The NBA Makes the Day of Some Hospitalized Children
On the tenth floor of Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, the children aren’t allowed to do much, considering their condition. Many children are sick, wheelchair-bound or bed-bound. They have an artificial park there called Fondren Park to help give them a feel of what it’s like to be outside and to…
Book ‘Em, Arian: Texans Foster Guests On Upcoming Episode Of Hawaii Five-O
While he was in Hawaii a few weeks back playing the 2013 Pro Bowl, Houston Texans running back and Twitter philosopher Arian Foster found time to shoot a few scenes for an upcoming Hawaii Five-O episode that centers around a murder on the island. Foster, in his acting debut, plays…
Huge Rape-Kit Testing Backlog Will Vanish with $4.4 Million Plan, Mayor Says
Problem should finally be solved, mayor saysThe city’s mountainous pile of rape kits — 6,600 kits waiting to be tested by labs — will be gone in 14 months, Mayor Annise Parker announced today. The city will spend $4.4 million to have the kits tested at two private labs. “With…
New Mapping Tool Helps Illustrate Just How Segregated Houston’s Income Remains
Houston’s supposed to be one of the most haphazard, heterogeneous cities in America. That dearth of zoning tosses neighborhoods, incomes and races into a wonderful stew of strangeness and desegregation. The lack of framework — the lack of regulations, the lack of ordinance — has painted Houston as one of…
Exploring Songza: Four Offbeat Playlists From the Curated Music Service
We introduced you to Songza — the service that acts as a “music concierge” — a few weeks back. Using curated playlists sorted not only by genre and theme, but also by activity, Songza helps you pick the best songs for the occasion. More importantly to me, the playlists are…
Yao Meets J.J.: Who Could Block More Passes?
Houston Texans superstar J.J. Watt posted this picture to his Twitter account awhile ago. He added: “Great lunch with @YaoMing today. Have a feeling he could knock down a pass or two…” (It should be noted that @YaoMing — “I am the real Yao Ming,” it says on the account…
Reality Bites: Teen Cribs
Watching Teen Cribs, one of the more recent celebrations of grotesque wealth gracing the airwaves, it struck me that one of two things must be true: either we as a society aren’t as hung up on the concept of the disappearing middle class or the “one percent” as the media…
Here He Comes to Save the Day: Garden Oaks Burger Stand Mytiburger Is Back and Better Than Ever
For this week’s cafe review, I visited seminal Garden Oaks burger stand Mytiburger, which nearly shuttered last year after 46 years in business. It did, in fact, close its doors…for two weeks. During that time, local Baskin-Robbins franchise owner Shawn Salyers stepped in to purchase the business from longtime owner…
Michael Brown: Bankruptcy, Shmankruptcy — Let’s Buy a Baseball Player’s Mansion!
Wow — erstwhile hand surgeon and wife-beater Michael Brown oughta sell DVDs on how to do “Bankruptcy the Brown Way” — a month before he filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Florida federal court, he bought an $8.3 million Miami Beach waterfront mansion from former Florida Marlins shortstop Edgar…
Don’t Suck! Oscar Party Tips for Hosts and Guests
There aren’t many people who are gushing over how amazing the Grammys were last weekend, and there haven’t been many reports about amazing Grammys parties either. Our Grammys party consisted of me, my husband, and our houseguests lying around in our pajamas, cuddling with our dog, and fast forwarding through…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Hoi Fung of Fung’s Kitchen, On Starting Out As a Cook in Hong Kong Before Coming to America to Make a New Life
This is the first part of a three part Chef Chat series. Parts 2 and 3 will run in this same space on Thursday and Friday. Fung’s Kitchen is a veritable Chinese food institution in Houston. Past host to President Bush senior, the Queen of Thailand and the Imperial Family…
Four ScoreMore Tales That Didn’t Make Our Cover Story
This week’s Houston Press cover story is about ScoreMore, the Texas-based concert promotion company that has, in the estimation of many, become a vital part of the rap ecosystem in the Southern United States. For these types of long-form stories, a fair amount of research and reporting is involved. In…
A Visiting Celebrities Guide to Houston’s Sights, Sounds and Eats
This week the city of Houston will be pummeled with celebs, reality-show dander, 30K-wannabe socialites and pro athletes in town for the NBA All-Star Game at the Toyota Center. Though the game isn’t until Sunday evening, the parties and madness will begin on Wednesday and run until next Monday morning,…
JCC’s Dance Month Concludes with Company E
The Set-Up: Another year, another Dance Month finished. On February 9, the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center (ERJCC) concluded its annual celebration of all things dance with the presentation of Company E’s NEXT: An Evening of Choreography of Israel and Spain. The visiting troupe hailed from Washington D.C. The Execution:…
Last Night: Imagine Dragons at House of Blues
Imagine Dragons House of Blues February 12, 2013 I’ve been wracking my brain to find the words to summarize last night’s Imagine Dragons sold out show at House of Blues, and the only thing phrase that seems fitting comes from no other than Lil Wayne: Smack it like a muthafuckin’…
This Week in Food Blogs: Burgerland Lands in Houston
Chili Bob’s Houston Eats: If two Nicaraguan restaurants in the same location both fail, what do you do? You open a third Nicaraguan restaurant there, as Bruce found out last week when he tried Selva Negra for the first time. (Its previous incarnations were Managua and Nicaragua Restaurant.) Arbitrary Criticism:…
Five Last Minute Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas
Yeah, yeah, we know. “Valentine’s Day is stupid! A manufactured holiday designed to sell stuff! If you love someone you should show them every day!” Blah, blah, blah! Celebrate, or don’t, but for those who do–and who are scrambling for gift ideas–we have some suggestions. For starters, if your S.O…
My Favorite College Dining Hall Meal: Peanut Butter, Banana, Apple and Granola Wraps
The first meal I ever ate on Baylor’s campus during a prospective tour ended up being my favorite item served in any of the residential dining halls. College campuses are notorious for serving the best of the best in their dining halls on campus visit days, so I didn’t expect…
P.L.F. Stays On Its Grind With New Devious Persecution
Unless you’re actively seeking out the absolute gnarliest music you can find, it’s easy to forget that there’s a whole world of extreme sounds out there, roiling just underground. Local grindcore destructors P.L.F. (neé Pretty Little Flower) have seen a pretty big chunk of that world. Since forming in 1999,…
For Valentine’s: The Five Best Recent Rockets Bromances
Over the years, the NBA went from a league where practically every player hated each other, to a league where they Tweet to tell how much they miss one another. Since NBA All-Star Weekend is coming to Houston, some former and present Houston Rockets may get to rekindle the flame…
(UPDATED) Pregnant Teen Seeks Restraining Order Against Abortion-Thirsty Parents
(Update: The judge in the case granted the girl a temporary restraining order preventing her parents from “threatening to use any type of physical force or means…regarding any decision she may make regarding her pregnancy.” No date has been set for a hearing on a full injunction.) Here’s one you…
One Day in the Life of Morrissey
What do you suppose Morrissey does in his free time? Now is an especially good time to wonder, because Moz’s scheduled show in Beaumont this Saturday, already postponed once, has now been postponed indefinitely on doctor’s orders, until it gets rescheduled again. (In case you hadn’t already heard.) But if…
Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam is Jumping
For Adrienn Banhegyi jumping rope is a family affair; both she and her sister are cast members of the Cirque du Soleil show Quidam, taking part in the group jump rope routine. Banhegyi’s father introduced his daughters to the sport of competitive jump rope after he saw a performance of…
German Food Truck Der Brat Bus Seeks Funding on Kickstarter, Hopes to Make Houston Home
Despite Texas’s solidly German heritage, Houston boasts only a handful of restaurants, a fact I’ve often lamented. If my favorite spot, King’s Biergarten, were any closer to town, I would probably spend way too much time there. Though the cuisine might seem a bit antiquated by today’s standards, there is…
Ted Cruz, Texas’s New Senator, Gets Schooled Over His Chuck Hagel Campaign
There are few Senatorial chapters more infamous than Joe McCarthy’s months-long screed against the purported communists infiltrating the American government during the 1950s. The man’s grating, acidic line of questions and insinuations have long stood as the apogee of paranoia within Washington. Indeed, McCarthy’s purported search for the closet communists…
Can a Whole Foods Dinner For 2 Substitute As a Home-Cooked Meal?
After a long week of travel, there’s nothing like a home-cooked meal. There’s also nothing like not having to actually make that meal yourself. Unfortunately, upon returning from a recent trip, I had no way to get either of these things. Fresh off the plane and completely sick of fast…
100 Creatives 2013: Ana María Otamendi, Collaborative Pianist and Vocal Coach
“I’m a musician. Since my earliest memories,” says Ana María Otamendi. Originally from Venezuela, Otamendi was given a toy piano when she was three years old and “everything went from there.” Her love of music brought her to the States, where she earned her doctorate degree from the University of…
Upcoming: The Lumineers, Andrew W.K., Fall Out Boy, Solange, Twin Shadow, etc.
Adam Bricks: With Benjamin Wesley, Ancient Cat Society., Sat., April 13, 9 p.m., $10. Continental Club, 3700 Main, Houston. Andrew W.K.: With Lisa’s Sons, Square & Compass, DJ Dan Castillo., Mon., March 11. Mon., March 11, 8 p.m., $10/$15. Boondocks, 1417 Westheimer, Houston. The Association: Wed., April 24, 8 p.m.,…
Kate Upton Is The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Cover Girl Again Because Duh
For the second straight year, jiggle queen Kate Upton is gracing the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The swimsuit issue, that annual bonanza of boobs, bikinis, beaches and body paint, hits the street this Thursday, February 14. At least some fellas this Thursday will have a date for…
Johnny Football! 2013 Heisman Odds Are Out; Why I Won’t Bet on Johnny
Two thousand twelve was good to Johnny Manziel, and 2013 is off to a phenomenal start. Of course, there was the 41-13 trouncing of Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl on January 4, where Manziel piled up roughly a billion total yards. But there’s been so much more. Lucrative casino trips,…
Branch Water Tavern to Become Vaguely More American “Federal American Grill”
As if Branch Water Tavern weren’t already waving the old-school Americana flag loud and proud, its replacement tenant — Federal American Grill — already seems determined to carry on that tradition, possibly with an even larger flag. Maybe with pretty gold fringe on the edges. Chef and owner David Grossman…
10 Controversial Artists I Want to See on the New Arsenio
Woof woof woof woof woof. Get used to that, ’cause Arsenio is back. Nearly two decades after The Arsenio Hall Show disappeared from TV’s late-night landscape following a five-year run, the man himself is being recalled to duty by CBS’s syndicated-programming wing. The new Arsenio debuts in the fall, reportedly…
