Monkey Slap Everyone Is Talking About (And We Don’t Know Why)
It’s the monkey slap heard around the world. A local bit of breakfast-show ephemera went viral and it practically passed right under our noses. Deborah Duncan, Great Day Houston host, was assaulted by a monkey. And it wasn’t like you’d think; it was more of a primate love tap. But…
Copper Crooks Are Destroying Little League Season in Northeast Houston
Robert Dejean came to yesterday’s City Council meeting to express his frustration at not being able to carry out the remainder of the Little League season with proper lights at Smokey Jasper ball field. See, vandals, he said, ripped the copper out of the light poles some time ago and…
The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Five Movies in 12 Years, and He’s Still Only Just Beginning?
On this week’s Voice Film Club podcast: We get wrapped up (couldn’t resist) in the The Amazing Spider-Man 2, comparing the movie to the comics and this latest Marc Webb version of the story to the Sam Raimi series. If you’re at all interested in the sequel, you’ll enjoy this…
3-D Printed Food Is a Thing…But Do You Want to Eat It?
It’s called Foodini. Rhymes with Houdini. As if it might, at some point, perform some feat of escape artistry. It’s just a box, though, sort of like a microwave with a computer screen on the front. Capsules containing blended food are loaded into the machine, and it’s programmed to squirt…
Cover Story: Private Companies Score Huge Property-Tax Breaks, Homeowners Don’t
The old AstroWorld site, the Dallas Country Club, Valero refineries in the San Antonio and Port Arthur areas, and Western Refinery out in El Paso are a handful of high-end properties that have ditched millions of dollars in property taxes to the detriment of school districts, firefighters and emergency medical…
Reality Bites: Online Dating Rituals of the American Male
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. On one hand, I feel sorry for you single people. The dating world, from what I can tell, is insane. The number of sites and apps competing for your attention,…
Game Show Follies: An Epic Wheel of Fortune Fail (VIDEO)
Let the record reflect that I am completely on board with the proliferation of game-show screwups on the Internet. Overall, does the explosive distribution of these gaffes within ten seconds of their occurrence foster a detrimental subset of bullying, whereby we all cyber-stand there and point at the dimwitted culprits…
The Not-So-Secret Garden: Six Houston Restaurants That Grow Their Own Grub
In this week’s cafe review, I take a look at Coltivare, the new restaurant from Revival Market’s Ryan Pera and Morgan Weber. The small but alarmingly busy spot has been getting a lot of buzz not just about the unique Italian-inspired menu, but also about the ample backyard garden that…
Google Comes to Houston for Free Houston Small Biz Business Workshop
If you’ve poured blood, sweat and tears (or even just two out of three) into growing your small business, but you need a little help establishing an online presence, you owe it yourself to check out the Google-sponsored Texas Get Your Business Online workshop at the Hobby Center May 5…
Five Derby-Themed Recipes for the Kentucky Derby
It’s time to don your best seersucker suits an Southern belle hats; the Kentucky Derby is this weekend. Whether you’re supporting Wicked Strong, hoping to win big on Uncle Sigh , or just like getting bourbon-wasted while wearing a bowtie, we’ve got 5 classic derby-themed recipes for your Derby Day…
Tycho at Fitzgerald’s, 4/29/2014
Tycho, Gardens & Villa Fitzgerald’s April 29, 2014 “Going to a concert” means different things to different people. For some it’s a chance for emotional catharsis, for others it’s an excuse to dance, and for others it’s a chance to hear that one song they like on the radio. That’s…
The Best Comics in April Part 1: The Mediocre Return of Peter Parker
Each month the staff at 8th Dimension Comics picks out the best book to review. Look for Part 2 tomorrow. The Amazing Spider-Man #1: It’s been a long time coming. For the past several years Peter Parker has been gone from the Marvel universe. Well, not really. To the world…
Alice In Chains at Bayou Music Center, 4/29/2014
Alice In Chains Bayou Music Center April 29, 2014 Composing an Alice In Chains review is little more than an exercise in how many synonyms the writer can think of for “heavy,” because every last one of them applies. But as a band whose history is as tied up in…
A Few People and Things You Can Blame for Rockets’ Playoffs Struggles
It’s a shame that this whole Donald Sterling mess is sullying what is the best first round of the playoffs in NBA history. It has certainly been the most competitive with multiple fascinating story lines and more than enough heart-stopping drama for fans in cities around the league. And while…
This Week in Food Blogs: Kick Back & Relax With a Michelada
Texas Monthly: Summer is quickly approaching and that means it’s time to whip out the ice cold drinks. While you could stick to snow cones and lemonade, why not try making your own michelada? Texas Monthly shares its recipe for this cold beer drink made with hot sauce, limes, Worchestershire…
Evita Returns to Houston With New Choreography & Orchestration
Eva and Juan Peron were in love “but it was definitely business first and foremost,” says actor Sean MacLaughlin, who’ll play the Argentine dictator when Tony Award winner Evita with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice returns to the Hobby Center thanks to Theatre Under the…
Happy Birthday Church of Satan! Five Musicians Associated With the Devil’s Faith
It was on this day in 1966 that the one and only Anton Szandor LaVey officially founded the Church of Satan at the Black House in San Francisco, California. From that day forward there would be a mainstream religion celebrating the antithesis of Christian thought in America and embracing as…
The Solo Exhibition of Ricardo Osmondo Francis Combines Artistic Talent With Persuasion
The works of Houston-born but New York City-based artist Ricardo Osmondo Francis are presented by East End Studio Gallery in a solo exhibition that opened April 25 and is entitled Ricardo Osmondo Francis: Turn of the Century. Using mixed media, some collages, and incorporating text, Francis combines artistic talent with…
Eight of the Most Expensive Restaurant Dishes in Houston
Feeling flush lately? Cars, watches and fancy shoes are so passé. Flaunt that wealth on something truly, fleetingly enjoyable: Food. Houston was founded as an oil town, so we have no shortage of affluence in our city. In spite of the fact that it’s less oil-centric than it used to…
Cut in Funding Followed Early Release of Air Quality Study
Just in case you had any doubts on the matter, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is really not into sharing information with the public before it has been vetted by the folks over at the TCEQ. Shocking, we know. The Alamo Area Council of Governments — a state council…
Kinky Friedman Campaign Makes One Last Play for Houston Voters
With the state primary runoff election only a month away, Cleve Hattersley, who is steering Richard “Kinky” Friedman’s run for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, says the big push is on in Harris County, where Friedman did poorly in the March primary. “Harris is the only major county we got whupped in…
100 Creatives 2014 Suzy Taylor, a Fairy-Tale Photographer
What She Does: The journey that Suzy Taylor took to become a photographer is almost as fantastic as her actual work. The New Zealand-native spent most of her adult life living the life of a business woman, working in real estate and finance. She had a love for art and…
5 Best Vegetable Sandwiches to Try in Houston
A meatless sandwich? “Blasphemous,” you might say, and note only the grilled cheese as a possible exception. You’ll change your tune, my carnivorous friend, once you try a well-constructed vegetable sandwich (and I’m not talking veggie burgers). If you’re looking to start practicing “Meatless Mondays” or are just trying to…
From Corn to Barley: How a Bourbon Drinker Learned to Love Scotch, Part 1
Although I wouldn’t have called myself an aficionado until the last few years, bourbon has long been my go-to spirit of choice. Its warm sweetness is both comforting and relatively easy on the senses. In recent years, I’ve become more interested in discerning flavors among bourbons, sampling any number of…
5 Things Conservatives Think Liberals Don’t Know (That We Totally Do)
I argue with people on the Internet professionally, and if that sounds like easy work, all I can say is that while it’s better than emptying septic tanks for a living, you do actually contract more poop-borne illnesses doing it. The Internet is exactly what would have happened if the…
HISD May Leave City’s Public TV Station Amid Fears That Nobody’s Watching
What if you put on a show, with heart and soul, with pizzazz, with stretching your declining resources as far as they could go – and nobody showed up to watch it? That’s the situation the Houston ISD administration has reluctantly concluded it is in as regards the television channel…
Houston Losing Last Full-Service Sheet-Music Store Next Month
After 21 years in the Houston area, next month RBC Music will no longer host a local location. The city’s last full-service sheet music store will shut its doors on May 15. Previously, RBC had partnered with H&H Music to supply a wide selection of piano, guitar, instrumental, and choir…
For Americana Duo Over the Rhine, Nobody Is a Stranger
Over the Rhine — as a band, as an entity unto itself — has been an unexpected journey for its two primary members, husband and wife Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler. “It is mind-boggling,” says Detweiler, who plays the acoustic guitar and keyboards, and occasionally sings. “The fact that we’ve…
Could Houston Ever Work as an EDM Capital?
Following last month’s troubles at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, the city’s mayor considered banning the event. More than 100 people were treated by paramedics and there were nearly as many arrests, including 30 carrying felony charges, problems that were amplified when a security guard was trampled by festival-goers. She suffered…
What if These Five Cities Had Houston’s Beltway 8?
Our loop freeway system has its origins in a City of Houston Planning Department planning report from the 1950s. Ten years later, it was an official project taken up by Harris County. It’s been through a lot of ups and downs, but generally Beltway 8 is how we get around…
Watch the Houston Zoo’s Cheetahs Tear It Up on the Dynamo’s Practice Field (VIDEO)
While the Houston Zoo’s cheetahs haven’t broken pro sports’ species barrier, they’re at least able to get in a good workout at the Houston Dynamo’s practice field. Thanks to the Dynamo, the six-year old brothers, Kiburi and Kito, get to run at the Houston Sports Park once or twice a…
Wine, Food and Booze: Recap of the 11th Annual Sugar Land Wine & Food Festival’s Grand Tasting
The 11th Annual Sugar Land Wine and Food Affair took place this past week. Last Friday, hundreds gathered at the Marriott Sugar Land Town Square for the week’s signature event, the Grand Tasting. As in past years, the evening featured endless choices for wine and food. This year, however, there…
George Clooney Engaged? Who Is “Hollywood’s Least Attainable Bachelor” Now?
That sound you heard last weekend may well have been the sixth seal opening: His bachelor days are over! George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin are engaged. A source with knowledge of the situation confirms Clooney popped the question and exclusively tells PEOPLE, “George and Amal are trying to keep things…
Police Investigating Death at Fortune Cookie Company
There’s still no word on the identity of a 26-year-old man who may have met his doom inside of a dough mixing machine. Sunday afternoon, Houston police responded to a call of a dead body found inside of an industrial mixer at the Houston branch of the Wonton Food company…
Songkran Thai Kitchen Opens in Uptown Park
As a college student at UCLA, Thai food was easy to come by. Aside from pizza, it was one of the easiest foods to get delivered, and I didn’t realize at the time how spoiled I’d become by its easy availability until I moved to Houston. While we definitely have…
Third Annual Go Pig! Or Go Home! Suckling Pig Throwdown Coming May 4
Get your stretchy pants ready, ’cause it’s time for the third annual festival of gluttony, otherwise known as Go Pig! Or Go Home! For the past two years, Kata Robata has been inviting local chefs to roast whole pigs in the parking lot in front of the restaurant, and the…
PrintHouston’s Kick Off Event Rocked!
This past Sunday kicked off Houston’s unofficial “print season,” with a print event that totally rocked. OK, lame joke. PrintHouston 2014 opened its city-wide summer print spectacular with Rockin’ Rollin’ Prints and It Came From the Bayou (Now you understand why that joke was so bad). Hosted at the Saint…
Texans Tracker: Cross Off Teddy Bridgewater and His Skinny Knees
This latest update to the Texans Tracker is evidence of at least three things: 1. Having authored four entries now (out of nine total) on the graphic, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller is dominating the silly season of baseless, mind-numbing conjecture. He’s just flat-out consistent, with one every week to ten…
My First Taste of Italy: Cutlets, Avocado & Cream
When I wrote about how to spend the day in Italy while not leaving Houston, I constantly reminisced about my summer in Florence. Luckily, my mom and I were able to explore Florence together a couple days before my study abroad program began, and the first meal we had was…
Downtown YMCA Patrons Got Rude Morning Awakening With No Hot Water
As much as we hate the term, this is definitely a “first-world problem.” According to the front-desk receptionist, the hot water at Tellepsen Family Downtown YMCA was out for several hours this morning. By 8:45 a.m. the problem was resolved. No doubt all those executives who make the location part…
In Praise of Annie Baker and Other Female Playwrights Seen Increasingly in Houston’s Theaters
Last week the Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, and the award for drama went to playwright Annie Baker. The play that won Baker this year’s coveted top prize is a drama called The Flick, a three-hour piece about the employees of a movie theater. When the play originally debuted last…
Pop Rocks: James Spader’s “Red” Makes The Blacklist Worth Watching
The concept is ridiculous. The world’s greatest criminal mastermind, a man wanted by every government agency in the United States, gives himself up in order to work with a rookie FBI profiler in capturing some of the most heinous and deviant criminals on earth, many of whom no one even…
Bartender Chat: Stephen Caronna of Lei Low Talks Rum and Hemingway
Welcome to Eating…Our Words’ Bartender Chat, in which we sit down with local bartenders and get to know their style. Whether they’re slinging beers or mixing complex cocktails, bartenders are our buddies and confidants, but now we’re turning the tables and the camera on them to find out what they’re…
Zapruder Analysis of a Huge Chick Fight in the Upper Deck of the Rockets Game
Branding. It’s a huge buzzword in this day and age. With some many different ways to market yourself, build an audience, be memorable, branding is key to growth. Good branding is the difference between incremental growth and exponential growth. I blog at least once, sometimes as many as three times…
The Rocks Off 200: Michael Anthony Shanks, Houston’s Merry Shankster
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? Michael Anthony Shanks fancies…
It’s Finally Time to Give Up Internet Explorer for Good
Almost exactly two years ago I wrote about five reasons why you should stop using Internet Explorer. Just this week, it was reported that a security flaw was found in the browser so serious that the U.S. and U.K. governments are recommending users forgo using the Microsoft software until a…
As Lime Prices Skyrocket, Bars and Restaurants Feel the Squeeze
When you start to Google the word “lime” these days, the first thing that pops up is “lime prices,” followed by “lime prices going up,” “lime prices increase,” and “lime prices rise.” If you’re looking for recipes with lime, you’re going to have to dig a little deeper, because right…
Hermann Park Switches It up With Its Parking. Get Ready.
Starting today, Parking Lot C at Hermann Park — the one outside the Houston Garden Center, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Miller Outdoor Theatre — is no more. Instead, a new, bigger lot — also called Parking Lot C — will open in its place today. To get…
First Look at Café Hélène in Midtown
I won’t go into a long history lesson but much of Vietnam’s culture is heavily influenced by its long history with France. Everything from the architecture (French Colonial), to the language (French origin words, i.e., xa lát from salade, pho mát, from fromage) and of course the food (baguettes, coffee,…
Definitive Video Anthology of the Donald Sterling Situation
Donald Sterling is a miserable human being. I don’t think I’m breaking any new news with that statement about the Los Angeles Clippers’ longtime, largely inept, and very rich owner. Yes, it is technically my opinion, but it is an opinion widely shared around the NBA, and I’m certain it’s…
5 Most Bizarre Kids Show Entries on Conservapedia
One of my favorite things in the world to do when I’m down is to go hit the random button on Andrew Schafly’s “answer” to the liberal bias of Wikipedia, Conservapedia. If you’ve ever had to wean yourself off of hallucinogenic drugs and were looking for the LSD-version of methadone…
Excess of Talent: Meet Austin Super-Ensemble the Eightysixxed
If Lonesome, Onry and Mean was a betting man, we’d bet our entire bankroll that while Warehouse Live or Fitz are filled to capacity with folks checking out the latest hyped-up, flash-in-the-pan, cover-of-Paste-magazine band that’s been in existence, oh, at least a year or two, Austin’s worn and weathered the…
Acid Queens & Screaming Teens: Behind The Who’s Epic Tommy
The Who — Sensation: The Story of Tommy Eagle Rock Entertainment, 113 mins, $19.98 Blu-ray/$14.98 DVD Tommy, Pete Townshend’s opus about a deaf, dumb and blind boy who could sure play a mean pinball, has become the gold standard for rock operas since the release of the double album in…
Upcoming: Beyonce & Jay Z, Mickey Gilley & Johnny Lee, Reel Big Fish, Vintage Trouble, etc.
The 19th Annual H.I.M.4.H.I.M Kick-Off Party: Fri., May 30, 10 p.m., $10 to $20. Stereo Live, 6400 Richmond, Houston, 832-251-9600. Amy Atchley: Tue., May 6, 7:30 p.m., $15 to $310. McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, Houston, 713-528-5999. Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic: Fri., May 2, 6 p.m., Free. Jax Grill,…
Which Silly Music-Quiz Taker Are You?
If you were a “David Bowie,” would you be the Thin White Duke or Ziggy Stardust? If you were a Michael Jackson song, would you be “Bad,” or would you be staring at “The Man In the Mirror?” Thanks to a deluge of incredibly popular online quizzes from pop-culture Web…
Sheriff’s Office Just Lost a Drone in Conroe; We Wonder How Many More Are out There
If you’re one of those privacy-loving folks who hate it when their cell phone gets tapped or get even more worried when they hear about the ubiquity of drones hovering around our local airspace, we’ve got some good news and some bad news for you. First, the good news. According…
Survey: Houston’s Best Porn Search Terms Include ‘Massage,’ ‘Lesbian,’ ‘Teen,’ ‘Ebony’
Earlier this month, the research and analysis team over at Pornhub.com looked into the online porn-viewing habits of red states and blue states. Our state’s porn-lovin’ habits ranked us fourth among other red states at 139 page views per capita (9.33 pages viewed each of those visits). That put us…
Houston Firefighters Head to Tornado-Ravaged Arkansas
A dozen Houston firefighters were dispatched to Arkansas Monday morning after tornadoes there ripped through the Little Rock area, killing ten people. The 12-member Texas Task Force Team 1, which left Houston at 12:30 a.m. Monday, will assist in search and rescue activities…
NBA Playoffs Weekend in Viral Video Form
We interrupt this Donald Sterling discussion for actual basketball… While it’s not the most tragic part about the whole “Donald Sterling Hates Minorities and Now We Really Have Audio Confirmation of It” situation, the interruption of a great first week of NBA playoff basketball certainly qualifies for an honorable mention…
Cookbook Review: Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room Proves Women Have BBQ Chops
Traditionally, barbecue has been considered a man’s game. While the women stay in the kitchen and cook, the men gather ’round the barbecue and, with much fanfare and fire, cook the meat for dinner. It’s a little primal and a little sexist, but we let it slide cause it’s tradition…
Spring 2015 Wedding Gowns Perfect for the Statement-Making Bride
More often than not, bridal market season in New York comes and goes without much fanfare. Cookie-cutter gowns with matching lace veils traipse down the runway, media takes note and everyone goes home. Not to belittle the incredible work and awe-inspiring details seen during market, but up until the past…
Game of Thrones: “A Man With No Motives Is a Man No One Suspects.”
Last night’s episode was named “Oathkeeper,” because GoT show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are all about subtlety. Discussions ranged from Jaime and Brienne’s respective oaths to the late Catelyn Stark (#1 was Jaime’s returning Catelyn’s daughters to her, #2 was Brienne returning Jaime to Kings Landing so he…
Dish of the Week: Wiener Schnitzel
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. A schnitzel is an escalope, or a boneless piece of meat pounded thin using a mallet, that is lightly…
Katy Teacher Faces Charges After Sunday Night Incident With Student, Say Police
If reports are true, teachers today are scoring huge points in making bad decisions. Just days apart, reports are surfacing about teachers allegedly behaving badly with students. Maybe since it’s the end of the year, these educators are losing their last bit of sanity just before summer break. Last week,…
The 12 Best Acts of iFest’s First Weekend
The Apple Scruffs Performing as “The Down Under Band” for the day, The Apple Scruffs took an inspiring break from their usual gig as a Beatles cover band to cover music from Australian musicians, in homage to this year’s spotlight country. This quartet was so good, it inspired thoughts about…
Are the Astros’ Mad Scientist Experiments Going Too Far?
The Houston Astros are like a grand science experiment. The mad scientist in charge of this grand experiment is general manager Jeff Luhnow. It’s year three of this great experiment, an experiment that’s seen the major league roster blown to bits and the farm system rebuilt. But is this grand…
New Family Garden Set to Open at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Reading over the press materials for the about to be opened Luci and Ian Family Garden (a new venture for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin), I was struck by how much sounded like the kind of fantasy garden created by a children’s…
The United States of Desserts: The Black and White Cookie
In this series, we examine the history and origins of famous sweets, confections and desserts associated with American states. Found at nearly every bakery, convenience store, and confectioner in the five boroughs, the black and white cookie is probably the baked good most synonymous with New York City besides the…
Trae tha Truth at Warehouse Live, 4/26/2014
Trae tha Truth Warehouse Live April 26, 2014 Trae tha Truth’s fans have stuck with him through a lot over the years. From his breakups and makeups with cousin Z-Ro and his unofficial ban from the Houston airwaves to the tragic Trae Day shooting in 2009 and the rapper’s own…
Jay Z & Beyonce Go “On the Run” to Minute Maid Park July 18
Sounding more like a blockbuster summer film than a concert tour, music’s No. 1 power couple announced their first-ever leg of joint headlining dates earlier Monday morning. From June 16 to August 5, Jay Z and Beyonce will bring their “On the Run” tour to16 of the nation’s football stadiums…
Sweet & Savory Benefit Helps Save Dogs With Delicious Dinner
Several years ago, Rebecca Masson and Tracie Hartman held the first “Sweet and Savory” dinner benefitting Lucky Dog rescue. They had a few dozen people and raised $3,500. Nine dinners later, and the duo–along with a slew of local and regional chefs–have raised an estimated $150,000 for the animal rescue…
Houston “Biketivist” Targets Motorists Violating Passing Law
Photo by Camilo SmithDan Morgan is battling unsavory drivers with a flag and a pole.You can call Dan Morgan a biketivist, but don’t call him a bike vigilante, which is how he was referred to in a recent news report. He’s just trying to raise awareness for his fellow bicyclists…
“He’s Autistic. Is It Okay if They Play Together?”
This weekend was the last weekend where I had to go find a place that was mostly free, had wifi, was air conditioned, and had something to keep my four-year-old occupied while I tried to get some writing done. My wife is finishing the final days of her nursing schooling,…
HGO’s Carmen Is the Ultimate in Gypsy Love
The set-up: If there’s one opera in the rep that lends itself to a Broadway makeover, it’s Georges Bizet’s evergreen and surprisingly modern tale of bad girl Carmen and her wayward love life. In its original 1875 form, the piece had spoken dialogue between the music passages, what the French…
The Ten Weirdest Terms That Use “Texas” on the Urban Dictionary
The Urban Dictionary, http://www.urbandictionary.com/ the great crowd-sourced primer of modern language, has so many disgusting entries that include the word “Texas” it would make your drunken uncle blush. Yet, it’s surprising when parsing through the entries how many are just downright strange and often hilarious. Our mission here is to…
Five Kickass Pretzel Dishes to Try in Houston
Who doesn’t love a good soft pretzel? Even better when there’s a dip involved or meat and cheese stuffed inside. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up 5 Must-Try Pretzel Dishes in Houston. “Midnight Special” Soft Pretzel Where to get it: Mongoose Versus Cobra Pretzels and beer go together like…
Doctor Who: Yes, Katy, There Is a Doctor
April 2014 has been a bad month in House With One F. Jobs have been lost, loved ones have entered hospitals, and bizarre vehicular failures have been the norm. Amidst all of that misery, I received at my house out of nowhere the card you see above written in Old…
First Look at Punk’s Simple Southern Food
Walking into Punk’s Simple Southern Food, the latest of the Clark Cooper Concepts restaurants and the next door neighbor to Coppa Osteria in the Rice Village, I couldn’t help but be charmed by its down-home country vibe. Like the other restaurants in their portfolio (they also own Ibiza, Brasserie 19,…
Twitter Reacts to Donald Sterling’s Racist Remarks by Going After Riley Cooper
There are certain things that will stick with you, no matter what you do to try and repair your image in the aftermath. For the last nine months, Philadelphia wide receiver Riley Cooper has been a model citizen and teammate. He’s kept his mouth shut, worked hard, and even went…
Charlie Daniels Band, Shinyribs Rule Over Three Tons of Crawfish
As I snapped one little guy in half and pinched all the sweet meat from his tail, all I could think was there must be an infinite number of crawfish in our area waterways. Not all that far away, they had to be eating their share at Weekend 1 of…
Phantogram at Warehouse Live, 4/25/14
Phantogram, Teen Warehouse Live April 25, 2014 In the past few years, a ton of great synth-pop has come to market, but let’s be honest: not all bands perform equally. In concert, Phantogram shows how possible it is for electro-based artists to create an impeccably executed performance that upholds their…
Cage the Elephant at House of Blues, 4/25/2014
Cage the Elephant House of Blues April 25, 2014 “I want to thank you all for the awesome night we’re about to have,” said vocalist Matthew Shultz, one song into Cage the Elephant’s set at House of Blues Friday night. “And I also want to thank you for the giant…
The Five Best Concerts in Houston This Week: Alice in Chains, Tycho, Chaka Khan, etc.
Alice In Chains Bayou Music Center, April 29 After reappearing from a solid decade in the wilderness on 2009’s Black Gives Way to Blue, Alice In Chains is rolling in 2014. William DuVall, who came up through Atlanta’s hardcore scene, is now fully installed as front man; he shares the…
Sheriff’s Investigators Looking for Duo in Denny’s Heist (VIDEO)
Robbing a Denny’s is the low-hanging fruit of the armed robbery world. Maybe that and sticking up a McDonald’s are at the bottom of the crime barrel. How much are you really going to get out of people fighting the munchies at 12:30 a.m.? Well, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office…
Let Us Clarify: SpaceX Spaceport “Probably” Will Come to Texas
On Friday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that SpaceX is definitely totally coming to Texas to build a launchpad. Kind of. That’s what the Houston Chronicle reported as breaking news with a headline that came off sounding like the spaceport in Texas is a done deal. However, an offhand answer…
Skeeters Open Season With Tracy McGrady on the Bench
On an absolutely gorgeous night for a baseball game, the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball held their season-opening game Thursday night at Constellation Field. Slideshow: Sugar Land Skeeters: Opening Day With Tracy McGrady…
Remembering the Day Hubble Was Launched
Mark Carreau covered NASA for the Houston Chronicle for more than 20 years. He started on the day the Challenger exploded – the editor told everyone on the metro desk to write a NASA story – and he stayed on the beat until he was laid off from the Chron…
Was Racism Behind Recent Humble Shooting?
It might end up being another win for so-called stand-your-ground laws, but it looks like a community is up in arms after a homeowner in Humble shot a man this week, putting him in intensive care. Shouting out claims of racism is New Black Panther Party leader Quanell X, who…
Trae 101: Our 10 Best Pics of the King of the Streets
If there’s one thing that Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth knows, it’s “fan appreciation.” Both at his concerts and in the community, Trae thanks his supporters at every opportunity, knowing that the fans are what push a good rapper towards greatness. Whether he’s performing alongside his countless friends in the…
Robber Brought a Gun to a Lawn-Mower Fight
When your life is on the line, at the wrong end of a pistol, you really have to do whatever you can to ensure you survive. Case in point: The north Harris County man who last week used his own lawn mower after being attacked for his wallet. According to…
Celebrate Derby Day in Houston With Big Hats and Lots of Mint Juleps
On your mark…get set…go! And by “go,” of course, we mean get to the nearest bar or restaurant that’s showing the Kentucky Derby and have yourself a mint julep. Though Derby Day isn’t as big a celebration here in Houston as it is in parts of the Deep South (or,…
Five Divine Things Bette Midler Must Do While in Houston
Can you get any more fabulous than the inimitable Bette Midler? Eh, probably not. The Divine Miss M has a career that spans nearly half a century, and it began alongside a young Barry Manilow, performing bawdy comedy shows while he accompanied her on the piano. Her career started out…
5 Best Reality-Show-Inspired Cookbooks
Reality television. You don’t love it. You don’t hate it. You either love to hate it or hate to love it. And, sometimes, it makes you want to cook. Many reality TV personalities have created their own signature food and beverages and some show even have entire theme cookbooks. (I…
Straight Talk From Trae tha Truth: “I Decided to Make It Not About the Money”
Earlier this week, Free Press Summer Festival organizers announced that six of the city’s biggest rappers, from Bun B to Mike Jones, have been added to the fest for some kind of supergroup set. Not among them? Screwed Up Click veteran Trae tha Truth. And he’d like to know why,…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: Brick Mansions
Title: Brick Mansions What Else Would Mansions Be Made Out Of? Straw? Sticks? As you can see, my experience with home construction began and ended with “The Three Little Pigs.” Rating Using Random Objects Related To The Film: Two mutant Moes out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Walled-off future ghetto…
The Long Journey Behind Nathan Quick’s The Mile
For the last year and half, Houston native Nathan Quick has been slaving away on a new record. That album, The Mile, has finally materialized, and it is a hauntingly emotive EP, brimming with tales of loss, heartache and resiliency through life’s struggles. “Through writing these songs, I’ve looked at…
Five Highly Relevant Thoughts on the 2014 Houston Texans Schedule
The NFL has done a tremendous job, for the most part (more on this in a second), of building anticipation toward seemingly every date of their league’s calendar, regardless of how consequential they are. Free agency begins on March 11! Holy cow, we need a free agent tracker and let’s…
Eating Through the Eastern Bloc in Houston
When people think about food from the former Soviet Union, the first two ingredients that come to mind are dill and sour cream. But there is much more to the diverse cuisines of the USSR and former Soviet Satellites and Houston has the Russian, Polish, Czech and Bosnian eateries to…
Warpaint at Fitzgerald’s, 4/24/2014
Warpaint, James Supercave Fitzgerald’s April 24, 2014 It’s not every day that a touring band can grace the stage with familiarity of a local act, but Warpaint found a way to make themselves at home at Fitzgerald’s on Thursday evening. Though they’ve already spent most of the year touring in…
What’s in Fashion: Model Gisele Bündchen’s New Music Video, Glow-in-the-Dark Bras
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!…
You’re Having a Better Week Than the Buffalo Bills
Thus far, 2014 has not been kind to the Buffalo Bills’ family. A few weeks ago, longtime owner Ralph Wilson passed away at the age of 95, leaving the future of the team in the Buffalo area, at the very least, questionable to the extent that rumors of Donald Trump…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: The Bull & The Pearl’s Sunday Supper Pop-Up at Paulie’s
Food Truck Friday @ Houston Press Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 2603 La Branch Next up for Food Truck Friday is Coreanos. Beginning at 11 a.m., this Mexican-Korean fusion food truck will open up its windows to serve lunch. Get some fresh air and come on over to the…
5 Video Games Taking on Cancer
Here at the Houston Press we have a little saying, and that saying is “Cancer can suck the tail pipe of an uninspected Chrysler.” Around 1,500 Americans die daily of the disease, which is like 9/11 happening every other day. It’s an ongoing fight to beat back the Tumor Kaiser,…
Dog Show Adds Houston to Its Name
Dogs get a bad rap when it comes to news coverage of late, but one thing that we really look forward to hearing about is those lovely show dogs. Those pure breeds who saunter and wag their stuff at our annual dog show. And did you know, a dog from…
100 Creatives 2014: Ashton Miyako, Dressmaker
The dresses of Ashton Miyako Designs are colorful, textured, and fun. But these designs are no lightweights; they have serious character. Much of their thoroughly modern, yet, classic appeal comes from the fact that Miyako uses vintage fabric, much of it pre-’80s. And since her work is custom-made, her pieces…
Upcoming Events: Passaporto Italia Begins at Central Market
Head to Canyon Creek Cafe on Tuesday, April 29, for a five-course beer dinner paired with brews from Buffalo Bayou, Saint Arnold and Karbach. The beer dinner costs $65 and begins at 6 p.m. with crispy calamari paired with Buffalo Bayou Figaro – Belgian Fig. Next, Canyon Creek will serve…
Strap in for the Cowpunk Ballad of T. Tex Edwards
The gig is flying a bit under the radar, but Saturday the Big Top hosts T. Tex Edwards, one of the legends of early Texas punk. Known as one of the earliest cowpunks, Edwards was butchering George Jones songs when Jason and the Scorchers were still sloppin’ hogs in Iowa…
Openings & Closings: Want Some Doughnuts With That Ice Cream?
As May quickly approaches, we gear up to welcome several highly anticipated restaurants. But, before we get to that news, let’s take a look at two notable shutters. River Oaks and Upper Kirby folks said goodbye to Crescent City Beignets on Westheimer near the beginning of the month. The Subway,…
Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Dominic Walsh’s New Film, The Walking Dead Escape Tour and More
Houston choreographer Dominic Walsh, a 2011 Houston Press 100 Creatives, makes his first foray into dance for film with Malta Kano, TX, which receives its premiere screening on Friday at the Asia Society Texas Center. Welsh, who co-conceived the project with frequent collaborator Belgian artist Frédérique de Montblanche, couldn’t completely…
Are Oil and Gas Just False Hope for Texas’s Economic Glory?
Will Texas be Detroit 2.0 complete with village idiots?
The 10 Best Acts to See at iFest’s First Weekend
Richard Cagle & The Voodoo Choir Whether you love rock and roll, have a soft spot for the blues, or are just a sucker for good storytelling, Richard Cagle & the Voodoo Choir are sure to please. Possessed of an affinity for the blues since he was a boy, Cagle…
18th Street Pier, Bar & Grill: San Leon’s Pleasure Palace by the Bay
“Are you havin’ fun, darlin’? I sure hope you are.” Our waitress, a young blonde in her mid-twenties, draws out nearly every syllable as she checks on us. We just smile and nod, a bit ashamed of the number of empty drinks strewn across the high-top table. Various fliers for…
Hopefully on Steadier Ground, iFest Turns a Corner
It’s hard to believe that the Houston International Festival was once just a street fair in front of Jones Hall and the Alley Theatre, but that’s but one wrinkle in a fascinating history that stretches back to 1971. iFest has been all over the city, from Main Street downtown to…
The 10 Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: Cage the Elephant, Bro Safari, iFest, etc.
Phantogram Warehouse Live, April 25 Upstate New York duo Phantogram will scratch that same after-hours electro-pop itch as School of Seven Bells’ enchanting 2012 LP Ghostory. Josh Carter and Sarah Bechtel slide dusty hip-hop beats around the kind of shoegazey sounds that were made for shutting your eyes and drifting…
The Best/Worst Revenge
Everything in the opening scenes of Jeremy Saulnier’s nerve-wracking revenge drama Blue Ruin is the color of a bruise, from the ocean to the bullet-hole-pocked 1996 Pontiac Bonneville that homeless near-mute Dwight (Macon Blair) calls home. It’s fitting. Dwight has never overcome the pain of his parents’ murder when he…
The Houston Fine Mineral Show
“Talk rocks” with the experts and dealers at the Houston Fine Mineral Show. Unlike other gem and trade shows, Houston Fine Mineral has a museum-like setting. It’s in a hotel, yes, but as organizer Dave Waisman tells us, “Every room is like a museum. Each hotel room on the first…
Divergence Vocal Theater: ravens & radishes
Fairy tales are turned inside out in Divergence Vocal Theater’s new operatic song cycle, ravens & radishes. Poems by soprano Misha Penton, Divergence Vocal Theater’s artistic director, were set to music by guitarist George Heathco for the project. “Each poem is a female character’s introspective monologue, Penton tells us. “For…
An Evening with Chris Botti
Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Chris Botti was 12 years old when he first heard Miles Davis play “My Funny Valentine.” The experience made an impression on the young Botti, and was the catalyst for a lifelong exploration of melody that has become a driving force in Botti’s musical career. In today’s…
ROCO Chamber Series: French Salon
The River Oaks Chamber Orchestra features oboist Alecia Lawyer, founder and artistic director of the group; pianist Rodney Waters (seen above); and bassoonist Kristin Wolfe Jensen in a concert of works by French composers during ROCO Chamber Series: French Salon. On the program are the premiere of the co-commissioned work…
Movies Houstonians Love: Nick Flynn – Hands on a Hardbody
Now in its eighth season, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston film series Movies Houstonians Love is partnering with poet/author Nick Flynn and Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) for today’s screening of Hands on a Hardbody. A cult favorite, the 1997 documentary chronicles the adventures of a group of contestants…
Anne Carson
Canada-born poet Anne Carson comes to Houston as part of the 2013/2014 Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series. Red Doc>, Carson’s latest collection and a sequel to Autobiography of Red, has been called “breathtaking” and “stunning” by The New York Times Book Review. A recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius”…
Emerson String Quartet
The nine-time Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet, labeled “the most impressive of American string quartets” by The New York Times, closes the season for Chamber Music Houston. The program, according to violinist Eugene Drucker, is a showcase of music by “the big three,” Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. (The lineup includes…
Rebuilding Year: Spider-Man Does the Same Things Spider-Man Always Does
Since 2002, the year Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man hit theaters, the other Spider-Man, the hero of the actual comic books, has joined the Avengers, revealed his secret identity to the world, and become a highly paid inventor who has engineered, among other marvels, a limitless energy source science has dubbed “Parker…
Locke
Steven Knight has shown himself to be an auteur on the rise after writing films such as Eastern Promises and making his directorial debut with Redemption. With his latest film, Locke, which stars Tom Hardy, he explores some of the hardest territory in film. Shot in real time over seven…
Mike Birbiglia
Actor, director, stand-up comedian and monologist extraordinaire, Mike Birbiglia makes his long-promised return to Texas (his first appearance here in six years) as part of his Thank God for Jokes! tour. Birbiglia discusses his most recent visit to this state in his recorded special My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend: “I was coming…
Bette Midler
Expect to see a crowd of young and old, straight and gay, denizens of society and drag queens at A Conversation With Bette Midler at Brilliant Lectures (thanks to Tenenbaum & Co. Classic Jeweler and Lynn Wyatt). Midler’s mass appeal makes perfect sense, since her art and career have been…
Malta Kano, TX
Houston choreographer Dominic Walsh makes his first foray into dance for film with Malta Kano, TX, but he couldn’t completely make the break from having a live audience for the project. Co-conceived by Belgian artist Frédérique de Montblanc, the narrative film features Japanese ballerina Hana Sakal, Italian dancer Domenico Luciano,…
Carmen
As far as tenor Brandon Jovanovich is concerned, Bizet’s Carmen might be better titled Don Jose’s Girlfriend. “Really, the arc of the piece is his transformation from good boy to murderer,” Jovanovich says, allowing that the gypsy seductress would probably not agree to the retitling. Jovanovich, last seen at Houston…
Todd Barry
For most stand-ups, crowd work is a segue tool rather than their predominant style. Crowd work (an off-the-cuff remark made directly to and about audience members) addresses the real-life audience between carefully constructed bits and gives any performance that special “you had to be there” feeling. Comedian Todd Barry plans…
Walking Dead Escape Tour
The popular television show The Walking Dead depicts how brutal life would become in the event that zombies rose up to devour the living. It’s fun to watch, but apparently just watching isn’t enough. Some Walking Dead followers want to test their ability to survive in similar situations, and now…
TeenBookCon
It’s all about teens at TeenBookCon, a free all-day event for fans of young adult fiction. Authors and illustrators from England (Printz award winner Marcus Sedgwick), Canada (Svetlana Chmakova) and America (Melissa de la Cruz, Ann Brashares, Jenny Han and more than 20 others) converge at the Con to meet…
Space City Grand Slam
There are just six spots up for grabs on the Meta-Four Houston slam poetry team, and teens from around the city will do their best to snag one at the Writers in the Schools Space City Grand Slam. The participants — poets, writers, rappers — have already been through the…
Jim Jarmusch’s Undead Know How to Live in Only Lovers Left Alive
The vampires that walk among us — and they do — are not the Twilight kind, or the True Blood kind, or even the Buffy kind. In the world of Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, the director’s most emotionally direct film since Dead Man, and maybe his finest, period,…
Rick Perry Lawyers Up. HISD Debuts New Mascots.
Highlights from Hair Balls Political Animals After the news of a grand jury’s seating and Rick Perry’s hiring of defense lawyer David Botsford, the word on the street is, “What took you so long?” The last time a Texas governor faced possible indictment was almost 100 years ago. In 1917,…
Producers on New Michael Jackson Release Are Not Thrillers
Pop Life No one was more disappointed than we were when producers decided to capitalize on unreleased Michael Jackson material with the album Michael just one year after the King of Pop passed away in June 2009. It was a crass moneymaking maneuver, and the album showed it. They’re doing…
Capsule Stage Reviews: April 24, 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…
Long Dark Drive of the Soul
How much can you take away and still have a movie? Steven Knight’s Locke is an experiment in reducing contemporary scree storytelling to its irreducible essentials, which isn’t quite the same thing as being an “experimental” film, despite the ravishing early reviews from England. It shows us just one actor,…
Patchwork Genius
The Venn diagram overlap of Shakespeare and the elaborate scrap-fabric quilts pieced together by early American settlers is Orson Welles’s Othello, a film pulled together from everything and nothing. This Othello took nearly four years to make: Welles began planning it in the summer of 1948, and it debuted at…
Lost Language and Vaccinations
Dear Mexican, Our grandparents came from Mexico. The entire next generation spoke Spanish. However, in my generation, pretty much none of us do. One cousin’s daughter does because the cousin married a fluently bilingual spouse. Most white people I know have long ago lost both, generally, awareness of what their…
18th Street Pier, Bar & Grill Is Bringing Stars to the Water
“Are you havin’ fun, darlin’? I sure hope you are.” Our waitress, a young blond in her mid-twenties, draws out nearly every syllable as she checks on us. We just smile and nod, a bit ashamed of the number of empty drinks strewn across the high-top table. Various flyers for…
Capsule Art Reviews: April 24, 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…
Houston’s Space Problem: Johnson Space Center Has Lost Its Identity and Purpose
The fake space shuttle, renamed Independence, arrived in Galveston in June 2012. People lined the docks and watched as workers hauled the inert, gleaming white thing as if it were a dead whale being tugged to shore. When it was decreed that Johnson Space Center would get the old shuttle…
Andes Cafe Chef David Guerrero Proves He’s Back and Better Than Ever
We didn’t know where to stop, and we didn’t know exactly what we’d be getting, so we just kept ordering. First ceviche — two different kinds, one with fish and one with clams — then grilled beef heart skewered and grilled to a perfect char. Then lean, boneless pork ribs…
MFAH and the Menil Are Depriving Us of Local Art
Perhaps our Houston art museums have forgotten where they are. How else to explain the pitiful showing of Houston-made art in their galleries? Of the thousands of objects currently on view, I spy only five at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Okay, eight if you throw in outdoor sculpture. A…
What Transcendence Director Wally Pfister Learned From Kubrick and Nolan
When Wally Pfister won an Oscar for Inception, his sixth film with Christopher Nolan, he went home and put the statuette on his mantel. “And then it moved to the corner, and then my office, and then the closet because you go away for a few months, and then it…
The 10 Best Patios in Houston
Best of Houston 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…
