The Blue Bell Recall: How Bad Is It?
As reported yesterday, Blue Bell Ice Cream has recalled all of its products after finding listeria bacteria in multiple facilities and containers. We spoke with Houston-based personal injury lawyer Scott Callahan, who notes that while recalls are common, one of this scope is exceptional. “First of all, you have different…
Bellas, ‘Bots, And Brontosaurus: Your 2015 Summer Movie Preview
The long winter (such as it is here in Southeast Texas) is over, and the 2015 summer movie season promises to be a big one: three new Marvel properties (from two different studios, naturally); reboots, sequels, and the odd original property thrown in to keep you off balance. I’d hate…
The Ting Tings Easily Earn an Enthusiastic Encore
The Ting Tings, KANEHOLLER Fitzgerald’s April 21, 2015 Imagine a home video featuring a toddler in a confined space stomping around making all kinds of racket using everything within reach, and you have an image of how Katie White performs as one-half of the Ting Tings. Tuesday night at Fitzgerald’s,…
Dan Patrick’s Advisory Board Calls Pre-K “Godless”, “Socialistic”
At the dawn of the 84th Legislative Session this year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick did something pretty brazen, which isn’t entirely out of character for the talk-show host turned-most powerful officeholder in the state. First, he tapped a slew of millionaires, billionaires and heavyweight GOP donors — over half of…
Toxic Love: Seven Anti-Earth Day Songs
Today is Earth Day, and your newsfeed is inundated with calls to protect the environment and uplifting memes involving trees. And if you live in Texas, you need to stop that. Stop it right now. Clearly we are not the good guys, okay? We’re drilling so hard it causes earthquakes;…
Houston Texans Announce 2015 Schedule
Of all its properties and assets, perhaps the one that the NFL most grossly misuses and improperly leverages is the reveal of the upcoming season’s schedule. Fans in NFL cities love finding out when and where their teams are going to play in the upcoming season, and how many primetime…
An Adventure with Jazz Pianist Bobby Lyle at Discovery Green
Get up and dance this week’s Da Camera JAM at Discovery Green, part of the group’s jazz appreciation Month concert series. Headliner and Houstonian Bobby Lyle won’t mind. In fact, he wants audiences to react physically to his music. “At outdoor venues, you’re a little more relaxed. You can get…
Open Carry: There’s an App for That
It appears that we are mere days away from the Texas legislature passing an open carry law that will make it legal to carry a handgun in public…openly. It’s the kind of thing that, as a Texan, makes you proud…or afraid…or embarrassed…or all of the above. Nevertheless, if our current…
Ex-Con Allegedly Posts Pics Showing Off His Guns #facingmorefederaltime
OK, say it with us one last time, folks: “If I’m a convicted felon who is not allowed to possess firearms, I will not post pics and videos of me possessing firearms.” That’s from an introductory political science class we sometimes teach outside the Houston Public Library downtown, called “Tips…
The End of Australia’s Drought Reveals Riots of Color in Desert Awakening
This is the story of a small group of women who, in the face of adversity, found a way to overcome professional hurdles to continue their creative pursuits. The current exhibit at Booker•Lowe Gallery, Desert Awakening: Paintings by the Australian Aboriginal Women of Ampilatwatja, focuses on the small community of…
All Hail Queen Cora, Houston’s Drummer to Pop Royalty
To call longtime Prince collaborator, current Beyonce drummer and Houston native Cora Coleman-Dunham exceptional is to make too little of the word. In less than 35 years, Coleman-Dunham, who is married to Prince bassist Josh Dunham, has already achieved more than most do in a lifetime. Coleman-Dunham styles herself as…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Jody Stevens of Jodycakes
When baker Jody Stevens decided to focus on creating vegan and gluten-free cakes that were as delicious as regular ones, people told her she was crazy and it would never work. At the time, Houston was still known as a meat-and-potatoes city and not the culinary epicenter is it today…
The Apparently Immoral Shoulders of My Five-Year-Old Daughter
Last Monday morning was a little colder than I expected, so I made sure that there was a warm change of clothes in my daughter’s backpack in case she wanted to change. She’d had her heart set on wearing her rainbow sun dress since the weather warmed up so I…
Rockets Roll in Fourth Quarter to Go Up 2-0 Against Dallas 111-99
For three quarters and just over a minute, the Rockets slogged through an awful shooting night while a depleted Dallas team did everything they could to keep it close including setting a team playoff record for consecutive makes at the free throw line without a miss. It was the game…
Dear Local Musicians: No Rockets Playoff Songs, Please
The Houston Rockets are our snake-bitten, sometimes insufferable and nationally bemoaned basketball team. We love them. The city of Dallas absolutely cannot stand them. When we get to the NBA’s Promised Land, a.k.a. meaningful basketball from April to June, we act as if we’ve never been there even though we’ve…
Warren Sapp Prostitution Arrest Police Video Released By TMZ (w/ VIDEO)
There are very few people that I would root for to get arrested and then be publicly shamed on the internet by having TMZ leak their interrogation video to the entire world. VERY few. But make no mistake, Warren Sapp is one of those people. The Hall of Fame former…
1965: The Year the ’60s Really Started to Swing
1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music By Andrew Grant Jackson Thomas Dunne Books, 352 pp., $27.99 A guy who knew a thing or two about the era, Bob Dylan, once surmised that the 1960s really started in 1965. And indeed, in addition to a sea change in social, political,…
Is Texas Investigating Big Pharma (Again)?
Two doctors at the Terrell State Hospital, one of ten state-run psychiatric hospitals, resigned last week amid allegations they took money from a pharmaceutical giant in exchange for hawking the drug maker’s anti-psychotic to state regulators. Records from the Department of State Health Services indicate that an investigation by the…
Sorrow Takes You Into Darkness and Keeps You There
In Sorrow a young woman finds herself not only being held and assaulted by a group of demented serial killers, but also by a system that is designed to ignore her suffering even when she escapes. In a sense the scariest thing about it is not the screams but the…
More Blue Bell Drama: All Products Now Recalled
Just when you thought it was safe to buy Blue Bell ice cream again, the company has announced that it is recalling all of its products. The news comes just days after local grocery stores started restocking their shelves…
Houston’s Pension Woes Dominate Lege Hearing
Houston City Council now qualifies as a place so dysfunctional that even a Texas House committee can get a laugh out of it. Ray Hunt, speaking on behalf of the Houston Police Officers Union, was a high level of frustrated as he strode to the podium in the House Pensions…
Scarface Pours Out Everything in His New Diary
You heard, yet? The brand-new project from Brad “Scarface” Jordan, Houston’s preeminent gangsta poet, drops today. Predictably, it’s dope. But don’t go scurrying off to Spotify to find it — try Amazon instead. At long last, ‘Face has broken his offstage silence and dished the goods in his new book,…
Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins on Andre Johnson’s Departure: “No Comment”
The 2015 season unofficially began on Monday as the Texans returned to NRG Stadium to begin voluntary workouts. It’s the “first day of school” date on the NFL calendar, where guys return from their vacations, talk about what they did during their time off, and meet the new kids in…
B L A C K I E Scorches Moon Tower’s 4/20 Party
B L A C K I E, Talk Sick Brats Moon Tower Inn April 20, 2015 On 4/20/2015, surrounded by the subdued celebration of marijuana’s own Christmas Day, B L A C K I E took the stage at the Moon Tower on Canal Street armed with his horn, his…
Le’ Pam’s House of Creole Offers Good Food and Greetings From its Dynamic Owner
Le’ Pam’s House of Creole could probably run exclusively on the high-energy personality of its owner, chef Pamela Graham, but it doesn’t hurt that she makes good food, too. Customers are enthusiastically greeted with exclamations like “Hello, my babies! Have you been here before? Come here and try my gumbo!”…
Bad Jews: Family Issues Make for a Comedic Yet Weighty Play
Family, oy! No one knows better where your buttons are or how to push them for maximum effect. Dip an already quarrelsome clan into the stress stew of a funeral’s aftermath and not only do buttons get pushed, the whole darn switchboard gets trampled on. But before you think you…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: Independent Italian Food in Conroe
Listen up. There’s non-chain dining in Conroe. No, really, we read about a place called Vero’s Italian Kitchen at the “I Chew And Review” blog. However, take heed of the disclaimer from the post: Now let’s have a little chat about expectations. If you come to a place like this…
“… a path to share…” Exhibit Includes 20 White Bells
With a color palette dominated by white, works by Argentinian artist Marie Orensanz in … a path to share … display luminously in the 5,900 square foot Sicardi Gallery, which has represented Latin American artists since 1994. In honor … of whom? is an installation of 20 white opaline bells…
Hefe Wine, a.k.a. Mr. Iggy Azalea, Strikes Back!
If you happened to be hanging outside the Harris County Criminal Courthouse Monday, chances are you saw some gentlemen handing out a tabloid-size tract called the Houston Real Press, featuring Australian rapper Iggy Azalea on the cover and a boatload of stupid inside. The six-page libel-palooza serves as sort of…
First Look at Peska Seafood Culture in Houston
A common misconception about Peska Seafood Culture, the new seafood restaurant located in the BLVD place next to True Food Kitchen, is that it’s a Mexican seafood restaurant much like Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught’s Caracol. The confusion arises mainly because the owners, Maite Ysita and her brother Diego Ysita,…
The Houston Bike Museum Offers Visitors a Unique Look at Bicycling History
Late last year, The Houston Bike Museum opened its doors in a temporary location in the Museum District, generously made available by the Houston Holocaust Museum. The new Bike Museum is a labor of love for its founder, Joy Boone, the owner of Daniel Boone Cycles, a local bike shop…
Upcoming: Cracker, Danzig, Front 242, Incubus, Josh Groban, Judy Collins, Maná, Slayer, etc.
AJ Ahmed: With Cardo, Trackksounds, Steveo Valdez. Wed., May 20, 9:30 p.m., $10 to $15. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston, 713-225-5483. American Idol Live: Thu., August 13, 8 p.m., $39 to $59. Bayou Music Center, 520 Texas, Houston, 713-225-8551. Andy McKee: Thu., April 30, 8:30 p.m., $23.50 to $28.50…
Clutch City: An Oral History of the Houston Rockets Miracle Playoff Run
Resting on the coffee table in Leslie Alexander’s suite at the Toyota Center, the Rockets’ two championship trophies look exactly the same. Both a little tarnished from handprints and the normal wear and tear of two decades of team functions and selfies, they stand proudly, gold basketball teetering atop the…
Inside the 2015 Legendary Art Car Ball
“I’m a nerd at a freak show,” says “Emily.” Donning a pink bob (it’s a wig) and fishnet stockings for the first time in her life, she won’t give me her real name for fear that I will rat her out. You see, she works for the city and her…
Don Robey Built His Gospel Empire With Ruthless Street Tactics
Houston’s Don Robey turned Peacock Records into one of the nation’s preeminent gospel labels by pursuing a ruthless business strategy. Roscoe Robinson, who in 1960 replaced Archie Brownlee as lead singer of the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi — one of Peacock’s cornerstone talents — after the great shouter died…
Halliburton Announces 9,000 Layoffs
In a move that once again isn’t exactly shocking, Halliburton Co. has been engaging in much more serious layoffs than they initially planned on back in February…
Game Of Thrones S05E02: “All They Understand Is Blood.”
There’s a lot to be said about HBO’s decision to take an “inspired by” approach to the Song of Ice and Fire books instead of marching in lockstep with George R.R. Martin’s multiple plotlines. Readers of the series are getting a fresh look at characters and their stories, and non-readers…
Zen Master Steve Forbert Calls Down the Muse
Steve Forbert McGonigel’s Mucky Duck April 18, 2015 A jaded, wary veteran like Steve Forbert seems an unlikely candidate for restoring our faith in the troubadour tradition, but he reached deep in his trick bag Saturday night to give it his best shot. He frequently seemed like a character he…
OK Go Exudes Viral-Video Enthusiasm In Concert Too
OK Go Warehouse Live April 19, 2015 A camera that was affixed to Damian Kulash’s microphone plastered the lead singer of OK Go’s sweaty forehead onscreen behind him as he fielded questions from the crowd halfway through the band’s set Friday night. During the Q&A session, audience members learned that…
Houston Rockets Playoffs 2015: Sorry Dallas, You’re Screwed
In the throes of January and February, the cold “dog days” of the NBA regular season, we hear about teams routinely resting star players for the “long haul” and the “greater good,” but when you play in the NBA’s Western Conference, we were reminded this season that every game matters…
Patriots WR Julian Edelman Creates Hilarious NFL-Star Wars Mashup (w/ VIDEO)
In this day and age of YouTube, where we can watch pretty much anything we want to any time we want to from a device that we are holding in our hands, for upcoming blockbuster films, the release of its movie trailer is sometimes greeted with almost as much enthusiasm…
Sleater-Kinney Pick Up Right Where They Left Off
Sleater-Kinney Warehouse Live April 18, 2015 “Houston, it has been a long time,” Carrie Brownstein painfully reminded the long-suffering devotees of one of the last decade’s most influential bands, and tucking away the temporary trauma that was the memory of Sleater-Kinney’s 2003 visit to the Woodlands Pavilion as Pearl Jam’s…
SJW Video Game Reviews: Deadly Premonition
In this new series of reviews we’ll be exploring video games from a social justice perspective, examining content rather than gameplay. For our gameplay review coverage please check out our Reviews for the Lazy Gamer. Warning: spoilers ahead. There is no more critically polarizing survival horror video game than Deadly…
Best Online Foodie Gifts for the Long-Distance Mama
On Sunday, May 10, many of you will have the opportunity to treat your mother/maternal figure to a lovely meal (and, for the love of God, don’t confine it to brunch). Some of us, however, won’t get that chance. I’m not referring to those who don’t have a relationship with…
HGO’s Die Walküre Comes Complete With a Gang-Buster Finale and Powerful Voices
The set-up: Of the four operas that comprise Richard Wagner’s magnificent epic The Ring of the Nibelung, Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) is perhaps the cycle’s most beloved. For Wagnerites, especially devoted Ring-Heads, who travel the world over to experience its diverse interpretations, Walküre, the second in the series, is special…
Dish of the Week: Frito Pie
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. This week, we’re covering a Texas classic: Frito Pie. Frito pie is popular Southern dish made with chili, cheese and Fritos. According to NPR,…
Japanese Artist Kikuo Saito Shows Off His Many Styles in Houston Exhibit
There is a restlessness to the works by New York-based Japanese artist Kikuo Saito, on display now at Octavia Art Gallery, Houston. Throughout the past 30 years, this abstract expressionist has experimented with a variety of techniques including bold abstracts with wide brush strokes and unpainted areas, jumbled snail trails…
Just Another (Yawn, Ho-Hum) Winning Season for Rice Baseball
There is a remarkable consistency to the Rice Owls baseball team. A clockwork type of precision, almost, when one steps back from the day-to-day and goes to the season-to-season. Take this season, where after winning three of four games this week, the Owls have a record of 26-16. Last year,…
Doctor Who: 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the Tardis
When Doctor Who debuted in 1963 before you even saw William Hartnell step out as the First Doctor you saw the blue police telephone box that we all know as the Tardis. The time machine and space ship is The Doctor’s constant companion in his adventures, appearing in nearly all…
UPDATED: This Week In Houston Food Events: Take Your Administrative Professional Out to Lunch
Monday, April 20 Administrative Professional Week Menu At Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen A special three-course lunch menu is available through this Friday and includes a starter, entrée and dessert. The main courses choices are: North Of The Border Enchilada Tour, South Of The Border Enchilada Tour or the Petite Tampiquena (combination…
Somebody Tell Wiz Khalifa There’s Only One Mr. CAP
If you’re the sort of hip-hop junkie who gets most of your news from Instagram, it probably comes as no surprise to you that Wiz Khalifa’s ‘gram-handle is @mistercap. Lord knows the “We Dem Boyz” rapper has certainly gotten a lot of use out of the name, having used it…
The Five Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Waxahatchee, Wheel Workers, Wilco, etc.
Waxahatchee Walters Downtown, April 20 Katie Crutchfield has the kind of voice that people notice right away. Now recording and performing as Waxahatchee — named after a creek about an hour southeast of her hometown of Birmingham, Ala. — Crutchfield’s songs can be giddy, eerie or confrontational; whatever mood suits…
Judge Rules Anti-LGBT Activists Don’t Have Enough Signatures to Trigger Anti-HERO Vote
Under state law, anti-LGBT activists hoping to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance needed 17,249 signatures on their petition to trigger a public vote that they hope would ultimately repeal the non-discrimination ordinance. When former Houston City Attorney David Feldman tossed their petition last August, saying HERO foes had failed…
Uber Outlines Plan to Ensure All Drivers Comply With City Regs
On Wednesday, Mayor Annise Parker sent Uber a blunt message: give the city your detailed plan for ensuring all Uber drivers are permitted with the city or we’ll revoke your permit. Seems Uber took the mayor’s warning seriously. On Friday, as requested, the company’s lead official in Texas sent Parker…
Austin County Sheriff Investigating Veterinarian Who Killed Cat With Arrow to the Head
And now for this week’s installment of Lessons In Internet Shaming: Out in Brenham there’s a veterinarian named Kristen Lindsey who’s been licensed with the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners since 2012. And sometime this week, someone named Kristen Lindsey posted a photo of herself on Facebook in…
John Sweeney, Houston Press Layout Editor, Dies
John Sweeney, born in Houston on June 10, 1959, died on April 15 in Houston after several months’ illness. He had been employed at the Houston Press for more than ten years in the production department as the Layout Editor, handling both editorial and ad copy. John went to Lockhart…
Sleater-Kinney: “I Definitely Think a Torch Has Been Passed”
Sleater-Kinney’s music is so intense that the trio has always belonged to something greater than themselves whether they really wanted to or not. Lyrically, they’ve never shied away from politics — quite the contrary — but their anthems have always been of a more personal nature, even as together the…
What It’s Like to be a Transgender Woman in a Texas Prison
By November 2013, Passion Star had already faced a decade’s worth of sexual assaults and death threats from other inmates when she again pleaded with prison officials at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Hughes Unit to put her in what’s called “safekeeping,” a classification category for “offenders identified as…
Out of Rehab, Johnny Manziel Issues an Apology Statement
“With the 22nd pick, the Cleveland Browns select Johnny Manziel, quarterback from Texas A&M.” It’s hard to believe that it was less than a year ago when Johnny Manziel heard his name called at the NFL Draft. At that time, he was barely removed from a three-month period where he…
Birdmagic & Perseph One Bring Beats and Love to Rudyard’s
Birdmagic, Perseph One, Pitter Patter Rudyard’s April 16, 2015 At night’s end, Birdmagic looked like someone who had dominated an opponent after a 12-round fight. Predator, not prey, he stalked Rudyard’s stage, eagerly pacing between soiled and pulsing snares. His shirt soaked with the labor of his effort, Birdmagic insisted…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Alex Of Venice
Title: Alex of Venice Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: “I move for a ‘bad court thingy.'” Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three-and-a-half spotted owls out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Attorney is actually a decent person. Tagline: “Her life is just getting started. Again.” Better…
Houston Grand Opera Stages Sweeney Todd, Pies and All
With her pastry shop on the decline and the prospect of a life sinking even further into poverty, Mrs. Lovett decides upon drastic, gruesome measures to keep her business going and to try to improve her fortunes in life. Yes, it’s Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Beer Week Is Almost Here
Texas Taco Music Fest @ Navigation Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. 2400 Navigation Head to the East End’s “Restaurant Row'” for a day of fun, food, music, and Latin culture. The all day event will feature a taco cook-off, 18 live bands on two full stages, chef cooking demonstrations,…
5 Hidden Shopping Gems in Midtown
You may be saying to yourself, “Midtown. What’s hidden about Midtown?!” The slice of land sandwiched between Downtown, Museum District, and Montrose is teaming with activity, but there are a few spots on the not so beaten path. Fashion wise, the pickings are slim, but I have a few choices…
UH Baseball Does Its Best (Worst) Astros Impersonation
Seconds become minutes. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. Still the 25th ranked Houston Cougars remained huddled out in deep left field of Rice’s Reckling Park. The game’s long over, but it’s almost like UH (23-14) is trying to hide in plain sight, seeking to escape the humiliation of Tuesday…
How to Live Like Janet’s “Go Deep” Video
I can recall the first time I ever wanted a music video to be my life. No, it wasn’t 2Pac’s “I Get Around,” because I felt like getting chased by women twice my size and dealing with the aftereffects of a pool party where I only knew two people (Shock…
Houston Ballet Showcases Its Students in the Annual Spring Recital
With music by Benjamin Britten and choreographed by Houston Ballet’s Artistic Director Stanton Welch, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is one of those pieces both illuminating and just plain fun to experience. Now, student dancers in the Houston Ballet Academy will have a chance to show how they…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: The Houston Barbecue Festival Is Back!
In honor of Administrative Professional Appreciation Week, Tony Mandola’s Gulf Coast Kitchen, 1212 Waugh, will be offering a three-course prix fixe lunch on Monday, April 20 through Friday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For $30 per person, guests can enjoy chef Samuel Beier’s special menu, featuring Mama…
Lawsuit Filed Against STORM as the Fight Over Texas Oyster Reefs Continues
The way things have been going with the parties grappling over the Sustainable Texas Oyster Resource Management it was probably only a matter of time before somebody filed a lawsuit. Well, the time has come and the lawsuit was filed in the Galveston County District Court on Thursday afternoon. The…
Steve Forbert Still Looking for Inspiration — and Finding It
After almost 40 years in the music business, Steve Forbert could be forgiven for taking it easy or resting on his laurels, but the singer-songwriter who comes to McGonigel’s Mucky Duck Saturday night for two shows still has the fire in his belly. A brief two-stop Texas weekend tour is…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: LMNOP and More
Start your weekend off right and catch LMNOP — A New Muzical on Friday. Letters are falling from the sky. Well, actually, from a monument in town, and the local leaders in an island community take this as a sign that they should no longer be using the ones that…
Openings & Closings: Landlord Is Kicking Out The Stag’s Head Pub
The Stag’s Head Pub’s landlord has chosen not to renew the bar’s lease at 2128 Portsmouth. According to a note forwarded to the Houston Press, owner Michael Holliday tried to negotiate a short-term lease but was declined. The note goes on to say: “I have been looking to move The…
The 50 Most Beautiful People of Coachella’s First Weekend
Christopher VictorioBy Sarah Purkrabek/LA Weekly The temperature isn’t the only thing that’s sizzling at Coachella. With their tanned bodies, gym-rat physiques, and seriously on-point bohemian/ethereal/fairy-style choices, Coachella-goers know to look their best while they’re in the desert. Both the festival itself and the parties that go with it have some…
2015 NBA Playoffs: Rockets-Mavericks Preview and Prediction
As the NBA regular season was winding down this week, one popular debate in Houston, particularly after the Memphis Grizzlies’ losing to the Clippers on Saturday pushed the Rockets into a control-you-own-destiny situation for at least the five seed in the West, was “Which would be a better scenario for…
Houston’s 10 Best Stress-Reliever Bars
April is National Stress Awareness Month, and we all need to take some time out of our busy schedules filled with work, school and other responsibilities to relax and unwind. Many of us like to have a few drinks after a stressful day at work, but these places have other…
Nosaj Thing Would Like Their Stolen Gear Back
Nosaj Thing, the electronic musician/producer who has worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Kid Cudi, was robbed of his group’s equipment early Thursday morning on Kirby and Richmond. According to the band’s Facebook page, their tour van was broken into and all of their equipment, including Macbooks and…
The 10 Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: OK Go, Brad Absher, Record Store Day, etc.
OK Go Warehouse Live, April 17 Since the days when MTV actually played them round-the-clock, no band has been more closely identified with its music videos than OK Go. Even before there was such a thing as YouTube (or much, anyway), the L.A.-via-Chicago power-pop quartet established their Cars-plus-Pixies formula on…
Fan Fighting League! Baseball Season Is Underway As Oriole Fan Punches Yankee Fan
The winter typically provides a lull in when it comes to my Fan Fighting League. You all know the FFL, right? It’s my fictional league that I created (and proclaimed myself commissioner of) in order to bring attention to fans from opposing teams beating the snot out of each other…
Private Prison Companies Grow Fat Off Immigrant Detention
A former Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan turned powerful U.S. Senator helped set in motion the sweeping system of immigrant detention we see today. From 2000 to 2006, the average number of undocumented immigrants detained in the United States on any given day hovered around 20,000. And while…
Get to Know Thunder Soul
The Kashmere Stage Band was a phenomenon. Most high-school stage bands — ensembles that played something besides symphonic music, often jazz — of the late ’60s and early ’70s were stuck 20 or 30 years in the past, playing the orchestrated swing of Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey or Count Basie…
Alamo Drafthouse Returns a Forgotten Insane Film to the Screen
What’s the craziest film ever made? Eraserhead? El Topo? How about A Serbian Film, Hausu or the second Human Centipede? Nope, the craziest thing ever committed on purpose to celluloid is a 1981 family film that Drafthouse Films has brought back out into the light of day. Roar is the…
Aaron Hernandez: Guilty Of First Degree Murder And Lots Of Other Stuff (w/ Verdict VIDEO)
The NFL Draft begins exactly two weeks from today. Teams will spend the subsequent three days putting all of their exhaustive film study, research, interviewing, and background checking to work. They spend millions on this stuff, trying to get it right. In fact, I don’t know that I can think…
Shark Finning Bill Passes House
The Texas House of Representatives passed a House bill that would ban the sale, trade, purchase and transportation of shark fins in the state, and the bill now will go to the Senate. The practice of finning — catching a shark, cutting off its fin, and releasing it back into…
TUTS Underground Announces its 2015-16 Season Complete with Bonnie and Clyde
After trying out Sweet Potato Queens in a staged reading earlier this year, Theatre Under the Stars’ TUTS Underground has decided to go all in, and present the work fully developed in its next season. In addition, TUTS Underground plans a play on Bonnie and Clyde, a meeting of a…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Vladimir Smirnov of Chef Smirnov Catering
Vladimir Smirnov managed to work his way from poor Russian immigrant to a banquet chef position with Rice Epicurean market. After years of work there, he decided it was time to go after the dream of owning his own business. Initially, he thought that would be teaching people how to…
Bamford and Katz Headline an All-Star Comedy Lineup at Moontower
From April 22-25, weirdoes and stand-ups alike will converge in Austin for the Moontower Comedy & Oddity Festival. The four-day excursion will feature the comedy stylings of national headliners like Patton Oswalt (Netflix’s Bojack Horseman), Maria Bamford (Netflix’s Arrested Development), John Mulaney (Fox’s Mulaney) , Wanda Sykes (Amazon’s Alpha House),…
The 20 Best Restaurant Patios in Houston
When the weather is blessedly mild, Houstonians go running, not for the hills but for the best restaurant patios in the city. We’ve gathered 20 of Houston’s best and ranked them not just for their good looks but for the food and service as well. Take a look, and be…
Rockets Improbably Win Division, Face Dallas in Round One
A lot can change in a week in the NBA. Just 10 days ago, the Rockets lost in San Antonio and went from the number two seed in the brutal Western Conference all the way down to six, giving up home court advantage in the process. The dropped the next…
The Best of Houston 2015: The 10 Best Dog Parks in Houston
Dogs come in all shapes and sizes; so do dog parks. Houston has tiny, barebones parks, huge, well-equipped parks, parks with shade, parks with no shade, parks in the middle of the city and parks in the middle of other parks. Where you take your dog for its daily exercise…
Desert Island Discs: Buxton’s Sergio Trevino
From time to time, we ask local musicians for their Top 5 absolute desert-island discs, the records that made them the musicians they are today. This week: Sergio Trevino, the fabulous front man of Americana veterans Buxton. GILLIAN WELCH, Time the Revelator This is probably the easiest decision (possibly making…
Six Protestors Arrested in BP’s Houston Lobby
Environmental activists descended on BP’s Houston headquarters on Wednesday morning to mark the start of a slew of protests around the fifth anniversary of the start of the BP oil spill. The first protest was held in BP’s lobby and led to six people being arrested…
Local Bands Do Their Part to Unf*%k the World
What would it take to unf*%k the world? There’s hardly enough blog space to launch into discussions on the grand and ultimately futile gestures it might take to make this planet a utopia. But one local band has at least a small-scale blueprint to help a little. Spread music and…
LMNOP — A New Muzical
Letters are falling from the sky. Well, actually, from a monument in town, and the local leaders in an island community take this as a sign that they should no longer be using the ones that hit the ground and ban them one by one. Based on the novel Ella Minnow…
Japan Festival Houston
It’s cherry blossom season and time to head to the Japan Festival Houston 2015 at Hermann Park. Along with Japanese food, entertainment, music, dancing and martial arts exhibitions, this year’s festival features a roll-off competition between local sushi chefs. “In the style of Iron Chef, we’re going to have some…
All My Sons
It’s a family with a terrible secret. Businessman Joe Keller made money selling defective airplane engine parts to the U.S. military. As a result, 21 American pilots died because of the faulty equipment. Keller, the picture of a devoted family man, has sidestepped any blame in the matter but his…
Shanghai Quartet with Wu Man
Wu Man, one of the foremost pipa players in the world, has recently been working closely with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road project. Today she’ll appear with the Shanghai Quartet in a concert mixing modern classical and ancient stringed instruments. “Whenever you add an instrument to a string quartet, it changes…
Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series: Cristina Henríquez and Marlon James
An odd message accompanied the delivery of Marlon James’s novel A Brief History of Seven Killings: “Good luck, my friend — it’s 669 pages!” Actually, it’s 688 pages. It’s also brilliant. James is in town as part of the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, along with Cristina Henriquez. The…
I’m Hot For My Best Friend’s Sister. Help!
Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off’s advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! WOULD I BE WRONG FOR DATING MY FRIEND’S SISTER? Dear Willie D: Eight years ago my…
True Story Aims to Expose Journalistic Malpractice but Mostly Exposes James Franco
The sequence that opens True Story tells you plenty about what you’re in for: A rumpled teddy bear drifts down from our vantage point like a puffy brown snowflake, landing with slow-motion deliberateness on the form of a PJ-clad toddler curled up in a suitcase, seemingly asleep. She’s like an…
Capsule Art Reviews: April 16, 2015
“AT the Core of the Algorithm” Upon entering Hiram Butler Gallery to see Michael Petry’s “AT the Core of the Algorithm” installation, one might quickly decide that everything could be seen within five seconds. However, if a visitor looks beyond the simple beauty of hanging glass globes, the piece becomes…
Capsule Stage Reviews: April 16, 2015
The Cherry Orchard Recently Houston’s theater scene has been blessed with some very fine Chekhov knockoffs: last season’s superlative rendition of Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Alley; and, recently, a regional premiere, also superlatively produced, of Aaron Posner’s stupid f*****g bird from Stages Rep…
Disney’s Monkey Kingdom Is Wonderful and Full of Lies
Truth in film takes another jolly beating in Disneynature’s Monkey Kingdom, a documentary-like nature flick with the last-century chutzpah to pass off its marvelous footage of some months in the life of a single-mom macaque as a full-fledged princess story, with three acts, a tearful exile, and her ascent, in…
With Broken Horses, an Indian Master Aims for Amerindie Suspense
The most profitable film in the history of India is the romantic comedy 3 Idiots, which, according to the formal strictures of its industry, is a jolly and epic musical that runs about 70 minutes per idiot. For beautiful YouTube dada, it’s hard to beat “Zoobi Doobi,” a sexy goof…
Online Thriller Unfriended is the Rare Good Film About the Internet
The trolling is coming from inside the house! Mere emojis can’t capture the plugged-in joys of the first hour or so of haunted-internet teen flick Unfriended, which knives with dexterous wit The Way We Live Now. Here’s a clutch of horny high school dopes hanging out on Skype, getting doxed…
“Mel Chin: Rematch”
Houston-born artist Mel Chin expands upon his practice of vigilant self-evaluation as he takes on none other than himself in his first retrospective, “Mel Chin: Rematch.” Works by Chin appear in four different locations in Houston during the exhibition’s run. The pieces at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston highlight Chin’s…
4th Annual Houston Improv Festival
“Improvisation is a stronger part of our culture than it has ever been,” says Todd Boring, executive producer of the 4th Annual Houston Improv Festival. “It’s not just for the so-called ‘improv nerds’ anymore. People from all walks of life are embracing spontaneity in life and art.” A four-day event…
Anthony Sonnenberg: “With Wild Abandon”
Almost all of us are guilty of gluttony, lust or greed. But is this necessarily bad? Texas-born artist Anthony Sonnenberg, who now hails from Seattle, addresses these questions in his exhibit “With Wild Abandon,” now at Lawndale Art Center. “My work really comes down to the idea of how we…
Mamma Mia!
It’s the jukebox musical that will not die or even pause for much of a breath if you’ve ever seen it. Mamma Mia! is on its way back to Houston, with a firm grip on all of its bouncy pop songs by the Swedish band ABBA (“Mamma Mia,” “Take a…
48th Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival
Ten days of screening shorts, features and documentaries, plus a host of special events and seminars, are on the schedule for the 48th Annual WorldFest-Houston International Independent Film Festival.“It’s the world’s oldest independent film festival,” explains Hunter Todd, the event’s chairman and founding director. “We premiered the Cohen Brothers in…
Pinata Protest Returns to Headline Texas Taco Music Fest
San Antonio punks Pinata Protest return to Houston this weekend after an extended absence for the Texas Taco Music Festival. The explosive ensemble headlines the festival that also includes performances by Ruben Moreno & Zydeco Re-Evolution, local blues shouter Annika Chambers, Latin rockers La Sien, all-female cumbia band La Conquista…
