This Week’s Cafe Review: CRISP Falls Flat
Everyone eating and drinking at CRISP seems to genuinely want to be there. Everyone seems happy and well-fed and properly boozed. Everyone is enjoying a night out and several glasses of wine or beer, and everyone is exactly where he or she wants to be at that moment. Everyone except…
Online Racism on Display on 50th Anniversary of March on Washington
While reading the story on Chron.com about the Anniversary of the March on Washington, I glanced at the comments, something I rarely do because of how hateful and ridiculous they often are. Not surprisingly there were quite a few that had been censored and some responses indicating those posts were…
Eminem’s New Track Goes “Old School,” We Give You The Best Old School Jams To Celebrate
The real Slim Shady is finally standing up, it seems. So Eminem, who’s pretty fuckin’ rad all around, just announced that he was dropping his new album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, and followed that up with, well, dropping a new single, “Berzerk.” So yay! “Berzerk,” for its part, is…
Reality Bites: 2013 MTV Video Music Awards
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. My generation — “Generation X” — has a lot to answer for: “Urkel,” grunge, the Macarena. However, our most egregious offense might be constantly bitching about the state of MTV…
Cover Story: The Dark Wall
Most people take one look at a tornado — a whirling vortex of power capable of obliterating everything in its path — and run the other way, but most people aren’t storm chasers. It takes a certain kind of person, a specific hunger, to make someone want to find the…
50 States of Song Part 2: Hawaii to Maryland
When I was in third grade I learned all 50 states in alphabetical order thanks to a catchy tune. Now I’m hoping to stick that bit of trivia just in time for the new school year by celebrating each state with an appropriate song all this week. Hawaii: A Classic…
Scottie Pippen Alleged Assault Victim Apparently the Worst Flopper Ever
There has been an increasing call by fans and people inside the NBA to do away with flopping. Suggestions have ranged from monetary penalties — which the league initiated before last season — to technical fouls and even suspensions. Flopping is lame and has a way of killing the momentum…
Beer Sommelier is Not a Real Word; The Proper Term is “Cicerone”
Fill in the blank: Wine is to sommelier as beer is to ________. If you said, “cicerone,” you’re right. You’re also way ahead of the curve. Though the word cicerone, taken from the Roman philosopher Cicero, has been used for years to denote a guide, generally at a museum, it…
Texans-Cowboys: Final Preseason Odds And Ends, Latest 53 Man Roster Prediction
On Tuesday, the Texans made their final set of moves to get down to 75 players before they head up to Dallas on Wednesday for the game Thursday night, placing wide receiver Alec Lemon on the injured reserve list and placing nose tackle David Hunter and wide receiver Mike Smith…
Os Gêmeos and Hennessy Present Limited Edition Collaboration in Houston
In the world of contemporary art, few people have risen to the level attained by Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo. Known as Os Gêmeos, these identical twin brothers from São Paulo, Brazil have captured the imagination of the art world with colorful scenes inhabited by the jaundiced caricatures of self expression…
10 Back-To-School Lunchbox Recipes
Last week we gave you ten back-to-school snack ideas to serve your hungry kids when they get home from school. This week, we are helping you pack a healthy and filling school lunch with ten recipe ideas. School lunches typically are boring, mundane and not as nutritious as they can…
“Like Four Sticks of Dynamite” – Clash Compadre Don Letts on Band’s Videos
Even among music listeners used to lavish box sets, The Clash – Sound System (Sony) is something to behold. The 11 CDs include every studio album the group released (save for, oddly, last gasp Cut the Crap), along with dozens of rarities, live cuts, B-sides, and remixes. A remastered DVD…
The Iconic Album Covers That Need to Become Internet Memes
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know what an Internet meme is. In case you don’t, I think the best definition is found in the Urban Dictionary (yep, that’s a thing, too, Web novice). It says a meme is “an internet information generator, especially of random or contentless information.” This…
“Texas Biennial Invitational” Displays the Work of Texas Biennial Alums
Take Adela Andea’s “Liquescent Light” exhibition, held this past January at Anya Tish Gallery, stick a fork into whatever socket electrifies its neon light sculptures, and what you get is “Primordial Garden,” a hopped-up room installation and entry into the 2013 Texas Biennial (TX★13), an exhibition of Texas contemporary art…
Houston at Night: Amazing Time Lapse Video of Houston After Dark
We are unabashed Houston supporters, so when anyone does something particularly awesome specifically focused on our city, we tend to take notice. For example, this video from former UH student and videographer Spenser Harris posted to Vimeo last night. It features some amazing time lapse video shot in and around…
Houston Food Trucks Now Have Very Own Cookbook in National Series
I just got my hands on a copy of the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook: Houston Edition, Volume 1 here in the office, and good luck getting anything useful out of me the rest of the day. Now I can’t wait for 6 p.m. when I can go home and try…
Rock You Like a You Know What: Why Hurricane Season Should Heat Up and Stop Being So Lame
Since 1995, the Atlantic Basin has been in a period of higher-than-normal activity for tropical storms. This is a phenomena referred to as the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation. It basically means that for periods of 20-40 years (or longer), there is an increase in storm activity across the Atlantic. To better…
Death Grips: Performance Art or Idiocy?
Experimental hip-hop sensation Death Grips is either a revolution in a world of bland, homogenized music created by manufactured pop stars, or absolutely annoying, loud, obnoxious tripe. There is no in between, nor a middle ground to be found with the band, a trio that consists of MC Ride, Flatlander,…
100 Creatives 2013: Sara Kumar, Artistic Director for Shunya Theatre
Shunya Theatre got both its name and its start from nothing (the former, literally and the latter, figuratively.) “The word ‘shunya’ means ‘nothing,'” Sara Kumar, the artistic director for the South Asian performing troupe, tells us. “It means nothing, emptiness. It refers to the idea of the cyclical nature of…
This Week in Food Blogs: Chiles, Barbecue and Texas Beer ‘n’ Wine
Living on Love and Leftovers: Though Central Market’s Hatch chile festival ended on August 20, the chiles aren’t gone just yet. The official festival in Hatch, New Mexico doesn’t end until September 1, and the chiles will continue to be available in grocery stores for some time. Brooke and Greg…
Teacher Arrested for Soliciting 12-Year-Old Boy Through Facebook
I have a very hard time understanding how anyone thinks they can retain even the slightest amount of privacy using a social network like Facebook. The fact is that anything you put on there is vulnerable, no matter what your privacy settings. Yet, virtually every day there are stories of…
Analyzing the Backlash to the Miley Cyrus Backlash
We are certainly a confused nation of people. Monday morning we all awoke with vengeance in our hearts and fervent need to take to Facebook and Twitter to publicly shame the young Ms. Cyrus for her abhorrent and sexually charged performance at MTV’s still happening for some reason Video Music…
Cassette Store Day is the Dumbest Thing Ever
Record Store Day is quite possibly one of the greatest things young music fans have ever come up with. Every third Saturday in April, music fans around the world flock to real deal music stores and purchase sweet, beautiful vinyl records from all of their favorite musicians. There are exclusives,…
Houston’s Best Tiki Bars*
Houston is finally set to get a true 21st century tiki bar next month, when Lei Low finally opens. Though it won’t be the city’s first tiki bar. The long-gone Shamrock Hilton was once the site of a Trader Vic’s. There was a tiki bar out on the west side…
