Houston Film Critics Announce Their Awards; Best Picture Goes To A Movie You Can’t See In Houston Yet
The Houston Film Critics Society, of which yours truly is a member (along with the those two guys that used to work for the Chronicle, among others), just released their 2008 award winners. I’m already drafting a strong letter of protest haranguing my fellow HFCS members for failing to acknowledge…
Countdown To Championship Saturday: Hightower
The Hightower High School football program fielded its first varsity team in 2000, but in just nine seasons, the school has graduated some great players — two have played in the NFL — and made the playoffs seven times. This year, however, is the first time the team has advanced…
Coming Up: Music Lists. Lots and Lots of Music Lists.
Over at Rocks Off, we’ve just loaded up the first of 11 (cuz that’s way better than ten) music-related lists to cap off 2008. Chris Gray bats leadoff, counting down the year’s best reissues. Over the next two weeks we’ll have…oh, wait, why not do this in list form? 1…
Correct Ticket Locations for Friday’s Bianca Noons Tribute
Planeta Bar-Rio 6400 Richmond, 832-251-9600 Island Resort 12180 Bissonet, 281-564-4012 Caribbean Cuisine 7433 Bissonnet, 713-774-7428 House of Manna 508 Murphy Road, 281-403-6262 Tat Imports 8236 W. Bellfort, 713-981-6677 Grace’s Cafe 1909 Texas Parkway, 281-261-8451 Halaal Meat 9801 Bissonnet, 713-271-5000 Tickets are also available at neutralsisters.com. – Chris Gray…
Where Have All The Photos Gone?
Critics have lavished praise on Hair Balls’ sparkling, edgy use of pictures in its blog posts (“Sparkling, edgy use of pictures!!” — Hair Balls, Houston Press).In case you’re wondering where they are today, so are we.Technical problems are popping up all over; gremlins are afoot. Glitches abound.We’ve had some trouble…
Roger That, Houston
Congratulations Houston, you showed your big heart once again. The Move America Forward tour stopped off at the Wal-Mart on Highway 6 North this afternoon and asked Houstonians for help in sending care packages overseas to American troops. Gold Star Mom Debbie Lee spoke with Hair Balls and had good…
The Top 10 Reissues of 2008
[Note: This is the first in a series of articles that constitute Village Voice Media’s year-end music package. The others – pop, indie-rock, dance mixes, Latin, country, alt-country/Americana, metal, rap/hip-hop and special graphics breaking down the year in charts and 2008’s worst lyrics – will be posted on Rocks Off…
Whiskey A-Go-Go at Poison Girl
Ever since acclaimed mixologist Bobby Heugel left Beaver’s earlier this year, Houston has been eagerly awaiting the opening of his very own bar, Anvil, located on a precarious curve along Westheimer in Montrose. Alongside Heugel’s very unique creations (which are fresh, modern takes on decidedly staid and classic drinks), the bar will…
Vote Carrie Milbank for Playboy’s Sexiest Sportscaster
Last week I wrote a post about the latest edition of Playboy.com’s Sexiest Sportscaster contest. And I was a bit disappointed at some of the choices. And though I have some Erin Andrews burnout, I could understand the desire of many of my fellow males (and probably quite a few…
Vote Carrie Milbank for Playboy’s Sexiest Sportscaster
Last week I wrote a post about the latest edition of Playboy.com’s Sexiest Sportscaster contest. And I was a bit disappointed at some of the choices. And though I have some Erin Andrews burnout, I could understand the desire of many of my fellow males (and probably quite a few…
Aftermath: Justin Townes Earle at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Earle has a personality that fits his honky-tonk, ragtime, ’40s-’50s country sound. Every tune was introduced with a witty Western quip – the harmonica-led sawdusted ditty “South Georgia Sugar Babe” was preceded with a story about a nurse who worked in a methadone clinic Earle stayed in: “She fit the…
“100 Days Of Change” Coming To The Houston Chronicle
Hearst is the privately owned company that owns a ton of magazines, TV stations and newspapers, including our very own Houston Chronicle.The longtime head of Hearst’s newspaper division recently retired; the guy who replaced him has sent out a long memo to employees full of doom and gloom and re-invention.The…
Fort Worth’s School Superintendent Has A Bigger Salary Than Houston’s
Houston, you have been dissed by Fort Worth. Fort Worth.That cowtown up north has gone all big-time, paying its school superintendent the highest salary in the state. Abe Saavedra here in Houston has been relegated to the poverty line.Fort Worth ISD superintendent Melody Johnson received a 1.4 percent pay raise…
Police Get The Wrong House In Galveston, Allegedly Assault 12-Year-Old Girl
It was a little before 8 at night when the breaker went out at Emily Milburn’s home in Galveston. She was busy preparing her children for school the next day, so she asked her 12-year-old daughter, Dymond, to pop outside and turn the switch back on. As Dymond headed toward the…
Digitalia: Blind I for the Kids
There aren’t too many sites where you’ll find a mixtape of Blind I operative Pickster One’s DJ set on a Parisian radio station, nor will you find many mixtapes that skillfully mesh soul staples like Minnie Riperton and genre-bending duos like J*Davey without sounding all over the place. That’s what…
Obama’s Education Pick Brings Back Memories Of HISD’s Rod Paige
Barack Obama has truly broken the mold in picking a Secretary of Education — he’s chosen the superintendent of the largest school district in his home state.Wait — that sounds familiar. George W. Bush did the same thing, of course, when he tapped HISD’s Rod Paige to come to Washington…
Art Rock: Erika Eve at the Continental Club
[Rocks Off will refrain from making any “stocking stuffer” jokes, thank you very much…]…
One Upside Of A Bad Economy: Cheap Art
Hair Balls got a notice for a “corporate de-acquisitions sale” at Nau-haus Art Space. Basically, a corporation was kind of “renting to own” its art collection and decided not to bother with the ownership part, and now it’s available at a discount. As the notice explains, “Works included in this…
Artist of the Week: Hollywood F.L.O.S.S.
Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. Despite his goofy name, Hollywood F.L.O.S.S. has quietly…
The Christmas That Gift Baskets Forgot
Usually, by this this time in December each year, offices around the country are swimming in gift baskets from Harry & David, boxes of chocolate from Godiva, or crates of summer sausage and cheddar cheese. But this year, anecdotal evidence suggests that the recession has put the kibosh on those…
Another One Done Gone: RIP Pete Mayes
L-R: Jerry Lightfoot, Texas Johnny Brown, Joe “Guitar” Hughes, “Spare Time” Murray (obscured) and Pete Mayes James Nagel/www.jerrylightfoot.com Veteran Houston bluesman Pete Mayes, a guitarist and singer whose uptown jump-swing style a la Louis Jordan belied his rural Texas roots, has passed away at his Northside home, his friend, chauffeur…
The Five Worst Christmas Parties In The Movies
If you’re currently employed and haven’t already attended your annual office Christmas party then you’re probably dreading the imminent annual display of drunkenness and awkward groping that offers even the most unassuming of us the chance for instant workplace notoriety. The only consolation we can offer those about to be…
Your Holiday Season Tamale Making: Recipe for Masa
When I was helping test recipes for The Tex-Mex Cookbook we tried to come up with a manageable recipe for two dozen tamales at a time. With Christmas just around the corner, here is a recipe for the masa you’ll need. For this recipe you will need 1 ½ tsp…
If You’re Going To Be A Loser, You Might As Well Be A Sore Loser
No big surprise: Chris Bell has lost another political race.The perpetual candidate lost a runoff yesterday to former judge Joan Huffman for a State Senate seat, with Huffman taking a comfortable 56 percent of the vote.If you were expecting the Democratic Party of Texas to take it well, be a…
Lost Tuneage: Manassas
“It Doesn’t Matter” Who Dat? The most talented member of CSN-without-the-Y, Stephen Stills was riding high on a solo career with tracks like “Love the One You’re With,” “Black Queen” and “Change Partners.” During sessions for his third solo record, Stills recorded with an ad-hoc studio group of crack players…
End Of The Line For The Edward James Olmos Book Fair
It’s official: The Edward James Olmos Book Fair Houston Latino Book and Family Festival is no more. At least not as presented by Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say, the organization that originally brought the festival to town. To be honest, there have been riffs with corporate sponsors for…
Sonidos y Mas: Various Artists, “The Price of Silence”
Sixty years ago this week in Paris, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The original text was a collaborative effort from representatives from many nations including the United States (Eleanor Roosevelt was part of the team), written as a way to repudiate the atrocities brought on…
Cold Day Lunch: A Hot Bowl of Chili
There’s nothing quite like a bowl of chili with chopped onions and saltines to warm you up on a cold winter day. And for eighty-five years, one of the best bowls of chili in the city has been served at the James Coney Island hot dog stands. The chili recipe…
There’s A Pressing (And Hidden) Deadline For Replacing Paul Bettencourt
Paul Bettencourt threw Harris County politics into a tizzy when he announced, shortly after his successful re-election bid in November, that he didn’t want the job after all.A lucrative private-sector job was available, he said, and he had to take it.Which meant that the Harris County Commissioners Court has to…
Bill White Is In The Senate Race — Obama Style!
It’s not much of a surprise after leaks began coming out last week, but Houston Mayor Bill White formally announced today he’s in the race for Kay Bailey Hutchinson’s senate seat.He did it Obama-style: via a video on his website. In front of what look like sagging bookshelves, White describes…
Emmett, Also, Visits With The Sikh Family That Said It Was Harassed
The Sikh family that says it was harassed by Harris County Sheriff’s deputies has been getting to know county politicians more than they might have guessed.Over the weekend, sheriff-elect Adrian Garcia met with the family and many other Sikhs; yesterday is was County Judge Ed Emmett.Emmett apologized for the incident,…
Countdown To Championship Saturday: Katy High
Two area high schools — Katy and Hightower — will play in separate games Saturday at Reliant Stadium for the state championships in their division. Each day we’ll count down to the big event.In old Katy this week, the town, school and football team are preparing for a state championship…
“Nicest Guy On Death Row” Gets A Reprieve
In a ruling Friday that flew under the radar until today, US District Judge Vanessa Gilmore overturned the capital-murder conviction of Mariano Rosales, because Harris County prosecutors had improperly rejected minorities from the jury pool.The technical term for the tossing-minority-jurors claim is a Batson challenge, after the 1986 case where…
Attention Guitarists: Learn Your Parts…or Else!
It’s not that uncommon for band rehearsals to erupt into fisticuffs, especially if the groups’ ranks include siblings with the last name Davies, Gallagher or Robinson. Sometimes one member or another just can’t play their part and it’s necessary to beat the crap out of them. But an Italian goth-metal band by…
Free Tickets for Aaron Neville at House of Blues
About 30 tickets for the Aaron Neville Quintet’s Christmas show, featuring brother Charles on saxophone, seem to have just fallen off a truck and made their way into the Press’ reception area at 1621 Milam, Suite 100 downtown. First come, first serve. The Press lobby closes at 6 p.m.; doors for…
Aftermath: The 71’s and Evangeline at Warehouse Live
Photos by Jef With One F It’s accurate to say that I went to see The 71’s on Monday night with some hesitancy; my knowledge of contemporary Christian music is limited to Jars of Clay’s “Flood” and the Prom scene from the movie Saved!. Despite my affection for the band’s…
Santa Round-Up Part Three: At Least When You’re Done Juggling Quadruplets, There’s A Beer Waiting
This and every Christmas season the most important person is the baby Jesus, with a bearded, white-haired toy factory owner coming in a close second. Every year we flock to the malls to sit in our kids down on Santa’s lap. Sometimes they run off screaming, while others take to…
Thrift Store Cowboy: Garth Brooks, Sonic Youth and Yaz
Location: Salvation Army, 3620 Broadway, Pearland Thrift stores are a museum of random genius. Where else can one find a faded D.A.R.E. t-shirt and a pair of soiled leather pants? Each trip is a chance for magic. Rocks Off spent some time at the Salvation Army out in the badlands…
OMG!! NASA Is Twittering!! 4 rlz!!
If you have ever felt the need to discuss highly technical rocket science 140 characters at a time, this is your big day.NASA has officially launched (get it!) a Twitter feed. Or whatever they call those things.There have been sporadic posts on the Twitter page before now as part of…
Last Legacy Of Sheriff Tommy Thomas: A Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas is leaving office in a few weeks, thanks to the voters, but his legacy will live on, thanks to a lawsuit filed over a jailhouse death.Daniel Goldberg recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department in state district court on behalf of the parents…
Texas Judicial System No Longer “A Hellhole,” Say The Big-Money Groups Benefiting From It
Good news, Texas! Your judicial system is now no longer officially “a hellhole.” Of course, the people making that assessment are the “tort reform” groups that have spent the last few years making sure that the average Joe is going to have as much luck suing an incompetent doctor or…
Metalocalypse: Baroness and the Southern Metal Renaissance
Baroness, “Wanderlust,” 2007 In the same way that Houston rarely inspires photos of snow flurries, people tend not to associate heavy metal with the South. But, if you look hard enough, you’ll find a rich history of hard music with roots planted firmly in Southern soil. In the ’80s and…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Redd Volkaert’s Reddhead
Redd Volkaert, “Always Late (With Your Kisses)” Redd Volkaert Reddhead (Telehog) www.myspace.com/rvolkaert Another little item that slipped through the cracks this year Lonesome Onry and Mean feels negligent for not reporting is Austin king picker Redd Volkaert’s Reddhead. It says something about the musician Volkaert is when, in Reddhead’s “Thanks”…
Oprah, Shut Up
Oh, did you hear? Oprah’s 200 pounds again. So fucking what? Here is a woman who is easily one of the most powerful people on Earth, and all we (and she) have been talking about for the last week is the fact that she’s reached 200 pounds again. I repeat:…
Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Jeff Fisher Outcoached by Gary Kubiak?
I’m a big guy – no literally, I’m 6’4″, so I’m a big guy – so I can admit when I’m wrong. And I was wrong about Sunday’s Texans/Titans game. And I was wrong big time. Andre Johnson had a day for the ages with 207 receiving yards and a…
Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Jeff Fisher Outcoached by Gary Kubiak?
I’m a big guy – no literally, I’m 6’4″, so I’m a big guy – so I can admit when I’m wrong. And I was wrong about Sunday’s Texans/Titans game. And I was wrong big time. Andre Johnson had a day for the ages with 207 receiving yards and a…
Get Lit: Hot Burritos: The True Story of the Flying Burrito Brothers by John Einarson with Chris Hillman
Texas supergroup the Flatlanders (although it still exists) may have been “more legend than a band” but the same could also be said for the Flying Burrito Brothers (above, with female friends). The pioneers of country-rock were a short-lived act that went though numerous lineup changes, but records like The…
TDCJ Comes Up Against The Cell Phone Companies
A lot of people who read about the epidemic of cell phones in Texas prisons had a basic question — if you can’t discover and confiscate the things, why not just block them? Set it up to jam transmissions in the prison?It turns out TDCJ has thought about that, but…
Tonight: Justin Townes Earle at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Honky-tonk blues youngun Justin Townes Earle, 26, hits McGonigel’s Mucky Duck tonight. Rocks Off called him up last week to ask about last year’s first round of tours behind debut release The Good Life, his early hip-hop influences, his new record and how he’ll handle a venue with no room…
Five Christmas Movies Guaranteed To Get Rid Of Unwanted Guests
Holiday season is in full swing, and soon our homes will be filled with family members we’ve been successfully avoiding for the last 11 months, many of whom will wear out their welcomes before their Members Only jacket hits the pile on the bed. We in the media may be…
Squeeze Play: Texas Valley Lemons
I always buy a sack of Valley lemons along with my red grapefruit on the way home from the Lower Rio Grande Valley during the citrus season. The not very tart lemons are wonderful to cook with. But I was never quite clear on the botanical details. “Valley lemons are…
Houstonian’s Film Opens, Barely
When we spoke last week with Marc Adler, the Houstonian who was the man behind the animated film Delgo, he said he was on pins and needles waiting the box-office results.The news is in, and it ain’t good.Despite being released on more than 2,100 screens, Delgo managed to bring in…
Big-Time Spending At The Texas Bowl Gets Rutgers In Trouble
Who says the Texas Bowl doesn’t bring in big amounts of revenue to Houston?Maybe this year’s game won’t — after all, it’s between hometown team Rice (no hotel rooms needed) and relatively unknown Western Michigan (not many hotel rooms needed).But the 2006 game was a bonanza, if you believe state…
Houstonians Needed To Harass Judge
The Houston Press’s backpage.com classifieds section sometimes gets some odd submissions, and we were recently alerted to one. Sent by an anonymous source using the addy police_evidence123@yahoo.com, the post offered “thousands of part-time and full-time openings” for a vague company called “Santa’s Little Helpers.” Or at least, that’s the name that…
Mail Call: Post-AC/DC Edition
AC/DC may be gone (sniff), although the ringing in several of Rocks Off’s friends’ ears (and his own) lingers on, but the mail goes on… Waylon Jennings & the .357s (Littlefield/Nashville, R.I.P.), Waylon Forever (by request): “‘I’d been playing my dad the music I was inspired by at the time,’…
Someone Has To Keep Up With the Pot Demand From HISD Teachers
Another HISD teacher’s been nabbed for pot today; this time a special-ed teacher from the Harper Alternative School. This makes about 14 billion HISD teachers arrested in the last two weeks, officials estimate. (And by “officials,” we mean us.)So the U.S. Department of Justice’s newest National Drug Threat Assessment, released…
Attention Local Musicians: Rocks Off Needs Your Music
Rocks Off is looking your way, Balaclavas… The end of the year is coming up fast, and while we’re all anxiously waiting being quit of the past dismal, depressing 365 days – with a few notable exceptions, like this and this – there’s one last bit of business Rocks Off needs…
Aftermath Bonus: AC/DC Crowd Shots
[A few stray shots of the (mostly) rabid crowd at last night’s AC/DC orgy…] Photos by Daniel Kramer…
Arnold Schwarzenegger Comes Calling For A Houstonian
Houston reporter Gary Taylor gained a small bit of fame back in the day when he got shot by a girlfriend who turned out to be something of a serial not-so-perfect, violent paramour.Catherine Mehaffey, the shooter, gained fame for a series of violent mishaps to people she was involved with;…
Aftermath: AC/DC at Toyota Center
Photos by Daniel Kramer In this season of hard times, there could have been no better band to close out Houston’s banner concert year than original Aussie working-class heroes AC/DC, who still look the part to a T. And Aftermath can’t think of a better way to begin his…
Gift Giving at Soon-To-Be-Closed J. Will Jones Elementary
Thanks to some generous people in Houston and from as far away as New York State, J. Will Jones Elementary will celebrate its annual “Gift of Giving” celebration this Thursday, distributing “donated presents and hurricane relief supplies to students and their families,” HISD announced today. St. Nicholas will show up…
Over the Weekend: Sinful Xmas, Houston Aeros and AC/DC
Brrrr. It’s getting chilly. Not that you could tell from looking at the photo below. Sinful Xmas at Warehouse Live Yuletide naughtiness was in season at Dare Ware’s December 13 bash. Houston Aeros Win Two of Three It was a good week for the Aeros, complete with free wings and…
Coming Soon: Juan Mon’s International Sandwiches
A whole new concept in international fast food is coming to a stretch of Taft Street in Houston’s Fourth Ward. Juan Mon’s International Sandwiches and Drinks plans to bring an eclectic cuisine to one of the most eclectic neighborhoods in the city. First, the neighborhood. Taft Street between West Gray…
Classic Rock Corner: The Greatest Band Logos of All Time, Part 1
Daniel Kramer With our ears still ringing from last night’s AC/DC concert at Toyota Center (I knew we should have stayed away from the end of the stage with the cannon…), we got to thinking about the Aussie boys’ iconic band logo. Sketched in pen on a million different school…
Catholic Churches On Galveston May Be Closing
Catholics in Galveston, already reeling from the news that O’Connell High might have to close, are facing another post-Ike crisis: most of the Catholic churches on the island might be gone too.The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is mulling plans to merge all the Galveston parishes into one island-wide parish at St…
Rosa’s Photo Corner: Secret Prostitutes, Southmore House Circle Pit, Todo Moto Motorcycle Club and El Desmadre
[Rocks Off asked local music photographess supreme and Mutant Hardcore Flower Hour co-host Rosa Guerrero if she’d be willing to periodically open up her vast archives for our readers’ enjoyment, and she graciously agreed. Here are her first submissions.] “The Secret Prostitutes perform at a warehouse on Commerce Street: This…
Steve Guttenberg, Hero Of Houston
You may remember Steve Guttenberg. You may not, as the former star of Cocoon and Three Men & A Baby is now “appearing in Cinderella as Baron Hard-up at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley,” which is in England and isn’t exactly considered a step up from starring in Hollywood blockbusters.But…
KLOL And Mix 96 Get A New Owner
The fate of two of Houston’s larger radio stations, KLOL-FM and KHMX-FM, have been up in the air for a while.Clear Channel has said it planned to get rid of the two stations, but no one was sure who’d get them.It turns out one huge radio outfit has been traded…
Turning the Screw: B L A C K I E, Dizzee Rascal, X-Clan & Bun B, Eminem, Pitbull, T.I., Common, Snoop Dogg and More
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off’s weekly rap post. It probably won’t rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: B L A C K I E, “I Write On Money” Wire To Wire Dizzee Rascal was released from…
Tonight: The 71’s at Warehouse Live
The history of The 71’s is not well documented, and a tireless Google search, set to their appropriately soul-seeking music, leaves many questions unanswered. Two previous EPs, The 71’s and Want You Know, seem to feature none of the lineup present on latest LP We Are Locomotive save guitarist Ryan…
Don’t Say It….Don’t Say It….Damn, I Said It
You could almost hear the wheels spinning in the mind of the guy substituting for JP Pritchard on KTRH this morning.Authorities had busted a large cockfighting ring, the lede of his item said.Cockfighting ring. Cockfighting ring, you could imagine him practicing. Make sure to say cockfighting ring.And then they tossed…
Christmas Shopping and Q in Bellville
The Poffenberger boys at Bellville Meat Market got into the barbecue business fairly recently. It wasn’t until two years ago that they started selling brisket and sausage sandwiches at the butcher shop. And according to the sign out front, they’ve already won some kind of award for their “2008 Grand…
MFAH Gets A Boost From An Oil Executive’s Art Collection
Since the death of oil tycoon Robert Chaney, questions have been raised regarding the fate of the famous Chaney family art collection. (Chaney committed suicide in late October of this year.)A small part of that question was answered Friday when the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston announced eight major works…
Get Your Nominations In For The Worst In Houston Real Estate
Swamplot, the terrific real-estate blog (Winner of a Best of Houston award this year!) is trying to honor the “best” in Houston architecture, and note the quotes around “best.”Gus Allen, Mr. Swamplot, is seeking nominations for such categories as “Favorite Houston Design Cliche,” “Most Grandiose Development” and “Best Teardown of…
Good Week for the Houston Aeros, with Free Wings and Flying Teddy Bears
Photo by Fred Trask In many ways, the Aeros had a very good week last week. They won two of three games by rather convincing margins. They lost another game, 2-1, in the shootout, and improved their record to 13-10-1-3 (30 points). The week started with the Aeros 2-1 shootout…
Good Week for the Houston Aeros, with Free Wings and Flying Teddy Bears
Photo by Fred Trask In many ways, the Aeros had a very good week last week. They won two of three games by rather convincing margins. They lost another game, 2-1, in the shootout, and improved their record to 13-10-1-3 (30 points). The week started with the Aeros 2-1 shootout…
Weekend Find
Late season heirloom tomatoes at the newly-opened H-E-B in west Houston at Bunker Hill and I-10. These beautiful babies were going for $5.99 a pound when I visited the much-ballyhooed new H-E-B on Saturday afternoon. The bins were heaving with at least a dozen varieties of tomatoes: Aunt Ruby’s, Golden Grapes, Armenian,…
Art Rock: Danceparc’s Mustache Night 2: Guilty Pleasures at Numbers
9:30 p.m. tonight at Numbers, 300 Westheimer, 713-526-6551…
Art Rock: duneTXmas Freakout at the Big Top
10 p.m. tonight at Shoeshine Charley’s Big Top Lounge, 3714 Main. Free…
Today’s HISD Honor Roll: 14 Campuses Searched, No Drug Arrests
It’s no longer news when an HISD teacher or employee gets nabbed by Druggy, the drug-sniffing dog. (At least that’s we call him.)Which means it is news when no one gets arrested. And that’s what happened today.Fourteen campuses searched, no arrests.That means a) Druggy has a stuffy nose; b) Even…
From The Oakland A’s To Texas’ Biggest Deadbeat Dad — The Pride of Brazoswood High
Troy Neel, of Brazoswood High, had one good year in the majors: as an Oakland A, he batted .290 in 1993.So he was never an All-Star. Today he earned a new title: The newly arrested Biggest Deadbeat Dad in Texas.Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office announced that Neel was arrested yesterday…
An Hour With AC/DC
A pacer by nature, Rocks Off is already so excited about Sunday’s AC/DC show he can hardly sit down long enough to type a complete sentence. So imagine how difficult it was to sit at the keyboard while listening to a solid hour of Sirius/XM’s “AC/DC Radio” channel. Or don’t,…
Once You’ve Worked With Marvin Zindler, A Career In Animation Makes Sense
Okay, here’s a picture of the Marc Adler, the creator of the new animated movie Delgo … And here’s a picture of Delgo. Is it just us or does anybody else see a resemblance? We’ll get back to that. Adler stopped by the Houston Press offices and spoke with Hair…
Remembering Bettie Page
Yesterday in Los Angeles, pin-up icon Bettie Page succumbed to complications from a heart attack suffered almost three weeks ago. She was 85. Few women in modern history have incited such lust and reverence in men and women alike. To the rockabilly culture, she embodied the ideal woman – voluptuous…
Sprucing Up In Port Arthur: Get Those Cars Off The Lawn!
Starting today, folks in Port Arthur who park on their front lawns need to think of other places to park.As part of a measure to spruce up the place, the city council approved an ordinance allowing the city to fine folks who think the best place to park the ol’…
Two Of The Seven Hazing Cheerleaders Get A Sweet Deal
Plea deals have been worked out for two of the seven Morton Ranch High cheerleaders indicted for hazing, the DAs office has announced.Hayley Spincer Davis, 17, and Adelynn Frances Garner, 18, have agreed to a pre-trial diversion deal that will see the charges dismissed if they fulfill their obligations.Those obligations…
Campaign Finance Shenanigans — Maybe Fiction, Maybe Not
With the recent news of Barack Obama’s record-breaking $750 million campaign fundraising efforts, it’s an interesting time to release a novel about greed and deception in the field of political moneymaking. Especially if you, the author, were part of the team that helped secure Obama’s three-quarters-of-a-billion sum. But local lawyer/politician/author…
This Weekend: The Flaming Lips’ Christmas on Mars at the Alamo Drafthouse
Hmm, the science-fiction film Christmas on Mars bills itself as “a fantastical film freak-out featuring the Flaming Lips.” Considering the Lips are one of the country’s wildest psychedelic bands, this ought to be interesting. The cast features ex-Houstonian and Lips drummer Steven Drozd, as Major Syrtis. Wayne Coyne, the band’s frontman and…
Texans-Titans: Paging Sage Rosenfels
Hey, the Texans have won three straight games. And they even had to go out in miserable weather and defeat the Packers to win last week — you know, it’s kind of shame that it snowed on Wednesday night and couldn’t wait until Sunday so that Texans fans, who have…
Texans-Titans: Paging Sage Rosenfels
Hey, the Texans have won three straight games. And they even had to go out in miserable weather and defeat the Packers to win last week — you know, it’s kind of shame that it snowed on Wednesday night and couldn’t wait until Sunday so that Texans fans, who have…
What Are You Laughing At? You’re Not In The Krystal Burger Hall Of Fame
There are probably few things in this world that mean immortality more than having your face plastered on the side of a fast-food box. That’s what’s happening this weekend for Houston’s Joey, Robert and Steven Clark when they’re inducted into the Krystal burger Hall of Fame. (Krystal burgers are the…
Busy Weekend at Cactus Music
If you haven’t got Secret Machines (above) tickets yet, stop on by Cactus Music (2110 Portsmouth) today and pick up the proggy Dallas expats new self-titled CD; you’ll get a free ticket to their show at Warehouse Live tonight with Perry Farrell and Electric Touch. (And a free poster!) If…
Local Rotation: Gold Sounds’ Gold Sounds EP
The Gold Sounds’ self-titled, debut EP is not an exercise in showoffery. There’s no mind-bending guitar solos, no time signatures questioning standard musical notation and no quirky elements that smack of an effort to deny obvious influences. It’s just four solid hard-rock tunes. True, it’s easier to escape flaws when…
New Tape Of A Young Springsteen Remembering His First Houston Gigs
Someone has put up on YouTube the long audio interview he did with a very young Bruce Springsteen in Phoenix on March 24th, 1974 (Way before the 1978 Phoenix show that included the legendarily filmed “Rosalita”).In part two of the six-part interview, Springsteen talks about the reception he’s been getting…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Sounds of Texas Music Series Announces 2009 Season
Guy Clark, “L.A. Freeway,” live in Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2006 In response to last week’s feature on the Conroe/The Woodlands/Montgomery County Americana scene, we’ve just received word from the Sounds of Texas Music Series people regarding their 2009 season. Quote-unquote, “Season tickets are going fast.” The lineup for the 2009 series…
The Strange Advertising Deal No One At UH Wants To Talk About
The University of Houston’s Communication Department has taken bold, groundbreaking steps to preserve the study of journalism for future generations.It just depends on how you define “journalism.”The Daily Cougar, the student newspaper, recently inked a sweet deal with a local company called Inverted Advertising, which was founded by two UH…
Perry vs. Perry
In one of the more petulant and childish moves in restaurant nomenclature history, Perry’s Restaurant in Dallas recently issued a call to their customers to help them come up with a new name upon learning that Houston-based Perry’s Steakhouse will be moving into the area, thereby encroaching upon their Perry-ness (and steakhouse-y-ness)…
There’s Some Dispute On The NASA-Obama Dispute
Yesterday we noted that the Orlando Sentinel was reporting that relations between the Obama transition team and NASA were little better than Madonna and Guy Ritchie.Today, however, everybody is insisting everything’s beautiful, nothin’ to see her, folks, move along. Sort of.Leading the “everything’s terrific” campaign is the Houston Chronicle, which…
Five Spot: The FBI Gets at DMX
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it’s either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. ] As we reported in Monday’s Turning the Screw, yet another arrest warrant was issued for star-crossed hardcore rapper DMX. It took…
Bianca Noons Tribute Concert Next Friday at Bar Rio
Neutral Sisters Kyra and Bianca Noons Bianca Noons, who passed away peacefully November 29 after lying in a diabetic coma for a year, was half of Houston sibling reggae duo the Neutral Sisters, memorably profiled by the Press’ John Nova Lomax in a 2003 cover story. “Two African-born, white-skinned Jamaican…
Lawyer To Sue To Get That Secret Red-Light Camera Study
Houston civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen says he is going to sue the city for refusing to hand over any information whatsoever concerning a red-light camera traffic-safety study conducted by a Rice University professor. Kallinen says he talked to the study’s author, Professor Robert Stein, and knows the report is completed…
Drenched in Blog: Why the Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special Creeps Me Out
In 1988, few things were as cool or innovative on Saturday mornings as Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. Each week, we screamed the secret word, connected dots, watched old weird-ass cartoons and saw Saturday Night Live star Phil Hartman play a surly sea captain. The show was something five-year olds and hungover twentysomethings could…
Fox 26 News May Be Facing Some Big Job Cuts
Difficult times may be coming for Channel 26, Fox’s local news operation.A television-news website reports that Fox is planning big cutbacks at stations across the country. “Stations like New York’s WNYW, Chicago’s WFLD and Houston’s KRIV are expected to be hit hard,” reports TVNewserKRIV is an “owned and operated” station,…
Update: Snot What You Thought
After highlighting a local man’s discovery of what appeared to be a giant loogie in his can of green tea, the tea company has responded with an apology and an explanation. According to Steaz co-founder Eric Schnell, who personally responded to the complaint, the gruesome substance was actually undissolved lemon juice concentrate and it marks the…
Cutout Bin: Martha Tilton et al.’s Christmas at Our House
Martha Tilton “and other great Hollywood vocal stars” Christmas at Our House (Tops/Mayfair, 1958) Merry Christmas, son. I’m sorry daddy lost his job, and mommy’s too friendly with the bottle to be much help. If we start saving now, maybe we’ll be able to get a tree next year. But…
Top Ten WTF Sports Moments of 2008
It’s end of year time, which means it’s time for stupid lists. And if there’s anything you guys have learned about me, it’s that I like stupid lists. So I present this year’s Top Ten WTF Moments in Sports for 2008. 10. The Cleveland Browns suspended tight end Kellen Winslow,…
Top Ten WTF Sports Moments of 2008
It’s end of year time, which means it’s time for stupid lists. And if there’s anything you guys have learned about me, it’s that I like stupid lists. So I present this year’s Top Ten WTF Moments in Sports for 2008. 10. The Cleveland Browns suspended tight end Kellen Winslow,…
Carnegie Tech’s Triumph Is Complete, For Now
The capitulation is complete — the parents of the “Carnegeeks” have proven they’re not to be fucked with.HISD superintendent Abe Saavedra had threatened them with a pretty dire plan — combine the school (which is magnet for the very smart and not physically imposing) with Worthing High, a tough, relatively…
Sam Houston Race Park Can’t Stay Open, But It Can Make Great Commercials
Sam Houston Race Park hasn’t reopened since Ike damaged it (and some horse folks are muttering darkly that Ike didn’t damage it as much as the tanking economy), but it has found something to celebrate.One of its TV ads has been chosen as one of the “Funniest Commercials of the…
The Whole Wide World: Chopteeth’s Afro-Funk Big Band
Chopteeth live at Washington D.C.’s Black Cat Photo by C.L. Kunst Chopteeth Afro-Funk Big Band (Grigri Discs) www.chopteeth.com People deal with grief in various ways – some go out and get drunk,while others might take a trip in order to “clear the air” while attempting to deal with the pain…
Seven Ways To Tell When That Woman Plans To Drug And Rob You
It’s a crime-wave that is terrorizing single, vulnerable men out for a simple night of fun on Austin’s Sixth Street. Men powerless to defend themselves from their attackers. Stupid, stupid men.As the Early Show reported recently, six men have been robbed by a group of three or four women dubbed…
Homemade Tamales R Us
The question around town is: “Where can I get some homemade tamales?” For a great many Texans, tamales are a necessity of the holiday season. But the tamales you buy in the grocery store are usually disappointing. And while we all love the giant dollar a piece tamales at Doña…
Katy Freeway Expansion Working Great, Highway Officials Say
So how is traffic on the Katy Freeway now that the expansion has been officially completed?Pretty good — if you ask the people in charge of it.The Texas Transportation Institute has done a study at the request of TxDOT and found what it’s calling “significant improvement.”Evening commuters on the 20-mile…
Tonight: Scott Miller and Mike McClure at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Scott Miller, “Drunk All Around This Town” Long ago, Scott Miller had a brief essay on his website about playing writers-in-the-round gigs. In his eyes, such shows come down to you, the one good, talented, brilliant songwriter sitting there silently wishing these other hacks would finish their goddamn long lame-ass story about…
Trouble Brewing Between NASA And Obama
All is not smooth in the relationship between NASA an incoming president Barack Obama.Not smooth at all, unless you count red-faced screaming fits by the head of NASA, his demands to speak directly to Obama, and his telling the person handing NASA for the president-elect’s transition team she is not…
Sheriff’s Deputies Who Worked As Sensitivity Trainers Punished For Being Insensitive
This week’s feature about Laura Howard also deals with crisis-intervention training in law enforcement.According to several sources from the story, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office has been slow in accepting crisis intervention as a method of handling suspects and inmates at the jail. Apparently, there has been another setback. The…
The Kanye Is a “Sharp Dressed Man”
Rocks Off would like to thank Dallas Observer Music Editor Pete Freedman for hipping him to this little nugget: the White Folks Get Crunk blog has chosen DJ Shade’s splice job welding Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown” and ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” as one of 2008’s top five mashups (it’s No…
Scarface Schools MTV News Editor on the Links
MTV News Hip-Hop Editor Shaheem Reid has discovered Scarface, whose purported final album Emeritus debuted at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 this week, is quite the duffer. “Doing what we do at MTV News, there are some things you have to see for yourself,” a breathless Reid writes on…
86’d at *17
The only reason to go to *17 at the Alden Hotel (aside from the snazzy decor which, truthfully, you can approximate for free by hanging out inside of West Elm) has left the building. It was discovered on Monday that Wesley Morton, the young chef from Washington, D.C. who dazzled our city with his…
Sorry About Those Five Years Enduring What Prisoners Do To Child Molesters, Dude
The Harris County DAs office announced today that they’ll be seeking to free a man who has served five years for sexually assaulting an eight-year-old boy.DNA evidence has exonerated Ricardo Rachell, DA Kenneth Magidson says.”As soon as the evidence was found to exonerate him, we have acted as swiftly as…
Things That Make Us Feel Old: Pearl Jam Reissuing Ten Next Year
In an announcement that will make many people’s beards turn instantly gray, Pearl Jam is planning a re-release campaign in advance of the band’s twentieth anniversary in 2011. The band’s 1991 debut Ten is the first to get the treatment, due March 24. Yeah, that’s right. Pearl Jam is almost 20. Eddie Vedder and…
Album of the Week: Christmas a Go-Go
One thing about Christmas songs, every single artist to ever pick up a guitar or drumstick seems to have recorded at least one, a company that apparently includes Joe Pesci, Soupy Sales (kids, ask your grandparents) and garage gods the Electric Prunes. Guaranteed, Christmas a Go-Go is the only place…
Former Rocket Dirk Minniefield Finds A New Way To Get In Trouble
Dirk Minniefield, the former Houston Rocket whose drug-addled life was turned around with the help of John Lucas, is in trouble again.The Associated Press reports that he’s been arrested for a mortgage-fraud scheme centered in the Houston area:The indictment alleges Minniefield was a real estate agent in fraudulent home loans…
Get Your Shrine On
For the second consecutive year the Shriners are bringing their postseason college football all-star game to the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium. The 84th edition of the East-West Shrine Game will be played on Saturday, January 17, 2009, with the kick-off set for 3:00 and the game to be televised…
Get Your Shrine On
For the second consecutive year the Shriners are bringing their postseason college football all-star game to the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium. The 84th edition of the East-West Shrine Game will be played on Saturday, January 17, 2009, with the kick-off set for 3:00 and the game to be televised…
Digitalia: iTunes’ Top Holiday Songs
The holiday season is a time to enjoy favorite pastimes like expanding your credit-card debt, eating way too much food, and arguing with your relatives. And of course, there’s the best staple of them all: butchering holiday jingles. Never finding a song they didn’t want to shill, iTunes offers an…
The “Golden” Triangle — Pay No Attention To the Tons Of Pollutants
In calculating the latest pollution fine levied against BASF Fina Petrochemicals LP in Jefferson County, state regulators made a note that might make residents of “The Golden Triangle” reconsider the nickname for their home.The Beaumont-Port Arthur area, documents say, has been exposed to 11.4 tons of pollutants, including 931 pounds…
Here’s Where To Find Out What’s Up With That Weird Piece Of City Art
The City of Houston has put together a somewhat nifty little website showing much of the municipal art that’s scattered around town.You can look up items by neighborhood, and even by zip code.Want to know about Ladder of Hope, the Floyd Newsum sculpture hanging in the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center?…
BCS Bill in Congress? About Time Our Politicos Got to the Important Stuff
The nation is in peril. There’s still the threat of terrorism. The military is mired in two wars. The economy is falling apart. Rich banking execs are getting bonuses for their failing businesses — bonuses being paid by taxpayer money — and the auto industry is on the verge of…
BCS Bill in Congress? About Time Our Politicos Got to the Important Stuff
The nation is in peril. There’s still the threat of terrorism. The military is mired in two wars. The economy is falling apart. Rich banking execs are getting bonuses for their failing businesses — bonuses being paid by taxpayer money — and the auto industry is on the verge of…
Houston’s Infrastructure Wish List Is Half Of Dallas’s
With the holidays approaching, mayors across the country have published their equivalent of letters to Santa, and all they want for Christmas is a total of $73 billion in federal funding for municipal projects they say could kick-start job growth.The U.S. Conference of Mayors released this week the results of…
Tonight: Eugene Chadbourne and Walter Daniels at Rudyard’s
The willfully weird Eugene Chadbourne stops by Rudyard’s this evening with Walter Daniels, harmonicist (as far as I can tell that is, in fact, a word) for 1980s Austin punk bands the Hickoids and Jack O’Fire, in tow. Chadbourne’s music is a mishmash of folk, blues, bluegrass, country, jazz and punk rock; his…
West U? They’re Robbing Banks In West U?
Famous bank robber Willie Sutton — who lived in a time when bank robbers became famous — was once asked why he robbed banks.”Because that’s where the money is,” he replied.So probably we shouldn’t be surprised that Houston’s rash of bank robberies (it’s been a record-setting year) has come to…
Snow (Cone) Day: Keeping Cool at Tampico
Thirty-two degrees outside. Ice on the ground. Snow in the air. No customers, and Tampico Refresceria (4520 N. Main, 713-880-3040) was still open for business last night. Seemed as great a reason as any for our very own Abrahan Garza to pull over and grab a couple…
Art Rock: Camaro at Boondocks
[Ed. note: Before Camaro blows your doors off, Tha Fucking Transmissions’ Cornbredd hosts a watch party for his reality show 50 Cent: The Money and the Power at 8:30 p.m.]…
Watching Law & Order Has Made Me Afraid of Public Restrooms
So I know I’m not the only nutjob who comes home from work, puts on a little TNT to catch a rerun of Law & Order, then realizes five hours later that the whole evening has passed her by and she has once again spent more time with Lennie Briscoe…
Burger Porn
In June 2005, I started taking photos of the burgers I was eating while researching the feature “Texas Burger Binge.” It made it easier to write about the burger later on if I could go back and look at it. When the Eating…Our Words blog got started in July of…
Maybe The Ballet’s New Home Will Look Like This. Or Maybe The Ballet Won’t Have A New Home
The local architectural blogging community has been passing around artists’ renderings of the proposed new downtown home of the Houston Ballet.Trouble is, the two pictures seem to show two very different buildings.Speculation has been rampant as to whether the two drawings (shown after the jump) are two different buildings or…
Retro Active: The Five Best ’80s Christmas Songs
Christmas seems to activate a latent part of all musicians’ brains that inspires them to spread their holiday cheer all over a perfectly good season. (The scientific term for this part of the brain is called “My Accountant.”) Musicians in the ’80s were certainly not exempt from this need to…
First They Came for the Trans-Fats…
El Paso Senator Eliot Shapleigh is worried about the country’s obesity epidemic. He has seen the horrid results of unchecked waistlines – diabetes, heart disease, guest spots on Jerry Springer. So he recently authored a bill that would ban trans-fats in Texas restaurants starting in 2010. Shapleigh points out that…
UH Study Shows People Willing To Keep Diaries About Their Feelings May Have Too Many Feelings
A new study out from the University of Houston claims some people need to get a life. Okay, maybe it doesn’t exactly say that, but it does talk about a phenomenon called “relationship-contingent self-esteem,” which happens when people “place too much emotional weight” on their relationships. People with RCSE get…
This Just In: Notsuoh May (or May Not) Have Been Sold
Here we go again, folks. The weekly Notsuoh Realtors Watch went on high alert yesterday upon this MySpace blog by the landmark scene-spot’s owner, Jim Pirtle: my phone was out of commission for a week and yesterday morning I hear this loud knocking on my plywood….i go down stairs and…
In Memory Of Mr. Buck: Five Deer Who Fought Back
It takes a…special kind of person to confront a captive animal, kill it, and make off with its head. Brandon Gregory is such a person, and while we may wonder at his motives, we can at least take some comfort in the fact that the recently deceased Mr. Buck didn’t…
Girl In A Coma
For everyone who digs Morrissey’s sensitivity but wishes he had a little more sex appeal: Meet Nina Diaz. Occasionally referred to as the “female Morrissey,” this spark plug of a singer fronts all-girl San Antonio trio Girl in a Coma after being recruited by big sister, drummer Phanie D, at…
Twelve Moments Meditation Series: Muslim Meditation
Explore the connection between contemplation and well-being at the Twelve Moments Meditation Series. Today’s session focuses on Muslim traditions of contemplation. First there’s a talk by a cleric and then there’s a guided meditation. With mounting evidence that quiet contemplation leads to improved physical and mental well-being, this might be…
The Ice at Discovery Green
Here in Houston, it’s hard to have the kind of Christmas spirit that involves walking in a winter wonderland or letting it snow, snow, snow because — well — it’s too damn hot here. However, you can break out your best A Charlie Brown Christmas ice–skating moves for The Ice…
Kevin Curry: NIMBY
Kevin Curry’s NIMBY is as much a sculpture as it is a shelter. The small cabin was originally created for Glasstire’s “Made from IKE” show, for which participants crafted works of art from hurricane detritus. He used discarded fence posts for walls and floors, and pieces of acrylic signs for…
Christmas Candlelight Tours
It’s a yuletide from yesteryear at the 46th Annual Heritage Society Candlelight Tour. Along with fully decorated historic homes, each fashioned to represent a different era, there are strolling carolers and story-tellers, crafters and a Santa’s Workshop complete with snow, live entertainment and St. Nicholas, of course. You can also…
Holiday Open House at Moody Mansion
See how one of Galveston Island’s most famous and powerful families spent Christmas back in the day at the Holiday Open House at Moody Mansion. The 28,000-square-foot, four-story house survived both the hurricane of 1900, when the island was almost completely submerged by flooding Gulf waters, and this year’s Hurricane…
John Joseph
John and Julio sitting in a tree…k-i-s-s-i-n-g! Okay, okay, maybe comedian John Joseph and super-mega-star singer Julio Iglesias aren’t exactly k-i-s-s-i-n-g, but how else would you explain why the pair toured North America together for nine years? Oh yeah, ‘cause Joseph’s funny as hell. 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, 7,…
East End Live Art: Is This Change?
Count on Voices Breaking Boundaries to stir the pot a little. While everyone’s still buzzing about Obama’s election, VVB presents East End Live Art: Is This Change?, a program of poets, artists and writers (and you, if you get up on the open mike) discussing today’s community issues. Participating artists…
“Color into Light: Selections from the MFAH Collection”
As the trees drop their leaves and economic doom and gloom sound from every angle, color — pure, vibrant color — is a nice thing to spend an afternoon contemplating. It’s worth a stroll, then, over to the Museum of Fine Arts, which has gathered together the boldest, brightest works…
Gremlins
Have fond memories of Gremlins as a fun, slightly violent Christmastime romp between a guy and his weird little friend named Gizmo? Or maybe you remember it as a racist social commentary that depicted African Americans as wild, violent and hypersexual. What? You doubt the gremlins were modern day mini-monsters…
Urban Lit Book Club/Candy Licker
“Yeah, Hurricane Jackson had a whole lot of things the average brothah could only dream of, but what he was missing was the one thing all his money and his power couldn’t buy him. A dick.” That’s how the character Candy Raye Montana describes her record producer/thug boyfriend in the…
Reel Teen Festival Editing Session
Have a young filmmaker on your hands? Make sure she gets to today’s Teen Film Festival Editing Session. Laptops are provided for kids ages 13 to 18 who are working on short films and videos. There will also be a few techno-savvy grownups around to help answer any “How do…
German Christmas Market
Texas has several vibrant German–American communities; luckily, one of them is just up the road in Tomball where the annual German Christmas Market is happening today. The tapping of the keg starts things off with a full day’s worth of live entertainment, food, kids’ activities, shopping, fireworks and even more…
Don’t Fight It! featuring Dave Wrangler, Piss Heavy and Young $quaddy
Don’t Fight It! was intended to be part dance night, part cultural study and all party. “The initial goal was more of a social experiment: to use music as a merger between curious ‘outer-Loopers’ in Polo shirts and ‘hipster elitists’ in skinny jeans,” says DJ Dave Wrangler, who is also…
Cinema Bomar: “Hazardous Holiday”
Cinema Bomar’s “Hazardous Holiday” is a mix of holiday, danger and WTF? This month’s offering from the vintage filmstrip collective includes clips with holiday themes such as Alias St. Nick, in which a Santa Claus skeptic saves Christmas, and A Christmas Dream, in which a little girl gets a lesson…
East End Urban Market
The East End Urban Market opens its door to shoppers and people-watchers today, offering not only eclectic antiques, home and garden accessories, Mexican imports and handcrafted jewelry, but a holiday festival atmosphere — all in the shadow of downtown’s skyscrapers. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 716 Telephone Road. For information,…
“Grown-up Storytime 12: The Greatest Stories Ever Told”
Sing with us: On the twelfth Grown-Up Storytime, BooTown gives to you, a greatest hits of tales that aren’t new. (Ah, holidays.) “Grown-up Storytime 12: The Greatest Stories Ever Told” is a rerun of favorite tales from the local theater collective’s performance series. Every month, Boo-Town takes outsider submissions for…
British Television Advertising Awards
Tabloids, teen wizards and television ads: These are three things that the Brits routinely do better than the Americans. Case in point: the famed Cadbury Dairy Milk ad with gorilla playing the drums to Phil Collins’s “In the Air Tonight” (we haven’t figured out the relevance, either), which went viral…
Lights in the Heights
The holiday season might not automatically bring up images of boom boxes, but that will change after you hear “Unsilent Night” at this year’s Lights in the Heights parade. Phil Kline’s ambient composition, which is performed by Musiqa members and volunteers, is just one of the treats you’ll enjoy during…
The Candidate Conspiracy author John Odam
Becoming president of the United States is hard — and expensive. No one knows this better than John Odam. (Well, okay, other than the guys who actually run for the office.) The Texas-born lawyer recently served on the Obama/Biden Texas Finance Committee, part of the record-breaking fund-raising team that helped…
Portables
Since meeting at Kent State in 1996, Kimberly Karpanty, Rebecca Malcolm-Naib and Karen Stokes have been making movement together for their company, Travesty Dance Group. What’s the travesty, you ask? In their words, it’s partly the dearth of arts funding and partly dance’s “peripheral” place in society, but mostly it’s…
I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus
Come on, admit it. Right about now, you’re sick of all the jolly, holly, holiday cheer. You’re ready for a show in which a reindeer bites an elf or the guy in the red suit kicks the bucket. Try the I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus Murder Mystery at Messina…
Christmas on Mars
Hmm, the science fiction film Christmas on Mars bills itself as “a fantastical film freak-out featuring the Flaming Lips.” Considering that FL are one of the country’s wildest psychedelic bands, this ought to be interesting. The cast features ex-Houstonian Steven Drozd, who’s also the drummer for the Flaming Lips, as…
“Jack Levine Retrospective”
The title “living legend” is hard to live up to, but artist Jack Levine seems to have no problem with it, and his new exhibit, “Jack Levine Retrospective” shows us why. Levine began his career in the mid-1920s and early on was part of what’s called Boston Expressionism. Over the…
East End Christmas
If you haven’t been out to a holiday event at the Orange Show yet, you haven’t experienced one of the more, er, unorthodox fests in town. That’s not to say there’s not plenty of good will — it’s just that there’s hardly a holiday stereotype in sight. This year’s East…
Matt Leines signs You Are Forgiven
Purveyors of contemporary art are aware that cartoonish, monsterish characters are all the rage. A standout in this movement is Matt Leines, whose tribalistic lions, warriors and skeletons have earned him shows in galleries all over the world. Leines’s process is, no doubt, a painstaking lesson in patience. For his…
Anjelah Johnson
Once you stop ogling comedian Anjelah Johnson, you’ll probably laugh at her. The former Oakland Raiders cheerleader left the glitz and glam of the sidelines for the thankless job behind an open mike. It paid off. Johnson caught the ears (and likely the eyes) of the folks at MADtv with…
Lone Star Motorcycle Rally
Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the Lone Star Motorcycle Rally (officially the largest American Motorcyclist Association event in the country). Events include the world’s largest Leather and Lace Ball, three Lone Star Party bars with randy adult fun (think Coyote Ugly girls and pillow fights), the Outlaw Dave Ranch Ride…
“Perspectives 164: Stephanie Syjuco: Total Fabrications”
Stephanie Syjuco dabbled in forgery for “Perspectives 164: Stephanie Syjuco: Total Fabrications” at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. In the installation The Berlin Wall, she displays chunks of found rock in glass cases as if they were a part of the iconic structure. Each counterfeit chunk is labeled “The Berlin…
A Christmas Story
The twisted tale of Ralphie Parker and his unrelenting quest for a BB gun is back in the now annual Texas Repertory Theatre production of A Christmas Story. Of course, this is no ordinary BB gun that Ralphie wants; it’s a Red Ryder 200-shot carbine action range model air rifle…
Love Wouldn’t Count Me Out
Get your fill of love, hate and revenge without having to go to the opera. Today’s premiere of the urban short film Love Wouldn’t Count Me Out by Eboni Knight serves up all those wrenching emotions — oh, and a little betrayal — in just 20 minutes. 7 p.m. Barbara…
Merry Christmas, George Bailey
It’s a play inside a play in Merry Christmas, George Bailey which is a stage show built around a 1940s-era radio performance of It’s a Wonderful Life, for a fresh take on the Christmas classic. As with Wonderful Life, George Bailey shows the audience a man so depressed and disappointed…
Panto Cinderella
The season of bored kids and too much family time is upon us. Thankfully, Stages Repertory Theatre has a charming antidote in the form of Kate Hawley and Gregg Coffin’s Panto Cinderella. Described by the Baltimore City Paper as a “cheerfully bastardized” version of the girl’s story, this family-friendly production…
Reserve Champagne Tasting
What can be more fun than getting a little tipsy and then playing with knives? Well, that’s not exactly what’s going to happen at today’s Reserve Champagne Tasting, but close enough. First, wine expert Dominique Moran will lead a tasting of five Champagne Louis Roederer wines. (Roederer is a family-owned…
Billy D. Washington
Musical funnyman Billy D. Washington was once a Houston policeman. He traded his badge (and likely doughnuts — zing!) for a sense of humor and a keyboard. The decision earned him a three-year-touring stint with Aretha Franklin, plus spots on The Late, Late Show and Last Comic Standing. Washington performs…
Very Merry Pops
The Houston Symphony’s Very Merry Pops is one of the most beloved of Houston’s holiday traditions — along with the annual stagings of The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol — but the Pops has more sing-along possibilities. Principal Pops Conductor Michael Krajewski will wave his baton before 200-plus musicians and…
“The Birth of Christianity: A Jewish Story”
Just in time to counteract all the complaints about how the true meaning of Christmas is lost in a commercial storm, the Houston Museum of Natural Science takes a hyper-literal view of religious history with “The Birth of Christianity: A Jewish Story.” The exhibition, which rides in on the coattails…
School Rumble Season 2, Part 1
Try to keep up here: High-schooler Harima wants Tenma, Tenma is hot for Karasuma and Karasuma…well, he hasn’t got a clue. It’s all part of School Rumble, Season 2, Part 1, today’s edition of Anime at the Alamo. Season 2 starts off with the kids gearing up for a culture…
The Museum of Dysfunction
Now that the holiday season is upon us, so is the weight of family and all the dreaded neuroses that travel along with Mom, Dad and that really creepy brother-in-law. But the team of Mildred’s Umbrella Theatre Company and The Fan Factory Theatre are here to remind you that you’re…
Las Posadas Wonder Weekend
Show your kids the cultural aspects of Christmas aren’t limited to consumer culture at the Las Posadas Wonder Weekend. Las Posadas are the Mexican nativity customs based on Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter, or posada, in Bethlehem just before the birth of Christ. Performances and hands-on activities bring the…
Matthew Shipp Trio
What kind of jazz do they play on KTRU? Matthew Shipp would be a good thumbnail answer. Shipp is known for the abstruse improvisations that are stereotypically attributed to avant-garde improvisation, and he is a longtime sideman to David S. Ware, known to some as the “King of Free Jazz;”…
Making Sense of a Trying Year
Although it seems like it, Noise doesn’t listen to music all the time. Sometimes he watches DVDs. His immediate past viewing includes both bang-bang seasons of NBC’s 30 Rock and Runnin’ Down a Dream, Peter Bogdanovich’s four-hour documentary about the band responsible for Noise’s favorite three hours of 2008 — Tom…
Alejandra Guzman
Mexican rocker Alejandra Guzman is the Latin answer to Tina Turner — without the getting-beat-up-by-Ike part. The 40-year-old singer’s got the same cast-iron legs, the same spiky hair and the same musical style built on deep, throaty vocals with a solid rock sensibility. Guzman’s chops earned her a Best Rock…
The Season Brings a Mixed Bag of Christmas Shows
Filled with specters and overlaid with deafening thunder and seas of fog, the Alley’s A Christmas Carol reeks of Halloween, not Yuletide. There’s enough aroma of Charles Dickens, but it takes writer Michael Wilson a mighty long time to get to the meat of it. The dancing ghosts, housekeeper in…
Justin Townes Earle
It’s not easy to live up to a celebrated namesake — especially two of them. But Justin Townes Earle manages to make a name for himself by carving his own niche out of the country created by father Steve Earle and godfather Townes Van Zandt, plus a slew of other…
Is Harris County Jail the Place for A Mentally Troubled Teen?
A couple hours before sunset, Laura Howard slid a knife across her wrist after arguing with her boyfriend and mother. She dropped the knife and left her bedroom with her wrist turned upward to show her mother. There was a lot of blood, which was unusual because even though the…
ohGr
As half of Skinny Puppy, Nivek Ogre (or just Ogre, or Kevin Ogilvie) created a much-imitated, arresting blend of industrial and hard rock, belched forth amid bewildering onstage ’80s theatrics. A showman from the beginning, Ogre quickly used his theater of the horrifically absurd as a platform to rail against…
CONTINENTAL CLUB’S SQUID SHIT
It’s always interesting to see a nightclub on a busy night when the music is loud, the crowd is spirited and plastered, the mood is festive and the possibilities seem limitless, then to go back a few nights later (to look for your credit card, ID, car keys, car and/or top…
Ice Cube: Raw Footage
Once upon a time (in the projects, yo), Ice Cube was easily one of the most respected rappers in the world; the prototype for East Coast props and West Coast love, aided by a scowl that spoke volumes without saying a word. Then, the guy who once sang “burn Hollywood…
Stew Weather: Bistro Don Camillo
The duck liver mousse at Bistro Don Camillo near Voss and San Felipe looked like fluffy chocolate pudding. I spread a glob on a slice of toast and savored it with a sip of Cabernet. The luscious combination of fatty duck liver and red wine triggered memories of winter. I…
Hair Piece: “Blind Lines”
In the 19th century, locks of hair from the living and the dead were considered sentimental mementos. Hair was placed in lockets, woven into jewelry and made into artwork. People of the period viewed these items as tokens of affection and remembrance. But today, hair has vastly different connotations. In…
Chatter’s Ever-So-HandyAC/DCtionary
Hands down, AC/DC are 2008’s comeback kids. The Australian hard-rockers’ first album in eight years, the Walmart-exclusive Black Ice, trailed only Lil Wayne in first-week sales. It’s the band’s best since 1990’s The Razor’s Edge to boot. Even after such a long hiatus, AC/DC’s near-immediate resumption of its rightful place…
Raul Malo
Fans of great singing should flock to Raul Malo’s first album of new material in seven years, Lucky One (due March 3). The record smartly covers a gamut of styles, from the hard-twang thang Malo did so well fronting the Mavericks to cheesy pop songs that could be demos for…
Nixon in a Deep Frost
I hear America singing and I see…Richard Nixon. Not the man but the muse: Has any president since Lincoln inspired more movies, TV miniseries and operas? As Nixon’s beetle brows, ski nose and mirthless grin were made for caricature, so his rampant pathology was a gift for novelists and psychohistorians…
The Shredder
Eugene Chadbourne & Walter Daniels: Warped stringmaster and harp hellhound send Texas country-blues through the looking glass. (Thursday, Rudyard’s) Scott Miller: Sharp-witted Tennessean secedes from the Commonweath for solo acoustic show; with Oklahoma “Deviant” Mike McClure (Thursday, McGonigel’s Mucky Duck) Jonbenét/O Pioneers!!!: Two of Houston’s most joyful noisemakers ring out…
The Day the Plot Stood Still
Flying saucers just aren’t that scary anymore. Especially after Ed Wood and Mars Attacks, it’s hard to take a threat from a giant Frisbee all that seriously. So what’s an update of the iconic 1951 sci-fi flick The Day the Earth Stood Still to do? In an extremely bold move,…
Why Are Mexicans Obsessed with Scarface?
Dear Mexican, Many times, as I cross the border into the U.S., I see bald cholos buying images (posters, blankets, baby bibs) of Al Pacino in Scarface. Where does such an obsession for this ugly Cuban come from? Is Tony Montana replacing la Virgencita de Guadalupe in cholos’ living rooms…
Amazingly, the Comets Couldn’t Survive
Shocking news came this week — the Houston Comets are no more. First reactions were predictable. “The Houston Comets were still around? Do tell.” But then reality began to sink in. The Comets won the first four WNBA championships at a time when no Houston team was winning anything. They…
Is Harris County Jail the Place for A Mentally Troubled Teen?: Mind-sets
On the day before Halloween this year, a mentally ill man named Kenneth Green was killed by SWAT officers at his Houston home after his brother called HPD’s nonemergency number for help. Patrol officers, trained in crisis intervention, arrived at the house to find Green had locked himself in a…
Mack, Turkeys and Beaver’s
Only one Beyoncé: I’m so glad that someone finally hit the nail on the head concerning Solange Knowles. [“Turkeys of the Year,” by Rich Connelly, November 27]. I don’t always like Beyoncé, but you have to give her her props — she can dance her ass off, and she can…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Frank Zeni,” “Proscenia,” “Remixed & Reloaded: Black Women Artists and the Moving Image Since 1970,” “Thrive,” “We the People…”
“Frank Zeni” New bar/gallery Khon’s celebrates its grand opening on Milam with an exhibit of paintings by local artist/architect Frank Zeni. Known mostly for his Roman temple-themed folk-art house “Tempietto Zeni,” Frank’s paintings reflect a fascination with masters like Caravaggio, Chagall and Toulouse-Lautrec. This particular series utilizes liberal doses of…
21 Jump Street
Block 21 (2420 Washington), Washington Avenue’s latest would-be nightlife king, is cool. Understand “cool” is a relative term, vulnerable to interpretation. At most places, “cool” has a dress code. Cool in Midtown (big collars, $160 Diesel jeans) isn’t cool in Montrose (vintage clothes, matted hair, unyielding devotion to the Smiths)…
Bayousphere
Santa wanders sadly away after getting rejected by Ms. Cleavage, looking to drown his sorrows in a bottle of Ozarka. Meanwhile, the antlered guy in front sees his chance and gets ready to introduce her to some reindeer games. The drama occurred backstage Thanksgiving night at the Uptown Holiday Lighting…
Afropop Arrives
Who knew back in January, when Vampire Weekend tinkered with soukous’s guitar-driven dance rhythms on its self-titled debut, the band would set the tone for the next 12 months? In many ways, 2008 was the year Afropop fully cracked the American music landscape. Sure, this sort of appropriation was anything…
Capsule Stage Reviews: But Not Goodbye, A Fertle Holiday, The Nutcracker, The Receptionist, Sunshine Boys
But Not Goodbye Main Street Theater’s But Not Goodbye has nothing to do with Christmas except its family spirit and joy of giving, but George Seaton’s fantasy comedy is exceptionally well wrapped. Sam dies before he can rectify the muddle he has made of family finances, but when his father…
The Killers: Day & Age
Here’s a fun riddle: what do you get when you combine Talking Heads, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Queen and the country of Jamaica? The Killers’ third LP, Day & Age. Echoes of past influences have always made it easy to evaluate the Las Vegas band’s music based on what…
Chef Robert Gadsby Is Back With Bedford
The long-awaited return of Chef Robert Gadsby is finally here with his new place, which he named Bedford (1001 Studewood, 713-880-1001) after the town in northern England where he grew up. We caught up with Gadsby two days after the opening. “Right now, my crew is in a state of…
Beyoncé: I Am…Sasha Fierce
A decade into her absurdly successful career, this could have been the time when Beyoncé began indulging her creative impulses, taking on ill-conceived vanity projects and experimenting with other genres — a welcome change from someone usually content to make boilerplate radio hits. The title of her third solo CD,…
Secret Machines: Secret Machines
Dallas expatriates the Secret Machines make unapologetically big recordings, with dramatic songwriting and full, wet sounds — not unlike …Trail of Dead, a similar band from Texas. Secret Machines seem to better inhabit that aesthetic, though, and as a result their music feels more natural, with a Bowie-esque sense of…
Spice It Up at Sauté Bistro
Many times dishes don’t live up to their menu descriptions. But at Sauté Bistro (2303 Richmond, 713-522-2106), the menu doesn’t live up to the dish, at least in the case of the nondescript-sounding Mexican Spice Cake ($4.50). The waiter did an equally poor job of describing the cake; he had…
Good Luck Academy
Houstonians Steven James and Evan Gamble have come a long way since dominating Stratford High School’s Battle of the Bands in the late ’90s. Now the founders of Austin-based Two Guy Trio have formed a side project, Good Luck Academy, debuting with The Fall Semester EP. With drummer “Sexy” Rexy…
Bollywood Meets Hollywood in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Well, who wouldn’t in this economy, even if the currency in question is rupees and winning the loot means being pegged as a fraud, getting a firsthand education in “enhanced” interrogation methods and having to relive some of the most painful moments of your…
