New George Jones Bio Is Worth Driving a Tractor to Find
The Grand Tour: The Life and Music of George Jones By Rich Kienzle Dey Street Books, 288 pp., $27.99 Since his 2013 passing, George Jones of course no longer holds the frequently-bestowed title of “Greatest Living County Music Singer,” the “Living” part in deference to Hank Sr. But this brief but richly…
10 My Morning Jacket Songs You Should Know
Considering the band has been around since the late ’90s, and during that time managed to chart exactly one song on Billboard’s U.S. rock chart, it’s an impressive feat that My Morning Jacket continues to sell out large venues and headline major festivals. If anything, enigmatic frontman Jim James and…
New-Release Fridays Make Tuesdays Feel Worse Than Monday
As music consumers, we are constantly facing changes in the status quo. About a year ago, we faced a dramatic new development in the way we consume. No, I’m not talking about TIDAL. In July 2015, the music industry as a whole shifted its normal weekly album-release schedule from Tuesday…
Houston’s 10 Best Bar Experiences
Sometimes, just drinking isn’t enough. While knocking down a few drinks after work is certainly a way to burn off some stress, sometimes it takes a little something extra. Fortunately, a number of Houston bars offer plenty of booze…and a whole lot more. Note: This list is in alphabetical order. BROOKLYN…
’80s Musical Sing Street Captures the Thrill of Kids Becoming Selves
Score one for going home again. After misfiring with Begin Again, a film that asked us to worry over a disillusioned A&R man’s efforts to coax a folk-pop album out of Keira Knightley, writer-director John Carney has turned back to the striving Irish of Once, his breakout hit. He’s also…
Susan Sarandon Charms in The Meddler, but More Rose Byrne, Please!
All actors possess their own personal gateway into becoming a character. Some require deep memory mining (method). Others require lengthy conversations with the director about seemingly unrelated philosophical topics. And some just need a single physical characteristic around which they can develop a character’s entire being. Susan Sarandon is a…
Backpacking Author Followed Keystone XL Pipeline Route, Book Signing at Brazos
There’s a stubbornness to author Ken Ilgunas that has served him well. With the grim realization that he was saddled with $32,000 in student loans, he paid it down by working odd jobs in Alaska for three years before continuing his education – this time with more frugality – by…
LOE Is Ready for Success…on Her Own Terms
LOE is 21 years old. It says her birthdate is August 17, 1994 right on her driver’s license. But hsxwqser age shouldn’t tell you that she’s been heavily influenced by the likes of Björk, India Arie and Anthony Hamilton. Or Korn, for that matter. She was finally granted the right…
Was This Man Really Arrested Because He Wouldn’t Pay His Water Bill?
A 64-year-old retired man was confused when three police officers showed up at his house one Saturday morning in April 2014, asking about the junk in his yard and why his water was still not running. Larry Gaston had stopped paying the bill a few months earlier after it inexplicably…
Spritz the Book Comes to Houston at Public Services
There are myriad recipes for the classic Italian Spritz, a pre-dinner cocktail made famous by the glitterati who sipped the celebrated aperitif in the cafés of Venice and Trieste in the years that followed World War II. And there are perhaps just as many legends about its origins. Whether made…
Todd Boring on Houston Improv Festival’s 5th Year
“I’d gone to Chicago and re-caught the improv bug. I thought: Why doesn’t Houston have an improv fest, and why don’t I start it?” That was the genesis of what became the Houston Improv Festival, according to festival co-founder Todd Boring. Inside the MATCH, Matchbox 3 will be housing more than 23 improv groups (approximately…
Texas: Home of the Country’s Two Largest White Supremacist Prison Gangs
A new report released Monday shows just how big of a problem Texas’ white supremacist prison gangs are. For starters, they’re now active even in prisons outside of Texas. According to the report, authored by the Anti-Defamation League, Texas is home to two of the largest prison gangs in the…
George Clinton and P-Funk: Forever on the Verge of Getting It On
ON TUNING UP “You will not be able to gather much if the piano is out of tune and has broken strings” — attributed to Rudolph Steiner When I buy a Tibetan singing bowl as a gift for a friend on the occasion of their wedding, or winning a spelling…
2015-2016 Houston Rockets: Bye, Felicia
I’m done with the Houston Rockets. No, I’m not done with the franchise forever, and I’m sure, after several long months to ponder just where it all went wrong this season, I’ll probably be back, but with this particular group — this dysfunctional, broken, can’t-be-bothered-to-show-up group. But for now, at…
High Water Can’t Stop Hardcore Heavies Bane From Bidding Houston Farewell
Bane, Burn, Axis, Lesser Degree Walter’s Downtown April 18, 2016 Monday wasn’t an ideal day for live music in Houston. As you’re probably painfully aware by now, the city was hit with one of its rainiest days in history, causing flooding all over town. We all saw that video of…
The Winterhalter Exhibit at MFAH May Inspire You to Buy a Dress
It’s enough to make even a butch guy like me want to put on a dress — one of those voluminous, flowing ones with miles of satin and silk, ribbons and lace — and waltz till dawn in the flicker of candlelight. This is all pure fantasy, of course. I’ve…
Flooded Houston Restaurants Face Bigger Challenges in Reopening Than You Might Think
The City of Houston Emergency Operations Center has issued a press release reminding restaurants that suffered flood damage yesterday that they can’t necessarily just clean up and reopen. They may have to also undergo re-inspection. The press release reads, “if an imminent health hazard may exist that might result in…
More Than 70 Horses at Cypress Stables Rescued From Flood Waters
After days of warnings that flooding was imminent in Harris County, some horse owners apparently still missed the point. Or at least that’s what can be surmised based on the fact that dozens of horses were stranded in high waters on Monday as one of the worst floods in Houston’s…
Purple Time Space Swamp’s Creator Captures a Unique Photographic Vision of Houston
Recently, I happened upon an interesting photo blog with the odd name of “Purple Time Space Swamp”, and I was immediately drawn in. The photos are of Houston, but the photographer captures a vision of this city that is unique, and that other people might pass over or in some…
Houston Flooding 101: Homes Will Be Ruined Until Brays Bayou and Addicks and Barker Dams Improve
As the massive improvements to Brays Bayou and the Addicks and Barker dams remain painfully behind schedule, flood-prone neighborhoods continue to get nailed over and over again. Just like yesterday. For the second time in under a year, some Meyerland homes took in water on Monday. (At the time of…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: The Great Doughnut Debate
This week, we have an unusual spread of blog posts, including a cooking class experience, a tasting at a popular Washington eatery and a few recipes from across the pond. (And no, we are not talking about Highway 288.) First up, Robin Sussman of Zagat has a list of your…
What Exactly Is the Banning of Daily Fantasy Sports Protecting Texans From?
For nearly two decades, the Fantasy Sports Trade Association has been in existence, advocating and charting policies for an industry that continues to explode exponentially in popularity. Twice a year, its several hundred members convene in person to exchange ideas and collectively absorb the state of the fantasy sports union…
Flood Is the God of Houston
I woke up from a nightmare flashback from Hurricane Ike this week. In my sleep I heard the dripping of a faucet and remembered water running down my apartment walls in the day before I fled to New Braunfels with a dog, three cats and a pregnant wife sporting a…
The Feds Have a Long History of Ignoring Probable Cause in the Name of National Security
Whether it’s called “domestic investigation,” as the FBI prefers, or “pre-emptive prosecution,” as critics term it, the bureau’s undercover counterterrorism effort harkens back to the notorious COINTELPRO operation spearheaded by J. Edgar Hoover. Born of the apparent need to stamp out the spread of communist moles infiltrating the highest ranks…
At Bistecca, the Execution Does Not Always Validate the Cost
Chef Alberto Baffoni has been a bit nomadic over the last few years. His first restaurant in Houston was the acclaimed Simposio, which opened in 1997 and closed well after his departure in 2011. His follow-up, Sappori, didn’t last quite as long. In 2012, he turned up at Mezzanotte in…
Guilla Initiates Raven Tower’s Ignition Sequence
Guilla, Bizzythowed, Kyle Hubbard, Mojave Red Raven Tower April 16, 2016 Ever since my first visit to the new venue, I’ve wondered what it would be like to catch a show at Raven Tower when the weather wasn’t quite cooperating. The main stage in the place resides inside an old,…
Sneak Peek of Galveston Historic Homes Tour
Will Wright of the Galveston Historical Foundation is “completely unable to pick a favorite” home on this year’s Galveston Historic Homes Tour. The nine, turn-of-the-20th-century structures, which date from between 1870 and 1915, are that good. Wright says one of homes that folks are particularly stoked about is the James…
Old 97’s County Fair Inaugurates a Texas Tradition Worth Driving to Dallas For
Old 97’s County Fair Main Street Garden Park, Dallas April 16, 2016 Talking with my fellow Houston music fans this last month, it was apparent many people hadn’t heard about last Saturday’s Old 97’s County Fair in Dallas. Even if they had, the prospect of driving 3.5 hours (give or…
Terror Trap: It’s Easy for the FBI to Bust Extremist Plans They Help Create
Jordan Furr and her family were in Bush Intercontinental Airport, just about to board the plane to Toronto when federal agents barreled down the jetway and changed their lives forever. As one agent threw her husband, Michael Wolfe, against the narrow tunnel’s steel wall and slapped on the cuffs, two…
20 Four 20: Curating the Ultimate 4/20 Music Festival
Asking “what if:” It’s a cherished stoner pastime right up there with trimming, grinding, stuffing and rolling. What if 9/11 was an inside job? What if we could communicate with dolphins? What if God was one of us? There’s been no demonstrable end to the open questions that have plagued…
Assessing the Aftermath: Death Toll Climbs After Historic Houston Flooding
The mass flooding yesterday that turned Houston roads into rivers and bayous into lakes was a weather event for the ages. Gov. Greg Abbott declared Harris County, along with eight other counties, to be in a state of disaster late Monday afternoon. Shortly after, Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas…
10 ’90s Rock Acts That Never Really Went Away
When Billy Corgan and his current incarnation of Smashing Pumpkins take the stage at UH’s Cullen Performance Hall Wednesday night, they won’t be promoting a new album or playing new hits. Hell, the band hasn’t released an album of consequence in two decades. Therein lies the point. The Pumpkins —…
The Great Actresses in The Huntsman: Winter’s War Get Too Little to Play
Careful what you wish for. When it was announced that Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt would be joining Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth for the followup to 2012’s humdrum action/fairy tale Snow White and the Huntsman, many filmgoers, myself included, got unduly excited. The original film, while a hit, had…
Whole Foods Accused of Baking Homophobic Cake for Texas Pastor
Pastor Jordan Brown ordered a cake from the Whole Foods flagship store in Austin for his Church of Open Doors, which according to its website is “a non-denominational, non-traditional, Christ-centered, welcoming, LGBT-friendly” congregation. His order called for a phrase celebrating LGBTQ rights to be written atop the cake in icing:…
Mayor Turner Calls for Disaster Declaration After Floods Consume Houston
Mayor Sylvester Turner called for a disaster declaration Monday afternoon after the city and surrounding areas saw 10 to 15 inches of rainfall in a matter of several hours, underscoring the extent of damage Houstonians woke up to this morning. Turner reiterated his request that people stay off the road…
Flooding Puts Houston’s Concert Plans on Hold, for the Most Part
All morning, the Houston area has been inundated with coverage of the #houstonfloods, which has led to the impressive pictures you see above as well as a number of music-related cancellations across the area. In most cases, refunds for the cancelled shows will be available at the point of purchase,…
NCAA Says No More New Bowl Games
There were 41 NCAA bowl games last season. Forty-one bowl games featuring 80 NCAA teams. Eighty teams out of 128 teams that play on the NCAA bowl level. That’s 63-percent of all FBS level college football teams. Three of those bowl games featured teams with losing records (Nebraska, Minnesota, and…
Channel 13 Reporter Rescues Man From Sinking Car at I-10 and Studemont
ABC News reporter Steve Campion even took his mic with him into the water to help a man from his sinking car, all captured on video. The man’s Ford Focus started sinking on Studemont right near the I-10 exit. The man tried reversing, though it was clear to the news…
Restaurants Closed in Houston Today Because of Massive Rain and Flooding [UPDATED TUESDAY]
The overnight deluge that dropped as much as 13 inches on parts of Houston has caused many restaurants to delay opening today. Some are skipping lunch service although with more heavy rain expected this evening, some may not be able to serve dinner, either. Here are the issues we know…
Dish of the Week: Tzatziki
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 recipe that will complement any backyard grill session: Tzatziki. A popular Greek mezze – or appetizer, tzatziki is a…
Man Thinks He Can Reverse Same-Sex Marriage by Fighting to Marry His Laptop
It would be all too easy to think that the man fighting to marry his Mac laptop in Harris County is some type of lonely introverted tech nerd who accidentally fell in love with an intelligent machine. On the surface, it kind of sounds like he just walked out of…
The Christians at the Alley Examines Both Sides of a Fork in the Road
When Richard Thierot first saw a New York City production of The Christians, the performance was interrrupted when a woman sitting in front of him went into a seizure. “The tension in the room was so intense it wasn’t that surprising. I didn’t know how anyone was sitting still,” Thierot…
Laugh All You Want, But Buzzfest Knows What It’s Doing
Buzzfest 35 Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion April 16, 2016 Tell someone you’re going to 94.5 The Buzz’s Buzzfest and you will most likely get one of two extreme responses. The first and minority response is one of unbridled excitement, from a person who is either also going to the show…
Johnny Manziel Trashes A Hollywood Home And Heads To Coachella
“There’s a difference between partying and being out of control.” — Johnny Manziel, just hours before trashing a rental house in Hollywood It’s Monday morning, and at this point, it comes down to choosing which train wreck to write about — the Houston Rockets or Johnny Manziel. Honestly, there’s very…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Blackout Dinners, Bloody Marys & Brinsdisi!
Monday, April 18 Kona Ice Invites You To Chill Out In celebration of National Chill Out Day (a.k.a. Tax Day), the Kona Ice shaved ice truck will be handing out free cups of tropical shaved ice to help people cool down and chill out. You’ll find the truck at Mytiburger, 2211…
Ben Folds, yMusic Endure Yet Another Rowdy Houston Crowd
Ben Folds, yMusic Cullen Performance Hall, University of Houston April 16, 2016 For the first ten minutes of Ben Folds’ performance at Cullen Performance Hall Saturday night, the singer-songwriter was nowhere to be found. His piano sat empty in the center of the stage as yMusic, the sextet with whom…
Ted Cruz’s Weirdness: The Definitive Guide
Ted Cruz is weird, for a human. This is beyond debate. But have you ever sat down and thought about just how freakin’ strange he truly is? Let us count the ways. Consider this The Ultimate Guide to Ted Cruz’ Weirdness. CRUZISMS Cruz says the darndest things. Here are a few of his…
The Cast of Siegfried Triumphs in HGO’s Production of the Wagner Classic
About to lead the Italian premiere of Richard Wagner’s Siegfried at Milan’s La Scala Opera, legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini was stopped backstage by a very nervous tenor who was singing the title role. “Maestro, how do you think it will go?” Never one to miss a beat, the fiery conductor…
Guy Clark: A Living Legend of Texas Music We Nearly Overlooked
Recently I wrote a list of Texas musicians I felt folks should try to see perform live while they still have the opportunity, and in many people’s minds the one glaring omission I made was Guy Clark. Now, Clark appears to be on a (hopefully) temporary hiatus from playing live…
10 Awful Public Art Pieces
The biggest challenge of finding 10 of the most wretched public art pieces? Narrowing it down to only 10. We could’ve made a bottom 10 list for New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago alone. Maybe some other time. A-maze-ing Laughter, Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaArt Attack visited Chinese artist Yue Minjun’s…
First Look at Toulouse, a French Brasserie in the River Oaks District
Houstonians love a good French restaurant, and Toulouse, the new concept brought to Houston by Dallas-based Lombardi Family Concepts, is poised to become another runaway hit. The first restaurant to debut in the ritzy River Oaks District development off of Westheimer Road, it has several things going for it, the…
Texans to Release QB Brian Hoyer
When we look back at the Bill O’Brien Era, however long it may wind up being, we will hopefully look at the next several years fondly as the Age of Osweiler, a period of Texans football which brought the franchise to new on-the-field heights. That all remains to be seen…
Houston Area Grinds to a Halt After Heavy Rainfall, Flooding Cover Region
Heavy rains that canceled the second day of the BP MS 150 moved through central Texas on Sunday on their way east. Significant rain began falling around the Houston area on Sunday evening, but these rains are just the precursor to what could be much heavier rainfall across southeast Texas…
Guns N’ Roses’ Epic Coachella Set Was Full of Forgotten Sex and Danger
“Internal fixation.” That’s how Axl Rose’s good-looking foot specialist Dr. Rachel Triche described the lead-singer’s broken foot on April 8. Her ESPN-esque medical update, in which she sat in front of all her various credentials, was both great reality TV and evidence of Team GNR’s belief that rock & roll…
Shows of the Week: Smashing Pumpkins Are Still Arguing For a Hall of Fame Career
GENERATION AXE Revention Music Center, April 18 Since the emergence of grunge music in the early 1990s, guitar players, with their extended solos and dominant riffs, have largely remained out of the spotlight. But that hasn’t stopped virtuoso rock and metal guitarists, and their small but loyal following from keeping…
Handicapping the 2016 NBA Playoffs by Pro-Wrestling Themes
The NBA Playoffs arrived on Saturday. For two teams, it’s a chance to prove to the rest of the league that the entire season was just a coronation, a feeling-out process before the NBA Finals. For teams like the Pistons, Hornets and Pacers in the East, its stirring up the…
Authorities Confirm Remains Found In South Houston Field Belong To Jessica Cain
The case of Jessica Cain, the 17-year-old who went missing 19 years ago, has finally come to a close. On Friday, Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady announced that the bones found in a horse pasture just south of Houston nearly a month ago do in fact belong to Cain…
Space City Locks Down Charlie Hunnam for Con; Joins Other Sons of Anarchy Stars
Space City Comic Con, Houston’s self-described “outlaw” con because of its ongoing battle with the Greater Houston Convention & Visitor’s Bureau over name rights, has just secured Sons of Anarchy superstar Charlie Hunnam (Jackson “Jax” Teller) for a three-day signing appearance May 27-29. It’s quickly shaping up to be a…
Heavy Rain Forecast Derails Second Day of MS 150
Forecasters have been calling for fairly significant rain in central and southeast Texas for about a week and the threat of torrential rains has caused the annual BP MS 150 to call off day two of the cycling event between Houston and Austin. According to the event’s Facebook page, the…
Even a Fan Fracas Can’t Spoil Kurt Vile’s Mellow Grooves
Kurt Vile and the Violators House of Blues April 14, 2016 You’re going to get consistency at a Kurt Vile show. The Philly-based DIY singer and songwriter is not consistent like another shitty McDonald’s hamburger, but more like your grandma’s pot roast – his solo catalog, six albums deep, is…
Labeling Mishap at Houston Packaged Food Company Leads to USDA Recall
A labeling mishap is causing a Houston-based company to recall and throw out thousands of pounds of food. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a Class 1 recall for two entrées produced by Perfect Fit Meals, LLC. The prepackaged meals, sold in sealed trays are supplied to…
Baylor Football’s Sexual Misconduct Problem
Playboy magazine visited the Baylor University campus in 2002. A young lady who posed for the “Women of the Big 12” pictorial was suspended for a year. A Baylor fraternity, where several male students posed with some women in bikinis as part of the pictorial, was suspended and the men who…
Chefs, Sommeliers And Bartenders Trade Places For A Suicide Prevention Fundraiser Next Monday
Have you ever had an annoying co-worker, employee or boss who always seems to have a “helpful” suggestion on how you could do your job better? Alternately, maybe they insinuate that they could do your job. Well, that’s a pretty common situation in restaurants. The wait staff has ideas on…
Kyle Hubbard Celebrates Tax Day By Giving Away Raps Four Free
Local rapper Kyle Hubbard just can’t stand the thought that you might forget about him. Or maybe he just can’t stand the thought of you bumping stale beats out of your trunk. Either way, he’s debuting some new hip-hop tunes today, and the price is right: completely free. It hasn’t…
Silenced HISD Chief Auditor Hires a Mouthpiece
Well, as if things couldn’t get any grander with Houston ISD investigating its own chief auditor who investigated it – and clearly found the district’s oversight wanting in an audit report released last October – the silenced-by-HISD Richard Patton has hired Dolcefino Consulting to speak for him. Told by HISD…
Tin Soldiers and Nixon Coming: New Book Tells All Sides of the Kent State Shootings
67 Shots: Kent State and the End of American Innocence By Howard Means 288 pp. Da Capo Press $25.99 Mention the tragic shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970 – and most people’s knowledge might be limited to the subjective lyrics of Neil Young’s rock anthem “Ohio.” Or…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: How To Pair Wine & Steak
Here’s a look at this weekend’s best culinary happenings: Brazoria County Crawfish Fesival @ MSR Houston Motor Speedway Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 1 Performance (Angleton) Hit this fun festival for hot and fresh at a cheap price, along with a…
HPD Starts to Roll Out More Than 4,000 Police Body Cameras
Yesterday, the Houston Police Department and City of Houston announced that they would begin rolling out some 4,100 police body cameras over the next 18 months. A couple dozen officers sat in plastic chairs as Mayor Sylvester Turner, Interim Police Chief Martha Montalvo, and others welcomed several boxes of the…
10 Observations On The Houston Texans Newly Released 2016 Schedule
Somewhere on the excitement scale, in between the arrival of the new phone book (Do they still make phone books?) at zero and the unveiling of the Rogue One trailer at ten, is the reveal of the 2016 NFL schedule. After three months of knowing what the puzzle pieces look like,…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Belly Up To The Bar This Tax Day
Mark your calendars, because you don’t want to miss these deliciously fun culinary events: On Tax Day, Monday, April 18, belly up to the bar at Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar, 3201 Louisiana, where you can take advantage of happy hour pricing from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Popular…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: The Jungle Book
Title: The Jungle Book Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: Bart: “And every night the monkey butlers will regale us with jungle stories.” Nelson: “How many monkey butlers will there be?” Bart: “One, at first, but he’ll train others.” Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Four saucy Kipling postcards out…
The Seriously Weird Secret Club Behind That Lamar Student’s “Blackface” Photo
The people who attended the party where a girl painted her skin black say it is all a misunderstanding. Students at Lamar High School were up in arms after a screenshot of that girl, fake praying and wearing a Tupac Shakur shirt, surfaced on Twitter. Another screenshot would surface showing the…
Disney on Ice: The Crowd Couldn’t Let it Go
The latest Disney on Ice tour, celebrating 100 years of Disney animation, started when the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio fell on her butt and ended with Princess Anna from Frozen doing the same, but in between those rare pratfalls (and their gracious recoveries) there really was some unforgettable magic down…
Anti-Abortion Activist Claims Republican, Pro-Life DA Colluded With Planned Parenthood and “Pro-Abortion Lawyers”
After publicly calling the undercover video anti-abortion activists filmed inside a Houston Planned Parenthood facility “disturbing,” Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson, an avowed pro-life Republican, colluded with lawyers representing Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation. That’s according to attorneys representing David Daleiden, one of the anti-abortion activists indicted…
Openings and Closings in Houston: A Trifecta Of Long-Awaited Openings
After much ado, Stoked Tacos & Tequila is finally open at 2416 Brazos and serving unusual Mexican-street-food-style dishes, like guacamole with pumpkin seeds and radishes on top, as well as mashed potato taquitos with pickled veggies. The spot also has a large covered patio and a walk-up taco window for…
HISD Trustees Tussle Once Again in Their Monthly Meeting
A vote over whether the Houston ISD should contract with the failing Victory Preparatory Academy to try to save its two charter schools that the state has ordered shut down because of continued poor academic performance laid bare some sharp disagreements among board trustees Thursday night and prompted a harsh…
Lafayette, LA Is the Music Road Trip You’ve Been Waiting For
Exiting at University Ave. on I-10 towards Lafayette is like driving into an Austin time capsule, filled with memories from before when the city fell under the seige of twee taco cannons, eye-poppingly expensive real estate and explosive population growth. Traffic is light. Houses are charming, colorful, single-family affairs. There’s…
Mishka Shubaly’s Past Is Our Painful Enjoyment
Not many folks out there embody the tortured spirit of the modern troubadour more than Mishka Shubaly. After leaving the punk scene behind in his earlier years, the recovering alcoholic has made quite the name for himself as a best-selling memoirist who has spent the past few years offering up…
Duran Duran’s 10 Best Albums
Unless you reside under a rock, are without Internet service, or are too young to really appreciate the ’80s, you already know that the onetime Fab Five (known to pedestrian pop fans as Duran Duran) is due to grace the Bayou City at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion next Saturday…
Finally, a Superhero in Touch With His Feminine Side (VIDEO)
What do you get when you make a superhero movie with a male lead but keep your female audience at the forefront in your decision-making? Apparently a box office hit. By now, you’ve probably heard about the wild success of the little superhero film that could: Deadpool. Nobody expected much…
Lawsuit Claims BP Misled Workers Before Pension Benefits Tanked
For more than three decades Fredric “Fritz” Guenther has worked for oil companies on Alaska’s treacherous North Slope, pulling two week rotations – two weeks on the slope, two weeks back home with his family in Washington state. If there’s an emergency and he’s on the job, it takes Guenther…
First Look At Harborside Mercantile In Galveston
People are going to have to start thinking of Ricky Craig as a restaurateur, not just as Houston’s famous burger man. His new endeavor, Harborside Mercantile in Galveston, the first restaurant that is not an expansion of nationally-renowned burger chain Hubcap Grill, is now open. The restaurant is at 2021…
Harris County Wins $2 Million To Reform Its Criminal Justice System
Yesterday, what seemed like every head-honcho in county and city government and law enforcement gathered to announce that Harris County has won a $2 million grant to reform the local criminal justice system over the next two years. The grant comes from the MacArthur Foundation, which received over 200 applications…
Texas A&M Plans To Allow Guns In Dorms, Classrooms
Texas A&M University System has released its campus-carry proposal, and it looks like it’s among the least restrictive policies yet put out by a Texas public university. Starting August 1, when the state’s campus-carry law goes into effect, guns will be allowed in dorms at Texas A&M. Guns will be…
Church’s Incorporates Its Honey-Butter Biscuit Batter Into Its Fried Chicken
The food gift angels hit the Houston Press newsroom again the other day, this time bringing us boxes of fried chicken and biscuits to try out. It’s a limited time offer option, available until May 22. The batter from Church’s Chicken honey-butter biscuits has been used to coat its chicken…
Is Another Houston METRO Bond Referendum on the Table? Mayor Turner Isn’t Saying Either Way.
The Houston Press has acquired and analyzed a draft copy of the (apparently super secret) traffic and transportation component of the Mayor’s Transition Team Report. Unsurprisingly, there are discrepancies between Mayor Sylvester Turner’s “official” 17-page synopsis released to the public by City Hall last week and the comprehensive traffic and transportation…
This Week’s Favorite Houston Dishes: Move Over, Colonel—Himalaya Fried Chicken Is Here
Fried Chicken at Himalaya, 6652 Southwest Freeway If you follow any foodie on social media, then you’ve probably seen one or two posts crowing about “HFC,” or Himalaya Fried Chicken. Owner Kaiser Lashkari hates bland food and so made his own savory, crispy fried chicken. It’s simply fantastic. Lashkari brines…
Ben Folds Can’t Quit His Job — He’s Having Too Much Fun
Nearly two years ago, in June 2014, Ben Folds visited Houston to perform with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. During the show, he spoke of his background within such an ensemble, specifically as a percussionist. But despite his upbringing, Folds is best known for his endeavors in rock music. His career…
Johnny Manziel Involved In Hit And Run, Fired By Another Agent
Hey, let’s start this Johnny Manziel post the same way they begin every Rocky movie, by showing the final scene from the previous episode. When we last saw Johnny Manziel, he was stumbling through the streets of Hollywood explaining the difference between partying and “being out of control” by telling us…
Video Games Need More Playable Disabled Heroes
Warning: A few spoilers for a few games. There’s a long-running argument I have with a friend of mine who uses a wheelchair over whether Bentley from the Sly Cooper series counts as the one, true disabled playable hero in mainstream gaming. The argument is mostly over whether or not…
Surprise! A Video Look at the World’s Largest Water Coaster at Schlitterbahn Galveston
Schlitterbahn Galveston has just released a computer-generated video in preparation of the opening of Massiv — being billed as “the world’s tallest uphill water coaster.” Opening this summer, it is said to be three football fields long, with four uphill sections and boasts the “first ever triple-drop finale.” Feel free…
Texas Rangers Launch Investigation Into Ag Commissioner Sid “Jesus Shot” Miller
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who now faces two felony indictments and a lawsuit by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, isn’t the only Texas politician who’s had a rocky first term in statewide elected office. Take, for instance, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Along with defending deep-fat fryers in Texas public schools…
Texas’s Niche Festivals Innovate as the Bigger Ones Grow Stale
Last week arrived with the announcement of this year’s lineup for Float Fest, an August festival in San Marcos that has really stepped its game up. Between Future Islands, Rick Ross and Bone Thugs N Harmony, the festival’s lineup is a great showcase of modern rock and rap alongside some…
Guilla Aims Straight For Outer Space On Children of the Sun
More often than not, Houston rappers are only too happy to wear their local influences on their sleeves: A drip of Lil’ Keke here, a drab of Scarface over there and, if they’re doing it right, a fine dusting of Pimp C sprinkled over the top. And Guilla is no…
I’m Sleeping With My 17-Year-Old Babysitter. Help!
SLEEPING WITH THE BABYSITTER Dear Willie D: I’m a 39-year-old widower who’s been having sex with my kids’ 17-year-old babysitter for the past year. My kids are toddlers, so they are too young to know what’s going on when we go into the room and shut the door. Although she…
Conservatory, Houston’s First Food Hall, Now Open In Downtown Houston
The long-awaited underground dining option from the owners of Prohibition Supperclub + Bar is now open for both lunch and dinner. That means food stands from four popular restaurants and an extensive beer and wine selection are all available under one roof, right next door to Prohibition. Downtown explorers who…
The Latest Barbershop Is a Cut Below
The effortless charisma of Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer, the headliners of the first two Barbershop movies (released in 2002 and 2004), helped keep those over-plotted comedies buoyant. Cube and Cedric are back as Calvin and Eddie in Barbershop: The Next Cut, but even their enormous appeal can’t rescue…
A New Chef And A Fresh Start For Corner Table
Corner Table opened in December 2012 at 2736 Virginia, a quiet side street just off Westheimer. Literally and figuratively, though, the road for the quietly picturesque restaurant hasn’t always been smooth. Chef Eric Aldis is now seeking to breathe new life into the place while retaining some of the more…
Professor Claims Texas A&M–Commerce Forced Her Out After Reporting Sexual Assault
Shortly after returning from a networking trip to China gone south, Texas A&M University—Commerce business professor Dr. Jennifer Oyler thought the best thing to do was to report the attempted sexual assault she managed to escape after a Beijing professor followed her to her room. But instead, reporting the assault…
Conservative Eagle Forum Members Turn Talons On Themselves
Cannibalistic bloodlust continues to course through the veins of the Grand Old Party, and now one of the nation’s most revered right-wing activist groups is rife with rabid internal conflict. Eagle Forum, that anti-abortion, anti-immigrant, anti-tolerance, anti-feminist fun-club for the farthest right of the far-right, is in turmoil after six…
Study: Houston Homes That Never Flooded Before Now Flood in a Two-Year Storm
There was a time, not even that long ago, when a Houston neighborhood wasn’t even on Harris County’s 500-year floodplain map. But today, some of those homes are in danger of flooding. In a two-year storm. (That’s right. Two freaking years.) The City of Houston and Mayor Sylvester Turner are…
No New Schools! and Other Declarations From Trustees at Tuesday’s HISD Agenda Meeting
A proposal to modify the magnet status at Rusk K-8 school sparked a discussion Tuesday about neighborhood vs. magnet schools and led new Houston ISD board member Jolanda Jones to declare at one point that she would not vote for any new schools in HISD unless kids zoned to the…
Inmate Beaten To Death After Spending Less Than 48 Hours In Harris County Jail
Getting stuck in the Harris County Jail because you can’t afford to pay the bail amount listed on a chart can have immediate consequences that can be worse than losing a job or a scholarship. In the past, a diabetic was booked without access to insulin, leading him to vomit…
Simple Tax Advice For Working Musicians
Recently the Panama Papers have reminded us all of the lengths some people will go to avoid paying taxes. Musicians have been dealing with that since at least 1966, when the Beatles’ Revolver album opened with George Harrison’s scathing “Taxman,” the inspiration for the lovely portrait seen above — actually…
A Punk Band Faces Murderous Skinheads in the Harrowing Green Room
Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room is an impeccably crafted cinematic torture machine — in the best possible way. The premise will make some cringe, while making others giddy: A punk band, trapped in a club in the middle of nowhere, have to fight off a bunch of murderous skinheads to get…
Sure, Hardcore Henry Bombed, but You Would Love It at Midnight
Hardcore Henry screened as a midnight movie at last September’s Toronto Film Festival, and was so ecstatically received that a distributor bidding war ensued. Six months later, the film has hit theaters nationwide and fallen flat, thanks to intensely negative reviews from critics upset by its unceasing violence. It didn’t…
