A New Beatles Book Every True Fan Should Read
One of their biggest fans imagines why the world’s obsession with the Fab Four won’t go away.
The Time Is Ripe for a Gretchen Wilson Comeback
There’s no denying country music could desperately use a little more of her brash authenticity.
Does Houston Need Earlier Shows?
You don’t want to be stuck in traffic when the bands go on, but there’s something to be said for getting home at a decent hour.
21 Best Things to Do in Houston This Week: Cinco de Mayo and Dragon Boat Festival
The Barber of Seville, A View From the Bridge, Party on the Plaza returns, and 18 more…
John Kay and Steppenwolf Are Much More Than “Born to Be Wild”
A rousing political sermon from the guy who gave the world “Born to Be Wild” and “Magic Carpet Ride.”
With New Album, TrakkSounds Finds The Other Side
His new album raises the stakes for one of Houston’s brightest young producers.
Hollywood Is Officially Out of Ideas, and That’s Fine
Sure, Hollywood has pretty much exhausted the well of original content. But it’s all going to be okay.
It’s Time to Catch Up on the Rapture: The Leftovers Has Become One of TV’s Best Shows
The Leftovers airs Sundays on HBO If you don’t have religion, you should at least have The Leftovers. HBO’s rapturous drama hasn’t found much of an audience during its brief time on Earth, but those who listen to its sermon long enough tend to convert — nothing else on television…
Rich with Atmosphere, Voice From the Stone Can’t Transcend Horror Cheese
In Eric D. Howell’s adaptation of Silvio Raffo’s ghostly 1996 novel, Voice From the Stone, a timid woman finds employment as a nanny with a rural family ravaged by grief. The longer she stays in their cavernous, stone-and-stucco villa, the more she comes to act, talk and look like the…
Get Lost in Sarah Adina Smith’s Rural Science-Fiction Puzzle, Buster’s Mal Heart
In Montana, where writer-director Sarah Adina Smith filmed her small-town sci-fi flick, Buster’s Mal Heart, the winter-inversion clouds hang heavy in valleys, trapping the sunlight that bounces off the snow. The effect is a perpetual, sullen twilight. Smith embraces that between-light-and-dark aspect of Big Sky Country to tell the story…
Comedy Legend Bill Hicks: In Complete View
“You know, there’s a handful of people that run everything. That’s a fact, I’m not some conspiracy nut. A handful, very small, elite run and own these corporations, which include the mainstream media. I have this feeling that whoever’s elected president… when you win, you go into this smoky room with the twelve industrialists…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Beer, Crawfish and More Beer
Here’s a look at this weekend’s best culinary happenings, from a burger throwdown to a beer-fueled crawfish boil: Throwdown Texas Burger & Music Fest at Town Green Park Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. 2102 Lake Robbins This second annual burger and music fest brings together local eateries, food trucks…
2017 NFL Draft: Houston Texans Trade Up To Draft QB Deshaun Watson
Let me start by saying that I have no idea if Deshaun Watson is going to work out as the Houston Texans quarterback of the future. Given that there are only about a dozen quarterbacks on the face of the Earth that seem to check off most of the boxes…
Is Alex Jones a Performance Artist? Does It Matter?
Psychologists will tell you people find conspiracy theories comforting for a number of reasons: a collective sense of self-congratulation at uncovering “hidden truths” (Sandy Hook deniers), an inability to process events that threaten dramatic societal change (9/11 “truthers”), or just general pig-headed ignorance (too many to count, but mostly those…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Check Out This Brand-New Steak Night
Mark your calendars, because you don’t want to miss these deliciously fun culinary happenings, from a whisky extravaganza to an anniversary farm dinner: Upstairs (the bar and lounge located on the second floor of Hungry’s Rice Village), 2356 Rice, will be offering new specials beginning Monday, May 1. Highlights include Monday’s Mules…
Openings & Closings: Aloha, Seaside Poke
Seaside Poke has announced plans for not just one, but two brick and mortars to open in Houston by 2018. The East Village location in EaDo at 2118 Lamar is scheduled for opening next month and construction on the second will follow soon thereafter in the Heights and is expected…
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Say Adiós for Now.
You were loved and you will be missed.
Falling Down: 25 years Later, Does America Get That Michael Douglas’ Flat-Topped Avenger Was the Villain?
It’s April 1992, and ABC commentator Judith Miller’s voice has an exasperated tinge as she reports to her audience that not one of the officers who beat Rodney King on that infamous videotape has been found guilty of any charges. Soon, riots break out in Los Angeles. Thousands of stores…
Love’s Design: Harold and Lillian Celebrates the Couple Who Gave the Movies Their Look
A lively documentary devoted to the kinds of folks about whom documentaries are almost never made, Daniel Raim’s Harold and Lillian looks at the life of storyboard artist and art director Harold Michelson and his wife, researcher and archivist Lillian Michelson. Though they lived modest lives and have rarely been…
Citizen Jane Champions Jane Jacobs’ Fight for What Made Cities Great
Ever wonder how New York City was able to escape L.A.’s expressway-choked fate? Thank Jane Jacobs, the journalist, author and community activist who continually predicted — and fought to stave off — the public-planning policies that would kill the American city. In Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, documentarian Matt…
Things Could Get Worse: Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale Is a Sharp Slap to the Now
The Handmaid’s Tale premieres April 26 on Hulu In the first episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood herself shows up to slap our heroine in the face. The grande dame of dystopian fiction plays an aunt, one of the abbesses in charge of a new order of so-called handmaids:…
Animal Breeder Group Opposes Bill Outlawing Animal Rape
An animal breeders’ advocacy group wants changes made to a state House bill criminalizing beastiality, fearing that pet owners who innocently fondle Fido’s junk might be thrown in the pen. That’s right: in one of the most tone-deaf, self-sabotaging, and just plain ol’ crazy campaigns in recent memory, the Responsible…
Louisiana Rapper Young Bleed Owes a Lot of His Success to Houston
The former No Limit star and Master P protégé owes a lot to the Bayou City.
Bond & Beyond Brings The Best From The World’s Most Famous Spy to Houston
The Houston Symphony will highlight all things 007 this weekend during its BBVA Compass POPS series with Bond & Beyond.
State Rep. Ken King Wants to Make It Easier to Sue Journalists
Freedom of the press is one of the founding principles of the United States — it’s right there in the Constitution and everything — but still one Texas lawmaker is trying to limit that freedom. State Rep. Ken King, a Republican from Canadian, a tiny town in the Panhandle, has…
Local Physicians Really Want McDonald’s Out of Ben Taub Hospital
If you’ve noticed billboards on Almeda or Old Spanish Trail urging Ben Taub Hospital to go #FastFoodFree, that’s a message aimed at the hospital over its in-house McDonald’s, which dwells rather appropriately (according to critics) on the building’s basement level. Nonprofit Physicians Committee— comprised of some 12,000 doctors nationwide— is…
Lobby Hero: What Do You Do When All Your Choices Are Bad?
Long before Manchester By The Sea, author and director Kenneth Lonergan wrote Lobby Hero, a play involving a murder, four flawed people and a set of secrets that if revealed will result in somebody being helped but someone else being hurt. In 2011, critic Jason Zinoman writing in The New…
The HSPVA Fight Continues Even After Rich Kinder Offers to Take Back His Name
After months of relentless complaints from a relatively small but extremely intense group of parents opposed to Houston ISD renaming its nationally-recognized High School For the Performing and Visual Arts after a donor in return for $7.5 million from the Kinder Foundation, that donor, Rich Kinder, has offered to let…
10 Best Things We Ate This Month, April 2017
It’s the end of the month, which means we can finally look back at all the incredible dishes we’ve had to eat this month, and boy, have there been a bunch. The month of April brought incredible riches from street food-inspired eats to once in a lifetime luxuries at Houston’s…
Trump’s Cuts to Legal Aid Programs Would Hurt Low-Income Texans
President Donald Trump’s discretionary budget proposal for fiscal year 2018, released last week, would cut funding entirely from 19 organizations, including the Legal Services Corporation, a federal nonprofit founded in 1974 that provides grants for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. Neil Kelly, president of the Houston Bar Association’s board,…
Pixies’ Bassist Paz Lenchantin Way More Than Just a Replacement
Pixies’ bassist Paz Lenchantin explains the fresh ideas and energy she brings to a quintessential alternative group.
2017 NFL Draft — 4 Things to Watch For
It’s been over three months since the 2016 Houston Texans season ended, buried underneath a pile of Brock Osweiler interceptions and other assorted errant throws in Foxborough on that chilly January playoff evening. In the three months since, here’s what’s changed with the Texans: 1. They managed to unload Osweiler…
Where to Brunch in Houston This Mother’s Day 2017
Mother’s Day, easily one of the most important days of the year, is coming up on Sunday, May 14. So why not show your love and appreciation by treating the moms in your life to a special brunch? From luxurious, multi-course affairs to family-friendly buffets, here’s where to get your…
It’s Time to Salute the Sappy Rock Ballad
Yeah, they’re cliched and cheesy. But that doesn’t make the rock ballad any less entertaining.
Boomtown Brass Band’s All New, Century-Old Dance Music
Don’t push Boomtown Brass Band into a line of second-line jazz acts. The local group is bringing 1920s-styled “hot jazz” to the Bayou City in a major way.
I Got My 18-Year-Old Foster Daughter Pregnant
What’s on your mind? What isn’t? Ask Willie D!
Slack Bay Makes Class Struggle Even More Deranged
The film is highly self-aware, and Juliette Binoche’s performance as Aude Van Peteghem is delightfully redolent of the snooty dames so memorably captured by Margaret Dumont in the Marx Brothers’ films.
A&M Receiver Who Exposed Himself to Tutors Booted From Team
Two weeks ago we brought you the story of Kirt Merritt, the man with the world’s worst case of jock itch — or so he claimed. That was the Texas A&M football player’s excuse for exposing his genitals to two separate female tutors within 24 hours. Merritt participated in Aggies…
Man Dies After Bounty Hunters Drop Him Off at Harris County Jail
A man picked up on a warrant by bounty hunters was in the Harris County Jail for only 20 minutes before suffering a seizure that appears to have led to his death, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday. On Tuesday, the private bounty hunters picked up the unidentified 31-year-old…
Houston, HPD Jailer Sued for Beating up Handcuffed Inmate in Jail Cell
A little over a year after a Houston jailer was charged after beating a handcuffed inmate, the victim has now filed a federal lawsuit against the jailer and the city. In December 2015, Lasswon Shannon was charged with assault causing bodily injury for charging into Akrem Azzam’s solitary cell and…
2017 NBA Playoffs: Rockets 105, Thunder 99 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
I’m not sure about the rest of Red Nation, but I’m still trying to figure out what exactly I watched over the last five Rockets games, which on paper, was a methodical 4-1 silencing of the Oklahoma City Thunder, but to our actual eyes was a street fight in which…
Two Immersive Theater Productions in Houston Offer Audiences Spine-Tingling Challenges
If you’re a fan of mystery theater with an extra dash of thwarted actor running through your veins, then the news that there are an increasing number of immersive theater experiences available in Houston is all to the good. Case in point: Strange Bird Immersive’s The Man From Beyond offers…
Student LGBT Activists Rally at UH to Condemn Host of “Religious Freedom” Bills
Texas legislators sure spend plenty of time and energy thinking up religious freedom bills. This session, around two dozen anti-LGBT bills are making their way through the Legislature, in many cases giving business people or medical providers the right to refuse services to LGBT people based on “sincerely held religious…
Luna Gale: Teenage Meth Addicts or Grandma? Who’s the Best Parent?
Rebecca Gilman’s family drama confronts the moral dilemma of who is best to raise a child.
Bartender Marla Martinez Wins Texas Heritage Master of the Mule Competition
The Texas Heritage Master of the Mule competition took place April 24 at Rose Gold Cocktail Den. Sponsored by Ketel One Vodka, the competition challenged Houston area bartenders to draw upon their heritage to create a unique version of a mule.
Pair Arrested for Trying to Torch Houston Home With Molotov Cocktails
A man and woman have been arrested after setting a fire at a northeast Houston home with Molotov cocktails, the Houston Fire Department Arson Bureau announced Tuesday. Kimberley Cheatham, 33, and Kendrick Sanders, 19, face felony arson charges for starting a fire at 7409 Lavender on April 12. Captain Ruy…
Finding Neverland Has Little to Do With Actual Fact in Telling Its Pre-Peter Pan Story
I guess there are duller musicals out there than Finding Neverland but, to be perfectly honest, I can’t think of any. This one tells the story of how James M. Barrie’s immortal Peter Pan came into existence. Based on Allan Knee’s 1998 play, The Man Who Was Peter Pan, then…
Time For Artifacts and Gladiator Video Games at the HMNS
I have a passion for gladiator history. Call it a byproduct of growing up on ‘80s WWF (fun fact: I met Andre the Giant when I was eight-years-old, which is QUITE an experience). The latest exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science is definitely a testament to the glorious…
League City’s Natural Living Co-op: Something We All Need in Our Backyard
Chances are, not too many League City residents know about the tucked-away treasure nestled in their own backyard. Natural Living, a GMO-free co-op that’s quietly operated since January of 2011, is next door to League Park in downtown League City. Walk in either the front or back door of this…
Committee Chair Calls County Mental Health Quality Improvement Plan “Overly Bureaucratic”
Presented with a plan for better “quality improvement” for The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD Tuesday, Dr. George Santos said he had “to be blunt” and characterized it as an “overly bureaucratic” mishmash that he could make little sense of and that would do little to improve quality…
King’s Quest Reminds Me That Video Games Screw Over the Colorblind
The 2015 re-imagining of the legendary King’s Quest series was going to be my 2016 Game of the Year. That’s the sort of thing you can do when you build a major publication’s video game beat from the ground up. All I was waiting on in the final days of…
Army Corps of Engineers Green-Lights Memorial Park Demonstration Project
After years of controversy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finally decided to approve the Memorial Park Demonstration Project that proposes to reroute and reshape a section of Buffalo Bayou running through Memorial Park and the River Oaks Golf Course. The Army Corps of Engineers signed off on the permit…
SeaSide Poke Is Very Close to Opening in EaDo
SeaSide Poke, the highly-anticipated brick-and-mortar from the masterminds behind the popular (and former) pop-up at Doc Holliday’s, is finally head to 2118 Lamar Street in East Village next month, with a soft opening projected for early May. “Houston’s poke proliferation is real,” says SeaSide partner Vu Bui in a press…
Kings of Leon Have Finally Found Their Place
They may no longer be at the peak of their powers, but Kings of Leon are still a force on today’s mainstream rock scene.
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush Asks Trump to Help Build Ike Dike
If you don’t ask, you don’t get, so Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has decided to ask. Bush, who has been a vocal proponent of the proposed Ike Dike plan to build a coastal barrier system to protect Galveston and Houston took the next big step by sending a…
84 Reasons to Love Willie Nelson
We could have gone into the hundreds.
Pollo Tropical Closes Numerous Texas Locations
Miami-born and Caribbean-inspired fast food chain Pollo Tropical has closed all of its Dallas and Austin locations and is halting any expansion plans of its sister eatery Taco Cabana, according to a report from Restaurant Business. The Houston Press also reached out to a representative of the restaurant, who confirmed…
In Search of Guitars on This Year’s Hip-Hop- and EDM-Dominated Coachella Lineup
With all the rap and electronic music at this year’s Coachella, the guitar seemed like an endangered species. But a handful of artists proved it still has a vital place at America’s biggest festival.
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ICE Raid Nets 95 Arrests in Southeast Texas [UPDATED]
In keeping with President Donald Trump’s wish to publish a weekly list of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Houston field office has announced a five-day operation that netted 95 people. Of those ICE detained, 82 had criminal convictions; the other 13 either had re-entered…
After Poor Test Scores, HCC Blocked From Enrolling New Vocational Nursing Students
One hundred percent of vocational nursing students at Houston Community College passed their licensing exams during the first quarter this year, which ended March. But that didn’t factor into the Texas Board of Nursing’s decision April 20 to block HCC from enrolling any more nursing students until pass rates are…
Finding Love at Coachella: Couples Explain What Makes the Festival So Romantic
Heat, dust, crowds, sweaty flower crowns: How can anyone possibly find Coachella romantic?
WorldFest-Houston Celebrates 50 Years of the Best in Video, Film and Commercials
There is a screening for every night this week courtesy of WorldFest-Houston. Short and feature. Fiction and documentary. Film and TV. The festival continues its survey of Chinese cinema with its 3rd annual Panorama China. The festival also showcases an incalculable number of short films including Texas shorts, romantic dark comedy shorts, and many others.
“Between Land and Sea” at The Menil Offers Art From Regions Not Our Own
The Menil Collection has just opened a nice little show of regional art. It follows another that opened in February, and yet a third (now closed) last November. And the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has a big regional show taking up one of its major exhibition spaces. Can you…
With Its New Sonora Stage, Coachella Built a DIY Venue in the Middle of Their Festival
Curated by Rene Contreras of Viva! Pomona, the new stage featured art by Sean Solomon and Peggy Noland and such bands as Guided by Voices, Allah-Las and Thee Commons.
Support Your Local Indie Bookstore This Week (Especially)
Blue Willow, Brazos and Murder By The Book will offer special merchandise and events all day long.
Houston Black Restaurant Week’s Power of the Palate Is For Cocktail Lovers
While Houston Black Restaurant Week is raging on in the Bayou City— currently running until April 30 this year in an effort to raise money for local nonprofit Blue Triangle— the bustling event, along with Diageo, is hosting its second annual Power of the Palate, a truly unique bartending competition on Saturday,…
Supreme Court Denies Unarmed Houston Man’s Appeal in Police Shooting
Did Ricardo Salazar-Limon reach for his waistband, or did he not reach for his waistband? That’s the central fact in the lawsuit Salazar-Limon filed against the City of Houston after a Houston police officer shot him in the back during a DWI stop. He was unarmed. Salazar-Limon, now partially paralyzed…
Is Tom Savage the Answer to Houston’s Annual Quarterback Question?
Thirteen months ago, the quarterback conundrum for the Houston Texans was supposed to have finally been resolved. Sparing no expense, owner Bob McNair committed $37 million in guaranteed money to free agent Brock Osweiler, and with one signature, the Texans were supposed to have found their guy, the apple of…
What Would Houston Look Like if All the Undocumented Immigrants Left?
In the nine months that Miguel Garcia’s wife carried his unborn son, Miguel spent most of his time away from her, traveling through deserts. He was trying to find his way back. In December 2015, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had shown up on his doorstep, deportation order in…
Small-Town Girl Brandy Clark Makes Big-City Country Music
“Maybe I’m not the safest artist to play on the radio.”
Free Radicals Celebrate 20 Years of Power to the People
Music has the power to move people to action. Houston’s Free Radicals has been living that musical trope for 20 years now. The band celebrates its milestone anniversary with friends this weekend at Eastdown Warehouse,
Casting JonBenet Can’t Solve a Murder, so it Asks Actors to Explore it
Twice I’ve described Kitty Green’s curious, alienating docu-whatzit Casting JonBenet to friends, and twice I’ve been asked, with surprising heat, “Why?” and “What’s the point?” So, this time, before we get into the specifics of what this documentary actually documents, let’s take a moment to consider what the film isn’t…
Friendswood Teens Who Threatened School Shooting Charged With Felonies
After two Clear Brook High School students threatened to shoot up the school on the anniversary of the Columbine school shooting, a judge has ordered that they remain held in the juvenile detention center. The students, whose identities have not been released, are each charged with exhibition of a firearm,…
Obit Takes a Shallow Dip into the Art of Memorializing
A light and cheery appraisal of a somber subject, Vanessa Gould’s documentary Obit focuses on the writers and editors assigned to the necrology desk of The New York Times. Like other chronicles of dead-tree media made in the past decade — The September Issue, R.J. Cutler’s Vogue ode (2009); Andrew…
State Agents Rock Down House Service: ‘If You Don’t Pay, We Will Shut You Down’
Agents from the Texas Comptroller’s Office visited the beleaguered Heights restaurant Down House on April 19 and “demanded $29,000 in cash from the employees,” according to a lawsuit filed by the restaurant’s owners against the state agency Sunday. The suit, and an accompanying emergency motion for injunctive relief filed Monday morning,…
New Orleans Weenie Empire Dat Dog Heads to Houston
Big Easy lunchtime staple Dat Dog, which originally opened in a ramshackle building on New Orleans’ then-budding Freret Street in 2011 from business partners Constantine Georges and Skip Murray, is heading to Houston in 2018. Since those early days as a tiny weenie shop, the restaurant has expanded with four locations and…
Street-magic Drama Sleight Has One Great Trick But Needs More Magic
Keep your eyes on the magician’s hands. She’ll attempt to distract you with compliments and silly quips, but her most effective feint will be the story she tells as she shuffles the cards. She might give quaint mention to a lover’s spat between the King of Hearts and the Queen…
In Darfur Puts Western Media’s Coverage of Genocide in the Spotlight
The set up: Hawa was a Darfuri university student/ English teacher who had the very unlucky fate of living in the region when the violent conflict between non-Arab rebel forces and the Sudanese government erupted in 2003. Her village was attacked, the men were killed, the women were raped and…
Dish of the Week: Tarte Flambée (or Flammkuchen)
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 sharing a recipe for tarte flambée. Popular in the Alsace region of eastern France, tarte flambée translates to “pie baked in…
No, Mr. Vice President, Hoosiers Is Not the Best Sports Movie Ever
Apparently Vice President Mike Pence made reporters watch Hoosiers while flying on Air Force 2 to Australia. It’s his plane, and he can show the press whatever he movie he wants. But it’s the fact that he called Hoosiers the best sports movie ever made that needs to be debated…
Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) Sung With Glorious Voice at HGO
Without question, Houston Grand Opera’s production of Wagner’s tumultuous closing to his epic four-part Ring cycle, Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), is an unparalleled musical achievement. And by that, I mean from any opera house in the world. Under maestro Patrick Summers, who leads an unbridled, exceptional ensemble on stage…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Happy Hour Sips and Dining for a Cause
Here’s a look at this week’s hottest culinary happenings, from crawfish and brews to dining for a cause: Now through end of August Daily Summer Happy Hour at Jax Grill Every day of the week through the end of August, both locations of Jax Grill, 1613 Shepherd, 6510 South Rice,…
Houston, Send Us Your Bad Prom and High-School Yearbook Photos
Hey, it was a long time ago. You can look back and laugh now, right?
Doctor Who: Emojis Run Amok in “Smile”
Derivative ideas aside, so far Series 10 is winning pretty hard.
A Fine Patio and Plenty of Rosé: Introducing the New Lunch Service at Café Azur in Montrose
It’s 72-degrees outside and the sun is shining. Not the sweltering, hot and humid sunshine that plagues Houstonians during our summer months, but the breezy, California-esque sunshine that practically caresses the skin. There I was, sitting under a white umbrella on the pristine, astroturfed patio at Cafe Azur in Montrose…
Jandek Confides and Confounds at Rice
Jandek leaves so many blanks to be filled in by the listener that it almost feels like a collaboration at times.
It’s Close to Impossible to Be Homeless in Houston Without Breaking the Law
It’s mid-afternoon underneath the U.S. 59 overpass in Midtown and Spencer Stevens is cooking chicken on his grill. His breakfast — eggs — is beside him in a carton, and the pan he used to cook them rests atop some bricks. He in a comfy office chair outside the tent…
Fat Tony’s Whataburger Ode Is a Fast-Food Hit
“Eating is a fantastic thing we do every day.”
2017 NBA Playoffs: Rockets 113, Thunder 109 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
After the Houston Rockets won Game 2 here in Houston last week, I wrote the following introduction right here in this space: So long as we have a series that involves the likely top two vote getters in this season’s NBA Most Valuable Player race, this is probably what the…
Shows of the Week: Innovative Hip-Hop Soul Producer With Razor-Sharp Lyrics
The livest live music in the Bayou City for the final week of April 2017.
How Beyoncé Yoga Is Taking Over the World
“In Houston, Beyoncé represents empowerment, strength, and energy.”
Texas State Ed. Board Softens Creationism Language in Science Standards
After years of controversy the Texas State Board of Education last week gave the final seal of approval for science curriculum standards that, through the substitution of some key words, allows students to learn high school biology without being required to challenge evolution. Of course, this is just another turn in…
When Food Gets Difficult
It’s that special time again. We round up some of most popular previous coverage, this time concerning food that is being a pain in the, ummm, neck. Here are a few of our top articles concerning difficult recipes, hard-to-pronounce food words and more. The 5 Most Common Risotto Mistakes Risotto…
Despite Some Playbill Misprints, the Tommy Tune Awards Go On
Second Baptist School was the big winner at this week’s Tommy Tune Awards hosted by Theatre Under the Stars, winning Best Musical, Best Supporting Actor, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography and Best Direction for The Boy Friend. TUTS today released the results from its April 18 program that was marred…
House Passes Bill to Give State Power to Regulate Uber — With Weird “Sex” Amendment
The Republicans had a perfectly fine bill that would put the state in charge of regulating rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft, stripping the power from municipalities. But just before the vote, Democrats threatened to pull their support thanks to a weird amendment to the bill’s non-discrimination policy that sought…
Federal Judges Find Texas Lege Discriminated Against Minority Voters — Again
In the words of a federal appeals court, the Texas Legislature “turned the Voting Rights Act on its head” while drawing redistricting lines in 2011, using race to help guide their decisions. On Thursday, the San Antonio-based three-judge panel found that Texas had intentionally sought to reduce the power of…
Good Luck Finding a Unicorn Frappuccino at Houston Starbucks
The Unicorn Frappucino is a colorful if not detestable 410-calorie special release from Starbucks that has taken over the Internet— primarily Instagram— since its launch on Wednesday, April 19. While the drink is only available until Sunday, April 23, during the past two days it has managed to make Katy…
Texas Can’t Have Its Mystery Execution Drugs, FDA Says
Texas was so impatient with the U.S. Food and Drug Adminsitration for withholding its execution drugs for nearly two years that it filed a lawsuit, demanding to know ASAP whether it could have its drugs back. Yesterday, the FDA got back to the state with its decision: No. The FDA…
After HPD’s Largest Kush Bust Yet, Harris County Moves to Shut Down Another Smoke Shop
Just after the Houston Police Department announced its largest kush bust yet, the Harris County Attorney’s Office is at it again with another lawsuit filed against an unrelated Alief smoke shop slinging the synthetic drug under the counter. The county has won a restraining order against Smoke & Tote Shop…
Houston Texans Unveil 2017 Regular Season Schedule
Amidst the beginning of what we hope is a deep Rockets playoff run and the first two weeks of what could be a special Astros season, the first whiff of 2017 football hit the radar this week. The Houston Texans were back at workouts at NRG Stadium, J.J. Watt was…
The Astros, Off to a Fast Start, Are Dominating the A.L. West
It’s April in Houston. So most attention of sports fans is probably on how the Texans will screw up the draft next week (as opposed to the rest of the offseason when the discussion is how the Texans will screw up getting a quarterback). The Rockets are making another playoff…
After Raise the Age Bill Passes House, Texas Closer to Considering 17-Year-Olds Juveniles
It has been nearly 100 years since Texas raised the age of criminal responsibility from eight years old to 17, and today, Texas is only one of six states that still considers 17-year-olds as adults in the criminal justice system. On Thursday, though, the Legislature got a step closer to…
Katy Lawsuit Claims Bad Dye-Job Burned Through Girl’s Scalp
The parents of a 16-year-old girl who say her scalp was badly burned by a botched dye-job are suing a national franchise of salons and the local stylist who performed the work. The girl’s parents are seeking between $200,000-$1 million in damages the girl allegedly suffered while visiting Kim Le’s…
Sex in Space? NASA Says No, but Pornhub Wants to Reach This Final Frontier
It’s the question everyone longs to know about the final frontier: Have astronauts ever had sex in space? Officially, NASA denies any such thing and there are no official, confirmed, yes-they-definitely-got-it-on reports about anyone doing it in space. (The idea of space sex is so good though that it has…
The Twin Poles of KDOGG’s Trap and Rap Lives
Winning, for the wayward Headwreckas rapper, means separation.
Four Reasons James Harden Will Not Be the League MVP
James Harden has done everything a human can possibly do. He put up numbers no one — not Jordan, not Bird, not Magic, not Olajuwon, not Chamberlin or Kobe or LeBron — has ever managed in a season of professional basketball. And his team is winning well beyond expectations. But,…
White Reaper Wants to Be the World’s Best American Band
Don’t be surprised to see the Louisville power-pop cosmonauts back in Houston before long.
The Most Fun Non-Music Stuff for Sale at Houston Record Stores
A list of items that aren’t records for sale at record stores.
On Anniversary of Columbine, Two Clear Brook HS Students Threaten Shooting
Two Clear Brook High School students were arrested Thursday after threatening to shoot up the school—on the 18th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. Just as school was starting, around 7:20 a.m., the teens were pulled out of class. And by 8:45 a.m. they were arrested by the Galveston County…
Galveston Woman Sues Blue Bell, Claims She Got Listeria From Ice Cream
Blue Bell officials can’t seem to catch a break. Every time it starts to look like they can just get past the ice cream maker’s listeria scandal, more safety concerns become public. Once again the company has been slapped with a lawsuit filed by a Galveston woman who says she…
Here’s the Chef Lineup for Cochon555 2017
Cochon555, the roving culinary competition that supports sustainable foodways and family farms producing heritage breed pigs, heads to Houston on May 21. The event brings together five chefs cooking five whole heritage breed hogs amidst a wine selections from five winemakers, and it’s known to be a very tasty, very…
Chuck Norris Coming to Kick Comicpalooza Into Shape
This year’s other guests better bring their A game.
ExxonMobil Will Build World’s Largest Steam Cracker Plant in San Patricio County
After months of deliberation, ExxonMobil and Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation have finally made it official: The companies are building a new petrochemical plant, with the world’s largest ethane steam cracker at its heart, in San Patricio County. It makes all the sense for Exxon and Sabic to choose this…
