Two Jailers Indicted for Fudging the Log Books As Terry Goodwin Sat in a Squalid, Feces-Covered Cell
Last September the Texas Commission on Jail Standards got an anonymous tip about the squalid conditions a mentally ill inmate at the Harris County jail had been forced to endure. Photographs an unidentified whistleblower eventually provided to KTRK showed Goodwin had been trapped inside a bug-infested cell with mounds of…
Extreme Noise Terror Grinds Fitz Into a Pulp
Extreme Noise Terror, Desecration, Phobia, Nomads, Turbokrieg Fitzgerald’s April 7, 2015 No one I spoke to last could seem to remember the last time that UK grindcore originals Extreme Noise Terror came to Houston. The easy consensus, though, was that it had been a long fucking time. As it was,…
Clash of the ’80s Action Icons: Martin Riggs vs. John McClane
Last weekend, for the umpteenth time, I found myself watching Die Hard again. Perhaps it’s a function of my advancing age, but even with the embarrassment of occasional riches available to me on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and On Demand, I still take comfort in watching Bruce Willis shoot Marco in…
City Tosses Transphobic Petition to Amend Charter, Citing Insufficient Signatures
Hoping to undercut the LGBT protections offered under the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (which is still bogged down in a court battle sparked by other anti-LGBT activists), yesterday Houston Community College trustee Dave Wilson filed a petition with the City of Houston to amend the city charter to explicitly bar…
Family of Houston Artist’s Widow Says She’s Being Financially Exploited
The family of a prominent Houston artist’s elderly widow say she’s the victim of financial exploitation, and that police and prosecutors don’t seem interested. Hazel Biggers’ husband, John Biggers, who died in 2001, founded Texas Southern University’s art department, and his own work has been exhibited in museums across the…
Game of Thrones Season 5 Preview: Women Warriors Take Over Westeros
It may be hard to remember now, but there once was a time when Daenerys was the most exciting character on Game of Thrones. Played by Emilia Clarke, the exiled royal best embodied the HBO drama’s paradoxical appeal: its mix of historical authenticity and rousing fantasy. Reduced to currency by…
What Do the Rockets Need to Do to Lock Up the Two Seed?
So I’m in the middle of a project right now that involves the Rockets’ 1995 NBA champions, and along the way, I’ve been conversing with several members of the team who played, coached and covered the team. It’s been fun, in large part because that team did something historical. They…
New Edible Delights Coming for the 2015 Texas Renaissance Festival
Last week, the organizers of the Texas Renaissance Festival invited media outlets to attend a food show debuting new dishes for the 2015 season. Attendees are in for a tasty time when the festival gets started again in October. When it comes to festivals, foods on a stick are practical…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Matt Marcus of Eatsie Boys & 8th Wonder Brewery
Back in 2012, the Houston Press did a Chef Chat with Matt Marcus of Eatsie Boys, but much has changed since then. At the time, they were still working exclusively from their food truck, mostly in front of Agora coffee shop. These days, Marcus and his business partners, Ryan Soroka…
Group Accuses Richmond Teacher of Spewing Anti-Muslim Hate in Class
The Houston office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is asking Lamar CISD officials to discipline a teacher accused of passed out “virulently anti-Muslim materials” to students in class. CAIR claims a teacher at Foster High School in Richmond cribbed material from an anti-Muslim website (it’s not clear what website)…
Maiden Houston Voyage for Yellowjackets Drummer Will Kennedy
Will Kennedy, drummer and producer for L.A. jazz fusion giants Yellowjackets, is stepping out into the Houston jazz scene this Friday and Saturday at Cezanne. After three years living quietly in Katy, Kennedy says his schedule has finally opened up so that he can get a taste of the local…
Big California Abounds at Brenner’s on the Bayou Wine Fest this Saturday
“A robust, powerful wine with a big personality and a generous finish,” reads the winemaker’s tasting note for Saved, a California red blend created by legacy Napa grape grower Clay Brock and celebrity tattoo artist Scott Campbell, who’s known for work that adorns the likes of Sting and Courtney Love…
Mamma Mia! Returns to Houston With Its ABBA Songs Intact
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…
HHA Plays the Eminent-Domain Card Amid Opposition to New Housing Project
The Pinemont Park and Ride has been an empty, gated-off lot since January 2014, when Metro finally closed the station because of lagging ridership and a construction project that cut off access to the Northwest Freeway HOV lanes. Homeowners nearby weren’t exactly sure what the future held for the sprawling…
Try These 5 Seriously Outrageous Pork Dishes in Houston
From a nearly half-foot pork chop carved tableside to family style pig head, here are five of Houston’s Most Outrageously Delicious Pork Dishes: See also: Try These 5 Seriously Awesome Sliders Try These 5 Outrageously Awesome Chicken Wings Try These 5 Seriously Outrageous Sushi Rolls Try These 5 Seriously Awesome…
4 Alternate Timelines Mortal Kombat Needs to Explore
Mortal Kombat in 2011 was the greatest example of reboot storytelling in any medium. I mean that with the utmost sincerity. It simultaneously managed to acknowledge everything that had happened over the course of all the games and still start completely over without erasing the universe thanks to Raiden sending…
Oyster “Land Grab” Bill Gets Committee Hearing (and Goes Nowhere)
For a half-second yesterday, it looked like some version of House Bill 3335, filed by state Rep. Joe Deshotel, a Beaumont Democrat, might actually make it out of the House Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee. Supporters of the bill showed up to sing its praises, while opponents were there to…
The Six Best Concerts In Video Games
Video-game music has come a very long way and is now regularly played across the world in professional symphonies. That’s amazing of course, but you know what rarely gets any press? The fact that games now sometimes host entire spellbinding musical performances within them. Today we’re going to look at…
Legendary Rock Scribe’s Memoir Light on Music
Going Into the City: Portrait of a Critic as a Young Man – A Memoir By Robert Christgau Dey Street Books, 384 pp., $27.99 Though the “Dean of American Rock Critics” gave himself that title in 1970 as part of a joke (but has held onto it ever since), Robert…
Only You Can Speak Out Against Celebrity Lip-Syncing
Read my lips: please, enough already with the lip-syncing, Celebrity America. Thanks to cheap laugh-getter Jimmy Fallon, the unfortunate trend of lip-syncing that resumed on his Tonight Show has found an audience. In his version, megastars “battle” one another by mimicking the lyrics of popular songs. The practice has found…
RIDE Indoor Cycling Will Put a New Spin on Your Workout Routine
Any new workout has a high intimidation factor, but a dance-based workout can be especially scary–particularly when your feet are clipped into bike pedals and you’re expected to keep a beat for 45 minutes. RIDE Indoor Cycling on W. 19th Street in the Heights keeps that intimidation factor low with…
The Five Worst Bands to Listen to at Work
The doldrums of the day job. Everyone knows this struggle, including all your favorite bands. Chances are if you’re reading this, you like more than a few bands who simply can’t make enough money to fund themselves through touring, record sales, and merch in 2015, so they work day jobs…
The Rookie and the Zetas: How an FBI Agent Took Down a Drug Cartel’s Horse-Racing Empire
It was a matter of seconds, closer to six than seven, before what was happening became obvious, the colt masked in pink kicking up clouds of red on its way into the lead. It was late November 2009. This race, the Texas Classic Futurity, was among the last of the…
Why I’m Not Upset David Lynch Is Leaving Twin Peaks
It was announced via Twitter last night that David Lynch would not be returning to direct the heavily anticipated and long-awaited third season of Twin Peaks. The show, which is scheduled to premiere in 2016 after having been cancelled in 1991, remains one of the most beloved and influential television…
UPDATED: What We Know So Far About the Local Uber Driver Accused of Raping a Passenger
A Houston Uber driver charged with raping a passenger in January told police the woman was intoxicated and he took her back to his apartment because she was unable to locate her home. Duncan Eric Burton, 57, “admitted to performing oral sex, vaginal sex, and anal sex with the [woman]…
Dear Houston: Bike Lane ? Parking Spot
If you’re the kind of person who regularly rides a bike in or around downtown, the grand opening of Houston’s first protected bike lane last month was a momentous occasion. As part of the effort to make Houston a more bike-friendly place, city workers last month painted a strip of…
Alton Brown’s Incredible Edible Tour Proves He’s a Showman in Any Medium
Most culinary productions don’t include a cowbell solo. Alton Brown’s live show does, however, because he isn’t most culinary superstars. When it comes to food television, there are four pillars of programming: chefs cooking things, chefs eating things, chefs fixing things and chefs competing against each other. Every show fits…
About Last Knights…
The glum revenge epic Last Knights is a timeworn tale that, when you squint, looks like the future. Established Hollywood stars Clive Owen and Morgan Freeman are there onscreen clutching swords and intoning dramatic pledges of fealty and death. But the money for the film came from South Korea —…
Katherine Center: Happiness for Beginners
Houston-based author Katherine Center tells us a few events from her real life made it into her just released novel, Happiness for Beginners. Center did have a wilderness experience similar to the one her character Helen has in the book (roughing it in the woods for a few weeks, depending…
Alton Brown Live! The Edible Tour
Alton Brown Live! The Edible Inevitable Tour promises to be full of the same insane and wonderful madness that spawned creations on Brown’s long-running hit show Good Eats such as yeast puppets and chocolate pushers. In an emailed response to questions from the Houston Press, he says audiences can expect…
20th Annual Dance Salad Festival
Li Cunxin, a former member of the Houston Ballet, is set to attend the 20th annual Dance Salad Festival. He won’t be dancing; he’s here as the artistic director of Australia’s Queensland Ballet, one of the companies showcased in the festival. “[This] city holds so many wonderful memories for me…the…
Houston Turkish Film Festival
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston returns with the third edition of its annual Houston Turkish Film Festival. Marian Luntz, MFAH film and video curator, traveled to Turkey last fall and compiled a short list of films in collaboration with colleagues at the Consulate General of Turkey, selecting those that…
Dancing with the Machine
The conflict between 21st-century technology and 19th-century morality is at the center of Dancing with the Machine, FrenetiCore Dance’s first full-length narrative production in two years. “[Our current] humanity is in an era of high technological advancement, but socially and morally, many people are stuck in the 1800s. There are…
Museum of Dysfunction VII: A Showcase of Shorts
Houston theater lovers will recognize several of the playwrights with new works at the Museum of Dysfunction VII: A Showcase of Shorts, Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Company’s upcoming annual short-play festival. Michael Weems, L. Robert Westeen and Leighza Walker along with Elizabeth Keel and former Houston Press contributor Abby Koenig are…
The Last Unicorn with Peter S. Beagle
Fantasy, sci-fi and anime fans get a special treat at a screening of The Last Unicorn with Peter S. Beagle. The screenplay, written by Beagle and based on his novel of the same name, involves a complicated plot about an evil king, a riddle-speaking butterfly, a bumbling magician and what…
Anime Matsuri 2015
Anime Matsuri, the convention anime fans of all ages love, is now in its ninth year and there are several new features for 2015. Deneice Leigh, who co-founded Anime Matsuri along with her husband, John, says, “For one, we’ve lined up one of the biggest Japanese names in rock music,…
Steve Berry: The Patriot Threat
Yeah, we’re going to say author Steve Berry is pretty good at writing thrillers. His latest book, The Patriot Threat, has bullets flying in the first sentence. Before the end of the first chapter, Cotton Malone, the ex-secret agent at the center of Berry’s series, watches as four men are…
Furious 7 Vin Diesel and Co. Are Faster, Furiouser — And They’ll Make You Cry
You may, like me, have seen all of the Fast and Furious movies, and you may, like me, have enjoyed most or many of them. You may also, like me, have a hard time remembering exactly what happened in each film. You needn’t worry. The franchise’s Wikipedia page is filled…
Noah Baumbach Ages Up to Fortysomething Angst in While We’re Young
Noah Baumbach has always had a dash of hypochondria, but in the last few years, his doctor’s visits have changed. “If you’re a worrier like I am, or Ben,” he says, referring to Ben Stiller, the star of his 2010 movie Greenberg, “you’re used to going, ‘Is this something that…
Capsule Art Reviews: April 2, 2015
“The Nature of Forms,” “Intentionally Dirty” The current dual exhibitions at Nicole Longnecker Gallery — photographer Frank Sherwood White’s “The Nature of Forms” and Julian Lorber’s “Intentionally Dirty” — both illustrate the erosion of nature through thoughtful and captivating imagery, though the resemblance ends there. White plays with the shapes…
Capsule Stage Reviews: April 2, 2015
Shadowlands Not since Barbara Stanwyck, as self-sacrificing mother Stella Dallas (1937), who peered into that upper-crust window to see her daughter finally find happiness, has there been such a weepie as William Nicholson’s love story Shadowlands. Perhaps Erich Segal’s Love Story, the curse of the early ’70s, might be next,…
