Houston Ballet Wins a 2013 Texas Medal of the Arts Award
The Houston Ballet’s adventurous programming and performances earned the company a 2013 Texas Medal of the Arts in the field of Dance. Awarded by the Texas Cultural Trust, the medal recognizes the group’s creativity, talent and contribution to the state’s arts scene. Central to the company’s success has been Stanton…
Comptroller: Pearl Bar Owes More Than $40K in Taxes
According to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts’ office, Pearl Bar owes more than $40,000 in mixed-beverage and franchise taxes, and agents confiscated some cash as part of a “limited seizure” operation at the Washington Avenue bar this past Saturday evening. A lien has also been filed against the business,…
Perry to Obama: It’s the Video Games, Not the Guns. Let Us Pray.
In response to President Barack Obama’s executive orders mostly relating to the sale and possession of firearms, Governor Rick Perry issued a release that sounds like it was pulled directly from the talking points of the National Rifle Association, which isn’t all that surprising considering his support of the organization…
Houston Symphony Announces New Music Director: Andres Orozco-Estrada
The Houston Symphony has announced Andres Orozco-Estrada as the music director designate, replacing the outgoing Hans Graf in the 2014-2015 season. The Colombian born conductor is just 35 years old, less than half as old as the orchestra which is set to celebrate its centennial season. Orozco-Estrada trained at the…
American Idol Returns, Selling More Drama Than Music
If you can believe it, American Idol kicks off its twelfth season tonight on Fox. But not just on Fox. Here is how One India Entertainment, “India’s No. 1 Language Portal,” announced the news at 18:03 IST (India Standard Time) today: MUMBAI: After the successful run of The X Factor…
George Prescott Bush, Yes, ANOTHER One, Considering Run for State Office
Honestly, I thought George Foreman had a lot of Georges in his family, but now I’m beginning to wonder if the Bush clan doesn’t have him beat. First there was George H.W. Bush, then George W. Bush. Now, there’s George P. Bush (maybe even P.G. if you count his second…
Beyond Chili-Cheeseburgers at The Chili Shak
If Pvt. Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue had been into chili instead of shrimp, I imagine that The Chili Shak is just the sort of place he and Forrest Gump would have opened. The list of menu items that come topped with owner Bernard Montgomery’s chili — based on a secret…
Forrest Kenneth Randall Smashes Car Windows at an Auto Dealership, Leaves Wallet Behind
When you are involved in any kind of crime, it’s generally a good idea to leave your ID at home or at least make sure it is stashed away where it can’t be found. Any good covert operative will tell you that, or you could just watch Burn Notice. But,…
The 30 Essential Texas Restaurants: The List Is Live
Sorry about that teaser earlier this week. No fooling around this time, though: Our list is live. Go check out this week’s feature — “Eat Here: 30 Essential Texas Restaurants to Visit Before You Die” — before reading on. We don’t want to spoil any surprises for you. *** Read…
Pick Your Brain, Pick the Oscars® Winners and an IPad Mini Could Be Yours
Know everything there is to know about movies? Seen everything that’s up for an Oscar nomination this year? Spend your time at parties tediously predicting who’s going to win what? Well, you might as well put all your hard-earned knowledge to better use than just bothering your friends with it…
From Five Straight Wins to Four Straight Losses, the Young Rockets Continue to Confound
I’ve mentioned in this space on numerous occasions that you have to take the good and bad with youth. It’s exciting and fast-paced and fun, but it’s also exceedingly frustrating. On a weekend that saw the Texans go out more with a whimper than a bang, it would have been…
DJ Sun’s Guided Tour of One Hundred, Part 1
DJ Sun knows how to release an album right. For the past three months or so, the Houston turntablist, producer and radio-show host (KPFT’s Soular Grooves) with an enviable address book and a local residency almost every night of the week — not to mention a multiple Houston Press Music…
Reality Bites: Buckwild
Young people have been behaving like insensate hooligans since the dawn of time. In fact, I’m pretty sure one of the quests in the Epic of Gilgamesh involved breaking up a teenage Mesopotamian solstice keg party. And so it goes. Every decade or so sees its own cautionary tale of…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Greg Gatlin of Gatlin’s BBQ on Barbecuing as a Kid, Cooking for the Rice Bowl Game and His Famous Beef Brisket
Greg Gatlin Gatlin’s BBQ 1221 W. 19th St. 281-804-4555 www.gatlinsbbq.com This is Part 1 of a three-part Chef Chat series. Check back with us in this same space Thursday and Friday to read Parts 2 and 3. Above and beyond the excellent barbecue, there’s just something so quaint and charming…
Teen Busted Chewing Weed During Traffic Stop
A common problem for people who use drugs is what to do with them when the police show up. At home, down the toilet they go. In a public place, they get stashed somewhere hidden. But, when the police are following you down the road in your car, what do…
5 Songs About Andy Kaufman NOT By R.E.M.
Today would have been comedian Andy Kaufman’s 64th birthday… assuming of course he isn’t playing a really long practical joke on us all. Anyone else in the world and such a claim would be rightfully seen as conspiracy theory nuttery, but with Kaufman and his legendary dedication to character and…
So What’s God of War: Ascension Multiplayer Like?
The latest entry in the God of War series comes out in March. Up until now it’s been more or less of a perfect franchise. Sure, God of War III suffered a bit, it was the Return of the Jedi of the three main games, but overall the tale of…
Still Depressed About the Texans? Bad Lip Reading the NFL Is the Cure
Some of you are moping around the city still upset about the Texans’ loss. I hear you on the sports radio all angry and frustrated and depressed. Sad Texan fan is sad. But time to buck up there, Jimmy sadface. The season for the Texans is over and it’s okay…
This Week in Food Blogs: Of Moon Towers and Branch Waters
29-95: The big news of the week is that David Grossman is leaving his space at 510 Shepherd and taking the name “Branch Water Tavern” with him. Grossman plans to stay on for two months while a new management team leases the building, but will then depart, at which point…
David Bowie By the Threes: A 50-Year Retrospective, Part 1
David Bowie’s career has been one filled with unparalleled changes, and no, that’s not a pun on his hit song. The man has literally undergone so many career diversions and redirections that it’s almost impossible to keep up with where he has been at any one point in time. Rewind:…
The Menil Hosts a Big Show on Love
One of the most important names in the Menil Collection’s exhibition of contemporary African art is a French guy who’s been dead for more than 200 years. Jean-Honoré Fragonard was one of the first European artists to portray love not as an allegory or myth but, as curator Kristina Van…
Good, Not Great: Why Texans Need a Daryl Morey Approach to QB Position
If good is the enemy of great, the Texans are in a lot of trouble as they map out a plan to break through their second-round ceiling. Owner Bob McNair and head coach Gary Kubiak are publicly saying the happy, feel-good things. “We’re very close,” McNair said after the loss…
Gothic Council on Being Almost “Normal”
There’s something that happens every holiday season that always causes me to damage my eyes through excessive rolling. The Wife With One F is a tremendous baker, known far and wide for her ability to create fantastic desserts. Obviously, this means she spends a lot of her down time at…
Blue-eyed People Deemed Less Trustworthy in New Study
A recent study reports that people with brown eyes are more trustworthy than those with blue eyes. According to an MSNBC report, the lead author on the study Karel Kleisner of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, asked more than 200 students to rate how much they could trust a…
“Dan Rather, You Scared My Mom” Awesome Letter to the Editor from a Houston Dentist in 1985
Back in 1985, Dan Rather and CBS News apparently referred to Houston as the “foreclosure capital of America.” It was the mid-80s and Houston was suffering the aftereffects of an oil bust, a massive drop in the cost of oil that crippled the city’s economy. In many ways, we have…
60-Second Crumb Coffee Cake…in a Mug
It’s fair to say I’ve become obsessed with microwavable desserts in a mug. I’ve made some fudgey 60-Second Brownies, a gooey Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie and now a Crumb-Topped Mug Coffee Cake. See also: What’s Cooking on Pinterest? Nutella Mug Cake This simple and moist yellow cake is topped…
The 5 Most Important Years In Goth Music: 1986
Over the course of the week Rocks Off will be looking at the biggest years for goth music and exactly what they meant for the genre. Goth history does not have a lot of supergroups, unfortunately. Robert Smith briefly played guitar for Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Peter Murphy occasionally…
100 Creatives 2013: Jordan “MonsterMac” McMahon, Artist/Designer
Artist Jordan “MonsterMac” McMahon has been painting on canvas shoes for just a couple of years, but his creations are already in such demand that he has a two-month backlog of orders. He’s been drawing since he was 4 years old so creating characters and designs were nothing new to…
Houston Texans Free Agents: Priority and Return Likelihood Ratings
After winning the BCS national title this season, Nick Saban was asked how long he is able to enjoy the taste of winning before moving on to the next season. Saban, in his typical understated, serial killer tone, said that he basically takes one day and then it’s on to…
Top 5 Reasons Not to Be a Concert Promoter
Have you ever dreamed of promoting your own shows? I’ll bet you’ve even sat around at times plotting out your own bills, dreaming of how awesome it would be to see an all-star line-up of, let’s say, Poison, Ratt, Tesla, WASP, White Lion, and Cinderella. And while that sounds absolutely…
Houston Social Source’s First Ever Texting Party For Singles Coming To Midtown
Last fall the folks at the Houston Social Source, a social group for single Houstonians, through a pheromone party at Nouveau Antique Art Bar. That party called for attendees to sleep in the same shirt for three nights in a row, freeze it in a bag and then bring the…
