding San Dimas High School football. That’s right, the rumors you’ve heard may or may not be true in that a third Bill and Ted movie might or might not be getting made: Keanu Reeves has been talking about the…
Gothic Council Debates Most Definitive Goth Album… Ever
Gothtopia has a new, longer drive to the sheet-music mines every day, the upside of which is that we get to listen to a lot more music in the car. Since much of our dedicated listening time is taken up with official assignments, drive time is one of the few…
Where Are We Drinking?
The Bournvita ice cream sandwiches at Pondicheri are quickly becoming our new favorite summer dessert, but do you know what Bournvita is? It’s the British equivalent of Ovaltine, which became popular in India as well as many African countries with British influences, such as Nigeria and Zambia. Can you tell…
“100 Creatives” – Rodney Waters
What he does: Rodney Waters uses a lot of the right or “creative” side of his brain. The Texan contemporary classical pianist has performed in major venues such as Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Japan’s Asahi Recital Hall and New York’s Weill Recital Hall and Carnegie Hall. Along with his musical talent,…
Intelligent Design Tries Again In Texas, Group Says
Texas might be getting ready to fill its science textbooks with anti-evolution material, critics are warning. The State Board of Education may soon take another step in its effort to adopt material that pushes Intelligent Design, they say. “Two years ago State Board of Education members thumbed their noses at…
NFL Teams Don’t Care That Cam Newton Can’t Name A Play
Go to Google and put in “2011 NFL mock drafts.” I did that this afternoon, and I couldn’t find one current edition of a reputable mock draft that didn’t have Auburn quarterback Cam Newton as the number one overall pick to the Carolina Panthers. This, despite his performance on Camp…
Comments of the Day
This weekend, Katharine Shilcutt judged the Best Tasting Lemonade Competition at the Children’s Museum of Houston, in preparation for Lemonade Day. Which got some of our readers thinking: Wrote csoakley: I think I must have chugged down about a gallon of lemonade last year driving around the Heights. It’s really…
HISD Takes a Breather From the Bad, Sad News; Gets $2.5 Million
It was a moment so auspicious that it was deemed worthy of a hurry-up press conference at noon Monday. And why not — a $2.5 million donation from Chase Bank to the Houston ISD’s Apollo program is the best news Superintendent Terry Grier and his troops have had in a…
Alejandro Pantoja-Rosales and Juan Romero-Trejo Get 20 Years For Kidnapping Illegal Aliens
Two men who kidnapped illegal aliens being escorted by coyotes and kept them in Houston houses while they sent ransom demands back to Mexico have been send to prison for at least 20 years apiece. Alejandro Pantoja-Rosales, 29, and Juan Romero-Trejo, 36, both of Houston and both undocumented aliens, were…
Ruben Trejo: Drunk Cop Who Hit School Bus Was On His Way Into Work, HPD Says
Better or worse that he didn’t make it to work?The off-duty cop who hit a school bus in the afternoon last year has been charged with drunk driving, and HPD confirms he was on his way into work when the accident happened. As opposed to just being drunk and behind…
Houston’s Best Patios: The 10 Best to Catch Up with Friends
With patio weather season in full swing, Houstonians are absolutely spoiled for places to enjoy the day outside. And sometimes all you know is that you’re in the mood for a patio, but can’t figure out where to go. So how do you choose? Over five weeks, we’ll be guiding…
Lil B’s I’m Gay: Marketing Genius Or Just Offensive?
Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday (that isn’t a national holiday) Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week’s Panel: Bun B, A.D.D., Kiotti, Fat Tony, Delo, Brad Gilmore, JD, H-Kane, Mug, Kritikal, KAB, Renzo, Kritikal, Show Not…
Aggie Conservatives Denounce Gay Seminar With Single Greatest Quote in 21st-Century Higher Education
Conservative groups at Texas A&M are shocked if not outraged if not offended if not panties-wadded about a (gasp!) “Safe and Fun Sex” seminar apparently given by the GLBT Resource Center. Sex therapist Cay Crow (or, as the conservatives’ broadside puts it, ” ‘open-minded, liberal, free spirit’ Cay Crow’) led…
Goodnight Houston Introduces Kids to the Local Sights
Jennifer and Kyle Solak grew up in New Orleans, and like most folks from the Big Easy, they loved their hometown. After Hurricane Katrina hit, they relocated to Houston. When their new baby Garrett was born in Houston, they wanted for him to love his hometown as much as they…
Robin Lynn Bell: Drags Toddler Through Traffic, Drives Off With Kid Dangling Out Window (Allegedly)
Apparently Robin Lynn Bell is not handling the break-up with her baby’s father very well. The 24-year-old northside woman, whom court records list as packing over 300 pounds on her 5′ 3″ frame, has been charged with apparently related crimes three times this year, most recently on Easter Sunday. According…
Twisted Tale: Under the Big Dark Sky from Milded’s Umbrella
The setup: Not since the head trips of cinemaverick Alejandro Jodorowsky, especially that psilocybin deluxe El Topo, has there been such a rich, incomprehensible, ultimately silly work as John Harvey’s world premiere for Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Co. The execution: Okay, you’ve got your Victorian carnival, whose barker is pasty-faced Mr…
Last Night: Sleigh Bells & CSS At Warehouse Live
Sleigh Bells, CSS Warehouse Live April 24, 2011 See more photos in our slideshow. The concept of loud music is in Aftermath’s blood. From the sweet-ass two-page Van Halen mural our Uncle Kelly drew inside his junior high yearbook in 1984, the blown-out speakers in our first car from too…
Pisco Portón: The New Pisco in Town
When I think of pisco, I think of pisco sours, and when I think of pisco sours, I don’t think about drinking them in Houston. Hopefully, that’s all about to change because Houston, we’ve got a new pisco in town: Pisco Portón. Despite the fact that it’s manufactured in Peru,…
Saturday Night: Psychedelic Furs At Warehouse Live
Psychedelic Furs Warehouse Live April 23, 2010 The Psychedelic Furs are very much a throwback band, but not in the way you might be thinking. Thanks largely to John Hughes, the Butler brothers’ UK crew will forever be remembered as one of the premier musical avatars of the suave, sunglassed…
The Bushes Hate Rick Perry: Now Everyone Knows
It really hasn’t been a secret in Texas that the Bushes don’t really like Rick Perry — after all, George H.W. Bush came out for Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2010 guv race — but all of a sudden talk of it has bubbled up again. Kevin D. Williamson, a…
The Images in “Heinrich Kühn: The Perfect Photograph” Are Less Leisurely Than They Appear
The photographs by Heinrich Kühn on view at the MFAH radiate bourgeois languor. His images from the early years of the 20th century conjure visions of privileged Viennese children on country outings with their governess, flower-filled vases, and women in billowing skirts. Working in various photographic processes, like gum bichromate,…
Kata Robata Chefs Take Inaugural Kiss My Grits Throwdown Title
Grits have been an integral part of my life since I could gum food. Naturally, I was eager to get my gums (and teef) on the grits concoctions at Thursday evening’s Kiss My Grits Gulf Coast Throwdown. Young Texans Against Cancer cobbled together Houston chefs and challenged them to create…
David Wayne Tabor: Who Says White Guys Can’t Pimp?
In the unforgettable 1999 documentary American Pimp, filmmakers the Hughes Brothers profiled nine of America’s most prominent legends of the pimpin’ game: people like Chicago’s Don Magic Juan and San Francisco’s Fillmore Slim. The film echoed in the works of Texas filmmaker Mike Judge. In Judge’s Idiocracy, Upgrayedd, the character…
The Killing: “Super 8”
Four episodes into The Killing, and I’m starting to notice a few cracks in the facade. Not that the show isn’t quite good, especially when compared to crime procedurals on other networks, just that a few of the characters are acting like, well, dopes. Linden’s fiance Rick (Callum Keith Rennie)…
Best Tasting Lemonade Contest at the Children’s Museum Kicks Off Lemonade Day
“We thought it tasted too sweet,” said Brenda Alonso as she stood shyly next to her sister behind their lemonade stand. “So we added a little bit of salt.” The 10-year-old beamed as I told her what a good idea that had been, her 7-year-old sister Frances hopping up and…
Texas Repubs Say Allowing Transgender Marriages Was a Terrible Oversight And They Promise Never To Do It Again
Republican state legislators are seeking to correct a historic mistake they say should never, ever have happened: Allowing Texans who are transgendered to marry, like they can in almost every other state in the union. How this diabolical heresy first got passed is due to some language slipped into a…
Kings Of Leon Return To Houston – Again – July 30
The Followill boys from Tennessee, Kings Of Leon are coming back to Houston and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on July 30, with openers Band of Horses. The date marks the first Band of Horses stop in Houston in what looks to be forever. As for the Kings, this will…
What a Crock: Baby Back Ribs
Crock-potting some baby back ribs isn’t the most authentic way of doing things, but it’s fast, easy, and usually turns out pretty tasty. Let’s see if this recipe does the trick. The run-down All you need is a standard rack of baby back pork ribs and a few other simple…
I Find Your Lack of Scotch…Disturbing
Spotted on the street in El Segundo off Oakland: This hipster storm trooper loves scotch…
Asher Brown: Parent’s Lawsuit Details the Alleged Bullying That Led to Suicide
A lawsuit that accuses the Cy-Fair school district of intentionally destroying or hiding evidence has detailed the bullying that 13-year-old Asher Brown went through before he took his life, at least according to his mother. Brown’s death drew national attention as part of a series of incidents where students wee…
A Masterful King Lear from Classical Theatre Company and The Prague Shakespeare Festival
The setup: There is so much to praise in the Classical Theatre Company and The Prague Shakespeare Festival’s joint production of King Lear (which is playing in repertory with As You Like It) that I could fill a short review by simply listing everyone in the cast and crew and…
Friday Night: Lee-Lonn At Reserve Lounge
Lee-Lonn Reserve Lounge April 22, 2011 9:08 p.m. Lee-Lonn, in case you’ve yet to hear his name, is one of Houston’s marquee R&B talents. He’s so good, in fact, that we’re heading out to see him perform live right now, despite the fact that a) far as we can tell,…
Happy Hour at Mockingbird Bistro
If there’s anything thing I hate more than cooking, it’s cooking for one. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration — I don’t hate cooking nearly as much as I used to — but when I’m flying solo for dinner I’d rather go out than slave over a cup of…
Aw, Sookie, Sookie Now: An Interview with Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris is a happy woman. She has every reason to be with the popularity of her Sookie Stackhouse adventure novels being boosted by True Blood, the successful HBO television series based on her characters. Chatting with Art Attack in anticipation of her upcoming reading and Author Luncheon event with…
Wine of the Week: Truchard 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir
At $11 by the glass, the Truchard 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir is a great value from one of California’s most famous winemakers.
Miguel Almaquer, Bayou Body Count No. 53
A man has been charged with intoxication manslaughter after police say he was drunk and crashed his car, killing his passenger. The victim, Miguel Almaquer, was thrown from the vehicle in the single-car crash in the 6900 block of the East Sam Houston Parkway about 3 a.m. Sunday, HPD says…
Game Of Thrones: “The Kingsroad”
The second installment in HBO’s adaptation of the George R.R. Martin epic wais an episode of goodbyes. Ned is leaving Winterfell for King’s Landing, taking Arya and Sansa with him. Meanwhile Jon joins his Uncle Benjen to head north for the Wall, with Tyrion Lannister tagging along. Across the Narrow…
Chicken BLT at Natachee’s Supper ‘n’ Punch
Katharine Shilcutt was right: Natachee’s is getting better and better. I was initially iffy about going back in light of my mediocre burger experience but returned several times after reading her cafe review. I tried some dishes I had before and found them much improved. I also sampled some entrees…
Friday Night: Jessica Lea Mayfield At Fitzgerald’s
Jessica Lea Mayfield, David Mayfield Fitzgerald’s April 22, 2011 You know those situations where you’re thinking to yourself, “Wow, this looks like it doesn’t make sense…perhaps some further investigation might prove me wrong”? Friday night was one of the very few times that Aftermath has been proven wrong. We won’t…
The Week in TV and Catch 30 Rock as a Cartoon
This was the week in TV Land: • The Office isn’t actually ending with Steve Carell’s departure, but you wouldn’t know it from the way the producers and NBC are acting. Will Ferrell’s in the middle of a guest run right now that’s mostly pointless but still impressive in terms…
Saturday Night: Ricky Martin At Toyota Center
Ricky Martin Toyota Center April 23, 2011 Ricky Martin is gay. Not Lil B “The Based God” gay, but actually gay. And even though this fact – which Martin revealed to a good deal of media fanfare last year – is significant insomuch as it helps define him as a…
Eating for Your Workout
When you’re trying to lose weight, tone up or get ripped, it may seem like food is the enemy. However, not eating before or after your workout can actually sabotage your efforts, which is good news if, like me, you treat any invitation to eat like an invite to the…
Comment of the Day: Ecstasy Outrage
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
The Houston Astros: As Bad As We Thought They Were
John RoyalUpset with the Astros, well the Aeros give you a reason to cheerOkay Houston sports fans. There’s good news, and there’s bad news. The bad news is that the Astros are 8-14 for the season and are, as expected, battling for the worst record in major league baseball. The…
Ricki Lake May Be Back; But Don’t Ask Her To Dance the Bug
Ricki Lake announced last week that she would once again start waking up before noon and return to daytime television. Her new talk show is slated to begin the fall of 2012. This is not really much of a surprise as the ladies of daytime are just starting to pour…
How Josef Stalin Stole Sergei Prokofiev’s Flowers
In can be easily argued that Russian born composer Sergei Prokofiev, who would have been 120 this week, was the most popular 20th century composer. As a sheet-music salesman, we can tell you that only Scott Joplin and Ennio Morricone come close to the number of requests for Prokofiev. Yet…
The Royal Wedding: Five Ominous Signs In Their Astrological Charts
Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married this week, as you might have heard. The happy couple will be literally following in the footsteps of Prince Charles and Diana, and we all know how well that turned out. What do things look like for Bill & Kate? We turned…
What’s Up, Doc?
Trumpet player Doc Severinsen remembers his first performance in Houston very well. It was at the then brand new Shamrock Hotel, which was located on the outskirts of town. Severinsen had just joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, fulfilling a long-time dream of his. “That first night at the Shamrock Hotel,…
Where Are We Eating?
We couldn’t get enough of these fresh frites last week, especially dipped in the spicy Sriracha mayonnaise that accompanied them. Does this pile of fries look familiar to you? If not, here’s a hint: These fries have wheels. Leave your best guess in the comments section below…
How Not To Leave A Car Show
You go to a gathering of car enthusiasts, you want to impress. How not to do it: Do what the guy in the red car does in this clip. Follow closely; he comes in about the ten-second mark. The video of the wipeout, which occurred earlier this month at Houston’s…
Controversial Producer Huey Meaux Dead At 82
Correction: Meaux was actually arrested at his home and escorted to SugarHill by the Houston Police Department. Huey P. Meaux, the onetime studio and record-label owner and chart-topping producer who helped define the Gulf Coast sound through hits by the Sir Douglas Quintet, Freddy Fender and Barbara Lynn, died this…
Dallas Wiens: Faceless Texan Says Brit Tabloid Forged His Name On Photo-Release Contract
You know what’s worse than getting your entire face seared off by an exposed power line? Well…not much, actually. But having a British tabloid forge your name on a contract in order to publish pictures of said face without your consent is pretty dang bad. And that’s what Dallas Wiens…
This Week in Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where our skin is getting tan and leathery, our forearms like bronze hamhocks, our necks like freshly-stained rawhide, our nipples like crisp yet moist buttons of salami. Yes, it’s summertime here in Houston, and- Wait, what? It’s only April?…
HISD’s Harvin Moore: Nothing ‘Heroic’ About Gutting Education
Houston ISD trustee Harvin Moore has just issued his third in a series of columns on the Texas education funding crisis, and this time he examines whether all the public funding woes can be laid at the feet of so-called inefficiencies. His column, which first appeared in the Examiner newspapers,…
More Local Music News Than Angry Easter Bunnies
Good Friday? How about great Friday? Here at Rocks Off we try to ensure that each and every Friday our readers get a full and healthy dose of local music news set to tide them over until we return. So without further ado, we present the newest installment of Magnolia…
Mark Cuban Hit In The Face With Flying Projectile; Video of Five Times He Deserved It
Apparently, at the end of Game 3 of the Maversicks-Blazers series on Thursday night in Portland, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was pegged in the face with a mysterious unidentified object. While I don’t condone the anonymous launching of projectiles at anyone when they’re not looking (If they’re looking, it’s…
Comment of the Day
Katharine Shilcutt got the scoop on Justin Basye moving on from Stella Sola, and commenter Peggy wasn’t happy about his departure: *cries bitter salumi tears* I wish Justin all the best but am going to miss his cooking. Look forward to learning to love Adam’s meals just as much. There,…
Earth Day 1970: That’s The Way It Was
Here’s the first three or so minutes of CBS News’ special report from the first Earth Day in 1970. People saying we need to stop polluting — that hasn’t changed. But TV news? That has. Just from this clip: 1. It opens with static footage of a guy giving a…
HISD Ready to Dump 4 Elementaries, in the Latest Recalibration
Like a marathon game of musical chairs abruptly dismantled, the number of schools recommended for closure in the Houston ISD has been whittled back down to four. Heartfelt pleas aside, McDade Elementary along with Rhoads, Grimes and Stevenson elementaries will shut down before the fall 2011 semester — if on…
Favorite 3: Chain Restaurants
Lauren Marmaduke 1. Chipotle Mexican Grill 2. Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar 3. Armadillo Palace Lauren’s Take: I have a hard-on for foods that come wrapped in tortillas and flatbread. The compact cylindrical packaging makes Chipotle’s burritos an ideal lunch option for busy days when you have to do…
Ethnic and Geopolitical Culinary Stereotypes as Expressed Through Google; Or, Why Do White People Eat Breakfast?
The interesting thing about Google is that we ask it the kind of deeply intimate questions that we would never ask another human being, even a friend or loved one. Embarrassing questions; compromising questions; dark questions; questions that reveal our own hidden insecurities and prejudices. It also reveals a certain…
Rockin’ In Plain Sight: Our Favorite Hidden Album Tracks
In the days when compact discs and tapes ruled the world, hidden tracks on albums were like secret gifts from your favorite bands. Off the liner notes, not in the original track listings, and totally unassuming, sometimes tucked away after minutes and minutes of silence on a disc. With the…
App of the Week: To iPad or Not to iPad
As I was looking through my iPhone apps this week and potential new apps worth downloading, it struck me the number of iPad apps coming available. It’s not surprising. The iPad, particularly since the release of the 2.0 version, has been nothing short of a sensation in the world of…
“Good Friday”: Even Jesus Is Spoofing Rebecca Black Now
Is it us, or does our Lord and Savior look an awful lot like Zach Galifianakis? Happy Easter, everyone…
Chef Chat, Part 3: John Schenk of Strip House
This week, we caught up with Executive Chef John Schenk of Strip House. Check out our conversation here and here. Today, we try some of his menu items. I started out with the roasted bacon salad. Calling this dish an appetizer is like referring to Yao Ming as smallish. I…
For Earth Day: Solar Help From Hurricane Devastation
As we honor Mother Earth on this her day, let us remember that she can be a bit cruel at times. Like knocking out power via a hurricane. It tends to happen in Houston every once in a while, and the University of Houston and the city have teamed up…
Win a Ticket to Tony Award Winning Musical Memphis Screening
Broadway’s 2010 Tony award-winning best musical, Memphis, — the story of a white DJ in the ’50s who falls for rock and roll and a black singer — is coming to a movie theater in Houston near you. If you can’t wait till October 25-30 when Gexa Energy/Broadway Across America…
Jesus Walks: Way Of The Cross Traverses Downtown Houston
Craig HlavatyLunch-hour drivers in Downtown Houston got a dash of religion this Good Friday afternoon through Midtown with St. Basil Chapel’s “Way Of The Cross” walk. Essentially a two-mile church crawl, the walk saw the members of the chapel visiting four religious stations through town, ending at Co-Cathedral of the…
Music’s Top 10 Most Fashionable Women Right Now
Fashion, like songwriting and other artistic outlets, is a form of self-expression. It adds to one’s aura; it speaks on her behalf. Yet fashion sometimes gets overlooked in music, and undeservedly so. Following in the fashionable footsteps of trend-setting artists like Stevie Nicks and Debbie Harry, we’ve collected modern music’s…
Dance Salad Is Don’t-Miss
The international dance community descends upon Houston this weekend in a not-to-be-missed festival of stellar dance. Featuring 11 major dance companies from nine countries, Dance Salad assembles “fresh dance ingredients” for a three-day feast of contemporary and ballet dance performance. A standout of the April 21 program, The Beijing Dance…
Shiftwork Bites: The Last Bite
This is a bit of a bittersweet installment of Shiftwork Bites. It’s only been about six months since my very first post, but I’ve grown deeply attached to the project. The challenges, the successes, and even the failures have been a wonderful learning experience, providing insight into why I cook…
Rice Football Goes All Gangsta With Shotgun, Weed Arrests
Four Rice football players have been arrested in a single week earlier this month, KPRC reports. Two were arrested for having a shotgun on campus and two for marijuana possession. Who do they think they are, UT? Shotguns, weed — how much more gangsta can you get? To be sure,…
The Tommy Tune Award Winners
Some 2,000 musical theater fans crowded into the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts for the 2011 Tommy Tune Awards last night. The winners were chosen from 45 Houston high school productions and while Stratford High School’s Damn Yankees took home five of the 15 awards, no production repeated in…
Exclusive: Chamillionaire’s New Major Pain Is Not Universal
Earlier this week, Chamillionaire, still glowing from being free from the tyrannical grip of Universal Records, released Major Pain 1.5. Thursday afternoon, he was polite (or politic) enough to take a few minutes to talk about the tape. The notes from the conversation and the tape are kind of long,…
We Obey Rick Perry: Our Rain Prayer
As you have probably heard, Governor Rick Perry has declared today to be the first of three where Texans should pray for rain. Some might find it odd that Perry seems to be trying to co-opt the single most important three days of the Christian calendar, but Perry is a…
April 16-22: The Week in Art Photos
It’s time again to check out the Houston Press Flickr Pool and see what kinds of art shots our talented photographers have added. We love street art, unique perspectives and beautiful photos of Houston’s creative community. If you think you’ve got a good eye, drop your pictures in the pool…
Upcoming Events
Yes, it’s Easter weekend, which means — for some of you — an extra day off and making extravagant dining plans for Sunday which involve uncomfortable clothing and your aunt who wears too much perfume. If you don’t have Easter Sunday plans already, Lauren Marmaduke compiled a list of suggestions,…
What’s in a Name? Special Edition: Lady Gaga
“Wow!” you’re thinking. “That rascally little go-getter with one f managed to snuggle up next to Lady Gaga while she was in town last week and get the inside story behind her famous moniker!” Well, truth be told, she stole our cantata based on Faust and had us framed for…
Fish Sandwich Fridays: Danton’s Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen
In honor of Lent and in an attempt to revive my own (lapsed) Catholicism, I have been reviewing a fish sandwich (loosely defined) each Friday from a local Houston restaurant. Here’s the last one. The Crab Cake Burger at Danton’s In this installment of Fish Sandwich Fridays, I actually skipped…
Estefany Martinez, Ricky Gonzalez: Bragging On Facebook About Your Bank Robbery Is Dumb
Facebook: You giveth and you taketh away. You especially taketh away from those who lack any common sense about what to post. Federal court documents detail the case (first reported in the Houston Chronicle) of Estefany Martinez and Ricky Gonzalez, lovebirds who helped to rob the bank Martinez worked as…
Shot In The Dark Photo Show Is Right On Target
For more photos from Thursday’s show, see our slideshow. They always tell you, “Go ahead and try it – it just might work.” So Rocks Off tried it, and it seems like it worked pretty well. Thursday night at Warehouse Live, about 250 people came through to eat, drink, mingle…
Shot In The Dark Concert Photo Show Hits Its Mark
For more photos from Thursday’s show, see our slideshow. They always tell you, “Go ahead and try it – it just might work.” So Art Attack’s sister blog Rocks Off tried it, and it seems like it worked pretty well. Thursday night at Warehouse Live, about 250 people came through…
Idol Beat: Can You Hear The Drums, Stefano?
In what is surely a testimonial to my following, someone obviously heard yesterday’s plea to show some love for the rest of Aerosmtih’s catalog (there was a “Sweet Emotion” sign in the audience at the Nokia). My people…you never disappoint. In other news, what’s the over/under on the number of…
For Sale: LBJ’s Old Montrose Digs
While Hair Balls has been going all Doris Kearns Goodwin with our presidential history, we might as well tell you that LBJ’s one-time Montrose crash pad is on the block. The 107-year-old white clapboard home is at 435 Hawthorne or 3411 Garrott, depending on which of the property’s two addresses…
Food Fight: Vanilla Malt
Way back in 2009, Katharine Shilcutt wrote in considerable detail about exactly what sort of drink could properly be called a milkshake. I have no intention of fighting that battle again, primarily because there’s nothing to debate. A milkshake means milk and ice cream, and it should be so thick…
So It’s Come to This: A Community Clip Show (Kinda)
I only watch about 60 or so minutes of NBC every week; that’s the run times of Community, Parks and Recreation, and 30 Rock minus the commercials, or it’s at least in the ballpark. One of the many benefits of this is that I get to miss all the ads…
Idol Beat: Langone Daddy Gone
In what is surely a testimonial to my following, someone obviously heard yesterday’s plea to show some love for the rest of Aerosmtih’s catalog (there was a “Sweet Emotion” sign in the audience at the Nokia). My people…you never disappoint. In other news, what’s the over/under on the number of…
Odd Pair: Chocolate Bunnies and Etoile Brut Rose
Easter is fast approaching and for the good people of the world, that means a focus on traditional activities like spending time with the family and attending church. For heathens like me, it means a new excuse for eating and drinking. While out running errands, I found myself picking up…
“Carmen Flores: In Order to Be Safe” opens at Lawndale Art Center
It’s no surprise that Carmen Flores, a visual artist from Mexico, might choose to explore the idea of violence in her work. Mexico’s drug wars, police corruption and the hundreds of women who have been brutally killed in Juarez over the last few years have given the country a reputation…
Comment of the Day: Don’t Forget the “Faux Patriot Scam”
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Walter’s Is Definitely Moving, Owner Confirms
Pam Robinson, owner of Walter’s on Washington, has been keeping busy. “I’ve been working on this since the first week of February,” Robinson said of her plans to move the longtime Washington Avenue music venue to a new location. “I signed all the contracts, I presented all the plans to…
April 16-22: The Week in Photos
Each week, we take a dip into the Houston Press Flickr pool and see what our talented photographers have been up to. Whether you’re relaxing in the cool of a bar or the warmth of our last few days of spring, we want to see your pics. Just drop them…
Top 5 Couples in Art History
These are not the best lovey-dovey partnerships in visual art history. That would be lame. Instead, kudos were earned for partnerships wrought with infidelities and general messed-up-ness. Because how else does one make art if not from a place of titanic heartbreak and crushing depression? (Kidding. Kind of.) Note: Musicians…
TV Party: With The Shuttle Gone, Whither Space City?
On the latest “Between The Lines” segment on CW 39’s Newsfix, I unloaded about the horror of Houston not receiving a space shuttle, now that the NASA program is over with. Hopefully Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York will make do with these retired spacecraft. It’s not like any of…
Openings & Closings
With an opening date seemingly in sight, the latest food buzz is centered around Chef Michael Gaspard’s Brasserie 19. Gaspard’s partners in the new venture, Charles Clark and Grant Cooper, are already old hands at shaping Houston’s dining scene; the pair are also responsible for Ibiza and the soon-to-be-revamped Catalan…
100 Creatives: Jeremy Choate
What he does: In his first experiment with installation light, “Photo Box D”, lighting designer Jeremy Choate divided the stage with backlit fluorescents and suspended strobes. As the dancers darted across the stage, they seemed to fragment and disappear. Now the 15-year veteran is known for moving lights out from…
Bernardo Bernal: Seven-Year-Old Son Took Daddy’s Ecstasy To School
San Benito dad Bernardo Bernal, 27, was jailed earlier this month after his seven-year-old son allegedly took a handful of ecstasy out of daddy’s backpack and started handing the brightly colored pills out like candy to his classmates. One of the boys took his disco biscuit home. He told his…
Chef de Cuisine Justin Basye Departing Stella Sola
It’s a day for kitchen shakeups across Houston. First came the news from the Houston Chronicle that Michael Kramer is ending his partnership with The Tasting Room. And now, Justin Basye has also announced that he’s leaving Stella Sola after a year and a half of exceptional cooking as the…
Comment of the Day
Turns out we’re already three weeks into National Grilled Cheese Month, as Joanna O’Leary informed us when she listed her top five grilled cheese sandwiches today. In addition, something awesome, called a Grilled Cheese Invitational, has been going on, as commenter ‘tina points out: I came in second* in the…
Lights Out Houston Begins Tonight
If you’re around downtown at 10 p.m. tonight, expect to see a sudden change. Tonight begins the annual Lights Out Houston campaign, where businesses douse their nonessential lights during non-business hours, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Last year almost 90 million square feet of needlessly lit office space went…
The Five Most Texan Types Of Music
Happy San Jacinto Day, fellow Texans and people who wish they were; i.e. everyone else. If you don’t know why today is special, shame on you. But since us Texans are a friendly sort, allow Rocks Off to fill you in. On April 21, 1836, Texian forces under Gen. Sam…
HPD: Crime Rate Down; Number of Cops Soon Will Be Too
Goin’ down.On a day when KHOU reported as many as 181 cops may be laid off due to budget constraints, HPD announced that crime rates have dropped again in Houston. Total crime in the first quarter of 2011 dropped 14.2 13.4 percent from the first quarter of 2010, HPD said…
Chef Chat, Part 2: John Schenk of Strip House
Yesterday, we chatted with Executive Chef John Schenk of Strip House about overseeing so many kitchens. Today, we take a look at what’s going on in them. EOW: What is the toughest part about cooking a top-notch steak? JS: For me, when I’m working the broiler, it’s keeping it all…
My 2011 Texans Schedule Analysis — Praying for a Long Work Stoppage
Destination programming. It’s the lifeblood of any organization whose goal is to entertain the masses. It doesn’t matter if you’re a television network, an independent radio station, or a professional sports league. If you can get your consumers to figuratively “circle the date,” then you’re winning. Of our pro sports…
UPDATED: HGO’s Anthony Freud Is Indeed Leaving, Cue Chicago
Updated: Shelby Hodge of Culture Map not Everett Evans of the Chron was the first to break the news of Anthony Freud’s departure, we have been informed. So kudos to Evans for a well written story, but Culture Map and Shelby Hodge deserve the recognition for scoring the story first…
Redrawing Fiefdoms in Ye Olde HISD
The Hispanic population continues to boom, the Anglo drip-drip-drip away to suburbia continues, there’s a small decline among African Americans in Houston ISD and the district’s biggest gain percentagewise is in Asian students. That’s what numbers guru Richard Murray of the University of Houston told Houston ISD board members at…
Landmark Theatres For Sale: What Will Become of River Oaks Theatre?
The theater gods giveth and the theater gods taketh away. Fresh off the heels of news that downtown’s once-storied, now-vacant Angelika Film Center will be taken over by Prince Charming Robert Redford’s Sundance Cinema comes this bit of reporting from our sister paper River Front Times: Mark Cuban, owner of…
Play Frisbee, Have a Picnic, Catch Some Catfish
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is about to give Houstonians another activity at their local parks: fishing. Now, plenty of folks already fish at parks around Houston. My personal favorite spot is at River Terrace Park in Channelview — it’s got a great view, to boot — but…
Hernan Guerra: Valley Police Chief Directed Everyone AWAY From The Weed Smugglers
Being the chief of police in the Valley’s Sullivan City is no doubt a prestigious position, but it does have its temptations. And former chief Hernan Guerra admitted to a federal judge that he gave in to them, working busily to make sure no one caught his colleagues who were…
Jesus Is On the Mainline: The Son Of God In Rock & Roll
With Easter Sunday coming up, we delved into all the instances of Jesus Christ in rock and roll. He’s been a popular lyrical subject since he was born over 2,000 years ago, and his family enterprise runs neck and neck with sex when it comes to the entire lyrical history…
“Modern Primitives” Takes Over Fendi in the Galleria
Last night, well-heeled Houston stepped out to celebrate both brains and beauty: a collaboration between international design house Fendi and New York-based Aranda/Lasch architects. Fendi is presenting a spring line of “Modern Primitives” wares based on duo Aranda/Lasch’s mathematically inspired creations. On view in the Galleria store are the duo’s…
David Beauchemin / Damon James Heynen: Fugitive Snake Farmer Busted Again In East Texas
Wood County JailDavid Beauchemin: High End Herps is a great company name. UPDATE:At a court appearance this week in Wood County, Beauchemin stated for the record that his real name is Damon James Heimen. A judge decreed that all of the snakes confiscated in last week’s raid were now wards…
Happy Birthday Iggy Pop: His Top 10 Solo Cuts
Today Iggy Pop turns 64, and the current and former James Newell Osterberg, Jr. is still making people a fraction of his age look and sound like croaking senior citizens. Blessed with a tolerance of life that probably rivals only that of Lemmy and Keith Richards, the man continues to…
Check Out Trailer For Babushka, Film Co-Directed By A Rice University Student
The trailer’s up for Babushka, a film by Gabi Chennisi from Rice University and Abigail Hook from Harvard University. What began as a summer trip to Kazakhstan for the college women turned into an in-depth exploration of five elderly babushkas (Russian for grandmothers) and the cultural isolation the women experience…
The Sipping Seder: Passover With A Classic Cocktail Twist
There is a philosophy in Judaism to take the religion’s traditions and make them meaningful for future generations, Rob Corwin is telling me as we talk on the phone. Corwin has taken a break from planning a Seder supper at — of all places — an Italian restaurant in San…
Rick Perry Says to Pray for Rain (to the God Who’s Causing the Drought)
Widlfires are raging in west and north Texas, 100 percent of the state is under drought conditions with little hope of relief in sight, but Governor Rick Perry has a plan: Pray. Perry formally announced today that he is setting aside three days for Texans to officially pray for rain…
Needs Re-Thinking: Now This
The setup:I wondered why Now This, which portrays a mall shooting that slays four, lacked an exclamation point to make it Now This!, but after seeing the play I no longer wonder. For the play lacks drama, lacks a point of view, and ultimately trivializes the kind of tragedy it…
Dead People We Wish We’d Seen
Regrets, sang Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Sid Vicious, I’ve had a few. (Or, for Sid, a feee-yooouuu.) So have we all. But if you review concerts for a living, there’s nothing worse than someone you like dying before you get the chance to see them live. So for this week’s…
Amazon Crash Hits Reddit, Others: Social Media Armageddon
The spinning of the earth has nearly come to a standstill thanks to major server problems with Amazon.com’s Web Services, a cloud-computing platform used by dozens of very popular social networking sites. “The cloud,” for you luddites, means stuff that’s saved in the Internet’s magical ether rather than on your…
Brunch at Cyclone Anaya’s in Midtown
I was giddy with the simple pleasure of walking to Cyclone Anaya’s last Sunday morning, a brilliant sunshiney morning meant for strolling and patio dining. And even though we passed a dead rat and several homeless people on the way, it was still a lovely walk. Cyclone Anaya’s, too, was…
Eric Allison: Alleged Child Molester Fished Dirty Diapers Out of Family-Restaurant Dumpsters
We’re not sure if there’s a 12-step group for (alleged) child molesters, but if so, Eric Allison’s introduction might go like this: “Hi everyone. My name is Eric, and I (allegedly) fish dirty diapers out of trash bins at popular family entertainment establishments and wear them. For my own personal…
Happy Hour Scene: Azteca’s
The Place: Azteca’s Bar and Grill 2207 Richmond 713-526-1702 The Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays The Deals: $3 wells, $2.50 domestics, $3 imports, $3 house margaritas, $4 house flavored margaritas The Scene: The day after a date it’s…
Remember Kung Fu Banda’s Rock and Rap?
Houston’s history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We’ll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Kung Fu Banda Rock and Rap (Self-made, 2011) This week’s YMF is a special edition. Many of you are…
Poison Pen Reading Series: Elegies, Lyrics, and Stories
Susan Wood’s skeptical elegy “The Lord God Returns” begins this way: “The day my friend died the ivory-billed woodpecker was maybe seen/ in Arkansas, a bird long-thought extinct.” From there, the poem only reticently returns to the matter at hand, the poet’s loss and her grief, focusing instead on the…
That SafeClear Tow Will Now Set You Back $50
Mayor Annise Parker announced a new wrinkle to the city’s SafeClear program this morning — that forced towing of your stalled car from the highway, the one you can’t refuse? It’ll now cost fifty bucks. Roadside assistance, such as fixing a flat, will be $30. Parker said the city will…
Andrew Karnavas’ Andyroo To Tour Libraries, Kids’ Museums
Andrew Karnavas is a busy man. But unlike the bands recently signed to outfits like New West and ZenHill, Karnavas is pushing ahead in DIY mode. “Yeah, I’m still just doing everything myself, it’s just what makes the most sense,” says the busy rocker who is currently involved with three…
Farewell, YWCA on Waugh Near the Heights
Remember when the YWCA on Waugh just below the Heights looked like this? Now it looks like this:…
Top 5 Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
How can April be the cruelest month? It’s National Grilled Cheese Month, which means I have an excuse to gorge on toasty cheese sammiches at least once a week. Here are five Houston establishments that offer some damn fine grilled cheese. 5. Black Walnut Café.The Rustic Grilled Cheese stands apart…
J-Hovah: 10 Wildly Varied Versions Of Jesus Christ In Pop Culture
Easter Weekend is upon us, with all the stores and churches looking to do brisk business between now and Sunday as people seek ways to honor the holiday. The reason behind the special, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, gets muddled each year for people who aren’t especially religious. For most…
I’m Gay & 10 More Recent Dubious Rap Album Titles
Lil B is obviously an outlandish artist, but his most recent blogworthy activity has many hip-hop fans pretty damn upset. This past weekend at Coachella, The Based God announced the title of his next album. He has named it I’m Gay and according to the Based God, it’s a major…
Jessica Tata’s First Interview: “You Can Only Say Sorry So Many Times”
KTRK’s Jessica Willey has scored the first interview with Jessica Tata, the owner of the daycare where four kids died in a fire. Tata is in Harris County Jail and did not speak on camera, but Willey reports she said, “I’m doing well. I pray a lot” and she expressed…
Old-Fashioned Treats at Annie’s Hamburgers
On a day fraught with unpleasantness resulting from a faulty car engine, I found myself down in the South Post Oak area with little patience and a big hunger. So when I saw Annie’s Hamburgers, I decided to give it a try. The first thing I noticed was how crowded…
Idol Beat: Seven And The Ragged Tyler
Nothing like a medley from this season’s losers (Pink’s “So What”) to make us all feel better about voting them off in the first place. The most notable thing about the performance by *deep breath* AshthonKarenThiaNaimaPia and Paul was trying to figure out who looked the least comfortable in rock…
Idol Beat: Seven Deadly Songs
Nothing like a medley from this season’s losers (Pink’s “So What”) to make us all feel better about voting them off in the first place. The most notable thing about the performance by *deep breath* AshthonKarenThiaNaimaPia and Paul was trying to figure out who looked the least comfortable in rock…
He Is Risen! The Dumbest Foodstuffs in Which Christ Has Appeared
This Sunday, April 24, is Easter, the day which Christians traditionally celebrate as the resurrection of Jesus Christ after being dead and entombed for three days. Never mind that the holiday itself is named after a pagan Anglo-Saxon goddess, Ēostre, who was once revered as the guardian of the dawn…
Last Night: Devin The Dude At Warehouse Live
Devin the Dude Warehouse Live April 20, 2011 Rare is the artist that transcends his purpose as entertainment to become an essential ingredient in a fan’s lifestyle. That list is a very short one, and Devin the Dude is on it. For weekend cleaning music, you go to RJD2. For…
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
Updated: Opening day will be May 20, not May 21. The Museum of Broken Relationships will take up temporary residence at the Blaffer Art Museum starting May 21 but the reason Art Attack is talking about this now is that you can be a part of it. Yes, channel that…
Comment of the Day: Who Loves the K2 Ban?
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Pop Rocks: Lady GaGa, Would You Please GoGo Now?
Sounds like somebody is getting a little tired of all those Material Girl comparisons: When NME asked the 25-year-old star whether she thought “Born This Way” was a knock-off of Madonna’s “Express Yourself,” the singer (real name: Stefani Germanotta) was outraged. “I’m a songwriter. I’ve written loads of music. Why…
Pop Rocks: Born This Way, But Not *That* Way
Sounds like somebody is getting a little tired of all those Material Girl comparisons: When NME asked the 25-year-old star whether she thought “Born This Way” was a knock-off of Madonna’s “Express Yourself,” the singer (real name: Stefani Germanotta) was outraged. “I’m a songwriter. I’ve written loads of music. Why…
The Gothic Council is Taking “Friday” Back
Gothtopia moved this week, and even though we’ve been reduced to shelling out cash for professional movers rather than proving our manhood by hauling furniture by ourselves until 3 a.m., there was still a fair amount of backing and forthing to do between the old place and the new place…
Our San Jacinto Quiz, Including Silk Underwear, Syphilis and Dennis Quaid
Today marks the 175th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto, the glorious day when a ragtag Texan army surprised a siesta-enjoying Mexican force and won independence for the Lone Star State. The battle, fought near present-day Refinery Row out Pasadena way, has become the stuff of legend, at least…
Enchiladas at Los Dos Amigos
With all the Tex-Mex talk surrounding El Real in recent weeks, I got to thinking of some of my old-guard Houston favorites. It’s easy to fixate on the shiny new toy down the street, but many Houston establishments have been quietly but steadily churning out fantastic examples of the genre…
100 Creatives: Chuck Ivy
What does he do: A research artist is someone with an insatiable desire to discover new ways to create and present art. Chuck Ivy pushes the limitations that define artistic style by combining influences from different mediums such as painting and photography. “I will always be discovering new ways to…
Five Street Scams Dogging Houston Now
While we are exposed to them on the internet pretty much every day, many con artists are still working “bricks-and-mortar” real-life scams. Some experts claim that each and every one of us will be approached either in the streets or in our homes by at least one of these low-lifes,…
Babushka
While Kazakhstan, the last country of the former Soviet Union to declare its independence, presses into the future, its past lives on in the babushka (Russian for grandmother). Moved to tell their stories in the documentary Babushka, student filmmakers Abigail Hook (Harvard) and Gabi Chennisi (Rice University) followed five elderly…
Mesrine (Part 1 & 2)
Everybody likes gangsters, those indelible, antisocial movie archetypes such as Capone, Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and Michael Corleone that leap off the screen. Now, Jacques Mesrine, France’s Public Enemy number one, gets the big-screen treatment. Regarded in France as legendary, Mesrine’s international life of crime demands a two-part film: Mesrine:…
“Shot in the Dark: Houston Press Concert Photo Exhibition”
Rocks Off, the Houston Press music blog, brings together a dozen of its concert photographers to show off their favorite images in the exhibit “Shot in the Dark: Houston Press Concert Photo Exhibition.” Pulling from the hundreds of photographs they’ve shot over the last three years, each of the 12…
Dance Salad Festival 2011
Dance devotees will enjoy works in every style, from the avant-garde to abstract to modern, at Dance Salad Festival 2011. Under the guidance of founding Artistic Director Nancy Henderek, the festival has become one of the most anticipated and popular dance events in the city. Henderek travels around the world…
North by Northwest
The pairing of Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant for the thriller North by Northwest is electric. Add in a smooth performance by Eva Marie Saint (one of Hitchcock’s cool blonds) and a multilayered script by Ernest Lehman (who, it’s been said, wanted to write the Hitchcock picture to end all…
American: The Bill Hicks Story
Bill Hicks may be today’s most famous unknown comedian to have ever called Houston home. A legend among stand-up comics, Hicks died at age 32, after just 14 years on stage. His life as an incredibly influential and woefully unrecognized comedian has been captured in the documentary American: The Bill…
LUMA: The Human Light Show
As a teenager during the ’70s, Michael Marlin made a living as a juggler on the mean streets of Houston. Like any beginning performer, he dreamed of making it big. For Marlin, big happened when he created LUMA: The Human Light Show. He got the concept for the now internationally…
Destroy All Anti-Heroes
Although the Anarchitex have roamed the post-punk musical landscape of Houston for nearly three decades, the band’s cantankerous barrage of noise remains far under the radar. Hopefully their newest and most chiseled release, Digital Dark Age, will finally crown them alongside other local veterans like The Hates and Mydolls as…
Capri in Spring
For more photos from Capri’s dining room and bright, open kitchen, check out our slideshow. Capri Pasta Pizza and More might be the greatest restaurant in Houston you’ve never heard of. It’s not visible from the pounding rush of traffic on I-45. It has scant reviews on sites like Yelp…
Mediocrity versus Genius
In Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, his fanciful, dramatic, Tony- and Oscar-winning look at genius vs. ho-hum, the art of mediocrity gets center stage. The genius is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, credited as the first composer to proudly proclaim “I am a Musician” (in a 1777 letter to his beloved yet feared father)…
Hide and Seek
Just over eight months ago, 14-year-old Andrew Mosier disappeared for the second time. The first time was in June 2010, when his uncle, in violation of a court order prohibiting contact with the boy, took him to Colorado. Presumably, the uncle, Doug Lazell, wanted Andrew to be near him and…
Lions Are People, Too
Anthropomorphizing its animal stars to a borderline-dubious degree, Disneynature’s nonfiction African Cats situates itself in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve, where two four-legged mothers valiantly struggle to provide for and protect their young. On the northern side of the river that divides this gorgeous but pitiless land lives aging lioness…
A Sad East Texas Tale
TEXAS It’s a Sad Tale Cruel twist for struggling woman By John Nova Lomax (Be warned. In ten years here at the Houston Press, we’ve seldom come across a story sadder than this one.) Lynde Chunn had a tough row to hoe for many of her 28 years. The Houston-born…
Houston Responds to Space Shuttle Shun.
No Shuttle for Us Online readers respond to “Houston Gets No Space Shuttle: See What Happens When You Don’t Have a Texan in the White House?” Hair Balls blog, by Richard Connelly, April 12: Insult to injury: The Johnson Space Center is the home of the Shuttle program. It was…
Why Do Mexican Farmworkers Take a Shit in the Fields?
Dear Mexican, You seem like a smart guy and your input regarding an ethnic phenomenon I’ve observed would be of interest. I live in a tiny, gated neighborhood that I would describe as solidly middle- to upper middle-class. On each side of me live Vietnamese small-business owners whose kids attend…
Identity Unknown
Let’s be clear: No one goes to an art festival to hear a lecture. Or a panel discussion. When you read reports about the annual South By Southwest festival, for example, you don’t get people raving about how rad the panels were. It’s about the concerts and the parties. That…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Kate Breakey 2011: Painted Light,” “Perspectives 174: Re: Generation,” “Round 34: A Matter of Food”
“Kate Breakey 2011: Painted Light” I’ve never been a huge fan of Kate Breakey’s work. Breakey’s stock-in-trade is painstakingly hand-painted photographs of cut flowers and dead birds. The “deadness” of both is a particular area of interest to the artist. The results are colorful, treacly and crowd-pleasingly decorative. But in…
Curren$y
Pilot Talk, the latest album from the New Orleans-based rapper known as Curren$y (Shante Anthony Franklin), is a guaranteed smoker’s delight, taking the listener for a trip down the sonic rabbit hole with the help of his Island Def Jam labelmate Ski Beatz, the producer largely known for his production…
James Taylor
James Taylor is like a warm blanket and a cold night, or conversely, the cold side of the pillow on a warm night. It’s hard to quantify Taylor’s tones to someone who isn’t a believer, but we do know that you would be hard-pressed to find an artist more deserving…
Yelle
It’s really hard to pick the best part of its GIF-happy video — Brosnan as flautist? Jump-roping Chuck Norris? Kitty explosion? — so, instead, let’s celebrate the richer, fuller sound that Yelle brought on “La Musique,” the title single from her follow-up to 2008’s eminently enjoyable Pop-Up. Where that record…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Easter Catechism, The Marriage of Figaro, A Murder Is Announced, The Trip to Bountiful
Easter Catechism When a show is semi-scripted, with ample audience participation, a lot depends on the stage presence of the MC, and Easter Catechism is fortunate indeed to have Denise Fennell filling that role. I had the experience for six years of being taught by nuns in primary school, so…
Sleigh Bells
The dynamic duo of Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss jingles it up with such revolutionary zest that Sleigh Bells has emerged as one of the most impressive recent buzz bands. And the emphasis is definitely on buzz, since SB’s sound is a magnificent, grinding mash of churning guitars, searing synths,…
George Thorogood & the Destroyers
One bourbon, one Scotch and five decades have made George Thorogood one of the most punishing and excruciatingly fun boogie-rockers on the planet. With his band the (Delaware) Destroyers, Thorogood’s naughty vocals and lyrical content have been turning crowds to mush since his 1977 self-titled debut. His House of Blues…
Beautiful Chaos
Rock and roll without the Velvet Underground or the Stooges is as unimaginable as rock and roll without Chuck Berry. And you can be sure that the current crop of bands pillaging the music and visual flair of the ’80s don’t know “Sister Ray” from Shinola, let alone Robert Johnson…
Punching a Wall
From Jessica Lea Mayfield’s first utterance, it feels like talking to a fairy. Impish is the word that immediately leaps to mind. Or maybe that voice belongs to Peter Pan. The impression is furthered by YouTube videos where Mayfield looks like an innocent waif almost too fragile to be walking…
