Great American Trailer Park Musical
Theater critic Matthew Murray said The Great American Trailer Park Musical was “the theatrical equivalent of a bag of Doritos, complete with orange residue left on your fingertips: You know every minute is bad for you, but you can’t get enough.” We’d agree, it’s junk food, but really tasty junk…
“Myke Venable: Clustered Paintings”
Myke Venable paints square canvases and then joins them together to create abstract compositions for his new show “Myke Venable: Clustered Paintings.” The results resemble those block creations you used to make as a kid. But Venable isn’t playing with blocks, he’s making what he calls “clustered paintings.” With a…
“The Texas Aesthetic IV: Contemporary Texas Regionalism”
Recently the Texas Biennial attempted to investigate the state of contemporary Texas art, but it was difficult to find a regional voice in the event, which — get a rope — was curated by a New Yorker. But the Lone Star State is the major character in the new show…
Blithe Spirit
Though it was first produced in 1941, Noel Coward’s charmingly silly Blithe Spirit remains one of the playwright’s most popular works. He wrote it when he thought his British brethren could use an uplifting night of theater. At the center of the story is Charles, a novelist who wants to…
“Faces of History — Latin America: Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru”
Latin America at the turn of the 20th century was a place of dramatic change and social upheaval. That transformation was captured by photographers such as Julio Cordero and Romulado Garcia. Now Wendy Watris, senior curator for FotoFest, has put together “Faces of History — Latin America: Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala,…
“Teenagers: Portraits of Identity”
Five photographers — Nancy Newberry, Rania Matar, Natan Dvir, Alison Malone and Martine Fougeron — are displaying work in the exhibit “Teenagers: Portraits of Identity and Expression.” They explore similar themes but have different approaches. Matar and Dvir capture images of teenagers’ personal spaces, examining what belongs to them. Malone…
Rock of Ages
The key to success for the musical Rock of Ages has been, according to star Constantine Maroulis, its appeal to a male audience. “Musical theater is not something that most dudes just flock to. Well, we created a dude musical, basically. And that’s been a big part of our core…
“Nathan Green: Fill the Sky”
Art Palace often favors installations, but the gallery is switching gears for the current show, “Nathan Green: Fill the Sky,” an exhibit of abstract paintings. Nathan Green sets up patterns of shape and color and then interrupts them with chaotic gestures. There are echoes of Mary Heilmann’s colorful and drippy…
Asylum
In Theatre Southwest’s production of Asylum, Gary’s a dream addict with the ability to enter into a state of lucid dreaming at will. He happily jumps from having a chat with God to erotic encounters. But when the fantasies of his dreams and the realities of his waking world collide,…
Murder at the Howard Johnson’s
Death, mayhem and mirth mix it up in Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick’s classic 1979 comedy Murder at the Howard Johnson’s, about a woman and the men who love her in spite of her inability to make up her mind. The play opens in room 514 of an old-fashioned blue-and-orange…
Wine & Food Week
Fans of defensive lineman Jarvis Green might know the football player as a two-time Super Bowl champion, but during Houston’s Wine & Food Week, he’ll be the event’s official Wine Wizard, while author and celebrity chef Rebecca Lang is the event’s Wizard Gourmet. The two will be overseeing a variety…
Comment of the Day
Mai Pham feasted on duck fat fries with salted caramel at the Burger Guys, and one reader’s comment, Ali’s, summarized my feelings exactly: Holy foodgasm, Batman. I need those fries. You and me both, Ali. You and me both. In fact, I’d like to reach my hand through my computer…
Five Reasons Another Tropical Storm Allison Won’t Happen in Your Lifetime
When Tropical Storm Allison hit in 2001 and dropped almost three feet of rain on central Houston, there were all sorts of terms like the “100-year storm” or the “500-year storm” thrown around. These kinds of weather events do more than just destroy property; they re-define flood planes, adjust (usually…
Colt McCoy Appreciation Dinner: A Menu Inspired by Rachel McCoy’s Call to ESPN’s Colin Cowherd
Rachel McCoy may be getting a muzzle as a wedding present from the University of Texas football program. The wife of Colt McCoy, the former Longhorns’ star and current Cleveland Brown quarterback, called radio host Colin Cowherd, out of her own volition, to dish/spill the beans/insert your own silly food…
5 Favorite Theme Park Scenes
Now that summer’s here, school’s out and Astroworld* has probably jacked up the price of its season pass, it’s time to head to our favorite amusement parks (riding the Tidal Wave in November is just silly, even in Texas). Roller coasters, impossible/lame carnival games, and puking blue for like three…
Two Unidentified Bar Patrons, Bayou Body Count Nos. 78 & 79
Houston police say two men were fatally shot inside a southeast-side nightclub last night. The identities of the two men, believed to be in their 30s, have not been released, and police say many of the witnesses to what happened scattered as gunshots began. It happened shortly before midnight at…
The Sonoma Burger and Salted Caramel Duck Fat Fries at The Burger Guys
I am happily burger-obsessed. I crave them, I find them, I eat them, and I enjoy them. I repeat this process regularly, and last week, the process led me to what has got to be one of Houston’s best burger joints, The Burger Guys. If you haven’t heard of them…
Downtown West U Now Sports A Drug Corner, Chain E-mail Warns
“Body Bag! Got that Body Bag right here!” “Yellow Top! Who wants to get up on that Yellow Top!” “Yo, G, want some o’ that Sheed Wallace? Got that Sheed Wallace, yo!” If that sounds like a scene from The Wire to you, if you are so naive that you…
4 Psuedo-Politician/Comedian Tag Team Tournament Contestants
In honor of his passing and for the fact that he prevented the Rapture by giving God the big elbow, we would deeply appreciate it if you would imagine the following article in Macho Man Randy Savage’s voice. Thanks. For those of us whose brains are not full of Flavor-Aid…
La Vie en Lavender at Bistro Provence
The delicate squash blossom was coated and fried in a light lavender batter. The snapper was served on a bed of confit nectarines and lavender rice. The tartlet was redolent with lavender, mixed with the strongly herbal taste of fennel. Even the duck leg was glazed with a honey-lavender sauce…
Health Department Roundup
Last week we couldn’t bring you the roundup because the city slacked on updating its inspection records. The most logical explanation is the Memorial Day holiday threw off the schedules of those responsible for updating the site. But we’re more inclined to believe that god is finally getting around to…
Porter Man Texts Cops To Set Up Drug Deal; Mom (aka “Butterbean”) Talks Self Into Felony Bust
Texting dong shots is not the only way to get in trouble with your cellphone. Just ask Porter mother and son Travis Edwin Huffman and Kimberly “Butterbean” Meadows. Police in Montgomery County say Huffman, 25, was trying to set up a hydrocodone deal with one of his customers but misdialed…
India’s Answer to Kurosawa: MFAH Films Celebrates Director Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray’s name may not sound familiar, but in film circles, the Indian director’s name can be found alongside those of Francois Truffaut and Akira Kurosawa. “It’s a cliched phrase that film is a window onto a world,” says Museum of Fine Arts Film Curator Marian Luntz. Ray’s films did…
Screwtape Is Not Who We Thought They Were
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. This was an easy pick. Screwtape is band…
Latest Space Station Video: Someone Provide A Soundtrack, Please
NASA released a nice photo yesterday of the shuttle Endeavour docked to the space station; today they’ve released the video. It’s seven minutes or so of the shuttle attached to the station as they hurtle through space. It’s also silent, and so it needs a soundtrack. Classical? Something by Yes…
The Voice: Live Performances Begin!
This week, The Voice returns to its two-hour format for the live competition rounds. Carson Daly dons a suit for this most auspicious occasion, and before the competition starts, he introduces a season recap so that we can reflect on “the emotional journey and intense rivalry that have brought us…
Isiah Carey Gets Web-Redempted On Tosh.0
Tosh.0Tags: Tosh.0 Videos,Daniel Tosh,Web RedemptionFox 26’s Isiah Carey has been web-redempted. Tosh.0 has him on the show for a segment where he visits people who became video viral, like the “Boom goes the dynamite” guy. Carey has long been famous for his profanity-filled rant against a “country-ass fucked-up” Arkansas town,…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Morty Parsa of Kasra Persian Grill
Since chef/owner Morteza “Morty” Parsa opened Kasra Persian Grill in 1999, the Westchase restaurant has become one of Houston’s best-known Persian restaurants, winning numerous accolades in the process (including a 2007 Best of Houston award from this publication). EOW recently sat down with Parsa to discuss his family business. EOW:…
The Best Songs From 1958
This Saturday is Craig’s Hlist’s father’s birthday, and the man turns 53. Sorry to out your age, Dad, but it’s for science. This week while doing other research, we found that most people whose art we enjoy were actually born in 1958. People like Alec Baldwin, Prince, Jello Biafra, Jools…
Frank Lloyd Wright: 10 Iconic Buildings
Thaxton House, Houston’s only house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Frank Lloyd Wright is considered by many to be the 20th century’s greatest architect. His work spans more than 1100 buildings, including homes, museums, churches and even a gas station, as well as countless home furnishings such as lamps and…
Cover Story: Taking Austitude Down A Peg Or Two
I love Austin. Really, I do. I was born there. My family has had at least an off-and-on presence there since 1895, when my great-grandfather entered the University as a 28-year-old freshman, and his career with UT continued on to include a stint as registrar and a role in helping…
Cat Fancy: History’s Craziest Cat Lovers
Art Attack wanted to take a moment to congratulate Andy Senor for landing the much-coveted position of Purina Cat Chow’s Cat Correspondent.” Yes, you read that correctly, he is a cat correspondent. The cat food company put out a nationwide search to find the most charismatic, cat-loving person in the…
NASA Streams ZZ Top’s Brand-New “Flyin’ High”
NASA is now streaming “Flyin’ High,” that brand-new ZZ Top song bound for the International Space Station Rocks Off told you about yesterday, on its Web site. Now all us Earthlings can listen too…
NBA Finals — LeBron James Hits Rock Bottom
“He struggled. Point blank, period. He struggled out there. … I want to see him aggressive again. He can turn it up, his aggression, a notch.” — Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh, talking about his teammate LeBron James after Tuesday’s 86-83 loss to Dallas Say what you will about his…
Beyonce Throws A “Party” With Kanye, Andre 3000 & Slick Rick
Beyonce’s wildly anticipated 4 has leaked three weeks ahead of its scheduled release date. One of the songs on the album, “Party,” finds Bey joining forces with Kanye West and rap’s greatest hermit Andre 3000. It starts with a classic Kanyeism: “You a bad girl and your friend’s bad too/Oh,…
Behind the Review: Tan Tan
It’s safe to say this week’s cafe review of Tan Tan’s second location on Westheimer is a tough one. It’s not all bad…but it’s mostly bad. The original Tan Tan on Bellaire Boulevard isn’t a gleaming shrine to either Chinese or Vietnamese cuisine, but it’s a reliable standby. Especially for…
Rock of Ages: Just a Small-Town Girl…
Ed. Note: This is the second half of Rocks Off’s “reviewer exchange program” with Art Attack. Rock of Ages Hobby Center June 7, 2011 Hair metal makes for great show tunes. That’s what we left with last night when Rocks Off went back to a “sexier time” of “musical debauchery…
Texas River Lovers: Your Scary Drought Map of the Day
The Texas Observer’s Forrest Wilder just tweeted some truth: If you love to have fun on Texas rivers, this is a scary map. It’s from the U.S. Geological Survey, and it shows the streamflows of Texas rivers. (There’s an interactive version of it here, where you can see what individual…
Off the Wall: Capital Grille Delivers The Big O with Lobster Mac & Cheese
…Outstanding, that is! What were you thinking? I’m pretty sure I’m writing this article from the afterlife because I have died and gone to heaven. Thank you to EOW reader Jeff for chiming in on last week’s top five dressed-up macaroni & cheeses and pointing me in the direction of…
Book of Mormon’s Success Shows Apocalypse Is Near
Mason Lankford said, “There will come a day when we forget the Rapture ever even happened,” but Rocks Off is keeping an eye out for signs of our impending Armageddon. Matt Stone and Trey Parker of South Park fame are currently enjoying righteous success on Broadway with their musical The…
Mortal Kombat: Legacy: What If They Threw a Bloodbath and Nobody Came?
Last week we had to wait an extra day for a new episode of Mortal Kombat: Legacy, which we assumed had something to do with the Memorial Day Holiday. This week, there doesn’t seem to be a new episode at all, possibly because of the folks over at Machinima.com all…
And In The End, The Aeros Lose To The Best Team In The AHL
John RoyalPatrick O’Sullivan feels the weight of the worldIn the end, it wasn’t about the officiating. Or about whether Binghamton had tested the hockey gods by releasing the victory parade route plans hours before game six had even started. In the end, it probably wasn’t even about the Aeros testing…
DJ Brandi Garcia: From City Of Syrup To City Of Angels
During Rocks Off’s recent trip to Los Angeles, we caught up with radio personality DJ Brandi Garcia, who spent five years in Houston working for 97.9 The Box before being controversially dismissed in the fallout surrounding the station’s ban on local rapper Trae Tha Truth. Rocks Off: When we last…
The Kobe Beef Dog with Sabra Ranch Chili at Canopy
Philadelphia is known for its cheesesteaks. New York is known for its pizza. And Chicago is known for its hot dogs. In Houston, there’s an ongoing debate about the foods that Houston should be known for. Christine Ha’s recent blog about the Top 5 Foods Best Found in Houston sparked…
KUHF Silent Film Concert: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with the Invincible Czars
In 1920, actor John Barrymore was, perhaps, the most famous man on earth. Handsome and charismatic, he was known for his great profile (he looked pretty good from the front, too). That’s something you’ll see quick enough in Friday’s KUHF Silent Film Concert Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Paramount Pictures’…
Last Night: Rock of Ages At Hobby Center
Ed. Note: This is the second half of Rocks Off’s “reviewer exchange program” with Art Attack. Rock of Ages Hobby Center June 7, 2011 Hair metal makes for great show tunes. That’s what we left with last night when Rocks Off went back to a “sexier time” of “musical debauchery…
Racing Rachael: Endless Summer
Nothing says summer better than some hundred degree weather, a nice cold beer, and a hot dog, right? Now, generally, I’m not a hot dog eater, but every year I smell a wiener on the grill and I chow down a dog or two. I don’t usually love it, but…
Comment of the Day: The Most Even-Handed Comment Ever
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…
App of the Week: Top Nine Websites for Hurricane Season
I swear that after this post, I will stop talking about weather apps and websites for a while, but since it is hurricane season here on the Gulf Coast, I figured one more post won’t hurt anybody and it might even help a few. There are a lot of weather…
To Quote: The Scientist: Ask a Stupid Question, Get a Band Name
It’s a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off were working hard t find meaning in the oddest monikers. Your humble narrator does a lot of writing for the Houston Press, the editors of which are very keen to publish our work in…
Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother of Fashion Criticism, Joan Rivers, Turns 78
Can we talk about birthdays? Today is comedienne-slash-fashion critic Joan Rivers’ 78th birthday, and I have to take a moment to salute this American institution. As well known for her plastic surgery as for her comedy, Rivers has made a career out of lambasting celebrities and their clothes. Though I…
Houston Doing Its Part To Destroy West Virginia Football
The once-high-flying football program at West Virginia University seems to be imploding these days, and Houston is doing more than its fair share to move along the process. Two of the three main protagonists: a) newish athletic director Oliver Luck, who used to be a Houston Oiler and a president…
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. Zester: Houstonians excited about Trader Joe’s coming to town might be considerably…
Tropical Storm Allison, 10 Years Later: Where Were You?
Ten years ago today it began. A Friday that didn’t seem to hold any particular weather interest, maybe some rain, and then — if you were in the wrong spot — a rain to end all rains, it seems. Portions of Houston flooded like never before; other parts of the…
Comment of the Day
Today Katharine Shilcutt shared some excellent tips on preparing for hurricane season, which inspired commenter Captain Caveman to point out a crucial issue: Don’t forget charcoal and cigarettes. If your local c-store has no power after a storm, these may be hard to come by. And maybe even hit up…
Mass Children’s Grave In Liberty County (Update: Add Question Mark) (Update: Forget the Whole Thing)
Update: 10 p.m.: Aaaaand….it’s nothing. Update: The status as of 6:30 p.m. seems to be that authorities got a tip and “found some circumstances that have raised some questions,” as the official local spokesman put it, so they are seeking a search warrant. Once they get it they will begin…
Historic Preservation Protesters Claim “Bait-And-Switch” Tactics Against Mayor Annise Parker
Steve JansenYesterday’s scene in front of Houston City Hall.There are a bunch of folks in Heights South, Woodland Heights and Glenbrook Valley seriously P.O.’d about what they’re calling a classic “bait-and-switch” technique pulled by the City of Houston. Today about 50 of them (which dwindled to about half that number…
Dick Dale Still Riding The Wild Surf At 74
Wednesday’s show moved from 2016 Mainstage to Continental Club At 74, California surf guitar god Dick Dale has just about seen it all. He was in on the ground floor of the development of the Fender product line, the invention of the 15″ JBL speaker, the Showman and Dual Showman…
ZZ Top Debuts New Song… In Space
The first bit of music from ZZ Top’s long-awaited, long-delayed, semi-mythical forthcoming album has leaked… but not anywhere on Earth. Astronaut and friend of ZZ Michael Fossum, currently headed to the International Space Station on a Russian spacecraft, is carrying a copy of “Flyin’ High,” which the band evidently plans…
Oh, Yay: Sanctuary Cities Back On The Legislative Agenda
If you were missing the incredibly depressing legislative and talk0radio debates over “sanctuary cities,” those mythical Texas places that all but take up arms to defend illegal immigrants from the nasty law enforcement people trying to protect our borders, it’s your lucky day. Governor Rick Perry has added the issue…
This Hurricane Season, Stock Up the Right Way
Weather agencies across the nation are predicting a much busier hurricane season this year than usual. NOAA predicts up to 10 hurricanes between now and November, with three to six of those being major hurricanes. Remember Hurricane Ike? Remember living off canned tuna and biting your spouse’s head off every…
Today’s DVDs: The Housemaid, If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle and The Company Men
The Housemaid stars Do-Yeon Jeon and Deo-Hyeon Ahn, Sang-soo Im directed. The set up: A young woman, working as a maid for a rich couple, is seduced by the husband and gets pregnant, which brings out the wife’s evil side. Here’s what our critic Nicolas Rapold said about the movie:…
The Best & Weirdest Pictures Of Prince 4 U
Today is Prince’s 53rd birthday, making him just 4 days older than Rocks Off’s dad, which puts things in perspective. When Prince was wearing an assless catsuit on televsion and writing “slave” on his face, Craig Sr. was teaching his son how 2 throw a baseball. It’s hard 2 put…
HPD’s Most Wanted Hit-And-Run Driver Of The Year
If you’re a hit-and-run driver, it’s a given the police are looking for you. But when you’re the hit-and-run driver whose crash ended with a Houston cop being killed while he was investigating it, then the cops are really going to be looking for you. So if you’re the driver…
Meme Of The Week: Celebrity Cyclops
The newest experiment in terror to come from the imagineers on the Internets is this week’s distraction, Celebrity Cyclops. A sordid little dish that you really should keep an eye on, two if you are lucky. Nothing surprises me anymore, from chicks with Steve Buscemi’s eyes, female celebs with man…
Garden Fresh: Red Bell Peppers
The only plants left in my warm-weather garden are peppers: Anaheim chiles and bell peppers. The Anaheims are fiercely hot, an effect of the drought, and the green bells are just the opposite. In fact, green peppers are mildly bitter and boring, good mostly for salads, color, and grilled for…
Dear Penis: 20 Songs About The Tube Snake Boogie
Good Lord, what would we do if not for Weinergate? It’s hot as hell outside, the Astros are terrible and Rick Perry might run for president next year. But as long as there are congressmen tweeting pictures of their junk to women they barely know, Rocks Off has a reason…
All 12 UH Football Games On Air Or Online This Year
If you’ve got a TV screen or a computer, you can watch every second of UH Cougar football this coming season, the school announced today. The catch is you have to have CBS’s college-sports channel and CSS in your cable/dish/whatever package. But if you do, then you’re golden and you…
Joyce’s Ulysses, For a New Generation
Michael Hall doesn’t consider himself an obsessive James Joyce fan, but when he heard about a plan to tweet Ulysses over the course of 24 hours, he couldn’t pass up the chance to be a part of it. “I love the idea of sitting down to get a concise idea…
The 7th Annual Wine & Food Week 2011 in The Woodlands This Week
If you love food, and want to sample some of the best food and wine in the greater Houston area, this is your week. More than 10,000 food and wine lovers are expected to attend the 7th Annual Wine & Food Week in The Woodlands, happening from now until June…
Top 5 Worst Collegiate Conference Logos
Congratulations to the fourth grader who designed the new Mountain West Conference logo! Yesterday, the Mountain West Conference unveiled its new brand identity as they head into a hoped-for (read: Boise State-led) future as a regular contender in BCS football as well as other major college sports. If the elementary…
Out Today: Arctic Monkeys Suck It And See, Black Lips Get Cosmic, Joe Ely Satisfied At Last
This week of new releases brings a Mark Ronson-produced Black Lips album, the country debut of psychobilly idol Nick 13, an inventive career-spanning set from Randy Travis, and another Arctic Monkeys album, continuing their interesting progression from Brit garage brats into muscular rockers with the help of guardian scum-angel Josh…
Tuesday June 7, 2011 Deals of the Day
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding Latin Bites Café, and now you can experience their food for half off with today’s VOICE Daily Deal from the Houston Press. Enjoy authentic gourmet Latin flavors, and don’t forget to BYOB; a nominal cork fee of $5 applies. • VOICE Daily…
Liam Neeson: 5 Ass-Kicking Scenes
Today is Liam Neeson’s 59th birthday, and we at Art Attack could not be in a better mood if you pitted Richard Burton against Oliver Reed in a game of beer pong (although that would be pretty cool). Neeson flitted about B-movies for years before finally breaking through as an…
ExxonMobil Making Big Move To North Houston
ExxonMobil has finally made official the long-rumored plans to build a large office campus in north Houston and move a bunch of its employees there, including all in its downtown Bell Street headquarters. The 385-acre site near the intersection of I-45 and the Hardy Toll Road will be a wooded,…
First Look at La Mia Cafe
La Mia Cafe just opened on May 7, and although it still has a long way to go before it settles into its potentially advantageous location along Memorial Drive just east of Bayou Bend, at least one thing is already taken care of: the food. The spinach, mushroom and goat…
Internet Radio Gives Goth A Sanctuary
Due to a boo-boo during the installation of XM radio in Rocks Off’s car, we know longer have a terrestrial radio antenna in our Matrix. Due to the fact that XM became about as empty and mindless as terrestrial radio shortly after the merger with Sirius, we no longer have…
At HISD, Where Teachers Are Worth Their Weight in Buses
At the same time as the Houston ISD administration has proposed consolidating its bus routes to save an anticipated $1.2 million in transportation costs, it also wants to enter into a contract with KIPP and Yes Prep to transport their charter school students. This left some of the trustees asking…
George Lucas Strikes Back: A New Hope for Star Wars
Art Attack has this dream that sometime during the ’80s and ’90s, unknown persons or creatures with sinister motives began kidnapping the creators of our most beloved pop culture in order to replace them with doppelgangers hoping to ruin their legacies. Why? Couldn’t tell you. Maybe Yoda’s wisdom and the…
Wine of the Week: A Cool-Weather Cabernet Sauvignon from California
When we think of “California Cabernet,” the next two words that come to mind are invariably “Napa Valley” — the AVA (American Viticultural Area) that changed the way the world perceived American winemaking back in the 1970s. Since that time, “Napa Valley Cab” (oh, how I wish people would stop saying…
Coyo Discusses His Top Six Horrorcore Rap Songs
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. Something you always wanted to…
Rick Perry’s Prayerapalooza: Protests Start To Simmer
Rick Perry’s courageously craven call for the nation’s 50 governors to come to Houston to pray isn’t exactly being met with unanimous hosannas. There’s already a Facebook page up organizing protests of the August 6 event at Reliant Stadium, and other groups have chimed in about the controversial organizers of…
Apple’s iCloud and Cloud Computing: 10 Key Questions Answered
The Apple World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote address — the way Steve Jobs and crew announce new initiatives to fanboys (and girls) — was even more anticipated than usual this year, so much so that Jobs made a special appearance despite being in the midst of battling a rare…
Ingredient of the Week: Chili Garlic Sauce
What is it? Made from sun-ripened chili peppers and garlic, this condiment is a favorite of those who like their foods spicy. It’s hotter and, obviously, more garlicky than its more famous sister sauce, Sriracha hot sauce (also called Rooster or Cock sauce because of the image on the bottle),…
Upcoming: The Blow, Incubus, Kyuss Lives, Opeth, Etc.
The Blow: Fri., July 8. Fitzgerald’s. Bury Your Dead, Evergreen Terrace: Sun., July 10. Warehouse Live. CJ Ramone: Sun., July 17. Warehouse Live. The Dear Hunter, Wild Orchid Children: Mon., Aug. 22. Warehouse Live. Dwight Yoakam: Fri., July 8. Arena Theatre. Filter, Saliva: Wed., Aug. 10. Scout Bar Clear Lake…
10 Tips for Wedding Dress Shopping
I have been a bridesmaid five times, and been a bride once myself, so I am no stranger to wedding dress shopping. My own wedding was two years ago, but I think given the same budget and the same bod, I’d pick the same dress today that I did in…
Meagan Broussard: Anthony Weiner’s Beaumont Sext-Mate In Most Pun-Laden Scandal Ever
GUARANTEE: This post contains no Weiner puns. Really. The Anothony Weiner mini-scandal — which isn’t so much a scandal as it is another privileged male being an utter idiot when it comes to sex — has its Texas connection. It’s Meagan Broussard, a Lamar University nursing student, who is proving…
Which Rapper(s) Should Headline Summer Fest 2012?
Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn’t the day after a gigantic local music festival, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week’s Panel: Trae, Wreck, Roosh Williams, Kyle Hubbard, Preemo, Mac, Lil O, hasHBrown Not Invited:…
Keep on Truckin’: H-Town Streats
Each week I’ll be visiting a different food truck and reviewing one of their items. Know of a particular food truck I should move to the top of my list? Let me know in the comments section. Today we’ve got H-Town Streats and their pork barbecue quesadilla. It took me…
Comment of the Day: Rick Perry’s Jesus
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…
Comment of the Day: The Queen of the Gulf
Folks love to look at pretty pictures, especially if the pictures are of pretty things. Yesterday’s blog post that paired then-and-now photos of the luxurious seafront hotel The Galvez in Galveston prompted reader Mary to write: The Galvez is an amazingly gorgeous structure. Thanks, George! It’s hard to believe we…
In Honor Of Anthony Weiner, Eight Ill-Advised Movie Dongs (NSFW)
In my review of The Hangover Part II, I made a comment about the seeming preponderance of male genitalia on the big screen lately. The phenomenon has been limited primarily to comedies because, let’s face it, penises are pretty damn funny looking. Judging by that screening, we’re a ways off…
For Anthony Weiner, Eight Awkward Dongs From The Movies (NSFW)
In my review of The Hangover Part II, I made a comment about the seeming preponderance of male genitalia on the big screen lately. The phenomenon has been limited primarily to comedies because, let’s face it, penises are pretty damn funny looking. Judging by that screening, we’re a ways off…
Happy Birthday Tetris: 7 Covers of the Game’s Theme
Rocks Off has learned a lot from video games over the years. Super Mario Bros. 3 taught us that the sun is an angry, malice-filled demon who will stop at nothing until you’re dead (It’s a 102 degrees as we write). Bioshock taught us that taking Ayn Rand a too…
Texas AG Greg Abbott Grabs The Spotlight In Fight Against EPA’s Tailpipe-Emissions Rule
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wants everyone to know that he is doing everything he can to stop the federal Environmental Protection Agency from trying to implement greenhouse-gas limits on cars and trucks. In the latest of a series of lawsuits against the damn interferin’ feds, Abbott announced today that…
100 Creatives: Katherine Houston
What she does: Katherine Houston used to specialize in stocks, bonds and commodities, but today she prefers acrylic and glass. The former investment broker became a full-time artist once her son got old enough to allow her more free time. Houston explains that she isn’t trying to be edgy and…
Where Are We Drinking?
A sign at this charmingly tucked-away establishment advertises $6 sangrias for “summer fun,” which is code for “You’ll need great booze to tolerate a Houston summer.” Luckily, you can get great booze at this place and without the accompanying crowds…yet. Think you know where we’re drinking this week? Leave your…
The 10 Coolest Shuttle Atlantis Pictures
Next month will bring the final space shuttle mission ever, and the vehicle that will take that last ride will be the Atlantis. The Atlantis has taken 32 trips to space so far, and like every shuttle, stunning photographs have been part of the deal. Here are 10 of Atlantis’…
Rick Perry Must Answer: Does He Think SpongeBob Is Gay?
As we noted earlier, Rick Perry is calling on the nation’s governors to come to Houston to attend a big Christian rally at Reliant Stadium and spend a day fasting and praying. “There is hope for America,” Perry says. “It lies in heaven, and we will find it on our…
Former Texan Ahman Green Cut By A CFL Team
We all make mistakes. I do, you do, general managers of our local sports teams do. If each of the general managers of our major sports teams in Houston could get a mulligan on a free agent signing, turn back time and pretend it never happened, coming up with the…
The Downtown Y Comes A-Tumblin’ Down
Photos by Brittanie SheyThe forlorn Downtown Y is slowly coming down. One wing has been all but demolished, leaving what looks to be a full-size smaller building…
Comment of the Day
Katharine Shilcutt wrote about her top five food trends that should be exported from Houston, which led commenter Salynch to share a thought on another potential export: When I first heard about this question, the first thing that came to my mind was something much more broad – good food…
Last Night (Briefly): R. Kelly & Keyshia Cole At Toyota Center
R. Kelly, Keyshia Cole, Marsha Ambrosius Toyota Center June 5, 2011 Ed. Note: Rocks Off was not given review tickets for this show, just a photo pass, so we asked Marco to review what he could of the openers and Kelly’s first three songs. R. Kelly, the Pied Piper of…
Light and Fruity at Tutti Frutti
For a while, I was driving completely out of my way to The Yogurt Spot every time I wanted good frozen yogurt. Yes, it’s in Chinatown. But the yogurt is reliably good and it always seems to have Family Guy reruns on the TV. Surrounded by high school kids studying…
Summer Fest Sunday: Peak Fun With B L A C K I E, Hayes Carll, Guitar Wolf, Yeasayer, Robert Ellis & More
MORE OF SUMMER FEST Reviews: Last Night: Weezer At Free Press Summer Fest Summer Fest Saturday: A Sizzler With Beirut, Big Boi, Black Joe, Fucked Up, Sharon Jones, Ween & More Slideshows: Summer Fest 2011: The Crowds Summer Fest 2011: National Acts Houston Bands at Summer Fest 2011 Private Party…
The Best, Most Dramatic Walmart Lawsuit Ever
Alonzo Ross is suing his local Walmart pharmacy for negligence, but it’s the way he’s doing it that got our attention. Instead of writing a stuffy old list of allegations, Ross decided to write a complete narrative in order to give his petition more pep. We wish more suits were…
Aaaand Here Comes The Rain
Parts of Houston got some decent rain yesterday, but today it looks like most everyone is going to get wet and be thankful about it. Reports of big rain on the east side, including hail in the north, are in the Twittersphere. And downtown is dark and windy and looking…
Houston Ballet Gets Theatrical with Taming of the Shrew
Pretty much everyone knows at least a line or two from Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the Shrew, if not by studying the actual play, then by virtue of pop culture: the lovelorn Lucentio’s line “I pine, I burn, I perish” was uttered by the character’s modern-day counterpart in ’90s…
The Worst Real Estate Ad Ever
A 19th Century Portuguese man named Pedro Carolino took it upon himself to compose a Portuguse-English phrasebook, despite the fact that he knew no English and didn’t even own a Portuguese-English dictionary. He did know French and he believed that was enough. He thought he could simply filter a French-Portuguese…
Spindletop: Champagne and a View
I’ve lived in Houston for just over 20 years now and I still remember my first visit to Spindletop fondly. A friend took my sister and I out for drinks and dessert downtown. It was winter in Houston, which isn’t all that cold unless you’re visiting from a tropical country…
Thin Line Film Festival Announces Theme, Submissions Details
Who will boast next year’s Troubadours? You? Last week, the Thin Line Film Festival revealed thematic and submission information for its annual international documentary event. In the past, the shebang has boasted screenings of Troubadours, which posted up on PBS weeks after Thin Line 2011, as well as Oscar short-listed…
HISD: Searches For Ways To Stanch Bleeding Budget, Mentions Taxes
This morning, an emergency meeting was called by HISD officials who are growing more desperate as severe budget cuts looms closer. About 10 parents sat in Pin Oak Middle School’s cafeteria and listened to board president Paula Harris hint at dire solutions the school board doesn’t want to face: including…
Top 5 Everyday Exotic Dinners
Unless I’m feeling particularly inspired, throwing a party or testing out recipes for a blog post, on a daily basis I often fall into the same old pasta, chicken, whatever rotation. There’s only so many nights, however, that a person can stand the same old boring thing before one’s taste…
Saturday Night: Sick Puppies At Warehouse Live
Sick Puppies Warehouse Live June 4, 2011 Aftermath is not going to lie: Leaving Summer Fest early to go see Sick Puppies at Warehouse Live wasn’t a top priority for us, but a show’s a show, and we thought we would do our best to keep our heads up, our…
Weekend Gallery Openings: Gilded Cheetahs, Blurry Lines and Industrial Junk
It was easy to get lost in the crowd of high heels and penny loafers at the Caroline Collective on Friday night; the posh crowd was more concerned with conversing and being seen than looking at the art. However, if you were one of the few people skillful enough to…
Thomas Balzumati: Child-Porn Stash Discovered In Toolbox
Your wife has rightly kicked you out of the house after you’ve been charged with sexually abusing a child. It’s a situation very few people, thankfully, have to deal with, but if they did we think most would pick up their child-porn DVD on their shameful way out the door…
Five Cereals That Double As Dessert
Crème brûlée French toast, butterscotch oatmeal, chocolate chip pancakes: The line between dessert and breakfast has never been blurrier. Cereal has always been my snack of choice outside the morning hours, but lately I’ve been indulging in some more decadent varieties to satisfy my post-dinner sweet tooth. Here are my…
It’s International Day Of Slayer: Ten Slayer Songs For Awkward Life Moments
Today is the sixth International Day of Slayer, started in 2006 to coincide with June 6, 2006, the most evil-numbered date in history. It’s also lead singer Tom Araya’s birthday, and the guitarist now makes his home on a ranch in Buffalo, Texas – God’s country, really, just a few…
The Killing: “Missing”
I’m of two minds about last night’s Killing. On the one hand, the episode featured more characterization and insight into the lives of our principals (Linden and Holder) than the previous six combined. The gradual revelations about Linden’s past and Holder’s current struggles brought about by Jack’s disappearance demonstrated again…
Dynamo Best Astros in Winless Streak
The situation is beginning to look grim for the Dynamo, as they fell to the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 on the road. The Orange are now without a win in seven games, edging the Astros’ six game losing streak from mid-May for the longest Houston winless streak this summer. In…
Tiny Cars and Expensive Wine at the 3rd Annual Italian Expo
The 3rd annual Italian Expo was held this past weekend at the George R. Brown Convention Center, directly next to one of the gun shows that seems to rotate throughout Houston every other weekend. Walking up to the convention center, it was fairly easy to pick out the attendees of…
Saturday Night: Accordion Kings & Queens At Miller Outdoor Theatre
Accordion Kings & Queens Festival Miller Outdoor Theatre June 4, 2011 Timing can be everything. And it only took about ten seconds standing in the wings 20 feet from Clifton Chenier’s former guitarist Lil Buck Sinegal and the rest of Corey Ledet’s zydeco band as they kicked off their portion…
Crude Oil: The Great American Trailer Park Musical
The set-up: As The Nutcracker is to the Houston Ballet or A Christmas Carol is to the Alley, so The Great American Trailer Park Musical is to Stages. It’s its cash cow, playing for weeks on end and pulling in audiences in record-breaking numbers. The show does wonders for the…
Rick Perry Asking Other Governors to Pray And Fast For A Day, Including Chris Christie (Updated)
There are few t hings more annoying than the stranger who asks you if you’ve accepted Jesus, but Governor Rick Perry has became That Guy with a letter to the 49 other state leaders in the U.S. He’s asking them to come to Houston for a day of prayer and…
Game Of Thrones: “The Pointy End”
Last night’s ep felt like a place setting for next week’s. Much happened, to be sure (the repercussions of Cersei’s power grab are felt immediately, as the rest of Stark’s household were cut down before the opening titles), but for those waiting impatiently for the combined forces of Stark and…
A Sweet Experience at Expressions Fine Chocolate
My experience with Expressions Fine Chocolate began before I even stepped foot into their Westchase storefront. I received a $30 voucher from Houston Entree and was eager to try some gourmet chocolates. But Expressions is located in the Westchase area, which is quite a drive for me. On a leisurely…
Summer Fest Saturday: A Sizzler With Beirut, Big Boi, Black Joe, Fucked Up, Sharon Jones, Ween & More
Ed. Note: We’re not done yet… MORE OF SUMMER FEST Reviews: Last Night: Weezer At Free Press Summer Fest Summer Fest Sunday: Peak Fun With B L A C K I E, Hayes Carll, Guitar Wolf, Yeasayer, Robert Ellis & More Slideshows: Summer Fest 2011: The Crowds Summer Fest 2011:…
Marc Price finds the funny in Life After Skippy
When Marc Price requests a very early interview time – 8 a.m. in Los Angeles – Art Attack can’t help but wonder if it would be the comic’s first call of a new day – or the last one after a very long night. “Now that’s a misconception, that we’re…
Comment of the Day: Saddest Beer Palate Ever
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…
Searching for a Slice: Bombay Pizza Co.
I’ve been hesitant to try the Bombay Pizza Co. (914 Main St.) in spite of some of the amazing reviews it’s gotten. I love pizza, and I love the flavors of Indian food, but as I’ve written in the past, I just like a regular old pie: crust, sauce, cheese,…
Power Lines, Storytelling, and Textures: A Night at the Galleries
To tour the galleries on Friday night, we started at William Reaves Fine Art, where they are taking a break from the regular focus on Texas Modernists, primarily from the last century, to make room for a once-a-year show of paintings by contemporary artists whose subjects are the environment and…
Friday Night: Slobberbone At The Continental Club
Slobberbone Continental Club June 3, 2011 Maybe it was the lack of warning. Aftermath received notice of last Friday night’s Slobberbone show at the Continental Club less than a week prior, and the gig itself was merely one date on a mini-tour among the band’s usual Texas stops (Austin and…
Breakfast Forever at Tel-Wink Grill
Down the Texas Independence Trail (610 South), up Telephone Road, past the Little Toy Club, Smile Lounge, and the Blue Cat, lies the Tel-Wink Grill. A sign out front used to read “Best Breakfast in Texas,” and had they merely added the word “Cheap”, it wouldn’t have been a boast…
Senators And Bad Officiating Have Aeros On The Edge Of Defeat
John RoyalJean-Michel Daoust about to tie Saturday’s game at 1-1The Houston Aeros play in hockey’s top minor league. The players take the game as seriously as those who play in the NHL. And the stakes can be just as important, what with promotions and careers riding on each shift a…
Comment of the Day: Heroes and Villains
People are passionate about comics, and Pete Vonder Haar’s latest Review for the Easily Distracted garnered several passionate comments about the latest film adaptation of the X-Men franchise. Terence said: Nice review. One point, though: you are supposed to sympathize with Magneto, even in the comic book. That’s what makes…
Sandcastle Competition In Galveston: Photos
More than 25,000 people attended the 25th annual sandcastle competition at Galveston over the weekend, according to a car count from the park board. The East Beach competition was won by JACOBS of Houston, says Leah Boyd of the Galveston Convention & Visitors Bureau, for the above dragon-ized design. Matrix…
Then and Now: The Galvez Hotel
Built as a symbol of Galveston Island’s physical and financial recovery from the Great Storm of 1900, the Hotel Galvez, with its prime beach-front location, quickly became known as the Queen of the Gulf. Building was completed in 1911. A century later, the hotel is still a landmark on the…
Last Night: Weezer At Free Press Summer Fest
Ed. Note: Much more on Summer Fest to come throughout the day. MORE OF SUMMER FEST Reviews: Summer Fest Saturday: A Sizzler With Beirut, Big Boi, Black Joe, Fucked Up, Sharon Jones, Ween & More Summer Fest Sunday: Peak Fun With B L A C K I E, Hayes Carll,…
Ron Paul: Yes, People Are Still Laughing If You Think You Will Be The 2012 GOP Nominee
Lake Jackson’s favorite congressman, Ron Paul, proudly announced to the nation yesterday that no one’s laughing at him anymore when he says he could become the Republican nominee for president and maybe get in the White House. “They mocked me for my foreign policy and they laughed at my monetary…
Where Are We Eating?
At this long-lived joint, you can choose from either burgers or barbecue depending on which line you get in at lunch. You can even score some great cookies from the attached bakery, making this one of the better bets in this far-flung part of town. Think you know where we’re…
Cutie-Pie Baby Owls Seen At (Yes) Rice
Three precious baby owls were discovered on the Rice campus recently — and it wasn’t even freshman orientation!!! (Ha ha!!) The Rufous Morphs owls are sometimes called Texas Orange owls, but obviously not at Rice. School photographer Tommy LaVergne captured these shots…
Comment of the Day
In honor of National Donut Day (yes, it’s a thing), Craig Hlavaty took a break from his busy schedule of gripping knives with his teeth and writing about Internet memes to bring you a slightly NSFW post of sexy donut photos to whet your appetite. Hey, it’s Friday afternoon. But…
This Week in Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we still don’t understand why people make such a big deal out of paella. Y’all know it’s like 90 percent rice, right? If rice dishes were rock stars, paella would be Peter Criss. We started the week off…
NBA Finals Game 2 — Anatomy of a Meltdown
On the “Play-by-play” Web page for Game 2 of the NBA Finals, it simply reads “Dwyane Wade makes 24-foot three point jumper (Mario Chalmers assists),” one simple play out of a few hundred plays during the course of an NBA basketball game. But if you were watching the game, you…
More Local Music News Than People Asking Us For Summer Fest Passes
It’s Friday, June 3 – do you know what that means? That’s right, Free Press Summer Fest is a scant day away. In mere hours the city shall be frolicking to the Satanic call of rock ‘n’ roll, getting sunburned and dehydrated, tripping on Lord knows what, and having a…
5 Food Trends Houston Should Export
It seems that Eater’s post on 10 dead food trends has everyone talking, including the New York Times’s Frank Bruni, who disagrees with the vital statistics of many items on the DOA list. Instead, he says, there is one trend above all that needs to die as swift a death…
The Kevin McHale Era Begins in Rocketland
New Rockets coach Kevin McHale was introduced to the local media today, and he and owner Les Alexander sought to tamp down expectations — not that there were many — that the team will immediately get a lot better. McHale says his goal is….making the playoffs. Which really isn’t all…
Chef Chat, Part 3: Happy and Mike Tsai of Pepper Tree Veggie Cuisine
This week, we’ve been catching up with Happy and Mike Tsai, owners of Pepper Tree Veggie Cuisine. You can catch more of this interview in Part 1 and Part 2 of our Chef Chat. Pepper Tree’s popular $9.99 buffet is a main draw among lunchgoers. With both a raw food…
Life After FarmVille: Four Humble Suggestions
Zynga, the company that ended all your meaningful social interactions via FarmVille, is about to go public, and that means it’s time for the company to step it up a notch in order to lure potential investors. The number of FarmVille users has dropped to 44 million. This time last…
Life After Rock Stardom: 7 Artists’ Post-Musical Careers
Let’s face it. Not everyone is cut out for – or interested in – being a sixtysomething rock star. But what type of careers awaits a retired musician? Many rock stars stay in the music industry realm by recording, managing, or producing, but for the same reasons we found fascinating…
City of Houston Giving You ONE LAST CHANCE to Pay Your Overdue Citations
This time they really mean it. The city of Houston is extending — FOR ONE WEEK ONLY! — the amnesty program for delinquent traffic, non-traffic and parking citations. Pay up now with some reduction in late fees, or they’re coming to get you June 11. They say. “Anyone with overdue…
Odd Pair: Pappasito’s Queso and 96 Sassicaia (Yes, It’s True)
One of my new-found Texas cousins’ traditions is weeknight family dinner with Pappasito’s take-out. And so, the other evening, when I just happened to have a rather remarkable bottle in my wine bag (reserved for my beloved Cousin Marty, the clan’s patriarch, who recently and thankfully emerged victorious in a…
A Very Special Behind The Music: Zack Attack!
Everyone remembers Zack Attack. A lighthearted, tween-oriented pop group from California, they shot to the top of the charts in November 1990 with their No. 1 hit, “Friends Forever.” Teenagers and close friends themselves, they displayed an easy chemistry the likes of which few manufactured pop groups of the time…
Happy National Donut Day: Sexy Pictures Of Donuts (NSFW?)
There are bear claws, crullers, holes, cream-filled, jelly-filled, donut-fillled, fritters, maple bars, chocolate twists, and long johns in the universe of donuts, with countless other varieties remaining to be created by bakers bent on sending us all to early graves. Today is National Donut Day, a day to celebrate those…
Happy National Donut Day: Sexy Pictures Of Donuts (NSFW?)
Today is National Donut Day, a day to celebrate those filthiest and most base of desserts. The day was created by the Salvation Army to commend the women who handed out donuts to soldiers in World War I. We can’t think of a better pastry to enjoy while stuck in…
Closing of Independence Heights Pool Will Leave Some Kids Desperate
Off of 35th and Main lies the heart of Independence Heights, a historically black neighborhood that’s getting screwed by the mayor’s proposed budget. If all is passed according to plan, the community center and the pool will be closed just as summer is heating up. Around 3:30 on a Thursday…
Traversing Houston’s Street History
With a mix of fact, history and humor, Mark Hinton has high expectations for his lecture in the IMAX theatre of the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences on June 6. Hinton plans to offer the histories behind some of Houston’s biggest street names. “I thought, well wouldn’t that be fun,”…
Texas Zydeco, In Five Indelible Images
One of Rocks Off’s main resolutions most years is to both see more zydeco and write about it more often. Unfortunately, we don’t get out to the country as often as we should, and no one ever seems to want to give us a ride to Jax Grill on Friday…
An Austin Adventure of Gastronomical Proportions at Barley Swine
In order to continue riding the wave of culinary creativity, sometimes we have to think outside the box. Sometimes we have to look outside the city. What is going on in the restaurants up the interstate? What ingredients and techniques are the chefs next door using? How do the dishes,…
Randy Savage: North Texas Middle School Teacher Busted for Student Sex
After an investigation by local police and the Texas Rangers, Randy Lynn Bratcher Savage, a sixth and seventh grade reading teacher in north Texas, has been arrested and charged with two felonies. Savage, 31, was removed from Clarksville’s Cheatham Middle School last week and turned herself in for arrest earlier…
Russell Brand: Our Favorite F@*!ing Quotes
Russell Brand–actor, writer, philosopher and reformed addict–turns 41 tomorrow. There are so many reasons to love him: his spotlight-stealing performances as…well, himself…in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, his revealing and hilarious biography My Booky Wook, his persistent case of bedhead. We also love all the bonehead…
May 28 to June 3: 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
June is a busy month for food events, from special one-off dinners to big celebrations and galas. Now’s a good time to break out the eating pants or start adding extra workouts to your schedule; this is a month of good eats. All month long, Agnes Moffit Park in West…
Summer Fest Critic’s Guide: Who We’re Seeing At Tinsley
In three very short years, Free Press Summer Fest has gone from an experiment most people thought would fail to destination music festival most people wouldn’t dare miss even if it is going to be 105 degrees outside. Rocks Off has seen quite a bit of online chatter from people…
Only 14 HISD Schools Offering Free Summer Breakfast/Lunch on Fridays
To cut costs, the Houston school district won’t be having summer-school classes on Friday this year, and that decision is affecting the free breakfast/lunch programs the district runs. As usual, more than 200 schools will be offering meals free to students and at reduced cost to adults this year. But…
Carrie’s Back: Four Other Horror Flicks That Deserve Musicals
It was announced recently that Carrie: The Musical would be revived on Broadway for MCC Theatre’s 2011-12, season 22 years after it flopped like the fish in Faith No More’s “Epic” video. How bad did Carrie, based as you may have guessed on the Stephen King novel and subsequent film,…
Lawndale and Gallery M Squared Looking for Art Entries/Rejects
Sloppy seconds, in this case, isn’t so bad. Lawndale Art Center recently announced submission and exhibition dates for the 2011 edition of “The Big Show.” The showcase, which was at one time known as the “East End Show,” started in 1984; today, the juried exhibit acts as an art-displaying centerpiece…
Ziggy’s Bar & Grill, Kata Robata Battle Bud Light After Brewery Bill Fails
In response to House Bill 602’s recent death at the hands of Anheuser-Busch, local restaurants such as Ziggy’s Bar & Grill and Kata Robata have scratched Bud Light from their menus and have spread the word of this boycott through social media. “We have ’86 Bud Light’ written on the…
Overreact Much? Eight HS Seniors Arrested for Mildest of Pranks
Eight high school seniors in Brownsville have been arrested and face misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief because — and please, prepare yourself for the depravity and lawlessness of today’s misguided youth — they TP’d some trees on their Porter HS campus and used shoe polish to write such blasphemy as…
So You Think You Can Dance: Something Fierce
Last night, SYTYCD wrapped up preliminary auditions in Los Angeles, thank heavens: if I hear one more contestant use the word “fierce” to describe her (they so far have all been female) decidedly blah audition routine, I am going to push pencils into my ears. Fortunately, last night also marked…
Nikki Araguz Speaks and Says Something Beyond “Give Me and My Reality-TV Crew Some Privacy”
Nikki Araguz, the transgendered woman who we profiled as she was fighting over her husband’s death benefits, is not having a fun time. Or maybe she is. It’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not when you’re filming a reality TV show. Araguz was in court yesterday to be…
Real Talk: R. Kelly Still Tainted By Sex Scandal
A man in our extended family once did something heinous. It was an act that, by any measure, was monstrously inappropriate and very much illegal. When everyone found out what he had done, we were all very much shocked because he was, far as we could tell, an honorable enough…
Weird and Wonderful $1 Pastries at Six Ping Bakery
I have a major weakness for sweets. Major. So put me in a tiny bakery with shelves filled with cellophane wrapped pastries in a room that’s not much bigger than your average bedroom and what happens? I go a little bit crazy. There were cute little piggy-faced “Super Q Kawaii”…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: X-Men: First Class
Title: X-Men: First Class So It Looks Like Graham Allison Was Full Of Shit: Now, now…let’s not assume the worst. It’s likely Allison, like most Americans, was simply unaware of the crucial role mutants played in resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis. Otherwise I’m sure he would’ve added a “Genetic Actor”…
Bartender Chat: Aaron Harris of Samba Grille
When Aaron Harris was introduced to me as “The Superstar,” I was intrigued. I envisioned him flashily flinging bottles around Brian Flanagan-style, but couldn’t imagine that kind of hoopla in the refined space of Samba Grille. But Aaron’s bartending superstardom does not stem from dramatic displays, but likely from the…
Last Night: Dillinger Escape Plan At Fitzgerald’s
Dillinger Escape Plan, By the End of Tonight, Pretty Little Flower, A-dream Asleep Fitzgerald’s June 2, 2011 The Dillinger Escape Plan seem to have caused something of an glitch inside their own genre. In spite of being wildly popular, they haven’t seen much press compared to the amount of admiration…
Comment of the Day: Texas’s Foster System, Still a Disaster
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…
Comment of the Day: Those Weird Kids’ Shows
Yesterday’s post by Jef With One F that offered up some pretty horrifying explanations of popular children’s shows spawned a host of comments from readers, several of whom offered up their own interpretations. Happyfoxy asked: Have you noticed that every episode of Thomas the Tank Engine features a derailment? How…
The 71s Rassle A Bear In New Video
Rocks Off remains a dedicated fan of the 71s. Their music is a good old-fashioned double shot of rock in the chops, and sometimes we need to be yanked out of the corner we’re off looking sad in to better appreciate life. If there is one things we know that…
May 28 — June 3: 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 grilling by the pool or hanging out at Summerfest, just drop your hottest pics in our photo group right here. Maybe you’ll see them in this…
Loudmouth Eddie Griffin to Play Improv
If there’s one thing that’s true about comedian Eddie Griffin, it’s that he’s never been afraid to push buttons; his style is far more Richard Pryor than Sinbad or Bill Cosby. During one standup special, he described how to figure out the racial makeup of the robbers. “Now see white…
Small Business Battles Bud Light After Local Brewery Bill Fails
Small businesses like Ziggy’s Bar & Grill and Kata Robata have scratched Bud Light from their menus and have spread the word through social media, as response to HB 602’s recent death at the hands of Anheuser-Busch. “We have ’86 Bud Light’ written on the door and people who got…
Openings & Closings: May 2011
The Heights seriously needs to stop being so awesome, because I don’t care how many great restaurants relocate to the neighborhood, I’m still not moving there. But I will keep wasting gas driving over there. (Side note: Dear restaurants, please come to downtown!) Just in this week alone, Down House…
100 Creatives: Christopher Olivier
What He Does: For almost two decades, Christopher Olivier has been making art under two different artistic “identities”: Olivier and Bexar. Under his own given name, he does pop-inspired paintings and photography. As Bexar, he makes sculpture out of discarded electronics parts (the twin names sometimes “collaborate” on certain pieces)…
10 Very Awful ’80s Workout-Leotard Photos
The ’80s, man. People thought the ’70s were pretty bad when it came to fashion, but the ’80s tried everything possible to be even worse. Especially in the realm of women’s workout gear. In case you’ve forgotten, here are ten reminders from the weird, wonderful Tumblr page of Retrospace. 10…
Comment of the Day
We finally — finally — had a Top 5 post today that you all agreed with: John Kiely’s ever-useful list of the five best cheap bottles of booze to stock your bar at home. Like many of our readers, commenter Theo Shu threw out some suggestions of his own: These…
Shaquille O’Neal Retires — A Video Album of His Career
Depending on how you look at it, Shaquille O’Neal’s retirement announcement yesterday was either vintage Shaq or completely ironic. On the one hand, no other athlete was a bigger early adopter of social media and technology as a way to forward one’s brand, so Shaq’s tweeting a 15-second video to…
Happy Hour Scene: Going Voyeur at Ginger Man
The Place: The Ginger Man Pub 5607 Morningside 713-526-2770 http://houston.gingermanpub.com/ The Deals: $1 off draft beers The Hours: 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays The Scene: If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. If you wish you make yourself feel bad about…
Wild Moccasins Waltz Through Vienna On Video
The Wild Moccasins have gone Continental. Houston’s favorite indie-pop fivesome has been back in the land of Coca-Cola for a while – Rocks Off assumes bassist Nick Cody has told his job that he’s back by now – but last week Austrian blog They Shoot Music Don’t They posted two…
Annise Parker Dares You to Do a Better Job of Cutting the Budget
All you Monday Morning Quarterbacks and backseat drivers complaining about the city’s budget — now’s your turn to see what you can do. Mayor Annise Parker’s office has put together an interactive web thingy that allows you to slash departments with abandon and see what results. Unfortunately, it only shows…
Burying the Hatchet at Southern Star Brewing
Now that Saint Arnold has moved into a spacious, climate-controlled brewery, where do Houstonians go to get their sweaty, mid-summer’s brewery tour? They go to Southern Star Brewery in Conroe. Like the Saint Arnold days of old, the tour is free and requires you to form an orderly line inside…
Miles Gray Fought Gun Barrel City Law, Gun Barrel City Law Won
Living up to their name.Put yourself in the shoes of 26-year-old Miles Christopher Gray of the East Texas town of Seven Points. You’ve been reported to police as being armed, dangerous and at large near Big Chief Landing. You are in your Chevy Malibu when they arrive on the scene,…
Art Review: Nathan Green’s “Fill the Sky”
Art Palace is one of our favorite galleries, but we just don’t get Nathan Green’s current show “Fill the Sky.” Some of the 25 abstract, mixed-media works score on their own, like Gradients, a conglomeration of black-and-white cylindrical forms that has a real sense of action in its composition, and…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Happy and Mike Tsai of Pepper Tree Veggie Cuisine
Yesterday, Pepper Tree owner Happy Tsai told us how vegetables are sweeping Houston. Today we catch up with her husband and executive veggie chef, Mike Tsai. Eating Our Words: Have you been a chef at any other restaurant? Mike Tsai: No. I cook at home, though…
Weezer: The Good, The Bad & The Downright Ugly
This Sunday night, Weezer headlines Free Press Summer Fest III, and the influential pop-rockers have been a part of indie lore for the past 17 years. With 1994’s self-titled “Blue Album” and 1996’s Pinkerton, the band created a cult following whom they would promptly weird the fuck out with subsequent…
Unidentified Female, Bayou Body Count No. 77
A woman was found shot to death in a car early this morning on the far southwest side of town, Houston police say. A man was walking his dog about 4 a.m. when he discovered the body in the 12200 block of Hodges and called 911. Police say the woman…
Malayaka House and the Community Spirit
The documentary Malayaka House, created by Jesse Bradley and Jacqueline Harlow, is a film that reveals the experiences of the children, women and founder of the Ugandan orphanage. Not a work of exploitation, or baseless self-promotion (100 percent of proceeds raised from the film go directly to fund the titular…
Mambo’s Seafood Chain Hit for Harboring Illegal Aliens
Mambo’s Seafood, the popular chain that’s a big sponsor of the Houston Dynamo, has been hit with charges that it encouraged illegal aliens to come to the U.S. and then harbored and hid them. Two current and three former managers have been indicted, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today. The…
A Page Outta: Cupcake Lasagna
It’s my fault, clearly. I didn’t lay out any ground rules. I set myself up, and (one of) you took the bait. Still, I was a bit shocked when I wound up preparing cupcake lasagna for this week’s A Page Outta. I knew it was at least mostly intended as…
Four Comic-Book Characters Inspired By Musicians
Rocks off just can’t seem to get comic books out of our blood. Between being fully immersed in Comicpalooza last weekend and trying to point out to Broadway how many other comic characters would make better and safer musicals than Spider-Man, we’ve regressed to being 15 with ink-stained figures and…
This Old House of Steampunk
There is no denying that the steampunk movement is one the rise, at least to judge from the attendees at Comicpalooza last weekend. We for one have absolutely no problem with the sub-cultures increased popularity at all. In fact, we recently chronicled the excellent work of Peter Balch and his…
Patti LaBelle Sued for Assault by West Point Cadet (UPDATED With Incredible Video)
UPDATE September 24, 2014: A federal jury cleared Patti LaBelle and her entourage in the beating of a West Point cadet at George Bush International Airport. Airport security camera footage shows what appears to be at least two members of singer Patti LaBelle’s entourage beating a West Point cadet who…
Remember Roosh Williams’ Common Struggles Of A Modern Man?
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. Roosh Williams Common Struggles of a Modern Man (Self-released, 2011) Common Struggles of a Modern Man is the debut…
5 Food Trends to Watch For in Houston
Eater ran a list yesterday of 10 food trends that are — at least in New York City — officially dead. Among them included the obvious (the gastropub), the non-events (pie as the new cupcakes, which still hasn’t happened) and the debatable (I’m pretty sure Houstonians will continue to eat…
Alejandro Smith: TDCJ Prison Guard Was Also Heroin Dealer, Prosecutors Say
A Texas Department of Criminal Justice guard has been arrested and charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute. Alejandro Smith, 21, worked in Huntsville’s Eastham Unit; police got a tip that he was “providing contraband to prisoners,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said today. Law enforcement officials set up…
John Hunsucker: Still Making Waves With Controversial Lifeguard Classes
Four years ago we wrote about John Hunsucker, a retired UH professor who owned a company that taught lifeguards to use the Heimlich maneuver on drowning victims, something that has been widely discredited in the scientific community. (The Heimlich works great on people who are choking; research shows it does…
Top 5: Places to See and Be Seen
Let’s face it, Houstonians have a tendency to be fickle. They flock to the coolest places when it’s new and hip to do so, losing interest and moving on when the next hot new thing hits the scene. When a place is “in,” though, everyone seems to want to be…
Morbid Curiosity: May 2011
Throughout history, there are a few famous inevitabilities. The taxman already came this year, and we’re not talking about Bun B’s attendance record at rap shows, so it must be time for us to encounter that cloaked figure. Don’t fret, though, we’re just paying a visit to find out who’s…
Last Night: Twilight Singers At Warehouse Live
Twilight Singers Warehouse Live Studio June 1, 2011 The Afghan Whigs are probably one of the most underrated acts to come from the grunge period, but they had all the best lines, a dynamic musical presence, plus one of the most delightfully rusty and eloquent voices in lead singer Greg…
DEFCON Dining: Niko Niko’s
I didn’t grill on Memorial Day. I spent the day celebrating a family member’s birthday, in an apartment too small for the extended gathering it held. There was only cake to eat. By the time the festivities were over, the entire family was grumbling with hunger, too irritable and exhaustion-bound…
Andres Gonzales Assails Son-In-Law With Futile Twin Machete Attack
The thought of our own father-in-law waiting for us with glassy eyes and bad intent in our carport armed with not one but two rusty old machetes is one of the more unlikely and alarming prospects we can envision, but that exact scenario just unfolded for a 39-year-old Corpus Christi…
Food Fight: Box Lunch
If you google the phrase “box lunch history,” virtually all the results are for lunch boxes and the fascinating history thereof. (Check out the Smithsonian’s photo op of June Lockhart putting a Lost in Space lunchbox into a display at the Museum of American History — I love how the…
Lyrical Advice For The Class Of 2011
There will be no guitars and Marshall stacks at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion this weekend, just “Pomp and Circumstance.” As the Class of 2011 walks across the stage soon to be occupied by Peter Gabriel, Widespread Panic and Kings of Leon, it reminds Rocks Off that we graduated on…
So You Think You Can Dance: Abs, Abs and More Abs
Near-nudity is pretty standard when it comes to SYTYCD, at least when it comes to the girls who tend flit about in sports bras and short-shorts. On last night’s installment, though, a few of the boys bared all (including a Tahitian traditional dancer who really bared it all). The real…
Online Prison Dating Not So Sexy, Inmates Find
The first day of June marks day one of Celibacy Awareness Month, which we singles have appropriated from the Bible-thumpers. Not that we’re celebrating our celibacy with the same gusto, but we’re just as aware of it — especially as the weather’s heavy wetness coaxes layers off of our bodies…
10 Great Frankenstein Movie Posters
Remember that scene in Young Frankenstein where the monster finds the old blind man who’s all nice to him because he can’t see how hideous he is and the blind man tries to feed the monster but ends up ladeling soup in his lap instead and lighting his finger on…
Top Five: Cheap Booze
After mastering a tartly correct margarita three years ago, I decided to keep going, and make every classic cocktail that doesn’t involve weird liquor. Sixty-nine, so far. As I searched bartending sites, mixology blogs, culinary forums, print stuff and liquor reviews, these bottles of gin, vodka, rum, whiskey and rye…
30 Seconds With Laura Pleasants Of Kylesa
Rocks off sat down with guitarist Laura Pleasants of Southern sludge-metal sensations Kylesa to see what we could learn form her metallic excellency in just 30 seconds. Rocks Off: What is the worst song in the world? Laura Pleasants: Any Nickelback song. I shouldn’t need to explain why. RO: What…
Comment of the Day: A New Motto For NASA
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…
Comment of the Day: We Care About Game of Thrones (and Maybe Mexican Soap Operas)
Following us covering the bejeesus out of HBO’s historical-fiction hit Game of Thrones, yesterday’s CoD focused on one anonymous reader’s comparison of the show to a Mexican soap opera. Reader Dbresponder Rkw came to the rescue via sarcasm: Wow… I need to check out some of these Mexican Soap Operas…
4 Horrifying Interpretations of Children’s Shows
Some people believe that children should be kept as far away from television as long as possible. Art Attack believes that if DJ Lance Rock can keep our 2-year-old daughter entertained long enough to go to the bathroom then it can’t be all bad. However, we may be watching a…
Pop Rocks: We Don’t Need Another Star Wars
If you’re one of those wondering what the delay is with the planned live-action Star Wars TV show, wonder no longer: George Lucas has said that he has 50 hours worth of a new Star Wars TV series ready, but is waiting for a new technological breakthrough before it can…
Pop Rocks: That’ll Do, George
If you’re one of those wondering what the delay is with the planned live-action Star Wars TV show, wonder no longer: George Lucas has said that he has 50 hours worth of a new Star Wars TV series ready, but is waiting for a new technological breakthrough before it can…
Featherface: Dreams Of Peacocks And The Great Gatsby
It’s a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off we’re trying hard to find meaning in the oddest monikers. Houston’s own Featherface is a very interesting little group of indie-rockers. The music is ethereal, atmospheric, but somehow sinister underneath all of that. It’s…
Aggies More Financially Successful Than Longhorns, Cougars, According to Study
Looks like the tea sippers need to work a little harder and/or become a bit more driven to best the Aggies. PayScale recently published a study that breaks down earned income for college graduates. The 2010-11 survey, which is supported by 2010 United States Census data, is broken into two…
100 Creatives: Dennis Lee Harper
What he does: Dennis Lee Harper makes good use of his lively sense of humor and personality when creating his art. “It comes out in most of my work…it’s a little quirky but people seem to respond to it,” Harper says, laughing. The video artist and sculptor likes to call…
Bycatch Ceviche at Anvil Bar & Refuge
Anvil Bar & Refuge has some terribly interesting things going on right now that have nothing at all to do with its summer selection of “Southern”-inspired cocktails. Those are great, too, don’t get me wrong. But the best things are coming out of chef Chris Shepherd dabbling in the small…
Ten Hurricane Season Postcards: Wish You Were Here Instead of Me
Yesterday brought the opening of what will no doubt be a tense hurricane season. Memories of Ike and Allison are still vivid, and the wild weather in the U.S. so far this year seems to promise plenty of drama. As in all things, however, it always makes sense to turn…
Batteries Not Included: Retro Toys Wonder Week
There was a time when toys were powered by a child’s imagination rather than by batteries. During the Children’s Museum of Houston’s Batteries Not Included: Retro Toys Wonder Week, simple games and playthings will once again get the spotlight. Ongoing activities include classic games like Pick Up Sticks, Sink or…
Karen White: The Beach Trees
In Karen White’s latest novel, The Beach Trees, Julie Holt was just 12 years old when her little sister went missing, never to be seen again. The loss destroyed Julie’s family. Years later, Julie meets a young artist who reminds her of her sister and sparks a sense of protectiveness…
Hobo with a Shotgun
Usually the movie comes first, then the trailer. Not so with Hobo with a Shotgun. It’s the second film spawned by a fictional trailer from the minds of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. The title pretty much gives away the plot, but the hobo in question is the good guy…
Crave
By the time English playwright Sarah Kane’s last play was produced (4:48 Psychosis), she had hanged herself in a mental institution. That should give you some small idea of the demons that possessed — and obsessed — her. Her scandalous earlier plays, including Blasted (1995), Phaedra’s Love (1996) and Cleansed…
Distinctly American: Texas Music Festival Jazz Project
Today’s “Distinctly American: Texas Music Festival Jazz Project” showcase includes music by two jazz giants — Duke Ellington and Thad Jones. The concert features a 19-person ensemble performing highlights from the American jazz canon, both classic and contemporary. Director and trumpeter Noe Marmolejo, who is also the Director of Jazz…
Sounds Like Fun! Gotta Dance!
The Houston Symphony gets out of the concert hall during its annual Sounds Like Fun! family concert series. This summer’s theme is Gotta Dance!, so expect plenty of toe-tapping favorites. The medley from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Suite No. 2 from Carmen, the overture to West Side Story and…
El Gesto en el Momento (The Gesture in the Moment)
Experimental shorts by Colombian filmmakers are the focus of El Gesto en el Momento (The Gesture in the Moment). Colombian native turned Houstonian Camilo Gonzalez, a digital media artist and instructor for Aurora Picture Show, curated the event, choosing from dozens of submissions. Gonzalez says the inspiration for the event…
“Other Loves: Celebrating Queer Artists”
Once again, the nonprofit group Voices Breaking Boundaries has put together an excellent and diverse mix of art and entertainment focusing on a specific social concern. The Houston Institute for Culture will host “Other Loves: Celebrating Queer Artists,” VBB’s final show of its 2011 East End Live Art series. Today’s…
Big Range Dance Festival
Back for its ninth year, Suchu Dance’s annual Big Range Dance Festival is one of Houston’s most anticipated contemporary dance events, with three different programs of dance works spread out over eight days of performances. The event features a wide range of work, swinging from conceptual multidisciplinary experiments to narrative…
2011 AIA SandCastle Competition
Watch as some of the best engineers, artists, designers and architects of the Gulf Coast dig in the sand to construct what they hope will be an award-winning sandcastle in the 2011 AIA SandCastle Competition. This is one of the largest sandcastle competitions in the world, and the contenders are…
Raising the Barre
The Houston Ballet is on fire this year, with a beautiful new home, an artistic director hand-selected to choreograph for Jacob’s Pillow, and a Rudolph Nureyev Prize for New Dance. HB’s latest effort, the spring mixed-repertory program Raising the Barre, will feature choreography by Jorma Elo of Finland and Christopher…
Mitch Fatel
Comedian Mitch Fatel seems to have sex on the brain, as evidenced by his routines and tweets. One recent tweet read: “Leaving AZ and coming home to a warm vagina…if my gf remembered to take it out of the fridge.” You can’t blame Fatel; one of his first gigs was…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Elaine Bradford: The Sidereal” “Guns and Roses” “Jackie Gendel: Fables in Slang” “Measured: Lawndale Artist Studio Program Exhibition” “Nathan Green: Fill the Sky” “Voodoo Pop: Mary Hayslip and Trey Speegle” “Wendy Wagner: Once Up
“Elaine Bradford: The Sidereal” There are stores known for doing “artsy” window displays, but artists still come up with the best stuff. The Dallas Art Fair recently organized a series of window installations by artists in the windows of Dallas’s downtown Neiman Marcus, and the Blaffer Art Museum is taking…
Bear Hug
Guitarist and bandleader of the Honeybears, Zach Ernst is Black Joe Lewis’s main musical partner in crime. Originally from College Station, Ernst went to Austin to go to college and found a kindred spirit in Lewis just when the dynamic front man was beginning his ascendancy on the local scene. They’ve been collaborating ever since, and…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Opening the Box, Raising the Barre, The Threesome
Opening the Box Five veteran performers from Masquerade Theatre, Houston’s repository of Broadway musicals, have left that company to form their own: Music Box Theater. The five artists — Rebekah Dahl, Brad Scarborough, Luke Wrobel, Cay Taylor and Colton Berry — use the cabaret format to showcase their formidable talents,…
Butterflies
Hardest thing about being a rhythm and blues singer today is — well, we can’t really say the hardest thing since all the difficulties, by the Jurassic standards of yesteryear, have really been removed from the enterprise. No more death by motel clerk, Russian roulette, defenestration, barbiturates. No more six…
Serious Chaat
To see more of Pondicheri’s delightful dining room and busy kitchen, browse through our slideshow. Two dishes of chaat landed on our wooden table at Pondicheri in a swirl of colors. My dining companion and I briefly stopped to admire the two plates, both heaped high, each one an elegant…
Screen Test
Barcadia (2600 Travis) is a Midtown bar that will expand to more than 11,000 square feet this summer. It opened less than six months ago, but has already established itself as a Midtown go-to spot. Nothing about the space looks overdone — or underdone, for that matter. The floor is…
Woody Allen’s Way-Back Machine
Anebbishy screenwriter who longs to publish a novel, Gil (Owen Wilson) is tentatively working on a book set in a nostalgia shop — much to the open frustration of Inez (Rachel McAdams), his all-too-modern, rich-girl fiancée, who has a tendency to talk about him in catty, judgey tones as if…
Transformers
George Bernard Shaw’s most convivial play — he subtitled it a “Romance in Five Acts” — Pygmalion takes on class consciousness with a breezy attitude and romantic comedy with an icy stare. The play, which premiered in 1913 and is now running at the Alley Theatre in a fine production,…
Calling All Sluts
SPACED CITY Calling All Sluts Time to fight back By Mandy Oaklander SlutWalk is coming to a park near you. It all started earlier this year in Toronto, when a constable with the Toronto Police Service told a group of law school students at a safety seminar how not to…
Face to Face
Face to Face became a ’90s SoCal punk mainstay and skate-video staple with the success of albums such as Big Choice, Face to Face and Don’t Turn Away — “Disconnected” still finds regular radio airplay. Things may have halted since the days of power chords and wallet chains, as the…
Broken System
Twelve years ago, Texas Child Protective Services took 11-year-old Ashley Gallardo and her younger brothers from their home because workers believed they were not safe there. The State of Texas was never able to find her a better home. After a stint in an emergency shelter, Gallardo and her brothers…
Eisley
Eisley has been waiting a long time for this: It’s been four years since the Tyler-based family band released its last full-length album, Combinations, and during that time they’ve been through the wringer, both personally and professionally. Personal relationship breakups and an ugly split from Warner Bros. Records left the…
Broken System: The People Behind PPP
In December 2010, the Department of Family and Protective Service’s Public-Private Partnership panel issued its recommendations on a foster care redesign. The findings were the result of input from Child Protective Services, private foster care placement agencies, state-run child placement divisions, district court judges and directors of facilities that oversee…
The Spits
The Spits’ last run through Houston included a booze-glistened set upstairs at Rudyard’s with fellow scuzzy garage rockers Nobunny. This time the band returns for another round with TV Ghost and locals White Crime and Cop Warmth down for support. Together for about a decade, The Spits have released a…
Broken System: Levels of Care
Where a child is placed, and how many times a child is moved, depends in part on the child’s Level of Care. In 2003, the Department of Family and Protective Services streamlined the six-tier LOC system to four levels: basic, moderate, specialized and intense. Depending on the LOC, a child…
Sick Puppies
Lately, it seems Australia has been doing some of the heavy lifting when it comes to making catchy modern rock for the radio masses. From Seether to Wolfmother and the recently departed Silverchair, Aussies have proven they know their way around an alt-rock fist-pumper, and Sydney’s Sick Puppies are the…
Charles in Charge
Charles in Charge Online readers comment on “The Mayor of Montrose,” by Mandy Oaklander,” May 19: Look, Houston Press: Don’t be so presumptuous…You have to have an election, and your candidate must actually win before announcing someone as a mayor. And let me wish you the best of luck in…
Buddy Guy
Whatever you do, don’t tell Buddy Guy to play the blues. It should be obvious, but one woman made that very mistake near the end of the Chicago guitar hero’s previous House of Blues appearance in October 2009. “What the fuck do you think I’ve been doing all night?” Guy…
Why Did Every Mexican’s Great-Grandfather Fight Under Pancho Villa?
Dear Mexican, I’m new to the San Antonio area and am enjoying exploring the many wonderful aspects of its history and culture. One thing has become incredibly bothersome to me, though: the plight of pet overpopulation. With so many resources that are available for spay/neuter assistance, I’m not certain as…
