“Jerome Bel, Wu Tsang, and Haegue Yang. Double Life”
A trio of international artists explore the idea of performance beyond the usual definition of live artists presenting to an audience in “Jérôme Bel, Wu Tsang, and Haegue Yang. Double Life.” The works blur the differences between performing and visual arts, documentary and fiction. Based in Paris, choreographer Jérôme Bel…
Suspects Arrested, Charged in #Jadapose Rape Case
Two teenage suspects have been arrested in connection with a Houston-area rape that made national headlines after photos of the unconscious girl were posted to Twitter and mocked under the hashtag #Jadapose. Nineteen-year-old Clinton Onyeahialam and an unnamed 16-year-old were arrested earlier this month in connection with the sexual assault…
“Matriarch” of Large-Scale Sex-Trafficking Ring Set for Trial Early Next Year
The girls were kept in a locked room above the cantina, the door dead-bolted from the outside. The second-floor prison had a bathroom, so the girls would hardly ever need to be let out. Sometimes, they were locked up all day, every day — once, this stretched on for a…
Nice Knowing You, Mango’s
One of Montrose’s most distinctive and colorful live-music venues is not long for this world, signaled by the “for lease” sign that appeared on the side of Mango’s earlier this week. For close to a decade, the building has welcomed local bands from across the musical spectrum, who learned to…
Reality Bites: Chug
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. Who doesn’t like to drink? Recovering alcoholics, I guess. Also people who are allergic to it. Oh, and those of you who don’t like the way it makes you feel,…
The Math Behind the Texans’ Improbable 0-13 Streak in Indianapolis
In a league rife with parity, where any team can beat any other team on virtually any Sunday, the element of sheer luck inherently baked into NFL football makes it statistically almost as difficult to “sustain” long streaks of failure as it is to compile long streaks of success. Just…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Joshua Martinez of The Chicken Ranch
Joshua Martinez has already had as many lives as a cat, at least in the culinary sense. He’s known as the owner of The Modular, one of the first gourmet food trucks to hit the streets of Houston. He later went on to co-helm the ill-fated izakaya Goro & Gun…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Title:The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies Peter Jackson Is Done With Middle Earth, Right? So he says. Here’s a little exercise in masochism for you: once BotFA is released on DVD, watch all six movies back to back (special editions, of course). That’s probably close to 30 hours…
The Alley Theatre’s A Christmas Carol Continues, Bringing Its Young Actors Into a Great Tradition
Thirteen-year-old Winch Eagleton has been in far more performances (more than 200) of A Christmas Carol at the Alley Theatre than he has ever seen. This year, the Charles Dickens classic story of Ebeneezer Scrooge’s eye- and soul-awakening journey with three ghosts of Christmas (plus Marley’s ghost) is being told…
This Week in Food Blogs: Sharing (Your Mixer) Is Caring
In the spirit of the season, H-Town Chow Down reveals an act of kindness by a Woodlands pizza parlor owner to a new potential competitor in the area. The new Chicago-style pizzeria, Gino’s East (25657 I-45), was almost unable to open when their dough mixer broke down. RC Gallegos, owner…
Three Ridiculous Pot Laws in Texas
So, there’s more good news on the marijuana legalization front, and this time, it’s coming to us straight from the Lone Star state. This week, Texas State Representative Joe Moody introduced a bill that could potentially reduce the current state penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana. The proposed…
10 Things Every Self-Respecting Wine Lover Should Know About Prosecco
Can you imagine a wine world without Prosecco? Just a few decades ago, Prosecco was hardly known beyond the city of Venice where it is liberally consumed and the province of Treviso where it is produced. Today, exports of Prosecco rival those of Champagne, in both volume and sales numbers…
Cleveland Fans Turn on Johnny Manziel (w/ VIDEO)
Sunday morning began in Cleveland with anticipation, with hope. Hope that a new day was dawning and that the litany of Browns starting quarterback failures since 1999 was coming to an end. But alas, three hours, one game….that’s all it took for the masses in Cleveland, a desperate horde who’d…
5 Things Houstonians Experience When the Weather Gets Cold
Houston’s weather is famously manic. One day might be warm and humid, the type of day which will make almost anyone wonder if the proper term for our local climate should be “swampy.” But that won’t work, because our weather can change within hours, and the next morning might present…
Eat This: Large Fish Taco at El Tiempo
The numerous entree options available at El Tiempo can faze even the most focused diner: “I’m getting fajitas. Definitely fajitas. Wait. Oh look, there’s…” Thirty minutes later, you’ve eaten two servings of complimentary chips and salsa, downed one and half margaritas, and are no closer to making a decision. And…
100 Creatives 2014: Pureum Jo, Opera Singer
Pureum Jo, a soprano from South Korea, came to the United States while still in high school and all by herself. “I am quite independent and brave,” she says. She was determined to be a global singer and to do so she believed she needed to speak English. “English is…
Where to Eat This New Year’s Eve in Houston
Whether you want a quick bite before a New Year at home or an extravagant feast complete with overflowing champagne, here is your 2014 Guide to Dining Out on New Year’s Eve: Note: Don’t forget to make your reservations quickly, as these spots are bound to fill up! 60 Degrees…
University of Houston Names Tom Herman Head Football Coach
If you’re looking for a barometer on a college head coach’s regime, an indication which way the wind is blowing, it’s widely believed that a coach’s third season provides the most insight. At a lot of places, consecutive winning seasons and bowl games in years two and three would be…
Why I Don’t Consider Texas a Southern State
I’ve stumbled across a strange controversy while perusing various Internet forums in recent years. There are passionate arguments being made about whether or not Texas is part of “The South.” I had never really thought much about it, to be honest. Growing up in the Houston area, I would very…
The Five Best Houston Music Videos of 2014
I feel bad that I don’t make it to more live shows here in the city, but try very hard to make up for it with my lightning focus on the art of the music video. Houston produces extremely high-quality music videos, and if 2014 didn’t compare to last year…
Tanner Garza’s Creation in the Here and Now
From a city that is never silent to a sound that resembles the sky above its soaring scrapers, Tanner Garza’s heartfelt experiments are imperfectly painted portraits of here and now. A place that seems far away, yet too close. Mention the phrase “experimental music” to the amateur connoisseur and one…
Deluxe ’70s Sets Make Early Gift for Rock Fans
Led Zeppelin has recently re-released two more titles from their catalog, again remastered by Jimmy Page: the 1971 album commonly referred to as Led Zeppelin IV (or “Zoso”) and 1973’s followup Houses of the Holy, both now upgraded with better sound and a bonus disc of material. Each extra disc…
Houston’s 10 Most Merciless Mosh Pits of 2014
2014 was another bruising year for punk and metal fans in Houston, and naturally, most of those bruises were self-inflicted. From the southern outpost of Scout Bar to the northerly slope of the Woodlands Pavilion hill, alcohol-fueled crazy persons made a sport out of slamming into one another, turning the…
Man Douses Clothes in Lighter Fluid, Lights Himself on Fire Outside Houston Courthouse
A man was rushed to the hospital after dousing himself in lighter fluid and setting himself on fire outside a downtown Houston courthouse Tuesday afternoon, according to county employees. The man, who has not been identified, set himself on fire outside of the historic 1910 Harris County Courthouse at about…
Valero Refinery Wants Another Sweet Tax Deal
The Houston City Council is slated to vote Wednesday on whether to allow the only refinery still in Houston city limits to pretend that it’s somewhere else entirely, tax-wise. Specifically, Valero Energy wants to remove 168 acres of the refinery’s roughly 190-acre site to an industrial district (the refinery can’t…
Islamic Militants Are Using a Houston Plumbing Truck to Gun Down Aircraft in Syria, According to Twitter
It appears that a truck once owned by a Houston-area plumbing company has somehow turned up in the hands of Islamic militants who are now using the converted vehicle to shoot at aircraft as they fight in Syria’s civil war. A photo of the Texas-born Ford F-250, complete with the…
Age of Ex-Stink-Tion: The Worst Movies of 2014
As movie years go, 2014 was fairly unremarkable. You had a couple superhero sequels (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Amazing Spider-Man 2), the requisite remakes (RoboCop, Endless Love), and even a handful of pleasant surprises (Guardians of the Galaxy, The LEGO Movie, Edge of Tomorrow). But it still feels like…
NFLPA Sues NFL on Behalf of Suspended Adrian Peterson
On the heels of a summer where he came across, at best, as completely tone deaf and, at worst, as an incompetent boob, followed by a trouncing in Ray Rice’s appeal of his indefinite suspension, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell needed a win. How bad were things for the embattled commish?…
R&R Hall of Fame Finally Admits Stevie Ray Vaughan
A great injustice in the eyes of many Texas music fans has been corrected with this morning’s announcement that Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble have finally been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The late Texas guitar icon was elected in his sixth year of eligibility,…
UPDATED Seattle Woman Wages Online War Against Wharton Dog Sanctuary
Update, December 16, 1:30 p.m.: McDowell has posted an open letter to me on her Sanctuary Watch page. I first contacted McDowell December 11, requesting an interview. She never accepted, but kept sending material, so I followed up with more requests for an interview, which were ignored. McDowell also sent…
City Fails to Redefine Attorney-Client Privilege In Spat With Fire Union
The state Attorney General’s Office has shot down an argument from the Parker administration that twisted, in pretzel-like fashion, any common-sense understanding of the term “attorney-client privilege.” At issue is the city’s refusal to turn over emails between former Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association president Bryan Sky-Eagle, who abruptly resigned…
“Line: Making the Mark” at the MFAH Gives You Something to Figure Out
‘Line: Making the Mark,” which opened last week at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and runs through March 22, is a show of prints and drawings about making marks in the modern art era — roughly the past 80 years — the marks in evidence being lines. If this…
Fleetwood Mac Thrills Toyota Center for Two-Plus Hours
Fleetwood Mac Toyota Center December 15, 2014 The Mac Attack is Back! And with the Songbird back in the nest, the Chain has been reforged, and seems stronger than ever. Okay, that may be a little heavy on the symbols and metaphors. But it’s hard to overestimate the importance the…
Tierra del Fuego Proves You Can Have Too Much Meat and Not Enough Seasoning
When you’re walking up the sidewalk to Tierra del Fuego in Sugar Land Town Square, the first thing that hits you is the smell of roasting meat. Most of that smoky scent wafts from a glass-encased rotisserie at the front of the restaurant, where big hunks of outside skirt steak…
Single People Need to Make at Least $29 an Hour to Afford Rent in Houston, According to Zillow
If you’re single and renting in Houston, you better be gettin’ those dolla dolla bills, yo. About $29 an hour, in fact. According to a new interactive map and study from the real estate gurus at Zillow, single-earners need to make about $29.56 per hour in order to afford the…
The 2014 Houston Press New Year’s Eve Guide: Where to Party in the Bayou City
Each holiday season has its schedule. We eat turkey and stuffing, then we decorate a tree and open presents to the tune of constant Christmas music. But those are just the opening acts. The main event is New Year’s Eve, where you count down the seconds until a new year,…
Classical Theatre’s Stages an Intimate and Powerful Production of A Christmas Carol
The set-up: Like a redemptive Scrooge at the finale of Dickens’ immortal “little ghost story,” this reviewer is dancing a jig and giggling like a schoolboy, lighter than a feather, after seeing Classical Theatre’s superlative rendition of A Christmas Carol. This production, minimal in size though expansive in imagination, is…
Can A Chinese Restaurant Make A Good Thai Curry?
Short answer: Yes, at Kam’s. While some may argue that deviating from a restaurant’s culinary theme or focus when ordering is a straight path to an unsatisfactory meal, that’s not always the case. For many years, Kam’s has been a reliable source of very good Chinese-American food for Montrose residents…
Oil Prices Are Dropping: Here’s What Could Be Coming
Once upon a time a whole bunch of Texas oil people started telling themselves stories about the latest shale boom. This one, they assured each other, would never go bust. The price of oil would stay high forever and we would all live here in the city at the center…
Five Awesome Houston Treats to Bring to a Holiday Party
Whether you want to gift the host a special treat or bring holiday eats for the party to share, here are 5 Awesomely Delicious Local Treats to Bring to Your Next Holiday celebration: Exotic Artisan Chocolates Where to get them: Cocao & Cardamom, 5000 Westheimer These luxury artisan chocolates will…
Case Keenum Possibly Starting for Texans on Sunday
“Case (Keenum) is going to be the quarterback. We’re going to give him a chance to see how he can perform. I think the jury is still out. He’s got a lot of ability. He’s shown some flashes of brilliance and then he’s shown some rookie mistakes. We’ve got to…
The Changing Face of Houston: The City That Welcomes and Transforms
The sun hovering over Houston was quickly giving way to twilight when Laura Levine approached the building off Main Street, nestled near the center of Midtown. Laura hurriedly opened the door as a METRORail train whizzed by on the street behind. As she walked up the stairs to the shop…
Upcoming: Hozier, John Prine, Sleater-Kinney, Steve Miller Band, Taylor Swift, Wilco, etc.
An Acoustic Christmas: With The Bourbon Cowboys, Raf Rivera, Jordan Tyding, Matt Cash, Jordan Appleby., Thu., December 25, 8 p.m., Free. Scout Bar, 18307 Egret Bay, Houston, 281-335-0002. Adam Carroll & Owen Temple: With Zach Aaron., Fri., December 26, 6 p.m., $15 to $25. Main Street Crossing, 111 E. Main,…
Jennifer Lawrence’s Sudden Pop Dominance Is Legit
Sometimes in life, we normal human beings must shelve our own insecurities and recognize that some among us are simply good at anything they attempt. Like that song from the Annie Oakley play, they can do anything better. Some of us recognize these people with awe and admiration, while others…
The 22 Best Touring Concerts of 2014
Antemasque Fitzgerald’s, August Texas needs Antemasque. We need a band that can storm the country and remind everyone that we in the Lone Star State still know how to write great rock music and have the chops to deliver those songs live. We need to remind folks from coast to…
Victoria Officer Under Investigation After Tasing 76-Year-Old Man During Traffic Stop
Perhaps it’s not the greatest idea to use a taser on an elderly person during a traffic stop. That’s what a rookie cop in Victoria is finding out, anyway. Victoria police officer Nathanial Robinson has been placed on administrative duty for accusations of excessive force stemming from a traffic stop…
This Week In Food Events: See Holiday Lights On The Wave Then Have Dinner Downtown
Monday, December 15 Growers Champagne Tasting at Julep Life the fancy life at Julep tonight! Taste nine different growers’ Champagnes and have all the oysters you can eat for $50. Champagnes include Vincent Carre Premier Cru Brut Marne and Pierre Gimonnet Cote des Blancs “Special Club.” Contact Julep ASAP for…
Man Shot by Two Houston Cops During Traffic Stop Was Unarmed
The Houston Police Department is investigating the shooting of an unarmed man by two police officers in southwest Houston over the weekend, according to a statement the department issued Monday morning. Police say two officers shot 38-year-old Michael Paul Walker after he acted erratically and appeared to reach for a…
Opeth and In Flames Storm Warehouse Live, Swedish-Style
Opeth, In Flames, Red Fang Warehouse Live December 12, 2014 A Houston winter must be a strange thing for a Swede to behold. The only real discernible change from autumn is that the mosquitoes fly south every year. The air outside of Warehouse Live on Friday was a good 40…
Indy Jinx Continues: Texans Lose Game, Fitzpatrick and Maybe Savage
There are points in every season when the fortunes of NFL teams change for the better or worse. The Texans, still holding onto the slim chances of reaching the playoffs, have seemingly had their fair share of those moments this year. From the exhilaration of new quarterback Ryan Mallet leading…
Federal Ruling Legalizes Marijuana on Native American Reservations in Texas (and the Rest of the Nation)
Oh happy day. Texas now has a legal marijuana market, in which marijuana can be grown and sold without the feds swooping in all stealth-like. But unfortunately — at least for most of you Texas’ potheads — that Lone Star legal weed will only be permitted on Native American reservations…
Previewing the 2014 Herradura Scotch Aged Reposado at Vallone’s Steakhouse
Admittedly, I don’t know much about tequila beyond the basics. If you’ve been reading my articles regularly, you know I’ve spent a lot more time on whiskey, and learning about that alone has been practically a full-time job over the last year. That said, I enjoy margaritas and trips to…
Why Do Disney Films Have So Few Women in Them?
There’s no argument to be had that women are in fact underrepresented in Hollywood. Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, the executive director at the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, compiled a report of the characters in the top 100 grossing films…
Wanted: A New Head Coach Who Doesn’t Suck UPDATED
Update December 15 at 10:50 a.m.: Fox Sports college football reporter Bruce Feldman is reporting that Tom Herman will be the new coach of the Cougars. See update at the end of this post. — Are you a college football head coach with a reputation for mediocrity? Have you been…
Prominent Houston Doctor Accused of Trading Oral Sex for Norco, Xanax Prescriptions
Some troubling accusations are being leveled against the chief of academic surgery at St. Joseph Medical Center by two former patients, who say the prominent surgeon hooked them on prescription pain meds and then forced them to trade sexual favors for more pills. The patients, identified as “John and Jane…
[Video] A Yoga Flash Mob in Houston Wants to Remind You That the Holidays Should Be Fun
Be honest: With less than two weeks to go before Christmas, how are you doing this holiday season? If you’re stressed, don’t feel bad because you’re not alone. What many consider to be the most wonderful time of the year is sometimes anything but that. It seems that no matter…
Dish of the Week: Hamantaschen
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 sharing a recipe for hamantaschen. Hamantaschen are filled triangular cookies or pastries that are typically eaten…
Colts 17, Texans 10: 4 Winners, 4 Losers
NFL fans marvel, rightfully so, at teams that are able to string together long periods — games, seasons, coaching regimes — of sustained success. Performing any task and achieving the desired result with no hiccups or potholes is incredibly difficult. However, in the parity ridden world that is NFL football,…
The Changing Face of Houston – East Downtown
East Downtown is a neighborhood that has seen enormous changes occur over its many year history, and it is quickly emerging as a hip and vibrant community in Houston’s central core, attracting new residents from many walks of life. East Downtown, or “EaDo” as it has recently been named, started…
The 25 Best New Restaurants In Houston in 2014
Houston, you had a banner year for new restaurant openings. It was a delightful struggle to rank the best and most significant openings of the year. Quality has become the name of the game in Houston and competition is fierce. 2014 provided a wealth of restaurant riches over a broad…
The 10 Best Colts-Texans Rapper Tweets
The 2014 Houston Texans have a new coach, new players, new hope and the same dedicated fan base of Houston-based rappers. As in years past, they took to Twitter on game day to comment on the home team’s gridiron action. And, as in years past, Rocks Off spent Sunday afternoon…
Please Hold on While the Old 97’s Are Moving
Note: Dallas’ alt-country heavyweights the Old 97’s are doing a victory lap around Texas this month, performing their 1994 debut LP Hitchhike to Rhome front to back alongside with selections from this year’s Most Messed Up — now reaping its fair share of year-end accolades — and the rest of…
The 10 Best Chopped & Screwed Holiday Songs
The chopped and screwed Christmas mixtape should be a staple of any H-town holiday party. You can’t expect everyone to share the same taste for slowed-down grooves, but since the concept was birthed (R.I.P DJ Screw), it’s only right to apply it to our holiday treasures. There’s nothing new about…
The Five Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Fleetwood Mac, Cheap Trick, Lotus Effect, etc.
Fleetwood Mac Toyota Center, December 15 Fleetwood Mac will be playing a very special show in Houston on Monday night, because it will be Christine McVie first performance with the group here since at least the ’90s. For many younger fans, this is their first opportunity to see the band’s…
DA’s Office Will Spend $1.9 Million to Outfit More Local Cops With Body Cams
It looks like there’s finally an official plan in place for the purchase of some more body cameras for hundreds of local law enforcement officers. Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson announced this afternoon that her office plans to dole out $1 million to the Houston Police Department and $900,000…
“By Mutual Agreement” Bill Cosby Won’t Be at the Houston Symphony…Yet
Seems Bill Cosby won’t be part of the Houston Symphony 2014-2015 season after all. There aren’t many details, just a short statement released by the symphony’s PR reps: The Bill Cosby performance at Jones Hall scheduled for January 24, 2015 has been cancelled by mutual agreement with the intent to…
College and Pro Football: This Weekend’s Best Bets
So I’m coming off a betting weekend where I’m rounding into midseason form. The only problem is that midseason was like a month and a half ago, so we got some catching up to do! I went 5-1 last weekend, and now we shift gears to the two-week period where…
It’s Head Coach-Hunting Time for UH Football
Tony Levine was not fired by the University of Houston because his offense was boring. He was not fired because he was a good guy but didn’t have swagger. Despite reports from reporters who never actually attended games or press conferences, UH didn’t fire Levine because it doesn’t value character…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: Exodus: Gods and Kings
Title:Exodus: Gods And Kings That Title Feels Like It Should Be In All Caps: VERILY YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH, MORTAL. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Two-and-a-half Chuck Hestons out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: When Israel was in Egypt’s land/Let my people go. Tagline: “Once brothers, now…
PuraPharm Vox Tessa Kole’s Top Five Desert Island Discs
Here on Rocks Off, we ask local heroes for their top five absolute desert island discs, the records that made them the musicians they are today. This week; Tessa Kole, vocalist and guitarist of one of our Houston Press Artopia 2015 performers, PuraPharm. Prince, Sign O’ the Times Anyone who…
HBO’s Getting On Is the Brainiest (and Fartiest) Comedy You’re Not Watching
Hospitals are depressing. Until recently, medical shows glossed over this basic fact of life by focusing on the most glamorous clique within them: doctors. For the past two decades, the upwardly mobile audience identification integral to most TV shows taught us to look away from the bedpans and sheaves of…
The Chicken Ranch Is Delivering For Lights In The Heights
If you find you’re in The Heights tomorrow night and feeling a little peckish (or even a lot peckish), The Chicken Ranch, 6500 N. Main, wants to help. Tomorrow night during Lights In The Heights from 4 to 10 p.m., they’ll be out delivering fried chicken and sides to the…
State Lawmakers are Filing Against HERO and other Non-Discrimination Ordinances
The City of Houston hasn’t had much luck with Mayor Annise Parker’s attempt to enact Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance, (aka HERO) an ordinance to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents against discrimination, but now it looks like the Texas legislature is getting involved and all of the ordinances could…
Things We’d Like to Buy With the $58 Million Katy ISD Is Spending on a Second Football Stadium
So, in case you haven’t heard, Katy ISD is about to spend $58 million bucks building a massive new 12,000-seat football stadium. It will be the second football stadium for the district, and will be built right across from Rhodes Stadium, which already seats 9,768 people. While we understand the…
Netflix’s Marco Polo Is Everything That’s Wrong With Game of Thrones
Despite its sumptuous displays of feudal opulence — cavalries, silk gowns, all the naked female extras money can buy — Netflix’s Marco Polo feels distinctly like scraps. Turgid, fatuous, and humorless, the streaming site’s newest series is a grave miscalculation of what has made Game of Thrones, its obvious model,…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: A Chili Cook Off & Drunk Santas
Tomball German Market & Christmas Festival @ Old Town Tomball Friday through Sunday, Fri. 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sun. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 200 Market Join the holiday cheer at this family-friendly music and street festival, held at the intersection of 200…
Why Fleetwood Mac Is Bigger Than Ever
Fleetwood Mac will be playing a very special show in Houston on Monday night. It’s special because it is the first time Christine McVie will be joining the band in a performance here since the early ’90s at least. For many younger fans, this is their first opportunity to see…
Houston Texans Week 15 Watch Guide
It’s been a long week for Houston Texans fans. What was supposed to be a week of build-up and cautiously optimistic anticipation was buried under a cloud of gloom after the news that top pick Jadeveon Clowney’s follow-up procedure on his knee on Monday was, in fact, microfracture surgery. If…
100 Creatives: Camilo Gonzalez, Interdisciplinary Artist and Educator
Camilo Gonzalez grew up using both old- and new-school technology. “I grew up with 16mm stuff, but I also grew up with a phone in my pocket. My grandfather was a chemical photographer, so I grew up seeing that. And I still carry a pencil and a little notebook around…
Upcoming Events: Lots of Beer and A Holiday Mixology Class
Hyatt Market Street, The Woodlands goes to the dogs this month, as top area chefs have created whimsical gingerbread doghouses displayed throughout the hotel. This four-legged take on a holiday favorite concludes on Monday, December 15 with an open to the public, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. cocktail reception and…
DuPont’s Bad Safety Setup and Equipment Failure Led to Deaths
On Thursday, the Chemical Safety Board’s top official testified before a U.S. Senate joint committee that the DuPont accident that killed four men at the La Porte plant in November was caused by equipment failure. U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso explained in written testimony submitted to a joint…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: “Double Life” and More
A trio of international artists explore the idea of performance beyond the usual definition of live artists presenting to an audience in “Jérôme Bel, Wu Tsang, and Haegue Yang. Double Life” which has an opening reception on Friday. The works blur the differences between performing and visual arts, documentary and…
Spank Rock Makes EDM Just a Little More Ratchet
Cocaine, sex, weed and mad booty are some of the main ingredients of Spank Rock’s music. This week the Philly-via-Baltimore EDM/alt-rapper, released an EP called The Upside, which proves he’s still one of the most prominent club-rappers we have to offer. Released on the artist’s Bad Blood Records, his latest…
Openings & Closings: El Cantina Superior Gets New Owners and Menu
This one is something of a closing and a re-opening: a press release from restaurant group F.E.E.D TX says they are partnering with Ken Bridge of Delicious Concepts restaurant group to make over El Cantina Superior, which was apparently struggling. (It was the site of the Houston Press Tequila &…
Houston’s 10 Best Singer-Songwriter Stages
10. JONES HALL Definitely one of the fanciest places on our list with its wall-to-wall red carpeting and fine wine bar, Jones Hall is the permanent home of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Society for the Performing Arts, as well as a venue for popular contemporary musicians and…
Spectral Manifest’s Wraith-Metal Will Haunt Your Dreams
I have a soft spot in my heart for wraith-metal, because it always feels like I’m listening to someone else having a nightmare in a language I don’t understand. It has a kind of throbbing madness that makes it a bit bloodier than other metal forms, and Houston’s own Spectral…
The 10 Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: Old 97’s, Opeth, Ian Moore, etc.
Old 97’s Fitzgerald’s, December 12 Releasing one of 2014’s best albums, in this case the nostril-flaring Most Messed Up, would be enough for about 99 percent of bands, but not the Old 97’s. The DFW alt-country stalwarts have decided to take a brief victory lap to salute the 20th anniversary…
MF Sushi’s Chris Kinjo Announces Plans for A New Restaurant in the Museum District
Fans of MF Sushi may have wondered why chef Chris Kinjo hasn’t been at his MF Sushi location on Westheimer. “We parted ways in late October,” says Kinjo of he and his former partner. “I’m no longer affiliated with that location.” The acclaimed sushi chef, who relocated to Houston from…
Theresa Roemer Selling Mansion With Infamous “She-Cave”
If you have an extra $12.9 million and a penchant for gaudy things, you’re in luck: Theresa Roemer, she of the $500,000 burgled closet, is selling her 17,315-square-foot Woodlands Xanadu. John Lomax at Swamplot has some nifty interior pics of the 20-odd-room estate, which sorta looks like what you’d get…
Houston-Area Dog Nearly Dies After ACTUALLY Eating a Kid’s Homework
A mischievous dog found himself in serious trouble last week after he ate his owner’s homework, a model of the Middle Ages that included plastic farm animals, metal wire fencing and model structures. Yes, dogs apparently do really eat homework sometimes, and in this case, he ingested plastic cows. As…
Spring-Area Teenager Shows How Not to ‘Cop-Watch’
Thanks to the most brilliant plot known to man, a Spring-area teenager is behind bars after allegedly calling 911 with fake emergencies and then screwing with the cops when they showed up. Eighteen-year-old Tony Ybarra was arrested December 6, accused of calling in two separate fake reports of suspicious drug…
RL Grime and Lunice Prove to Be Monsters of Bass
RL Grime, Lunice Warehouse Live December 10, 2014 From recognizable forms such as trap and dubstep to the (potentially made up) more nebulous genres like deathstep and heaven trap, bass music is on the rise. While it may not have its hooks into popular culture the way that more established…
American Horror Story: Freak Show: The Soft R-Rating Problem
To give the show credit, American Horror Story gets away with things on FX that probably would have gotten them hauled in front of a congressional hearing 15 years ago. The show pushes the envelope like a psychotic mail carrier, and for that I am always grateful. Yet this week…
Dutch Dog Who Somehow Wound up in Houston Will Be Reunited With Woman Who Surrendered Her in the First Place
For some reason, a story about a dog from the Netherlands who somehow turned up as an emaciated stray in Houston, and who will now be reunited with a woman who gave up the dog in the first place, is making headlines as a heartwarmer. We believe otherwise. For one…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Anthony Russo of Russo’s New York Pizzeria
One of the things Tony Russo is most proud of is establishing a franchise operation that still manages to provide quality and consistency across all of their stores. That hasn’t been an easy road. Russo started out as many restaurateurs do: in a tiny little eight-seat restaurant preparing his family’s…
My Day As a WatchDOG Dad
One of the most interesting things about having a child entering the public school system for the first time is you get to see how different education is from how it was (or at least how you remember it from when you were a child). For instance, when my wife…
A Group of Men Are Robbing and Shooting Hispanic Women on the South Side, Police Say
A group of men are targeting Hispanic women in apartment complexes on the city’s south side, robbing and then shooting them in the early morning hours. The same suspects are believed to be responsible for nine robberies and shootings that have happened on the south side of Houston since November…
Behind the Bar: Finding a Good Feeling at The Nightingale Room
How do you measure a successful night out at a bar? That answer usually depends on the question of why you’re going out in the first place. Some nights you hit the bar so that you can have a good time with friends. Some times the agenda is to make…
Gary Watson Semi-Retires Into Old-School Art Photography NSFW
Houstonians might best know Gary Watson as the man behind the short film and brilliant comic book After Twilight, a dark, dystopian work in which Texas secedes from the union to create a religious dictatorship. Every year it hits a little closer to home, honestly, but Watson is leaving behind…
Court Ruling Could Change How Teens Are Certified As Adults in Criminal Cases
In late 2008, Harris County prosecutors sought to convince a judge to transfer 16-year-old Cameron Moon’s murder case from juvenile to adult court. At Moon’s certification hearing, prosecutor’s called only one witness: the Deer Park police detective who investigated the shooting death of Christopher Seabrook during a drug deal gone…
Back Off Emmure a Little, Haters
This Sunday night at Warehouse Live, Emmure and the Acacia Strain will headline the Eternal Enemies Tour. It’s a tour name with multiple meanings. First off, it’s the name of Emmure’s latest album. It is also a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that the two groups have had a long-running…
The 5 Best Happy Hours in Memorial City
If you love happy hour as much as we do, you’ll love this new series. We’re taking a look at the best happy hours in town, ‘hood by ‘hood. To narrow it down, we’re focusing on the spots with the best deals on not only drinks, but eats, too. From…
10 Best Places to Take a Date for Free in Houston
The Great Recession may be over, but there’s a lot of people for whom times are still pretty rough. However, just because you’re broke doesn’t mean that you don’t have the need to take your significant other out on the town for some fun now and then. Luckily, if you’re…
Music Trends That Should Stay In 2014
Despite what the editors of Rolling Stone want you to believe, 2014 was not, in fact, “another great year for music.” In all honesty, it was one of the worst on record for new creations that innovated or inspired. Sure, there were some highlights: Jack White, FKA Twigs, Schoolboy Q,…
A Christmas Carol
It’s a dirty, grimy Industrial Age London that we’ll see in Classical Theatre’s new adaptation of A Christmas Carol. The group’s executive artistic director, John Johnston, who along with company member Matthew Keenan wrote the script, tells us they wanted to return Christmas Carol to Charles Dickens’s original rich language…
Where the Wild Reese Is
For reasons that are perhaps understandable, stories about women finding themselves — or their voices, or their inner courage, or any number of things that are apparently very easy to mislay — are big business. But even if Cheryl Strayed’s hugely successful 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on…
Holly-Prov, An Improv Show
Holly-Prov, An Improv Show features comedy by Guns for Hire, music by fusion rock band Gypsy Mullet and improv from the women of Ophelia’s Rope. Actor, director and playwright L. Robert Westeen is joining Ophelia’s Rope as a special guest. (Westeen recently completed a well-received run at Queensbury Theatre —…
“Eldar Guliyev: Redemption”
Houston-based photographer Eldar Guliyev turned his lens to the Liberian people for his series “Redemption,” now on exhibit at the Russian Cultural Center. Exploring the effects of the current Ebola outbreak, Guliyev’s black-and-white photographs show the faces of victims of the disease, the medical personnel trying to stop its spread…
Unsilent Night
If you’ve ever wanted to be part of an orchestra but can’t read music and don’t know your trumpet from your flugelhorn, you can still be part of the band when audience members become performers in Unsilent Night. The 45-minute experimental/electronic piece was written in 1992 by composer and sound…
He Went for It on the First Date. 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! MY MOM TALKED BAD ABOUT ME BEHIND MY BACK Dear Willie D: I’m a 23-year-old female…
Booker T’s Christmas Chaos
We’re not sure who named wrestlers Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin the World’s Greatest Tag Team and we have no intention of asking the oversized, always-angry-looking athletes during their special meet-and-greet at Booker T’s Christmas Chaos. A cure for the cheerfulness of the holiday, Chaos features the stars of New…
Observations From the Leighzasphere
Performance artist, playwright and storyteller Leighza Walker is putting on a one-woman show called Observations From the Leighzasphere. Walker was inspired to create Observations after watching comedian Bill Hicks’s landmark Revelations. “Bill Hicks was a philosopher, not a comic,” she says. “He just happened to be a really funny philosopher.”…
The Jew Who Loves Christmas
For those of us looking for a holiday show that’s a little unorthodox, Horse Head Theatre Company gives us Abby Koenig’s one-woman comedy The Jew Who Loves Christmas. Originally performed in December 2013, Koenig’s one-night-only, 30-minute show is a look at her Jewish family’s tradition of celebrating Christmas every year…
Very Merry Pops
One of our favorite holiday traditions (along with wearing shorts on Christmas day and binge-eating holiday tamales) has to be the Houston Symphony’s Very Merry Pops. In a Jones Hall decked out for the holiday season, the symphony (conducted by Michael Krajewski) will perform traditional standard Christmas classics including “Winter…
Very Merry Pops
One of our favorite holiday traditions (along with wearing shorts on Christmas day and binge-eating holiday tamales) has to be the Houston Symphony’s Very Merry Pops. In a Jones Hall decked out for the holiday season, the symphony (conducted by Michael Krajewski) will perform traditional standard Christmas classics including “Winter…
London Royal Ballet’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
The London Royal Ballet’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland screens in select movie theaters for a one-day-only live broadcast. Choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, the theatrical ballet is based on Lewis Carroll’s cherished story of a young girl’s descent into a fantastical world. We’ll meet an array of charming and devilish characters…
City Hall Farmers Market
Shop for fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers. Wed., Dec. 17, 10 a.m.-noon, 2014…
Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring The Rockettes
The key word in the show title Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring The Rockettes is “spectacular.” The Rockettes’ signature performance style has never been what you could call subtle, and this year they’ve kicked everything up a few notches (literally). Expect all-new, bigger, brighter, more colorful musical numbers including New…
The Houston Wave Lights Tour
Don’t wander the streets hoping to see some nice holiday lights exhibits. The Houston Wave’s Lights Tour takes you through downtown to see decorated skyscrapers and public spaces. In the Woodland Heights, you’ll see intricately decorated bungalows, while over in the River Oaks area, you can expect to see demi-mansions…
10 Badass Anti-Holiday Songs For Your Grinchy Side
Know what’s infinitely better than songs about jingle bells and Santa and holly? Songs about hating jingle bells and Santa and holly. Face it: Christmas music sucks. And no matter how hard you try, it’s impossible to keep from being inundated by it. It’s impossible to avoid department stores, drugstores,…
Bale and Exodus Tremble Before a Murdering God
Flip open your Bibles to Numbers 12:3 to find the first inaccuracy in Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings. “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth,” sayeth the Good Book of our hero, played by Christian Bale, an…
Capsule Art Reviews: December 11, 2014
“Jorge Marin: Wings of the City” This installation at Discovery Green has nine wonderful sculptures by an acclaimed Mexican sculptor; some are powerful, some playful, some enigmatic, but all are filled with a love for and an appreciation of humanity that is breathtaking and admirable. Though they represent a higher…
Family and History
Dear Mexican, I’m a third-year university student, a liberal studies and Spanish major. My family, extended and immediate, always like the chisme. During a family carne asada, we were all talking when one of my tías asked me what I was doing with my life — she and the rest…
Why We Need Comedy
Whatever it is Americans want out of life — and it’s not even something we can precisely define ourselves — it was nowhere in evidence on December 3, when a grand jury failed to indict the police officer whose chokehold killed Eric Garner in July. We all know we live…
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Plays Like Middle-Earth Smash Bros.
The biggest laugh I heard from the audience at my screening of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies came from seven words in the end credits: “Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien.” Just picture that tweedy Oxford philologist nodding in pleased approval at this adaptation of his…
