MasterMinds 2015 Revisited: Jefferson Davis High School Mariachi Pantera
This month the Houston Press will celebrate its eighth year of handing out MasterMind Awards, designed to go to three individuals or groups who have greatly contributed to the Houston area’s artistic landscape. It is awarded to groups or individuals doing great things now, creative types who could use a…
MasterMinds 2015 Revisited: Artist Patrick Renner
This month the Houston Press will celebrate its eighth year of handing out MasterMind Awards, designed to go to three individuals or groups who are contributing a lot to the Houston area’s artistic landscape. It is awarded to groups or individuals doing great things now, folks who could use a little…
NFL Playoffs: This Weekend’s Best Bets
So here we are, on the 2016 side of the football gambling year, and thanks to a mostly wretched second half of the season, we sit 11 games below .500. Conveniently enough, there are 11 NFL playoff games and the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday night. What…
NFL Playoffs: Chiefs-Texans — Four Things to Watch For
January 16, 1994. That was the last time the Kansas City Chiefs won a playoff game, and it took place in Houston, Texas. A Joe Montana-led bunch knocked off the Oilers 28-20 in a game that featured a wild fourth quarter (31 points scored by both teams combined) and marked…
World Premiere: Blackie Farrell’s “She’s One of Those Kind”
Not many people — maybe no one — wait until they are 68 to record a debut album, but Kevin “Blackie” Farrell isn’t just anyone. No, not by a long shot. While he is widely unknown, for the cognoscenti Farrell goes back to the wild-and-wooly drug-crazed Cosmic Cowboy glory days…
Can Words Alone Exonerate This Sex Offender?
On a sunny December day, Kelly Simon takes her father, a registered sex offender just released from prison, to visit Big Bass Resort. It’s a sprawling apartment complex, complete with grassy courtyards and enough palm trees to resemble Orlando, and 57-year-old Roderick Dixon would like to live here. He’s visited…
Nine to Five Turned 35 Years Old Last Month, But It’s Still a Rich Man’s Game
At some point last year, probably while watching Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda in Grace and Frankie on Netflix, I realized 2015 was the 35th anniversary of their first (and only other) collaboration, the feminist working woman comedy 9 to 5. I made a mental note to write something about it, then…
The Bridges of Madison County Arrives in Houston. Bring on the Hankies.
Acclaimed playwright and Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman (‘Night Mother, The Secret Garden, The Color Purple) didn’t hesitate when she got a call asking her if she’d be interested in adapting The Bridges of Madison County for the stage. “Of course I would. That book sold 60 million copies,” she…
Black Monday Fallout: Ranking the NFL Head Coach Job Openings
I was going to write this post Monday night to have it run on Tuesday morning, but when I sat down to begin tapping out the words, there had been no official resolution to the Indianapolis head coaching situation. Word throughout the afternoon was that Colts head coach Chuck Pagano…
10 Best Budget Restaurants in Houston’s Greater Heights
It’s fair to call this list “Heights-esque,” as we shall put one food over White Oak Bayou occasionally and step—barely—into the Lazy Brook and Timbergrove area. Some of the best food at the best prices is found there and breaking those out into a separate list just doesn’t make a…
5 Moments of Misogyny at the Texas Legislature
In Texas, powerful women serve as mayor to some of the country’s largest cities (for instance, San Antonio and, until last week, Houston). They’re sheriffs of some of the nation’s biggest law enforcement agencies (see Bexar and Dallas counties). Closer to home, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson leads criminal…
Perhaps Kanye West Is the Ultimate Rock Star After All
Kanye West is a guy who inspires extremely strong reactions in people, a trait that many of the more compelling artists throughout music history have shared. Despite having millions of fans who have spent enough on his albums, concerts and other merchandise to make him one of the wealthiest stars…
Study: College Football Game Days Result in More Reported Rapes
College football may seem like innocent fun, but it turns out there’s a dark side to game days. A recently released study put out by Texas A&M economics professor Jason Lindo and a group of researchers from across the country has found an unsettling connection to college football game days…
Be Prepared to Guess What’s Going on in Venus in Fur at Main Street
“In 2013 Venus in Fur was the most produced play in America,” according to actor/director/producer Guy Roberts. “As soon as I read it, I realized that David Ives had written one of the great modern roles for women.” So Roberts decided the work based on the erotic novel Venus in…
Why Was It So Easy for Me to Get a Concealed Handgun License?
A split second after I reached for the handgun hanging at the side of Paul White’s hip, his massive arm clamped down on mine and his opposite hand swooped in to secure the pistol grip poking out of his desert-tan army-grade holster. Once White knew I couldn’t get a hold of…
MasterMinds 2015 Revisited: Houston Arts and Media Founder Mike Vance
This month the Houston Press will celebrate its eighth year of handing out MasterMind Awards, designed to go to three individuals or groups who are contributing a lot to the Houston area’s artistic landscape. It is awarded to groups or individuals doing great things now, creatives who could use a little…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: Resolution-Friendly Recipes
This week, we’ve got suggestions for wintertime dining out options, a few healthy recipes to help you with those resolutions and a round-up of 2015’s top barbecue picks. Now that the weather has finally caught up with the season, Robin Sussman of Zagat has put together a list of the…
Why I’m Giving Up Online Dating in 2016 and You Should Too
Shortly after my divorce, I found myself in the middle of the dating scene after a nearly ten-year hiatus. I was no longer the fresh college-grad single starting a new career. I was pushing 40, leery of the club scene and not interested in dating dozens of guys in order…
Upcoming: Bang Bangz, Charlie Wilson, El Grande Trio, Julieta Venegas, M.D.C., Shooter Jennings, Tab Benoit, etc.
Note: Events in bold reflect highly recommended shows. 1 Last Chance: With The Bloody Von Erichs, Crowded Isolation. Sun., January 10, 8 p.m., TBA. Super Happy Fun Land, 3801 Polk, Houston, 713-880-2100. 15th Annual MLK Battle of the Bands Competition Houston: Sun., January 17, 4-8 p.m., $10-$15. W.W. Thorne Stadium,…
Back From the Dead: 6 Things Bill O’Brien Did to Rebuild the Texans on the Fly
Seven games into this season, they had a 2-5 record. The core of this 2015 Houston Texans team had been here before, back in 2013, flying home from a 17-16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in which Case Keenum made a promising, but still unsuccessful first career start. Now,…
Fielding’s Local Kitchen + Bar Is Boldly Establishing Itself in Unlikely Territory
The food at Fielding’s Local Kitchen + Bar is thoughtful without being needlessly complicated. A good example of the presiding aesthetic is the pulpo, or octopus. The only companions for two long, curvy tendrils are frilly roasted green onions and a vast smear of orange romesco sauce. That is all…
Rock and Roll Is Dead, and Even Axl & Slash Can’t Save It
The news that the reunited “classic” lineup of Guns N’ Roses’ will almost certainly headline Coachella this year may be the stuff of answered prayers to many music fans. But others, like myself, see instead a sign that rock and roll is doomed. True, I love Guns N’ Roses and even praise…
Five More Houston Acts to Watch In 2016
GIANT KITTYAccording to the Chinese zodiac, 2016 will be the Year of the Monkey…except in Houston, where it could easily be the Year of the Kitty. That’s because we’re expecting big things for Giant Kitty, whose debut album, This Stupid Stuff, releases this month and is being distributed by New…
Don’t Knock the Hustle: Houston’s 2016 Music-Scene Forecast Calls for Hard Work
As the 2010s pass the halfway point, the Houston music scene is in a state of transition. The decade’s most successful local concert promoters are putting the finishing touches on a new multi-stage venue they hope will elevate the live-music experience to another level while retaining a uniquely local character…
Diplo Starts the New Year In a Major Way
Diplo Stereo Live January 2, 2016 When talking about cultural icons and trendsetters, Thomas Wesley “Wes” Pentz should definitely be at the forefront of that list. As the DJ and producer Diplo, he tours the world as a solo act, as well as with his Major Lazer crew and as…
Six New Year’s Bowl Games — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
On a scale of 1 to 10, the New Year’s Six Bowl watching experience was probably about a 6.5, which is to say that it was a failure on every level, since college football’s postseason has an enjoyment FLOOR score of about 7.5 or 8.0. In other words, it’s really,…
Study: Houston Not a Great City for Finding a Job This Year
Houston doesn’t even place in the top ten job markets and is surpassed by Omaha and Sioux Freaking Falls, according to a new Wallethub study. The study “compared 150 of the most populated U.S. cities across 17 key metrics,” and presto, it turns out that Plano is the strongest job…
Bun B’s #TrillTakeover Rallies Texans to AFC South Title
It was a great last game of the season at NRG Stadium Sunday, as the Texans beat up the Jaguars 30-6 and secure their spot in the NFL playoffs in the process. It was also fan appreciation day, and you would be hard-pressed to find a bigger Texans fan than…
UH Basketball Is 12-2, So Maybe It’s Time to Attend Some Games
Tom Herman on Thursday spoke of the revitalization of sports at the University of Houston, of the rejuvenation of Cougar Nation and reenergizing the entire city of Houston. That’s how much the Cougars dismantling of Florida State in the Peach Bowl meant to Herman. There’s truth to Herman words. The…
Dish of the Week: Chana Masala
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. This week, we’re sharing a dish perfect for your New Year’s resolutions: Chana Masala. Also known as chole masala or channay, chana masala is…
Twelfth Night at Main Street: Heavenly Poetry & Bawdy Innuendo
The set-up: There’s much sack and sparkly fireworks at Main Street Theater. In association with Prague Shakespeare Company, the rich collaboration between the two companies lights up the night sky to usher in the new year. And what could be more appropriate for the merrymaking celebration that is Epiphany than…
What’s Going on With the Memorial Park Demonstration Project?
The Memorial Park Demonstration project has been a point of contention since the plan was first proposed back in 2013. Since then there have been strident public disagreements and arguments over how the bayou should be handled — or if it should be altered at all — but the ultimate…
NFL Week 17: Texans 30, Jaguars 6 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
In a Week 17 where the chances of the outcome of the Texans’ game with the Jaguars mattering was about one in eleventy zillion, there’s not much to say about the game itself, from a tactical nor strategic standpoint. The Texans did what they’ve been doing to most of the…
The Best and Worst Restaurant Leftovers
It’s a shame to waste food, but restaurant portion sizes tend to be hefty. These days, plates are often filled with enough food for two servings, but not everything makes for joy-inspiring leftovers. Here’s a list of some of the foods that will inspire a joyous breakfast or lunch…
4 Things to Keep in Mind Before Buying a Classic Muscle Car
A lot of people have an appreciation for classic vehicles, and the muscle car era, spanning from around 1964 to 1973, is of special interest to many car enthusiasts. There were cars that might’ve fit the basic description of a “muscle car” manufactured before the ’60s, and after the early…
15 Houston Concerts to Get Excited About in 2016
MADONNA Toyota Center, January 12 It’s been more than three years since Madonna last pulled into town on one of her mega-massive, world-tour extravaganzas, and you just never know if you’ll get a chance to catch another one. The Material Grand Dame is no spring chicken anymore, after all. That…
What Your Choice of Guitar Style Could Say About You
Electric guitars are one of the musical instruments most closely associated with many types of popular music, and have been for decades, but obviously they aren’t all identical, and there are many different styles available to choose from. And that presents a few hard choices for an aspiring guitarist, because…
The Suffers and Friends Close Out 2015 With Off-the-Charts Energy
The Suffers, Los Skarnales, Blue Healer, Corporate Dough House of Blues December 31, 2015 When Mark C. Austin and The Convoy Group throw a party, you can at least bet on immense talent and a damn good time. With various offerings of Houston’s best music, food, and party swag, this…
B-52s and Tontons Party Out of Bounds to Ring In 2016
“Out with the old, in with the new,” is far too cavalier and much too dismissive to apply to last night’s New Year’s Eve celebration in downtown Houston. Still, the trite old adage kept popping off like bottle rockets throughout the night. There was the traditional countdown from one year…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Start the New Year With Lobster & Brunch
Lobster Friday @ Bernie’s Burger Bus Friday, noon 5407 Bellaire Ring in 2016 by joining Bernie’s for its first #LobsterFriday of the year. Chef Justin Turner will be serving up his popular Maine-style lobster rolls and lobster poutine until they run out. Get the roll for hearty chunks of lobster…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Boozy Dinners & a New Year’s Resolution
Kick-start your New Year’s Resolution at Big Eyed Fish, 908 Henderson. All month long, the restaurant will be offering its signature Turtle Soup and Char Grilled Caesar Salad Combo for $15. Pondicheri, 2800 Kirby, will be hosting a “Pondicherry” Pop Up Dinner on Thursday, January 7 from 7 p.m. to…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Twelfth Night & Much More!
Main Street Theater is following up its sleeper hit season opener Silent Sky (so successful that it played to full houses and had its run extended) with one of William Shakespeare’s best known works: Twelfth Night. In a co-production with the Prague Shakespeare Company, and our pick for this Friday,…
Jaguars-Texans — Four Things To Watch For
On the surface, for the Houston Texans, Week 17 of the 2015 season looks a lot like Week 17 of the 2014 season — the Jacksonville Jaguars come to town long ago eliminated from playoff consideration, while the Texans remain in the playoff conversation with an 8-7 record. Those are…
NASA Is Going to Have a Big Year Thanks to Congress
Things just keep improving for NASA. First they pulled off the first launch of the Orion spacecraft in 2014 and then they followed up by discovering water on Mars and giving us unprecedented images of Pluto in 2015. Now it looks like things are going to get even better in…
Leftover Crack Is Back With a New Batch of Anarcho-Punk Anthems
Leftover Crack returns to Houston tonight, near the end of the first day of a bright and shiny new year. We’ve counted down the old one, with confetti raining down on us and champagne flutes (or 40-ounce malt liquor bottles) in our hands, holding fast to the hope that we’ll…
College and NFL Football: This Weekend’s Best Bets
Well, I thought the 5-1 week I had before Christmas was a sign of that we were in for a great finish the the gambling season (and we may still be!), but instead I followed up with a 2-4 weekend that can only mean one thing — God does not…
Holland K. Smith Brings the Dallas Boogie to The Big Easy
With 30+ years of road-dawg blues in his rearview mirror, Holland K. Smith has seen about everything when it comes to gigs, recordings, and booking agents. “There’s barely enough money out there to keep artists going,” Smith growls over the phone from Arlington, “but you’ve still got all these people…
Huntress & Black Label Society Make It a Very Metal (Almost) New Year
Black Label Society, Huntress Warehouse Live December 30, 2015 Under the candelabras of Warehouse Live, Houston’s metal community showed up in full force Wednesday evening. This was not a high-school metal party, or emo frown-fest filled with scene kids glorifying 12 overrated songs of indiscriminate growls of tone-deaf homogeneity —…
With Peach Bowl Win, Cougars Prove They Belong on the Big Stage
Are you a high school football player in the state of Texas? Do you want to play for the best? Do you want to play big bowl games and go up agains the best competition? Then Houston Cougars head coach Tom Herman has a simple message for you. Come to the…
Killer in 1991 Montrose “Gay-Bashing” Released From Prison
Jon Buice was 17 years old when he and nine friends attacked three gay men outside a Montrose nightclub in 1991. He was 18 when he pled guilty to the murder of 27-year-old Paul Broussard, whom Buice stabbed twice in the stomach, and accepted a 45-year prison sentence, the harshest…
Year in Review: The 10 Hottest Sports Topics in Houston in 2015
Today is New Year’s Eve, and that’s always a logical time for reflection, a time to look back and assess and everything that comprised our 2015 — business decisions, career decisions, relationships, and, yes, sports figures. Over the next 48 hours or so, you will probably read dozens of lists…
Texas Developer Sues Over Paxton Prosecutors’ Pay
Once upon a time, Texas Attorney General Ken “The Stock Whisperer” Paxton was charged with three counts of securities fraud. Ever since then, Paxton and his assembly line of lawyers have done whatever they can to hijack the narrative and cloud the allegations. Now, the charges at the heart of…
Stream These Great 2015 Movies or Die Lonely and Out of the Loop
As cinematic year 2015 reaches its end, the FOMO specter threatens to haunt us all. If you pored over the results of our film poll and felt aghast at how many apparently great movies you’ve yet to see, here at last is a chance to catch up without braving traffic. —Michael…
The Book of Maggie Examines Heaven, Hell and the Great Other
Judas Iscariot is a heavy drinker; that’s how he gets through his days in Hell. Pontius Pilate chooses to garden to pass the time. And Simon Peter? Well he’s around there too, all three locked into a place they didn’t want to be. In The Book of Maggie a new…
First Look at Eight Row Flint, a New Icehouse in Houston
Eight Row Flint, a new ice house from Agricole Hospitality, officially opened at 1039 Yale on December 26, but it hasn’t taken long for the crowds to find the casual digs in a former gas station. The first Saturday after opening, it was comfortably full of patrons enjoying the relaxed…
The 15 Best Houston Rap Tapes of 2015
If you look back at 2015 in Houston rap, things happened. The Earth shook on more than a few occasions, we technically battled Dallas for four days at the beginning of the year and that was special. We welcomed back albums from Scarface and Trae Tha Truth. That was neat…
Kill List: 2015’s Best Horror Movies
One of our most enduring cinematic genres, horror is also among the most difficult to do right. This may sound obvious — countless attempts are made to scare moviegoers every year, whether in theaters or, increasingly, streaming online — but it’s brought into focus by the few that actually make…
Federal Appeals Court Will Hear Lawsuit in Botched DEA Sting
There are still a lot of loose ends four years after DEA informant Lawrence Chapa was shot and killed in his truck in Northwest Houston during a sting operation gone wrong (we wrote about the case in detail this past October). Was anyone at the DEA ever held accountable? Who…
I Want to Stop at Kissing. Help!
IS IT OKAY TO KISS A GUY I DON’T WANT TO HAVE SEX WITH YET? Dear Willie D: I’m 17, and I have a guy friend I hang out with a lot. He is attractive, and has a crush on me. I like him, but I don’t want to have…
Wonky Power’s Radiohead Night Puts Everything In Its Right Place
Your new favorite open-mike night was born on Tuesday night, and you probably weren’t even there to join in the fun. Now, it’s easy for these things to fall by the wayside, especially given the amount of things to choose from on any given day. Houston’s music scene manages to…
Why Would the Justice Department Be Investigating Blue Bell Now?
For a second there it seemed like Blue Bell was really going to put the whole listeria outbreak behind it. Ever since Blue Bell restarted production back in August, both the officials running the “little creamery in Brenham” and the public have treated the return of Blue Bell ice cream…
Winter Is Coming: It’s About To Get Ugly For The Houston Rockets
Rewind to Saturday night. The Rockets had just finished up losing to the New Orleans Pelicans, 110-108, in a game they were leading by double digits for most of the first half. In the process, the Rockets undid all of the goodwill they’d just rebuilt with their fan base 24…
Texas Supreme Court Makes Life Harder For Abused, Neglected Minors Seeking Abortion
In 2013, the Texas Legislature decimated abortion access across the state by passing House Bill 2, and since the law’s piecemeal implementation abortion clinics in Texas have dropped from 40 to just 18. If the state succeeds in upholding the law when it goes before the U.S. Supreme Court in…
Six Ping Opens Fourth Outpost in Saigon Houston Plaza
Six Ping Bakery, the popular Chinese bakery known for its fun-shaped Super Kawaii breads and playful cartoon character cakes, has opened a fourth location in Saigon Houston Plaza (10613 Bellaire Boulevard) near the corner of Wilcrest and Bellaire. It’s a testament to the bakery’s popularity and domination in the Chinese…
We Have a Winner! Who Guessed the Most Best 10 Dishes in Houston?
Last week, we challenged readers to try and guess what my picks would be for the 10 Best Dishes In Houston. Shockingly, one reader guessed FOUR of them—and came real close with the others. Our winning reader is Jim Ayres! In his email, Jim said, “My response started out as…
Oil Forecast: 5 Things We Know Going Into 2016
A little over a year ago Gallery Furniture owner Jim McIngvale made a savvy bet with customers: Anyone who bought $7,000 worth of furniture would get his money back if oil hit $85 per barrel again before the end of 2015. Well, Mattress Mack won’t be doing any refunds. As…
Good Night, Lemmy: A Tribute to Rock’s Ultimate Badass
Lemmy Kilmister’s death is the kind of news that hits you right in the feels with both fists. Nobody can say we didn’t see it coming, but who wants to see these kinds of things? To forecast the end is no winsome deed. Death, in all of its uncomfortable permanence…
Houston’s 10 Best Concerts On New Year’s Eve
For some people, 2016 can’t get here soon enough. But we’ve made it this far into what has been a pretty trying — but occasionally thrilling — year, so we might as well make the most of the 48 hours we’ve got left. Factor some live music in there, and…
Welcome to the 2015 #NewHoustonRap Awards
And so it’s come to this. We’ve spent the better part of the year with this column highlighting a wide majority of mixtapes, albums, singles and other inner workings of Houston rap. We’ve seen new names come into focus, older names remain steadfast, and some transform into national entities, all…
Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa Pulls All Our Strings
Charlie Kaufman is a cartographer of the soul. You can picture him hunched over parchment accurately inking each dark river and, off to the side, cautioning that there be dragons. What makes Kaufman cinema’s best psychoanalyst is a contradiction. He sees people for who we are — hurtful, hopeful, lovely,…
Concussion Takes on the NFL, but Can’t Decide What Film It Wants to Be
Concussion isn’t much of a movie, but it’s a fascinating bellwether for where the National Football League currently stands on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease associated with many of its former players. As it happens, the human brain isn’t supposed to whip against the skull like a…
