“Archaeopteryx: Icon of Evolution”
One perfectly fossilized feather led 19th-century scientists to a stunning evolutionary find – Archaeopteryx – a feather-covered lizard who lived 150 million years ago. Considered to be from the world’s earliest bird, this fossil will be displayed during “Archaeopteryx: Icon of Evolution,” an exhibit that’s making its world premiere. HMNS…
Molto Italiano at Sabetta Cafe & Wine Bar
A new restaurant has stepped up to the plate at 2411 S. Shepherd, the former location of Crostini and — more recently — the ill-fated Cafe Zol. Sabetta Cafe & Wine Bar, the creation of Chef Riccardo Palazzo-Giorgio and wife Donna, opened this week. Sabetta was the name of his…
The Gulf Oil Spill and the Seafood Industry
With the Gulf oil spill now a full-on environmental disaster, seafood lovers are worried. Commercial and recreational fishing has been restricted in certain areas of the Gulf, and seafood supplier Louisiana Foods’s Jim Gossen says he’s already seen some increase in prices for Gulf oysters and shrimp.Although it’s too early…
The Gulf Oil Spill and the Seafood Industry
With the Gulf oil spill now a full-on environmental disaster, seafood lovers are worried. Commercial and recreational fishing has been restricted in certain areas of the Gulf, and seafood supplier Louisiana Foods’s Jim Gossen says he’s already seen some increase in prices for Gulf oysters and shrimp. Although it’s too…
The Cure For Your Robb Walsh Jones (Is Not More Cowbell)
If you’ve been missing our erstwhile food critic, Robb Walsh, and can’t get enough of his daily musings on his blog, you’re in for a treat. In celebration of the release of his latest book, The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa, the Houston Chowhounds are hosting a book release party…
Protests Against Arizona’s Law At The Astros Game: One Way To Spend Cinco De Mayo
Haven’t found the perfect way to celebrate Cinco De Mayo yet? Some organizations have what they think is the perfect way to kick it off.Several Latino groups, including LULAC and Houston’s Youth Coalition, will be protesting the Arizona Diamondbacks game against the Astros tonight at Minute Maid Park in regards…
Cinco De Mayo Tips and a Playlist For Gringos
All right, our non-native Mexican brothers. If you’re going out tonight to have some Coronas, hit on drunk Latinas and take silly pictures while wearing a sombrero, at least try not to look like a total jerk. Rocks Off is going to help you, but we need to start by…
Beyonce Meets Bettie Page In Steamy New Video
“Why Don’t You Love Me” – Beyoncé from Beyoncé on Vimeo. Holy smokes. Have you seen the new Beyoncé video for “Why Don’t You Love Me”? It is, shall we say, steamy. Maybe even steamier than “Single Ladies (Put A Ring on It)”. First Beyoncé swiped choreography from Bob Fosse…
Aggies & Illegal Immigrants: A Sudden Bout Of Common Sense
Maybe it’s just people steeped in Aggie stereotypes who hold their breath when hearing Texas A&M is wading into something like the debate on illegal immigration, but it’s certain that breath is being held. (In terms of political discussion, after all, A&M is the school that gave us the doctor…
Wine of the Week: Chateau de Parenchere Bordeaux Clairet 2008
We were sitting outside the other day having lunch in the nice 80 degree sunshine when the table next to use ordered a bottle of red wine. Granted, we were having Italian food, but red wine on an 80 degree day that felt closer to 90 made our mouths parched…
Rocks Off Requests Trae On The Box
t this morning’s press conference announcing Trae the Truth’s civil lawsuit against 97.9 The Box and its parent company Radio One (see previous entry), community activist Deric Muhammad asked the media present to call the station and request Trae’s music. Rocks Off asked our rap writer Shea Serrano to do…
Game Time: Cinco De Mayo…Frenchies, Bye Bye-Oh!!
Go to any Cinco de Mayo celebration today and ask ten of the patrons what exactly they are celebrating and you’re likely to get a range of answers that looks like this: — Six drunks slurring that it’s Mexico’s Independence day — Two drunks slurring that it celebrates the invention…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes #48 African-American Beef Links at Bar-B-Que Done Right
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
Michael Serges Fights What He Says Are Racist Policies In A Constable’s Office
Imagine someone seemingly came out nowhere and accused you of a crime, and that your boss fired you because of the accusation. You spend money hiring a lawyer and you go to trial, where you are acquitted and then set free. You’d like to think you could get your job…
Trae’s Attorney: The Box “Going Beyond Legal Bounds”
Trae the Truth and his attorney officially announced this morning they are filing suit against local radio station 97.9 the Box, its parent company Radio One and several station staffers for “business disparagement, conspiracy and tortious interference” they say has resulted from the Box’s alleged ban on the rapper’s music,…
Backyard Herbs
Now is the perfect time of year to cultivate a backyard or balcony garden of potted herbs. If you cook or make cocktails, however infrequently, it’s worth your while to invest in a few $4 starter plants, thereby saving you the money and hassle when a recipe calls for a…
Amongst Us: A Series On Immigration By Village Voice Media
Our sister paper Phoenix New Times is at Ground Zero in the burgeoning debate over immigration and Arizona’s efforts to control it.Village Voice Media, the chain that owns the Houston Press and publications in other such immigration hotspots as LA, Miami and New York, is beginning an extensive look at…
Shelby Lynne Needs No Alibis On Excellent New Album
Anyone who went to see Shelby Lynne at Warehouse Live two years ago and didn’t come away with a case of drop-jaw respect for both her talent and her presence just isn’t dialed into the right human frequency. The multitalented Southern woman who now calls Los Angeles home just dropped…
Tips For Making the Perfect Meringue
In response to last week’s criticism of my “sad little pie,” here are some (hopefully) helpful tips to create the perfect, fluffy “proper” meringue…
Michelle Thomas: Scissors-Wielding East Texas Woman Strikes Blow For Horny, Disappointed Women
To look at the mugshot of 26-year-old Michelle Thomas, you might not think you were seeing someone who was facing a possible two- to 20-year prison sentence for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.Nope. Instead, the native of the East Texas town of Hudson looks like she might be thinking,…
Musical Moms That Make Us Melt
With Mother’s Day fast approaching, we can’t help but recognize all the hot rocker mamas out there making music and babies. It can’t be easy to write the next great pop song and have a tiny human being inside you sucking nutrients from your body, in the process girding their…
Glee: Redemption Songs
Our favorite show that doesn’t at all remind us of Fame halted the steady slide into mediocrity we’ve been witnessing since it returned from hiatus with a rather frenetic episode dedicated to the idea that reputations, like songs, can be redeemed.So the assignment this week — prompted by Kurt posting…
How The Hell Can The Astros Be Outdrawing The Rays?
I saw the most amazing thing the other day. The Houston Astros, one of the worst teams in baseball, are outdrawing the Tampa Bay Rays, one of the best teams in baseball. And I just can’t figure out why.I thought the purpose of baseball was winning baseball games. Not only…
Deux Frupis, Your Hosts For Tiger-Pig-Playtime
Update (Sept. 1, 6:10 p.m.): This article has been edited from its original content.Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful?…
Vietnamese Sweet & Sour Fish Soup
Whenever my mother-in-law visits, she usually asks what my wife and I would like her to cook. My wife’s response usually includes this soup. Canh chua (pronounced like “con chew-ah”) is yin to the yang that is ca kho (pronounced like “ka caw”), whose recipe you can find here. The…
Glee: Redemption Songs
Our favorite show that doesn’t at all remind us of Fame halted the steady slide into mediocrity we’ve been witnessing since it returned from hiatus with a rather frenetic episode dedicated to the idea that reputations, like songs, can be redeemed.So the assignment this week — prompted by Kurt posting…
I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat): Return Of The Haiku
After several months of highlighting some of the adoptable critters at the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care, we thought we were used to all the sad stares these dogs and cats display while awaiting their fates. But somehow, our intrepid photographer, Robyn Arouty, managed to capture an especially heartbreaking mood…
Idol Beat: They Did It Their Way
This was Frank Sinatra week on American Idol, with Harry Connick, Jr. himself on hand to coach the contestants and write the arrangements. Basically, it was a chance for Big Mike to kill it while the other contestants tried to keep up, which is pretty much what happened. Most genre…
Stirred and Shaken: The Big Easy’s Origo Malum
Sitting at the bar on a quiet night at the Big Easy (5731 Kirby, 713-523-9999), it feels like you’re a one-armed dwarf and an exotic dancer away from being in a Tom Waits song. Something about the music, empty space and Mardi Gras lights gives it that shore-leave-gone-wrong flavor. Behind…
American Idol: They Did It Their Way
This was Frank Sinatra week on American Idol, with Harry Connick, Jr. himself on hand to coach the contestants and write the arrangements. Basically, it was a chance for Big Mike to kill it while the other contestants tried to keep up, which is pretty much what happened. Most genre…
Houdini The Museum District Goose Flies Coop, Leaves Mate Distraught
The Goose is looseBiking up to work one afternoon, we spotted this sign on a telephone pole just south of the main campus of Houston Community College.We wondered if the missing goose had been found, so we called the number. Dawn Adams answered. Adams is a daughter of Joy Boone,…
Elizabeth Cedillo, Four Months Old, Bayou Body Count No. 99
A drunk driver ran through a stop sign about 4 a.m. Sunday, continued on up a driveway, and smashed into a house, hitting the room where four-month-old Elizabeth Cedillo was sleeping.The infant was pronounced dead Monday night, and intoxication manslaughter charges have been filed against the driver, 19-year-old David Chacon.Police…
Dynamo Get Ready For Dallas, Still Without Brian Ching
The Dynamo are in action tonight on Cinco de Mayo to take on their in-state nemesis, FC Dallas. In the season opener for both clubs this year, they drew 1-1 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. At the Rob, the Dynamo have owned the Hoops with a 7-0-2 record, including…
Enron The Play Follows The Lead Of Its Namesake And Implodes
Enron, the semi-musical that became a hit in London but opened to not much acclaim on Broadway, is closing.The show’s Facebook page announced the last performance will be this Sunday.The show opened April 27 to decidedly mixed reviews. The producers apparently kept their fingers crossed for a lot of help…
A Cooler Coke: Guaraná Antarctica
Each Tuesday and Thursday for the next five weeks, we’ll be taking a look at alternatives to cokes for the sticky Houston summer that lays ahead. The first beverage we’re examining in this series isn’t exactly a hidden treasure. Guaraná Antarctica, produced in Brazil since 1921, is not only the…
Penelope Cruz, Daniel Day-Lewis and Amy Adams: New On DVD Today
Yep, that’s Penelope Cruz looking like a high-class stripper. It’s a scene from the just-released DVD Nine.Cruz is just one of seven women that surround Nine’s central character, Daniel Day-Lewis as frustrated film director Guido Contini. Just days away from starting to shoot his next film, he’s in the middle of…
Five Memorable Artist-Audience Altercations
There may be a very good reason Van Morrison said practically nothing from the stage Saturday night at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Judging from the plentiful comments here, here and over at the Chronicle’s review, it would have been difficult for the grizzled Irish poet/musician/mystic to get a word…
The Shameless Chef: Tasty Chicken Parmigiana You Wouldn’t Want to Serve to a Real Chef
Okay, so, for some reason you’ve decided you need to eat some chicken parmigiana, but you’re too poor to go out to eat and too lazy / clumsy to batter, bread and fry a chicken breast or two. Good thing for you, lazy / clumsy is my forte. Today I’m…
Phoenicia To Give Downtown A New Place To Grocery Shop
Ending once and for all the rumors that a Whole Foods was negotiating with Finger Companies to open a grocery store in the lobby of the glamorous new One Park Place residential tower downtown is the news that a grocer of a different color is opening there instead: Phoenicia Specialty…
Juan DeDios Vargas, Gas Entrepreneur, Runs Up A Big Bill For Uncle Sam
According to his driver’s license, he’s Juan DeDios Vargas. According to the lucky people who happened upon whatever gas station he was at, he was Robin Hood.Stealing from the rich — in this case the U.S government (Hey, wait!! That’s us taxpayers!!) — and giving to the poor in the…
Flaming Lips Still On For Summerfest… For Now
The Grand Ole Opry, which was supposed to celebrate its 85th birthday party May 25, is currently underwater, like most of Nashville (above). Nashville Public Radio is reporting that the Cumberland River crested at a whopping 52 feet. When does hurricane season start again? Hirsute music writer Mills McCoin follows up…
Vietnamese Banana Cake
If Vietnam were to have a national fruit, it would probably be the banana. With so many different varieties available, there’s a banana for practically every culinary need. The Vietnamese banana cake is similar to fruitcake in density and texture but is unlike fruitcake in that people love to receive…
Game Time: 2010 Houston Astros — Will I Ever See A Tasing? (w/ VIDEO of PHILLY FAN TASING)
The Philadelphia Phillies are the defending National League champions and less than two years removed from winning a World Series. The Astros finished last season on a 4-16 skid and have never won a World Series in the history of the franchise.The Philadelphia Phillies are in first place in the…
Bartender Chat: Mike Sims of Rudyard’s
For the last ten years, Mike Sims has been working at Rudyard’s British Pub (2010 Waugh Dr.). But he hasn’t always been the bartender. He started out helping a friend bar-back, and then he moved to working the door. Eight years ago, he started working as a bartender…
Frank Wilson Survival Watch, Day 9: Fat Lady’s Warming Up
The Houston Chronicle and other media outlets are reporting the death knells for Metro CEO Frank Wilson seem to be getting louder.The consensus seems to be that a Friday board meeting will end with his resignation, and former city controller George Greanias will take over on an interim basis. (Our…
Trae Filing Suit Against 97.9 The Box Parent Company, Staff
Publicists for Trae the Truth sent out a press release this afternoon with the news that the Houston rapper will hold a press conference tomorrow morning to announce he is filing a civil suit against 97.9 The Box parent company Radio One, as well as several staff members of the…
You Want To Deport All Illegals? It’s Gonna Cost You
Few subjects elicit raw passion the way illegal immigration does. But what if you could eliminate all of the rage, fear, sympathy and politics surrounding the issue, what then? What if it was just a numbers game, and about pure brass tacks?That’s the way David Gewirtz, director of the U.S…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes #49 Ceviche at Yelapa
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
Lee Tisdel, 62, Bayou Body Count No. 98
A 62-year-old man was found shot to death in his place of business in southeast Houston early Monday afternoon, police say.The family of Lee Tisdel went to check the business in the 9100 block of Winkler after being unable to contact him and found his body, the victim of multiple…
Why Can’t We Stop Staring At This Guitar?
While we were sifting through all the fine pictures that were taken Sunday at Buzzfest, Rocks Off found this one of Seether frontman Shaun Morgan. Look at the intensity in his eyes as he probably plays their cover of Wham!’s “Careless Whisper” or something. The chipped black nail polish totally…
What to Buy at Costco
It’s like a not-so-secret, secret society. The devotion it inspires may even be cult-like at times. Folks who shop at Costco love shopping at Costco. And they love talking about how wonderful shopping at Costco is. The selection! The samples! The sizes!…
National Teacher’s Day, Celebrated In Video And Song
Today is National Teacher’s Day, a feast which ranks right up there with whatever they’re calling National Secretary’s Day in these modern times.Which is a shame, of course, since good teachers are some of the most indispensable people around.To celebrate their day, such as it is, we offer five pieces…
“Farting & Whistling Man” Upstages Dead Weather
No good libido-draining show could go off without a hitch in Houston, that’s for damned sure. Just as the Mona Lisa is slowly falling apart and the world will implode in 2012 if Obama gets reelected, you cannot go to a concert of any shape and size here without being…
5 Places to Get a Custom Birthday Cake in Houston
We needed of a birthday cake quick but didn’t know where to get it. So we turned to the Houston foodie community via Facebook and Twitter, and here were some of the suggestions that kept popping up. 1. Jodycakes By far the most mentioned was Jodycakes, who has a loyal…
Lauren McCabe, Young & Recessioned: Three Jobs At A Time
Today’s installment of Young & Recessioned features Lauren McCabe, a 25-year-old living in New Orleans who went from being unemployed to teaching how not to do it. I went to school at Columbia in New York City. I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do. And even people who…
Neon Angel: A Memoir Of A Runaway
Actresses and vampire lovers Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart are on the big screen now as singer Cherie Currie and singer/guitarist Joan Jett in band bio The Runaways. But Currie’s new memoir (on which the film was based, goes even way further than what’s up there. What doesn’t this book…
“Debt-Relief” Companies Get Hit By Lawsuit
The West Virginia Attorney General has sued an alleged debt settlement company we investigated in December. However, one of the company’s founders had told us the company — predicated on the belief that when you get a credit card, the bank owes you money — was totally not comprised of scum-sucking vultures…
Simple Shrimp & Scallion Pancakes
For some reason, it seems that many things can be improved when made in pancake form. Maybe it has something to do with sizzling batter in a large pan of grease. Whatever the reason, you’re about to learn how to make some delicious discs full of shrimp and scallions…
Unidentified Homeless Man, Bayou Body Count No. 97
A homeless man thought he had a safe shelter set up about 200 feet off Almeda Road. He probably never saw the car coming that killed him.Houston police say a hit-and-run driver left the roadway and traveled the 200 feet to the homeless man’s encampment about 3 a.m. Sunday morning.”Evidence…
Chuckway: Seafood Yes, Groupies No
The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place -lots of times, you’re even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good- so once a week we’re going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask…
Drayton McLane: The Myth That He’s Not Cheap
There was an item written over at Chron.com sports last week that I wanted to address — yeah, I’m a little late, but I just read it. It was written by one of their fan bloggers, and in a decent post about some of the reasons why the attendance is…
Pop Rocks: Anyone Not Rooting For The Cowboys In The Amazing Race Is A Rotten Bastard
The 16th season of The Amazing Race wraps up next Sunday, when one of the three remaining teams will claim the million dollar prize and ride off into relative obscurity (go ahead. name a past Race winner…now name five ex-Survivors, my case rests). This season has ranged from Chile to…
Where Are We Drinking?
This is a topsy-turvy kind of week around Eating Our Words. First, we asked you to identify a restaurant based solely on a photo of its kitchen (which proved easier than first thought). And now we’re asking you to identify a bar by the food it serves. Does the pile…
Upcoming: Babyface, Disturbed, Loverboy, Nile OK Go, Pentagram, Etc.
Andrew Karnavas: Fri., July 16. McGonigel’s Mucky Duck. Babyface: Fri., Aug. 13. Arena Theatre. Bob Log III: Sun., July 11. Rudyard’s. Cornbreadd, Fat Tony, B L A C K I E: Fri., May 28. Dean’s Credit Clothing. Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, HaleStorm, Hellyeah: Sun., Sept. 12. Cynthia Woods Mitchell…
Buckyball’s Birthplace — Room 337 At Rice’s Space Science Building — To Get Permanent Honor
The success of the buckyball at Rice University 25 years ago has earned its place of discovery, room 337 in the university’s Space Science Building, renown as a national historic chemical landmark.The buckyball, a 60-carbon structure in the shape of a soccer ball which was initially observed in outer space,…
Ahmad Hall-Chan, Mo City’s Nominee For Most Half-Assed Robbery Attempt Ever
The list of how NOT to rob a business is long, but Ahmad Hall-Chan of Missouri City managed to add a few items to it.Hall-Chan, 29, had been working at Russo’s Pizza; he went there Friday morning to dispute his last paycheck.The manager told him he had to call the…
Former Meridian/Wired Live Not Closed, GM Says
Things have been quiet on the former Meridian/Wired Live front since the flurry of events surrounding the lockout of former Wired Live owner Anosh Ahmed a few weeks back. Perhaps, as they say in most Westerns, a little too quiet. Despite a few tweets and re-tweets earlier today that claimed…
Toots & The Maytals Boogie On At House Of Blues
For more photos from the show, see our slideshow here. Almost 50 years on from his earliest historic recordings, Toots Hibbert and the Maytals have the reggae thing down to a massively fun science. And in spite of his age (about 67, although Hibbert doesn’t tell), the first man to…
Annise Parker Tries To Spin Away The Loss Of Continental
Dozens of reporters stood cheek to cheek inside Houston Mayor Annise Parker’s stuffy press room Monday afternoon seemingly waiting with bated breathe to hear what she would say about today’s announced merger between Continental and United.But in truth, there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot she could say. In…
Recipe: Sidecar for the 21st Century
Yesterday was “Lemonade Stand Day” in the City of Houston. And lemonade happens to be the perfect ingredient for our favorite cocktail. Try our recipe, and you’ll likely lobby for Lemonade Day every day. The sidecar is a delectable cocktail said to have originated in the early 20th century. We’ve…
Buzzfest Brings The Noise, And The Pain
For many, many more shots of Sunday’s bands, see our slideshow here. For the really fun stuff – crowd shots! – see our slideshow here. Sunday, Aftermath spent ten hours wading in Buzzfest XXIV’s radio-rock and classic nu-metal at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. It’s hard to fathom that since…
Rick Perry Blames God For Gulf Oil Spill
A lot of people are quick to blame BP, or the people who put together the oil rig that is currently spewing black gold into the Gulf of Mexico, but Rick Perry — the only governor we have at the moment — knows better.Speaking at a Washington conference today, Perry…
Antojitos Salvadorenos
There is no getting around it: There are some slim pickings around the UH campus. After a while, even the best Chinese, burgers, barbecue and pizza get really stale. Antojitos Salvadorenos (1011 Telephone Road, 713-924-6995), only five minutes from campus and without all the nasty traffic involved in heading down…
Blaine Milam: Strong Candidate For Tool Of The Decade On Trial In Conroe For East Texas Exorcist Baby Murder
Apparently gorgeous 13-month-old toddler Amora Carson was not as angelic as she looked. At least that was what 18-year-old slimebuckets Jessica Carson and Blaine Milam told police in Rusk County in East Texas. According to them, Amora had demons in her, and that was why mama allegedly stood by and…
Van Morrison Does It His Way… Surprised?
Before we went to Van Morrison Saturday night – yep, we managed to score tickets, basically through dumb luck (thanks, Stuart!) and not Morrison’s sudden benevolence toward the media – Aftermath and our dad were talking at dinner about how tedious it must be for veterans like Morrison to play…
Dessert Adventures at the Mosquito Café
We have been avid devotees of the Mosquito Café (628 14th Street, Galveston) since it opened back in 1999. After Hurricane Ike, we didn’t know if it would ever return or even be the same. Lucky for us, it is back and better than ever. Mosquito Café isn’t on the…
Author Gwendolyn Zepeda On Not Hating Men And Being The Actual First Latina Blogger Ever
Inprint ends its 2009/2010 Margarett Root Brown Reading Series season tonight with a Cinco de Mayo bang featuring two literary greats from Texas.The reading series, responsible for bringing four Nobel Prize and 41 Pulitzer Prize winners to Houston, showcases native Houstonian novelist and blogger Gwendolyn Zepeda and National Endowment for…
Star Snow Ice’s Durian Tapioca Smoothie
Sure, the drink in this photo looks like a mild-mannered smoothie, but don’t let its vanilla appearance fool you. This is a durian smoothie from Star Snow Ice (9889 Bellaire Blvd.), which is one of my favorite places for bubble tea. WARNING: This smoothie is not for the faint of…
Bill White’s First General-Election Ad Makes Houston A Magical Place
Bill White is up with his first campaign ad for the fall election, and it paints Houston as a magical kingdom where taxes go down, crime rates plummet and hurricanes are told to get the fuck out of here…
Shakira, Tool, Kings Of Leon, Roger Waters All On Sale Within A Week
This morning, Live Nation announced more huge roadshows hitting Houston soon (enough), adding Shakira and prog-rockers Tool to Toyota Center’s 2010 roster. On-sale information for Kings Of Leon and Roger Water’s in-concert production of Pink Floyd’s The Wall was also released; see the end of this blog for specific dates…
Game Time: Kentucky Derby 2010 Infield Olympics (Includes Mud-Wrestling Videos)
I’m not sure what it says about the type of summer we’re going to have here in Houston when an embedded video of 30 hornets wrecking a shop and mass-murdering 30,000 bees in a blog post about the Kentucky Derby elicits roughly 100 times the reaction in my e-mail and…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #50 Frito Pie at the Rio Verde Taco Truck on Longpoint
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
The Worst Rap Battle Ever, And Best-Kept Hip-Hop Secret In Town
There’s lots of talk about Cypress Hill coming to Houston next Tuesday. But to get that legendary Latin hip-hop/funk sound on a regular basis, you might not have to go farther than La Porte. That’s where you’ll find a group called Hafaza, made up of mike-wreckers Frank, Omar, Luno, Gonz…
Houston’s Anne-Kathrine Ubberud Learns The Hard Way About Immigration Law
America, you will soon be free of this (we assume) terroristEver-vigilant of illegal aliens taking over our state and country, Hair Balls jumped at the chance to look into the case of Anne-Kathrine Ubberud, a Norwegian citizen who will have to leave Houston Wednesday, after 17 years in the U.S.Ubberud…
Southern Star Beer Dinner at VOICE
Wine is typically the chosen buzz agent at fine-dining establishments, but chef Michael Kramer and the Southern Star Brewery are out to break some habits. Last week, VOICE hosted the latest in a string of dinners in which beer takes the supporting role alongside a multi-course meal. And not just…
2010 Music Awards Nomination Ballot Is Live
Besides the (dead) weather, the surest sign around here that summer is almost upon us is that – as of right this very minute – the 2010 Houston Press Music Awards nomination ballot is online and waiting for your suggestions in as many of the 43 categories as you’d care…
Jaylon Calloway, 14, Bayou Body Count No. 96
A young life ended in a burst of violence outside a downtown club Saturday night.Jaylon Calloway, a 14-year-old Yates High freshman, was attending a private graduation party at the 2020 Club. His grandmother told the Houston Chronicle he went with his stepbrother, who was being honored at the large event…
Random Ingredient: Pearled Barley
What is it? Barley itself is a cereal grain – much like wheat. It is used in beer malts, animal feed and many distilled liquors. Pearled barley has been processed and lacks the surrounding hull and bran. Less processed barley, called dehulled barley, still contains the nutritious outer bran. But…
Dominic Oduro, Dynamo Dominate KC
The Houston Dynamo beat the crap out of the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night over at Robertson Stadium. The 3-0 final doesn’t do justice to the Dynamo’s game that night. They pushed the tempo of the game, and eventually the Wizards broke down and accepted their fate.Now, it probably…
Bun B Joins Gumball 3000 Rally; Nirvana Chopped And Screwed
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off’s weekly rap post. It probably won’t rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: Wire to Wire Bun B took part in that Gumball 3000 thing. For whatever reason, we spent, like, 45…
Gregorio Castillo Rodriguez, 39, Bayou Body Count No. 95
It’s actually been a while since a Houston murder, but the streak has ended.And it ends with a parking-lot death that doesn’t have many details.Gregory Castillo Rodriguez, 39, was returning home to his apartment in the 11400 block of Beechnut about 10:20 p.m. Friday night, Houston police say.He parked in…
Un Pueblo Unido: Scenes From Houston’s Immigration Protest
An estimated 7,000 people took to the streets of Gulfton on Saturday afternoon, part of a coordinated series of national protests against the passage of Arizona’s SB 1070, a bill which many Hispanics in Arizona and across the nation have decried as racial profiling and have compared to Hitler’s treatment…
The Dead Weather Leaves Us Dumbfounded And Dirty
For more photos from the concert, see our slideshow here.Sometimes bands come along that burn so hot and bright that words fail you. And sometimes all you can do at their shows is stand there with your hands at your side in utter shock at what you are seeing. If…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Jeremy Massudi of Two Saints Restaurant
We recently sat down with Chef Jeremy Massudi at Two Saints Restaurant, a neighborhood fine-dining joint on Memorial near Gessner. To see the earlier part of our interview with him, click here…
The Week In TV: Oh, How The Mighty [Simpsons] Have Fallen
What the hell, let’s jump right in: • Conan O’Brien’s exit deal with NBC included a number of stipulations about when he could appear on TV again and when he could resume his late-night hosting duties for another outlet. Well, after a few months away, Coco came back with a…
Phoenix, An iPod Perfect Business Model Of A Band
For more photos from the concert, see our slideshow here. Not to say Friday’s sold-out crowd didn’t enjoy it – scalpers were selling single tickets for upwards of $100 – but can you really put a price tag on white noise? Ask your alarm clock that makes rainfall sound like…
Where Are We Eating?
Think you’re tough? Then try guessing where we’re eating this week, based on the kitchen alone, hot shot. (Really, it’s not so hard if you just look for the clues…) Leave your best guess in the comments section below…
Treme: Getting The Tribe Back Together
This was the most Wire-heavy episode of Treme yet. We’ve already got Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters in major roles, but this ep was packed with shout-outs to David Simon’s former series. One of Sonny’s buddies mispronounced Amsterdam as “Hamsterdam”; Jim True-Frost, aka Prez, put in an appearance as Delmond’s…
Treme: Getting The Tribe Back Together
This was the most Wire-heavy episode of Treme yet. We’ve already got Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters in major roles, but this ep was packed with shout-outs to David Simon’s former series. One of Sonny’s buddies mispronounced Amsterdam as “Hamsterdam”; Jim True-Frost, aka Prez, put in an appearance as Delmond’s…
Can Roy Oswalt Sue The Astros For Non-Support?
It was just last week that the Astros were 8-10, had won six straight and eight of their last ten, and were no longer the worst team in the National League.Since that time, they’ve been swept by the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves. The pitching, for the most part,…
Annise Parker Says Fear Not The Continental/United Merger
Houston’s Continental Airlines is seemingly about to be taken over by the Yankee corporation of United Airlines in a $3 billion merger than will create the world’s largest airline.That airline will not be named Continental.Bad news for Houston? Not necessarily so, says Mayor Annise Parker.In a statement that her office…
Bun B Added To Summerfest; Schedule Announced
He shows up at every other show in town, so why not Summerfest? Free Press Houston and Pegstar announced today that the king of the trill, Bun B, will join Slim Thug onstage on Day 2 of the two-day event scheduled for June 5 and 6 in Eleanor Tinsley Park…
Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, Shoots Hoops With Yates
Arne Duncan, the federal Secretary of Education, had to cut his trip to north Houston’s Sam Houston High School a bit short, because there were more pressing matters. Duncan was headed to the Third Ward. “I want him to go see what a good team they had over at Yates,”…
Willie Nelson’s Drummer Said To Have Suffered Stroke
Word reached Rocks Off earlier this afternoon from a usually reliable source that Willie Nelson’s longtime drummer, Paul English, has suffered a stroke. English, who now lives in Dallas with his wife and three sons, began working with Nelson in Fort Worth in 1955. According to various interviews Nelson has…
FAIL – Billy Corgan, Courtney Love, Justin Bieber, Celene Dion, Apple
If you’re reading this, you’re either on the Internet, or else you’ve mastered multi-dimensional thought-projection processes that would make Michio Kaku cry like a little girl. We’ll assume the former, and just in case you don’t already know, the Internet has decided that the word “failure” is too long by…
This Week in Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we’ve already got our watermelons, blunderbusses, speedboat with depth finder, and free-range chickens for our upcoming Mother’s Day celebration. Hey. You keep Mother’s Day in your own way and let us keep it in ours. We started off…
Your A/C Bill For Tomorrow Is Going To Be Horrendous, KTRK Reports
Tomorrow’s highs will be in the…in the…in the Saharan range, according to an exclusive report from KTRK today.Luckily, there will be some rain, and breezes in the 15-25 mph range, so that will keep temperatures down to the lower 140s.Lows will be zero…
The Happen-Ins, Mark May And More Weekend Happenings
Rocks Off is always looking for a cheapo weekend filled with wine, song, art and, well, debauchery if possible. The cheaper the better. So in that spirit… Rockers the Happen-Ins have been getting considerable buzz in their hometown of Austin and airplay on KPFT. Rocks Off checked out some YouTubes,…
Upcoming Events
With big food events like Menu of Menus, iFest, the Grand Food & Wine Affair and the Big Bite Night behind us now, what else is there to look forward to in the coming weeks? A lot, that’s what. Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner, and plenty of…
Game Time: Kentucky Derby — Ten “Two Minute Events” More Exciting Than Horses Galloping
I love horse racing. Actually, to be clear, I love the act of going to the racetrack — any racetrack — and sitting in the bleachers (do they call them “bleachers” at a racetrack?) with three or four of my buddies, drinking about twelve beers, eating roughly ten hot dogs,…
Touring the New Saint Arnold Brewery
We went on a local binge and grabbed a bunch of cheeses and bread from the Urban Harvest Farmers Market on Eastside before heading over the new Saint Arnold Brewery. Having been before, we knew that you had to bring some food if you’re going to spend any time at…
Chef Chat: Jeremy Massudi of Two Saints Restaurant
Two Saints Restaurant has only been open for about seven months. But it already some regular followers. The night we visited, two different groups of customers went to the kitchen to say hi to Massudi like old friends, asking what he was featuring that night on the menu. We later…
Persian Cats, 3-D Phish And Houston Zydeco
No One Knows About Persian Cats, the pseudo-documentary about the underground music scene in Tehran that Rocks Off first told you about in January, opens in wide release today and is now screening at the Landmark River Oaks Theatre. The film was featured at the MFAH earlier this year as…
Sarah Palin Still Hassling Local DJ Shoe Latif
A year ago we told you how local nightclub legend Shoe Latif had gotten crossways with Sarah Palin, back in that brief period when Palin was still governor of Alaska.Latif got an official cease-and-desist letter because her crackho.com page had “hijacked a State of Alaska webpage” by using the state’s…
May Is National Hamburger Month
May is National Burger Month, that special time when you can channel your inner Hamburglar. Burgerphiles can sample their way through the specials around town, while the ne’er-branch-outs can perhaps be tempted to try something new. Here are a few Houston restaurants spreading the burger love, starting tomorrow, May 1…
Return Of The King: Elvis Presley’s Great Comeback
In 1957, Elvis Presley was the epitome of cool. But what a difference a decade makes. By the Summer of Love, the still-pompadoured singer was – at the ripe old age of 32 – a musical anachronism in a year that brought the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Monterey Pop and Sgt…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #51 The Fajita Taco at the Taconazo Truck on Fulton
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
Oil Spill Central: Right Here In Houston!!
Louisiana, not Texas, will be feeling the effects of the massive oil spill in the Gulf — unless you count the indirect fallout, and in that case we are Oil Spill Central.Lawsuits are already being filed in regards to the explosion and spill, and the list of defendants is very…
Snow: The Product That Will Wake Up Your Hip-Hop and Political Games
Let us be forthcoming about 22-year-old, San Jose, Calif., native Claudia A. Feliciano. We’d put her up against any female MC in the game, and we’re confident she’d give anyone of them a run for their money… or take their money. She’s a versatile, bilingual lyricist who can fluently chop…
Getting Stuffed at Big Bite Night
There’s something discomfortingly meta about gnawing the spicy flesh off a piece of jerk chicken as you stand, staring idly, next to an exhibit filled with stuffed fowl: Atwater’s prairie chickens, ducks, cranes, all manner of birds that were once alive but are now transformed into macabre semblances of their…
Carrie Kelly Might Not Be One Of The Rare Female Child-Porn Dealers, But Her Mugshot Ain’t Helping Her Case
It’s not everyday you get word of a woman being nabbed on child-porn charges, especially a woman allegedly working on her own and not with a sicko husband or boyfriend.But in the small Brazoria County town of Richwood, police busted Carrie Louise Kelly, 29, for sending a Florida man more…
Follow the Prophet: Uncovering the Child Sex Abuse in Polygamous Sects
One of the first scenes you see in the film Follow the Prophet is a group of teenaged girls sitting in a church. A man stands in front of them, intoning, “What must you do to reach the highest level of heaven?” The girls answer by rote: “Be obedient to…
Paul Wall’s Got Your iPhone Goin’ Nuts
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and, albeit sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. We’ll incorporate the number five in there somewhere. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. April 23, 2010. That was to be the most glorious day…
Narjes Modarresi, Accused Of Burying Her Two-Year-Old Son, Pins Hopes On Andrea Yates’ Lawyer
Many observers believe that attorney George Parnham is planning an insanity defense for Narjes Modarresi, the 28-year-old mother accused of burying alive her two-year-old son Masih Golabbakhash last week. (At press time, Modarresi has been charged with capital murder and is being held without bail in the psych ward in…
Homemade Pimento Cheese: Totally Worth the Effort
There are many things that passionate home cooks implore others to try homemade. Believe me, you’ll never turn back to the packaged, store-bought stuff again. If you haven’t tried it, you have no idea what real pimento cheese is. This is the recipe that changed it all…..
Win A Pair Of Toots & The Maytals Tickets
Ed. Note: Rocks Off is giving away a pair of tickets to Toots & the Maytals at high noon on our Facebook page. Please add us here. If Toots Hibbert didn’t actually give birth to reggae, he certainly dated the midwife. Hibbert’s legacy traces itself to the earliest reggae recordings…
Carlos Lee Still, Somehow, Playing Outfield For The Surprisingly Despised Astros
This is turning out to be a bad week for the Houston Astros.With a chance to get their record to the break-even mark, the Astros were instead swept by the Cincinnati Reds. Wandy Rodriguez is injured and has to miss tonight’s start in Atlanta — the team hopes he can…
Brew Blog: Independence Brewing Co.’s Freestyle Wheat and Bootlegger Brown
Austin-based Independence Brewing Co. began expanding into the Houston market this week, distributing its Austin Amber and Independence Pale Ale to eight H-E-Bs in north Houston and stocking all six of its styles at the Smith Street Spec’s, co-founder and brewmaster Rob Cartwright said in an e-mail. Cartwright also reports…
Why Is The Buzz Still So Popular?
The only other concert in recent months to sell out at a Gaga-like pace has been the perennial Buzzfest, the semi-annual schlock-rock festival organized since 1995 by Houston’s “new rock alternative,” 94.5 The Buzz. The concert sells out almost every time – like it is Saturday, but you can probably…
NBC’s Thursday Night: 93 Meetings In One Day
Last night’s comedy block on NBC was the best two hours of my week as far as TV’s concerned. Sure, there weren’t that many surprises as far as quality goes: Community and Parks and Recreation led the block and were the best of the night, followed by the dip into…
Houston Leading “Ford Fiesta Movement” Bonnaroo Contest
For what seems like months now, Rocks Off has been seeing emails and posts about Team Houston, Ford Fiesta, Backseat Jukeboxes, and the battle of the bands this Saturday at Warehouse Live. To clear up any confusion, Rocks Off recently asked local photographer and music lover Mark C. Austin what…
Paul Hope Goes From Brit to Heartland Americana in Man From Nebraska at Stages
Paul Hope was brought up Baptist and says his father is a lot like Ken Carpenter, the character Hope plays in Man From Nebraska, now being shown at Stages Repertory Theatre.The veteran Houston actor — he used to be with Theatre Under the Stars and has been a company member…
Y’all Musta Forgot Are Gonna Forget: Preemo’s Concrete Dreams
Houston’s history is dotted with albums that, fairly or un, have been swept aside. We’ll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Preemo is an enigmatic, velvet-voiced MC from Brownsville that now lives in Houston. He is both confident without being…
Top 10 Restaurants In The East End
My great-grandmother lived in the same little house off Navigation, home to dozens of kids and family gatherings over the decades, until the day she died. Although she never once spoke a word of English, she was clever and sly; she could understand every word spoken to her (or about…
Young & Recessioned: Jason Jeansonne — An Engineering Degree Gets You Work At A Movie Theater
[jump] It was a rough experience. I was pretty depressed. I had really planned to stay with this company, to make it work out. The whole time I was in school, they always told us that now was the best time to be a chemical engineer. There was the whole…
Another Day, Another Awkward Annise Parker Statement On HPD
Fresh off a low-key description of what’s described as a “horrific” beating of a teen-age burglary suspect by Houston Police, Mayor Annise Parker has once again been forced to acknowledge some alleged HPD misbehavior.In the wake of reports that HPD officers injured a Chinese diplomat while he was inside the…
In HISD There Are No Unsatisfactory Teachers; Surprise: We Live in Lake Woebegone
“Of the 11 HISD schools rated ‘Academically Unacceptable’ by the Texas Education Agency in 2008-9, only two rated any teacher unsatisfactory” in any category of their evaluations. — Source: HISD Human ResourcesIt was a day of cold, dark truths for Houston school district trustees at their weekly workshop Thursday as…
Van Morrison Trying Our, Ticketholders’ Patience
Rocks Off was really, really, really looking forward to seeing Van Morrison at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Saturday night. We read the new book by Greil Marcus, perhaps the most erudite rock critic of all time, When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison, cover to cover…
Even Rick Perry Can’t Support Arizona’s Immigration Law
People, if there is one rule in life, it’s this: If Rick Friggin’ Perry thinks you’ve gone too far to the right, it’s time to check yourself before you wreck yourself.Perry’s office has just issued a statement saying the controversial new Arizona law targeting illegal aliens (and actual American citizens,…
Frank Wilson Survival Watch, Day 4: The County Judge Doesn’t Weigh In
How long will the embattled Metro president last? Hair Balls presents today’s installment of the Frank Wilson Survival Watch. 1. Ed Emmett won’t muddy the Frank Wilson waters. Yet. Along with appointing two members to Metro’s Board of Directors, there’s no question that the county has a stake in how…
Health Dept. Roundup: Bakery Edition
This week on Health Department Roundup, a rundown of all the retail and wholesale bakeries inspected recently citywide. Call it the “bad bread,” or, if you like, the “sour dough” edition. An April 19 pre-opening inspection at A Place To Cook (4509 Kelvin) slapped the bakery for not having rounded…
Game Time: Dez Bryant’s Miami Dolphins Interview: Okay, I’ll Stick Up For Jeff Ireland
Okay, I’m about to stick up for Miami Dolphins’ general manager Jeff Ireland, and I feel like I’m walking into a pen full of Dobermans with a couple dozen raw steaks taped to my body. After all, the last guy to take up publicly for a Miami general manager was…
French Bands That Make Us Say “Oh Là Là!”
That’s Plastic Bertrand, but you probably know that song better from the traveling sequence in National Lampoon’s European Vacation or better yet, the basis for the Elton Motello track “Jet Boy Jet Girl.” Quality French rock and roll has sometimes been hard to come by, but when it hits, it…
Bartender Chat: Joe Rippey of the Vine Wine Room
First, we have to clarify something. Joe Rippey isn’t just a bartender. He’s the owner of the Vine Wine Room (12420 Memorial Drive), and we were lucky to catch him working behind the bar when we visited. Rippey might have the best job in the world. For the last four…
Ted Dekker: Living With Cannibals, Writing About Serial Killers
Armchair psychologists would say that author Ted Dekker writes thrillers because of his background. But it’s not as easy as that.Yes, Dekker, the author of The Bride Collector, grew up in Indonesia with his missionary parents and the family lived among a cannibalistic, primitive tribe called the Dani. Yes, colleagues…
Answers To Our “Metal Or Hymn?” Quiz
A little harder than you thought, wasn’t it? If Sunday-morning hymns belong to the King of Kings, and heavy metal is the Prince of Darkness’ domain, they sure seem to copy each other’s notes a lot. If you haven’t seen our little sacred-vs.-profane brain-teaser yet, go ahead and take a…
5 Things Other Than Chinese Food Found at a Chinese Buffet
Guilty pleasure or disgusting habit, visiting even the best Chinese buffets will leave you full and full of regret – best, of course, being a relative term in the world of Chinese food and buffets. Those costing more than $12 — Todai in the Marqu*E Center, for one — are…
Happy Hour Scene: The Tavern
The Place: The Tavern1340 West Gray St. 713-522-5152www.thetavernongray.comThe Hours: Seven days a week 3-8 p.m.The Deals: Domestic pints for $3; pitchers for $6; frozen margaritas and Bellinis are $3. The Scene: The inside of The Tavern on West Gray is so big and sprawling that even when the place is…
Rock ‘N’ Roll High School Revisited
As a producer and director, Roger Corman earned his reputation as “King of the B Movies” with efforts like Attack of the Crab Monsters and Galaxy of Terror. Shout! Factory is issuing many of them on DVD, including this cult classic. The gloriously campy 1979 Rock ‘n’ Roll High School…
Kelsey Gloston, 19, Learns Her Lesson: Don’t Piss Off Judge David Hittner
U.S. District Judge David Hittner has been on the federal bench almost 25 years, and he’s definitely earned a reputation for wanting things done his way.College student Kelsey Gloston didn’t know that, though, so she was arrested and handcuffed in her college classroom for blowing off jury duty.Gloston had been…
Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes #52: Moules Frites at Jeannine’s Bistro
Over the course of the next few months, I’m counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in the comments…
Irlene Mandrell: Work Those “Thighs Of Texas”
Irlene Mandrell Texercise (1983) You already know the greats of Texas’ recorded history. Roy Orbison. Lightnin’ Hopkins. ZZ top. Jandek. But no Texas record collection is complete without this regional remnant of the exercise album craze, Irlene Mandrell’s Texercise. Born in Corpus Christi, Irlene grew up in the shadow of…
Bobby Heugel’s Weekly Cocktail: Mint Julep, Part 2 – The Julep
It’s almost Derby time, and the anticipation is building. Celebrating the winning horse crossing the finish line, holding a mint julep, and laughing at all the poor suckers who will have to pay up on their harmless $5 bets is among the best feelings one can have as summer slowly…
Annise Parker Is Almost As Influential As Glenn Beck
Mayor Annise Parker is the 13th Most Influential or 13th Most Something, person in America, according to Time magazine.Time’s 2010 list of “the people who most affect our world” is out, and features Parker under the “Leaders” section.”It’s not every Democrat who quotes Calvin Coolidge after spending 100 days in…
Where Are We Peeing Between Karaoke Rounds?
This two-story Montrose bar is ground zero on Friday nights to sing your heart out, for better or worse. The club’s weekly karaoke shindig is one of the most drunk and lively in the city. Astute Houston drinkers should have already guessed where we are this week, but even so,…
Young Conservatives Protest A Texas Tech Sculpture Featuring Lesbians, Commies
Photo courtesy Texas TechDon’t look!!! It’ll make you hate America!!! You would think, what with a Kenyan-born Muslim frog-marching the country into socialism while killing your grandmother, that conservatives would have plenty of things on their plate to protest.But the Young Conservatives of Texas beg to differ. The Texas Tech…
Strange Snacks
If you were ever a fan of Sex and the City, you may recall the episode from season four in which the women recount their “secret single behavior” — the things each of them did when their boyfriends, lovers or husbands weren’t around. Carrie admitted that hers was standing around…
Fifth Ward’s DeLuxe Theater Gets Ready For Its Close-Up
City Council on Wednesday approved a contract with Smith & Company Architects for the renovation of the Fifth Ward’s historic DeLuxe Theater. No opening date has been announced for the 59-year old building, which has sat dormant for over thirty years.Cathy Payton, president and CEO of Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment…
Church Hymn Or Metal Song? You Tell Us
Rocks Off recently unearthed a bunch of old hymnals while digging around in our attic, and, coincidentally enough, we also unearthed a box of metal albums we’d meant to mail to the Backstreet Boys several years ago but never got around to it. We put the albums in our rotation…
HPD Beating Video: Just Waiting To Bust Viral On The Net
Reports are everywhere about eight Houston police officers allegedly caught on tape beating a suspect. But the worst is no doubt yet to come, when the video eventually gets released.Mayor Annise Parker tried to describe what’s seen on the security-cam footage as calmly as possible to reporters yesterday, but anytime…
Concert Etiquette For Dummies: Don’t Be A Douche
The following scenario has happened to Rocks Off three times in the past two months: There we are, waiting patiently in line to get into a crowded general-admission concert. When we finally get in, we make our way to the middle of the crowd, or sometimes to the corner of…
Recipe: Chicken Lettuce Wraps
This is a family favorite recipe. I first had lettuce wraps at some fast-casual eatery and thought they were decent but not really worth the price. I took a stab at making them at home, and over the years, this recipe, the combination of about four different ones, resulted. You…
Idol Beat: So Long, Siobhan
I think last night’s American Idol was supposed to be country-themed, to go along with the Shania Twain songs the contestants sang on Tuesday, but as I should have known, any organization that thinks of Shania Twain as country is going to have some weird ideas about genre. Rascal Flatts…
American Idol: So Long, Siobhan
I think last night’s American Idol was supposed to be country-themed, to go along with the Shania Twain songs the contestants sang on Tuesday, but as I should have known, any organization that thinks of Shania Twain as country is going to have some weird ideas about genre. Rascal Flatts…
Morgan Ensberg On Bags, The Rocket And Milton Bradley
Last week I gave you part one of an interview I did with former Astros’s third baseman Morgan Ensberg. Ensberg, now retired, is moving into the broadcasting field, doing college baseball game analysis for such networks as Fox Sports and ESPNU.This week, the discussion turns to some of the guys…
Sam Sneed: Christian Rappers Are Not Gangstas
Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. You remember Sam Sneed, right? Of course you…
Pork & Eggs in Caramel Sauce
After sharing our recipe for catfish in caramel sauce, we promised another sweet-n-savory recipe. Thit kho (pronounced like “tit caw”…yeah, it sounds dirty in English) is a dish featuring pork slow-cooked in a caramel sauce with hard-boiled eggs. This one can be considered the Vietnamese version of bacon and eggs,…
Pop Rocks: Hope Justin Bieber Dies Before He Gets Old
Oh, calm down. This isn’t a call for the murder of American’s favorite prepubescent pop idol. Sure, the former YouTube sensation from Stratford, Ontario who dresses and talks (and Tweets) like a diminutive Tupac Shakur has made more money in the last two years than you or I will see…
Ralph Anthony Grohman, 70: League City Man Waxes Philosophical After Cops Rough Up His Blind Wife
About all that can be said with any certainty is this: Mrs. Ralph Anthony Grohman, 71, was not about to let the League City cops just walk right up and arrest her 70-year-old husband Ralph for assault. What happened after that is open to debate.The official police story has her…
Foodie Floats
The Buffalo Bayou Partnership has a treat lined up for anyone with gourmet tastes, the Foodie Floats. Saint Arnold’s Brewing Company and Houston Dairymaid are providing the spread for today’s float, which happens to be just the first of a month-long series. The relaxing cruise departs from the Sabine Promenade…
“Carlos Torralba, Aleksandar Mladenovic and Xénia Hoffmeisterová”
Printmakers from around the globe have contributed works to the unnamed art show currently at the University of Houston – Clear Lake Gallery show, including Carlos Torralba from Xalapa, Mexico; Aleksandar Mladenovic (also known as A.M. Leka) from Belgrade, Serbia; and Xénia Hoffmeisterová from Prague, Czech Republic. Torralba has been…
10th Annual Dragon Boat Festival
There’s lots to see in and out of the water at the 10th Annual Dragon Boat Festival. The boats themselves are rather tame, just a small dragon head and a bit of a fiery tail at either end of a 40-foot-long Hong Kong-style boat carrying a crew of 22, including…
Projected.2010: New Visions of Sound and Light
Curator Chris Nelson had a real challenge putting together Projected.2010: New Visions of Sound and Light. That’s to be expected when you’re trying to create a new art form that blurs the lines between cinema, performance and the fine arts. The show mixes live performances by dancers and musicians with…
Papa Roach
Papa Roach are now virtual graybeards when it comes to radio-friendly modern rock. Since 2000, the band has been cranking out jams for the FM set, from that year’s hit “Last Resort” to “Hollywood Whore” from last year’s LP Metamorphosis. This summer the band will release its very first live…
“Living Room Art: Art Car Sprawl in the First Ward”
Hey Houston, y’all weren’t the first art car creators. “In Pakistan…[18-wheeler] trucks are festively decorated,” says Sebha Sarwar of Voices Breaking Boundaries. The truckers of her native land “pimp” their rides with reflective glass, animal murals and more. She borrowed from this tradition for VBB’s art car, which will be…
Xerxes
You expect opera to have wild plots, but one about a Persian king who’s enamored of a tree? That’s how George Frideric Handel’s Xerxes opens, with King Xerxes admiring a plane tree. Thankfully, the flamboyant ruler moves on to better interests including the lovely Romilda, who is alas in love…
Latin Wave: New Films from Latin America
There’s a slight shift in focus for Latin Wave: New Films from Latin America. Now in its fifth year, Latin Wave is featuring films that tell the stories of rural Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. That’s a departure from the city-centered films that have been dominant in Latin American…
Inprint: Gwendolyn Zepeda and Oscar Casares
This edition of the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series has a definite Texas twang. Native Houstonians Gwendolyn Zepeda will read and discuss her new novel Lone Star Legend, while Austinite Oscar Casares does the same with his late 2009 release Amigoland. Zepeda’s Lone Star Legend follows the exploits of…
“Flickerlounge: Short Works by Dara Greenwald”
“Flickerlounge: Short Works by Dara Greenwald” exposes the media artist’s political side. (Not that she was trying to hide it.) The short-filmmaker/activist’s pieces include found videos that inspire protest. Take Strategic Cyber Defense – a mash-up of footage from a government security training video. American guards encounter foreigners who, regardless…
“Steps in Time, A Broadway Biography in Song and Dance”
It seems tap dancers, like fine wines, only improve with age. At 71, Tommy Tune is that rare vintage – a choreographer, dancer, singer, director and producer who remains at the top of his game. If recent press photos are any evidence, with his salt-and-pepper hair he’s still easy on…
The Blue Mug
International cinema stars Konkona Sen, Munish Bhardwaj and Rajat Kappor appear in the stage comedy The Blue Mug, which will be performed in English and Hindi. A collection of vignettes including several personal memories of the actors from childhood to the recent past, The Blue Mug is based on The…
“A Tejano Son of Texas”
Before the word Tejano was used to refer to music, it was used to refer to people of mixed Spanish, Mexican and indigenous ancestry living on the Texas frontier. As far back as the early 1700s, Tejanos have been contributing to Texas culture. The Heritage Society exhibit “A Tejano Son…
Weatherford Family Concert: Carnival of the Animals
Conductor Robert Franz introduces kids to the sounds of the animal world during today’s Weatherford Family Concert: Carnival of the Animals. Written by Saint-Sa‘ns, Carnival gives voice to 14 different animals in as many movements. The program includes duets by pianist Esther Liao and her teacher, Houston Symphony pianist Scott…
“Cutting Edge: Work by Catherine Winkler Rayroud”
Most of us can’t cut out coupons without something going wrong. But in the case of Swiss artist Catherine Winkler Rayroud, something goes very, very right every time she picks up a pair of scissors. Her solo show at Archway Gallery, “Cutting Edge: Work by Catherine Winkler Rayroud,” shows the…
Pink Martini at Houston Symphony
Pink Martini, the uber-cool orchestra from Portland, Oregon, started out in 1994 playing groovy golden oldies like “Que Sera Sera.” Now the group plays music from around the world, including tunes like Ravel’s “BolŽro,” Ary Barroso’s standard “Brazil” and their own oddly hip songs. According to founder Thomas Lauderdale, “If…
The Crucifixion of Juarez
Mexicans lived in America before many territories became states. Indeed, much of our country was once their country. Today, Mexican immigrants are part of the fabric of this nation. Yet there is now fervor to drive immigrants out — almost at all costs. Keep them from coming here — almost…
‘Til Death Do Us Part: Late Nite Catechism 3
Everyone’s favorite nun is back for another round of hilarity in ‘Til Death Do Us Part: Late Nite Catechism 3. This time, Sister is teaching the faithful (and the philandering) the Sacraments of Married Life and Last Rites (which for some people are pretty much the same thing). The lessons…
“La Lengua Muerta”
Photographer Chuy Benitez, sculptor Jonathan Lopez and filmmaker Stephanie Saint Sanchez are among the artists participating in “La Lengua Muerta,” an art exhibit currently on display at labotanica. Curated by participating artist Aisen Caro Chacin, “La Lengua Muerta” (translation: “The Dead Language”) is a collection of new works by Hispanic…
“American Women”
Aerosol Warfare Gallery fights domestic violence with the multi-artist show “American Women.” “The artwork isn’t dark at all,” gallery founder Gonzo247 says. “We’re not trying to focus on the situation these women are in. The work is more enlightening and positive…It celebrates American women in a variety of aspects, and…
Traders Village 5th Annual Cinco de Mayo
Here’s all you need to know about the Traders Village 5th Annual Cinco de Mayo festival: margaritas. Oh, okay, we’ll tell you more. Live entertainment will be provided throughout the afternoon, with performances by Los Hermanos Cortez (past winners of the Houston Press Music Awards Best Conjunto category), Saints and…
“Keep It Slick: Infiltrating Capitalism with The Yes Men”
Bigwigs worldwide live in fear of The Yes Men and their hijinks-style activism. The protesters pose as seminar speakers and spokesmen to expose organizations – such as Halliburton and Dow – who they believe exploit capitalism. (As seen in their feature-length movie, The Yes Men.) “They urge us to consider…
2nd Annual Houston Fine Mineral Show
Mineral dealers from all over the world will descend on H-town for the 2nd Annual Houston Fine Mineral Show this weekend. For those readers who are unfamiliar with fine minerals, they’re the crystals and stones exhibited in museums, like our own Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals at the Houston…
MusiqaFest: An Evening of Jazz and Contemporary Music
A trio of musical powerhouses perform during today’s MusiqaFest: An Evening of Jazz and Contemporary Music. Composer and jazz pianist David Harris (who also happens to be the president of Musiqa’s Board of Directors) makes a rare appearance, temporarily coming out of retirement for today’s program. Jazz director for the…
The Callback
It’s a triangle of truths in The Callback, a new play by Gary Laird. The satire revolves around a trio of characters. There’s Gabe, a successful playwright; Mark, Gabe’s agent and ex-lover; and Ren, an actor who’s Gabe’s current lover. The story is a witty look at relationships and aspirations…
Apollo 13: Anatomy of a Failure
Get the inside story about the space mission that prompted the famous line “Houston, we have a problem.” Sy Liebergot, the former Apollo EECOM Flight Controller, presents Apollo 13: Anatomy of a Failure. The mission was called a “successful failure” in that while it failed to reach the moon as…
Marilyn Monroe, Anthony Quinn and the Others: The Stars Factory of Michael Chekhov
See Hollywood stars from a different perspective in the Russian documentary Marilyn Monroe, Anthony Quinn and the Others: The Stars Factory of Michael Chekhov. Charting the life of actor and director Michael Chekhov, the film reveals the man behind the influential theory of method acting, who was also a close…
Big Bite Nite
Dine with the dinosaurs at the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s second annual Big Bite Nite. The first year, the fund-raising event “was a huge success. It sold out,” says Latha Thomas, vice president of marketing and communications with the museum. This year the night’s theme is spicy. “We did…
‘Lil Red Ridin’ in da Hood
It’s a new and definitely updated version of the classic children’s fairy tale in ‘Lil Red Ridin’ in da Hood. Appropriately produced at the Red Door Theatre Company, the kids’ production shows ‘Lil Red and her rap group The Hoodies as they try to break into the music business with…
Jake Silverstein: Nothing Happened and Then It Did
These days writing a memoir is sticky business. Just ask James Frey, Herman Rosenblat or Margaret Seltzer – all of whom got caught passing off fiction as fact. Jake Silverstein, editor of Texas Monthly and writer of Nothing Happened and Then It Did, straddles the murky waters between the truth…
Let’s Dance
Don’t forget to keep your mobile on at CORE Performance Company’s group show, Let’s Dance. The pictures you take and send will be broadcast on stage at intermission. The repertoire includes choreography by Houston favorites Teresa Chapman, Becky Valls, Sue Schroder and others, along with noted female “Dutch Master” Beppie…
Lost In Space Festival
On the heels of the first Lost In Space festival this past December, organizers Marcus Gausepohl and Meghan Hendley have curated yet another stellar lineup for Friday’s second edition. This time, headliners include My Education, Yppah and Golden Cities, along with Passengers, The Manichean, Exterminating Angels and Together We Are…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Bert Long’s RED Book”, “David A. Brown: Trying to find my way…”, “Round 32: eco, xiang, echo: meditations on the african, andean & asian diasporas”
“Bert Long’s RED Book” Houston art scene fixture Bert Long presents 18 new pieces based on The Red Book, Carl Jung’s personal art journal that was published for the first time last year. Jung’s artwork was based largely on the symbolism of dreams, and Long mines his own personal unconscious…
Van Morrison
Let’s hope Saturday is a marvelous night for a moondance, because it’s Van Morrison’s first Houston-area performance since 1978. No doubt the only musician described as a “poet-sorcerer” by the All Music Guide, the Belfast-born Morrison has been a towering figure in Western pop since his band Them came around…
Dressing Right and Standing Tall?
Dear Mexican, I live in a Northeastern city, and a game I play with myself during the cold, wintry months is counting how many Mexicans I see without a heavy coat or appropriate outer garment. Believe me, I’m not prejudiced (I, too, am a minority, and this game is lightweight…
Toots & the Maytals
Toots & the Maytals have been around since reggae’s very beginnings. In fact, the Kingston crew, founded by Frederick “Toots” Hibbert in the early ’60s, is widely credited with giving the genre its name via a 1968 ditty called “Do the Reggay.” The Maytals’ ska origins live on in what…
Forbidden Iran
The great boundary-crosser of Iranian cinema, Bahman Ghobadi purposefully steps over the line with No One Knows About Persian Cats — a quasi-documentary, highly unofficial panorama of Tehran’s tenacious underground music scene and a movie which has accrued additional urgency since its first public screening at Cannes last May. Ghobadi’s…
Dr. Dog, Deer Tick
Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog has come a long way since the group’s origins in a City of Brotherly Love basement around the turn of this decade. The five-piece self-released the lo-fi fruits of those labors, the double-length The Psychedelic Swamp, in 2001, and each new album reconciles Dr. Dog’s indie impulses…
Houston Is Under Attack
SPACED CITY Houston Is Under Attack Bedbugs threaten our slumber BY CRAIG MALISOW In case you haven’t been paying attention, Houston is under attack from bedbugs. Of course, Hair Balls has never had to deal with these savage beasts because all the roaches in our apartment get to them before…
Heavy Weather
Almost two years ago, sometime White Stripe Jack White’s voice gave out while the Raconteurs were touring behind Consolers of the Lonely, so he recruited openers the Kills’ vocalist Alison Mosshart to help him out onstage. Her nicotine snarl was a perfect match for the Raconteurs’ no-quarter blues-rock; soon enough…
Readers Miss Robb
The Kitchen Ink Wow! I guess the more photos you have, the less you have to write [“Chef Tats,” by Katharine Shilcutt, April 15]. Bravo. As the months drag on, the ads pile up and the articles disappear. Was it really so expensive to subscribe to Tom Tomorrow and Ask…
Beyond His Years
Second-generation bluesman Bernard Allison may have been born in Chicago, reared in Peoria, Illinois, and Florida, and reside these days in Minneapolis, but he’s got a soft spot for Houston. “It’s been six years since we played Houston, so I’m glad to be coming back. There are so many great…
It’s Five O’clock Somewhere
Three ladies sat at a corner of the bar at Sawyer Park, a staple on the Washington Avenue scene since the place opened. The women, all recent college graduates — two from Texas A&M University, the other from Texas Christian University — drank liquor mixed with soda. Sawyer Park never…
In the Cards
Across the table sits a man. The name “Shonuff” is stitched on a white rectangle on the left side of his dark-blue work shirt. He is a poker player. His goatee hangs off his chin, dark, scruffy and unkempt. It makes his teeth look like they glisten when he talks…
It’s Five O’clock Somewhere: We’re So App-App-Appy
Technology has improved nearly every aspect of our lives and now at long last, it’s been applied to mankind’s greatest venture: the search for cheap drinks. Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC, the parent company of the Houston Press, and GoTime.com have partnered to bring you Happy Hours, the premier smart-phone…
The Energy
On their first LP, Houston supergroup The Energy sounds like a band possessed by death. Imagine the spirit and ghastliness of “Death Trip,” from the Stooges’ Raw Power, drawn and quartered across eight tracks and you can understand The Energy’s First Album. Made up of members of No Talk, Hell…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Man from Nebraska, Reefer Madness, Stick Fly
Man from Nebraska Each Tracy Letts play is unique unto itself. If you know the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright from only one work, you’d never guess he wrote the others. His first, Killer Joe, is gothic slasher; Bug is violent and paranoid; August: Osage County is all grown-up dramaturgy…
Man’s Best Friend
Mary Chase’s 1945 Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvey is a deceptive comedy. Light and fluffy as a bunny on the outside, the story has a strangely dark center that is captured beautifully in the Alley Theatre’s bang-up production of the odd little play about Elwood P. Dowd (James Black), a tender soul…
The Next Door’s Bend Me Over
“The best things in life are free, so let your mind and soul be free. Only you can hold yourself back.” I was reading that piece of bathroom graffiti at The Next Door (2020 Waugh, 713-520-1712), head twisted toward the wall behind me, when I realized I was nearly pissing…
South American Grill
Gus Saldivia and his father “Cachito” are from Uruguay. They moved to Houston in 1977 and ran Chimi Churri’s Restaurant on Bellaire in the 1990s, until the shopping center it was in was torn down. The restaurant was widely regarded as serving some of the most affordably priced steaks in…
Whatever’s Good
The salted pork spareribs at Shanghai Chinese Restaurant (9116 Bellaire Boulevard, 713-988-7288) are fried in a wok with garlic and red chiles and served simply, on a platter with steamed rice on the side. The first bite reminds my dining companion of fried chicken, but “better.” She is right —…
Hot Little Crabs
The popcorn crabs ($6.50) at Sushi Raku (3201 Louisiana, 713-526-8885) are so small you might almost feel guilty about eating them. Almost. An order comes with eight to ten quarter-size crabs covered in a light tempura batter and then flash-fried. They’re served with lime and a seven-spice powder known as…
Will Kimbrough
Along with Kenny Vaughan, Will Kimbrough has long been one of Nashville’s go-to guitar-plunker sidemen for years. A key part of Todd Snider’s original rock band the Nervous Wrecks, Kimbrough parlayed that job into a regular touring gig with alt-country god Rodney Crowell. He’s also there when Music City underground…
