Tonight: Pin Oak Stage Band End-of-Year Concert
Late last year, we had the opportunity to sit down with a group of middle-school kids who turned out to be way less annoying than we had anticipated. The kids in question were part of Pin Oak’s Stage Band class, an ancillary subject offered at the exemplary junior high. Essentially,…
Texas Court Of Criminal Appeals Sides With The Protesters At Crawford Ranch
It’s an acid flashback to those glorious days of war protests!! Of, ummmm, a couple of years ago.The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals — the Supreme Court for criminal matters — has upheld a lower court’s decision to toss out the convictions of two protesters arrested outside of President Bush’s…
Sex, Murder & Land: A Long, Long Court Case May Be Coming To A Close
On April 7, the 14th Court of Appeals just might have brought closure to one of the longest-running and ugliest land disputes in modern Texas history. The case of Theresa Elizabeth Trojacek and Ronald David Ludwig vs. the Estate of Magnolia Kveton features bigamy, a May-December romance, greed, spousal abuse,…
Happy Earth Day: YouTube’s Dirtiest Hippies
It’s Earth Day, which for as long as Rocks Off can remember, means one thing. No, we don’t mean an enhanced spirit of general cooperation or time to pause and reflect upon our collective impact on our home planet. Nor are we referring to veganism’s brief uptick of popularity before…
Senator Dan Patrick Helps Out Hookers
State Senator Dan Patrick, whose website proudly notes that his first legislative act was to have the words “In God We Trust” put up over the Senate floor, probably should offer an amendment saying “We also trust hookers, too.”That is absolutely the only lesson that can be taken from the…
Tonight: John Egan at Under the Volcano
For a quiet, introspective guy, John Egan is a one-man wrecking machine when he takes the stage with his aluminum Resonator and his foot starts echoing through his stomp box. Egan just may be the most under-rated, overlooked musical artist in town. To say he’s not much on self-promotion is…
Semi-Houstonian Trying To Be America’s Susan Boyle
He’s an old guy with a dream.Dump E. Hatter was sitting around one Sunday flipping through the newspaper when he spotted an ad for the “Star-Spangled Banner” singing contest, sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. It said that whomever sings the best version of the National Anthem…
Tonight: Spoon at Warehouse Live
Most of Rocks Off’s recent conversation with Spoon frontman Britt Daniel made it into last week’s print edition, but we managed to keep him on the phone a bit longer…Rocks Off: I saw you had been in L.A. working with Jon Brion [who produced breakout single “The Underdog,” from 2007’s…
Cover Story: Just How Safe Is That Prius?
Peggy’s new Prius had less than 600 miles on the odometer when she tried merging into traffic one day. The car accelerated on its own instead, and even though she pumped the brakes over and over, she was half a mile down the freeway before it shut down. Peggy didn’t…
For Earth Day: Five Movies Where The Earth Struck Back
I think it’s sweet that everyone wants to celebrate April 22nd by planting a vegetable garden or limiting their use of Stryofoam or only buying fur coats made from ugly animals, but can we please stop calling it “Earth Day?” Sure, we’re able to survive on the planet thanks to…
$7 at El Rey Taqueria
Where: El Rey Taqueria, 3330 Ella Blvd., 713-263-0659. Check out their website for all four locations. What $7 gets you: A plateful of tacos, rice and beans, a.k.a. the 3 Amigo Plate for $6.99. I cheated a little and forgot to take the taxes into account, but if you dig…
And The Tommy Tune Award Goes To…….
The Tommy Tune Awards — the Tonys for local high schools — were presented last night.Among the nominees were schools from all over the area, presenting a pretty wide variety of plays. The big winners last night were Stratford High’s production of Barnum and Seven Lakes High’s production of Once…
Artist of the Week: LL Cooper
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 introducingliston@gmail.com. You know what’s a fun term? Twang. Being…
UFOs In Houston!! Or Maybe Just A Solar-Powered Car
Photo courtesy www.xof1.comHair Balls loves crazy people — not the killin’ kind, mind you, but folks who do some far-out things. And we think driving a three-wheeled freaky-looking solar-powered car to the Arctic Circle, and all around the country, fits the bill. So we jumped at the chance to speak…
Idol Beat: The Top Seven
Can we reasonably agree that disco itself – the music, that is – isn’t so horrible? What’s worth detesting, looking back in time, are the associated lingo, fashions and overall smarmy vibe of that bygone era, which goes a long, long way toward explaining why the disco-themed parts of reality-show…
Remembering J.R. Richard, And Wondering Why The Hell The Astros Haven’t Retired His Number
If you ask any old-time Astros fan — that is the fan who existed before the Killer B’s and the Rocket and Minute Maid Park — who the greatest pitcher in team history is, the answer won’t be Roy Oswalt or Roger Clemens or even franchise icon Nolan Ryan. The…
Hearne’s Racism Gets The Hollywood Spotlight
In November, 2000, a drug raid swept up 27 African-American people in Hearne, Texas, a town between Waco and Bryan. If the cops and DA had stopped at 26, chances are no on would know about the incident. But they didn’t; Regina Kelly was picked up as well.Big mistake. A…
The Texas Traveler: Stonehenge II
In a rural field on a little-traveled loop just west of Kerrville stands a sight right out of the set of Spinal Tap — a miniature replica of the Stonehenge monolith. Stonehenge II stands just north of Hunt, in the middle of the Texas Hill Country. It’s an oddity you…
“One of My Least Favorite Cars in the World”: Embarrassing Moments in Toyota Prius History
Claiming environmental superiority, low gas mileage and the quietest ride outside of a bicycle, the Toyota Prius is a car that inspires rabid, cult-like legions of fans. They create websites, message boards and even Facebook pages to celebrate their love of a car. Not since the original Ford Mustang has…
Eyeballin’: Black Label Society’s Skullage
Skulls are very big in the world of Black Label Society. A jawboneless half-skull serves as the L.A. power-metal quartet’s logo, and lead singer/guitarist Zakk Wylde’s mic stand is a skull-topped length of chain. One can only imagine Wylde, also Ozzy Osbourne’s lead guitarist, chose skulls becase his riffing is the definition of “face-melting.” He’s…
Save The Earth, Get Cheap Astros Tickets Tomorrow
Watching the Astros hasn’t been an unalloyed joy so far this season, but tomorrow you get to do it cheaply. And save the earth (a little bit) in the process.Just bring evidence to the Minute Maid Park box office that you’ve taken a Metro bus or train Wednesday, and you’ll…
Lollapalooza Lineup Announced… Including Robert Earl Keen
Lollapalooza 2009’s line-up was announced this morning, with a few surprises and enough roots rock and earnest indie-rock to satiate Windy City hipsters. The Chicago-based event managed to wrangle in Lou Reed, Depeche Mode, festival whores the Killers, Tennessee pretty boys Kings of Leon, vintner-fronted Tool, the newly reunited and…
A Day in the Life of a Personal Chef
Jo Gonzales is a personal chef. Most people look puzzled when she walks the aisles of the grocery store in her bright orange embroidered chef’s coat or pulls up in her SUV with its magnetic signs announcing her business name: Chef Jo’s Home Cooking. “What on earth is a personal…
Bad Economy, Desperate People Buying More Lottery Tickets? Not Really
The Great Recession is taking its toll all over the place. People are desperate to make money.So they must be gobbling up lottery tickets, right?Not so much, really.Robyn Smith of the Texas Lottery tells Hair Balls that her organization hasn’t seen much of a change in sales since the economy…
Immigration-Rights Protesters Hit City Hall, Mayor White
Members of Pastores en Acción (Pastors in Action), Crecen and other immigrant-rights groups protested outside City Hall earlier today. Their concern is Mayor Bill White’s request to participate in Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a program that would provide members of the Houston Police Department jail staff…
Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day: A Word of Caution
Once a year, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Shops give out free ice cream cones to anyone willing to wait in line. Yes, a scoop of ice cream comes with the cone. Next time you get snarky, please be more original. With our usual philanthropist attitude of public service, Eating…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Ol’ Waylon Sings Ol’ Hank…Again
One of my all-time favorite Waylon Jennings songs has always been “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?” Waylon (and Willie) saw early on that Nashville had an evil habit of turning on its stars, taking the work of the greats and dumbing it down to the mediocre. A…
The DREAM Act Gets A Notable Booster
Earlier today, the College Board boldly dipped its toe into the contentious waters of the immigration debate by releasing a report espousing the need for sweeping new federal laws that would allow undocumented immigrants access to in-state tuition and a path to legal residency. The issue has been around for…
Why Texas Should Split Into Five States: The Chart
Rick Perry, forget all this crap about Texas seceding from the Union. That may play with the nutso base you need during the GOP primary, but the mouth-breathers ain’t gonna carry you to another term, Mr. Thirty-Nine Percent.You shouldn’t secede – you should split.Texas has the right, since it came…
New York Dolls, Green Day Headed for Houston
Good news if you’re into punk rock, whether you think it was invented by Iggy Pop or Kurt Cobain. Platform-heeled glamour boys the New York Dolls, a direct and deep influence on everyone from the Ramones to Motley Crue – and, lest we forget, former NYD fan-club president Morrissey – are coming…
$7 at Weslayan Café
Where: Weslayan Café, 2900 Weslayan, 713-626-3663, open daily for lunch and dinner. What $7 gets you: A massive pile of the best dumplings this side of Chinatown, or any number of outstanding sandwiches and sides. Recommended? Without hesitation. Basking in the shadows of Central Market, the Wesleyan Café uses its…
Aftermath: The Faint and Ladytron at Warehouse Live
Monday night’s boozed-out Ladytron/the Faint dancestravaganza at Warehouse Live was like stepping into a time machine back to 2002; a simpler era without a war, Miley/Hannah personality crises or the imminent threat of getting laid off and having to sell pencils on the street to pay for iPhone apps. The…
For Yom HaShoah: Five Holocaust Movies To Avoid
Today is Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. Commemoration takes many forms, from synagogue services and the recitation of the Kaddish to candlelight vigils to — according to Wikipedia — the “viewing of a Holocaust-themed film.” In my opinion, the final cinematic word on the subject is 1985’s Shoah, Claude…
Tonight: Mike Watt and the Missingmen at Rudyard’s
Mike Watt has been dubbed lots of things, including punk’s philosopher king, but one thing remains sure: after thirty years of “jamming econo,” he is a profound proprietor of honest music. Having made memorable, inchoate music with his own bands the Minutemen and fIREHOSE, and working with a vast array…
The Creationists Are Suing Up In Dallas
Unfair Park, the blog of our sister paper the Dallas Observer, has taken note of an 80-page federal lawsuit filed by a group up there called the Institution for Creation Research, a highly scientific organization that moved to Texas from California in order to spread the good word about how…
Say What? Cecil Cooper Got A Contract Extension?
The Houston Astros lost to the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 on Friday night when Jose Valverde surrendered a two-run, ninth inning home run to Ramon Hernandez. Valverde, who always looks wild and out-of-control to me, was even more wild and out-of-control than usual.And after the game it was revealed that Valverde,…
I Can’t Get Enough of That Susan Boyle Woman
Many moons ago, I blogged about not being able to stop watching that clip on Dancing with the Stars where Marie Osmond fainted (the post was titled “I Can’t Get Enough of Marie Osmond Fainting.”) People called me out, saying I was a “sick pervert” and that I represented everything…
Doug Supernaw’s Woes Continue: Arrested In Utah
In May of 2007, we covered the travails (to date) of Doug Supernaw, the troubled Houston-bred one-time country music star. We just received word that the singer is in trouble again, this time in Utah.Two years ago, Supernaw was facing a bevy of charges including nonpayment of child support, driving…
BARC Stuffs 12 Fighting Birds Into One Carrier; The Totally Expected Happens
So let’s say you work in Houston’s animal control department, and part of your job is to seize animals believed to be abused — like roosters and hens used in bird fights. What would you think would happen if, after seizing these abused fowl, you stuck 12 of them in…
4/20 Food: Crap You Only Eat When Stoned
There are many great and glorious foodstuffs in the world, foodstuffs that are widely acclaimed and highly prized: caviar, bacon, oysters, cheeseburgers, foie gras and fiddlehead ferns. And then there are those things which one can only properly appreciate when stoned. Get some sour cream and onion chips with some…
Neil Bush Wants Him Some Of That There Stimulus Money
Love it, hate it, the federal stimulus money is coming and it’s got to be spent on something.Why not Neil Bush?Bush, the wayward son of the Bush family (and that’s saying something) is, of course, the guy behind Ignite!, the company that tries to get schools to buy its Schoolhouse…
Some Further Thoughts on iFest, and Festivals
Previously, Rocks Off’s idea about what a “festival” should look like, and what to expect, came from his experiences at Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, various one-offs at Austin’s Auditorium Shores and – though he’s never been – what he’s heard/seen/read about Jazzfest, Coachella, Bumbershoot, et al. Either first- or second-hand,…
A Few Songs to Help You, Cough, “Fight Glaucoma”
Bored with all the usual pot songs? We can’t blame you. Even if you’re completely baked out of your gourd, you can only hear Sublime’s “Smoke Two Joints” or Dash Rip Rock’s “Let’s Go Smoke Some Pot” so many times before the novelty wears off and you crave something a…
Metro’s Light Rail, Directed By Martin Scorsese
Houston METRO Light Rail from NC3D.com on Vimeo Via Swamplot comes pretty, pretty pictures of the proposed light-rail lines Metro is building.See!! Swooping visuals as you zoom in from the skies and glide past trains and Second Life pedestrians!!Hear!! Light-rail trains that sound like Santa’s sleigh ho-ho-hoing its way though…
Happy 4/20, Mon: Why Bob Marley Is Overrated
When the calendar hits April 20, thoughts turn to man’s other best friend: the marijuana plant. Yes, along with copious amounts of Reese’s Pieces and trips to the nearest Jack in the Box drive-thru, almost everyone agrees nothing goes better with the reefer than reggae. (Personally, give us Sleep’s Dopesmoker,…
Congratulations To The Chronicle
There’s been a ton of bad news coming out of 801 Texas lately, but those who are left have something to (semi-)celebrate: The paper was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the Breaking News category. The judges praised the “Houston Chronicle staff” for “taking full advantage of online technology…
Former Houston News Director: Multiple Social Security Numbers, Wives & Bondage Websites
Remember back around 2001, 2002, when Time Warner and the Belo Corporation decided to create a 24-hour news station focusing exclusively on Houston?You might have to think hard, because the effort didn’t last long.But it was spearheaded by a guy named Jeff Alan, who became the station’s first news director…
Two Thumbs Down For HISD’s Televised Board Meetings
Somehow we missed the moment last week when the HISD board decided to enter the 1980s and televise their board meetings, something we’ve written about before.But the Bellaire Examiner sucked it up and sat through it. Color them unimpressed with the district’s efforts, which keeps off-air anything remotely interesting: The…
Houston’s Code Enforcement Department Enforces Itself
The Code Enforcement Department of the City of Houston had to do a little code-enforcing on its ownself last week.Here’s how one a-mailer described things at 3300 Main: “they have been redtagged for violations and have created havoc with some departments. on friday 4-17 a man in a wheelchair was…
$7 at Laredo Taqueria
Where: Laredo Taqueria, 915 Snover, 713-861-7279. Open Monday through Saturday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. What $7 gets you: Almost anything on the menu. Tacos are $1.50 or $2, breakfast and dinner plates cost $5.50 to $7.50. The most expensive item is $8. We had an asada de puerco taco,…
For 4/20: Five Classic Stoners From The Movies
April 20 is National Pot Smoking Day, because if there’s anything America needs, it’s a holiday encouraging us to be more apathetic than we already are. But rather than get bogged down in arguments for legalization or debates about the merits of medicinal marijuana, let us simply commemorate this occasion…
Turning the Screw: Slim Thug, Bun B, H.I.S.D., The Kanye, C-Murder, Jim Jones, Hot Boyz, Jaime Foxx/Miley Cyrus, Trae and More
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: “I’m Back,” Slim Thug feat. Devin The Dude Wire To Wire Bun B spoke with The Source TV recently…
Shades Of The St. Patricio Brigade: Conjunto Meets Irish At The I-Fest
Conjunto Los Diamentes opened the Roomstore Latin Stage on Sunday. The high-school group came in from La Joya, Texas (“You know where McAllen is?” asks 16-year-old accordionist and music arranger Roger Guerra. “It’s a little lower from that.”)Since they aren’t a professional group, we aren’t going to crack on the…
Snackshot: Cioppino
This morning’s Snackshot comes to us courtesy of aynsavoy and Farrago: From the photographer’s description: “Cioppino at Farrago, near my office in Midtown. Snapper, tillapia, mussels, and shrimp in a tomato bell pepper stew with chipotle. I would go back just to have this again, although I think I’d eat…
Aftermath: iFest in Downtown Houston
iFest needed a breezy, not-too-hot, sunny Sunday to get back on track after Saturday’s torrential festival-cancelling rains. The festival got great weather; as I drove down Allen Parkway toward downtown, it looked like everybody in Houston had decided it was time to get outdoors. Arriving at the Tranquility Park entrance…
DNA May Track Down Holocaust Survivors In Houston And Elsewhere
DNA technology has helped to identify 9/11 victims, find missing persons and determine paternity. But can it really reunite victims of the Holocaust?Thea Singer has decided it’s worth a try.Singer has done just about everything else to reconnect with the friends and family she lost during the Holocaust. (The Hebrew…
Aeros Beat The Rivermen And The Travel Gods
“I’m proud of our guys,” a tired Kevin Constantine said from his office Saturday night. “It was a travel day from hell. I’ve never been part of that. Something that crazy travelwise, and still played a game. I couldn’t imagine a more adverse condition to put a team under than…
The Texas Traveler: San Antonio’s Fiesta
(Note: We’re starting a new occasional feature on travel suggestions within Texas for these economic times when you put off that two-week jaunt to Tahiti. Today: The Fiesta in San Antonio — Not just a supermarket!)The economic downturn may have dented your vacation budget, but gas prices are below two…
Important “Toxic Town” Trial Starts Up Today
The polluters who turned Somerville into the Toxic Town described in an award-winning Houston Press story may have had a good result in the first lawsuit they faced, but a second one — beginning a week from today in the town of Caldwell in Burleson County — may be different…
UH Grapples With The Guns-On-Campus Issue
The Texas Legislature is moving forward with a bill allowing concealed handguns on college campuses. Not a fan of the move: The University of Houston faculty senate. They’ve passed a resolution opposing the legislation.Not a fan of the faculty resolution: Some UH students.Seth Chandler, the law professor who authored the…
Don’t Forget Record Store Day is Saturday
Well, it looks like the weather gods are laughing at Houston again, and have decided to ring in iFest with a good round of drenching rain. So if you’d prefer to remain indoors, don’t forget Saturday is Record Store Day – there’s even a Web site. Be a good consumer…
Last Chance Weekend: This Week’s List Of Shows That Are Closing
Lawndale Art Center closes down its quartet of shows this weekend, so get over there on Saturday if you want to see “Ritual Prototypes for the Afterlife” by Dennis Harper, “Ta Marmaruga” by David Waddell and Kelly Ulcak, “Silent Topographies” by Brent Fogt, and “The Listening Post” by Tim Brown…
Local Album of the Week: Leela James’ Let’s Do It Again
Leela James Let’s Do It Again www.leelajames.com To understand what an arresting, puzzling record Leela James’ Let’s Do It Again really is, look no further than the L.A. native and adopted Houstonian’s cover of Foreigner’s mid-’80s soft-rock/gospel-lite singalong “I Want to Know What Love Is.” James takes it about as…
One Little Tornado Warning in Northwest Houston and the Russians Say Nyet
There won’t be any Russian riders getting on those specialty circus horses out at Sam Houston Race Park tonight.In town for several days and parked under expansive white tents, the show Artania got called off for tonight just a few minutes ago when the day’s dark and gloomy skies opened…
Stephen Colbert Really Thought He Had A Shot At That Space-Node Name
How serious was Stephen Colbert about having that new NASA space node named after him? Pretty darn. We think.Hair Balls recently spoke with Nick Prueher, who runs the Found Footage Festival that’s making its first trip to Houston in a few weeks (more on that to come). Prueher also works…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Jody Nix Does Western Swing Right
As we reported some weeks ago in this column, if you’re down with hardcore Western Swing twin fiddle dance music of the Bob Wills variety, you should be in heaven Saturday when Jody Nix and the Texas Cowboys make a rare Houston appearance on the iFest Texas Stage. Nix is…
The Houston Press Flickr Group Is Here
Each week, we’ll feature the best shots from the Houston Press Flickr group. Here’s the inaugural slideshow. Get your photo-making skills seen all around the town by submitting your own piece of art. NOW!!…
Family Of Man Found Dead In Pasadena Jail Cell Sues
Lawyers for the family of Pedro Gonzales, who died while in Pasadena Police Department custody in 2007, today announced a federal lawsuit against the two officers the family says beat Gonzales just hours before his death, Jason Buckaloo and Christopher Jones and the city of Pasadena.At a press conference announcing…
What We Lose, And What We Gain, If Texas Secedes
Rick Perry, our governor, has taken a steep dive off the sanity cliff with his preachin’-to-the-Rush-choir talk of seceding from the United States.This may be hard to imagine, but we think Perry might not have thought the whole thing through so well. And not just because he’s presented the image…
This Week In Deliciousness
All right, stop what you’re doing right now and go check out J.C. Reid’s hot-off-the-grill article on Frito Pies. You’re allowed to fancy ’em up however you like, but they’ve endured because all you really need is Fritos, cheese, and chili. And let’s face it, in a pinch you can…
Rockets Playoff Preview: Yao, Rockets May Have Finally Landed Favorable First-Round Matchup
At least for now, the Rockets’ stunning collapse might not be all bad.The negatives to the Rockets blowing a 14-point, second-half lead at Dallas on Wednesday night, coupled with New Orleans’ meltdown in San Antonio, are of course falling from the No. 2 seed, losing home court advantage in the…
Houston’s One Of The Fastest Cities (Please Note The “S”)
Never have Houstonians been so glad to see the letter “S.”Usually, if there’s a magazine out there trying to drum up publicity through a bogus list and Houston lands on it, it’s because we’re one of the Fattest Cities in America.Now — Frabjous day!! Callooh Callay!! — we’re one of…
Five Spot: The Laid-Back Genius of Devin the Dude
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It’s five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Ohio’s rapper-turned-Internet-sensation Kid Cudi signed his first major deal yesterday. We’ll wait for the…
Phi Slama Jama Lives On…But Not In Houston
With a 31-3 record and slam-dunking skills like no other, the “dunking fraternity” Phi Slama Jama put University of Houston men’s basketball on the map in 1983. So much so that Nike will soon be releasing a shoe commemorating the team: a limited edition release, the Big Nike Hi LE…
The Thing About Frito Pies
For people who did not grow up in Texas, and for the occasional Texan who did not spend time in public school lunch rooms or patronize the concession stands at Friday night high school football games, a Frito pie is a dish containing three ingredients: Fritos corn chips, chili, and…
Tonight: Silver Apples at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Silver Apples’ career has been defined by accidents, difficulties and deferrals. Formed when Simeon Coxe III of the Overland Electric Stage Band decided to bring an electronic oscillator to a show, causing the band’s guitarists to quit in protest, leaving him and drummer Danny Taylor alone on stage, the…
We Miss You, Dale Stewart
Houston artist Dale Stewart died Monday at age 34. He was brilliant, and he was my friend for more than two years.Dale was fascinated by the world, and that made him a fascinating person. His obsessions were too many to count. He loved his family, adored his little girls Anna…
Cutout Bin: Novo Combo’s Animation Generation
Novo Combo Animation Generation (Polydor, 1982) The 1980s: everything was changing. A new generation was taking over the musical and cultural landscape. Heavy Metal showed that even animated boobs could be a turn-on. Tron told us that even crappy, monochromatic animation made by crappy, low-powered computers could entertain for an…
The Pirate Attack: More Details From The Inside
We told you last night about the exclusive inside report from our sister paper the Village Voice on how the crew reacted to the attack by Somali pirates.After the jump, the full text of the e-mail:…
25 Things About The New Yankee Stadium And The Astros
Now that I’m unemployed, I’m spending way too much time at home watching TV. Particularly the MLB Network. I’ve become addicted to that thing. And yesterday, with the Astros having a day game against the Pirates on Fox, and there being an afternoon game on the MLB Network, I was…
Aftermath: Nickelback at Toyota Center
Aftermath is of the mind that the best way to tackle something that is reviled or feared is to confront it head on. Like global terrorism, street gangs, or gingivitis, you must take it on at its source, even if doing so makes you feel insecure, vulnerable or wholly foolish…
Documentary’s Year-Long Study Of Bolivar Characters Ends With Ike
The man who directed the new documentary The Messenger, Shawn Sterling Welling, is a self-described “self-absorbed, amateur film director” who happened to have a friend with movie-making equipment laying around. He literally stumbled upon The Messenger’s story while biking on Bolivar Peninsula. Needing a bathroom break, Welling and his then…
The Chronicle’s Doll Porn Ignores Houston’s Syphillis Threat
The godawful sex blogger on the Houston Chronicle’s so-hip-it-hurts 29.95 blog has a new bag: Doll porn.Each week she promises to demonstate a new sex position for all the rest of us unimaginative schlubs who just don’t know how to bone it like they own it.To do so, she’ll be…
Oversized French Ice Cream Cone
La Brocante on Kirkwood is the subject of this week’s Cafe review. I was particularly taken with their old-fashioned ice cream desserts. I am sure there is a French name for the sweet pastry crust the ice cream sundaes are served in. They look like taco shells, but taste like…
Beaumont TV Station Warns Of Pirate Attacks: We Investigate!!!
Back in November, Hair Balls indulged itself in some utterly sub-Swiftian satire on the possibility of Ike-wracked Galveston reconstructing itself as a haven for pirates. We suggested that Galveston apply for a Federal License to Plunder, citing advantages such as ease of access to all the booty the Ship Channel…
Amber Alert: A Trademark-Infringement Lawsuit Is Not Missing
The man who helped create the Amber Alert in Texas, a program that’s helped rescue hundreds of abducted children, is suing because he says the rest of the country is screwing it up. Bruce Seybert, who lives about 60 miles west of Tyler, filed a lawsuit against the National Center…
A Long Way to Mango
In the mood for something light, I made a trip over to the newly-reopened Mango’s at lunch to try their new all-vegetarian menu firsthand.The freshly-painted exterior with its charming patio and the sunny interior seemed like they’d be the perfect day-brightener. Sadly, the food at Mango’s has a ways to…
Exclusive: Details On How The Ship’s Crew Outfoxed The Somali Pirates
Our sister paper, the Village Voice, has gotten its hands on an e-mail describing just what went on as the crew of the Maersk Alabama went toe-to-toe with pirates off the African coast. It turns out the cook wasn’t an ex-Navy SEAL (Under Siege reference!). Instead, the crew took matters…
An Ambitious 19-Year-Old Teller Learns Banks Do Double-Check Withdrawals
The Wachovia branch in Midtown was robbed today — one Twitter report read “Man came in, did the usual I have a gun’ patted his normal groin area, held up the bank. Bank is now in lock-down” — but really, bank robberies have gotten so ho-hum these days.Unless the robbing…
Galveston’s World War II Submarine Finally Reopens
The USS Cavalla, the World War II submarine that is a tourist attraction at Seawolf Park, has finally reopened after repairing Ike damage.The storm surge lifted the sub and refloated it, curator John McMichael tells Hair Balls, and when the tide flowed back out it brought with it dirt that…
Peli Peli: Take a Right at Louetta Off Highway 249 to Get to South Africa
The bongo drums, violin and guitar trio is going at it joyfully, continuously and well, a little too loudly (something that never faded) as we walked into Peli Peli, a restaurant whose interior is a dark and bright odd mish mash of high tech and African touches throughout. A symbolic…
Amazingly, There Are Some Flaws In Rick Perry’s Plan To Secede
As the whole blogosphere knows by now, Rick Perry — the only governor Texas has at the moment — has talked of the possible need to secede from the United States.This apparently counts as pro-America rhetoric at a tea party; the logic of that escapes us. (Oh yeah, it’s no…
Bocephus Wants to Bail (One of) You Out, America
Lost your job? 401(k) a distant memory? Still think a country boy can survive? Well, America, you’re in luck: Hank Williams Jr. feels your pain, and he wants to help out. Today, in conjunction with his new single “Red, White and Pink-Slip Blues,” Hank Jr. announced his “Bocephus Bailout Package.”…
Is Nickelback Really Worth Hating So Much?
Somewhere over the past five years, Nickelback was deemed the unofficial “worst band in the world,” usurping Creed as the rock snob’s go-to reference for “awful.” How did this happen? To date, the British Columbian quartet has sold close to 20 million albums, sell out arenas in every city, and…
Tonight: Gurf Morlix at Cactus Music and McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Gurf Morlix treks into town today for the official Houston release of his new LP Last Exit To Happyland. Whether the former Houstonian and Blaze Foley roommate is working on loping rockers or folksy Americana, Morlix is a master of tone and mood, squeezing maximum subtlety out of a few…
White-Washing Those Black Rodeo Gala Tickets
Well, Warner Ervin, superintendent of the Houston Independent School District’s south region, must be feeling pretty good today. He’s the administrator being reluctantly investigated by the Texas Education Agency — after a lot of urging from citizen and former HISD high school teacher Del Murphy — for tapping into HISD…
Rockets Left To Wonder What Could Have Been
(Note: This was written by Ben DuBose.)The next time someone tells you that early-season games in sports like basketball and baseball don’t matter, refer them to the case of the 2008-09 Houston Rockets.The No. 5-seeded Rockets were one game from having a dream path to the Western Conference Finals, at…
Tonight: Dan Deacon at the Orange Show
Dan Deacon seems to be everywhere these days, both in person and in the press. The electro-wizard from Charm City (Baltimore) is about as ebullient a musical figure as you’re likely to find, and his particular brand of hyper-active “future shock” dance madness is just what the doctor ordered for…
To The Shores Of Tripoli: Five Pirate Movies
We’re not saying the Somali pirates are bad at their job, exactly; just that it doesn’t take a lot of skill to take over ships when you’re the only guys with guns. They showed the extent of their foresight most recently by hijacking some American ships, thus rousing the sniper-y…
First They Came For Our Teabags: The Slideshow
We promised, and we are Promise Keepers! (of a sort).Here’s the slideshow of the tea-party protest at Jones Plaza yesterday. Check to see if you made the cut. We are not responsible, however, if the fact that your photo is posted here puts you on a Department of Homeland Security…
Lost Tuneage: Taste
Who Dat? Taste was an Irish, blues-based rock power trio formed in 1966 in Cork, fronted by teenage prodigy Rory Gallagher (vocals/guitar) with Eric Kitteringham (bass) and Norman Damery (drums). The group played in Hamburg and Ireland, but the mix didn’t work out musically, so Gallagher rebooted the band in…
Tea Party Hangover In Texas
Yesterday we noted how KTRH had factually reported that the tea-party protests planned for that day “might be the single largest mass gathering in the country’s history.”We noted it wasn’t “a mass gathering,” merely a series of them, and therefore a typical college-football Saturday would be one of the largest…
Idol Beat: The Top Seven Results
At the beginning of Wednesday’s American Idol, I was pretty sure that whoever the week’s lowest vote-getter was – Lil Rounds or Matt Giraud – would go home. No save for them. So when Simon Cowell announced that despite the fact that low-man-on-the-totem pole Giraud wasn’t improving and had no…
A Chat With Hannah Storm Of ESPN (And Houston)
ESPN has been charged for years with having an East Coast bias. ESPN’s morning SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm somewhat agrees with that charge, though she says the charge doesn’t apply to her show and says that to her, “it is a non-issue.” And if she does have any bias, it’s…
Trouble With Trees On Galveston Island
Galveston needed more bad Ike news like it needed more Ike. But more bad news is being reported: The leafy trees that provided a distinctive canopy over many of the island’s most charming streets ain’t coming back. The Galveston County Daily News reports that the salt water that inundated three-quarters…
Graeter’s Makes a Sweet Texas Debut
Graeter’s ice cream — the only delicious food to come out of Cincinnati (we’re looking at you and your abominable bastardization of a perfectly good dish, Cincinnati “chili”) — has been a favorite among dessert fans since its creation in the 1920s. Spanning four generations, the family-run business has been creating their…
Bush Or No Bush? You Tell Me.
I was having lunch with a few friends the other day, when one of the men at the table started describing the selection of magazines available at his barbershop.”Basically, he’s got Playboys from 1989 and everything. And some even older. You know, when the models had…” and at this stopped…
The 38th Annual Houston International Festival
Once you’ve been to a few St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, you may come to the conclusion that the Irish like to party (the green beer and those “Kiss Me, You’re Irish” shirts always help get things going). The green fun continues at this year’s 38th Annual Houston International Festival, which…
Zac Brown Band
Compared to airbrushed, frosted-bang pretty boys like Rascal Flatts, Atlanta’s Zac Brown Band looks like they came straight to Nashville from a bare-knuckled dust-up with the Kentucky Headhunters. However, the strand of Southern rock Brown and cohorts are steeped in most is the free-form Widespread Panic variety; their high harmonies…
42nd WorldFest – Houston International Film Festival
At the 42nd WorldFest – Houston International Film Festival, you won’t just watch films, you can learn how to make them, too. You’ll see movies from all over the world: 55 features and 96 shorts are spread out over ten days. On today’s schedule, you’ll see Lucky Days, an American…
Houston Symphony: Leila Josefowicz Plus Brahms’s First
Think all classical music was written by a bunch of dead Europeans with names like Mozart and Bach? Meet John Adams. The Pulitzer Prize winner is not only living but American. His 1993 Violin Concerto is the centerpiece to today’s Houston Symphony’s Leila Josefowicz Plus Brahms’s First concert. The program…
Bob Biggerstaff
Stand-up comic Bob Biggerstaff is a local favorite, so fans always look forward to his latest material. “I have a new mustache,” Biggerstaff says. “It’s very funny.” Biggerstaff is known for his quick, bitter wit, which lends him a bottomless well of bits about everything from sports to current events…
Global Climate Change: In Search of the Science
“The sky is falling, the sky is falling!” Nobody listened to Chicken Little when she ran around giving dire predictions, but it might be smart to listen to today’s scientists when they give us the same bad news (more or less) at the Global Climate Change: In Search of the…
Kyle Mills
Ever wonder why, after all the millions of dollars in foreign aid that has been poured into -Africa, very little seems to have changed? Author Kyle Mills does, and his answer is the novel Lords of Corruption. Based on the very possible premise that a fake charity could receive millions…
Evidence of Supernatural Design in Contemporary Big Bang Cosmology
If you’ve been watching the news, you know that evolution and whether it should be taught in schools is a major topic of discussion these days. Get beyond the emotional buzzwords at today’s Catholic Intellectual Tradition lecture, Evidence of Supernatural Design in Contemporary Big Bang Cosmology with the Reverend Robert…
Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark
Fans of the mother-daughter writing duo Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark will get a double dose of suspense today when the pair sign and discuss their newest books. During their joint appearance, Mary Higgins Clark will present Just Take My Heart, while Carol Higgins Clark will sign and…
Houston Arts Alliance Showcase: Houston Poetry Slam Team and Young Houston Writers Teen Poetry Slam
We only have three minutes to make the world a different place,” says Houston slam poet Trinity. She says it’s a poet’s job to deliver the best thing you’ve ever heard, and she does with lines like: “I want to hold you like midnight skies hold stars.” Trinity and other…
Christopher Titus
His mom was a schizophrenic — she killed one of her husbands and then committed suicide in prison. His dad (not the dead guy) was an alcoholic and thought letting his five-year-old put his finger in a light socket was a good way of teaching him not to do that…
Society for the Performing Arts: Ros Warby
Soldiers and swans have a lot more in common than we might think. They’re both brave, strong and, sometimes, afraid. Monumental, the piece Australian choreographer/dancer Ros Warby is performing in her first-ever Houston appearance, takes those two classic characters of ballet storylines, then adds cello music by Helen Mountfort, film…
Stefan Merril Block
Stefan Merril Block’s debut novel The Story of Forgetting intertwines the lives of two Texans, a teenager in Austin and an aged recluse in Dallas. The two have never met, but somehow share a fantasyland. The staff at Blue Willow Bookshop call Story a “wonderful, wonderful book.” Find out how…
The Right Distance
Spies and journalists share one rule: Never get too close to your subject. There aren’t any spies in the Italian film The Right Distance, but there is a journalist. Giovanni, a teenaged stringer for a big-city newspaper, covers his small town, where, unfortunately for him, nothing much ever happens. But…
InPrint: Bill Bryson
Nonfiction author Bill Bryson is an American, but he’s lived in England so long, the Brits named him an Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order (kinda sounds like something out of a Harry Potter book, doesn’t it?). He wrote The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a memoir…
“Human Nature — Collaborations VI: Food”
“I am covered with 30 types of pesticides (even after washed)” is written across a ripe, red apple in Olivia de Salve’s photograph Apple. Oh, yum. De Salve, one of the high school students participating in “Human Nature — Collabora – tions VI: Food,” also has a photo titled Family…
Rigoletto
For someone whose job is making other people laugh, the court jester Rigoletto doesn’t seem to have much fun. Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, the lead character of the great composer’s 1851 opera, spends his days making fun of the courtiers trying to get in the Duke’s good graces. The poor men…
Carrie
The original poster for Carrie back in 1976 said, “If you have a taste for terror…take Carrie to the prom.” We would change that to “…take Carrie anywhere.” Along with Jaws, Carrie was one of the grossest and most surprising and unintentionally funniest horror films of that era. Seeing this…
GLBT Civil Rights Forum
During today’s GLBT Civil Rights Forum, Los Angeles-based performance artist Monica Palacios leads a discussion regarding the obstacles the GLBT community, especially artists, faces, and the creative, affirming solutions some artists have found. 7:30 p.m. MECA, 1900 Kane Street. For information, call 713-802-9370 or visit www.meca-houston.org. Free. Wed., April 22,…
Jim Breuer
You might say it’s high time Jim Breuer settled down. The actor/comedian best known as Brian, the munchies-starved pothead from Dave Chappelle’s movie Half Baked, has finally joined the ranks of fatherhood. He even has his own show about it. The pioneer of the heavy metal comedy movement now waxes…
Jak Utopit Dr. Mracka
Mr. Wassermann isn’t very nice in the Czech comedic film Jak Utopit Dr. Mracka. He’s using his wife’s family, a group of water sprites, as servants. In order to escape the situation, the sprites want to return to their old house near the river. Unfortunately, it’s about to be demolished…
Media Archeology Festival: Liquid Light to the Laptop, the Evolution of Live Visuals
The Aurora Picture Show pays weekend homage to those hazy nights of long ago with an audiovisual tribute to light shows during the Media Archeology Festival: Liquid Light to the Laptop, the Evolution of Live Visuals. The psychedelic, retina-burning fun begins on Friday with the totally trippy Joshua Light Show…
Texas Arab American Festival
How many festivals can claim to be sponsored by CNN and the CIA? Well, according to their Web site, the Texas Arab American Festival can. But while those sponsorships may have a little something to do with the current political climate, the festival itself is all about fun, not politics…
7th Annual Houston Press Menu of Menus Extravaganza
The 7th Annual Houston Press Menu of Menus Extravaganza is food heaven. That may seem like a bold — and slightly sacrilegious — assertion, but the chance to sample specially prepared signature dishes from more than 30 local restaurants is enough to make anyone feel moved by the gastronomical spirit…
Gypsy Blood
At the height of her fame, Pola Negri rode around Hollywood in a blinding-white Rolls-Royce with dashboard and door handles made of ivory. There was a chauffeur in matching all-white livery if the weather was nice, in black if it was raining. Beside her sat two white Russian wolfhounds —…
Beer Wars
Did you know that 80 percent of the beer made in the United States is now controlled by two companies — Anheuser-Busch InBev in Belgium and SABMiller in South Africa? Buying a made-in-the-USA-by-a-USA-company brew might be harder than you think. It’s enough to make any god-fearin’, hops-guzzlin’, Clydesdale-lovin’ Amurrican squeeze…
Amanda Eyre Ward
She loves me, she loves me…well, that depends on where you live. In Love Stories in This Town, Texas author Amanda Eyre Ward makes location a hugely important factor in the relationships she explores. Settings for the short stories in the collection range from Savannah to San Francisco, as each…
3rd Annual Midtown Art in the Park
Expensive home improvements may not be trendy these days, but good taste is still in vogue. Those looking for bargain art should be pleased to see the range of wares offered at today’s third annual 3rd Annual Midtown Art in the Park, where dozens of local artists will display and…
One Man’s Trash
After a gross misstep with its previous exhibition of New York-based artist Paul Villinski’s useless response to Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath (“Emergency Response Studio”), Rice Gallery presents an utterly redeeming installation by Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira that not only renders the artistic ideas and schemes posed by “ERS” ridiculous, but also…
Super Pita Bakery & Deli
Shai and Ely Tsaig are brothers and fourth-generation bakers from the ancient port city of Ashkelon in southern Israel. They own Super Pita Bakery & Deli (9806 Hillcroft, 832-576-2692) with Shai’s wife Tami, who’s also one of the cooks. Super Pita was originally a bakery, but they’ve expanded it to…
Wet Backs
Dear Mexican, In an earlier column, you mentioned that conservatives can’t have an argument against illegal immigration without it degenerating into a diatribe against culture. Here’s an argument that has nothing to do with culture: In California, we now have a severe water shortage. I work for a municipal water…
Hungry for Hubcap
When you order the muffaletta burger ($4.99) at Hubcap Grill (1111 Prairie, 713-223-5885), you get the best of both worlds. Not only do you get one of the best and juiciest hamburgers in the city, you get one of the best muffalettas, since this place is owned by Ricky Craig,…
Cyberchondriacs
America’s most popular doctor doesn’t have terrible handwriting and doesn’t make you cool your heels reading tattered copies of last fall’s golf magazines. He doesn’t abandon you and your bare ass, wrapped only in an absurd paper smock, in some cramped chamber with lurid charts of diseased organs festooned on…
iFest: This Is Our Party
This weekend, Noise will finally become a true Houstonian. Despite growing up in Friendswood and living here the past 21 months, it will be the very first time he attends the Houston International Festival, or iFest, if you really want to sound in the know. Truthfully, he didn’t even know…
Hobby Bloggers at the Chronicle Spark Controversy
Love that Sparkle Online readers respond to “Lord, Save Us From Amateur Chronicle Bloggers,” by Richard Connelly, Hair Balls blog, April 8: Pathetic: I’ve read TexasSparkle/Rightwing Sparkle’s blog a couple of times. She has her head completely stuck up where the sun don’t shine. She’s pathetic. Too bad the Chron…
THE JET LOUNGE’S MALIBU & 151 PUNCH
I had not been to the Jet Lounge (1515 Pease, 713-659-2000) since its reinvention a short time ago. I was pleasantly surprised by the change in format. The current permutation – call it urban bohemian – has a much cooler vibe than the too-trendy, too-clubby aesthetic that the place used…
Crash Into Me: Predicting the Economy’s Impact on the Music Biz
Richard Florida’s March cover story in The Atlantic Monthly, “How the Crash Will Reshape America,” offers bold predictions on how the financial meltdown will affect our economic infrastructure. Florida surmises that cities with well-educated residents and diverse economies, like San Francisco and New York, will gain strength, while post-industrial towns…
The Lee Boys
Long an instrument associated mostly with Western swing groups, the horizontally placed pedal steel guitar has also had a long history in “sacred steel” bands — groups performing a unique form of hard-driving gospel music with tinges of soul, funk and blues. Played mostly for parishioners in the largely African-American…
Travis Tritt
Ever wondered what happened to ’80s piano-man cheeseball Richard “Right Here Waiting” Marx? Well, he shared the 2003 Song of the Year Grammy for co-writing Luther Vandross’s “Dance With My Father,” and, perhaps even odder, co-wrote two songs with Travis Tritt on the Georgia-born longhaired outlaw’s 2007 LP The Storm…
Dan Deacon: Bromst
You either love or loathe Baltimore’s Dan Deacon. You either thought the runaway yammerings-on of “Wham City,” from 2007’s reviewed-to-death Spiderman of the Rings, were brilliantly cathartic or you didn’t. Sophomore strike Bromst is the sound of Deacon and his cohorts streamlining the slick wads of instrumental Silly String jizzed…
For Sale: the Remains of Burt Reynolds’s Career, Plus: An Odd Couple of Entrepreneurs
Crime From Hookers to Nannies “Houston’s Heidi Fleiss” has a new gig For years, Debbie Turbiville allegedly made a living knowing how to recruit prostitutes — or at least that’s how the woman referred to as “Houston’s Heidi Fleiss” has been painted ever since police shut down her so-called high-class…
Various Artists: Keep Your Soul: A Tribute to Doug Sahm
As much as he deserves one, late San Antonio native Doug Sahm is a tricky subject for a tribute album. He was a true musical polymath, a master of just about every form of post-WWII popular music, both the big ones — country, blues, rock and roll — as well as more regionally specific genres like…
Neko Case: Middle Cyclone
Neko Case has never been one to pull punches. Her unique, almost brash voice doesn’t really lend itself to timidity, and her songwriting tends to follow suit. Even when her palette is tinted with the darker recesses of her psyche and brushed with the softer side of her expressive voice,…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Get a Rope,” “My world is really small and you are in it,” “Perspectives 165: Contents Under Pressure”
“Get a Rope” Named after that famous retort in the picante sauce commercials, “Get a Rope” pulls together nine New York City-based artists with varying connections to Houston. Curator Cathy Grayson specifically chose artists whose work bears an immediate and often sexually charged directness, the kind of perspective, she thinks,…
UGK: UGK 4 Life
Forthrightly, UGK 4 Life, the seventh official LP (and first official swan song) from the Port Arthur princes, is various levels of great. From the opening waves of Pimp C’s ethereal intro — where he softly buzzes about being “back from the dead” — to the barefaced hurt of Bun…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Little Women, The Seven Year Itch, Wizard of Oz, Working
Little Women If only the stagehands at Country Playhouse would cease moving scenery after every scene, we could really appreciate the exceptional performance of Erin Stallings as feisty tomboy Jo in this ill-fated 2005 musical. As it is, every time Stallings builds up a fine head of steam, or even…
Merchant of Soul
Over the past 15 years, Spoon has gone from being former Austinite Britt Daniel’s bedroom brainchild to one of the most successful indie-rock bands out there: Saturday Night Live appearance, Jaguar commercial, six-figure sales, etc. The quartet hasn’t changed much of anything really, except each album has had a little…
Amon Amarth
As with most genre-blending acts, purveyors of melodic death metal usually lean toward one camp or the other. This tendency has odd results, frequently leaving such bands stranded between scenes, with neither the New Wave of British Heavy Metal revivalists nor the die-hard Death dealers willing to fully embrace them…
State of Play
Kevin Macdonald’s Washington thriller is a bellows designed to puff up the most beaten-down reporter’s chest. Compressed from the highly regarded BBC miniseries first telecast in 2003, State of Play is an effectively involving journalism-cum-conspiracy yarn with a bang-bang opening and a frantic closer. There are more than a few…
Ladytron
In Ladytron’s slick sonic terrain, artificiality rules over all. While it’s been almost ten years since the shadowy English quartet first began manufacturing its icy electro-pop, each new effort somehow feels more ominously man-made than the last. Before, they’ve drawn cryptic parallels between a sexy socialite’s life and a “foreign…
17 Again Is Less Than Zero
This much is for sure about the makers of the new Zac Efron picture 17 Again: They know their audience. Scientifically engineered for maximum shriek-and-squeal value among Efron’s legion of distaff tween fans (and no small number of lonelyheart cougars and gay men), the movie opens on His Zackness’s sweaty,…
Mogwai
The elegiac, altogether soul-shaking Mogwai has kept audiences stirred for two decades of critically lauded post-rock shimmer. “I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead,” which opens last year’s The Hawk Is Howling LP, is almost seven minutes of dramatic sprawl that has nothing specifically to do with the late Doors’ lead singer,…
Say It Again! at GrumBar
Jahnl Lofton is a slam poet — a spoken-word performer judged on her ability to make those within earshot think and feel. And if tonight’s routine is any indication, she’s a damn good one. Fifteen minutes ago, Lofton was sitting at the bar inside downtown’s GrumBar (306 Main), silent and…
Zac Brown Band
Compared to airbrushed, frosted-bang pretty boys like Rascal Flatts, Atlanta’s Zac Brown Band looks like they came straight to Nashville from a bare-knuckled dust-up with the Kentucky Headhunters. However, the strand of Southern rock Brown and cohorts are steeped in most is the free-form Widespread Panic variety; their high harmonies…
Flea Market French
The duck confit salad I had for lunch at La Brocante Cafe on Kirkwood was a plate with three items. There were lightly dressed field greens, a preserved duck leg quarter that had been broiled until the skin was crunchy and a pile of deep brown shaved potatoes cooked in…
