Axl Rose Declines Guns N’ Roses Hall Of Fame Nod, Somehow Makes Sense
Following in the footsteps of the Sex Pistols in 2006, Axl Rose and his Guns N’ Roses have also declined their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction/ Rose spelled out his misgivings about the event in a Facebook note posted to the GNR official page. Somehow he managed to…
Texas Joins Suit Against Apple, Publishers for E-Book Price-Fixing
Texas joined 15 other states and the feds today in suing Apple and three publishing companies for alleged price-fixing e-books. “Colluding to fix prices violates antitrust laws and raises costs for customers,” Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said. “In this case, three of the nation’s largest publishing companies worked together…
Arkansas Fires Head Football Coach Bobby Petrino (w/ VIDEO)
Four and a half years after Bobby Petrino essentially “fired” the Atlanta Falcons as his employer by leaving a note for the players and sneaking off to the University of Arkansas in the middle of the night, Razorbacks athletics director Jeff Long notified a hastily assembled media throng last night…
Dining In Dallas: Bolsa Is Totally My Bag
My grandmother and grandfather had their first date at a Mexican restaurant in Oak Cliff, just south of downtown Dallas, after the end of World War II. These days, there are still plenty of Mexican restaurants to be found in this rapidly gentrifying part of town, but it’s now also…
Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs
Bear on Wine: Chapeau bas, as the French say (in other words, hats off), to Houston wine educator and Spec’s veteran fine wine buyer Bear Dalton for his painfully frank post on bottle variation in one of the world’s most coveted Super Tuscans — Guado al Tasso by Antinori. In…
Cover Story: We Were Promised a Theme Park!
By now, ground was supposed to have been broken on a 500-acre “green” theme park in New Caney, around 30 miles north of Houston. But a funny, and wholly unsurprising, thing happened after an unvetted consultant, dubious Dallas developer and secretive Montgomery County taxing district announced the project: It turned…
Come Fly Away at the Hobby Showcases Acrobatic Partnering But Little Charm
The setup: Four couples hook up in a nightclub in Twyla Tharp’s all-dancing jukebox musical, using 26 Frank Sinatra vocals set against a live big band for Gexa Energy Broadway’s Come Fly Away. It sounds delicious. Sounds are deceiving. The execution: This is no ordinary nightclub, but an amalgamated fantasy…
Readers Poll: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Vs. “Welcome To The Jungle”
Sometimes the hardest questions to ask are also the most fun, at least when it comes to pop music, because you end up managing to illicit the most angry and passionate responses. Which is exactly what happened when we pit two bands and their most damaged fist-pumping anthems against one…
Treat Them Fancy Ingredients With Some Respect, Okay?
There’s a saying in my family: “Just ’cause a cat has kittens in the oven, it doesn’t make ’em biscuits.” Roughly translated: You’re more than just the product of your environment; there are inherent qualities about yourself that can’t be changed, ever. But the phrase also applies to another dilemma,…
Kyle Field: Aggies Consider Tearing It Down
Here’s a thing we never expected to hear from Texas A&M, which usually guards tradition like it’s the essence of life: They’re looking at tearing down Kyle Field. We’re not saying Kyle Field shouldn’t be replaced — it’s been added onto haphazardly enough to be a strange facility, and there…
RIP Buddy: Who the Hell Stabs a Dog Five Times?
The Galveston County Daily News is reporting that a West End woman’s mixed-breed Lab was found stabbed to death earlier this week. Buddy was in a ditch, stabbed five times. [Lt. Joel] Caldwell, commander of the Galveston Police Department’s Animal Services Unit, has taught courses on animal cruelty statewide. He…
Rap Round Table: Are Rappers Musicians Or Performers?
Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Each week, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week’s Panel: Bun B, Cory Mo, Slim Thug, E.S.G., Chingo Bling, Doughbeezy, hasHBrown, B L A C K I E, Renzo, #Thurogod, CB Kings, Brad…
Rum Competition Sends Another Houston Bartender to National Finals
On Monday night at Grand Prize Bar, seven Houston bartenders competed in a throw-down sponsored by Don Q Rum and the Houston chapter of the United States Bartenders’ Guild. The three men and four women came from a mix of Houston restaurants, clubs and bars. The competitors were: Kehlen Selph–Coppa…
Reality Bites: Doomsday Preppers
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going watch them all, one at a time. Confession time: Ever since Red Dawn, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of putting together a survivalist stockpile in the event of Commie invasion/global pandemic/”low level” nuclear conflict/”Obamacare”-related economic catastrophe. Like…
Carnage: 9 Dead as Van Crammed with Illegal Immigrants Crashes
A Chevrolet Astro van designed to carry seven passengers was packed with 19 illegal immigrants when it crashed trying to get away from police near McAllen last night. Nine died, six were injured and two escaped from the 10:30 p.m. crash in Palmview, police say. “The bodies, believed to be…
Material Girl: Madonna’s Top 10 TV Commercials
They don’t call Madonna the Material Girl for nothing. She’s definitely a self-promoter when it comes to her music. Better yet, when she does this, it’s never the same advertised persona. Take, for example, when she first came onto MTV and performed “Like A Virgin” at the 1985 VMAs versus…
Hankering for an Ujukitsu Fruit: Do You Know If It’s in Season?
Don’t you hate it when you go to the market and you really want an Ujukitsu, but all they have are strawberries? How do you know which fruit and vegetables are in season, and if they’re local? A stroll through the markets this past weekend revealed a treasure trove of…
Check Out This Boey Styrofoam Cup Art
Boey is an exceptionally talented artist, and a lot of the time, the art that he makes is portrayed on Styrofoam cups. Art Attack asked him a little more about it. Art Attack: Why Styrofoam as a medium? Is it because you’re just so in love with Houston rap culture…
Comment of the Day: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, When It Comes to the Coogs’ New Logo
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Spend vs. Save: The High/Low on Three Spring and Summer 2012 Trends
Fashion trends come and go, often before we have time to blink. When you and I are heading out to shop for spring and summer fashion, couture houses are already releasing their fall collections. Sometimes it seems like the minute we shell out for that trendy “splurge” item, it’s already…
Lotzah Matzah: Top 5 Ways to Enjoy Unleavened Bread
Happy Pesach ya’ll! Passover, the Jewish holiday remembering the biblical story of the ancient Israelites’ escape from slavery and exodus from Egypt, is here. The story goes that once freed, the Israelites left in such a hurry that they could not wait for their dough to rise. To commemorate, matzah…
Cory Jreamz’s Polysemy Is A Mystery Worth Solving
There’s something strangely appealing, calming and inviting about the cover of Cory Jreamz’s four-track EP, Polysemy: A wine glass on a chair under a tree. But what’s the story behind it? The young, artsy rapper, a 17-year-old senior at Pearland ‘s Glenda Dawson High School, may have been raised in…
Kenny Chesney & Tim McGraw Playing Reliant Stadium August 4
Rocks Off is used to seeing these kinds of announcements only around the Rodeo or at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. But two of country music’s top alpha males, Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, will bring their “Brothers of the Sun” tour to Reliant Stadium Saturday, August 4, promoter AEG announced…
The Unexpected Man: A Romantic Thriller on a Train
A man and woman get on a train — strangers — and end up in the same compartment. Neither one is a kid; each is having a crisis of sorts. He’s a famous writer uncertain if he should continue the same old, same old. She’s equally ready for a change…
Fast Times: Burger King Garden Fresh Chicken, Apple & Cranberry Salad
Burger King has been advertising a new “Fresh Flavors” campaign — perhaps you have seen the commercials, featuring late-night host Jay Leno driving into a Burger King in one of his classic cars and ordering from the walk-up counter as if it were a drive-through window. Hilarious! As fellow EOW…
Rockets Sweep Road Trip, Bear Down on the Playoffs
Photo by Groovehouse This Rockets team, it just sneaks up on you. It’s loaded with second- and third-tier players, most of whom would be backups (albeit rotation players) on good teams. They struggle with interior defense and have an unproven coach who was once a hated rival. They lost their…
UPDATED: Willie D & Scarface Reunite For Trayvon Martin Tribute
UPDATED: Later on Wednesday morning, Willie D removed the “Hoodiez” video from YouTube. See his explanation below. UPDATE UPDATE (Thursday, 11 a.m.): It’s baaaaaaaaaack!! Willie D posted an edited version of “Hoodiez” Thursday morning. See below. ONE MORE UPDATE (Friday, 8 p.m.): Scarface notified Rocks Off on Twitter that we…
Cynthia Stewart: Sexts to Teen Send Former Elementary School Counselor to Prison
The verdict is in, and those of you who predicted a slap on the wrist for Cynthia “Cindy” Stewart will have to eat crow. The former elementary school guidance counselor from the San Antonio area has been sentenced to six years in prison after she was caught sending lurid photos…
Jaws Restored: It’s Still Not Safe to Go into the Water
The Restoration of Jaws It was the movie that invented summer blockbusters, Jaws. And it’s coming back. Steven Spielberg’s story of a great white shark that terrifies a coastal town is being restored and will be released on Blu-ray for the first time ever this August. One of just 13…
Don’t Do That: Five Big Mistakes iPhone Users Make
I mentioned in an item a couple weeks back that my aunt recently got an iPhone and has hit me up a few times for advice. Being the wise woman she is, she also took a class on how to use her new toy highly advanced technological device and it…
Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs
Arbitrary Criticism: New (to us) food blog alert! And this one is hilarious. Welcome to Arbitrary Criticism, a food blog written by Catherine Martin — a University of Houston student majoring in restaurant management, so you know she’s bona fide. In her latest entry, Martin visits Dry Creek Cafe, from…
Gothic Council Gets The Summertime Blues
Well, folks, the last of a most inadequate winter is behind us and now nothing looms ahead for months except endless overexposure of the yellow hurty thing in the sky. It’s probably no surprise to you that the average goth has no use for sunlight, even less for hot summer,…
100 Creatives 2012: Johnathon Michael Espinoza
What He Does: Johnathon Michael Espinoza began to dabble with paints at the age of 19, and his output has grown to include drawings and sketches as well. His work has a great degree of pop art elements to it, not unlike previous 100 Creative subjects like Jennifer Chen and…
STD App: Does Your Date Have More Claps Than the Coliseum? There’s an App for That.
So there you are on your first date, and everything’s going wonderfully: You have a cozy, romantic corner booth at the Golden Corral, and she looks positively beautiful. You think you’ll both be spending the night together. After you settle the bill and walk toward the car, you find yourself…
Captain Planet Marathon, and 6 Other Cartoons We’d Watch for 14 Hours
Sunday, April 22, is the 42nd annual Earth Day. Celebrated in over 170 countries, the holiday is meant to call attention to environmental crises all across the world. The day’s founder, Senator Gaylord Nelson, credits the widespread popularity of the movement to legitimizing environmental reform. Cartoon Network’s BOOMERANG has decided…
Roky Moon & BOLT’s Mike Hardin Speaks Out On The Band’s Breakup
Monday afternoon, Houston music fans discovered that Roky Moon & BOLT! were breaking up this coming summer after five more shows, ending a three-year reign as one of the most party-ready and beloved bands in town. Surely one of the most popular ones here at Rocks Off, and the most…
Melissa Borrett, Woman Behind Lubbock’s Nude Maid Service, Is Kinda Awesome
It’s been all over the news these last couple of days: Lubbock’s once-staunch moral fiber has slipped even further with the arrival of Lubbock Fantasy Maid Service, a business concern whose name pretty much describes what it offers: nekkid girls cleaning your house. Rates are $100 an hour for one…
Rick Ross Won’t Reschedule Missed Show; Refunds Available
This past Saturday night’s mysterious Rick Ross no-show at Bayou Music Center continues to be unexplained. Many people who were at the show believe promoters Real Uprizing Productions failed to pay Ross’ fee and covered for themselves by announcing the portly rapper suffered a seizure, which would be consistent with…
It’s Now Illegal to Feed [More Than Five] Homeless People [at Once] on Public Property
After a protracted debate and opposition from nearly every political and religious group in the city, Houston’s City Council passed an ordinance last week that bans serving charitable meals on properties — public or private — where the property owner hadn’t granted express permission for you to do so. The…
Video from the Spelling-Optional “Save Bobby Petrino!” Rally
It’s now been about five days since the police report was released telling us all what Bobby Petrino was hoping to keep a secret — that his unfortunate motorcycle accident a couple Sundays ago was not a mere solo act, but instead included a passenger. And not just any passenger,…
The Global Burger: India
I love a good burger. While I always enjoy the regular patty on a bun with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and ketchup (as long as it’s cooked at least medium rare), sometimes I like to put a twist or two on tradition. In this series of posts, I’m globalizing the burger…
Rick Santorum & Rick Perry: A Tale of Two Also-Rans
Sad, sad news today for anyone looking to take America back to the 1920s: Rick Santorum is dropping out of his heroic presidential run. Sure, Mitt Romney has taken enough war-on-woman wingnut stands to carry the banner, but has he ever gone to such Santorum lengths as to declare all…
The 10 Funniest Lines In Recent Extreme-Music Press Releases
Most days, Rocks Off’s email inbox is swamped with dozens of messages from industrious publicists eager for us to write something about their artists. That’s their job. Hitting the “save” or “delete” button is ours. We certainly have our own lapses sometimes, but we have also been writing (and reading)…
Burger King: The Prince of Ad Campaigns
Burger King recently announced a new ad campaign supporting the chain’s “Fresh Offers” menu items. The ads feature celebrity spokespeople ordering off of the new, supposedly fresher and healthier menu. One of the ads featuring Mary J. Blige singing about fried chicken was quickly pulled because some found it racist…
Actor Jeffrey Bean Injured, Alley’s Production of The Seafarer Delayed UPDATED
UPDATED: Performances of The Seafarer are rescheduled for April 14,15, 17 and 18 with Opening Night on April 19 and continuing through May 5. Patrons who have tickets that are not on the new schedule will be contacted by the Alley about moving to a different performance. Jeffrey Bean, one…
Tuesday April 10, 2012 Deals of the Day
Today’s Houston Press Voice Daily Deal is good for half-off ($10 for $20) off fresh, natural, seasonal fare at Nature’s Market café. Start your journey to a healthier lifestyle at Nature’s Market, a fully stocked grocery store with a café menu full of delicious sandwiches, pizzas, smoothies, and coffees. Your…
DVDs & Blu-rays: Into the Abyss, The Iron Lady and More Marlon Brando
Into the Abyss stars Jason Burkett and Michael Perry; Werner Herzog directs. Directors, like actors, build a reputation over time and audiences come to know what to expect from them. Werner Herzog is one of those directors. With a career that spans Aguirre: Wrath of God to Grizzly Man, Herzog…
Upcoming: Joe Cocker, The Cult, The Lumineers, The Slackers, Jason Mraz, Etc.
Blind Pilot: Sun., July 15. Fitzgerald’s, 2706 White Oak, Houston. The Bouncing Souls, The Menzingers, Luther: Sat., June 23. Fitzgerald’s The Bright Light Social Hour: Fri., May 25. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston. Broncho: Thu., June 28. Fitzgerald’s Cassandra Wilson: Sat., Oct. 20. Cullen Center, 1200 Smith St., Houston…
This Is the Guy Who Checked His Car for Damage, Not His Victim, in Fatal Hit & Run
Illustration by HPDAt least the car was okay.Crime Stoppers has released a composite photo for a leading candidate of Most Skewed Priorities of the Year: The guy who smashed into a pedestrian and knew it, who then drove a couple of blocks before stopping to check his car for damage…
Touchback Movie Passes Still Good, But at Different Theater
If you picked up a screening pass for the Touchback screening scheduled for Thursday, April 12, at 7 p.m., the theater has changed. The new screening info is: TOUCHBACK Edwards MarqE 23 7600 Katy Freeway 7:30 p.m. Your original pass still works — just go to the new theater to…
Mala Sichuan’s Big Sister Disappoints in Dallas
Visiting family in Dallas this weekend, I found myself with a little down time to explore a city I very nearly grew up in but know very little about. I spent my summers as a kid split into three very different settings: Houston, Dallas and a cattle ranch in Henderson,…
Top 10 Most Outrageous Onstage Incidents, Antics & Meltdowns
Everyone has their meltdown moments, no doubt about it. We make mistakes and, most of the time, we try to correct them. We have them because we are all human. Unfortunately, though, when you are in the spotlight, your hurts, tantrums, mistakes and meltdowns are all magnified for all the…
Kallinen Contemporary’s East End Circus
Kallinen Contemporary is off the beaten path, in more ways than one. It’s in the far East End, devoid of any other galleries or artistic attractions, not counting taking photos of the Houston Ship Channel, in a law office, and its first show is titled “Space Zombie Mayan Apocalyptic Human…
UH, for Some Reason, Decides to Go All “Penn State” with Its New Logo
We tried. We offered five surefire-hit suggestions for the new UH logo, ones that would let the lower-tier Coog program draft off the heat of some of college football’s most storied schools. The new UH logo is out and the good news is they obviously adopted our philosophy of using…
J. Kent Adams: JP’s Bench Style Offensive to an Impressive List of Minorities, Conduct Commission Says
Justice of the Peace J. Kent Adams, whose precinct is in Spring, as been admonished by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for a string of statements offensive to various ethnicities, according to reports. The SCJC hasn’t listed the reported “public admonishment” on its website, and the only person allowed…
New Photo Contest: Re-create Your Favorite Local Work of Art
A few weeks ago, while hiking near White Oak Bayou, my daughter Harriet picked a bouquet of this year’s astoundingly abundant wildflowers. I snapped the photo above and posted it to Facebook. A day or so later, a commenter pointed out the resemblance to one of the most beloved paintings…
Drafting A New MTV Rock N’ Jock Softball Game
If you mention and explain the concept of MTV’s Rock N’ Jock to ’90s babies, they will look at you glassy-eyed and slowly walk away. But it’s true, in the late ’80s and early ’90s it was possible to gather the best and sexiest celebrities in TV, film and music…
Fresh Pasta and Memories on the Menu at Paulie’s Restaurant
About a year ago a friend of mine suggested Paulie’s Restaurant on Westheimer for a lunch date. She knew I was on the hunt for high-quality but casual Italian food, and thought Paulie’s might fit the bill. Like most people who come from immigrant Italian stock (my paternal grandmother was…
Top 5 Ways to Use That Leftover Ham
Easter is lovely. Brunch, family and friends, warmth, love, cocktails, and ham…lots of freaking ham. Every year, no matter how many people join in on brunch, we can’t seem to finish off the baked ham. But alas, no worries! Leftover ham is fantastic. I have a number of go-to uses…
Everything in the Garden Comes Up Roses at Theatre Southwest
The setup: Edward Albee’s extremely Albee-esque, American adaptation of Englishman Giles Cooper’s snake-in-the-garden black comedy is, perhaps, the most satisfying evening in the theater in a long time — and not just at Theatre Southwest, which is having a banner season, but anywhere else in town. Garden is a ripping…
Houston Scores Big-Time In Latest Edition Of Encyclopedia Of Country Music: Part 5
While Houston played a huge part in the early history of country music, by the end of the 1950s a new breed of artist was coming on the scene. Western Swing, for all purposes, was a relic, and although honky-tonk was still a force in the charts and on radio,…
Comment of the Day: UCLA Represent!
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Pop Rocks: Charles on Film — Manson Through the Years
There are a handful of sure things in life: the other line at the toll booth moving faster, a dog’s undying loyalty and the fact that Charles Manson will never ever get paroled: After 11 failed bids for freedom, notorious killer Charles Manson, now 77, is up for parole later…
App of the Week: The Annoyance That Is the Facebook Reader App
One of my favorite things about Facebook is the ability it provides users to share information. I tend to think of Facebook as a place to share articles, photos, videos and the like, whereas I view Twitter as a place to share some of the same things, but more often…
5 Fun Facts About 2012 Masters Champion Bubba Watson
If you’re a diehard golf fan, be warned that this post contains practically no Masters 2012 analysis, and I can virtually assure you that you won’t learn anything new. However, if you’re a casual golf fan who only pays attention to the sport when Tiger Woods is a) in the…
Top Six Rap Videos Set In Places Of Worship
Rocks Off was only 13 years old in October 1992 when singer Sinéad O’Connor sang an a cappella version of Bob Marley’s “War” on Saturday Night Live and, on cue, tore an image of Pope John Paul II into pieces while singing the word “evil.” “Fight the real enemy,” she…
Where Are We Drinking?
This wine bar is still the new kid on the block, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have some mature selections and a classic feel to it. In addition to stocking Texas wines like the Duchman bottles seen above, it also has some unusual and hard-to-find wines and plenty of…
Who Said It: Kirk Cameron or Rick Perry?
Who would have ever imagined Kirk Cameron, the loud-mouthed, sarcastic prankster on TV’s Growing Pains, whose Tiger Beat centerfolds adorned the walls of many a young lady, would be promoting a film about the religious foundations of this country? Cameron has been out and about in the public eye talking…
UH Getting New Logo: Our Five Suggestions (UPDATED With New Logo)
Later this morning the University of Houston will be announcing what it’s calling its “new logo and marks.” The old “logo and marks” weren’t exactly worn out from use, but we guess an update was needed. UH, of course, is trying to pump life into its football program as they…
Laura Gibson Haunts A Very Strange Hotel In “La Grande”
Laura Gibson is a singer-songwriter from Oregon… where pretty much all the really great indie artists come from, apparently. Seriously, it’s like half of the musicians I find a brilliant music video for come either from England or the Pacific Northwest. Dreariness is apparently a muse, but I digress. Gibson…
Joyce DiDonato Sings the Title Role in Maria Stuarda for HGO
Joyce DiDonato will sing the title role in Maria Stuarda, Gaetano Donizetti’s opera about the battle of wills between Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. DiDonato is coming back to Houston after an amazing year in which she won a Grammy for Diva Divo and performed at the…
Amanda Woods: Bar Employee Blew a .20 After Fatal Accident
Amanda Lynn Woods, the pool-bar worker who sped through two red lights before smashing into two cars and killing a woman in a 4 a.m. crash, had a blood-alcohol content of .20, prosecutors said today. Woods, 22, made her first court appearance in the case in Montgomery County. She faces…
Vic Shealy Is the First Football Coach in Houston Baptist History
Houston Baptist University took another step towards becoming a football program today by naming a head coach. He is Vic Shealy, who most recently was defensive coordinator at Kansas, a team that went winless in conference play and whose staff was thus replaced. Shealy also has coached at Richmond, UNLV,…
RIP Roky Moon & BOLT! 2009-2012
According to a Facebook post by Roky Moon & BOLT lead singer and songwriter Mike Hardin, Houston’s beloved glam-punk-rock-Broadway group is no more as of this year’s Free Press Summer Fest. The statement reads as follows:…
Buy a Bottle of Sake and Go Nuts
I don’t mean that literally, of course. But I’ve noticed a tendency for people who are brazen about pairing beer and wine with all manner of foods to be shy when it comes to sake. Why? Japanese rice wine, sake, is traditionally paired with Japanese foods. Imagine that. And unlike…
Harvard, CU-Boulder Design Downtown Houston of Your Dreams, Possibly
That up above, the dreamy rendering of the area that used to house the downtown Post Office? It’s “Bayou Commons,” which is “strategically designed to be downtown Houston’s first residential district celebrating cultural diversity and urban lifestyle.” But don’t go looking for it yet…
The 2nd Annual Kiss My Grits Throwdown by YTAC a Huge Success
The Young Texans Against Cancer’s YTAC 2nd Annual Kiss My Grits Throwdown revealed a couple of things. First, that young Houstonians are more than willing to engage in philanthropy for a good cause, and second, that any food competition featuring 10 chefs is a huge draw. Host venue The Capitol…
Trina Husky: Trinity Trailer Park Fracas Lands Mugshot Hall of Famer in Jail
The artists in the Trinity County Jail and another of the little Lake Livingston-area town’s miscreants have done it again: working together, they have created yet another solid entry in the Mugshot Hall of Fame. On March 12, Officer Bryan of the Trinity PD was summoned to check out a…
Wine of the Week: Great Value for an Under-$40 Red Wine
Here at Wine Time, we generally try to write about under-$25 bottles readily available in the Houston market. Even though there are many great price-quality-ratio (PQR) wines out there at lower “price points” (as we say in wine-speak), under-$25 represents the current sweet spot in my experience, where you can…
Sonisphere UK Cancelled: Are Music Festivals in Trouble?
News emerged late last month that the U.K. date of Sonishphere, the traveling European hard-rock festival, has been canceled. It’s a pretty big blow for music fans across the pond — the headliners scheduled for the event included Queen with Adam Lambert, KISS and Faith No More, and reunited Swedish…
Mad Men: Shove Those Fears Under a Bed
The house that Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce built is standing on shaky ground. That is to say, its employees are. This week’s episode begins with a sick Don bumping into an ex-lover in an elevator. This would not be anything out of the ordinary for the once multi-partnered guy, except…
5 Songs For Frank Lloyd Wright
It’s likely the average person can name only one architect, and that it’s Frank Lloyd Wright, who died 53 years ago today. Born in a small Wisconsin farming town, Wright would grow up to have an amazing impact on the world of construction and housing. His work aimed to harmonize…
If You Have the Choice, What Will Your Last Meal Be?
Sometimes, a story that seems like a lark becomes remarkably thought-provoking. When reader Christian Palmer suggested I do a story on the last meals of prisoners, it seemed like a “fun” thing to do. The more I looked into it though, the more I started thinking about life and death,…
Pilar Pineda Rodriguez: Charged with Burning Woman to Death in 2011
A 55-year-old woman has been charged with murder for setting a 42-year-old woman on fire last year. Pilar Pineda Rodriguez has been charged in the death of Norma Angelica Tapia, who was last scene leaving her job at the Shish Kabob Cafe II on the far west side. Her body…
Friday Night: Childish Gambino At House Of Blues
Childish Gambino House of Blues April 6, 2012 “Real G’s only; don’t fuck up my alphabet.” — Childish Gambino, “It’s On” Childish Gambino is Donald Glover and Donald Glover is Troy from a television show called Community and Troy from a television show called Community is funny as eff and…
Haute Wheels Houston: Hot VOICE Deal of the Day for Half-Off VIP Entry
Haute Wheels Houston, the food truck festival brought to you by the same creators as Brewmaster’s Craft Beer Festival, will be rolling into town on May 12 and 13. The festival, now in its second year, will bring together a bunch of Houston food trucks, live entertainment by local musicians,…
Katie Van Kooten Powers Her Way Through HGO’s Maria Stuarda
Katie Van Kooten says she usually plays “the whimpering, dying person no one loves.” So she jumped at the chance to portray Queen Elizabeth I — “someone who has power and destiny” — in Houston Grand Opera’s upcoming production of Maria Stuarda with music by Gaetano Donizetti. American soprano Van…
The Best Oysters I’ve Had All Season…
…were at Pappadeaux. At the bar. During happy hour. Surprised? I was. Although, in retrospect, I’m not sure why I should have been. I’m not anti-chain. In fact, some of my favorite oyster bars are the Captain Benny’s boats that litter the city. But I hadn’t been to a Pappadeaux…
Bobby Petrino: 5 License Plates He Should Have Been Using
In case you missed it, universally reviled Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino finds himself in a bit of a flap after a motorcycle accident. He told his bosses he was riding alone, but it turns out his passenger was a young woman he’d hired for some vague job in the…
Rick Ross Cancels Houston Show After Apparent Seizure
A Rick Ross show at the newly renamed Bayou Music Center (formerly Verizon Wireless Theater) was cut short on Saturday night because one thing was missing: Rick Ross. The show, which included Ross understudy Ace Hood and Alief’s own Tank Law, was presented by promoters Real Uprizing. Conflicting reports continue…
Yoga in the Olympics? Let’s Meditate on That
Imagine this: One day you are watching the Olympics and the telecast turns to a man or woman engaging in a certain position. The commentator chimes in and explains to viewers that what they are seeing is a person in the kapotasana pose, better known as the kingpin pose. Then,…
Yes, Internet, the Titanic Really Happened…
This past week saw the re-release of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster weeper Titanic into theaters in glorious and wallet-draining 3-D and uh, regular D. It’s been 100 years since the real ship sank, and almost 15 years since the movie was released, making for a great built-in marketing campaign. But…
What’s Cooking This Week?
Easter was wonderful (as were the week of home cooked meals I enjoyed leading up to the celebration). One of my favorite parts about Easter are the leftovers, or remaking the leftovers. So I’m using up some leftover ham and making some other Spring treats. Here’s what I’m making: Scrambled…
Backyard Chickens and Fresh Eggs: Why You Should Have Both
The wizened cook of The Whistlestop Café, Sipsey, said about the local sheriff, “Oh it don’t make no kind of sense. Big ol’ ox like Grady won’t sit next to a colored child. But he eats eggs- shoot right outta chicken’s ass!” Grady, in Fried Green Tomatoes, may have been…
See Rock City & Other Destinations: Slight But Entertaining
The setup: A pleasant pastiche of musical vignettes ambles its way onto the stage of Theatre LaB Houston, to take us on a tour of some memorable locations, and some more easily forgotten. The execution: There’s always something miraculous about the variety and showmanship that Artistic Director Gerald LaBita crowds…
Friday Night: K-Rino & Lil’ Flip At Fitzgerald’s
Lil’ Flip, K-Rino and More Fitzgerald’s April 6, 2012 Lil’ Flip and K-Rino are two of Houston’s longest-reigning rap stars, and Fitzgerald’s is one of the city’s longest-running nightclubs. It seemed almost wrong that neither had performed onstage at the venerated live-music institution before Friday night, but that injustice was…
Comment of the Day: Ghosts of Houston
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Aeros Bombing at the Wrong Time
A very wise man named John Blutarsky once said, “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no.” But after this weekend, even though the Germans didn’t bomb the Houston Aeros, it might be getting to that point where it can be said that the season’s over. The…
Game of Thrones: “The Night Lands”
Dear HBO, I understand your desire to maintain what so far has been a fairly impressive ratings run for Game of Thrones (beating the fifth-season premiere of Mad Men as the highest rated scripted program a week ago). I’m also aware that George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire”…
Carlos Alvarado: Murders, Burns, Buries His “Queen” of a Wife, Cops Say
When KTRK interviewed Carlos Antonio Alvarado, 45, about his missing wife, they say he looked into the camera and addressed the presumed kidnappers by saying, “Isabel Alvarado is not a normal person. She is a queen. And you have no right to put your dirty hands on her.” On Sunday…
Songs of Luxury & Materialism: Porsche’s Place In Popular Music
Behind every manufactured product there’s a human being who designed it. Working alone or as part of group, they create and revise until that product is out in the world available for purchase. In the case of the Porsche 911 that man was Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, who passed away recently…
Ragtime: the Musical at Miller Outdoor Theatre: A Must-See Event
The set-up: Ragtime, the ambitious musical that mixes the broad sweep of American history at the beginning of the 20th century with a study of an upscale family coping with the changes, brings its energy, drive and pageantry to the Miller Outdoor Theatre. The execution: An exuberant, brilliant cast sings…
Where Are We Eating?
I had never heard of a “lobstree” prior to eating at this new restaurant last week. What is a lobstree? I’m convinced it’s a made-up word, as a Google search reveals nothing in the world called a “lobstree,” and my dining companion — a longtime food writer and current editor…
Top 10 Worst Sports Stadiums, in Honor of ASU’s “Tampon with Wings”
This week, Arizona State University unveiled artist renderings of an overhauled Sun Devil Stadium. The project, which will eliminate some 16,000 seats and install a canopy-type roof at the circa 1958 venue, was spearheaded by new ASU athletic director Steve Patterson. (If you remember, Patterson was instrumental in getting the…
Bonna-What?: How 7 U.S. Music Festivals Got Their Names
This whole week, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, featuring the Black Keys, Radiohead, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, Pulp, At the Drive-In, the Shins, AVICII, David Guetta and maybe one or two others, will be all anyone who follows music these days will be talking about. Then early…
Top 10 Poems to Celebrate National Poetry Month
In an effort to encourage a lifelong love of poetry, the Academy of American Poets established April as National Poetry Month. The monthlong celebration includes poetry-themed events, inspirational resources, educational materials and poetry parties across the country. Houston has joined in the celebration with several poetry readings around town including…
The Definitive Anthology of Bobby Petrino’s Affair with That Hot Volleyball Player
This past Sunday evening, after a quiet dinner at home, Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino decided to unwind by taking a leisurely ride on his motorcycle. Leisure nearly turned to tragedy as Petrino crashed the motorcycle in a story that, at the time, had a shelf life of about…
This Sculpture Is a Piece of Garbage — Intentionally
Call it “Finding NOMO.” There’s a new sculpture at Discovery Green, but you won’t find it on land. For the park’s Earth Day festivities this weekend, the Air Alliance has recruited Houston Art Car artist Mark Bradford to make an educational sculpture that represents bottle pollution in our waterways. It’s…
This Week in Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we’re really glad to have all these giant crosses all over town to remind us how goddamn Christian we all are while our homeless starve. Ha ha, just kidding! This ordinance won’t starve the homeless. It’ll just fine…
Alvin Foley III, 18, Bayou Body Count No. 42
A teen who was critically injured in a fight March 25 has died, and murder charges have been filed against another teen. Alvin Foley III, 18, was shot with two companions in the 9800 block of Club Creek about 10 p.m. that night. He was taken to Ben Taub but…
Pedro Miguel Rosales Ramos, 32, Homeless Man Shot for His Bike & Food, Bayou Body Count No. 41
Houston police say a homeless man was shot to death for his bicycle and some food he’d been given. Pedro Miguel Rosales Ramos, 32, was shot in the chest Wednesday night in the 11700 block of Hempstead Highway and was pronounced dead at the scene. Ramos was heard arguing in…
Upcoming Events: A Flurry of Festivals
With warmer weather ahead, food festivals are kicking off in earnest across the city, starting with the 17th annual Bayou City Cajun Fest on Saturday, April 14, and Sunday, April 15, at Trader’s Village. Admission is free to the Cajun Fest, which runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both…
Person of Interest: “Flesh and Blood”
For a network TV show, Person of Interest crams an impressive amount of narrative into a relatively short span of time. I know, we’re not talking The Wire levels of nuance here, but with the first season wrapping up, creator Jonathan Nolan has done a more than adequate job fleshing…
Charles Reese: Accountant Paid Vidor Woman $750,000 for Videos of Her Molesting Her Children & Sexing Animals
A Louisiana accountant has been charged with the production of child porn, but the story is far stranger than that simple statement. Charles Edward Reese, 66, paid a Vidor woman $750,000 over eight years for sending videos and photos of herself having sex with her children and with animals, according…
10 Movie Songs We Can’t Hear Without Thinking Of Sex
While we at Rocks Off boast many obsessions and vices (we’ll call them “hobbies”), a few choice ones unashamedly top our list. If you perverted pop-culture junkies agree that sex, music, and movies are among life’s simplest and most necessary pleasures, then keep reading. If you still blush during sex…
Loans on Tap: Sam Adams Launches Lending Program
Sam Adams has recently launched “Brewing the Dream,” a campaign aimed at providing loans to aspiring food, beverage and hospitality small business start-ups and entrepreneurs. With a goal to both create and save jobs in a tough industry, Sam Adams is looking to provide opportunity for small-time brewers, chefs and…
Michael Elbert Young: Fifth Escapee in 18 Months from GEO Group Facility
A high-risk child rapist who hopped over his halfway house’s barbed wire fence Thursday night is the fifth sex offender to abscond from the privately run Southeast Texas Transitional Center in 18 months. According to the Houston Chronicle story linked above, authorities say Michael Elbert Young, who might be “mentally…
Passage: The Week in Photos
It’s time again to check out the Houston Press Flickr Pool and see what kinds of art shots our talented photographers have added. We love street art, unique perspectives and beautiful photos of Houston’s creative community. If you think you’ve got a good eye, drop your pictures in the pool…
Sig’s Lagoon Keeping Sundance, Beloved San Marcos Store, Alive
A big part of Texas music history went dark this past weekend, when Sundance Records went out of buisness after 35 years. But thanks to the San Marcos record store’s strong Houston connection, part of its legacy – in fact, a large part of its inventory – is coming here…
Chef Chat, Part 3: Van Pham of Phamily Bites Food Truck
The last two days, we’ve been chatting with Van Pham about his food and what it’s like to be an owner of a food truck in Houston. Today, we try some of his Phamily Bites food and find out what it’s like to get pho cup’d and vandalized at the…
Comment of the Day: What Really Went On in the Lamar High “Riot”
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Community: “Pillows and Blankets”
As Community starts returning to form and moves beyond the latest Dan Harmon/Chevy Chase imbroglio, we’re starting to harvest the crop of seeds planted in past episodes (Vice Dean Laybourne, Chang’s “security interns”), culminating in last night’s quasi-epic battle. But while there was a great deal of humor in the…
MTV Unplugged’s 10 Strangest Moments
Those of you fond of criticizing the lack of music on MTV, take note: The network’s venerable Unplugged series returns on Sunday with a performance by British indie-poppers Florence and the Machine. It’ll be the first of eight shows planned for this year, with The Civil Wars and Dierks Bentley…
The Meaning of Matzoh
The Jewish holiday of Passover starts tonight. Passover celebrates the Jews escaping Egypt and God smiting the cruel pharaoh in the process. Passover is also called “The Festival of Unleavened Bread.” According to the Torah, God sent ten plagues, punishing the pharaoh for not listening to Moses about letting his…
25 Random Thoughts on This Upcoming Astros Season
The Astros season starts today, and since I’m always in search of a cheap and easy post, I thought I would throw out some random thoughts about the Astros heading into the season. 25. The first Astros pitcher to collect a loss will be Brett Myers when he blows a…
7 Cool & Cheap Things To Do This Weekend: Neuwave!, Iguanas, Jack Saunders, Etc.
One final reminder that Belgian electronic body music groundbreakers Front 242’s show originally scheduled for tonight at Numbers has been cancelled (for some time, it looks like), but we’re guessing Classic Numbers might toss in “Headhunter” or “Never Stop” anyway. If not, you’ll hear EBM and every other subdivision of…
Health Department Roundup: Crawfish and Opposites
If you’re looking for crawfish, a couple local places did well during inspections. LA Crawfish (1005 Blalock) earned just two violations during a recent re-inspection. One of those was hand-washing signs not posted as required, a pretty mild infraction that would not even be a requirement if Ron Paul Swanson…
Dennis Quaid, Brett Cullen & More Return to UH to Honor Theater Prof Cecil Pickett’s Memory
Cecil Pickett, who died in 1997, is a revered name not only in Houston theater circles but across the United States among his former students. But when Steve Wallace, director of the University of Houston School of Theatre & Dance, arrived here from Tennessee five years ago, he wasn’t familiar…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: American Reunion
Title: American Reunion Wait, They’re Having A Reunion Already? When Did American Pie Come Out? 1999. Truly, the grim specter of Death comes for us all. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Two flutes out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Classmates get together for their 13th high school…
Bartender Chat: Bryan of Danton’s
This week I did what I do pretty much every other Monday evening. I went over to Danton’s, winner of 2011’s Best Cajun and Best Seafood restaurant awards in the Houston Press Best of Houston edition, to partake in what French poet Léon-Paul Fargue said was akin to “…kissing the…
Days N’ Daze: The Most Charming Riot of All Time
Each week, 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. Meet Days N’ Daze. They look sweet, right?…
Good Friday, Good Reads: From the Fashion Glossies
It’s Good Friday, so even if you are at work, we have to suspect your productivity is low. It’s just a guess. If the phone isn’t ringing and incoming mail is at a standstill — you know, because the rest of us have the day off? — we have compiled…
Week in Photos: Parasols
Each week, we take a dip into the Houston Press Flickr pool and see what our talented photographers have been up to. We’re looking for pictures that represent the best of Houston, from food to art to events, to secret hidden spots of beauty. Just drop them in our Flickr…
Phillip Oliver, a.k.a. “Showtime”: Sticks Gun in Man’s Rear, Forces Woman to Blow Her Son-in-Law
Police say Phillip Don Oliver, who’s also known as “Showtime” and “Wild Thing,” went to a northside apartment to collect $200,000 he thought the resident owed a man named “Rico.” How he went about trying to get it is the twisted stuff of a porn maker trying to out-Tarantino Tarantino…
5 Ways to Liven Up Your Seder
I love Passover. Over the years it has become one of my favorite holidays. There are very few holidays that require you eat and drink very specific foods by the big man himself, and I just happen to love all of the obligatory noshes pertaining to the holiday (don’t mock…
Cool: Old Houston Photos Mashed with Their Present-Day Houston Equivalent
Houston Press staffer Abrahán Garza likes to meld Houston’s past and present together. He goes around town matching up old postcards to present-day sites, something he saw on the Web a year or so ago. “I’ll find a remnant in the old photo I will try to match it up…
Openings & Closings: Istanbul Is Constantinople
The big news this past week was the closing of Pesce, the longtime River Oaks seafood spot at Kirby and West Alabama owned by Landry’s (Harlow’s somehow stays open, yet Pesce gets closed? Go figure.). In its place, yet another Brio Tuscan Grille is moving in. No word on what…
100 Creatives 2012: Jaemi Blair Loeb
Starting with violin lessons at the age of three, Jaemi Blair Loeb’s eventual transformation into a conductor was all but inevitable. The “beginning of the end,” as she puts it, was when she conducted her own composition for her former middle school band at the age of 15. Since then,…
Saturday Night Live’s Top 10 Musician Portrayals & Parodies
Ahhh… Saturday Night Live. A place where pop culture goes to get mocked. SNL has long mocked many musicians, though some more scathingly than others. The original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” and various other casts that have come and gone do it with such finesse and bite, which…
The Ins & Outs of Passover Pet Food: L’chaim, Fido, Mr. Whiskers, Lizards & Gerbils
On Passover, it’s customary for the youngest child in the home to ask The Four Questions, including, “On all other nights, we eat either leavened or unleavened bread; why on this night only unleavened?” The answer has to do with Charlton Heston and the parting of the Mississippi or something…
30 Seconds With Prong’s Tommy Victor
Prong is back together and bringing you a brand new dose of their pioneering metal sound to ram down your throat in the form of a new record, Carved Into Stone. We got in touch with founder Tommy Victor to see what he could enlighten us with in 30 seconds…
3 Popes Worse Than Rodrigo Borgia
Showtime’s The Borgias returns to television for its second season this Sunday. The series, starring Jeremy Irons and directed by Neil Jordan, details the life of Pope Alexander VI, one of the most controversial pontiffs ever to sit on the throne of St. Peter, after his ascendency to power. Season…
Voncil Felder & Netfa Lowe: Their Debit-Card Fraud Scheme Was All in the Timing
The modus operandi of Voncil Felder, 23, and Netfa Lowe, 34, in their scheme to use debit cards to defraud Chase banks was simple enough, but it required some good timing. The two — along with other defendants — would recruit and pay people to apply for debit cards. They…
Ailing Eddie Vedder Postpones Houston Dates Until November
In news that should ruin a few Ten Club fanatics, Eddie Vedder has postponed his Jones Hall dates set for later this month until November 12 and 13. All tickets for the Jones dates, April 22-23, will be honored at the new shows. The April 22 concert sold out very…
Comment of the Day: The Great Astrodome Conspiracy
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
5 Eggs Benedicts to Try in Houston
With Easter looming, I’ve got eggs on the brain. After a recent brinner in which I feasted upon “Eggs Chesapeake,” poached eggs with Hollandaise over crab cakes, I’ve been pondering other variations on traditional Eggs Benedict. Here are five to try in Houston: 5. Eggs Sardou. Looking for a low…
MLB: 4 Season Win Total Bets You Can Still Get Down on Before Friday Morning
Happy Major League Baseball Opening Day! Oh, what’s that? You say I missed Opening Day? It was actually last night when the St. Louis Cardinals helped christen the Miami Marlins’ new ball park (and new name and new uniforms and new manager and…) with a 4-1 win? Oh, I’m sorry,…
Easter Potluck Recipe: Raspberry French Macarons
Earlier this week, we brought you a Homemade Spinach Bread recipe for an Easter potluck. For my second annual Friendster (Easter w/ degenerates friends, not the defunct social network), I’ll also be making an adorably pink dessert: Raspberry French Macarons. Trendy, light, sweet, and oh-so-pretty, these delicate treats will make…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Van Pham of Phamily Bites Food Truck
Yesterday we talked to Van Pham of Phamily Bites about how he grew up cooking with his mom and grandma. Today he tells us about the the rewards and challenges of owning a food truck in Houston. EOW: So you were working in telecom, you came back to Houston. You…
“Riot” at Lamar HS? Twitter Says Yes, But HISD Says It’s a Senior Prank (UPDATED w/Videos That Seem to Show It Was More Serious Than That, & HISD’s Response to Them)
If you believe Twitter feeds — and who doesn’t? — you’d believe there was is/was a riot today at Lamar High in swanky River Oaks. “@ImMotivation_ «@LifeWithBreanna Lamar is having the biggest riot right now . its too funny,” says one. “Unknown Only at lamar will u have a riot…
Life Out Loud: Remembering Jim Marshall’s Amplifier Legacy
I was about 12 years old and in the hallway outside the gymnasium of my school when I heard it. Someone had a guitar and he was playing it LOUD. I knocked open the double doors and a friend was wailing on a beautiful cherry sunburst Les Paul and it…
KBR Chemical Lawsuit: Soldiers’ Lawyers Say They Found Smoking Gun
When we wrote about American and European soldiers suing Kellogg, Brown & Root for allegedly exposing them to a cancer-causing chemical at an Iraqi water treatment plant, we thought the company’s excuse — it had no idea the chemical was onsite before boots were on the ground — was pretty…
Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs
Vintage Texas: Top Texas wine authority Russ Kane chronicles the bankruptcy filing and botched sale of one of the state’s leading wineries, CapRock, in Lubbock. According to his report, New Mexico winery Gruet has been ordered to pay $4 million for a breach of contract after bidding in a bankruptcy…
Last Night: Maná At Toyota Center
Maná Toyota Center April 4, 2012 The last time Maná visited Houston, they sold out Toyota Center two nights in a row. The world’s premier rock en español band is on the second leg of the Drama Y Luz tour, in support of their latest album of the same name…
Vanessa Clark: Second SIDS Death in a Year Leads to Child Endangerment Conviction
A Lufkin woman has been convicted of felony child endangerment after an infant died in her bed for the second time in a span of two calendar years. Yesterday afternoon an Angelina County jury handed down a guilty verdict against Vanessa Clark, 33, for her role in the death of…
Notice: Mariah Carey Still Has More No. 1 Singles Than Elvis
Four years ago this week, Mariah Carey made music history by scoring the 18th No. 1 single of her career. Think about that for a second: If you’re reading this, Mariah Carey has recorded more No. 1 singles than women you’ve had sex with (a lot more). What makes the…
Juan of the Dead: Viva la Deadvolution!
Director Alejandro Brugués (Personal Belongings) dreamed about making a horror comedy with zombies. Surely at this point most of you are saying, “Oh who cares!?” and we’ll be the first to admit that the market for zombies, even ironic funny zombies has reached the saturation point and is dripping all…
Lone Star Chefs: It’s Not Always about Being Bigger, They’re Just Better
Our Texas chefs not only come from Texas but from all over the world and bring their culinary homes with them — fortunately for us. Lone Star Chefs by John DeMers and Julie Soefer highlights 13 outstanding and diverse Texas masters. This book is part biography, part cookbook and part…
Tina Madrid: Mother Charged with Murdering Her Special-Needs Son, Found in a Box
The bizarre, tragic story of ten-year-old Jonathan Singer took another turn yesterday when police arrested his mother for his murder. The body of Singer, who had cerebral palsy, was found in a cardboard box in his father’s Kia about one year ago. The boy’s father said he had drowned in…
Early Forecasts Calling for a Quieter Than Normal Hurricane Season
Did you enjoy the winter? Went quick, didn’t it? It seems like just 15 minutes ago, we were all lounging in the cool Houston winter while our northern neighbors were breaking out the snow plows. We laughed and laughed. Now, we’ve started to reach that wonderful time when even your…
Avocado Throwdown Showcases Local Cooks’ Culinary Creativity
Avocados. Many people’s experience with them doesn’t go much further than the standard bowl of guacamole. Which is precisely why Avocados from Mexico sponsored an Avocado Throwdown this past weekend at Warehouse Live. The unique contest challenged Houston cooks and chefs to use avocados to create a one-of-a-kind dish –…
Christopher French Returns to Houston, Minus the Braille Paper
For a while, Christopher French was known as the guy who made conceptual pieces out of Braille paper. He’d use the pages of Diderot and Goethe as his text, and make geometrical, textural works of circles that dared you to touch them. Over the years, especially following a move five…
RIP Jim Marshall: Twitter Honors The Man Who Redefined Loud
Jim Marshall, who created an amplifier known as much for its sleek, slightly ominous-looking design as its ear-splitting volume, died in London Thursday morning at age 88. He had cancer and had suffered several strokes, his son Terry told the Associated Press. Marshall’s hefty amplifier was introduced in 1960. Often…
Brew Blog: Adelbert’s Brewery Scratchin’ Hippo
Lately, it seems like the craft beer world might well be centered in Texas. I have no doubt that there are other states whose breadth and depth of craft brews rivals, and even surpasses, the Lone Star State, but it seems as if every time I turn around, there’s a…
Free for All: Art Without a Price Tag: Films by George Méliès, Earth Day Houston and Easter
Come Friday night, we’ll be looking up at the stars — not the ones in the skies, mind you. The ones on screen at Houston Public Media Silent Film Concert: Films by George Méliès. Live music by Loreta Kovacic accompanies several short films by renowned French filmmaker George Méliès, the…
Ask A Rapper: Killa Cal-Wayne’s Dissertation On Gangster Rap
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. Something you always wanted to…
Tee Pee Motel: Kitschy Wharton Landmark Scene of March Drug Bust
A quirky roadside motel from America’s golden age of highway travel was the scene of a good-sized cocaine bust late last month. According to the Wharton Journal-Spectator, Wharton County Sheriff’s deputies raided teepee number ten at the Tee Pee Motel on March 27. Inside they found 48 grams of cocaine…
Jimmy Buffett Chilling At The Woodlands June 2
Jimmy Buffett: Come for the bottomless margaritas, stay for the beach-country classics that make Kenny Chesney sound like Bob Dylan. Or something like that. Live Nation announced Thursday morning that the Parrothead In Chief, leader of one of the most bizarre (but laid-back and benign) cults of personality in pop…
Pop Rocks: Five Movies We Don’t Want to See In “4-D”
Three dimensions, James Cameron? You can do better than that. The salty scent of ocean air, the frigid winds of the North Atlantic, the jarring bump of a 46,000-ton ship hitting an iceberg — for international audiences who wish to add yet another dimension to the 3-D re-release of James…
Breathe Easy, Texan Fans, Arian Foster Saved from the Madden Curse
In general, I think Texan fans are excited for the upcoming 2012 season, but that has more to do with how strong the team looked in 2011 than the collective offseason efforts of the front office. In fact, the offseason has been littered with far more bad news than good,…
Larry James Kramer: Webchats About Loving “Jailbait,” Gets 12 Years for His Large Child Porn Collection
Larry James Kramer of Dickinson will serve more than 12 years in federal prison for possession and distribution of child pornography, a federal judge has decided. The investigation that led to a guilty plea began when he was seen trading child porn on a publicly accessible Web site, and when…
St. John’s Fire Fills the Gourmet Egg Roll Niche
I recently rewatched St. Elmo’s Fire after a roughly 20-year viewing hiatus. That film does not stand the test of time. And it’s especially creepy how — in retrospect — the seminal Brat Pack movie was unintentionally filled with more earnest sociopaths per square foot than all of Bret Easton…
The Rest Of The Best: Houston’s Top 8 Blues Clubs
Like our neighbors over at Eating Our Words, Rocks Off would like to tell you about some places that didn’t quite make the cut in our few most recent Best of Houston issues (categories change every year, mostly), but that are worthy on their own merits; today we begin our…
Hometown Boy Damian Horan Screens His Award-Winning Film at Worldfest
If this is what Damian Horan can do in graduate school, movie lovers are in for a treat when his career begins to take shape. For his master’s thesis at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, Kinkaid School grad Horan created Children of the Air, an allegorical…
In Memory of the Astrodome: 13 Awesome Derrick Dolls Pictures, from When Cheerleaders Were Cheerleaders
Everyone got a big piece of Astrodome nostalgia yesterday, after the media was granted a tour of the dusty, dilapidated old stadium. It put us in mind of the glory days of the Dome, when cheerleaders had hair that reached to the skies and embodied everything that the phrase “Fashions…
4 Most Insufferable Dick Moves of Reed Richards
Reed Richards is supposed to be the smartest man in all of the Marvel universe, and like most highly intelligent people he’s an egotistical jerk. We’re not even talking about the fact that he actually calls himself Mr. Fantastic without even a molecule of irony (We note that Sue Storm…
MEGAFORCE Turns “The Greeks” Into A Childhood Bloodbath
I don’t know much about the London band Is Tropical beyond that they were founded in 2009. Even their members’ names are kept secret, and they appear in press photos masked. Nonetheless, they’re responsible for some fantastic lo-fi dance music that is highly infectious. Their debut album is Native To,…
Getting Thumped
Correction (April 10, 2012) : This article incorrectly reports the name of the company that created the Wall of Bass™. The correct name is AURA System. Also, Gritsy did not create or own Wall of Bass™; it was AURA System that hand-engineered and designed the Wall of Bass™. Gritsy used…
House of Spirits
“Everyone has ghosts,” says Alejandra Deheza of her band School of Seven Bells’ new album, Ghostory. “They’re every love you’ve ever had, every hurt, every betrayal, every heartbreak. They follow you.” Those comments are how Deheza, known as “Alley,” introduces Ghostory in a press release. The concept of spirits and…
Focus on FotoFest 2012
FotoFest is the South By Southwest of art festivals — there are shows all over town from artists near and far, and despite your best intentions, it’s impossible to be everywhere and see everything. Even with time on your side — FotoFest runs about a month and a half —…
In Bloom
Ashbury Keys, Wake Up: Keep an eye on Ashbury Keys. The Houston trio’s Wake Up EP is a reminder of that odd point in rock history when straight-up-the-middle bands like Semisonic and Matchbox 20 somehow got passed off as “alternative.” You can hear flashes of the Wallflowers in “Wake Up,”…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Neurotic,” “The Cowboy Spirit: Faces of the American West,” “The Livable Forest,” “Pictures and Words,” “Push Play,” “Thin Places”
“Neurotic” Over a film career spanning 40 years, John Waters has managed to simultaneously offend and entertain his audience. His art, it turns out, is no different. This show at McClain Gallery includes conceptual works by the Pink Flamingos director made between 1993 and 2009 that comment on film, writing,…
Crowbar
Many metal folks first discovered the burly and titanic sounds of Crowbar through MTV’s Beavis & Butt-Head back in the mid-’90s, when their clip for 1993’s “Existence Is Punishment” was shown in front of the boys. (Beavis remarked favorably on the song’s romantic disillusionment.) The New Orleans gunk-metal band began…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Below the Belt, Cactus Flower, Crimes of the Heart, Cuttin’ Up, In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)
Below the Belt Existential comedy gets an effective workout at the intimate Black Box theater inside Country Playhouse. That the audience comes out a bit stronger afterward is testament to the ensemble cast that gives these Everyman ciphers real flesh and blood. Playwright Richard Dresser depicts the inhuman grind of…
Donald Glover & Childish Gambino
Donald Glover, better known to fans of the TV show Community as Troy Barnes, steps out of the ensemble cast for a comedy feature Friday at House of Blues. And if you know Glover only for the ditsy character he plays on television, you’re in for a surprise. He has…
Are There Different Kinds of Mexican Food?
Dear Readers, Talk about a lazy Mexican — nearly four years after promising ustedes that I was going to write a book about the history of Mexican food in the United States, my Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America is getting released this week! April 10! 300+ pages of…
I Love the ’90s: Titanic 3D
A historical romance with a then-unheard-of price tag, James Cameron’s 1997 Titanic was the nearest thing to a Gone with the Wind-style cinematic event that the millennials could call their own. Now Titanic has bobbed to the surface yet again in a 3-D re-release, making a play for an audience…
Draught House of Rock
Take a tour through Shepherd Park Draught House’s own rock ‘n’ roll shrine. I don’t know what I expected the first time I walked into Shepherd Park Draught House. I certainly didn’t expect a little Houston tribute to New York City rock and roll circa 1978, complete with replica red-and-white…
I Love the ’90s: American Reunion
Another defining coming-of-age love story of the Clinton era, 1999’s American Pie, has expanded into a saga far more epic — and rather more adult and complex — than Titanic. American Reunion will be the fourth installment of the Pie series, not counting the straight-to-DVD spin-offs, which continued the race-to-the-bottom…
Devil in the Woodpile
Multitalented Mississippi-born Marty Stuart is one of the last true hillbillies in Nashville. Picked by Clarence White to be in Lester Flatt’s band when he was only 12 years old, Stuart also toured with Johnny Cash for years. He eventually went solo and was seen by some as Nashville’s answer…
Polar Bear Club
Rochester, New York, five-piece Polar Bear Club is among a crop of late-’00s bands looking to change the path of “post-hardcore” away from its “brootal dood” leanings. Instead of opting for more run-of-the-mill metal injections, the band updates a ’90s model of what is essentially punk-fueled, introspective indie-rock with slightly…
Southern Culture on the Skids
Approaching their 30th anniversary next year, Southern Culture on the Skids has parlayed their image as overalled, chicken-flingin’ hillbillies into a virtual empire of lowbrow kitsch. On the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, trio’s Web site, you can learn how to make “Fried Pickle Stabber Slabbers” or “Apple Juice Pork Ribs,”…
The Stripper Reporter
SPACED CITY The Stripper Reporter Chron society writer’s other job by Richard Connelly It sounds like a bad rom-com book and movie, which no doubt its author hopes it will be — society reporter for a big-city newspaper by day, stripper by night. That’s apparently the life being led by…
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Ray Wylie Hubbard’s new album, The Grifter’s Hymnal, continues the Oklahoma-born songwriter’s 21st-century winning streak that began with 2003’s Growl. It seems the older the Texas troubadour gets, the dirtier and more decadent his material becomes. Take any younger cat coming up today who thinks he has the salt and…
