Para La Familia: Protestors for Immigration Reform March Downtown
Tuesday morning 25 organizations from around the city converged on downtown Houston to speak in one voice about the need for immigration reform here in the United States. Carrying banners and homemade signs, they marched down Smith Street, passionately chanting and spreading a simple message: Now is the time for…
Dereon Kelley: Convicted, Faces 10 Years for Calling in Bomb Threat to Texas State University
A 22-year-old Bryan man has been found guilty of calling in bomb threats to Texas State University last year, around the same time he was suspected of calling in a bomb threat that evacuated Texas A&M. A Houston federal jury took about an hour to convict Dereon Tayronne Kelley after…
Last Night: Grizzly Bear at House of Blues
Grizzly Bear House of Blues April 9, 2013 The best move that Grizzly Bear made Tuesday night was possibly their only move. What I imagined to be electric-light squids danced high and low in time as lights flashed in bursts, the band frozen silhouettes in the foreground. The music was…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Jonathan Jones of Monarch at the Hotel ZaZa, On Running a Hotel Restaurant and Creating a New Menu to Give the Restaurant a Houston Identity
This is the first part of a three part Chef Chat series. Come back on Thursday and Friday, to read parts two and three of this series. Walk into the lobby of the Hotel Zaza, and as you’re checking in you’ll see a life-size billboard of the hotel restaurant Monarch’s…
Dylan Quick Update: All Victims in Lone Star College Stabbing Recovering, Suspect May Have Discussed Attack in Chat Room
A day after the mass stabbing at the Lone Star-Cy Fair campus, it appears that all 14 victims in Tuesday’s attack will recover. According to Lone Star-Cy Fair President Audre Levy, seven of the victims have already left the hospital, and the four with the worst injuries have stabilized and…
Last Night: Baauer & Danny Brown at Fitzgerald’s
Baauer, Danny Brown Fitzgerald’s April 09, 2013 At first glimpse, packing a horde of subjects into the throne room of the EDM version of Game of Thrones’ King Joffrey shouldn’t be hard. After all, Scoremore had pulled the feat off when hosting its grand-mansion SXSW afterparty spot, The Illmore. On…
The Most Valuable Player At Minute Maid Is….Astro Mascot Orbit?
We all know things have been pretty grim at Minute Maid Park this year. (Well, actually the past six or so seasons, to be honest.) Winning, of any sort, has been thin on the ground. Until now. Today we learned that one member of the Astros organization is willing to…
Reality Bites: Catfishin’ Kings
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. If you need concrete proof that America’s middle class is disappearing*, you need look no further than basic cable reality programming. The evidence is pretty clear. On one hand, you…
Animal-Style Fries at Bismillah Chaat: California Meets Pakistan
What if I told you that you could get animal-style fries in Houston? What if I told you that those famously messy, cheese-and-onion-slathered fries topped with a final heart-stopping glug of Thousand Island dressing weren’t at a brand-new In-N-Out Burger, but at a chaat house in Little India? And what…
Last Night: Sigur Ros at Bayou Music Center
Sigur Ros Bayou Music Center April 9, 2013 If you ever want to feel like you’ve completely taken leave of Planet Earth for a couple of hours, might I recommend a ticket to a Sigur Ros show? The Icelandic group has amassed a considerable following, enough to almost fill Bayou…
Cover Story: In Officer-Involved Crashes, Is It Ever The Cops’ Fault?
In 2009, a Houston police officer driving 60 miles per hour on a residential road at night, with no lights or sirens, slammed into a car carrying 54-year-old Mattie Etubom, who suffered severe injuries. In 2010, a Houston police officer driving 84 miles per hour on a residential road at…
This Week In Food Blogs: Houston Rising
Huffington Post: In the first of two articles that set Houstonian tongues wagging this week, travel writer David Landsel offers his reasons as to why Austin is the most overrated tourist destination in America — and why Houston is the most underrated. Among them, Landsel includes “plenty of good food”…
Say Hello to galleryHOMELAND, One of Houston’s Newest Art Galleries
Tucked behind a warehouse on Commerce Street, across from rising condos just east of downtown, you’ll find one of Houston’s newest art galleries. Well, technically, galleryHOMELAND isn’t all that new. Since moving to Houston several years ago, director Paul Middendorf has been putting on various curatorial projects and had a…
Goooooooal Tending: Rockets Beat Suns, Make Playoffs on Bizarre Final Play
“What a long strange trip it’s been.” — The Grateful Dead It is fitting in a season as crazy as this one that the young Rockets’ road to the playoffs would ultimately come down to a game, a play and a call like the ones that occurred Tuesday night at…
Jazz Great Bill Evans Working at University of Houston Residency
Bill Evans, the saxophonist who worked with Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the ’80s and has explored the intersection of jazz and hip-hop on solo albums like Escape, will be working with University of Houston jazz students all week and perform with them at a concert next Tuesday,…
5 Franchises That Need LEGO Video Games
I’m a pretty hardcore gamer. I logged more than 200 hours on Xenoblade before grudgingly beating the game. I like massive environments, compelling drama, epic repercussions of adventures, and just in general all the celebrations of the technology and art that make up modern gaming. I’m also passionately addicted to…
Frank’s Americana Revival and Chef Kevin Naderi of Roost: 2013 Menu of Menu’s Big Winners
The annual Menu of Menus grand tasting is much more than just a night for our readers to come out, meet their favorite restaurants, find new favorites and get their faces stuffed with delicious grub. It’s also a fierce competition. A wooden token was given to each guest as they…
Bring Your Black Flag Tattoos to Vinal Edge This Saturday
Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m., tattooed Black Flag disciples are encouraged to stop by Vinal Edge in the Heights for sweaty fellowship with their fellow “barred” brethren to celebrate the release of Stewart Dean Ebersole’s Barred for Life: How Black Flag’s Iconic Logo Became Punk Rock’s Secret Handshake. The book…
New Museums We’d Like to See in Houston: Fashion, Texas Art, Sports, Criminal Justice and Politics
We keep hearing that Houston has several world class museums (mostly from the directors of those museums). We don’t disagree, but we do think we could use a few more museums; there are a couple of subjects not completely covered by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Houston Museum…
Austin Is Overrated, Try Houston Instead, Says Most Insightful Travel Writer To Ever Grace The Web
We — to be frank — had absolutely no idea who David Landsel was…until we opened an e-mail to discover that he is the single most insightful, knowledgeable, trenchant and trustworthy travel writer to ever be on the web. Why he has no multi-platform empire of his own — why…
Report: Aeros To Des Moines; Their Weird Toyota Center Fight Now Includes Talk Of Missing Office Equipment, Bad Ice & Iffy Wi-Fi
John RoyalThe Aeros celebrate the fans after winning the AHL’s Western Conference Championship two years agoI wrote last week that the Houston Aeros might possibly be in the midst of their last-ever regular season homestand. The team’s lease with Toyota Center expires at the end of this season, and negotiations…
Houston Ranks #18 Among Places to Find a Sugar Daddy. Go Us!
It is amazing how life has changed over the past few years. In just five short years we’ve seen an African American in the White House, several states recognizing gay marriage, the first Latin-American woman Supreme Court Justice and now this news just hit: The national average age of a…
The Five Strangest Artists You Never Knew Courtney Love Worked With
Fall Out Boy is set to save rock and roll, and they’re bringing a few friends along with them. Apparently, saving rock and roll requires the combined efforts of prose auteur Pete Wentz, “Rocket Man” Elton John, and, of course, Courtney Love. What? Courtney Love? Yes. As the video announces,…
Dan Patrick Tries An End-Run On His Plan To Give Texas Students Taxpayer-Funded Scholarships To Private & Parochial Schools
Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, is determined to get his taxpayer-funded scholarship bill through the Senate, and he’s even willing to scale it back to do so. Patrick, with few members of the Senate Education Committee but plenty of audience, laid out Senate Bill 23 yesterday The bill, co-sponsored with Sen…
Exploring Sweet Spot Audio And Records In Webster
A few weeks back, our own Marc Brubaker detailed ten of the best record stores in the Houston area. This past weekend I finally visited another one to add to your list of must-visit shops in Houston, and it is worthy of the drive if you live inside the Inner…
100 Creatives 2013: Ashley Stoker, Painter, Photographer and Tumblr Muse
Ashley Stoker, who goes by the moniker Fox Marie online, is a self-portrait photographer and painter who also uses handmade jewelry and occult imagery in her artwork. She became active on Tumblr in 2011, and her sometimes-NSFW blog, Hipporacle, has thousands of followers. In 2012 she was given a Houston…
Snackshot: Your 2013 Menu of Menus® Extravaganza Pics on Instagram
It was a true extravaganza Tuesday night at Silver Street Station for the 2013 Menu of Menus® grand tasting event. For the food fans who came out, it was a night of tasty food, fierce culinary competition, good music and new friends. Many of those fans decided to share their…
The Wait Is Finally Over!!: Way-Too-Early Odds On March Madness 2014 Are Out
As is the case in almost everything in 2013, the shelf life for enjoyment of the 2013 NCAA men’s championship game (a thrilling 82-76 Louisville win over Michigan) was a total of about five minutes before we started looking ahead to 2013-2014. Almost immediately after the game was over, already…
Annette Funicello and Other Boobs I Wish I Had
This week penned a very sad chapter in the book of awesome women who made their marks. First we lost the “Iron Lady,” former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who will go down in history as forever changing the face of her country’s politics. And just hours later (so it…
Your Easy Guide to Purchasing Houston Concert Tickets…In 1983
I went to see Paul McCartney at Minute Maid last year. A friend bought the tickets, and I asked if he’d mail mine so I could hold it in my hand and marvel at this new, treasured souvenir. He said he would just e-mail it to me as a PDF…
Where to Brunch: $7 Mimosa Pitchers and More at Royal Oaks Bar & Grill
Sundays are made for mimosas. The weekend is nearly over and you can feel your freedom fading faster than a Houston winter. It all seems to be going downhill. That is, until you remember you have the holy grail of weekend activities summoning you from the cocoon of blankets you’ve…
Upcoming: Barry Manilow, Titus Andronicus, Sheryl Crow, Jonas Brothers, Mudhoney, etc.
Angry Samoans: With Swingin’ Dicks, Die Rottz., Fri., April 12, 10 p.m., $12. Rudyard’s, 2010 Waugh, Houston. Bang Bangz: Sat., April 13, 1 p.m., Free. Cactus Music & Video, 2110 Portsmouth St., Houston. Barry Manilow: Sun., May 19, 8 p.m., $29.99-$139.99. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2005 Lake Robbins Drive, Spring…
UPDATED (With Charges & Suspect’s Statement): Stabbing at Lone Star College-Cy Fair; 14 Injured, 2 Critical
A stabbing at Lone Star College-Cy Fair today has generated initial, unconfirmed reports of as many as 13 people being injured, with one suspect caught and another at large. “Several people have been transported to area hospitals,” Lone Star College System spokesman Jed Young stated in an e-mail. Young confirmed…
A Sick, Twisted Tale: A Dog-Napped Yorkie Named Gizmo and an (Allegedly) Wicked Stepmother — Disney, Eat Your Heart Out.
Photo Courtesy Amy GilmartinSara Ince & Gizmo — reunited and it feels so good….It was the note seen ’round the world — er, well, at least ’round Texas, anyway: The owners of a Yorkie named Gizmo, who had been missing for two weeks, received a note purporting to be from…
A&E’s Bates Motel Gets Renewed for a Second Season
Bates Motel on A&E is doing a great job of reintroducing the Psycho franchise to a new audience while also sating the appetite of the Alfred Hitchcock lovers in that crowd who still cannot get enough of Hitch’s 1960 thriller. This week we found out that the cable channel has…
Top 5 Ways to Cook with Green Tea
Green tea is an excellent source of caffeine that provides you with antioxidants that can help fight against risks of heart disease, cancer and blood clots. It’s also one of those beverages that can instantly improve your mood. Strictly drinking green tea can be a little boring and monotonous, however,…
So About This Idiotic “Accidental Racist” Song…
So somewhere along the line, a very strange, slightly racist, and incredibly awkward brainchild — aptly named “Accidental Racist” — appeared to Brad Paisley and LL Cool J. Instead of shoving that idea into the box labeled “Hell no,” they decided to record it and put it out into the…
The Eating…Our Words 100: Kaiser Lashkari, Owner and Chef of Himalaya Restaurant in Houston’s Mahatma Gandhi District
Those people I know who are nuts about South Asian cuisine fall into two camps when it comes to Himalaya Restaurant. Half call it the best Pakistani restaurant in the city. The other half say that even if it’s not the absolute, platonic “best,” it’s always worth a visit for…
Dale Watson Has Had It With Americana; Meet “Ameripolitan”
Dale Watson has a bone to pick with country music, and you’re invited to join in. See, he misses the twang. He misses the good old days when songs like “Ring of Fire” and “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line” ruled the airwaves. Waston blames Nashville music executives who have…
The Sit-In Worked! UH President Commits $1 Million to Helping English Teaching Fellows Out of Poverty
After nearly a week of early mornings, late nights, and a few choice Facebook posts, it seems the University of Houston’s English Teaching Fellows’ sit-in has finally ended. A meeting with President Renu Khator, and a subsequent statement from her office, detailed the measures the university is willing to take…
ATG Foundations: One UH Student’s Fight To Get Kids Into College & Keep Them There
It’s about that time of year where high school seniors are just marking the days until they toss their caps in the air and say deuces to the institution that put up with them for four years. Most have already decided what college they plan on being at by the…
Remembering Phil Ochs, the “Singing Journalist”
Phil Ochs was never Bob Dylan. Oh, he wanted to be Dylan, but ol’ Zimmy booted that bastard right out of his limo. “You’re not a folksinger, you’re a journalist.” If only Phil had accepted himself as “the singing journalist.” After failing to find the commercial success he so desired,…
Burgers Off the Beaten Path: Tornado Burger
The first thing you should know about the new Tornado Burger location on Long Point and Campbell is that it isn’t air conditioned. It’s entirely situated within a semi-enclosed patio that offers a bit of shade, but not too much. So go now before it gets face-meltingly hot. The second…
UPDATED: A Peek Inside Houston House of Creeps
UPDATED (Tuesday, 2:15 p.m.) to clarify some information about the Jay Reatard documentary. There’s a place in Houston where bands go to get their feet wet, and believe it or not, we’re not talking about Walters, Fitzgerald’s, or Rudyard’s. While it’s undeniable that those landmark venues do amazing things for…
Ten Knockout Pics of Annette Funicello
Annette Funicello was hot. Very hot. As star of all those beach movies in the ’60s, she gave all the other girls at the time a run for their money, and it wasn’t hard to see why Frankie Avalon demanded they have plenty of shoots on the sand. Or why…
As Texas’s Drought Continues, Opportunities for Conservation Finally Find Discussion
The rain came last week. Finally. It came in droves, surging over the curbs, washing away the oil and grime and refuse into a filthy chemical blend. It came for hours. It was needed, in a state suffering a drought that has covered nearly every city and town and farm…
Pop Rocks: After Evil Dead, Are Any Horror Movies Safe from Remake Mania?
The reboot of Sam Raimi’s shoestring classic Evil Dead topped the box office last weekend with $26 million, beating both G.I. Joe: Retaliation and The Croods (both in their second week of release). The Los Angeles Times has an interesting piece on the increasing popularity of horror movies (at least…
Weather Week: April Showers May Continue as Temperatures Slowly Rise
Last week, the entire area got around two inches of rain, as much as three in some places. Considering how drought-ridden our area has been, that’s a pretty decent amount of rain but not nearly enough to stave off the persistent dry weather that has been plaguing the region for…
Yet Another Cooking Show: The American Baking Competition Heads to CBS This Summer
Over the past several years, cooking shows have popped up on a variety of networks besides the mother ship of all food and cooking shows, the Food Network. If Cupcake Wars and reruns of Top Chef Just Desserts don’t do it for you, this summer CBS will air a summer…
The Rocks Off 100: Jason Puffer, Your Psychedelic Sex Panther
Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Jason Puffer prowls some…
The Ramen Experiments at Soma
I love ramen. Like the ubiquitous pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) you find all over Houston, to me, ramen is comfort in a bowl of noodles. Hearty, filling and affordable, if done well it’s one of those dishes that you’ll come back to time and again. It’s one of those…
Zack Kopplin Appears on Maher, Informs WSJ Editor that, No, He Doesn’t Research Snail Mating
For those who’ve forgotten, our recent profile subject Zack Kopplin, the 19-year-old pro-science/anti-creationism advocate we’re fortunate enough to have living in Texas, was once a meek-mannered boy who could barely stand eye contact and direct speech. His path from his shell has continued, and last Friday saw Kopplin land his…
Paul Anka, Ladies’ Man and Sinatra Worshipper, Tells It His Way
My Way: An Autobiography By Paul Anka with David Dalton St. Martin’s Press, 384 pp., $29.99 Currently celebrating his 55th year in show business with this autobiography and the new CD Duets — which finds him singing with artists like Celine Dion, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and (through the magic…
Today’s DVDs & Blu-rays: In Another Country, The Sorcerer & the White Snake and Woochi, The Demon Slayer
All three of our DVD/Blu-ray releases this week have Asian directors and settings. In Another Country from South Korean director Hong Sang-soo examines relationships while The Sorcerer and the White Snake directed by Ching Siu-tung and Woochi, The Demon Slayer directed by Choi Dong-Hoon, are both action-filled fantasy flicks with…
Louisville 82, Michigan 76: 4 Winners, 4 Losers
A roller-coaster first half, which had Twitter in a frenzy of hyperbole, led to a grinding second half, and in the end experience won out as Louisville knocked off Michigan 82-76 to win Rick Pitino’s second career men’s basketball title, making him the first coach to win it all at…
Please Insert Public Art Here: The Washington Avenue Edition
Houston has plenty of public art around the city. Some pieces, like Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk over at the Rothko Chapel, have become touchstones for the art community. Others, like Luis Jimenez’s Vaquero in Moody Park, were controversial when first installed but eventually became just another part of the cultural…
Here, Eat This: A Beginner’s Guide to Argentine Cuisine
For this week’s edition of Here, Eat This, we venture into South America, where hardy Houstonians possessed of a hearty appetite will find much to love in the pampas of Argentina. See also: – Here, Eat This: A Beginner’s Guide to Nigerian Cuisine – Here, Eat This: A Beginner’s Guide…
Five Songs That Name-Drop the Astrodome
On this day in 1965, what was then called the Harris County Domed Stadium opened to the public. These days the Astrodome sits mournfully overlooking the empty lot that was Six Flags Astroworld, a testament to the fact that no one can think of what to do with an enormous…
No, Joel Osteen Is Not Resigning; World Reels at Thought That Internet Might Be Wrong Sometimes
Someone with a lot of time on their hands and a burning desire to — what? embarrass Joel Osteen? — has put together several Web sites advancing the idea that the rich megachurch preacher is quitting. The hoax includes Web pages, fake news stories, a YouTube video and a Twitter…
Mugshot Shirt Don’t Lie: John Cortez Is Lonely at the Top, Or at Least That Top That Allegedly Involves Being Drunk & High at 2 P.M.
In mugshots lies truth. Just like in vino veritas, we’re tellin’ ya. Valley resident John Cortez is the latest example of the mugshot theorem. When it came time to pose for his close-up, he was wearing — and was it sheer happenstance or something deeper? — a T-shirt that aptly…
March Madness Final Four: Championship Game Prediction and Prop Bets!
So, here we are. Championship Monday. A lot of you had Louisville in the finals, almost none of you had Michigan in the finals, and you sure as shit didn’t have then knocking off Wichita State (barely) and Syracuse (barely, again), respectively, to get there. So let’s establish that right…
Rainbow Lodge Wins the 2013 Burger Bracket Grand Championship
It may be tough to imagine in Texas, but beef isn’t always king. That was the lesson learned at the 3rd annual Burger Bracket this past Saturday at The Refinery, where Rainbow Lodge took home first place with a blended burger patty so good that it won with a landslide…
Imagining the Divine: Asia Society presents Malavika Sarukkai
The Setup: On the evening of April 5, Asia Society presented Malavika Sarukkai’s Darshan: Seeking the Divine at The Brown Foundation Theater for the Performing Arts. Sarukkai is a master is the classical Indian dance form of bharata natyam, and her program consisted of four solo pieces inspired by Indian…
Pop Culture Icon Annette Funicello Dead at 70
Annette Funicello, who came to prominence as a teenager as a Mouseketeer on the Mickey Mouse Club before becoming the pre-eminent beach bunny with co-star Frankie Avalon, has passed away at the age of 70. Funicello had been living with multiple sclerosis since 1992. Her public appearances had been scarce…
Barbecue, Onions and Red Soda: Dispatches from the 2013 Foodways Texas Symposium
When I first heard about the theme of the 2013 Foodways Texas symposium, I was wary: two-and-a-half days of barbecue panels, meals and talks. Two-and-a-half days? Not that there isn’t fertile ground to plow for topics, but the sheer amount of time devoted to discussions of smoked meat seemed excessive…
Saturday Night: Old 97’s at Sam Houston Race Park
Old 97’s Sam Houston Race Park April 6, 2013 So, very rarely is it possible to see a decent band for six bucks. However, it was entirely possible to do so at the Sam Houston Race Park this past Saturday night. Oh, and not only could you see a band…
Aggie Gay Group Wins Battle Over “Opt-Out” Funding
We told you late last month about how conservative Aggies (All together now: “ARE THERE ANY OTHER KIND?!?!”) were pushing through a bill that would have allowed Texas A&M students to opt out of paying that portion of their student fees that went to funding the school’s gay-support center. Because…
The Supersizers Go… Is the Best TV Show You’re Not Watching
I was digging through Hulu for old episodes of Kitchen Nightmares — the best TV show to fold laundry to, bar none — when I found it: my new television obsession. The Supersizers Go… is shamefully hidden deep within Hulu’s bowels, when it should be front and center. It’s far…
Saturday Night: Tejano Music Fest 2013 at Humble Civic Center
Tejano Music Fest 2013 feat. La Mafia, Emilio Navaira, Jay Perez, and Fito Olivares Humble Civic Center April 6, 2013 It was one of those rare, perfect, mosquito-free afternoons in the Bayou City. Little to no humidity, the temperature hovered around seventy, and the breeze blew softly through the smog-less…
(UPDATED With A Talk With The Owner) Houston Studios & Warehouse District: Big, Modern Development Coming?
The Warehouse District is one of Houston’s funkiest areas, as artists through the years have used the spaces north of downtown for every kind of art from plays to movies to painting to whatever. Now, if some web action is to be believed, the nature of the place may be…
Game of Thrones: “That’s What Intelligent Women Do: What They’re Told.”
I both envy and pity people watching Game of Thrones who haven’t read the books. Envy, because so much of what’s to come will be a surprise: some infuriating, some awesome. You’re coming into each week with fresh eyes and no knowledge of how lousy your predictive powers are. But…
Laura Nyro Is Worth Remembering
“I’m writing about Laura Nyro. What should I say?” “Who?” This was not the answer I wanted or expected from my mother. After all, I had spent my single-digit years rifling through my parents’ old vinyl and found Nyro’s pen to be behind many a childhood favorite. Laura Nyro was…
Top 5 Snail Dishes in Houston
Next year I should give up shelled creatures for Lent, so strong is my liking for crabs, lobster, oysters….and snails! Escargot isn’t exactly something you can pick up at the market, so I’m always on the lookout for restaurants with interesting land mollusk options. Here are five that have caught…
Happy Birthday Izzy Stradlin, Forgotten Guns N’ Roses Lead Vocalist
Today is the 51st birthday of Izzy Stradlin, who most simply remember as the rhythm guitarist in Guns N’ Roses. But if that’s all you know about him, it’s really sad, because a lot of what made GN’R the band it was was due to Stradlin’s inspired writing. His dedication…
What’s Cooking This Week? Linguine w/ Baby Clams & More
I love cooking for my fiancé and me, but most of the time, cooking for two proves to be difficult. If I don’t make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredient’s I’ve bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter…
Doctor Who: Quantum Immortality
As Amy Pond said, “Okay, kid. This is where it gets complicated.” There’s a thought experiment in quantum physics birthed from the observation that inside an atom some particles appear to be moving in two different directions at once. Now, that seems impossible, and in a way it is. In…
Houston’s Years of Saying “WTF?” Finally End: Guy V. Lewis Gets into the Hall of Fame
Legendary Houston Cougar basketball coach Guy V. Lewis has been selected for the Basketball Hall of Fame. It is a very well-deserved honor for one of the finest basketball coaches ever involved with the game. It is also an honor that should have been bestowed long, long ago. Fans of…
Rockets Edge Closer to the Playoffs with 2-1 West Road Trip
The Rockets’ loss to Denver on Saturday night was almost a given. Very few teams who faced the Nuggets in Denver on the second half of a back-to-back travel game in the last couple seasons have won. It’s tough to travel and play a game at altitude against a team…
Skeeter’s Anniversary Burger W/ a Margarita (or Two)
Skeeter’s Mesquite Grill has been serving the Houston community for 25 years and to celebrate, they are offering a burger that’s two tons of fun (despite being “only” a half-pound). I have meant to try Skeeter’s for the longest time, but, unfortunately, my most recent attempt was foiled by some…
The Flaming Lips Keep Right On Terrorizing Mainstream Rock
Next Tuesday, Flaming Lips will release their long-awaited new album, The Terror. Though the band has been constantly busy with side-projects over the last several years to tide their freaky fans over, The Terror marks their first “official” entry into their primary discography since 2009’s Embryonic. The album made its…
Mauritius: A Thriller with Manipulation and Rare Stamps at Rice University
The setup: Two half-sisters dispute the ownership of a collection of rare stamps, as they sort through the belongings of their deceased mother. Mauritius is not a nuanced study of character, but a thriller, with the stakes apparently minor at first, but mounting as three males, each with his own…
(Updated with Slideshow) Parkour: We Try to Become Our Very Own Leaping, Spinning, Pipe-Grabbing, Pedestrian-Avoiding Jason Bourne
Check out our slideshow of parkour training in Houston. If you ever take a ride on one of Houston’s downtown Segway tours, there’s a point near the Wortham Center, trailing along the bayou, that the guides will always indicate. Flitting between the feet-high brick walls, scampering along the thin lines…
Male Strippers Share “Naked Truth” of Dancing For Dollars (sNSFW)
If you loved the movie Magic Mike (and I know a lot of people who did), you might be wondering how much of it was factually accurate. Two Houston-based male strippers have teamed up to write a book about the Playgirl lifestyle, called Take It Off! The Naked Truth About…
Liquidating Your Record Collection Is Harder Than You Would Think
Every time I come home from work, I find myself going to my guest-room closet and staring at crates and crates of compact discs and vinyl I don’t know what to do with. Aside from the ones that I hold dear to my musical development or use for my DJ…
One Couple Has a Plan for Turning the Astrodome into Houston’s “International Multicultural Dome” (i.e., Mostly an Office Park)
The husband-and-wife team of Regina and Ed Seale are trying to stop the Astrodome from becoming another parking lot, working independently on plans for what they call an “International Multicultural Dome” in the Reliant Park complex. Their plan — seen here on Facebook — would turn the Dome into what…
Top 5 Herbs You Should Grow at Home in Houston
One of my favorite things about spring and summer is getting to eat fresh fruits and vegetables at just about every meal. Herbs are a great addition to any dish and during the spring and summer seasons, they bring out the wonderful flavors of freshly picked produce. Sherri Harrah of…
Dollhouse at Stages Updates Ibsen with Brilliant Direction and Outstanding Acting
The setup: Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play A Doll’s House is the world’s most produced play, and it is easy to see why: strongly-etched characters, a vibrant female lead who breaks with convention, deceptions, manipulations, complex relationships, a paean to money, and a paradoxical embracing and rejection of materialism. Often produced…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Sigur Ros, Anthrax, Esben & the Witch, etc.
Sigur Ros Bayou Music Center, April 9 Iceland’s Sigur Ros has been one of rock’s most influential acts for the past decade and change since their second LP, 1999’s Ágætis byrjun, hit the ears of adventurous indie listeners and became the winner of the U.S.’s first Shortlist Music Prize. Singing…
Alley Theatre Takes on the American Character in Its 2013-14 Season Announced Today
Starting with the tried and true – You Can’t Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman – the Alley Theatre’s 2013-14 season announced today will be dominated by American plays and give female actors a special chance to shine, according to Alley Artistic Director Gregory Boyd…
(UPDATED) In the Home Stretch for Menu of Menus: A Few VIP Tickets Left, GA Tickets Sold Out
Update: All GA tickets have now been sold out. A few VIP and VIP table tickets remain. With just a few days left before this year’s Houston Press Menu of Menus, coming this Tuesday night, fewer than 50 general admission tickets and fewer than 100 VIP tickets remain. General admission…
Young Woman Raped in Stall By Registered Sex Offender Enlists Rusty Hardin to Sue TGI Friday’s for Negligence
Nearly two years after claiming she was raped in the stall of a TGI Friday’s in Webster, Texas, by one of its employees, a young woman is suing the restaurant for negligence. The woman, referred to as Jane Doe within the lawsuit, was 17 at the time of the rape…
Rice Denies “Terrorist,” “Axis of Evil” Racial Slurs Surrounding Implosion of Men’s Basketball Team
It’s been four long, sad decades for the Rice men’s basketball program. There have been a few moments of levity — the opening of Tudor Fieldhouse, Morris Almond’s mid-range jumper, Willis Wilson’s mustache — but, by and large, the tale’s been one of cumbersome academics and milquetoast community support. In…
Clyde Edwin Hedrick: Accused of Killing the Woman Whose Corpse He Was Accused of Hiding Almost 30 Years Ago
Twenty-eight years after he was charged with tampering with a corpse, Clyde Edwin Hedrick has been charged with turning that person into a corpse in the first place. The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office, in connection with League City police and the FBI, announced the arrest of the 59-year-old San Leon…
A Place at the Table: A Heart-Hitting Documentary About Hunger in America
“My dream is to be an honor roll student. My other dream is to be on Home Makeover: Home Edition. I just wish they would come and rescue us from our house…I want my kids to have a better life than I do: have more food, a bigger house with…
How Roger Ebert Made Me a Better Writer
When I had a heart attack in October 2011, an event brought on mostly by my unfortunate lifestyle decisions, my brain was deprived of oxygen for about 15 minutes. All I wanted to do when I came to, several days later, was read. I couldn’t. In the hospital, friends and…
Google Glass: Are Companies Serious with Digital Glasses?
Who remembers the computer on a watch? No, not the iWatch, which Apple is marketing that will probably bomb, but the terrible little Texas Instruments or IBM computer in a wristwatch that was popular with nerds, geeks, dorks and all the doughy math freaks of the ’80s. Not ringing a…
Starlite: The Week In 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…
No Ho-Hummery with This Flummery!
Part of my motivation for wanting to work my way through Felicity’s Cookbook was the chance to make, but more important, to say, the word flummery, multiple times. A few weeks ago, I tried my hand at making a flummery at the end of one unusually hot afternoon and quickly…
Person of Interest: “A Word of Advice: Choose Your Next Move Wisely.”
How long have we been on hiatus, anyway? Two weeks? Three? Lousy NCAA Championship, and who the hell has Wichita State coming out of the round of 64, much less making it to the Final Four? Gah. But enough about my gambling problem. Person of Interest returned for one week…
Guy V. Lewis Finally Gets into the Hall of Fame
Though the announcement won’t come until Monday, it was been fairly widely leaked that legendary University of Houston men’s basketball coach Guy V. Lewis has finally been elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, 2013 class. Lewis had been removed from the ballot for four years for lack of…
It’s Your Mad Men Season Six Season Premiere Drinking Bingo Card!
The Art Attack team is more than excited by the return of Mad Men to AMC for its sixth season of sloshed advertising intrigue, sexy ’60s business attire and the chance to see the outline of star Jon Hamm’s prized trouser snake in his gabardine prison. Wait, he doesn’t want…
Five Artists Who Overshare On Twitter
Social media has become quite the necessity among people worldwide. Websites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook allows people to express themselves in a public setting. Most celebrities take full advantage of the opportunity to not just promote milestones in their careers, but allowing their personal life and opinions flow out…
Ready for Hurricane Season? The Predictions Are Starting to Come in
Last year when the world was held rapt at the plight of Northeastern residents during “Super Storm” Sandy, we along the Gulf Coast chuckled. Not at the suffering of the people there. In fact, we understand those poor people and what they went through better than just about anyone else…
Community: So That’s What Sophie B. Hawkins Has Been Up to
Regular Community reviewer Abby Koenig will be back next week once she recovers from cat scratch fever. I was never what you’d call a huge fan of Community during Dan Harmon’s run, but I always enjoyed it when I made the effort to watch. Last night’s “Herstory of Dance” was…
Upcoming Events: Complimentary Cocktails and Empty Bowls
Quattro is continuing its popular pre-concert dinner series with special menus coming up for both the Rihanna performance on April 15 and the Carrie Underwood show on April 23 — both at the Toyota Center, which is only a couple of short blocks away. The award-winning Italian restaurant inside the…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Burger Bracket, Pearland Crawfish Festival, National Beer Day and RA Sushi Roll Eating Contest
While it may have been rainy and dreary for the last few days, the weather report for this weekend is warm and sunny. Get out of the house and grub down with five of the best things to eat or drink this weekend. 2013 Burger Bracket Grand Championship at The…
The 10 Most Ridiculous Band Names Right Now
Hey there, musicians. I like you guys. I enjoy checking you out, hearing what you’re all about. I don’t mind the sweaty venues or sticky floors when I venture out of my safe little bubble to see your shows. I don’t even mind the massive bar tab that our little…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: Evil Dead
Title: Evil Dead Is The, Uh, “Tree Scene” Still There? Wouldn’t be Evil Dead without a little botanical assault, now would it? Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Four ’73 Oldsmobiles out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Young junkie and well-meaning friends travel to remote cabin to detox,…
The Last Ever (Possibly Maybe Forever) Disappointing Stand of the Houston Aeros
This time two years ago, the Houston Aeros were making their final push to secure a Western Division playoff spot. They were on a spurt of a fantastic play that would propel them through the end of the season into the Calder Cup finals, where they came up just short…
Memory Stone Looks at the Japanese-American Experience in Houston
Matthew Ozawa, a freelance stage director based in Chicago, had heard wonderful things from his director friends about Houston Grand Opera’s practice of commissioning operettas to encourage new talent and to reach out to the community. So he wrote Evan Wildstein, director of programs for HGOCo, the opera’s outreach arm,…
Killing the Music: The Mumfordization of Top 40 Radio
Twenty-eight. That is the amount of times in one day that I heard the songs play. Between my daily morning routine, my various commutes throughout the city, and a quick visit to CVS, “Home” came on eight times, “Ho Hey” seven, “Little Talks” also seven, and “I Will Wait” six…
Top Five Things to Do in Houston Sports This Weekend: Dirt, Clay, Mud and Cheerleaders
TGIF, my children. It’s time to rev up the weekend and get yo butts in gear. You may want to lie around on your couch watching the Final Four or spend some time absorbing “culture” at a “museum.” I say blow all that crap out of the water with an…
Top Five Video-Game Concept Albums
Video games are art now. The president said it and everything, so you know it’s legit. That makes me very happy, because I do believe that games represent a specific medium of artistic expression. Anyone that argues hasn’t played BioShock Infinite yet. Art Attack: Reviews for the Lazy Gamer: BioShock…
The Turducken Burger & 5 Other Ridiculous Burgers We’d Like to See Become a Reality
Ever find that it’s “simply impossible to settle on one protein to craft a burger?” …Me neither. But if you have faced that problem, have no fear! Top Chef All-Stars winner Richard Blais and the Web channel Tasted have teamed up to solve all of your single-meated-burger problems. The solution…
Weeks After Denial, Local Teen Finally Allowed to Wear Her Dress to Prom
Weeks after Tony Zamazal first asked Spring High School’s administration whether or not she could wear a dress to her upcoming prom, the senior finally has an answer. After receiving a letter from the ACLU dated March 18, Spring ISD has finally announced it will allow Tony, who had long…
100 Creatives 2013: Amy Llanes, Artistic Director of Rednerrus Feil Dance Company
At the age of ten, Amy Llanes began training in jazz and tap. Her early years in the dance studio developed into a six-year competitive clogging career. Fun fact about the artistic director of one of Houston’s newest dance companies: She’s a two-time national clogging champion. It wasn’t until her…
How To: Grow Tomatoes in the City of Houston
One would think that living in the heart of Houston doesn’t lend itself well to growing tomatoes for the summer season. Things would be much easier if there were more open space and more sunlight to grow a pot of tomatoes, right? Recently, I spoke with Sherri Harrah, from Plants…
Blues Scene Mourns Loss of Keyboardist Marie English
The Houston blues community is mourning longtime local musician Marie English, who friends say passed away earlier this week after complications from knee surgery. English, a keyboardist and singer, was 49 and had been a member of Tommy Dardar’s band. She had been in the local blues scene since the…
The 10 Shortest Wrestlemania Matches of All Time
When I do these wrestling posts, one of the things I hear from readers is that the amount of content and embedded video in the post will typically derail them for an entire day at work. Well, the last thing I want to do, as I pay tribute to Wrestlemania…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Josh Turner, K-Rino, Romeo Santos, etc.
Josh Turner Nutty Jerry’s (Winnie), April 5 It’s hard to keep up with every new country crooner that comes over the pop-twang airwaves, but thankfully Josh Turner’s deeper-than-the-holler voice manages to stand out from the Keith Urban clones, sounding way more trad-country than those other guys at RodeoHouston who can’t…
Top 5 Things to Do in Houston this Weekend: Jo Koy, Lila Downs, Dollhouse, the Turkish Film Festival and Rigoletto
Our choice for Friday comedian Jo Koy, who lives in California, doesn’t mind earthquakes, but tornados, well, that’s something else. Koy had just arrived at a Kentucky airport when one of the baggage handlers told him a tornado warning was in effect. “Don’t worry, it’s not a tornado, it’s just…
Openings & Closings: Manly Cupcakes Can’t Cut It
How many Malaysian restaurants does it take to feed Houston? If you guessed two, you’re correct. Proving that Houstonians like their Malaysian food in one single flavor — Banana Leaf flavor — newcomer Asam Laksa Malaysian closed this week in Chinatown. It could have also had something to do with…
Cops Get Assist from HCC Students in Nabbing Robbery Suspect
The day after Valentine’s was apparently a pretty crazy one for a pair of Houston Community College students, who also happen to be former members of the armed forces. According to a report, on Friday morning, February 15, a robbery suspect stole a laptop computer from a sleeping student and…
Apple “Spaceship” Campus Over Budget: Here Are Five Things We’d Cut
Apple has proposed a massive doughnut-shaped campus for their new world headquarters. Nicknamed the “spaceship,” this monument to computing (and crazy) was slated to cost about $3 billion initially, but apparently the budget has ballooned to $5 billion. With cost overruns over $2 billion, Apple has delayed the project and…
Going Rogue: Joshua Sasse and Leah Gibson Star in DirecTV’s New Original Series
DIRECTV’s new limited original series, Rogue, premiered last night. The first of just nine episodes introduced audiences to several captivating characters. We should say captivating and beautiful characters (we’ll get to that in a minute). Thandie Newton (Crash) is Grace, an undercover cop. Thin and frail, Grace is made of…
Amazon’s AutoRip Features Delivers MP3s to Vinyl Shoppers
If you have been shopping for vinyl on the Amazon site, you may have noticed the AutoRip logo. No, it is not Amazon making light of late-night purchases splitting your wallet at the seams. It’s actually something very cool. The digital retailer is touting the further expansion of its music-delivery…
Free At Last? If Jeff Skilling Gets Out of Jail, What Will He Do? We Have Some Ideas
Even though former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling claims he didn’t do the crime, he has been doing the time, six years of it. Now, after a ruling by an appeals panel and an investigation into the Enron Task Force that handled the Enron case, Skilling could wind up a free…
Save on Tickets to Galveston Food & Wine Fest, Kata Robata, and More
Today’s Houston Press Voice Daily Deal is good for more than half-off (53 percent) a ticket to the Fourth Annual Galveston Island Food & Wine Festival on April 20. In addition to sampling delicious wine and food, you can enjoy live music and shop artisan vendors at Saengerfest Park in…
The Americans: “Shame’s Not An Option For Me.”
In retrospect, you knew Agent Amador was a dead Fed walking as soon as he gave Martha the stinkeye at the file cabinets. He was already living on borrowed time. His wild and crazy bachelor lifestyle was never going to end well, even before this episode’s portentious flashbacks (“I’ve got…
The Rest of the Best: Houston’s Top 10 Performing and Visual Arts Venues
Houston’s performing and visual arts venues are among the most beautiful in the world. While theaters and museums have different purposes, both types of buildings usually have grand entrances, large airy lobbies and sweeping open spaces. When well-designed, as the 10 venues that made our Rest of the Best list…
Michiru Sushi, Nazif’s Turkish Grill, Artisans and More Added to 2013 Menu of Menus Lineup
Menu of Menus is less than a week away, and we have a spread of new restaurants that have been added to the tasting line-up: Artisans Cuisine & Savior-Faire Green Seed Vegan Gumbo Express.com House of Blues Los Cucos Michiru Sushi Nazif’s Turkish Grill Sorrel Urban Bistro If you haven’t…
Last Night: Mike Stinson at Under the Volcano
Mike Stinson Under the Volcano April 3, 2013 The motivations people have for going into music are many, and most of them are mundane. People want to be famous, see the world, or prove something to a parent or a lover, so they pick up a guitar or sit down…
Ted Nugent Tells Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee He Hunts 300 Days Per Year
Apparently, there is a debate over the practice of hunting deer in captivity in the state of Texas. I grew up with a father who loved the outdoors, so much so he worked as an outdoor writer and broadcaster for many years. While he was more into fishing than hunting,…
AMC Is Trying to Do “Something More”
Once upon a time, in a decade far far away, the AMC network stood for something; that something was “American Movie Classics”. With this week’s release of its new slogan, the network stands for something more. Yes, exactly. What? I said it stands for something more. What something more does…
Big Boys: Texas Punk Pioneers Find a Fresh Towel With LP Reissue
Big Boys, the hugely influential Texas punk band that, among other things, inspired two Austin music festivals, have been getting some big press lately thanks to the reissue of their first full LP earlier this month. Industry Standard/Where’s My Towel, a record born from Big Boys’ frustrations with the Austin…
The Eating…Our Words 100: Nicole & Michael Graham, Owners of The Garden Hen
What they do: Michael: The Garden Hen is unique. There is a market out there — chicken owners who don’t know how to care for chickens or to care for them when they are ill, or to bring their chickens when they [the owners] leave town. We offer everything from…
Rockets Get Road Win Over Kings and We Have a Terrence Jones Sighting
If I didn’t know any better, I would think Kevin McHale was giving minutes to players just to develop them even regardless of the outcome (oh, right, he is), but weird rotations and injuries or not, the Rockets keep winning. In Sacramento Wednesday night, it was a brand-new face and…
Jay Sullivan in The Elephant Man: On Capturing the Essence of the “Other”
Have you seen a young man in the Kroger grocery store on West Grey, leaning heavily on a cane, using only his left arm to sift through the contents of the dairy section? If so, you may well have spotted actor Jay Sullivan practicing for his lead role in the…
A Date Night at Coppa…and Why I Can’t Wait to Go Back
When it comes time for date night, I want two things and two things only: good food and flowing wine. Okay, fine — I guess my fiancé, too. So, three things and three things only… Follow me as I chronicle the magic of a good date night (and not in…
Ask Willie D: My Husband Enjoys Porn; Can’t Forgive My Dying Father
Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off’s advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! MY HUSBAND ENJOYS PORN; I’M JEALOUS Willie D: My husband is a helpless porn addict. He…
(UPDATED) Pop Rocks: Roger Ebert Has Died
We just received news that Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert has died. More on that soon. Update: Well, that was quick. Barely 24 hours after announcing he was scaling back his reviews due to illness, Roger Ebert finally succumbed to the cancer he’s been battling for over a decade…
I-69 Signs Along I-59: No, It’s Not a Clever Joke. Stop Giggling.
Whenever I think of U.S. 59, I think of constant gridlock from Shepherd through the 288/I-45 interchange, the flat, treeless drive to Fort Bend County and the piney woods of east Texas in all its glory. It is a unique stretch of road that runs from Mexico well into Missouri…
Five Ways to Use Leftover Jelly Beans
If you have a ton of jelly beans left over after Easter, you don’t have to just eat them by the handful out of the bag. In my family, we always have an enormous amount of Easter candy, especially jelly beans, left over until Halloween. Then the cycle repeats. But…
The Rocks Off 100: Tobin Harvell, Fitzgerald’s Unflappable Floor Manager
Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link. If you spend any time…
Forced to Work at Waffle Bus, Rice English Ph.D. Students Lodge Stipend Complaints
It seems that the teaching tellows at the University of Houston may have started something. While those English Department masters and Ph.D. students have begun a sit-in near Chancellor Renu Khator’s office to force a discussion about their meager stipends — the group’s annual funds remain below the national poverty…
Rice President David Leebron Plays a Painful DJ Set On KTRU
Disclosure: The author of this piece volunteers for KTRU. On Wednesday afternoon, Rice University president David Leebron pulled up a chair inside of the KTRU Rice Radio studio and played some of those rooty-tooty, groovin’ oldies. In other words, music that KTRU has made a point not to play since…
Game Demo of the Week: Injustice: Gods Among Us
Game: Injustice: Gods Among Us Platform: PS3/Xbox/Wii U Publisher/Developer: Warner Bros/NeatherRealm Genre: Fighter Release Date: April 16 There has never really been a great DC Universe fighter. Hell, there hasn’t really been a DC fighting game since Justice League Task Force back in the 16-bit days, and that game was…
Restaurants Behaving Badly: Maggie Rita’s Calls Houston Woman “Fat” on Facebook
Although Maggie Rita’s has now closed all but one of its Houston locations, the flagging Tex-Mex chain continues to redefine the phrase “can’t win for losing.” Seemingly looking to get in a parting shot…anywhere…at anyone…Maggie Rita’s lashed out at a Houston woman this week on Facebook. Amanda Newman is a…
Tale of the Tape: Douchy Astro Boyfriend vs Frightened Diamondback Boyfriend
Through three games, your Houston Astros are 1-2. Believe it or not, that’s the good news. Yes, a 54 win pace is the good news. Here’s the bad news: They were one out away from having a perfect game dropped on them by Yu Darvish. They are the first team…
Novelist Maya Banks is the Erotic Romance Queen of East Texas
The Gulf Coast novelist known by the pen name Maya Banks keeps her real identity secret. In fact, while we know she lives in a small town somewhere in East Texas, during our conversation, she deftly avoids mentioning the town’s name or giving us any hint as to its precise…
Seven Popular Myths and Urban Legends About Numbers
Not long back I had the opportunity to explore the origin of the name of my favorite Houston club, Numbers. My source explained to me that the name originated from a late ’70s slang term indicating a hot guy or girl during the club’s original disco days. The upstairs area…
The Rest of the Best: Houston’s Top 10 Restaurants Where Service Is King
It’s hard to find good help, or so the saying goes. Indeed, many of the chefs and restaurant owners I’ve spoken with over the years privately admit that finding good waitstaff in Houston can be a Sisyphean task: You manage to find a truly great server or two, they dazzle…
Evil Dead: The Devil Wears Vomit
For a guy who has spent a lot of time planning how to brutally murder people in the woods, the most shocking thing about Fede Alvarez is his well-adjusted nature. As the co-writer and director of Evil Dead (in theaters Friday, April 5), the new remake of the 1981 gore…
Matthew Weiner Explains Betty Draper, Mad Men‘s “Melancholy Dame”
By Mad Men’s fifth season, Betty Draper had walked out of our lives, and a much plumper Betty Francis had waddled in. The audience response to this swollen version of a once-slender character: a collective cringe. Suddenly Betty became a joke. In no time, a parody of Ram Jam’s “Black…
Think The Walking Dead Has a Woman Problem? Here’s the Source.
Four years ago, on assignment for The Comics Journal, I asked Robert Kirkman a tough question about his Walking Dead comic series, a question that now, after the TV adaptation’s third-season finale, is still resonant: Why are all the strong female characters either crazy or dead? His response, from issue…
Simon Killer: Good Works
“Can you speak up a little, man? I dove off a boat yesterday, and I now have an immense amount of water in my ear!” Brady Corbet, 24, is on the phone from the Republic of Panama, where he’s filming a new movie opposite Benicio del Toro and Josh Hutcherson…
Ginger & Rosa: BFFs at the End of Time
Private dramas unfold against the backdrop of broader historical terrors in Sally Potter’s absorbing coming-of-age drama Ginger & Rosa, set in London in 1962 as fears of nuclear war loom. For Ginger (Elle Fanning), the more central of the two eponymous teenage protagonists, the world — on both the micro…
The Peacekeeper
Across America this weekend, wives and girlfriends will accompany their fellas to GI Joe: Retaliation, as boys-shooting-boys movies are considered movies for everyone, their violent heroism the default American fantasy. How many of those fellas do you think will reciprocate with a trip to The Host, a post–alien-invasion survivalist tale…
Capsule Art Reviews: “A chain of non-events,” “Janice Jakielski: Constructing Solitude,” “Jonathan Leach: Time Does Not Exist Here,” “Maxim Wakultschik: FaceTime,” “New Work: Drawings, Collages, and Tiles”
“A chain of non-events” At Lawndale Art Center’s “Big Show” last summer, Katie Wynne’s piece stood out from the nearly 70 others in the exhibition. The installation consisted of just a motorized tie rack and blue satin, but the rack was turned on so that it was constantly revolving and…
Poverty at UH
Highlights from Hair Balls Education One month before your friends began painting their Facebook profile pictures red in support of gay rights, a group of University of Houston English teaching fellows swapped their main photos for something of the same color: a shot of the Cougars’ mascot, blazing red, with…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Broke-ology, Henry V, The Merchant of Venice, Waiting for Godot
Broke-ology A father has medical problems, and two sons cope with his increasing need for care while pursuing their own lives and interests. Playwright Nathan Louis Jackson has created a family drama and filled it with humor and kitchen-sink realism. We first meet in the 1980s the father, William King,…
Here, Eat This
On the Menu To say that Koreans like beef is an understatement. To say that Koreans love their beef as much as Texans do is getting closer. South Koreans eat about 20 pounds of beef per person per year, and although that number is much lower than the average U.S…
A Real American Miracle
What must Bruce Willis have felt when he discovered that his seven or so minutes of G.I. Joe: Retaliation screen time offer much more agreeable Bruce Willis-ness than the entirety of A Good Day to Die Hard? Or that his cameo, shot two years back and rich with quips and…
Madman Across the Water
Elton John has become the best-case scenario for the future life of a troubled character in one of his songs, albeit it’s a song he has been writing since he and collaborator Bernie Taupin decided to forge a songwriting partnership nearly 45years ago. He’s now a seasoned sage, deeper in…
What’s the point of your question?
Dear Mexican, Please explain to me why so many mexicanas seem to think it more important to stay home and baby-sit than to attend school (so that they may become more in life than producers of offspring). As an educator (lately of students identified as “at risk” for failure in…
Doubling Down: Texas and Casino Gambling
Kyle Williams remembers when Texans knew his nation. Standing along one of the few paved roads slicing the Alabama-Coushatta reservation, 90 minutes northeast of Houston, Williams, chairman of the tribal council, describes the days Texans flocked to this land. Cars streaming in at every hour. Lines of impatience snaking a…
Gloriously Gallic at L’Olivier
Come inside chef Olivier Ciesielski’s big, open kitchen in our slideshow. Something occurred to me halfway through my final lunch course at L’Olivier one afternoon. Over an apple tart so simple as to be nearly ascetic — perfectly flaky puff pastry bottom providing a buttery buttress to the gentle fan…
Video Rewind: Jonas and Pane in Parallel
Joan Jonas was the first person in the United States with a Sony Portapak video recorder. She bought it on a trip to Japan in 1970. Gina Pane injured herself in performances to “shock viewers out of complacency.” Both artists were born in the 1930s; both were early adopters of…
Tattoo Nation: Ink Me
Tattoo Nation documentarian Eric Schwartz isn’t inked himself — “I’m nicknamed ‘The Virgin,'” he admits — but when he started photographing tattoo conventions, he stumbled across an untold, half-century history of color and style inextricably linked to California. Unlike the permanent art they’ve created, these tattoo artists and their clients…
