Rosalino R. Portillo, 42, and Anselma Campos Ramon, 38, Bayou Body Count Nos. 88 and 89
Police say robbery could be a motive in the slaying of a married couple in Southwest Houston yesterday. The 42-year-old man and his 39-year-old wife were found bound with duct tape and shot to death in their partially ransacked home in the 11500 block of Keegan’s Ridge, near West Bellfort…
Secession and “Insurance Opportunities”: No Place But Texas
If you haven’t had a chance to read Newsweek’s cover story on Rick Perry, don’t worry. You don’t have to immediately drop whatever you’re doing, out of the misplaced hope that the pages will yield anything you haven’t already heard Perry say. But it may be a good primer for…
Mediterraneo’s Market & Café: Mediterranean Food Tapas Style
We’d been hearing how good Mediterraneo’s Market and Café (18033 Upper Bay Road) was for quite some time. But it wasn’t until two things happened that we finally got the impetus to drive all the way down to Nassau Bay to try it out. First, there was a big sample…
For San Jacinto Day: Five Victories More Lopsided Than The Texas Army’s
I probably didn’t need to remind you that today is the 174th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto, where Sam Houston led the Texas Army to victory over the forces of General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The battle brought an end to the bloody Texas Revolution, and made…
Yes, We’re Going To Kenny G. Got A Problem With That?
Yes, tomorrow night Craig’s Hlist will be at Kenny G with your mother and your weird aunt who likes to buy you fertility crystals for the summer solstice. Kenny G intrigues us to the no end. Along with Michael Bolton, he was a part of a tag-team duo of pop…
Lemongrass-Infused Vietnamese Ice Cream
Can hay-like stalks of grass make for a good ice cream flavor? Only if you follow the directions detailed below. The recipes for Vietnamese ice cream, or kem (pronounced like “cam” in “camera”), vary widely. In this recipe, instead of eggs and cream, we’ll use cornstarch. The result will be…
Strip Clubs And Cramped Vans: Roky Moon & BOLT On The Road
We wanna go on tour in the worst way. We can’t sing, play an instrument or even tap our feet in time, but after watching this tour video from Roky Moon & BOLT’s recent national tour, we will learn to do something that can allow us to travel across the…
Former MHMRA Psychologist Leddy Convicted of Fraud
A former psychologist with the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County, who evaluated defendants in close to 1,000 criminal cases during his time with the agency, recently pled guilty to Medicaid fraud. Matthew Leddy, the psychologist, received a 30-day jail sentence and was required to pay $228,747.81…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #58 The Banana, Ghiradelli Chocolate Chip and Dulce de Leche Empanada at The Original Marini’s
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
Unidentified Man, Bayou Body Count No. 87
Seeing as it memorializes a resounding Nazi victory over American forces, Kassarine Pass Street, the site of a South Park double shooting last night, would seem to be oddly named. In the November 1942 Tunisian desert tank battle, Panzers in Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps trounced a badly-led and poorly-trained American-British…
5 Things to Eat with Eggs Besides Bacon
1. Boudin Purely by accident was this discovery made. A dismally small selection of breakfast accoutrements in the fridge coupled with an intense desire for a gut-busting weekend breakfast spurred this creative egg scramble. Topped with green onions, the final product would make any Cajun grandma proud. 2. Pasta Eggs…
A Playlist For Our Wetbacks in Arizona And For All Who Pray For Them
“It may well be that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition is not the glaring noisiness of the so-called bad people, but the appalling silence of the so-called good people.”- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There’s something so powerful about music. It gets us through life’s…
Game Time: I, For One, Am Excited About the Texans Schedule
As far as an industry goes, there is a lot for the National Football League to be proud of. Massive global appeal, groundbreaking television offerings surrounding both the games themselves as well as the happenings behind the scenes, competitive balance — all reasons it’s the most successful sport in the…
Stirred & Shaken: Nouveau Antique Art Bar’s Aviator
Photo by Troy Fields “Jesus Christ, there are a lot of lamps in here,” was my first thought when I entered Nouveau Antique Art Bar (2913 Main, 713-526-2220). Pretty pedestrian as far as thoughts go, but if you walked into a hockey-rink-sized bar with hundreds of stained-glass lamps on ceilings,…
Suck It, Ben Gibbard: Two Weeks At The Wheel With Lady Gaga
The past two weeks Rocks Off has been driving around Houston with only one disc in his car to listen to. It makes us feel like a billion damned dollars without fail, and can make any banal drive home after the bar feel like even more of a sexy adventure…
This Week’s Cover Story: The Man Who Sued The Pope
Most times when you ask Houston lawyer/theologian Daniel Shea a question, you get a treatise in response, one that can take in everything from the Edict of Constantine and to the deeds of Admiral Rickover to the sins of many a modern-day bishop in the ongoing sex abuse scandal roiling…
Searching for the Perfect Muffin, Part 2
Frustrated with our futile search for a good muffin in this town, we turned to the Eating Our Words community a month ago for help, and got it. Add in a little side work on our part, and we have a fruitful follow-up post for your enjoyment. We left off…
“Rubberz” At The Ready For R&B-Ish Dude Marcel Francoeur
Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. A snap judgment is the best. It’s just…
Morgan Ensberg Discusses His Post-Astros Career, Pt. 1
Morgan Ensberg spent five of his eight big league seasons as the starting third baseman for the Houston Astros. The Southern California native finished his career with a 110 homers (105 of those with the Astros). He made an All-Star team, he started in a World Series, and he holds…
Sampler Plate: This Week In Food Blogs
Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Cook’s Tour: Here’s an idea whose time has come… Alison Cook is…
Aftermath: Hana Pestle’s Convincing Lunchtime Matinee At U Of H
While most people on campus at the University of Houston were discussing marijuana in some way, shape or form – it was, after all, 4/20 – Aftermath, along with about 50 other people, were focused on the talented Hana Pestle. In our two years at UH, we’ve never seen so…
Young & Recessioned: David W, Switching Careers…Again
The Big Recession may have hit the rest of America harder than it has Houston, but that doesn’t mean we’re not feeling the effects. Especially the youngest people in the job market — whether it’s twentysomethings trying to start their dreamed-of career or teens looking to begin making money on…
George Clinton To Play Extended iFest Set For King Sunny Ade
The Houston International Festival has adjusted its schedule to accommodate the cancellation of Nigeria’s King Sunny Ade & His African Beats, who scratched their tour after talking drummer Gabriel Ayanniyi and percussionist Omo Olope were killed in a car accident on their way to a video shoot last month. Their…
Suck the Head and Pinch the Tail at Calliope’s Po-Boys
Robb Walsh confirmed that crawfish season goes into full swing after Easter. Well, it’s past Easter, and we’re ready for our mudbugs. Faint of heart, stop reading now. You just can’t understand the undying love for these freshwater crustaceans. But if your heart starts beating faster just at the mention…
Glee: Tonight At McKinley High School: Everyone Gets Laid
It’s fitting that the Madonna episode would feature not one, not two, but three cherry popping story arcs: Rachel deciding to give herself to Jesse, Finn submitting to Santana’s years of experience, and Emma peeling off the cardigan for Will. That only one of the three actually went through with…
Texans Schedule Out, And More Rides On Kubiak Than Ever Before
The season remains nearly five months away, but with Tuesday night’s much-celebrated release of the 2010 NFL schedule, the gameplanning for Peyton Manning among the Texans’ brain trust can and should officially begin. Sure, this week’s draft is the more pressing matter. Yes, there are still those little things called…
Aftermath: Devin The Dude’s Fragrant 4/20 Party At Warehouse Live
Click here for a slideshow from the concert. Aftermath had high hopes for Devin the Dude’s 4/20 concert at Warehouse Live, even though we’ve already seen Devin at that same exact venue performing mostly the same songs. The difference is that this is a 4/20 concert. That difference becomes clear…
Glee: Tonight At McKinley High School: Everyone Gets Laid
It’s fitting that the Madonna episode would feature not one, not two, but three cherry popping story arcs: Rachel deciding to give herself to Jesse, Finn submitting to Santana’s years of experience, and Emma peeling off the cardigan for Will. That only one of the three actually went through with…
American Idol: Idol Gives [Nickel]Back
This is “Idol Gives Back” week, which means a curious mix of legitimate charity and Hollywood puffery: Money gets donated for worthy causes, but we also have to pretend like Fergie is an artist. So it made sense that the top seven contestants came down on both sides of the…
Food Face-Off: Peanut Butter
Last week we tackled the subject of alterna-milks. This week we talk about its BFF: peanut butter. While we used to just grab our go-to jar of Skippy, today’s markets are full of options, including some that you can make yourself using nothing but an old-fashioned machine and some nuts…
American Idol: Idol Gives [Nickel]Back
This is “Idol Gives Back” week, which means a curious mix of legitimate charity and Hollywood puffery: Money gets donated for worthy causes, but we also have to pretend like Fergie is an artist. So it made sense that the top seven contestants came down on both sides of the…
I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat): SCOTUS Edition
With the Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday to nix a law criminalizing the production and sale of dog-fighting and crush videos, Hair Balls is nervously waiting to see if there’s going to be a big local boom in the Houston market. After all, Harris County prosecutors are remarkably soft on dog-fighting, so…
More Guerrilla Bar Fare with Jersey Mike’s Super Italian Sub and the Brooklyn Brewery’s New Summer Ale at Hans’ Bierhaus
It was one of those-super gorgeous spring days in Houston. What better to do than ransack some bar with food from another joint? Hans’ Bierhaus doesn’t have food, anyway, except for some chips behind the bar. This was actually the first time we tried Jersey Mike’s or Brooklyn Brewery’s Summer…
Prison Guard’s Wife Cries Crocodile Tears In Ashes Of Home
The story shocked Beaumont and prison guards all over America: a federal correctional officer and his wife Monique, both Marine veterans fresh back from a tour in Iraq, were apparently burned out of the house they just bought less than a month before the April 10 blaze. The low-down scumbags…
New on DVD: A Drunk, a Dead Kid and Some Blue Aliens – What’s Not to Love?
This week’s new DVD releases give you your choice of an grumpy, broken down country singer, a dead girl and blue creatures called the Na’vi.Let’s start with Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges, whose performance won him this year’s Academy Award for Best Actor, as well as nods by the Screen…
Austin City Limits Festival Tickets On Sale Tomorrow At 10 A.M.
That’s right. Now why would Rocks Off make something like that up? Hope you have $180 lying around and don’t have any meetings or classes or anything like that tomorrow morning, because they’re going to go quick. Better go ahead and update your email profile (or create one) on the…
Eating Your Way Through iFest, Vegetarian-Style
Anyone with dietary restrictions or health concerns knows that a festival can be a rocky road to travel. You don’t want to feel excluded from partaking in the glorious bounty available. The worst part is the uncertainty about whether or not you should be brave and show up hungry or…
At 4:20 On 4/20, Music’s Biggest Burnouts
You should all know what today is. Today is the day pot-smoking amateurs giggle to one another about how high they’re going to be all day, while the real potheads simply wait with stoic stoner patience for the magic hour to roll around. Yeah, you’ll know the real burnouts when…
UPDATED: David Rodriguez, Bayou Body Count No. 86
UPDATE, APRIL 22, 10:AM Looks like we were wrong about how hard this case would be to crack, as it appears that Harris County Sheriff’s Office detectives have done just that. They say that on Sunday, April 18, the victim, now identified as 21-year-old David Rodriguez, was carjacked in the…
More Kitchen Essentials
I don’t really use fancy knives, a lot of gadgets, or measuring cups; I am a creature of habit and my kitchen reflects my casual cooking style. Culinary essentials? Mine are a mixture of tools and ingredients, gadgets and gizmos. Here are my ten favorites, in no particular order. Microplane…
Dirty Old Town: Web Site Has Houston Douchebags For Days… And Days…
Rocks Off may be a little late to the game on this, but holy shit, we love The Dirty’s Houston section and have been trolling the site for most of the day. It’s a site dedicated to exposing douchery and general shittiness for roughly 65 cities. We caught wind of…
Apparently The Noid Was Unavailable for Questioning
No one can tell when a hot wing jones will overcome them. You might be sitting on the couch, watching a Saved by the Bell marathon, when bam, you get the fierce craving for spicy Buffalo goodness. When we’ve been broke and this happened, we’ve done some crazy things, like…
Chloe Dao Shows Off The Bearable “Lightness” of Being (a Project Runway Winner)
Chloe Dao, Project Runway’s season 2 winner, showcased her newest line, “Lightness” during her spring 2010 fashion show Saturday night at Warehouse Live. From the shoes the models wore — heels made of Plexiglas with decorative mirror pieces — to the white silk chiffon dresses, Dao did everything to emphasize…
Steamed Chicken with Ginger Scallion Dipping Sauce
This is one of my favorite recipes. It’s easy and delicious, and it can feed two adults for four to six business days. Also this is a favorite recipe because I get to use a mezzaluna (pictured below), one of my favorite tools in the kitchen. Growing up, my mama…
Ronald H. Jones, 67: Bayou Body Count No. 85
Ronald H. Jones lived in a tiny ramshackle warehouse on a woebegone backstreet near Hobby Airport. Sometime before 2 p.m. on Saturday April 17, that is also where the 67-year-old died — and died violently, police believe. Now an autopsy is pending to determine what caused the “undetermined wounds” on…
Drink With Mike Stinson, Help Terrible Eagle, Learn How Weed Won The West, Buy Summerfest Tix At Urban Outfitters
MCM’s boss came across the above video of Mike Stinson’s “I’ve Got No One to Drink With Anymore,” from the local honky-tonk transplant’s brand-new (and excellent) album The Jukebox In Your Heart, while he was waiting for her to turn in this article. As a staunch proponent of Coors Light,…
Game Time: The Caballo Chronicles, Volume 2: A Look at MLB’s 20 Biggest Contracts Ever
This is my second go round living in Houston. Prior to moving back here in the summer of 2007, the last time I was an H-town resident was between 1994 and 2001. As an Astro fan, that means I was here when the Bagwell/Biggio nucleus finally broke through in 1997…
A New Peggy Sue To Make Buddy Holly Proud
Only weeks after being blown away by British power folkies Mumford and Sons, Lonesome, Onry and Mean got another pleasant shock from Yep Roc Records’ latest artist, Peggy Sue. Their new album Fossils and Other Phantoms has been in continuous rotation for a week now and we aren’t tiring of…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #59 Whataburger Triple Meat, Triple Cheese with Bacon and Jalapeños
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
For 4/20: Five More Classic Stoners From the Movies
When I came up with our inaugural list of movie stoners way back in 2009, I knew I was unfortunately ignoring some key characters. After all, pot smokers have a rich cinematic history, dating back to the 1930s, and it was impossible to get everybody in the same bowl, as…
Frightened Rabbit Show Looking Unlikely Cancelled
According to Frightened Rabbit’s Twitter page, the Scottish mope-pop buzz band has been marooned in a Travelodge near London’s Heathrow airport for the past few days, putting its scheduled U.S. tour for new album The Winter of Mixed Drinks in serious jeopardy. Like much of Europe, Heathrow is currently at the…
Warm Weather Drinking: 5 Beer Styles to Cool You Off
1. Vienna Lager: A crisp, lighter style with no oppressive flavors. There are just enough hops to keep your palate awake, rounded out with a slightly malty sweetness. As the beer lost favor in its country of origin, Austrian brewers enjoying the warmer climate down Mexico way revived the style…
Anti-Hurricane Consortium To Hold First Meeting…Just in Time for Hurricane Season
A mere 19 months after Hurricane Ike treated the upper Texas coast like its musical namesake used to treat Tina, the Gulf Coast Community Protection and Recovery District is holding their first planning session: Galveston County is joined by Harris, Brazoria, Chambers, Jefferson and Orange counties in the Gulf Coast…
Distant Early Warning: Billy Idol, Black Crowes, Carrie Underwood, Dax Riggs, Erykah Badu, Goatwhore, The Spits, Etc.
Stardeath & White Dwarfs, The Besnard Lakes: Wed., May 19. Walter’s on Washington. Billy Idol: Wed., Aug. 25. House of Blues. Black Crowes: Sun., Sept. 26. Verizon Wireless Theater. Candlebox, Another Day, Rowe: Sat., May 15. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Carrie Underwood, Billy Currington, Sons Of Sylvia: Wed., Oct. 6…
Wine of the Week: Famega Vinho Verde 2008
Last week, Amber Ambrose talked about vinho verde being the perfect Houston summer beverage after a wine tasting at Central Market. Well, it must be catching on because we’ve found ourselves running into vinho verde everywhere from grocery stores to wine bars. This week, we are featuring Famega Vinho Verde…
It’s a Win-Win for Father vs Son
A comedy named Father vs. Son took home the first ever prize for Best World Premiere Film at the 43rd WorldFest – Houston Independent International Film Festival this weekend. Awarded by the Houston Film Critics Society in conjunction with WorldFest, the honor is an auspicious start for Father, which is…
Aftermath: Patti Smith, Not Quite As Mythic As Her Music, At U of H
Ed. note: Aftermath forgot to mention that Patti Smith came to Houston out of the goodness of her heart without pay to read for VBB, which, in spite of her exhaustion from travel, we thought was very cool of her. Have you ever gone to see an artist, but then…
Pop Rocks: God Bless You, Kiefer Sutherland
Like it or not, this is the Celebrity Gossip Era, and unless our journalistic tastes swing away from meagerly credentialed blowhards opining about pop culture in favor of scholarly treatises about global trade policy, this state of affairs isn’t going to change anytime soon. But if you ask me, our…
Chef Tats: In Their Own Words
This week’s feature, Chef Tats, focuses on a new breed of chefs in the restaurant industry: those who are vibrantly and stunningly decorated with ink. No more starched white chef’s jackets — these chefs are young, brash and have a story to tell, both with their food and with their…
iFest Aftermath: Not Bad For a Non-Music Festival
Breaking iFest news: Nigeria’s King Sunny Ade & his African Beats have been forced to cancel their entire U.S. tour, including a scheduled appearance Saturday at iFest. According to a press release from the group’s PR firm, Rock Paper Scissors, the U.S. Embassy has refused to grant visas to two…
Joshua McMackle, 18, Bayou Body Count No. 84
Police are scrambling to find out who fired the shots that killed a Texas Southern University student at a party over the weekend.Joshua McMackle, an 18-year-old freshman, was gunned down early Saturday morning at a large street party held along the 3700 block of Wheeler, one block west of the…
The Astros Win a Series! The Astros Win a Series!
While sitting through the rain delay at Cougar Field on Sunday, I was following the Astros game on MLB.com and on Twitter. One thing I couldn’t miss, besides the Astros losing again, were the number of tweets coming from the Astros beat writers about what was happening with Lance Berkman…
Where Are We Drinking?
If the three drinks below look familiar to you, then you’ll probably have no difficulty where we’re drinking this week. But for those of you who need a hint, here’s one: You get a free appetizer with each one of these beauties Tuesday through Thursday at this local establishment. Leave…
Does God Care If Rappers Smoke Weed?
The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place – lots of times, you’re even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good – so once a week we’re going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted…
Sue Lovell Says “Enough” to Graffiti Artists in Houston
City Councilwoman Sue Lovell has identified a cancer in our midst in the ongoing battle to keep Houston fiscally fit during these recessionary times. Graffiti. As she puts it in her latest newsletter, graffiti eradication is costing this city perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars. She urges these paint sprayers…
Valley Weekend Mayhem Proves God, Intoxicants, And Knives Don’t Mix
Catholicism, knives, and intoxicants proved to be a potent stew in two incidents in and around the Rio Grande Valley town of Edinburg over the weekend. One is kind of funny… When Hidalgo County police found 20-year-old Agustin Casanova hiding in an abandoned house, all he sported was a pair…
The Weekend In Photos
Have you browsed through the Houston Press Flickr Pool lately? It’s full of gorgeous and thought-provoking photos from our talented pool of Flickr photographers. Want to see your own photos appear on the Houston Press? Jump in and submit your work. For more information about a picture, including the subject…
Police Need Help Finding Bank Robber, Identifying Sports Team Logos
Photo courtesy of the FBIThe Houston FBI and Richmond Police Department are looking for a man who robbed a Capitol One Bank in Richmond this morning. Like most criminal masterminds, he apparently felt it was OK to basically stare at the security camera because his sunglasses and baseball cap would…
Recipe: Vietnamese Banana Tapioca Soup
I prefer eating raw bananas while they’re still greenish and unripe. By the time bananas turn yellow, they’re too sweet for my preference. Luckily for me, I learned how to convert overly sweet bananas into a simple traditional Vietnamese dessert that exudes awesomeness. Chè chuÿi (pronounced “chair chewy”) is made…
Houston 101: The Polish In Houston Today And Yesterday
The recent Polish air catastrophe that claimed the life of President Lech Kaczynski and his wife and almost 100 other members of that country’s political elite has opened a window on to Houston’s Polish community. Who knew it was still thriving enough to support its own church? Well, it is…
iFest Aftermath: Eddie Palmieri’s Tight, Steady Groove Doesn’t Disappoint
A little rain didn’t keep the crowds away from legendary Latin jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri’s iFest performance. The Grammy winner has almost 40 albums to his credit, but he’s at his best in front of a live crowd. With 50 years (yes, you read that right, five-zero… fifty… 50) as…
It’s No “Get a Brain, Morans,” But We Like It
Congratulations to Houston Press photographer Bryan Williams, whose (in)famous pic from last February’s Sarah Palin/Rick Perry rally now belongs to the ages, or the Huffington Post, as the case may be: Last year we set to work to find the funniest (whether intentionally so or not) protest signs of 2009…
Random Ingredient of the Week: Panela
What is it? A solid mass of evaporated cane juice. Completely unrefined, its richer flavor is developed from a natural process that consists of boiling cane juice until all the liquid has evaporated, leaving behind a mass of brown fructose and sucrose. Panela is the name used for the Colombian…
iFest Aftermath: After The Rain, A Downpour Of Gulf Coast Soul
As Sunday morning came down in sheets of rain and the crackle of thunder, prospects looked cloudy for Day 2 of the Houston International Festival. Intrepid music fans who dragged out of bed and braved intermittent showers that continued all day were rewarded with an eclectic selection of tunes focused…
Mysterious, Fiery Accident Shuts Down Part Of I-10
Sometimes pictures say a whole lot more than words. Especially when you have photos of a fiery car wreck that the cops are still investigating and don’t have much info yet to share…
iFest Aftermath: A Sensory Smorgasbord And Spontaneous Reggae Dance Party
The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley when it comes to Houston weather. That’s how Aftermath found ourselves obsessively refreshing the iFest Twitter page around noon yesterday for some sign that the show would go on in spite of the stormy weather. In the absence of…
“Safety Deaf” Toyota to Pay Record Fine
Toyota announced today that it would pay the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration $16 million to settle allegations that it kept quiet about safety defects on its cars. The penalty is the largest that the federal government has collected from a car company.”Toyota could have contested the fine, but chose…
Recipe: Pineapple Salsa
Summer is made for salsa and chips on the patio. And sometimes, we want to spice it up a bit with something more than just tomato-based salsa. This pineapple salsa is great with white fish, pork, quesadillas or just a cold beer and tortilla chips. Plus, it’s very easy and…
iFest Aftermath: Joe Ely Band Almost Pulls A Michael Jackson
Terry Allen once told Aftermath that Joe Ely was his favorite performer. Allen related that Ely would come over to his house in Lubbock and sit on his couch and try out new songs. According to Allen, it didn’t matter if Ely had a full song worked out or was…
Hunting Trip a Bust? Sue Your Guide.
There is nothing like sitting on a lake’s edge, communing with nature, that sanctified space that Thoreau said was “full of divinity,” and then shooting the shit out of some ducks.Some people pay good money for hunting trips, and by doing so, they expect the satisfaction of coming home to the…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #60 Torta Cubano Estilo Mexicano at El Amigo Taco Truck
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
iFest: Of Drew Brees and Discount Perfume
Every year since 1971, iFest has grown. And every year, it becomes less and less distinguishable from any other festival in Houston, for better or for worse. This year’s iFest spans two weekends and roughly ten city blocks around City Hall. It’s filled with more sights, sounds and sweets than…
Chef Tats: In Their Own Words
This week’s feature, Chef Tats, focuses on a new breed of chefs in the restaurant industry: those who are vibrantly and stunningly decorated with ink. No more starched white chef’s jackets — these chefs are young, brash and have a story to tell, both with their food and with their…
J-Dawg is HataProof; Lucky Luciano Blows Candles At Zona Latina; Fort Worth Holds it Down for Latino Hip-Hop
J-Dawg BHO CD Release Party 4-16-2010 from Hata Proof Films on Vimeo. Over the weekend, J-Dawg of the Boss Hogg Outlawz paid a visit to Hata Proof Records on the Northside for a CD release signing of his anticipated Behind The Tint, Vol. 2. You’ll remember the piece we did…
Two and a Half Men Mom Transforms into Ann Richards for Galveston Show
For the past three years, Holland Taylor (who plays “the devil” mother in the hit CBS comedy show Two and a Half Men), has conceived, researched, and written a play about the late governor of Texas, Ann Richards. And in mid-May, Taylor will star in her one-woman show Money, Marbles…
iFest: Eat This. Don’t Eat That.
This year’s International Festival is a whirlwind of sights, smells and sounds, most of those emanating from the massive food court that’s sprung up on the lawn around the reflecting pool at City Hall. As iFest grows, so — it seems — does the variety of food offered each year…
Patti Smith On KPFT At Noon; At UH Tonight
The iconic photograph of Patti Smith on the cover of her first album, Horses (1976), was taken by her longtime friend and sometime lover Robert Mapplethorpe, the controversial photographer who died in 1989 from AIDS-related complications. Five years later, Smith’s husband, MC5 co-founder Fred “Sonic” Smith, would die of a…
Game Time: Whose Overpaid Left Fielder Situation is Worse? Astros or Cubs?
Baseball gods, I have to give you credit. You tried as hard as you could on Saturday to keep me from writing about it on Monday. You gave us Ubaldo Jimenez throwing the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies’ history. That was cool. Even cooler than that, you gave us the…
Picnic Drinks
Blatantly drinking in the park can be considered taboo and tacky. Additionally, most parks have a no glass bottles rule, so taking anything in besides beer is generally a no-no. Most of us have attempted to skirt this pesky restriction by bringing our own pre-mixed booze with us. Here’s a…
How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Kidnapping: Ace Atkins on Infamous
Novelist Ace Atkins is in town to promote his newst book Infamous, an account of Machine Gun Kelly and his wife Kathryn’s 1933 kidnapping of Charles Urschel, an Oklahoma oilman. While the couple did get $200,000 in ransom, the kidnapping was more a comedy of errors than a precisely planned…
Late Night Eats: Onion Creek
Up Onion Creek without a paddle! In search of a cool patio to relax and hang out with some friends we settled on Onion Creek (3106 White Oak). They always have cool beer specials, like $2 Red Stripes on Thursday, and we walked into a $1 Pearl beer trap. And…
Aftermath: We Are Not Sorry For Liking LIGHTS And Owl City At Verizon
Friday night at a sold-out Verizon Wireless Theater, LIGHTS and Owl City put on surprisingly solid performances. We use the word ‘surprisingly,’ because we fall into the category of people who oftentimes dismiss these kinds of artists as sans-substance pawns of the industry without giving them much of a chance…
For Eyjaf…Eyjafj…For that Iceland Volcano, Five Crappy Magma-Laden Movies
As you’ve probably heard by now, the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano erupting in Iceland is causing some problems across the pond: EU transport ministers are to hold emergency talks by video conference on easing the volcanic ash cloud chaos paralysing air travel across Europe. Sixty-three thousand flights have been cancelled in four…
Treme: The Battlefield
It became clear with this week’s Treme, “Meet De Boys on the Battlefront,” that creator David Simon has taken the fierce territorial pride that urged him to chronicle Baltimore in The Wire and grafted it onto New Orleans. If the earlier show was about seeing a city in decline in…
The Treme Files: The Battlefield
It became clear with this week’s Treme, “Meet De Boys on the Battlefront,” that creator David Simon has taken the fierce territorial pride that urged him to chronicle Baltimore in The Wire and grafted it onto New Orleans. If the earlier show was about seeing a city in decline in…
Aftermath: A Metal Reawakening With High On Fire And Priestess At Walter’s
So about a month ago Aftermath swore off metal shows. Well serious ones that is. Yeah, we hit up Steel Panther, who are in fact metal but that didn’t count, seeing that they are hair metal which immediately disqualifies them. Anyhow, High on Fire’s packed gig at Walter’s on Washington…
The Week In TV: NBC Comedies Are Finally Back
My parking lot’s flooded, I had my first crawfish on Friday, and I feel like funkin’ it up. This was the week in TV Land: • Ah, the joys and frustrations of the endless news cycle: Not a couple hours after last week’s round-up column went live — in which…
Where Are We Eating?
Ever wondered where you can get a good Mexican hot dog in Houston? If you can figure out where we’re eating this week (or wait patiently until a fellow reader identifies the establishment), then you’ll know. Leave your best guess in the comments section below…
Beyonce’s Naughty T-Shirt, Devin’s Suite 420, Eric B Vs. Nicki Minaj, Rick Astley Chopped And Screwed…
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off’s weekly rap post. It probably won’t rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: Wire to Wire Beyonce had tongues wagging at this weekend’s Coachella Festival when she joined husband Jay-Z onstage for…
Ching-less Dynamo Dispatch Chivas 3-0
No Brian Ching, no problem. No Luis Angel Landin, no problem Without their two star forwards, the Dynamo were able to cruise to a 3-0 victory over Chivas USA this past Saturday at Robertson Stadium. The shutout was the team’s first this season. 12 minutes into the game, Dynamo midfielder…
Coogs Use Power of Dance to Clinch Memphis Series
The Houston Cougars and Memphis Tigers were about an hour into a two hour 19 minute rain delay yesterday when Cougar infielder Jake Runte stepped out of the dugout, into the rain, and started dancing. Teammate David Murphy jumped out and slid around on the tarp, and the preteen batboys…
More Messy Details On The “Toxic Environment” At The Former Meridian
Friday evening, Rocks Off met with Jeff Barry, the attorney who represents both SG Properties, owner of the now-nameless music venue at 1503 Chartres, and SG owner Gary Katz, about the events that transpired earlier this week that you can read about here and here. The tired-looking lawyer said he…
Made In The Shade At iFest
Ah yes, to be young, shirtless and grabbing a few winks on a leopard-skin blanket. Rocks Off is envious, but we thought we’d give you a little taste of what’s to come. Many more pictures from this weekend’s downtown festivities tomorrow…
Free Booze At Former Meridian Tonight
This just keeps getting messier and messier, but one happy byproduct of the unpleasant change of hands the Old Chinatown venue is currently undergoing is that tonight, everyone of legal drinking age will be allowed two free drinks at the show by Japanese DJ Satoshe Tomiie. A donation for the…
The Gallant Knight
The Place: The Gallant Knight2511 Bissonnet St. Houston, TX 77005713-942-9940www.thegallantknight.comThe Hours: 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Thursdays. The Deals: $1 domestic beers; $10 Lone Star buckets. The Scene: The women packed inside The Gallant Knight all seemed to be taking advantage of the $1 beers, cramming on the dance…
Fails Of The Week: BBC 6 Listeners, Whitney Houston, Rolling Stone And MGMT
If you’re reading this, you’re either on the Internet, or else you’ve mastered multi-dimensional thought-projection processes that would make Michio Kaku cry like a little girl. We’ll assume the former, and just in case you don’t already know, the Internet has decided that the word “failure” is too long by…
This Week in Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where it took us five days to figure out that the person sitting in Robb Walsh’s cubicle was no longer Robb, but a surprisingly realistic, life-size Pez dispenser. Yeah, we may not be the most observant department in the…
More Drama, But No New Name In Meridian/Wired Live Saga
Rocks Off finally just heard back from Jeff Barry, attorney for SG Properties and now general manager of its tenant, The Venue Formerly Known As Wired Live, about some of the things that have been going on surrounding the lockout of Wired Live/Chartres Entertainment owner Anosh Ahmed earlier this week…
With Nothing Better To Do, San Antonio Cops Raid Porno Theater And Find Old Dudes Jacking Off
There was a lot that puzzled us about this sordid little tale out of San Antonio.Bexar County deputies raided an adult video theater and arrested three men Thursday evening after they were seen performing sexual acts on themselves, officials said. Jose Valenzuela, 51, Alvie W. Baird, 83, and Reynaldo Arredondo,…
Puppets — Big Freaking Puppets — At HGO’s Queen of Spades
Puppets two feet tall, puppets 15 feet tall, they’re all in Houston Grand Opera’s production of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. The opera follows the misfortunes of Herman, a penniless young man desperate for the love of Lisa, a girl of noble birth. Lisa’s grandmother, a Countess is called the…
Upcoming Events
The big party this weekend will be all over downtown, as the city succumbs to two straight weekends of the International Festival (a.k.a. iFest). We thank the festival gods every single year that one of our favorite local festivals was moved back downtown, where it belongs. Remember that one hellish…
Tom Petty Reschedules Woodlands Date For September 24
This JUST off the wire… Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are taking a little longer than anticipated to finish their new album, Mojo, and have rescheduled several early dates of the accompanying tour, including May 16 at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, which is now scheduled for September 24. All…
Undercover Narc Nails Big Bust At Rural High School
West Columbia is about 45 miles southwest of here; don’t feel too bad if you haven’t heard of it. The Brazoria County town has about 4,300 residents, 16 of whom are facing drug charges after an undercover operation in the local high school.A school-district cop went undercover at the school…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #61 Tom Kha Gai at Thai Choice on Wilcrest
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
A Rock & Roll Time Capsule From Friday Night Lights Country
As Lonesome, Onry and Mean noted yesterday, even in an age when no one supposedly buys, listens to or reviews albums anymore – three words: Record Store Day – too many albums pour into our mailbox. One of the most interesting albums that we’ve yet to properly report is Sweet…
Game Time: Jerry Jones’ Drunken Tebow Analysis — Why I’m Conflicted
“Bill’s not worth a shit, I love him….not worth a shit, but I wanted…they were on my ass so bad. They said J’s gotta have a ‘Yes Man,’ so to get this fucking stadium, I need to bring his ass in.” — Jerry Jones, Owner, Dallas CowboysI’m about to vent…
Fake-Botox Doctor Gets Some Prison Time
Gayle Rothenberg was convicted way back in 2007 of injecting patients with fake Botox. Today she finally got sentenced.Rothenberg will serve five and a half months in prison, three years of supervised release, and pay reparations of almost $100,000 to patients, U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno announced this afternoon.Rothenberg had…
Healthy Alternatives: Baba Yega’s Black Bean Burger
Fellow Houstonians, in case you haven’t noticed: summertime is very near. We can feel it as the sun’s rays turns our parked cars into saunas and feel it as the balmy air ruins our carefully styled hair. And though this is a somewhat welcome change after the harsh winter we…
KTRU Live Vol. II Release Tonight At AvantGarden
Tonight at AvantGarden, come celebrate the release of the second live compilation from KTRU (91.7 FM). Admission is free and the album only costs $5 but they are limited and going very fast. Doggebi, The Literary Greats and Ben from listenlisten will be on hand for live sets, with DJs…
Places to Eat After the St. Arnold Tour
1. Ray’s Franks All beef hot dogs with lots of interesting ingredients to spare. Curry ketchup is a favorite, along with the combination of grilled green chilies, cucumbers, banana peppers, jalapenos, AND curry ketchup on the ominously named “Chupacabra.” Don’t fret if you’re not a lover of encased meats, as…
Latin Music At iFest: Legends, Locals And A Party-Starting Funk Crew
Over the next two weeks, Rocks Off will be previewing acts performing at this year’s Houston International Festival Saturday and Sunday and April 24-25 broken down by genre (loosely, anyway) and with a guest pick from a true insider: iFest Director of Performing Arts Rick Mitchell. Today, a look at…
Overcrowding Crisis Hits BARC
The Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care is packed to an “unsustainable” level, so if you’ve been thinking about fostering or adopting, get thee to the shelter, stat.The facility “has experienced a drastic increase in the number of animals turned into the shelter in the previous two weeks,” according to…
Damond Castle Discovers Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy
Damond Castle dreamed of becoming a pimp. And while the 30-year-old calls himself “HoMoney” on his MySpace profile it seemed that his stable might have been a little skimpy two years ago. That was when, according to court testimony at his aggravated kidnapping trial last week in Bryan, he attempted…
Chef Tats: In Their Own Words
This week’s feature, Chef Tats, focuses on a new breed of chefs in the restaurant industry: those who are vibrantly and stunningly decorated with ink. No more starched white chef’s jackets — these chefs are young, brash and have a story to tell, both with their food and with their…
A Guide To Record Store Day 2010 In Houston, Cage Dancing And All
Vinyl fetishists, are you ready to be separated from your mortgage or rent money? Record Store Day is tomorrow, and indie record stores across the whole city will be sticking you up all day Saturday. Rocks Off gets paid today, so you will more than likely see us browsing sweatily…
A Day At Discovery Green With The Tea Partiers
The noise leading into the November election is only getting louder, as the dissent on the right side of the nation grows deafening. Yesterday on Discovery Green, a group of at least 1,000 Houston Tea Party supporters and some from other spaces in Texas converged to hold a Tax Day…
Kitchen Items We Could Live Without But Wouldn’t Want To
We’ve heard from both Katharine Shilcutt and Becky Means about their kitchen must-haves. But for us, it’s more about what we wouldn’t want to live without in our kitchens. We would definitely be fine without these kitchen essentials, but they sure make our lives easier. 1. Hamilton Beach Hands-free Coffee…
Sorry Little Monsters, Lady Gaga Tickets All Gone-Gone
Tickets for the second date of Lady Gaga’s Houston stand in July sold out less than an hour ago in just 15 minutes, falling short of the record six-minute record set last week. Way to go, little monsters of Houston. Mama Gaga has to be pretty excited about all the…
Don’t Depend On Light Rail To Get You Anywhere This Weekend
If you were thinking you could drink freely downtown this weekend and take the light rail home, think again. It’s “Set Back the Clock” weekend at Metro, as they abandon the sleek 21st-century wonder of light rail and regress back to smelly old buses.A new pedestrian bridge is being installed…
Health Department Roundup: Houston Heights
This week on Health Department Roundup, we visit the historic Houston Heights, and marvel at our city’s most aggressively quaint neighborhood. And the grimiest corners of its restaurant kitchens. An April 9 pre-opening inspection at Les Givrals (4601 Washington Ave.), found the floors not constructed of smooth, durable materials in…
Sailing Away With Songs Of The Caribbean
A couple of years ago She Said was in Oslo, Norway, where she saw an exhibit by artist Tacita Dean chronicling the mysterious voyage of Donald Crowhurst. Dean found and photographed the Teignmouth Electron, the boat Crowhurst apparently abandoned, and collected newspaper articles from the circumnavigation sailing race in which…
HISD Trustees Give Grier a History Lesson
Sounding a bit like a past-the-honeymoon-stage couple whose partners are starting to feel misunderstood and underappreciated, Superintendent Terry Grier and the Houston ISD trustees got through Thursday’s board workshop with a patina of camaraderie, occasionally interrupted by hints of tension.As Grier and Chief School Officer for High Schools David Simmons…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #62 Italian Sausage Pie at Russo’s Coal Oven Pizza
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
Catching Up With Sharks & Sailors
Sharks and Sailors last played in Houston in the summer of 2008, riding high on its second release, Builds Brand New, and the resulting accolades. The band–bassist/vocalist Melissa Lonchambon, guitarist/vocalist Michael Rollin, and drummer Phillip Woodward–took a much-needed break, but finally return this weekend for a show at Mango’s with…
The Astros Will Not Be 0-162. 1-161, We’re Not So Sure
The good news? The Houston Astros won a baseball game yesterday, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 to win get their first victory of the year (they lost 5-2 to St. Louis on Monday, and the Cards won 2-1 on Wednesday night). So those of you who picked the Astros…
Young & Recessioned: Katelyn Orenchuk, Learning How To Keep Football Stats
The Big Recession may have hit the rest of America harder than it has Houston, but that doesn’t mean we’re not feeling the effects. Especially the youngest people in the job market — whether it’s twentysomethings trying to start their dreamed-of career or teens looking to begin making money on…
$13 at Azumi Sushi
Where: Azumi Sushi Japanese Restaurant, 1709 Dryden Road, Houston, 77030, (713) 790-9997 What $13 gets you: A chicken teriyaki bento, a spicy salmon roll, a small side of seaweed salad and edamame, and a couple of pieces of salmon sushi. Normally, we don’t spend quite so much money for lunch…
Sentury Is Going To “Lose Control” All Over Your Ass
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and, albeit sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It’s five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. First, a qualifier: When we talk about Mo’Nique, same as when we talk…
Good Morning, Houston, You Sybaritic Bunch Of Decadent Wasters
Houston, you’ve been called the fattest city in the country, the smoggiest, the one least likely to win a World Series anytime soon.Get ready for another title: The Country’s Most Wasteful City.Well, not exactly the most wasteful city — there are probably smaller places out there that waste more –…
Metro Board Meeting: Near Heart Attacks, And No One Cares What Frank Wilson Thinks Anymore
The newish Metro board got a wild introduction to the Metro-loving public at its first meeting this afternoon, where one Houstonian got so worked up that he nearly collapsed and later was taken to the hospital. DeWayne Lark, the man that almost collapsed, was talking about the light rail construction…
Top 10 Restaurants In Clear Lake
There’s more to Clear Lake than just NASA, the sadly rotting Jim West mansion and that hotel where a woman mowed down her husband in the parking lot. And there’s also more to the area than overly-fancy eateries like Cullen’s or old mainstays like Villa Capri and the Seabrook Classic…
Can Anyone Out-Twee Owl City?
Owl City (really just a guy named Adam Young) is a bit of a conundrum. He’s perfectly fine to listen to, as long as you pretend that his music is specifically intended for very young children, like the Wiggles or Raffi. Then you pay attention to the meticulous production and…
The Caribbean At iFest: Pass The Kutchie To Neutral Sister, The Mighty Diamonds And Easy Star All-Stars
Over the next two weeks, Rocks Off will be previewing acts performing at this year’s Houston International Festival Saturday and Sunday and April 24-25 broken down by genre (loosely, anyway) and with a guest pick from a true insider: iFest Director of Performing Arts Rick Mitchell. Today, the Caribbean -…
Bobby Heugel’s Weekly Cocktail: The Hemingway Daiquiri
Ernest Hemingway’s drinking antics are almost as legendary as his wonderful stories, and it’s no coincidence that so many of his stories emerged from the birthplace of so many great cocktails. Hemingway’s association with Cuban cocktails became so infamous worldwide, hedonistic American tourists would frequent Cuba’s most famous cocktail bar,…
All Quiet On The Post Office Front
Daniel Dover didn’t wait until the last minute to file his taxes. He simply picked up the wrong set of information the first time around.”I already had my stuff filled out for the most part, but I picked up the wrong booklet when I got my first forms. I need…
Eight Is Enough: Astros Win! Party Hard!
Astros win! Astros win! Thank Lemmy, the Astros won a game! Was it our terse words that made them pull it out? We sure hope so…
Former Board Member Of The Police Union Indicted For Ripping His Colleagues Off, To The Tune of $200,000
A cop breaking the law is always disheartening. Is it worse when his victims are his fellow officers?Probably. We’ll get the chance to find out as the case of Matthew Calley develops. A Harris County grand jury indicted Calley today for theft of more than $200,000 in union funds.Calley was…
Butter vs. Shortening
Not all fats are alike, especially in baking. Cakes and cookies will turn out differently depending on what fat you use. And no, you can’t use them interchangeably without changing the results. Count on having to adjust the recipe. How do you decide what to you? Well, it all comes…
New, Hidden Americana Gems From Philly, Nashville And The Ozarks
Too many records, too many records, too many records. Sometimes Lonesome, Onry and Mean just has to take a deep breath, swallow hard and admit we can never give a fair listen to all the stuff that shows up in the mailbox. And since we seldom do actual album reviews…
The Chronicle Does Some Editing In Piece Questioning UT-Health Science Center President
Last year we told you about the relatively new president of the UT-Health Science Center and the generous contract terms he was getting to have homes here and in Pennsylvania.The situation is still ongoing, and the Hearst newspapers have taken notice.Gary Scharrer of the Hearst Austin bureau wrote of the…
Keeping Cool with Green Wine
There are three qualifications for drinking in the Houston heat: the beverage in question 1) must be cold 2) must be light 3) must be refreshing. The one wine that meets all three criteria with flying colors is neither white, rosé or red. It’s green. Known “officially” as vinho verde,…
Nixon-Era Album Reveals Highway Between Heaven And Houston, Texas
Rev. C.L. Jackson You Can Go To Heaven From Houston, Texas Preach on, Brother Jackson Cutout Bin got a record (yeah). In a thrift store in Houston, Texas (yeah). I was feelin’ low (yeah). Like the world was out to get me (that’s right). So I put on the record…
Game Time: Roger Goodell To Decide If He Can Punish More Stupidity
This is why they pay Roger Goodell the big bucks. For a commissioner who quickly gained a reputation as a strict disciplinarian after taking over for Paul Tagliabue in August 2006 by throwing suspensions at his league’s miscreants like so many nickels and dimes, the decision he makes regarding punishment…
sIngs’ Brett Taylor: One Musician, Two Songs, Same Name… He Makes The Call
Saturday night at Mango’s, sIngs debuts its new EP, Hells, to what is sure to be a full house. Also on the bill are the reawakened Sharks & Sailors, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Young Mammals and B L A C K I E. Casiotone was to play a gig…
Chef Tats: In Their Own Words
This week’s feature, Chef Tats, focuses on a new breed of chefs in the restaurant industry: those who are vibrantly and stunningly decorated with ink. No more starched white chef’s jackets — these chefs are young, brash and have a story to tell, both with their food and with their…
Pop Tarts Buh Bye (Yes!) But What About Those Jews and Muslim Kids Who Don’t Eat Pork?
Pop Tarts are exiting the Houston ISD breakfast program. As Hair Balls detailed a month ago, union leader Orell Fitzsimmons attacked the district’s use of Pop Tarts and other surgary, processed foods in its breakfast program at a board meeting — and apparently made some headway.This morning, food service contractor…
Astros Now 0-8, Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down
Dear Houston Astros: Seriously, you are now making us drink. We actually went to a bar last night after work in the hopes you would win so we wouldn’t have a big bar tab. When you do well, we are too busy watching that we forget to drink. But when…
Samantha Sillero, 4, Bayou Body Count No. 83
A 4-year-old girl was trampled to death by a horse. Authorities do not suspect foul play.Young Samantha Sillero and her mother were out riding their family horse on Sunday morning at a rodeo arena along the 13700 block of Karalas Road in south Houston. It started out, we assume, as…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #63 Stuffed Artichoke at Mint Café on Sage
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
Y’all Musta Forgot: K-Otix’s Universal
Houston’s history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We’ll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. K-Otix Universal (Bronx Science, 2001) K-Otix are the Hawk and Animal of Houston rappers, a seemingly ageless tag team…
Gimme (A Tax) Shelter
Even if Uncle Sam took a great big bite out of your wallet this year, there are still ways to enjoy a good meal today — several, in fact — thanks to local restaurants taking advantage of your newfound poverty to offer free or reduced-price goodies today. It’s like a…
Type O Negative’s Peter Steele Dies Again, This Time For Real
Rocks Off remembers a Houston Type O Negative concert from years ago. We were particularly excited because Type O had added a cover of “The Angry Inch” from Hedwig and the Angry Inch to their set list, and we had a T-shirt form the original off-Broadway run we were hoping…
Violence, F-Bombs: Texas City Little League Is A Quentin Tarantino Movie
From now on, no one under 17 will be admitted to a Little League baseball game in Texas City unless accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.At least that’s the way it should be, if recent events are any indication: A brawl between coaches that resulted in two arrests a…
Food, Fun, and Frivolity at Menu of Menus
This Tuesday, hundreds of hungry Houstonians joined me at Houston Press’s annual gala to sample some of the tastiest treats our local restaurants had to offer. The event was held indoors this year at West Ave. Though last year’s event at Discovery Green was more casual, this year people were…
Rice Romps As It Starts To Make Its Move In C-USA
It’s hard to find fault with your baseball team when you win a game 23-1, and that game is called in the seventh-inning because of the so-called travel rule — it actually appeared to be more of a mercy type thing, but called the game was.Yet leave it to Rice…
$7 at SunMart #139
Where: SunMart Mobil Station, 3200 Holcombe Blvd, Houston 77021 What $7 gets you: A tasty and cheap dinner, Fanta, and a pack of Tums. We stopped at SunMart Mobil to get gas, and stopped in for a drink and to pay. It smelled awesome inside, and our evening plans to…
Aftermath: Sax Virtuosos John Butcher And Joe McPhee’s Installation Sound
Aftermath has never been to a concert at Richmond Hall, but Nameless Sound, Houston’s contemporary music showcase and non-profit, has had a few shows in the hall on the south side of The Menil Collection’s campus. Wednesday night’s event featured two internationally-known jazz saxophonists – John Butcher, from Brighton, England,…
Idol Beat: Double-Down On Adam Lambert
I realized last night that the upside of the eliminations for the rest of this season of American Idol will be slightly more efficient now that the judges have used their save. Now, when someone hits the end of the road, that’s it. They’re done. It’s almost shocking to have…
American Idol: Double-Down
I realized last night that the upside of the eliminations for the rest of this season of American Idol will be slightly more efficient now that the judges have used their save. Now, when someone hits the end of the road, that’s it. They’re done. It’s almost shocking to have…
The Kiddie Porn Producer And The “Family Friendly” Nudist Camp
Hair Balls was shocked — shocked — to find out the former Austin man accused of producing a notorious series of child-porn videos known as “The Tent Series” was a member of an Austin-area nudist colony that describes itself as “family friendly.”David A. Diehl, 48, was arrested near Jacksonville, Fla.,…
Anti-Mosquito Foods
Summer’s coming — and with it, mosquitoes. Some unfortunate souls are unfortunately irresistible to the pests, while others have some strange scent that drives Houston’s most noxious beasts away. I am one of the former, forever spending my summers covered in unsightly scars and scabs, attracting mosquitoes away from my…
What Can Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne And Other Stars Claim On Their Taxes?
Got your taxes done? No? You poor dumb bastard. They won’t let you just not do them, you know that, right? Unpleasant as it is, finding out you owe still more money after having paid a sales tax all year, it’s nothing compared to what the government will do to…
Pop Rocks: Send In the Clowns
The insane clowns, that is. And their…posse. Long an in-joke among connoisseurs of bad music and trailer park culture, even as they’ve enjoyed extensive significant success without the benefit of radio or MTV airplay, Insane Clown Posse are enjoying unexpected popularity thanks to a couple of recent developments. The first…
For April 15: The Bloodthirstiest Donald Duck Video Ever Urges You To Pay Your Taxes
Last year on April 15, we offered you the five best tax-related movies. This year we need only offer one.A violence-filled, stereotype-strewn wonder from Donald Duck, urging all Americans to “Pay your taxes to bury the Axis.”Politicians today would give their left arm to be able to use one of…
Man from Nebraska
In Stages Repertory Theatre’s regional premiere of Man from Nebraska, Ken Carpenter wakes up one day and realizes he doesn’t believe in anything. Nothing. Nada. The situation leaves this average Joe, played by Alley regular Paul Hope, in a bit of a quandary. Veteran actress Sylvia Froman, who plays Carpenter’s…
Sedition Ciclo de Cine Radical en Español: Sleep Dealer
Someone should have told Memo Cruz to be careful what he wished for. In the film Sleep Dealer, part of the Sedition Ciclo de Cine Radical en Español screening series, Cruz is a young man in Mexico who has always wished he could leave his primitive village and go to…
Katherine Center: Get Lucky
Beautifully blond and wonderfully Texan, Katherine Center has published three novels in less than a decade, and each has been connected to Houston in some way. Her latest, Get Lucky, is about Sarah, a girl who returns to Houston after doing a very public crash-and-burn in New York City. Once…
Cool Brains: Inprint: Gary Paulsen
Writer Gary Paulsen leads children into the wilderness – and leaves them there. The three-time Newbery Award Winner has written more than 200 books for young adults, many of them about characters who grow up quick as a means of survival. His most popular (and award-winning) title, Hatchet, follows a…
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The great thing about Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is that his kid-friendly world is not all sugar and spice. Never mind that the whole thing takes place in a candy factory where rivers are made of chocolate and hair is toffee; some of the kids in this…
Country Gravy and Other Obsessions
Singers/co-writers Julia Kay Laskowski and Patti Rabaza are putting their talents together for Country Gravy and Other Obsessions, an original musical comedy they’re presenting under the new banner of Magic Butterfly (which replaces their former Inchworm Productions). The show seems like a natural fit for Laskowski, who played Patsy Cline…
Dearly Beloved
Writers Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten have made a sort of cottage industry out of the Futrelle sisters, their much-loved hick characters from Fayro, Texas. The triptych of plays created around these goofballs includes Dearly Beloved. As the title suggests, this story concerns a wedding, namely the one…
Girl Shy
Kevin Brownlow, the dean of silent film historians, describes the final reel of the 1924 silent Girl Shy, in which actor Harold Lloyd commandeers every sort of conveyance to get to the church and stop his girl from marrying someone else, as “excitingly shot as the chariot race from Ben-Hur.”…
The Warriors
A mime in a baseball outfit wouldn’t normally be intimidating, but in the world of The Warriors, guys like that are deadly. The bizarre 1979 thriller features eight members of the eponymous gang dodging the Baseball Furies and dozens of other distinctly dressed hoodlums as they try to make it…
Action Hero: A Western
DATE CHANGE! This performance has been rescheduled to Monday and Tuesday. The British performance group Action Hero is bringing A Western, an ode to all things Wild West-ish as seen from across the pond, to the Lone Star State. The show follows your basic good guy-vs.-bad guy plot and includes…
“Record Store Day 2010” With Freddie Steady Five, Grandfather Child, sIngs
Since 2008, Record Store Day has become almost a national holiday for vinyl fanatics. The day centers on independent record stores throughout the world, and helps encourage people to go discover music at their local brick-and-mortar outlets instead of iTunes or other downloading sites. The day brings new special-edition pressings…
FotoFest 2010: “An American Journey”
In 1955, the Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank set out on a series of road trips and snapped photographs of Americans in Florida, New Orleans, Utah, Montana and other states. He went on to capture 28,000 images, but published only 83 in The Americans, which quickly established itself as part of…
The Krayolas
After a Houston hiatus of more than two decades they finally broke last year, the Krayolas are making up for lost time – Saturday will be their third trip here since last summer. Brothers Hector and David Saldana’s San Antonio band isn’t letting any grass grow in the studio either…
Elizabeth Cook, Billy Dean
Anyone who heard the memorable refrain from the title track of Elizabeth Cook’s 2007 album Balls (“Sometimes it takes balls to be a woman”), or tunes in her morning show Apron Strings on Sirius/XM’s Outlaw Country channel, knows the Florida native isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Now residing in…
Run Lola Run
Brian O’Neill’s Irish Pub (5555 Morningside), the eight-year-old favorite hangout of Rice-area residents and Medical Center folk, has the typical Irish pub fixings. There are, of course, lots of wooden accents, leather lounging furniture and heavy-looking doors. The pub offers nearly 60 different types of whiskeys and vodkas, televisions to…
Mo’Nique: Spread the Love Tour
Comedian and talk-show host Mo’Nique uses real life as the basis for her stand-up routines, so she should have lots of new things to talk about on her Spread the Love tour, which is making a stop in Houston today. She’ll probably talk about her growing, active twin sons; what…
Para Vivir
Life explodes off the stage at Hobby Center. It travels through the house like an atomic blast; it blows back our hair and lifts us out of our seats. You feel it before the show even begins, when the voices of the actors doing their preshow warmup yell out exuberantly…
Flemming (An American Thriller)
Talk about a midlife crisis: Henry Flemming decides to dump his profitable brokerage company so that he can launch a new career as a detective in Sam Babrick’s comedy, Flemming, (An American Thriller). The play, a spoof of the 1940s and ’50s film noir genre, is called as a “wonderful…
The Three Little Pigs
In the Express Children’s Theatre version of the age-old The Three Little Pigs, nobody’s blowing any house down. Theater Executive Director Pat Silver says this musical and bilingual version is somewhat different from the traditional story. “These are three pig scouts who go on a camping trip with their scoutmaster…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Company, Tartuffe
Company When it debuted on Broadway in 1970, Stephen Sondheim’s Company was a brand-new sort of musical. The swinging homage to marriage and friendship among the cool, hip denizens of Manhattan includes a couple who smoke pot, a homoerotic suggestion between old pals, and lots and lots of booze as…
Faster Than a Speeding Internet
Kick-Ass, the Matthew Vaughn-directed adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s graphic novel, sets itself up as an unadulterated exposé of the teenage mind. Tired of being mugged by high school thugs in a Manhattan that’s notably scummier than the real thing, our hero Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson, a…
Big Brother Sees Your Tweets
EDUCATION Big Brother Sees Your Tweets San Jac student disciplined for bomb threat By Craig Hlavaty As much as social media broadens our horizons, be it through interpersonal or business relations, it creates a whole new universe of privacy issues. Friendswood-area college student Ashley Marzullo found that out firsthand recently…
Mexican Women and Spanish Influence
Dear Mexican, I’ve dated a few Mexican girls in the last couple of years and I’ve come to realize one big, important thing — most of the girls didn’t know how to cook, clean and, you know…bring that ol’ school Mexican flavor from the roots! What’s happening to all our…
Chef Tats
“I need four wedge salads — necesito cuatro wedge salads, guys — and dos prime ribs, medium rare, a roast chicken and a chairman. You got all that?” Chef Michael Dei Maggi barked orders cheerfully from his corner station in the open kitchen to a crew of cooks and sous…
High on Fire
High on Fire continues its nearly decade-long domination of stoner-metal at large with the new Snakes of the Divine. Strike that: Actually, the disc completely blows everything it has previously made out of the murky black water the band swims in, pretty much making most of its peers weep into…
Capsule Art Reviews: “2010 Glassell Core Exhibition”, “Allison Hunter: Zoosphere”, “Dirty Secrets from the Cataract Cinema”, “Eileen Maxson: Orphans of Failure”, “Steve Wolfe on Paper”
“2010 Glassell Core Exhibition” It’s rare (and maybe impossible) that an annual Core Exhibition fires on all cylinders. There’s always great anticipation and excitement leading up to the opening, followed by a kind of anticlimactic dud. But perhaps that’s the nature of the Core program. It’s a wide spectrum of…
Houston International Festival
On the threshold of its fifth decade of bringing the world to Houston, the Houston International Festival will seed the parks and plazas around City Hall with the vibrant rhythms of this year’s featured region, the Caribbean. As the cradle of reggae, ska and salsa, and a crucial way station…
The Woman Behind the Fascist
Particularly since Benito Mussolini came to power as a newspaperman, let us not bury the lead: According to Marco Bellocchio’s Vincere, the fascist dictator was nearly as much of a bully in the bedroom as he was in office. Il Duce would eventually get busy with the Pope, but in…
Boogie’s Chicago Style BBQ
How does Lamont Wait, who goes by the name Boogie, describe Chicago-style barbecue? “It’s pork rib tips over french fries with our homemade sweet sauce on top,” he says. Wait, owner of the new Boogie’s Chicago Style BBQ (8035 W. Airport, 713-723-7775), is a Chicago native and has lived in…
Dome Tome
Dome Tome Online readers comment on “Dogging the Dome,” by Richard Connelly, April 1: Funny article: As I read, I was like “WTF.” Then I thought, “April Fools’ Day.” PJ No thanks: Sorry, but not one moment while I read this “satire” did I find it clever, interesting, or funny…
What a Burger
The truffle Kobe burger ($15) at Table Seven Restaurant (700 Durham, 713-426-1171) is a decadent dish if there ever was one. It’s incredibly moist, because Kobe has more marbling than other types of beef, and it’s served on a sourdough bun smeared with homemade aioli. Black truffle oil and tiny…
sIngs
If 2010 is the year that all of Houston’s indie dreams seep to the surface, add sIngs’s new EP Hells to the already heady list of upcoming releases that either will see or already have seen the light of day this year. sIngs’s Brett Taylor weaves creepy and magical beds…
Doghouse Tavern’s Vodka Press
When you’re a captain of industry and all-around master of the universe, sometimes all you desire on a Tuesday night is a peaceful bar where you can meet up with peers and confabulate. Two colleagues and I found such a place in Doghouse Tavern (2517 Bagby, 713-520-1118). There was roughly…
Frightened Rabbit
While the name Frightened Rabbit conjures up disheartening images of timid waifs lamenting lost love with Hallmark diction, this Scottish act packs quite a bite. Sure, the group uses an acoustic guitar accompanied by a trembling voice and has ample references to heartbreak — but the sense of melancholy, desperation…
Before the Flood
Historian, musicologist, songwriter, performer and Cuban-music label owner Ned Sublette is in town from New York City to promote his new book The Year Before the Flood, which details his life in New Orleans during the year before Hurricane Katrina while he was on a grant at Tulane University. Sublette…
A Muddled Mess
You may need a drink after the world premiere of Lans Traverse’s Driftwood, but not for fortification. Better for throwing. This show is a mess. Let’s say you take some basic themes from John Steinbeck’s Depression-era masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath (struggling Okie farmers on barren land, made more barren…
The Dude Abides
In about 11 hours, Devin the Dude will be slinking around the margins of the upstairs area of Toc Bar, which will be full of people waiting to listen to his newest album, Suite 420. He’ll be appreciative of everyone that’ll come out and even say as much. But in…
Down on the Farm
Around about the lunch hour in Vale, South Dakota, on February 5, a 33-year-old cattle rancher finished a morning of blogging, then stepped outside with a bottle of wine and a Flip video camera. “Hello, my name is Troy Hadrick. I’m a fifth-generation United States rancher in South Dakota,” the…
Elizabeth Cook
Anyone who heard the memorable refrain from the title track of Elizabeth Cook’s 2007 album Balls (“Sometimes it takes balls to be a woman”) or tunes in her weekday-morning show Apron Strings on Sirius/XM’s Outlaw Country channel, knows the Florida native isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Now residing in…
The Krayolas
After a Houston hiatus of more than two decades they finally broke last year, the Krayolas are making up for lost time — Saturday will be their third trip here since last summer. Brothers Hector and David Saldana’s San Antonio band isn’t letting any grass grow in the studio either…
King Britt
King Britt has never been an easy talent to pin down. The common thread, perhaps, throughout the career of the easygoing Philadelphia artist is one of experimenting. In every genre he tackles, he’s always been a little out in left field. That’s been true from his beginning as DJ for…
Classic Combo
When I walked into Luigi’s Pizzeria with some friends, I knew what I wanted for lunch before I even looked at the chalkboard menu on the wall: a large meat pizza and a basket of jumbo chicken wings. I planned on sitting on the patio by the bocce ball court…
