HSPVA Student’s #IfTheyGunnedMeDown Tweet Draws National Attention
Tyler Atkins, 17, was still fuming about the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager gunned down by police in Ferguson, Missouri over the weekend, when he saw the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown as he scrolled through his Twitter feed. The hashtag was a response to the photo being circulated of Brown,…
$1.7 Million Pot Field Raided in Brenham
A 50-acre pot farm with nearly 3,450 plants and a street value of $1.75 million was raided by municipal, county and state authorities in Brenham Monday. No suspects were located in the seizure, which is the sixth “marijuana growing operation shut down in Washington County since January 2013,” according to…
Back to School: Alligator Shows Up Early at Katy ISD’s Beck Junior High Ready for Class
If the alligator above had his (or her, we can never tell without lifting their skirts) way, school would be in session at Beck Junior High in Katy Independent School District. Fort Bend County sheriff’s deputies found this joker loafing around, smoking cigarettes and whistling at the lady gators on…
Reality Bites: Extreme Guide to Parenting
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. To this point, there haven’t been a whole lot of parenting reality shows, unless you count the ones that only address it in the broader context of family life, like…
New Montrose Church Juggles God, Gays, Stylish Glasses
Marshall Dallas is not exactly selling monotheism to the Romans, but that doesn’t mean church planting in Montrose has been smooth sailing. Leading the flock at Sojourn on any given Sunday, the tatted pastor sports thick-rimmed vintage glasses and a plaid button-up rolled up at the elbows, his dark beard…
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at Fitzgerald’s, 8/12/14
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Fitzgerald’s August 12, 2014 It’s hard to say that this show was perfect, but that was the only adjective coursing through my mind as I walked down the stairs and out of the door of Fitzgerald’s after a performance from storied indie rockers Clap Your…
Hump Day Cocktail: Wine Spritzer at 13 Celsius
It’s Wednesday. Hump Day. Still two days until the weekend. Honey, you look like you need a drink. Here’s our suggestion. Tell ’em the Houston Press sent you. “If I won the lottery, I would buy you Louboutins,” the guy down the bar from me tells a bartender. “And dildos.”…
“Shark Week” Has Officially [Puts on Sunglasses] Jumped the Shark
Like the disembodied arm in Jaws 3-D you probably saw this coming. Last year’s Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives was, as it turns out, nowhere near the low point for Discovery Channel. As I wrote about at the time, that program didn’t even try to toe the line between feasibility…
Space Flight: Increasingly, Gifted Individuals are Opting for the Private Sector Over NASA
Illustration by Ellen Weinstein Amy Hoffman doesn’t realize she’s tapping her boots underneath the table at Boondoggles, where she’s having a last lunch with Clear Lake friends before skipping town. The boots are baby-blue Cavenders, ankle high and definitely out of season because it’s the first week of July and…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Mark Holley of Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar
It’s almost a misnomer to call this an “interview.” When you talk to Chef Mark Holley, it goes like this: ask him a question and then get out of the way. Holley is a whirlwind with deliberate direction. One sees this both when he speaks and as he surveys his…
HMAAC presents African American Treasures from the Kinsey Collection
The Setup: It has been 50 years since the passing of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, prohibiting the discrimination of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, which makes the Houston Museum of African American Culture’s (HMAAC) presentation of African American Treasures from The Kinsey Collection all the more…
This Week In Food Blogs: Burgers & Wine Are Oh So Fine
Hank On Food: Mr. Peeples is now open for lunch and Hank says it’s a great alternative to the “three martini” business lunch. Hank started with the Wagyu beef meatballs topped with a fire-roasted tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, then he ordered the Manhattan Clam Chowder featuring a tomato-based broth…
Beer at Gun Shows? What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Years ago in Huntsville, Texas just around the corner from my aunt and uncle’s house was a convenience store. The sign for this store was something that cracked up my father and I for many years. It read (in all caps): BEER WINE GAS DRUGS AMMO. It is difficult to…
Art Modell’s Son Takes Urinating On His Dad’s Grave VERY Seriously (VIDEO)
Processing the fever pitch of rabid fans is a complicated thing, especially if you’re the owner of the team. On the one hand, it’s the passion that fans show for your team, your league, and the product on the field that translates into the multiple billions of dollars that your…
Review: Dear Toby Keith, You Don’t Want Your Name on this Bar & Grill
There is definitely a dress code at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill. After sitting at a table waiting to get service for 20 minutes, I realized that the people around me in plaid, button-down shirts with pearl snaps and dusty brown cowboy boots with Wrangler jeans tucked…
Modernism, Long Ago: A Texas Art Retrospective Scans the Years From 1935-1965
Nineteen thirty-five seems a long time ago, in the fast-moving world of art, and indeed it is: almost 80 years. The exhibit “A New Visual Vocabulary: Developments in Texas Modernism from 1935-1965,” presenting Texas art primarily from 1935 to 1965, showcases some of the Texas artists at work in that…
5 Tips for Rick Perry if He Insists on a 2016 Run
Fish swim and birds fly and politicians run for political office – these truths are pretty self-evident. But it still comes as a faint shock that Gov. Rick Perry popped up in Iowa this week lambasting President Obama. He’s been sharing his views on troops in Iraq, he’s been spouting…
100 Creatives 2014: James Ferry, Comic Art Sucker Punch
What He Does: James Ferry is yet another of the extremely talented comic artists living here in Houston. His dream was to make films, and he actually has several credits as a writer, director, and storyboard artists for works like Blue,In Dreams, and American Goldfish. Overall, though, the world of…
Royal Oak Bar & Grill Just May Have the Largest Poppers Ever
The $6 stuffed jalapeños happy hour deal (offered weekdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.) at Royal Oak Bar & Grill could be the best $6 you ever spent (on fried food, at least). With 3 miniature football-shaped fritters to a plate, that’s just $2 each for the biggest, spiciest…
Embattled Will Muschamp Hand Delivers Season Tickets To Florida Couple (VIDEO)
When you go 11-2 as a head football coach in the SEC, you’re the toast of the town. When you go 4-8 as a head football coach in the SEC, the FOR SALE signs show up on your lawn and the message board vitriol (Do people still go to message…
Rest of the Best 2014: Houston’s Top 10 Sandwiches
Our 2013 Best of Houston® winners were announced a while back, but in many cases, picking the best item in any category was no easy task. In order to show off all the culinary greatness Houston has to offer, we’re continuing to round up the “rest of the best” in…
Fashion Truck Collection Opens In CityCentre, Ushers In Possible New World for Mobile Retail
First Fashion Truck Fest and GreenStreet, now the fashion truck community is making its mark on the brick and mortar world with a little help from one of Houston’s largest shopping centers…
Bio Paints Complex Portrait of AC/DC’s Mighty Youngs
The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC By Jesse Fink, 320 pp., $25.99. The mere mention of AC/DC to even the most casual of fans will bring up one image: the short, frenetic guitarist Angus Young dressed as a schoolboy and running around the stage like a maniac — even…
The Five Most Surprising Nine Inch Nails Tracks
With this Saturday’s Nine Inch Nails/Soundgarden supershow at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, now with added opener The Dillinger Escape Plan to make it even sweeter, we’re digging deep into our collections of their records, stripping them for all their best parts. Nine Inch Nails is the kind of band who…
Raw Power’s Screams From the Gutter Still Ring Out Today
If punk mythology truly existed, the tale of Raw Power might unfurl like this: as the reign of Ronald Reagan swept through the Western world “… the gods of punk-metal rose from Italy to fight back with megatons of warp-speed power!” Held together thick as thieves for years by the…
If Bands Sponsored NFL Teams: The AFC
Recently Vince Neil got approval to start his own Arena Football League franchise in Las Vegas. No word yet on the branding, but we here at Rocks Off are obviously hoping that, like the L.A. KISS, it will be themed around Neil’s band Motley Crue. For those not in the…
Talented Executive Chef of Boheme Fired Over Burger Dispute
I have made absolutely no secret of the fact that I love Boheme and its pizzas and its uber creative head chef, Rishi Singh. I love his smoked jalapeño hummus and his Bangkok fries and his ridiculously decadent lobster pizzas. I really love the fact that he makes all of…
Johnny Ratings: Manziel’s Debut Most-Watched Preseason Game In NFL Network History
“I knew with Manziel it would be a frenzy. And probably even if he didn’t succeed at being an outstanding NFL quarterback for a couple years, the fans would have been frenzied.” –Houston Texans owner Bob McNair to ESPN.com, 8/8/14 As owner of the Houston Texans, when it comes to…
In Memoriam: Six Less Heralded Robin Williams Roles
Celebrated comedian and actor Robin Williams was found dead at his home yesterday, suicide was the reported cause of death. He was 63. A brief perusal of Facebook and Twitter confirms what I initially suspected: everyone under the age of 80 has at least a handful of fond Williams memories…
Austinite Joelle Cousins Wins “Best Texas Sommelier” Competition
Austinite Joelle Cousins (above, center) took home the “best Texas sommelier 2014” title at the conclusion of the annual sommelier conference Texsom in Dallas last night. Cousins competed against 24 Texan sommeliers, including seven Houstonians, for the honor…
Hurricane Season 2014: Time is Now to Watch the Tropics
With the exception of a tropical wave off the coast of Africa, all is relatively quiet in the Atlantic Basin, but what is it they always say about when it is calm? The fact is we have now entered the height of hurricane season for those of us who live…
Five Ways to Spot a Frenemy & Why They’re Really Not The Best Idea
Ever question whether or not your friends are really your friends? I think all of us females are guilty of it. We become friends with that woman we aren’t sure we can trust… And unfortunately we live in a society that encourages us to adopt these “frenemies” as if there…
September Is Hunger Action Month at the Houston Food Bank
Every year, the Houston Food Bank attempts to draw attention to and combat hunger in Houston through Hunger Action Month, essentially a call to action to get people involved in the fight. This year’s theme is Hunger Bites, Bite Back, and the Houston Food Bank, along with many local organizations…
Outtakes from the James Harden, Charles Barkley Foot Locker Video
Charles Barkley makes pretty much everyone laugh. James Harden is no exception. The current Rocket, while filming a Foot Locker commercial with a pair of former Rockets in Barkley and Scottie Pippen, was the picture of dry sense of humor, something he is known for. But, the outtakes tell a…
One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Art: “Transitional Artifacts” at Fresh Arts
One of the most cliché sayings is that one man’s trash is another’s treasure. In the case of the evolving display at Fresh Arts by Houston-based collaborative The Center for Imaginative Cartography and Research, this phrase morphs into “another man’s art.” Or perhaps it is another man’s inspiration as the…
Presale Tickets Go On Sale Today for the Houston Press BrewFest
Ready for more beer, bands and bodacious food trucks? Houston Press BrewFest returns Saturday, October 18 at Silver Street Station. The fourth annual event, held in conjunction with Lucky’s Pub, will run from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. with indoor/outdoor beer-sampling, local food trucks and live music. Not a beer…
Zapruder Analysis Of Jon Gruden’s Hooters Chick Football Camp (VIDEO)
Sometimes, change being thrust upon a person brings out the best in them, and takes them to a place where they find skills they didn’t even know they had. Jon Gruden is one of these guys. Much like Jeff Van Gundy’s coaching in and subsequently covering the NBA, Gruden had…
Skip the New Sushi Rolls at Pei Wei Asian Diner
Pei Wei Asian Diner has changed its menu over the years to include a variety of healthy and lightened menu items. Dishes normally battered and fried can be ordered steamed; tofu and vegetables are now available; and two new sushi rolls have been added to the “healthier” food lineup. It…
The Rocks Off 200: Phil Peterson, AR*V All-Star
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Rocks Off…
The 7 Minor Annoyances That Drive Houstonians Crazy
Traffic sucks. Public transportation is a joke. Heat plus humidity is stifling. Hurricanes threaten to wipe out life as we know it. When it floods, freeways turn into rivers. The lack of zoning and historic preservation ensure our cityscape (beyond downtown) remains a massive sprawl of strip malls (and strip…
100 Favorite Dishes 2014-15: No. 72, Shorty Mac at H-Town StrEATs
Once again, Kaitlin Steinberg is eating her way through Houston and counting down her 100 favorite dishes as we work our way toward our annual Menu of Menus® issue and culinary extravaganza. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most delicious, most creative and, of course,…
“The Beat’n Trail” Exhibit Contains Some Powerful Work, As Well As Pieces by Chicken George That Will Make You Smile
It’s wonderful to enter a gallery and be struck immediately by a powerful work, and to exit a half hour later with a smile on one’s lips. Such was my experience with an exhibition of Texas artists titled “The Beat’n Trail”, at the Alliance Gallery. The Gallery is part of…
Houston Texans Cut Two Three RB’s, Sign Two RB’s
There are words of wisdom correlating to certain levels of job security in the NFL. Update: 8:21 a.m. Overnight, the running back purge continued as the Texans released a third running back within just a few hours. This time, it was Houston native Tim Cornett, who was a Houston Texan…
A Few Survival Strategies Hurricane Ike Taught Me
Growing up in Houston and the surrounding area, the threat of a hurricane hitting the coast was something we came to expect. Anyone living in the region knows it’s not a matter of if, but when one of the big storms spins into Galveston, bringing a whole bunch of wind…
How Houston Cooks: Blue Heron Farm Makes Delicious Cheese from Happy Goats
Every few weeks, we’ll be bringing you videos that take a behind-the-scenes look at restaurants, breweries, marketplaces, bars and any other spots that define Houston food and drink. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. You know that ad campaign by Real California Milk? The one with all the commercials…
Upcoming: Ana Gabriel, Fantasia, Mika Singh, Ruthie Foster, Subdudes, Willie Nelson, etc.
Alan Haynes: Sat., August 30, 8 p.m., $5. The Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club, 5731 Kirby, Houston, 713-523-9999. Ana Gabriel: Sat., October 4, 9 p.m., $75 to $150. Arena Theatre, 7326 Southwest Fwy., Houston, 713-988-1020. Battle Between: Fri., August 22, 8 p.m., Free. House of Blues — Foundation Room,…
Houston Whatever Fest Deserves Another Shot
There are better ways to tell, but one indicator of whether your music festival is meeting expectations is the “Chi’lantro Test.” It’s not a real thing — I dreamed it up — but it seems reliable enough. If the Chi’lantro Korean BBQ truck is parked at your festival and there’s…
L.A. Rockers 7Horse Have a Thing For H-Town
For two battle-hardened rock and roll road dogs who spent two decades touring the world as the rhythm section for dada (1992 MTV hit “Dizz Knee Land”), Joie Calio and Phil Leavitt of emerging power duo 7Horse could not be happier with the results and reach of their first album,…
The 15 Best Songs We Heard In July
“The Clarity,” Sleep After 11 years out of the game, you might wonder if stoner-metal band Sleep has lost a step. Thankfully, their new ten minute masterwork of the genre, “The Clarity,” shows that they have not. Think of this like the metal version of Dr. Dre’s Detox. You never thought…
UPDATED Officials: Spindletop Owner Tortured, Drowned Injured Dog
See the end of this post for more from the chief animal control investigator’s affidavit. Former Spindletop dog refuge owner Leah Purcell poured water down a pit bull’s nose while its mouth was held shut, “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly” torturing it to death in December 2011, according to a complaint…
Quartet of Rising H-Town Rappers Shines at Warehouse Live
Live Life Experience Feat. OneHunnidt, De’Wayne Jackson, Stoppa & Doeman Warehouse Live August 8, 2014 This past weekend, the world experienced something called a “Super Moon.” Apparently, that means that a full/new moon coincides with the closest approach to our planet on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest possible…
Jonestown Cremains Discovered in Funeral Home
The ashes of nine people who perished in the 1978 Jonestown massacre that claimed the lives of more than 900 men, women, and children have been discovered in a Delaware funeral home. The bodies from the mass-killing had been flown to a Delaware Air Force for identification and burial preparation,…
Convention Recap: The Houston Con
Without having the numbers in front of us, it appeared that the new The Houston Con was a success. Sunday’s attendance was rather light, but there was a bustling crowd on Saturday and even Friday looked pretty busy…
These Aren’t Your Father’s Rice Owls
The Rice Owls had one of those special seasons last year. A 10-4 record. A conference championship. A second straight bowl game. The defensive unit improved greatly. The offense found ways to score points, usually behind a pounding running game. That was 2013. Players graduate, assistant coaches take new jobs,…
Popcart Handmade Ice Pops Cools Off Houston With Refreshing Popsicles
We recently listed the five things missing from the Houston restaurant scene., and you can add popsicles to that list. Unless you visit a grocery store or paleta stand in our city, you’ll have a difficult time finding a vendor who strictly sells popsicles. Richard and Rebecca Lynch decided popsicles…
The Leftovers: Holiness on the Wane
One aspect of the show that I haven’t really talked about much is that of Holy Wayne and his strange hold over Sheriff Garvey’s son Tom. Frankly, when you’ve got a much more interesting cult in the form of the Guilty Remnant going on you don’t really waste time on…
The 10 Best Acts at Houston Whatever Fest
ANDREW W.K. Andrew W.K. was a revelation. He came out, trademark grin firmly in place, and immediately told the crowd he was “not a musician.” He’s a known party inducer and he was exactly what Whatever Fest needed the moment he was booked. He ran through the hits in a…
Marco Antonio Solis at Toyota Center, 8/10/2014
Marco Antonio Solis Toyota Center August 10, 2014 Hailing from the beautiful Mexican state of Michoácan, Marco Antonio Solis is the epitome of a Latino superstar. He is suave, romantic, talented and charming, equally comfortable singing a ranchera as he is a love ballad, dancing to a cumbia or swaying…
Florida State Asking Fans To #AskJameis On Twitter Did Not Go Well
Late last week, in a federal court in California, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken confirmed everything any normal thinking person already knew about amateurism in collegiate athletics. It’s a sham. It’s a big lie. Division I basketball recruits and FBS football players are having the gravy sopped off of them…
Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival at The Woodlands, 8/10/2014
Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Feat. Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Asking Alexandria, Trivium, Suicide SIlence, etc. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion August 10, 2014 August 10 was a date Houston headbangers had circled on their calendars. The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, North America’s largest, loudest traveling menagerie of metal, promised to…
11 People You See at Both Comic-Con and the Gathering of the Juggalos [Slightly NSFW]
Photos by Nate “Igor” Smith and Keith Plocek By Jennifer Swann, Abby Maddigan and Zachary Pincus-Roth The last weekend of July saw both Comic-Con and Gathering of the Juggalos, a coincidence that not only ate up Internet bandwidth but also made clear that the two events are more similar than…
The Garrison Brothers Distillery is Fun and Educational for Bourbon Experts and Novices Alike
Hye, Texas, is a town of 105 people, located on U.S. 290 on the road from Austin to Fredericksburg. It’s also the home of Garrison Brothers distillery, the first bourbon distillery in Texas and one which makes bourbon exclusively. Their bourbon is pricey, but it has always been highly reviewed,…
Despite Changes, Texans 2014 Look a Lot Like Texans 2013
I was unable to catch the Texans preseason mess loss to the Cardinals on Saturday live, but I did watch it on my DVR Sunday morning. Coach Bill O’Brien’s perspective during his Sunday afternoon press conference notwithstanding — “The sun did rise this morning” — I wish I hadn’t. To…
7 Seconds at Walters, 8/9/2014
7 Seconds, the Copyrights, the Turnaways, Some Nerve Walters Downtown August 12, 2014 “Give the people what they want,” seems to be the populist modus operandi of touring veteran punk and hardcore bands, from Youth Brigade to DOA and 7 Seconds, who belted out a stew of contagious hits from…
Dish of the Week: Mofongo
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. See the complete list of recipes at the end of this post. This week, we’re covering a Puerto Rican classic: Mofongo. Mofongo is a popular Caribbean dish made of unripened, fried…
In “The Cutting Bridle” Exhibit, Allison Rathan Shows a Keen Literary Sense
The dominant picture in “The Cutting Bridle” exhibition, The Exchange, 60×48″, is a self-portrait of the artist Allison Rathan, striding behind a very large wolf, the animal on a metal leash, in a dark-green forest under a crescent moon. It captures the confidence of this artist, who has blond movie…
Houston’s Top 5 Extreme Piercers
If you ever find yourself sitting in a surgical chair, sweating a little bit because you’re about to have a 10 gauge needle shoved through your penis, it might help to know that the piercer has a bottle of sugar tablets in his drawer just in case you get light-headed…
5 Things People Should Quit Putting on Their Bucket Lists
Bucket Lists have become very popular in recent years. The idea of compiling a list of things to do or achieve before shuffling off the mortal coil seems rather appealing to a lot of people, and it’s understandable. We all want our lives to mean something, and most of us…
Beyond the G&T: 5 Best Gin Cocktails
Although it’s hard not to think “tonic” when putting together a gin cocktail, there’s plenty of other mixers that complement this spirit. Here are five icy juniper berry spirit libations perfect for the dog days of summer. 5. Salty Dog. Wedding salt with grapefruit juice and gin, The Salty Dog…
NASA Found a Zombie Star in Space
Way out there in the glittering vastness of space, something undead lurks. Yes, NASA astronomers believe they have spotted a zombie star, created in the wake of an unusually weak supernova explosion. See, the way this usually works is a white dwarf, a dying star, is usually completely obliterated by…
In Full Gallop, Sally Edmundson Captures the Spirit of Fashion Doyenne Diana Vreeland
The set-up: Let’s talk D.V. That would be Diana Vreeland, or Dee-ahh-na, for those of you not in the loop. For decades she was the reigning monarch of fashion, first as columnist and stylish greyhound at Harper’s Bazaar, then as editor-in-chief of Vogue, later as curator of the Metropolitan Museum’s…
Take a Vacation to Budapest With Summer Hungarian Dishes at Kenny & Ziggy’s
In all, I’ve probably spent close to five months of my life living in Hungary. When I was a child, my family vacationed there several summers in a row, and upon graduating high school, I toured the country with my mother, taking a train from Budapest southwest into Croatia, stopping…
Cardinals 32, Texans 0: 4 Winners, 4 Losers
Yeah see, this was kind of my point. In my bi-weekly piece that I wrote for the most recent edition of the Houston Press, I analyzed the Texans’ near total failure in the three NFL Drafts (2011, 2012, 2013) prior to the most recent one. (I’ll give the Class of…
We’ve Narrowed Down the Most Underrated Greasy Spoons…Vote Now!
Guys. Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight: Dot Coffee Shop and House of Pies are not underrated in any universe. We appreciate your enthusiasm, but we’re pretty sure those two spots consistently get the credit they deserve for being excellent greasy spoon eateries. We didn’t get…
True Blood: Moby vs. Mopey
Spoilers ahead in this one. Big spoilers. As the last season of True Blood comes to a close, it’s pretty clear that we’re saying goodbye to better aspects of the show the way you say goodbye to a friend who is very sick and is never going to get better…
The 10 Hottest Scenes in Film (Where No One Takes His or Her Clothes Off)
Hollywood has been very kind to the millions of Americans that need something artsy to masturbate to. Of course sex and sexiness have had their place in art ever since the first cave man drew the first cave dick on the first cave wall, but in the Internet age there…
Tim McGraw at The Woodlands, 8/9/2014
Tim McGraw, Kip Moore, Cassadee Pope Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion August 9th, 2014 Tim McGraw has swag. As well he should. He’s got a great country voice, he’s handsome, he’s built like a MMA fighter, he’s married to one of the other biggest names in country music and he has…
The Five Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Mikey and the Drags, The Both, Thrill, etc.
Mikey and the Drags Mango’s, August 11 Mikey and the Drags are the type of band that you need to see late at night in a small dank club after you’ve put a few (dozen) down to really appreciate their greatness. Their garage-y surf-punk sound was obviously a void that…
First Look at The Houston Con
The Houston Con apparently has done a fine job of marketing, because even though this is a new con and this is a typical workday, there are a pretty good number of attendees. There are even some running around in costume. (I’m writing this at a table at the hotel…
Chikungunya-Positive Mosquito Confirmed in Harris County
The Houston area has always been impressively swampy, so of course the first Texas mosquito carrying chikungunya, a disease that causes high fever and severe joint pain, has been found right here in our very own mosquito-plagued backyard. There have been rumblings about chikungunya in recent months, since the disease…
Suspect in Shooting That Injured Kids Was Awaiting Trial for Murder
One of two suspects arrested in connection with two shooting incidents August 6 that landed an eight-year-girl and her younger brother in the hospital was previously charged with murder and out on bend, awaiting trial. Jordan Q. Wilson, 21, was indicted for murder in November 2013 in connection with the…
Get Your Hatch on During the 19th Annual Hatch Chile Festival at Central Market
It’s that time again. Central Market is rolling out the roasters and bringing the heat during the 19th Annual Hatch Chile Festival. Thursday, August 7, marked the kickoff to the two-week festival and featured a variety of recipes using the spicy New Mexico chile peppers, as well as samples of…
Murakamania Midnight Release Party at Brazos Bookstore on Monday, August 11
Haruki Murakami fans may want to consider taking a cat nap on Monday, August 11, in advance of Brazos Bookstore’s Murakamania Midnight Release Par-tay [emphasis added], which kicks off at 10 p.m. Stop in to talk about what you talk about when you talk about running with other Murakami fans,…
Court Puts HERO on Hold Until August 15 Hearing
In a move that surprised no one, an injunction was placed on the city’s recently passed Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) Thursday until a hearing on August 15 to determine the validity of signatures opponents gathered to force a vote on the controversial issue in November. Opponents gathered what they believed…
The 5 Best Fashion Stories of the Week: Pasta-Related Beauty Tip and The Best Worst Foot Peel (ewwww)
Lots of breaking fashion news hits the interwebs and I don’t want you to miss one bit of it. So, I present some of the biggest headlines each week for your reading pleasure. Click and enjoy!…
We Have Found the Strangest, Most Magical Chinese Buffet in Houston
When I crave Chinese food, I go to Chinatown. When I crave Americanized Chinese food served out of a chafing dish, I talk to Joshua Martinez of The Modular food truck. He shares an affinity for what he calls “dirty Chinese” with the owner of the Rice Box food truck,…
Houston Police Provide Glimpse Into Night Shift With #HPDTweetAlong
Overnight on Thursday, the Houston Police Department conducted a kind of ride along, which is an actual thing (who knew?), not just something done for comic relief in a movie. But instead of taking a potential son-in-law candidate who is scared shitless by the officer’s insane antics on the beat,…
Back to School: Feed Your Kids Like a Chef
As the start of another school year approaches, we’ve got school lunches on the mind. Mostly, when we think of school lunches, we picture cafeteria trays with grayish glop in each compartment, and we think of all the debates over what should or should not be given to growing kiddos…
Free Game Day: The Great Magician’s Curse: Magicians 2
It’s Friday, and we know you’re just going to play on the Internet until it’s time to leave work. Each week we’ll be bringing you a free flash game to help the time pass! Game: The Great Magician’s Curse: Magicians 2 Genre: Sidescrolling Puzzler Made By: Daniel Haslop and Tim…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga? I was mercifully unaware of the turtles during most of their initial run, though I do consider Michelangelo Corey Feldman’s finest role. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: One “Ninja Rap” out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Hideously mutated reptiles battle bioweapon-enabled…
Woman Reports Dude Banging Her Driveway (Not a Euphemism)
It’s always fun when a media entity gets to write a headline with something silly in it. In this case, KPRC’s “Man Accused of Humping Driveway” is brilliant in its humor, simplicity and, remarkably, accuracy. According to a report, a woman pulled into the driveway of her Harris County home…
Houston Restaurant Weeks: The Grove
What they’re up to for Houston Restaurant Weeks: This year, The Grove offers three meals for HRW — a two-course $20 lunch, three-course $25 brunch, and three-course $35 dinner. Add-on items are available at full-price, such as $14 guacamole and chips, $15.50 pickled Gulf shrimp and $9 deviled eggs. The…
HPMA Bands Reflect Houston’s Diversity and Drive
Houston Press Music Awards Concert Featuring Electric Attitude, thelastplaceyoulook, the Suffers & the Tontons Warehouse Live August 7, 2014 The beautiful thing about Houston music has always been how it mirrors our city. It’s a little disorderly but uniquely diverse and bursting with energy and soul. Thursday night at Warehouse…
Mood Indigo Is Tiresomely Quirky, Then Shockingly Dark
Michel Gondry is one of those directors like Baz Luhrmann and Tim Burton. They’ve got a style, and what a style it is, but sometimes that style is just so… them. You watch a movie like The Great Gatsby or Alice in Wonderland, and as pretty and fun as it…
Jeremy Lin’s Dunk Cam Will Make You Like Jeremy Lin (VIDEO)
I’ll admit, I wanted the Rockets to trade Jeremy Lin this past summer. Unconditionally, I wanted him gone from Houston. Part of it certainly was about fiscal responsibility, as Lin is scheduled to make $15 million in cold, hard cash in the final year of his three-year “poison pill” deal,…
Five Reasons to See Into the Storm, Including Firenados and Storm Porn
Chances are you’ve caught the trailers for the upcoming Into the Storm, the latest summer action extravaganza from Warner Bros. that promises “holy-shit-we’re-gonna-die” scenarios, frighteningly realistic, apocalyptic visuals and the obligatory storm-chasing characters who seem to relish driving into certain cyclonic murder in a small Oklahoma town. You wouldn’t be…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Fluff Bake Bar Pop-Up Bake Sale at Southside Espresso
Fluff Bake Bar Pop-Up Bake Sale @ Southside Espresso Saturday, 8 a.m. 904-C Westheimer Get your butt to Southside Espresso early Saturday morning so you can stuff your face with Rebecca Masson’s delightful treats during her pop-up bake sale. She’ll be selling a variety of classic pastries, such as butter…
CSN Houston Has a New Owner…Maybe
So it comes to pass that DirecTV and AT&T U-verse were the mystery parties attempting to purchase CSN Houston out of bankruptcy. It was revealed in court papers filed late on Wednesday night that, should the court accept the network’s bankruptcy reorganization plan, DirecTV and U-verse will together own 100…
100 Creatives 2014: Keith Parsons, Author, Philosophy Professor and Science Brainiac
We have to start this profile with some sad news: There are no big, juicy paychecks for writing books about philosophy. There are no big, juicy paychecks for writing books about science. And there certainly are no big, juicy paychecks for writing books about the philosophy of science. We’re shocked…
Upcoming Events: How Much Spice Can You Handle?
The Bird & The Bear will host a Wild Game Dinner on Wednesday, August 13, crafted by executive chef Martin Valeiro; all of the game meat featured in this dinner is sourced from local farms and ranches. Choose three courses for $35 (or $45 with wine pairings), or fill up…
Four Reasons Not to Miss Rockstar Mayhem Festival
This year’s metal festival season is in full swing, and you might be feeling a little overwhelmed what with All Stars Tour, Warped Tour and Summer Slaughter Tour already having passed through Houston. Maybe you’re burnt out, but it’s time to get ready for one more: Mayhem Festival. This year’s…
Texans-Cardinals, NFL Preseason Week 1: Five Players to Watch
Depending on who you are, NFL preseason games can serve any number of purposes. For some fans (and talk-show hosts who need five hours of radio content every weekday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.), they serve as a celebration that football has finally returned, that we survived the two…
Wo Fat Meet Their Doom at Fitz on Saturday
Have you heard the news? Fitzgerald’s, that creaky old live music haunt in the Heights where your favorite band became your favorite band, is doomed. Not next year, not after graduation, but Saturday. This Saturday. Doomed. Whoa, hey, calm down for a second! This isn’t about Pegstar abandoning the old…
Openings & Closings: Pit Fire Closes Hinze’s Bar-B-Que in Wharton
It was a sad day in Wharton on Monday, August 4, when 40-year-old Hinze’s Bar-B-Que burned to the ground as a result of a pit fire. The Houston Chronicle reports that the fire occurred during the evening around 7 o’clock; no injuries were reported. Hinze’s was a favorite of many…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Stop the Pounding Heart, Saturday Pop-Up Burlesque and More
Meet Houston-based filmmaker Roberto Minervini on Friday at a preview screening of his latest project, Stop the Pounding Heart. Three members of the film’s nonprofessional cast — Sara, LeeAnne and Tim Carlson — will also be in attendance. Minervini, who has spent the past ten years filming in Texas, teaching…
10 Can’t-Miss Acts at Houston Whatever Fest
SATURDAY CHEAP GIRLS I know some people who were converted by Cheap Girls. Not just a fun sentence to write, but a true occurrence from recent local show. This Lansing, Mich.-based trio must be starting to feel like Houston is a second home. By my count, this will be at…
Will H-Town Acts Impress Mile High City Fans?
My ongoing commitment to the young adults I parent is strong. Occasionally, it leads to weekends like one late last month, which included 30-plus hours of driving to and from Denver to help my daughter, who lives in nearby Boulder. Errands aside, my wife and I had about six waking…
The 10 Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: Curtis McMurtry, 7 Seconds, Marco A. Solis, etc.
Curtis McMurtry McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, August 8 It should come as no great shock that Curtis McMurty has the same kind of wicked gift as his father James and grandfather Larry; his words leave nasty welts. The Austin singer-songwriter has not yet reached 25 years of age, but the noir…
The 2014 Houston Press Music Award Winners
Note: this article has been amended to include the Best Drummer winner. Our apologies to Nick and the Suffers for the omission. We know it’s early/late — as a matter of fact, brand-new HPMA winners the Tontons are rocking out at Warehouse Live at this very moment, but we just…
Cop: If I Go on a Killing Spree, Blame It on “Useless Lazy Turd Bags”
Proving once again that idiots just can’t control themselves on Facebook, a Marlin cop has been fired after airing his frustration over welfare recipients, stating “if I ever snap and go on a killing spree, it will be in a supermarket on the first.” Sergeant Rob Douglas was fired for…
Kountze Cheerleaders Take Bible Banner Case to Texas Supreme Court
Kountze is a quiet little town in east Texas, situated in the Big Thicket just north of Beaumont. Recently, it began to make national headlines when the school district banned the use of Bible verses on banners made by the cheerleaders for football games. Apparently, the cheerleading squad of the…
Houstonians Compete for “Best Texas Sommelier” Title
Competition will be fierce this weekend at the annual “Best Texas Sommelier” to be held at the Texsom conference in Dallas. Of the 25 competitors, seven are Houstonians: Paulina Avendano (Granduca Hotel), Andres Blanco (Caracol), Jarrett Buffington (The Capital Grille), Brett Forsberg (currently unaffiliated but part of the Camerata at…
Hurricane Season 2014: Atlantic Quiet, but Hawaii About to Get Back-to-Back Hurricanes
Living along the coast, and living in the continental U.S., for that matter, we sometimes forget that there is one part of our country vulnerable to Pacific hurricanes. California almost never sees a hit from a storm since the movement of tropical weather in the Pacific, as in the Atlantic,…
Houston Restaurant Weeks: Tony’s
What they’re up to for Houston Restaurant Weeks: Three-course dinner for $45, including bread and amuse bouche. Some dishes require a supplementary fee. Tony’s will donate $7 to the Houston Food Bank for every dinner sold. Service/Atmosphere: Tony’s Restaurant set the standard for fine dining service years ago, so it’s…
Michigan State Should Really Proofread Their Locker Room Signage
Anybody who writes words for a living (or even as a hobby) makes mistakes. Best efforts, constant proofreading, there are all sorts of checks and balances to ensure that words conveyed on a page (or an epitaph or a statue or a billboard…or a sign in a locker room) are…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Adison Lee of KUU
KUU is a Japanese restaurant that marries tradition and technique with modern twists. The high-aiming newcomer, to my mind, at least, falls into the category of Houston restaurants that includes Kata Robata, Uchi and MF Sushi. Now that we know about the chef’s experience, this comes as no surprise. We…
Courts are Making Interesting Rulings on Abortion Restrictions Similar to Those in Texas
Texas is most likely on course to enact the last section of the state’s stringent abortion laws, forcing all but six of the abortion clinics in Texas to close, but there are interesting goings-on as similar state abortion laws work through the court system. Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court…
5 Reasons I’m Disappointed With My PS4
The Playstation 4 is the first game console I’ve bought at launch since the Super Nintendo. That was more than a half a year ago, and I don’t think I’ve played it more than once every couple of weeks since then. It’s not that it’s a bad system, or that…
We Found a True New-York-Style Pizzeria in Clear Lake’s Slices and Ices
Attention New Yorker’s: Clear Lake’s Slices and Ices is the real deal when it comes to Italian ices and foldable NY-style pizza by the slice. As in any good Tri-state pizzeria, you’re greeted by a beautiful array of specialty pies and calzones at the counter, with piping hot and fresh…
Texans Owner Bob McNair Given Clean Bill of Health After 10-Month Battle With Cancer
As an NFL owner, Bob McNair’s December of 2013 was about as tumultuous a football month as one could endure. With his team spiraling downward, losses piling up on a slide that would bottom out at a league-worst record of 2-14, McNair had no other choice but to fire longtime…
The 5 Best Brunch Spots in the East End
In Houston, we’re pretty serious about our brunch. Whether it be migas and breakfast tacos or chicken and waffles and loaded Bloody Marys, we have no shortage of awesome spots to get our brunch on. Keeping later hours and killer cocktails in mind, we’ll be taking a look at some…
The Reasons a Person Is Unlikely to Be Attacked by a Shark in Texas
In Texas, your chances of being killed in a shark attack are less than being struck by lightning. A person has a higher chance of being bitten by any number of snakes in this state, or getting crushed by a tractor trailer on the drive to the beach. Although recently…
The Rocks Off 200: John Janatsch, Mayor of Houston Rock City
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? We’re never…
Know Your Neighborhood Gangbangers by Their Tattoos
It’s a fine line between striking fear into the hearts of your enemies and signing a confession of criminal activity on your face. But in a fast-paced city like Houston with little patience for extensive introductions, some large Gothic letters on your forehead could save everybody a bit of time…
The Hindu Deities Unleashed at Asia Society Texas Center
The Setup: The pantheon of Hindu deities is almost too great to number; many of the gods and goddesses of the Indian subcontinent reincarnate at certain points in their mythologies into different forms, avatars with distinct attributes and temperaments. For the people of India, their deities are not passive onlookers…
100 Favorite Dishes 2014-15: No. 73, Hog & Hominy Poutine at Underbelly
Once again, Kaitlin Steinberg is eating her way through Houston and counting down her 100 favorite dishes as we work our way toward our annual Menu of Menus® issue and culinary extravaganza. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most delicious, most creative and, of course,…
Uber, Lyft Now Legal in Houston After Council Vote
A friend who is coming over for dinner this weekend included the phrase in a response e-mail, “Uber!” Another responded that he recently used Uber and got a date…with the driver. Such positive experience from an essentially outlawed form of transportation until now. On Wednesday, City Council voted 10-5 to…
7 Seconds’ Kevin Seconds: “Some Days I Just Want to Scream”
As heroic elders of the 1980s posicore genre alongside brethren like Uniform Choice and later Insted, 7 Seconds replaced hardcore punk’s sheer bellicosity, anti-government sloganeering and stiff ideology with tuneful melodies, deep pockets of personal conscience, and a stalwart sense of hope. Beginning as skinheads forming a community in Reno,…
The Five Best Hidden Restaurant Gems in Pasadena
Here is what I knew about Pasadena before exploring it recently and chatting with the locals about food: 1. It exists. 2. It is located southeast of Houston. 3. It has a reputation as a culinary wasteland filled with chain restaurants and mediocre hole-in-the wall Mexican joints. After a few…
Rest of the Best: 10 Best Houston Indie Movie Posters
Our city produces some really excellent films. Much of it horror, sure, but that’s indie filmmaking for you. It’s always easy to start with horror. Once you’ve got your film, though, you’ve got to market that sucker. Nothing does that like a really eye-catching poster. It’s still one of my…
All Young Rapper Sevon Wants Is “Everything,” and That’s Okay
It’s never fun to be the new guy in the room. That’s what Seven “Sevon” Davis is currently experiencing. He’s a soul-patched 20-year-old with large round eyes and a wide smile. His hair rests in a manicured stasis not exceeding maybe four inches off the top of his head. His…
I Got Scolded for Spanking My Kid in Public. Help!
Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off’s advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! HE HAS AMBITION BUT NO MONEY Dear Willie D: I have been talking on the phone…
In the Imperfect World of Modern Rom-Coms, What If is Close to PErfect
In the highly imperfect world of contemporary romantic comedies, What If is as close to perfect as anything we’ve got, not least for the way it captures the abject hopefulness of young people who’d like to be in love but don’t know how to go about it. Who does know…
The Moonlight Dolls Presents Saturday Pop-Up
The Moonlight Dolls burlesque troupe is getting ready for the grand opening of its new home, the Prohibition Supperclub & Bar. Until the Prohibition’s doors official open (sometime in late August), the group is performing a series of Saturday Pop-Up Burlesque shows at Studio 1000, just to keep Houston audiences…
Stop the Pounding Heart
Meet Houston-based filmmaker Roberto Minervini at a preview screening of his latest project, Stop the Pounding Heart. Three members of the film’s nonprofessional cast — Sara, LeeAnne and Tim Carlson — will also be in attendance. Minervini, who has spent the past ten years filming in Texas, teaching in the…
Next to Normal
The latest Music Box Musicals production, Next to Normal, isn’t your usual highkicking musical — it deals with a family coping with the mental problems of one of its members. That’s not usually something that makes characters break out into song. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning show, with book…
Robin Hood: The Courtship of Allan A’Dale
Disguises, swordplay and comedy are mixed in with singing nuns and an evil sheriff in the family musical Robin Hood: The Courtship of Allan A’Dale, written by married authors Ric and Jeanne Averill. Can Robin Hood help the young minstrel Allan A’Dale persuade his true love, Genevieve, to marry him?…
The Houston Con
There’s a new con in town, The Houston Con. (Founders of the venture were previously involved in the wellregarded Space City Con.) Fans will be excited to learn that James Cosmo (Commander Mormont) is appearing. Houstonian Dylan Sprayberry (who played young Clark Kent), Tony Todd and Richard Hatch will also…
Doug Benson
In the documentary Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock famously investigated the health results of an all McDonald’s fast food diet. In Doug Benson’s 2008’s Super High Me, the stoner comic investigated (we use the word loosely) a no-pot-at-all-for-30 days regimen followed by as-much- pot-as-possible for the next 30 days. Guess…
Keith Parsons – It Started with Copernicus: Vital Questions about Science
It’s confirmed: You are not the center of the universe. Not by a long shot. Actually, not by a really, really long shot. Now that we’ve got that cleared up, we can go on to discuss what is the center of the universe and why it matters. And according to…
Shark University Week
You don’t fool us, Moody Gardens — you can call it Shark University Week and hope the word “university” makes parents think it’s educational if you want, but the bald-faced truth is we wanna see blood and biting and gore. We just want to see it from behind the safety…
UniverSoul Circus 2014 Tour
Think of UniverSoul Circus as a Caribbean carnival meets African B-boys meets a Brooklyn house party, just with elephants and trapeze artists. Oh, and some seriously hip clowns. Sure, there are the usual acts (acrobats, elephants, dancing girls, strongmen, daredevils and a ringmaster to watch over it all), but adds…
Film Critics Need to Learn to Look — and Enjoy
Star presence, that distillation of charisma and sometimes glamour, lies at the heart of the movies’ appeal. The star presence James Harvey evokes so richly in his new book, Watching Them Be, is never simply about physical beauty. Harvey rightly points out that Ingrid Bergman’s fresh unaffectedness was distinctly unglamorous,…
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Betrays Everything Grand and Grimy About the Original
Before you buy that tiny box turtle in Chinatown, know that it can live for 100 years. Which means that among all the Mad Libs nonsense of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — a comic book-turned-media-phenomenon that’s always half-admitted it’s a goof — at least the teenage part is accurate…
Into the Storm Attempts to Find the Fun in Destroying American Towns
Incompatible fronts collide in director Steven Quale’s weather-horror patience-tester Into the Storm. The first is the summertime yen for righteous kablooey, the dumber the better, exemplified here by drunk galoots hauling ass into a twister on a four-wheeler ATV, tossing beer cans and whooping about getting a “million YouTube hits.”…
Robin Williams Could Always Find the Raw Seriousness in His Comedy
Even those of us who loved Robin Williams as a performer would have to say that sometimes he was too much — too wired, too pleading, too on. There were times when I’d see him nattering away on a late-night talk show, or suffer through a performance like the one…
The Trip to Italy: Business as Usual for Coogan and Brydon, and that’s FIne
For women especially, it’s wholly out of fashion to have sympathy for middle-aged white men. In both real life and fiction, the thinking goes, They’ve reigned supreme long enough. Who cares about their anxiety over their receding hairlines, their poochy stomachs, their inability to attract young babes? That tinny plink…
Zombie Comedy Life After Beth is a Bit Too Stiff
Every other year or so, someone comes down the indie-movie pike with an idea for an unconventional zombie movie — as opposed to the workaday ones, where the dead simply return to life and chew on limbs and stuff. Life After Beth, the debut film from writer-director Jeff Baena, strives…
The ’70s’ Seven Sexiest Soft-Rock Songs
This list is not just for the couples who perk up anytime the Cialis commercial airs. It’s not only for the cubs who do their homework and will try to impress the cougars with their 1970s music knowledge. Oh, the list is for them; but not only for them. It’s…
Culinary Mash-Up The Hundred-Foot Journey Is Tasty Enough
Lasse Hallström has become an expert at making mom-jeans movies, nonthreatening pictures in which headstrong women find love just when they think it’s too late (Once Around), take the upper hand with their cheating husbands (Something to Talk About) and turn small French villages topsy-turvy by opening chocolate shops (Chocolat)…
What If’s Daniel Radcliffe Knows He Makes You Feel Old
Daniel Radcliffe’s first trip to Comic-con kicked off like the world’s cuddliest Nuremberg rally. This summer, just minutes after he walked into Hall H, the hangar-sized sardine can of 6,500 people sang him “Happy Birthday.” It was an emotional moment for everyone. “The fact that I was turning 25 slightly…
Capsule Art Reviews: August 7, 2014
“Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris” Charles Marville was an early and prolific photographer of old Paris, commissioned to record the before, during and after of Emperor Napoleon III’s radical transformation that remade a medieval city into the first modern one. But these aren’t the rose-tinted images of the City of…
Capsule Stage Reviews: August 7, 2014
Fallen Angels While not in the pantheon of classic Coward (Private Lives, Cavalcade, Design for Living, Present Laughter, Blithe Spirit and the films In Which We Serve, This Happy Breed and Brief Encounter), Fallen Angels is an utter lark of a sex comedy. Main Street Theater gives this romp the…
Montezuma’s Revenge and Sexual Healing
Dear Mexican, I’m a handsome exemplar of the bronce race living in the motherland. I’m dating a beautiful and wonderful gringuita who is soon taking a trip over the border from the U.S. to Mexico for the first time to visit me, and my pinche big family. There are a…
