Houston Nursing Home Beef Turns Deadly
Two nursing home residents are dead after police say a third man who was using a wheelchair allegedly beat them to death with an armrest. According to family of Antonio Acosta, 77, he feared for his life, reports the Associated Press. Acosta and Primitivo Lopez, 51, both died from head…
Crotch Shot Gives Routine Houston Break-In Story Some Legs (UPDATE)
UPDATE 4/24:As you can see below, the video we found on Buzzfeed.com was pulled. The powers that be have declared war on this news clip. It’s slowly being yanked from YouTube, and its home news website. If you’re too curious, we’re sure you can Google the details and come up…
Survey: Astros Have the Worst Fan Loyalty in Baseball
We’re not Astros-bashing, but dead last? That’s how Brand Keys, New York-based brand consultancy firm ranked the team’s fan loyalty. Of course, if consistency means anything, this is the Astro’s second year in the dead-last spot, after falling from 23rd in 2012. No love here. According to the company, fan…
The Rodeo Is Over, but You Can Still Get Deep-Fried Oreos
I miss the rodeo. I miss cowboys in bolo ties, mutton bustin’ and bull riding, live music and two stepping…the list goes on. But perhaps most of all, I miss the unspoken understanding that everything at the rodeo — and I mean everything — is to be deep-fried and or/covered…
Houston Ballet’s Academy Spring Showcase Shows Off Its Youngest Stars
Mallory Mehaffey ran track in high school and just wanted a summer experience with the Houston Ballet’s Academy for younger ballet students. “By the time the summer program was over I wanted nothing more than to be here and train at the school so I joined as a student and…
Cover Story: When the NASA Love Is Lost
Illustration by Jesse LenzSpaceX completed another successful mission toting cargo to the International Space Station on Sunday. The launch was livestreamed from Cape Canaveral, but it was all focused in Florida and Johnson Space Center was never mentioned. There was a time this would have been unthinkable. Check out our…
Reality Bites: Ice Cold Gold
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. While researching the next show for “Reality Bites” (i.e. channel surfing after a few Stone IPAs), I came across Ice Cold Gold, Animal Planet’s show about 21st century prospectors braving…
The Savory Side of Sweet Paris Creperie
You know what’s a damn shame? When your good friend Maggie makes lovely sweet crepes but almost every time you’ve been offered them you’re too stuffed from prior savory supper consumed that you cannot handle any more food. One solution? Eat less dinner. Another? Makes crepes the dinner. Not that…
Merril Hoge Hates Everybody Including Johnny Manziel and Jadeveon Clowney
I do a couple hours of radio each week with John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, who is about as dialed in as any beat reporter is for their local NFL team. McClain is highly informed and not afraid to openly discuss what he knows, and his on-air and in-writing…
HAIM at House of Blues, 4/22/2014
HAIM House of Blues April 22, 2014 Aspiring bands wondering how to go from obscurity to selling out House of Blues in barely two years could do worse than studying HAIM’s example. In this case, the L.A. act fronted by the three Haim sisters fills a niche that hardly even…
Fashion Truck Fest Finds & I Think I Am in Love
The fourth installment of Fashion Truck Fest was this weekend hosted by Liberty Station restaurant on Washington. The quarterly gathering of mobile boutiques has become the place for fashion truck enthusiasts to browse their favorites. I wasn’t sure what to expect, being that this would be my first fashion truck…
FPSF Adds Monster Houston Rap Supergroup
Free Press Summer Fest is a little more than a month and a half away, but even though the already-packed festival lineup has been released, more names are getting added, including a Swishahouse trio that kick started the second Houston rap surge in 2005. Paul Wall, Slim Thug and Mike…
House of Pies on Kirby Is Back, and We Love It More than Ever W/ Video
A few glorious weeks ago, House of Pies on Kirby reopened after a fire shuttered the beloved landmark back in November, just a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Initially, the popular pie place promised to be back in business in time for the pie-centric holiday, but unfortunately, the repairs and ultimately,…
Children’s Museum Offering Free Vaccinations
The practicing of preventing deadly and debilitating illness through vaccination is currently under attack in the United States, but the Children’s Museum of Houston has partnered with the Houston Department of Health and Human Services in order to make injections free to children as part of “National Infant Immunization Week…
This Week in Food Blogs: Cobblers, Coffee Ice Cream & Burgers, Oh My!
Adventures in a New(ish) City: Even though she grew up in Houston, her first visit to The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation was two weeks ago. Her and her friends started with the queso (of course!), then she ordered the soft corn shrimp tacos with bacon-wrapped shrimp, shredded Jack cheese and…
If Google Elected Athletes to Office, the President Would Be…
Before computers ruled our lives, before the Internet connected everyone to everything, relevance was a far more subjective attainment. Stardom was a feel, degrees of which were debatable. Nowadays, with our ability to measure the relative joy in/admiration for/tolerance of almost anything thanks to Internet analytics, we have measures for…
Ted Cruz Writes a Thank-You Note to Obama. Seriously.
Just when we were sure we’d seen it all, Ted Cruz hits the brakes and surprises us again. How so? He wrote a letter of appreciation to President Barack Obama. Yep, that’s it. The Texas senator who has made opposing everything the folks across the aisle come up with (as…
Comic Mike Birbiglia Comes Back to the Lone Star State
Actor, director, stand-up comedian and monologist extraordinaire Mike Birbiglia intends to lampoon each of these targets and many more when he makes his long promised return to the Lone Star state. In his first Texas appearance in nearly six years, Birbiglia will be doing more than 90 minutes of brand-new…
The Five Best Hidden Restaurant Gems in Chinatown in Houston
I spend a lot of time in Chinatown. Between shopping for squid fryers at Japanese import store Fit, getting foot reflexology at Lucky Feet and eating my way through hundreds of restaurants, I could pretty much never leave if I didn’t have to, you know, go to work and feed…
Hucksters and Texas Tent Revival Politics
Religious liberty is at the very heart of what it means to be an American, yet Texas conservatives and our state’s activist pastors have conveniently forgotten that.
100 Creatives 2014: T. Smith, Artist
It’s okay if you don’t know the age, race or gender of the artist T. Smith. Actually, that’s the plan. “I want it to be all about the work,” the artist tells us. “When someone sees one of my paintings, I want the only thing influencing their interpretation or opinion…
Is Your Car Safe From Vandals While You’re Eating at Houston Restaurants?
We bitch and moan about valet parking all the time, but it does have its upsides. For instance, when there are valet drivers running back and forth between lots day and night, your parked cars are less likely to get broken into. When the parking is up to you though,…
10 Best Reasons to Visit Down House
Down House was named our 2013 Best Neighborhood Spot in the Heights for Best of Houston. There’s no denying that this establishment from Joey Treadway and Chris Cusack has become popular among many Houstonians, especially Heights residents, despite its rocky start. In 2011, Katharine Shilcutt reviewed Down House, and wasn’t…
Prog-Rock Legends Wishbone Ash: Nostalgia “Not the Whole Story”
One of the greatest prog-rock albums ever, Wishbone Ash’s 1972 epic Argus also remains the English band’s best-known and definitive sonic statement. And while other acts in the genre like Yes, Jethro Tull, ELP and Genesis have wider name recognition, Wishbone Ash has cultivated a cult following by consistently touring…
West, Texas, Explosion: One Year Later, Nothing Has Changed
In the wake of the West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion, it’s probably not surprising to learn that the disaster — which killed at least 14, injured hundreds and gave the little North Texas town the look of a postapocalyptic war zone — could have been avoided. That’s what the U.S…
1984 Movies We Want to See on the Big Screen
This month Alamo Drafthouse is sending viewers back 30 years (Good lord, do I feel old) to celebrate some of what it considers the best movies of 1984. Throughout the entire month, movies such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ghostbusters and Repo…
Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa: “Every Song Is From Its Own Universe”
It’s been a few years since Warpaint mesmerized Houstonians in a live setting — nearly three years to the day, in fact. But the group is finally set to return to Houston. Tomorrow night, the quartet of Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman, Jenny Lee Lindberg and Stella Mozgawa will headline upstairs…
RIP Local Country Star Mundo Earwood
Country singer Raymond “Mundo” Earwood has passed after a long illness. The Del Rio native, who has long resided in the Humble area, was 61. The news came from a message on his Facebook page, which read in part, “We are of course deeply saddened by the loss of a…
Roots-Rock Papa Luther Dickinson Has Plenty “Mojo, Mojo” Workin’
If the general rules of parent/child relationships hold, most members of the latter group will find the former’s music tastes “uncool” at some point. However, how can that be the case when your dad is Luther Dickinson, the rock/country/blues singer-guitarist and current solo artist, member of the North Mississippi Allstars…
Meet the Most Underrated Music Festival in Texas
Except for autumn, spring is festival season in Houston. This time of year most people can probably be forgiven for losing track of all the events in the area that take advantage of the agreeable weather and humans’ unquenchable appetite for food, drink, fellowship and live music to wash it…
Houston Kids Rapping Shows Why We Shouldn’t Be Closing Schools or Cutting Arts
When the Houston Independent School District goes about cutting arts programs and shutting schools, we hope they take into account the following video. Presumably created somewhere in Houston’s Third Ward, the video shows your average grade-school-age kids — probably no more than six or seven years old — practicing the…
Getting Gluttonous With 100 Peeps in Two Minutes
YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. The Mount Rushmore of viral fame-spawning mechanisms. Never has “getting one’s 15 minutes” been easier, never has notoriety been more accessible and never has the bar been lower for what qualifies as “newsworthy.” Making news doesn’t require greatness, just an iron stomach. Just ask Matt Stonie…
The Philadelphia Story: UH Revives the Classic Comedy
The setup: Philip Barry’s drawing-room comedy of manners, The Philadelphia Story, was a hit on Broadway in 1939, and was made into an award-winning film in 1940. Both starred Katharine Hepburn in a theatrical comeback after some box office disappointments. The execution: The Hepburn role of Tracy Lord Haven dominates…
Oscar Mayer’s New Cold Cuts Are Really Spicy and That’s No Bologna
“That’s some spicy sliced turkey,” is not a phrase I ever anticipated coming out of my mouth. But, then, I also didn’t anticipate really liking a sandwich involving cold cuts. While I’m a big fan of Italian deli meats, I’ve never really latched onto to the standard American sliced turkey,…
Crush Video Couple: Ashley Richards Expected to Testify Against Brent Justice (UPDATE)
One half of a couple charged with torturing and killing animals as part of a “crush video” business is expected to testify against her alleged partner. Ashley Nicole Richards, 23, has pleaded guilty to three of five counts of animal cruelty and has agreed to testify against Brent Justice, the…
How Netflix Threatens the Sanctity of the American Family
My family “consciously uncoupled” from Netflix’s DVD plan a year or two ago. Many of our entertainment choices of the non-streaming variety come from discs I’ve ripped to a hard drive playing via media server on our TV — leaving me with the dilemma of what to do with three…
iFest Barbecue: a Shared Texan and Australian Pastime
Ask any relatively intelligent American to throw out an Australian phrase, and he’ll probably say either “G’day, mate” or “throw another shrimp on the barbie.” This limited knowledge of Australian slang might lead one to think that Australians don’t barbecue much other than shrimp, but this is, of course, not…
Conjoined Brings Two-Headed Horror
Joe Grisaffi (In a Madman’s World, Pirate of the Caribbean) is back in the director’s seat with a brand-new horror flick as part of a new Roger Corman-esque approach to elevating the Houston horror film scene. Conjoined is the story of Siamese twin sisters who move in with a man…
A Gandhian Meal at Indika in Honor of the Menil’s Upcoming Gandhi Exhibit
In October, The Menil will be opening an exhibit called “Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence,” and it will be the first ever exploration of Gandhi’s principle of satyagraha (nonviolence) in the visual arts. To celebrate, local chef and owner of Pondicheri and Indika, Anita Jaisinghani, hosted an…
Manchester Orchestra at House of Blues, 4/21/2014
Manchester Orchestra House of Blues April 21, 2014 Sometimes a band just floors you. They leave you crawling away from the venue without the ability to walk, think, talk or use your major motor functions for a period of time. While such an aural assault doesn’t happen that often, when…
Potential Taxi War Could Get Serious After Ruling
What’s going on in Houston’s livery scene (and in several major cities across the country — no, the world) has the makings for a cable television reality show. Let’s call it Houston Taxi Wars, wherein the traditional style of transporting people around a city for a cash or credit card…
Nick Greer Previews Soul-Baring New LP Heart on Fire
By 7:30 p.m. Monday night, the parking lot of Wire Road Studios was already full. Two men were standing outside, helping latecomers find parking nearby. Inside, a few dozen people congregated in the kitchen, mixing drinks and chatting among themselves. Out back, a larger crowd had gathered around a few…
Taste-Testing Cloud 10 Creamery’s New Spring Sundae
The spring ice cream flavors have arrived at Cloud 10 Creamery. Pastry chef Chris Leung has created a lineup of frozen treats featuring the tastes of the season. Flavors like fresh banana ice cream swirled with a creamy caramel ribbon blended with coriander, and a refreshingly sweet peach tea sorbet…
Texas Cop Tripping High School Kids Is Kind of a Jerk (VIDEO)
At a young age, we are taught in elementary school that the police are our friends. When our impressions of good and evil are in their formative stages, around kindergarten, we are shown pictures of firemen, doctors and police officers (also Johnny Bench) and taught “GOOD.” We are shown pictures…
Pop Rocks: Watching the First Season of Veronica Mars for the First Time
There was a point in my life when I wasn’t all that into TV. This was abnormal for me as I have watched television nearly religiously since I was a toddler. I have a strange memory that allows me to remember things after watching a show once some people couldn’t…
The Rocks Off 200: Rachel Bays, Filming Them Softly
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See the original Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Recently, the Houston Press…
Top 5 Foods to Buy at the British Isles Shop
If you’re an Anglophile, you’re probably already aware of the cuteness that is the British Isles shop in Rice Village. Filled with trinkets (both high end and touristy), foodstuffs, and housewares reminiscent of Ole Britainnia, this store is a godsend for British expats and a source of fun English foods…
Texans Tracker: Peter King Gives Us the Most Absurd Update Yet
If this were every other year, we’d be around 48 hours away from the NFL Draft, with all of the conjecture, smokescreens and posturing set to expire this weekend. But it’s not every other year. It’s 2014, and in 2014, where the draft has been moved back two weeks so…
New Miles Davis Live Box Set Captures the Dawn of Jazz Rock Fusion
By the late 1960’s, Miles Davis already knew that he was a legend of jazz, a sonic innovator, and one of the genre’s most popular and challenging performers hands down. But damn, what he really, really wanted to be was a rock and roll star. He saw all those white…
Sweet & Savory Benefit for Lucky Dog Rescue Hosts an “All Male Revue”
“We have some hot chefs coming to this,” Becky Masson, pastry chef and owner of Fluff Bake Bar tells me giggling. “You’re definitely going to want to be there.” For the past several years, Masson has organized a bi-annual Sweet & Savory dinner with local chefs to benefit Houston’s Lucky…
Five Reasons the Rockets Will Win the Portland Series Even After Losing Game 1
Sunday night’s overtime loss to the Trailblazers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs cost the Rockets the very home court advantage they fought for until the penultimate game of the season. It was as frustrating a loss as fans will see with poor play down the stretch, sloppy…
Where to Get Crawfish in Houston Right Now
Last time we wrote about crawfish here on the blog, we had mixed emotions. On one hand, we were exited to welcome mudbugs back to our plates and bellies for the season after an unusually cold winter. On the other, we were somewhat flabbergasted by the prices and the short…
Eminem, Lorde, OutKast Head 2014 ACL Festival Lineup
This morning the Austin City Limits Music Festival announced its lineup for the autumn music bazaar that will take place October 3-5 and 10-12 in Austin’s Zilker Park. Some of the top names include Eminem (as expected), OutKast, Pearl Jam, Lorde (second weekend only), Skrillex, Lana Del Rey, Beck, Calvin…
Doctor Who: Is Tom Baker Finally Done With Doctor Who?
This month I finally got a chance to tap into the return of Tom Baker to the role of the Fourth Doctor in his Big Finish audio drama “The Evil One”. The radio plays have offered pre-2005 Doctors a chance to continue their adventures, sometimes even in ways that are…
Bill Medley Still Having the Time of His Life
“I thought it was going to get easier by age 73…I guess I was wrong!” Bill Medley is speaking to Rocks Off from the back of a car somewhere on the streets of New York City on the way to a radio interview as part of a whirlwind press tour…
Upcoming: Borgore, Crosby Stills & Nash, Failure, Iration, Lacuna Coil, Slim Thug, etc.
12 Stones: Sun., May 25, 8 p.m., $12. 18th Street Pier, Bar & Grill, 101 18th St., San Leon, 281-339-2600. Arnej Presents Musical Evolution: Sat., May 10, 9 p.m., $5. Stereo Live, 6400 Richmond, Houston, 832-251-9600. The A.R.T. Show: A Musical Experience: Fri., June 6, 9:30 p.m., $20. Warehouse Live,…
Five Songs Written by People You’d Never Expect
As we continue the transition to digital media in the modern age, one thing we’ve lost is liner notes. These were usually just credits and weren’t really that important in the grand scheme of things, but sometimes they revealed some interesting facts. Specifically, they often listed who wrote certain songs,…
Living on the Edge: Why Is Intexticated Driving the Thing in Texas?
Drivers in Texas who tempt fate by texting and driving are likely to be nonwhite and educated. At least that’s what the data from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute bears out. The study, released today and reported on by the Texas Tribune, surveyed 3,000 drivers and showed that nearly half…
PETA Stages Protest Downtown by Dressing Model in Collard Greens
Today at noon, the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals took their message in support of a vegan diet to the streets of downtown Houston. Two PETA members planted themselves (pun intended) at the corner of Milam and Congress and proceeded to dress a volunteer model in a…
UPDATE: Mexican-American Studies Could Be Coming Soon to a Houston Classroom Near You (As a Legit School Elective)
UPDATE 4/22: A previous version of this post inaccurately explained the State Board of Education vote this month on Mexican-American studies in public schools. The board voted to open up a call for publishers to submit textbook materials for courses like Mexican-American studies. There was no approval of an elective…
Juicy J at Warehouse Live, 4/19/2014
Juicy J Warehouse Live April 19, 2014 There is nothing subtle about Juicy J. He doesn’t just party, he turns the fuck up. He doesn’t just drink, he gets wasted. He doesn’t just do drugs, he gets trippy, mayne! About the only thing he doesn’t do is say no to…
Jeff Shore and Jon Fisher Collaborate on Trailer at McClain Gallery
When art is hard to describe, it may be all the more intriguing. The installation at McClain Gallery is by two collaborative Texan artists, Jeff Shore (Houston) and Jon Fisher (Dripping Springs). They have worked together since 2002, and this is their second solo show in Houston. A person stands…
Decoding Difficult Menus: What the Heck Is a Meuniere?
With all of the unique ethnic restaurants in Houston, deciding what to order at an exotic eatery can be a challenge. Not necessarily because it all sounds amazing–sometimes you just don’t know what the heck any of the words mean. Listing every ingredient and cooking process used in every restaurant…
Roddy Piper Turns 60: The Five Most Important Piper’s Pits
Who’s your favorite player? For traditional sports, the answer to that question for most people is pretty easy. You know who your favorite football, baseball or basketball player is, and you know the reasons why. His career is a collective body of work that defines him, and your love for…
Game of Thrones: “Your Father Lacks an Appreciation of the Finer Points of Bad Behavior.”
You think *you’ve* had bad post-wedding hangovers? Imagine what the folks in Kings Landing are going through. Joffrey’s body is barely cold and everyone’s dealing with the aftermath in various ways: his family, the Lannisters, move on in their own fashion. From Tywin starting Tommen on his king lessons to…
Curren$y at Warehouse Live, 4/20/2014
Curren$y, Young Roddy, Corner Boy P Warehouse Live April 20, 2014 There were no egg hunts going on at Sunday night’s Curren$y show. Instead, fans were all about the Easter grass. Celebrating a double-stack of holy days (Easter and 4/20, stoners’ very own Hallmark holiday), the young hip-hoppers who packed…
You Can Now Search Yelp with Emojis (For the Spelling-Challenged)
In case words are too difficult for you to manage or you’re a 13-year-old girl with an iPhone (you know, when I was your age…), Yelp has just made things a little easier on you. Now, instead of actually typing words like “pizza” or “hamburger” in the search box when…
NBA Playoffs Opening Weekend in Viral Video Form
The first weekend of the NBA Playoffs is in the books, and Game 1 of every series has been played. If you’re a hoops junkie, you have another seven weeks of this to look forward to. If you’re the spouse of a hoops junkie, you have seven weeks to find…
Tasty Tuesdays: The Alternative to Eating at Your Desk
When I’m not writing, reading or day dreaming about food, I have a corporate job and my weekday lunches mostly consist of a sandwich, leftovers or a frozen meal quickly nuked and eaten hurriedly at my desk. Working in the Galleria area makes it all the more difficult to take…
Really Really Checks Into College-Age Ambition With Unlikable Characters
The setup: Really Really is a college-age drama about the young and the ambitious, though some are more ambitious than others. Playwright Paul Downs Colaizzo reportedly wrote the play when he was 21 — he is still under 30 — and revised it for a 2012 production. It opened at…
University of Houston-Downtown Will Soon Have Gender-Neutral Restrooms
Lou Weaver supports the idea of gender-neutral restrooms on campus. He’s a transgender male, and he can recall his unease with using public bathrooms at Houston Community College when he was a student there. One day after class, there was a situation with a student wearing a “Rebel” hat. After…
The Houston Symphony Goes to the Ball
What better way to celebrate the whimsy and sprightliness of spring than with a ball? This Saturday the Houston Symphony throws a soiree complete with splendid music and first-class dance with Belle of the Ball, the last concert in its Family Series. The Belle in the title references Leroy Anderson’s…
Mixtape Monday: Jodii B. Basik Smokes for All on HIGHtivities
Here’s a peculiar thing: normally, any day marked 4/20 would give way to a baker’s dozen worth of rap treats. But the last major Houston rap release to originate from this particular date was Doughbeezy’s Reggie Bush & Kool-Aid, and that was three years ago. Since then? Rappers and weed-loving…
The United States of Desserts: The Whoopie Pie
In this series, we examine the history and origins of famous sweets, confections, and desserts associated with certain American states. First, I should acknowledge that the whoopie pie finds its roots in multiple states. Maine probably has the strongest claim, but there is also strong proof that the dessert originated…
Yes, the Astros Are Bad and Not Getting Any Better
The Astros have only played 19 games, leaving 143 more to go. It’s too early to write off the season. But the team’s 5-14 and has lost seven straight games, been swept in the past two series, and has just won three of its last ten games. And while it’s…
Science Author Mary Roach Brings Digestion Humor to Houston on Gulp Book Tour
On April 29, hilarious (yet very informative) science writer Mary Roach will be at Brazos Bookstore to conduct a reading and answer questions about her latest taboo subject: the alimentary canal. Roach has previously gained praise from the science community and the literary community alike for her books Stiff: The…
The Whipping Man: A Story About Slavery and Religion
The setting is a mansion that’s been abandoned and essentially destroyed in Richmond, Va., in the waning days of the U.S. Civil War. A wounded Confederate soldier, who is Jewish, returns to his family’s home to find only two people there, both former slaves and in the conversation that follows,…
“Delino DeShields Jr. Hit in the Face With 90 MPH Fastball” Twitter Montage
I like to be out in front of this blogging process early in the weekend and have a post or two in the bag ready to go Monday morning by the time I’m done with breakfast on Sunday. That process requires staying on top of the action throughout the day…
Dish of the Week: Korean Fried Chicken
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. See the complete list of recipes at the end of this post. This week, we’re taking on Korean fried chicken. Korean-style fried chicken is fried twice, resulting in a skin that’s…
5 Reasons Poor People Should Play Video Games
Do your old buddy With One F a solid would you? Go to Google News, type the word “poverty”, click on any story, scroll to the comments, and then come back here and tell me how many it took before you lost faith in all humanity. My average is eight,…
Houston Celebrates Record Store Day in Grand Style
Frustrated. Nervous. Tired. Anxious. Wired. Those are pretty much the only words to describe the numerous Record Store Day lines throughout town Saturday. Nope, tax day was four days prior so these lines were certainly not at your local H&R Block. These were the emotions of a quickly growing group…
Devin the Dude at Warehouse Live, 4/18/2014
Devin Dude, Potluck Warehouse Live April 18, 2014 Plenty of artists can be classified as “weed rappers”: Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, Red & Meth, B-Real, and Curren$y, just to name a few. But the OG of the weed-rap game is a gentleman nick-named “The Dude.” Devin Copeland has been high…
The Six Best Concerts in Houston This Week: Manchester Orchestra, HAIM, Warpaint, etc.
Manchester Orchestra House of Blues, April 21 Three weeks after the release of their fourth studio album, Atlanta’s Manchester Orchestra will bring their unique blend of indie, alternative and heartfelt rock and roll back to Houston. The band’s last record, 2011’s Simple Math, was wide-ranging in its sound, but vocalist…
Just How Dangerous Are Coachella-Like Festivals?
Note: our friends at L.A. Weekly and OC Weekly are covering the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, in Indio, Calif. This article was written by Andrea Domanick. On Thursday, Coachella attendee Kimchi Truong died after an apparent overdose. It’s believed to be the first death…
A Serious Look at Coachella’s Drug Culture
Note: Ben Westhoff is Music Editor of L.A. Weekly and Senior Music Editor of Voice Media Group. Oakland, Calif. resident Kimchi Truong was 24. She passed out on the Coachella grounds last weekend, likely due to an overdose. Her death this past Thursday was shocking. But what’s really shocking is…
10 Signs You’re Too Old for Coachella
Note: Last weekend our friends at L.A. Weekly and OC Weekly were all up in America’s No 1. selfie-taking spot, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, and now they’ve gone back for more. We know. Photo by Chris Victorio/OC WeeklyYou tell ’em, Grandpa!Age, of course, is a state of…
How Close Is Your Child’s School to a Dangerous Chemical Facility?
It’s hard enough worrying about your school-age child getting a good lunch; now you have to worry about how close his or her school is to a plant that handles dangerous chemicals. Reportedly, just under 100 schools in the area are within a mile of one of these facilities. In…
Why Do Robberies Keep Climbing at University of Houston?
Ask any University of Houston student about the main campus, and he or she will acknowledge that he finds it a little sketchy outside, especially at night. Not to do any Third Ward bashing. We know the Tre’s steadily working its way to up-and-coming neighborhood status. We know you see…
Sound Revolution Comes Full Circle With New Tomball Store
Earlier today we mentioned that the Houston area has a staggering 16 music retailers that will celebrate Record Store Day tomorrow, but we’d also like to single out two that go by the same name. Sound Revolution’s F.M. 1960 location near Bush Intercontinental Airport has been around since 1976, long…
TxDOT Doesn’t Want Mexicans to Drink and Drive this Easter
This glorious Easter season, the Texas Department of Transportation has taken it upon themselves to disrespect the state’s flourishing Latino population. How, you might ask? By using the Mexican game of chance known as lotería. The game is part of the branding for an anti-drunk driving initiative directed toward the…
Selena’s Memory Lives on at Two Local Celebrations
On April 16th, 1971, in the small Gulf Coast town of Lake Jackson, an angel was born whose parents named her Selena Quintanilla. Tragically taken from us at the young age of 23, she was a Latina superstar before J-Lo or Shakira or Ricky Martin. Selena’s voice, full of love…
Food Network Chef Alex Guarnaschelli Talks “America’s Best Cook” & Houston Restaurants
Lately, Food Network seems to be adding a multitude of new shows, pitting professional chefs against each other and against Food Network stars. But now, the culinary channel has added a series that showcases amateur home cooks. “America’s Best Cook” is a cross between Master Chef and The Voice. Home…
This Year’s Winners of the Tommy Tune Awards
Clear Springs High School dominated the Tommy Tune Awards this year, winning nine awards for its production of Urinetown: Best Musical, Best Leading Actress (Emily Lewis), Best Supporting Actor( Stephen Louis), Best Direction, Best Musical Direction, Best Ensemble/Chorus, Best Crew & Technical Execution, Best Scenic Design, and Best Lighting Design…
A Few PAC Names Better Than Houston Bookkeeper’s ‘Boats ‘N Hoes’
This week state Republicans caught some bad press when the ‘Boats N’ Hoes’ Super PAC was shut down Thursday. The Political Action Committee was started by a bookkeeper with Houston-based political strategy firm Blakemore & Associates, according to the Texas Tribune. Houston consultant Allen Blakemore confirmed Wednesday evening that his…
What’s in Fashion: Joe Biden for Ray Ban?, Kate Upton Loves Her Boobs
Lots of breaking fashion news hits the interwebs and I don’t want you to miss one bit of it. So, I present some of the biggest headlines each week for your reading pleasure. Click and enjoy!…
Dick Dale at Continental Club, 4/17/2014
Dick Dale Continental Club April 17, 2014 Walking into the Continental Club, I had the thought: “Can Dick Dale still do it at 76 years old?” I mean, I know folks younger that can’t even send an email, let alone rip a guitar like it’s going out of style. But…
Verts Introduces Houstonians to Germany’s Most Popular Street Food: The Döner Kebap
Schwarma. Gyro. Trompo. Döner. The popular fast food has many names, but only one of them is taking Houston by storm: The döner kebap, a German street food staple brought to the Bayou City by two Austinites who own the restaurant Verts. Sound complicated? It’s gets more tangled. The Germans…
YG at House of Blues, 4/17/2014
YG, Dorrough Music, Fat Pimp, DJ Mustard House of Blues April 17, 2014 As ominous as the House of Blues stage looked on Thursday night, Compton, Calif., rapper YG looked right at home. His face didn’t muster up much in the way of a toothy grin, reflecting a psyche hardened…
Cock: A Comedic Drama Where Love Is About the Person, Not the Gender
The setup: The comedic drama Cock won an Olivier Award in London in 2010, selling out at an intimate upstairs Royal Court Theatre venue before it opened. It was presented off-Broadway in 2012, garnering critical acclaim, and a five-month run. Despite its provocative title, it is not salacious, but is…
We’ve Narrowed Down the Most Underrated Pizza…Vote Now!
Last week, we talked pizza. No, Houston isn’t generally recognized as a great pizza city like New York or Chicago, but your responses to our query about the most underrated pies in town reminded me of just how many pizza joints we have here. You even alerted me to some…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: Bears
Title: Bears Pretty Much Says It All, Doesn’t It? Agreed. It wouldn’t have been nearly as effective if the title was Bears: Shadow Recruits. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three-and-a-half Timothy Treadwells out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Mama bear must feed and protect cubs in the…
2014 NBA Playoffs: Rockets-Blazers Preview and Predictions
After six long months, now comes the payoff. From about the time that Yao Ming’s feet stopped fully cooperating, through every single minor trade to flip a couple second round picks into a reserve player that could then be mixed into another trade for an eventual asset to land a…
Couturier Charles James Honored in the Big Apple and Bayou City
If I were to mention the name Charles James to a person on the street, I might be greeted with a look of vague recollection or utter confusion. The man credited with inspiring Dior’s New Look and revolutionizing dress construction by incorporating sculptural, scientific, and mathematical approaches exists in the…
Largest Food and Wine Fest in Texas Returns to Sugar Land Next Week
The 11th Annual Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair is back with a slew of events sure to tickle your taste buds and whet your whistle. As always, the event, which organizers describe as a “celebration of all that is good, gooey, sweet, savory, bubbly, hoppy and simply irresistible,” will…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Easter Egg Hunts & a Bunny Bar Hop
Pub Night @ Saint Arnold Brewery Friday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. 2000 Lyons Pub Night is back at Saint Arnold Brewery! During this month’s Pub Night the brewery will serve Bishop’s Barrel No. 5, Divine Reserve No. 11, Pumpkinator 2013 and a special cask of Icon Blue, which is…
9 Inappropriate Sexual Scenarios in ’80s Teen Movies
Irreverence is essentially the backbone of teen comedies…and adult comedies as well. If there aren’t references to weed, puking from drinking too much alcohol and naked hijinks, then it really isn’t worth watching when you are in high school. But, in the 1980s, there were times when the irreverent dove…
Five Roles in the Sports World for Game of Thrones’ King Joffrey
[SPOILER ALERT] Is it safe to openly discuss the last Game of Thrones episode now? On Sunday, we finally got the moment that we’ve all been waiting for — King Joffrey bit the dust, and thankfully for many of you that wanted him to suffer, suffer he did. I don’t…
Texans Exercise J.J. Watt’s Fifth-Year Option on His Rookie Contract
When the NFL players and owners agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement prior to the 2011 season, one of the most crucial elements was the implementation of a rookie wage scale. The key benefit at the time seemed pretty simple — the scale would stop the marquee, high draft…
Upcoming Events: Take a Culinary Trip to Italy & the 3rd Coast
Start your Tuesday mornings off right with pancakes at Ouisie’s Table. Every Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 10 a.m., Ouisie’s Table will offer a multitude of pancake choices paired with two eggs made however you prefer, bacon, fruit, coffee and juice for $17; pancakes are available a la carte for…
100 Creatives 2014: Lindsay Finnen, Photography Through a Fascinating Linds
What She Does: For Lindsay Finnen of Fascinating Linds, photography has always been a part of her life. She’s had a camera in her face since the day she was born, and was delighted when she discovered the process of double exposures at the age of eight. It was always…
Record Store Day’s Rising Tide Has No End in Sight
Record Store Day returns to the nation’s music retailers tomorrow, so if you’re the sort of person who only buys a handful of LPs or CDs a year — assuming you still buy physical music product at all — you may want to hold off until sometime next week. In…
Astros Baseball: Player Name Misspellings, Team Misgivings
Much hyped Astros super-phenom George Springer made his major league debut Wednesday night. His big league promotion became known Tuesday night, and Astros fans greeted Wednesday with the same glee Buddy the Elf greeted the fake Santa at Gimbels. Sure the Astros lost Springer’s debut game, but finally, the future…
Top 5 Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Theater for Millennials, the Benefit Betties and More
Jordan Jaffe, founder of Black Lab Theatre, tells us he hopes the company’s newest production, Paul Downs Colaizzo’s provocative he-said/she-said drama Really Really, draws in 20- and 30-somethings audience members. “My aim is to bring younger people into theater in Houston,” Jaffe, who directs the show, says. “Really Really is…
Openings & Closings: The Food Truck Expansion Continues
It’s been a busy time for the Heights neighborhood as several restaurants and bars have opened their doors and some have announced future plans to set up shop. The newest Piatto Ristorante opened in the Heights on Monday, April 14, at 1111 Studewood. The newest Carrabba’s location joins Liberty Kitchen…
Devin the Dude’s 10 Best Weed Songs
If the guy in front of you on Interstate 69 is driving a little slower than usual this weekend, feel free to blame it on 4/20, the international stoner holiday that gives smokers a ready-made excuse to wake up late and do what they were almost certainly going to do…
Y’all Come to Neon Boots, Where the Two-Steppin’ Is (Usually) Easy
“Excuse me, ma’am. Would you like to dance?” We’ve only just stepped foot in the bar, but have already been invited onto the dance floor a few times. Our two left feet are hesitant to oblige. “Come on,” she coaxes. “She’ll hold your drink, I’m sure.” Nancy, the woman standing…
Top 10 Bars in Clear Lake/NASA
As our sister blog Eating… Our Words does, from time to time Rocks Off will be giving your our picks for the top taverns in various Houston-area neighborhoods. Of course, the lines can be porous, but here anything with a TABC license that cannot reasonably be considered either a restaurant,…
The 10 Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: Devin the Dude, Glass the Sky, Die Young, etc.
Devin the Dude Warehouse Live, April 18 To say Devin the Dude is Houston rap’s Yoda would seem like a slight to the Dude. Now in his mid-forties, he almost seems timeless, still rolling through copious amounts of weed while letting his inner thoughts bellow out in between tokes. His…
Ten Underrated Things About Houston (For Now)
Change is what Houston’s all about these days. Last year’s deserted Downtown is this year’s Downtown Living Initiative. We never take what makes this place special for granted, so we took a look at a few things about Houston culture that make us happy to live here. 10. Westheimer Road…
Recap: The 2nd Annual Big Taste of Houston
“This is such a great event — so many of Houston’s best chefs all in one place!” said Matthew Lovelace, a sous chef at Osteria Mazzantini, as he offered me a sample of their Blackhill Meats lamb meatball and chicken liver mousse. His was one of the first booths I…
Rockets’ “Meaningless” Finale Wasn’t Meaningless for Gamblers
I’ve said many times, we need a special corner of the sports media world for gamblers. A special channel, a special talk radio show, a special Tweetdeck. All of it. People who don’t wager generally don’t care about the same nuances of a sporting event as people that do. That…
Revisiting Blood in the Face in the Wake of the Overland Park Shootings
Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr. (AKA Frazier Glenn Cross, Jr.) will likely be hit with federal hate crime charges in addition to murder for the shootings at the Jewish Community Center in the Overland Park suburb of Kansas City: Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., 73, of Aurora, Mo., also known as Frazier…
What to Do This Weekend: Easter Edition
It’s weekend eve again everybody and time to put on your party shoes…for this weekend, they should be dress shoes with a hint of pastel because it’s Easter. For those religious sorts, this means prayer and contemplation of the death and resurrection of Jesus — pretty much like every Sunday…
10 Ways to Use Easter’s Leftover Hard-Boiled Eggs
After this weekend, you and just about every other household with be in possession of a ton of hard-boiled eggs. Whether you dyed them for an Easter egg hunt or boiled them to make some deviled eggs, chances are you’re stuck with more than you can want. My family always…
#Lunchmovement: Texas Teen Wages War Against Michelle Obama’s Diabolical Healthy School Lunch Program
Screenshot from @T_WilssIf you think this is bad, you should see fucking “breakfast” and fucking “dinner.”Ty Caskey, a student at Venus High School, about 30 miles south of Arlington, is one of many high schoolers around the country Tweeting their outrage over, um, “grotesque” school lunches. As head of his…
How To Fight The Preteen Power Struggle And Still Lose
So, I feel like I should preface this blog by saying that for the most part, I’m a pretty rational, sane parent. But there are times — middle school times — that I am not rational. Not even a little bit. And that, my friends, is because middle-school kids are…
Rest of the Best 2014: Houston’s Top 10 Patios
With unusually cool and sunny April weather, who can resist lunching on a patio and soaking up some sun? This time of year, it’s usually getting too hot to bear, but we’ve been incredibly lucky to have had sunshine and cooler temperatures the past few weeks. For me, better weather…
Start Humming the Torreador Song; Carmen is Coming Back to HGO
As far as tenor Brandon Jovanovich is concerned, Bizet’s Carmen might be better entitled Don Jose’s Girlfriend. “Really the arc of the piece is his transformation from good boy to murderer,” Jovanovich says, although allowing that the Gypsy seductress would probably not agree to the retitling. Jovanovich, last seen at…
Top 5 Baked Good Recipes to Try for Easter
In terms of food, Easter is traditionally all about eggs, ham, and candy. This Sunday vary your spread of sweets with some cookies, bars, cakes, pies, etc. Food bloggers near and far have designed some incredible Easter-themed baked goods, and I’ve picked my five favorites. 5. Peanut Butter Gooey Easter…
The Rocks Off 200: Punk-Rock “Newcomers” Screech of Death
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See the original Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? The annual Sk8 &…
Five Things Fast-Food Restaurants Shouldn’t Show on TV in Their Dining Areas
Because I eat an unhealthy amount of fast food, I spend an unhealthy amount of time in fast-food restaurants. While this is terrible for my life expectancy, it’s been great for my TV watching. While I own a TV and pay for cable, aside from food competition programming, professional wrestling…
Top 5 Ravioli to Try in Houston
Ravioli? Seems so…square. Yes, boring, pedestrian versions abound (thank you, Chef Boyardee). Fortunately, Houston is a bastion of innovative takes on stuffed pasta. Try one of these five standout plates and rethink your stance on ravioli. 5. Veal Ravioli (Arturo’s Uptown Italiano). “Earthy” is perhaps the best word to describe…
Five Reasons Why Sports Talk Radio Is Ignoring the Rockets
I am and have always been an avid listener to sports talk radio. I enjoy the banter with callers, the analysis and I even manage to make it through the randomly juvenile antics that occasionally make their way across from morning shock jock-ery on other stations. Listening during the past…
UPDATED: The Winter’s Tale: A Story of Kingly Privilege and Huge Mistakes
Update: Actor David Wald had to withdraw from the production due to family considerations. Director Phillip Lehl will take over the King Leontes role and the production schedule will be pushed back a week to Thursday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. The show will still close on May 16. A…
How to Make Pizza Rustica (Italian Easter Pie)
Every Easter, I thank god for my Italian ancestors. That’s because at a young age I was introduced to my favorite Easter dish, Pizza Rustica, also known as Italian Easter pie. Pizza Rustica is actually not a pizza at all, but rather a savory, almost quiche-like enclosed pie filled with…
A Quick 15 Minutes With YG, Rap’s Hottest New Star
At heart, YG is an everyman rapper to the core. He doesn’t completely crowd the mind with a ton of abject wordplay like his Compton compatriot Kendrick Lamar, but instead crafts pop-rap tunes that bite with far more believable menace than, say, Rick Ross. His first major effort came in…
Blond Lets John Daly Hit Golf Ball Off Her Face (VIDEO)
A trip to Augusta for the Masters is on seemingly every male sports fan’s bucket list, and I am no different. If I ever get the opportunity to swing on down to Augusta during that second week of April, you’d better believe I’ll be there. However, I think my agenda…
Rest of the Best: 10 Best Places to Take a Kid on a Train in Houston
Back when Houston decided it no longer really wanted to be the Space City anymore (The reasoning behind which still escapes me to this day), we rechristened ourselves the Bayou City and also got really into trains. When Enron Field opened the old Union Station location they went in for…
Fish on Friday: It’s a Good Thing
Fish on Friday for Lent? The fast choice is J & J Seafood Market.
The Last VJ’s Top Five Videos of the Week
Welcome back to The Last VJ, music fans. This week I introduce you to one of the best video front man performers I have ever seen, as well as take you through some truly Academy Award-worthy work. There’s pretty girls, animated horror, and some good old sad-bastard music at the…
8 Proyecto GATO: Mors Celare
The Mexican dance company 8 Proyecto GATO comes to Houston for the United States premiere of Mors Celare, a multidisciplinary work that incorporates folkloric and contemporary dance with live music. With deep roots in Mexican culture and ideology, Mors Celare examines the emotional and spiritual aspects of death. Led by…
Really, Really
Paul Downs Colaizzo’s Really Really has been called the Lord of the Flies for the millennial generation. The comparison might not be strong enough. Really Really seems a much more blistering indictment of society, perhaps because the circumstances are so familiar. Set at an ivy league college, the drama centers…
Wordsmyth Reading Series: Pooka by James McLindon
The most feared beast in Irish folklore is a pooka, a magical creature with the capacity to shape-shift and influence animals. James McLindon’s new play Pooka, being given a staged reading as part of the Wordsmyth Reading Series, follows a pooka who meets a child who’s being bullied at school…
He Wants Me to Send Him Nude Selfies. 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! WORKING ON NOT BEING SELFISH Dear Willie D: I consider myself a good person, but I’m…
Fidelis Quartet
Four Houston Symphony musicians form the chamber music group Fidelis Quartet. The musicians — violinists Rodica Gonzalez and Mihaela Frusina, cellist Jeffrey Butler and violist Wei Jiang — have performed at Carnegie Hall and toured the United States and Puerto Rico. Today they’ll play in the intimate Cullen Recital Hall…
Houston PBS Community Cinema: Medora
Stories about small-town sports teams that face incredible odds are Hollywood staples (think Remember the Titans and Hoosiers), but there’s no script in the sports documentary Medora. The film follows a luckless Indiana high school basketball team. After losing all 22 of its games the previous year, the team begins…
IFC Slightly Off Cinema salute to Best Buds: Jesus Christ Superstar
Norman Jewison’s 1973 film Jesus Christ Superstar was controversial from the very start. To begin with, Jesus was played by Texas-born rocker Ted Neeley, who didn’t have anything close to the angelic voice that might be expected of JC. Neeley screeched, rasped and squealed his way through his performance. It…
Mike Epps: After Dark
Standup comedians always want to play “the big room.” Well, there are few rooms bigger than the Toyota Center, where Mike Epps (who also moonlights as an actor and rapper) is performing his singular brand of raw-edged observational humor. Well-known for his dope-smoking/girlfriend-dumping character Day-Day Jones in the Friday movie…
Arab Worlds: The Attack
How well do we really know the people we love? That’s the question at the center of director Ziad Doueiri’s 2012 film The Attack. Screening here as part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Arab Worlds series, a complement to the contemporary Arab focus of FotoFest 2014 Biennial, The…
Dance Salad Festival 2014
Kung fu king Jackie Chan is most often associated with flying scissor kicks and blockbuster movies. This year, he’s also associated (albeit loosely) with Dance Salad Festival 2014. Chan won’t be making an appearance, but members of Contemporary Dragon Kung Fu, a company he founded, will be performing Gateway by…
Top 10 Butt-Rock Bands of All Time
What is butt-rock, you ask? As usual, we’ve got all your answers, courtesy of Urban Dictionary: A derogatory term for any hard-rock music. The term comes from a nationwide advertising campaign on hard-rock radio stations in the 1990s that used the tagline “Rock. Nothing but Rock.” Listeners quickly changed that…
The Horse “Soring” Torture Show
Highlights from Hair Balls Whatever The Texas chapter of the Humane Society of the United States is joining in the push to pass federal legislation that would help enforce the ban on “soring” — hurting show horses to exaggerate a high-stepping gait. The barbaric practice, which we’ll describe in a…
Capsule Art Reviews: April 17, 2014
“The Age of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute” These days, Impressionist exhibitions are the art museum version of the ballet The Nutcracker: frothy and beautiful, if a little overexposed, and sure to pack ’em in at almost any price. Even though we’ve already…
Menu of Menus® 2014
Menu of Menus® Silver Street Station had a lot of new things going on forMenu of Menus®this year. Air conditioning, for one, had people happy to be inside eating warm comfort food from spots likeFrank’s Americana RevivalandFish & the Knife. There was a lovely photography show up on the walls…
Capsule Stage Reviews: April 17, 2014
Anna Christie Eugene O’Neill’s drama about seafaring men, and their women on shore, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1922, and a 2011 production in London won the Olivier Award as Best Revival. The play opens at a waterfront bar in New York City, with bartender Larry (Taylor Biltoft) serving drinks…
Vaughaligan Walwyn Is Using Hip-Hop to Spread the Good Word
Only in Houston There are a lot of pastors in Houston. Very, very few of them can rap. And only one of them released an album last week featuring guest verses by Scarface, Bun B, Z-Ro, Paul Wall and Propain. That would be Vaughaligan Walwyn, a married father of four…
Special Italian Edition
Dear Mexican, I like reading your articles — they are funny, sad, insightful, crude, serious and even a little provocative and antagonizing at times. One thing I find a little antagonizing is the use of the term “Latino” as a synonym only for “Hispanic”; certainly yours is not the only…
Gliding Toward Enlightenment
The Sensory Ethnography Lab, a collective of researchers and filmmakers based out of Harvard, made a name for themselves last year with the theatrical release of Leviathan, a thunderbolt of experimental nonfiction by directors Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel. Plunging us dizzily into the minutiae of industrial fishing, Leviathan awakened…
Now That’s an Endowment
“There is more space in the house now,” says the wife of Sigurdur “Siggi” Hjartarson. It’s her only comment regarding her husband’s decision to display his collection of hundreds of carefully preserved mammalian penises — we’re talking the whole spectrum, from a mouse to a mammoth sperm whale organ —…
Everyone Says I’d Do You
One of the great pleasures of regular moviegoing isn’t seeing great films. It’s finding the little oddballs, the modest entertainments that miss just as often as they hit, but leave you with the feeling that someone poured heart, soul and a sense of humor into the work at hand. Fading…
For Many Refugees, the Journey to America Ends in a Cold Jail Cell
Hussein Mohamed took a hard road to America. Born into a minority clan in a nation rife with ethnic conflict, the boyish 24-year-old with gangly limbs and intense brown eyes describes fleeing his village in Somalia in 2012 after gunmen threatened to kill him. Mohamed says he was forced to…
Is There Room in the Neighborhood for Heights General Store?
Harold’s, as the restaurant up the stairs and above Heights General Store is affectionately called, isn’t open for dinner on Monday nights, but somehow I missed that fact. Downstairs, the seating area by the deli will serve you until 9 p.m., but when I showed up at Harold’s at 6:30 on a…
How Boston Is Taking Back Its Marathon
It’s the finish line of Boston where Bill Rodgers has etched a significant portion of his Hall of Fame legacy, having won the event four times between 1975 and 1980, including three straight between 1978 and 1980. “Boston Billy” has crossed that finish line a total of 14 times in…
Das Rheingold Is a Golden Start for HGO
Well, it’s finally arrived! The “it” in question is, of course, Richard Wagner’s monumental operatic myth, The Ring of the Nibelung. The four-part epic, being staged by Houston Grand Opera over a span of four years — one opera per season — is a mammoth undertaking: gigantic orchestra, strenuous and career-making…
Neon Boots Is Writing a New Chapter of Country Music
‘Excuse me, ma’am. Would you like to dance?” We’ve only just set foot in the bar, but have already been invited onto the dance floor a few times. Our two left feet are hesitant to oblige. “Come on,” she coaxes. “She’ll hold your drink, I’m sure.” Nancy, the woman standing…
Transcendence Gives Up the Ghost in the Machine
Sometimes it’s helpful to know certain details about how a film has come together. And sometimes it’s just so much information. Transcendence, the directorial debut of Christopher Nolan’s go-to cinematographer, Wally Pfister, was shot on film rather than digitally, as most big Hollywood movies (and nearly all small ones) are…
Tom Hiddleston Threatens to One Day Play a Normal Guy
Tom Hiddleston can pull off extreme looks. In The Avengers, he strutted around in Loki’s two-foot horned helmet. For Midnight in Paris, he finessed F. Scott Fitzgerald’s prim finger waves. And in his latest, Jim Jarmusch’s vampire romance Only Lovers Left Alive, Hiddleston lounges bare-chested in velvet-cuffed robes. The only…
