The Man Who Filled Montrose With Foreclosure Signs Is Convicted
What’s it coming to these days when you can’t even go in and buy an Aston-Martin without getting busted for fraud?Especially after you’ve done so much to ensure that Montrose is full of foreclosed-upon townhomes?These are the questions Craig Curtis, 36, is no doubt asking himself after his conviction today…
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…
News Flash: It’s Snowing In Westbury
We interrupt this blog to bring you the following breaking news: It is snowing in Westbury.An eyewitness reports to Hair Balls that precipitation that is white and solid is currently dropping from the sky onto the ground.We are guessing it is more like sleet than snow, but still: It’s white…
Rice Wins The Mayor’s “What Do We Do With All This Ike Crap” Contest
The results are in for the contest to see just what the hell Houston should do with the millions of cubic yards of Ike debris, and the big winner is Rice University.A team from Rice will get $10,000 for its plan to convert all the fallen limbs, brush and other…
Web Extra: Video Interview with Laura Howard from “How to Save a Life”
Laura Howard, a teenage girl diagnosed as bipolar and obsessive compulsive, attempted suicide during spring of last year, and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call. The deputies could have taken Howard to the county’s NeuroPsychiatric Center, designed for mentally ill suspects as an alternative to jail, but…
Local Film Commissions Hoping To Catch up To Louisiana
The legislative session is only a month away, and Rick Ferguson knows exactly what he wants out of it — a plan to help Texas, and Houston especially, catch up to the movie-making boom going on in Louisiana.Texas has fallen behind states like Louisiana and Michigan when it comes to…
Tonight: Gentleman Auction House at Rudyard’s
Lauren Winchester Within about 20 seconds of “A Banner Year,” the opener of Gentleman Auction House’s new Christmas In Love EP, the St. Louis indie-pop hydra has managed to recall Belle & Sebastian, Arcade Fire and another dozen or so boy-girl bands that are equally earnest and invigorating. In words,…
Art Rock: Les Boom! at Numbers
[Note: Tonight’s edition features a front-to-back spinning of glitchy Toronto electro duo Crystal Castles’ new self-titled LP.] …
Sneeze Green Tea
It’s mid-afternoon. You had a heavy lunch. The work day is sliding by like thick molasses in winter. You’re dragging ass, big time. So you decide to pop open a cold, refreshing can of iced organic green tea to rescuscitate yourself from the afternoon doldrums. And if you’re anything like this guy, you…
Bottom Falls Out Of The Stolen-Copper-Wire Market
Hey, here’s a positive effect of the recession – the market for copper wire is way down, which means there’s now less of an incentive to steal it.Mark Edelheit, president of Greater Texas Metal Recycling Co., Inc., tells Hair Balls he used to pay $2 to $3 per pound for…
Final Ballot for Skyline Network’s Sammy Awards Online
Four-time 2008 Sammy nominees Balaclavas Photo by Jon Van The preliminary results for primo Houston music scene blog The Skyline Network’s annual Sammy Awards are in, and the final ballot is online now. (Right here, as a matter of fact, just select the Sammys in the pull-down box – it’s…
Tough Month To Be A Houston Flier
October was really a tough month to be an air passenger in Houston.The federal Bureau of Transportation has released its latest survey of flight delays, and Houston plays a prominent role in it.The third-worst airline when it came to on-time arrivals was our very own Continental. Almost 19 percent of…
The Specials and the Heyday of Houston Ska
They co-existed with the punks and the non-racist skins in harmony (somewhat). Drinking always played a big part in scuffles. The skins had more in common with the rude boys, tracing their true lineage back to the youth cult in England in the late ’60s. Most bands had the word…
Santa Claus Round-Up: Keep Both Hands In View
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…
Lost Tuneage: Cactus
Introducing a new column in which Rocks Off delves into the music of short-lived or overlooked performers of the classic-rock era… Who Dat? Billed as “America’s answer to Led Zeppelin,” this quartet was formed in 1969 by Vanilla Fudge rhythm section Tim Bogert (bass) and Carmine Appice (drums), Their first attempt to form…
Putting Dr Pepper on the Map
Over the past few months, local TV personality and blogger Mike McGuff has been steadfastly and patiently compiling a list of all the locations around the greater Houston area where one can procure his favorite — and my favorite — chilled beverage of choice, a Dr Pepper Icee. Dr Pepper Icees manage…
If Kids Are Our Future, Then We’re Going To Be Stuck Forever With Red-Light Cameras
Ever wonder what happens when you throw a bunch of kids in a room and ask them to debate and vote on a hot issue? Well, as it turns out, pretty much the same thing as the old folks. Last night, 23 members of the Mayor’s Youth Council sat behind…
Artist of the Week: The Favorites
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. We like to fancy ourselves fairly well-tuned into…
Forget Erin Andrews, Rachel Nichols, Lisa Salter, Stacey Dales, Sage Steele and Krista Voda. We’re Pulling for Carrie Milbank and Suzy Kolber.
It’s that time of year again. Time for Playboy.com’s Sexiest Sportscaster of the Year contest. And yes, Erin Andrews is once again nominated, and no, there’s nothing to indicate that Ms. Andrews will pose in her birthday suit should she win. This is the third such contest from Playboy.com, and…
Forget Erin Andrews, Rachel Nichols, Lisa Salter, Stacey Dales, Sage Steele and Krista Voda. We’re Pulling for Carrie Milbank and Suzy Kolber.
It’s that time of year again. Time for Playboy.com’s Sexiest Sportscaster of the Year contest. And yes, Erin Andrews is once again nominated, and no, there’s nothing to indicate that Ms. Andrews will pose in her birthday suit should she win. This is the third such contest from Playboy.com, and…
MySpaced Out: When Publicists Attack
It was War of the Worlds author H.G. Wells who famously said, “Advertising is legalized lying.” I recently had the unpleasant occasion to have a brief tete-a-tete with a young lady in the music public relations business. They call themselves “publicists.” Not liars. It all began innocently enough, a “friend…
History of Texas Chili–Without Beans
Chili con carne was introduced to America by the “Chili Queens,” women who served food in San Antonio’s Military Plaza as early as the 1860s. Chili stands were also common in Galveston and Houston; they were the taco trucks of the 1800s. Tamales with chili was the most common order–beans…
My Earlier, Horrible Band
After my displacment during Hurricane Ike, I found a CD with a demo from my pre-Black Math Experiment band, Hixon, which managed to survive when so much of my BME memorabilia was destroyed. This band was rightfully and thankfully ignored by all of you, and eventually I was kicked out for…
Art For Galveston’s Art’s Sake At Lawndale
The Galveston Arts Center, like a lot of places along The Strand, took a pretty big hit from Hurricane Ike.Four feet of floodwater destroyed artwork, the plumbing and a/c systems, and much of the walls. It’ll take close to $850,000 to repair it all and bring modern art back to…
Good Morning, Houston — You’re A Target
It’s near-freezing, there’s a huge accident causing traffic nightmares, half the workforce has called in gay (and half the others are coming in with hugely contagious flu symptoms just to show they’re not gay), so who needs bad news?Houston, apparently.A Washington radio station has talked to a terror expert this…
Not a Lot of Good News from the Health Department, Montrose-Area Edition
We checked out Montrose-area eateries for November 9 through yesterday and found that, while most restaurants had some minor, nagging, should-be-easily-fixed problems, a couple had some whoppers. Let’s start off with the month’s biggest offender. Indika Restaurant (516 Westheimer) got a visit from the health inspector on November 25 and…
At Least Someone Wants To Come To The Texas Bowl
Okay, so Notre Dame somehow preferred the Hawaii Bowl to the Texas Bowl. Some people just prefer Honolulu to Houston, we guess.But ND’s replacement, Western Michigan University, is pleased as punch to be coming here.That can happen when you live in Kalamazoo (Motto: No, We Are An Actual City).The announcement…
Mother Won’t Be Charged In Death Of Her Son, Left Unattended In a Hot Truck
Houstonian Amanda Boone created a lot of talk earlier this year when she left her small kid in her truck on a hot August day as she went to work.Cameron Boone, 3, died, and everyone, it seemed, had an opinion as to what degree his mother should be held responsible.The…
The Return of Mail Call
It’s been a while, but let’s see what’s been lurking in the bin… *Kenton & Hill (Houston): “A side project from Last Soul Descendents producer Darren Roberts, this masterpiece brings together live jazzy, funky, hip-hop grooves with heavy dance beats to create a unique sound.” D-Fu-J-Rap (Friday, Grum Bar, 306 Main)…
A Second, Unreleased Red-Light Camera Study Might Not Be So Upbeat
Much is being made of a Texas A&M study recently released saying that red light cameras reduce accidents by 30 percent across the state. But Hair Balls has gotten a whiff that there’s another study out there looking specifically at Houston and that the results are not so rosy. What’s…
Can’t Get It Out of My Head: “Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This”
Waylon Jennings, “Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This,” live in 1980 Rocks Off is a big musical-phase guy. It’s not unusual for him to get stuck – if “stuck” is indeed the proper word – listening to an artist or genre for weeks or months at a time. This summer it was Tom…
Are TDCJ Employees Getting Away With Smuggling Cell Phones?
We spoke recently with a retired prison guard who’d worked for many years in the Texas system.He was worked up about the cell phone epidemic, and he said there was a simple solution — start charging the TDCJ employees who smuggle in contraband.”They don’t charge them. It’s much easier to…
Tonight: Peter and the Wolf and More at ArtStorm
Austin’s Peter and The Wolf does road music. Not road music in the sense that Sammy Hagar did songs for the open road. Chief P&W songwriter Red Hunter’s songs remind Rocks Off of walking down gravel roads, occasionally wiping sweat from our brow and meandering with no destination. Hunter’s voice has the kind…
We Spoke Too Soon!! Help May Be On The Way For HISD’s Dopesters!
We may have completely underestimated our ability to bring relief to all those HISD teachers trying to elude the relentless drug-sniffing dog (who we’re naming “Druggie,” by the way).We proposed Bubbles Car Wash give free detailing to every HISD teacher who, ummm, feels a sudden need to have a scent-free…
Sonidos y Mas: Mariza’s Terra
Mariza Terra (World Connection) www.mariza.com After being pivotal in the recent fado revival – a blues-like genre native to Portugese capital Lisbon – with her honest and impassioned interpretations, Mozambique-born songstress Mariza dares to take the genre into a new direction by adding different instruments and influences on Terra. Continuing her…
Santa Claus Round-Up: The Galleria Stop
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…
Bring Back the Ramos Gin Fizz!
In 1926 a Louisiana native named Mayo Bessan bought the Caballo Blanco bar in Nuevo Laredo and changed its name to The Cadillac Bar because he wanted “a rich sounding name.” He moved the location a few years later and re-opened on July 4th, 1929, with signs advertising his New…
Aftermath: Impulse Artist Series at Wade Wilson Art
Classical music would have no problem attracting crowds if Impulse Artist Series founder Jade Simmons was in charge. During Monday night’s kick-off of the week-long piano concert series, “In Their Own Element,” Simmons introduced brilliant performances by Nigerian Sodi Braide, Brazilian Vanessa Cunha (right) and American Cameron Smith, and took a…
We Try To Help HISD’s Druggie Teachers, But Get Rebuffed
HISD teachers, you have been warned: the drug-sniffing dog is coming for you. Superintendent Abe Saavedra told reporters the dog will be visiting every campus to check the employee parking lots.Of course, publicity about the string of teacher-drug arrests hasn’t stopped teachers from bringing drugs onto campus (Drugs: They really…
Texas Receives A Gentlemen’s C For Its Emergency Rooms
The bright side of the latest report by the American College of Emergency Physicians is that Texas did not get a failing grade in its efforts to provide emergency-room access and care to residents.On the other hand, we’re not making the Honor Roll or anything.ACEP gave Texas a C, placing…
Art Rock: Fishbone’s December 8 Meridian Setlist
A funky, funky good time. – Chris Gray …
The River Oaks Revolt Continues
River Oaks residents, and people who live so close they claim to be River Oaks residents, continue to be up in arms about Weingarten Realty’s development of the old shopping center there.A massive parking garage has been built, a huge bookstore is set to replace the smaller one-story string of…
The Best Barbecue Sandwich in Texas
I’m saying the Bohemian Special at Mustang Creek B-B-Q on Highway 59 in Louise is the best barbecue sandwich in Texas. It excels by virtue of architecture alone–a mound of sliced brisket is topped with lengthwise slices of smoked Prasek’s sausage and topped with thick raw onion slices and dill…
Have You Seen This Equipment?
Pixeltopia Monday night, someone broke into Tontons guitarist Adam Martinez’s car in Montrose and made off with his gear – about $700 worth all told. Stolen were a red Epiphone SG guitar (above) and several pedals: Boss digital rotary, Boss super shifter, Boss chromatic tuner, Boss DD-6 digital delay, Dunlop…
Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Really? That Good?
“That’s as good a win as I’ve ever been around,” Gary Kubiak said Sunday after the Texans 24-21 win over the Green Bay Packers. This probably explains why the Texans are a crappy team. Gary Kubiak was John Elway’s backup on the day of The Drive, one of the greatest…
Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Really? That Good?
“That’s as good a win as I’ve ever been around,” Gary Kubiak said Sunday after the Texans 24-21 win over the Green Bay Packers. This probably explains why the Texans are a crappy team. Gary Kubiak was John Elway’s backup on the day of The Drive, one of the greatest…
Tila Tequila’s Pearls of Wisdom
One of the best parts of living the life of Miss Pop Rocks (in addition to the celebrity status I enjoy in my own mind) is sometimes I get my hands on promotional stuff marketing people send the Press, and then I get to make fun of it here. The…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Voices of a Grateful Nation
As has been noted in these pages before, my daughter is in the Air Force. I’m not too happy that right now she is on a six-month assignment in Qatar while her two-year-old daughter is in San Antonio. So her active duty certainly colors my opinions regarding the new discs…
Target, Whole Foods: It’s All The Same To Greenpeace
When it comes to good eating, you wouldn’t think that Whole Foods and Target would have a lot in common. Especially when you throw Greenpeace into the equation.But the two chains have gotten somewhat grudging praise from the radical environmental organization for getting better at what seafood they sell.Greenpeace said,…
Five Very Bad Christmas Ads
The Christmas shopping season is in full swing, such as it is this year. The airwaves are full of idiotic giggling women who have been waiting patiently and desperately to see if they’ll get a ring from their boyfriend, because Lord knows no woman would ever bring up the subject…
The Osteens Dare To Face Larry King Again
Once again, Joel and Victoria Osteen have entered the lion’s den, the vicious place where only the brave come out unscathed — The Larry King Show.As difficult as it may be to believe, they had some merchandise to hawk Monday night. In this case, a new book by Victoria.Under the…
Bayou City Art Festival Making A Record Donation This Year
The folks over at the 2008 Bayou City Art Festival Downtown have finished counting up their earnings and figuring out who gets what, so tonight they’re handing out checks to the non-profits organizations they support. A whopping $106,303 is going out to sixteen organizations, ranging from the Museum of Fine…
Remembering John Lennon
On December 8, 1980 – 28 years to the day – John Lennon was shot and killed on the steps of the Dakota Apartments on New York City’s Upper West Side by professed fan Mark David Chapman. It was a Monday just like today, and millions of people found out when…
State Reps Finally Get A Luxurious Members Lounge Worthy Of Them
Sure, the economy is tanking, the state is facing a big deficit, government agencies will likely be asked to slash their budgets — but at least the Texas House of Representatives has got a nice new lounge.State officials unveiled the new members-only lounge to the media today, and Associated Press…
In The Unlikely Event Your Algae Causes A Water Landing…
Continental Airlines announced today they’re scheduling a test flight next month in which a 737 will be powered by algae.So if you’re nervous flier, this is the thing for you. Not only do you get to worry about sitting in an increibly thinly walled aluminum tube, being held up only…
Aftermath: Duran Duran at Verizon Wireless Theater
Photos by Chris Gray Alone among its pretty-boy peers in the early and mid-’80s, Duran Duran was the blackest band to regularly hit the pop charts from either side of the pond. Only the Aussies in INXS had anywhere near the same level of interest in funk and disco, and…
Art Rock: Fishbone at Meridian
Poster by Jason McElweenie …
Aftermath: Buddy Guy at House of Blues
Photos by Craig Hlavaty As Aftermath was cradling his camera, taking pictures of Buddy Guy on Friday night at the House of Blues, he got a bittersweet twinge in his music-loving soul. Once he and B.B. King shuffle off this mortal coil and join the big blues jam in the sky, there will…
The Dope Arrests Continue At HISD; Trend Stories To Follow
Yes, we are aware that three more HISD employees have been nabbed with drugs today by the now-infamous drug-sniffing dog.In other news, there was traffic on the Southwest Freeway coming into work this morning. And the sun is expected to set in the west this evening.It really is best now…
Port Arthur Environmental Group Says, “Bring On The Sarin Gas!!”
It’s tough enough being an environmental group in Port Arthur. It’s kind of being anti-gay in Key West: You’re not going to eradicate it all.But it’s also not every day when you announced that you’re fine with the feds bringing in chemical-warfare waste to your town.That’s what Hilton Kelley, director…
Art Rock: Dickey Hands and Burn the Boats at Boondocks
10 p.m. tonight at Boondocks, 1417 Westheimer No. 2, 713-522-8500…
Damn the Torpedoes, Live Nation is Full Steam Ahead
Start saving those nickels and dimes, kids, because the biggest tour of 2009 (so far) is headed for Houston. At a press conference in House of Blues’ Foundation Room this morning, Live Nation President Bob Roux and Toyota Center General Manager Doug Hall announced Elton John and Billy Joel will…
Classic Rock Corner: Neil Young’s Sugar Mountain
Neil Young Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968 Forget Chinese Democracy. The real will-he-ever-release-it story of this decade (and the last…and the last…) is Neil Young’s Archives Vol. 1, 1963-72. The (so far) massive 10-DVD set will include music, video, photos and interactive media, but the famously perfectionist Young…
Fried Tamales for the Holidays
I guess if one waits long enough, everything ends up in the deep fryer. Fried ice cream, fried Twinkies, fried Oreos, you name it. I was in Mexico recently and came across a street vendor offering tamales dorados. Deep-fried tamales. I noticed that she had to use a protective cover…
Find Out How Polluted Your Kid’s School Is (Answer, For Houston Residents: Pretty Polluted)
School officials are always talking about percentiles, since we live in a mandated-testing world.USA Today has come up with percentile listings no school wants to be a part of: they tracked 12,800 schools to see how many toxic chemicals were in the air outside the buildings.You no doubt will be…
$13 at This Is It Soul Food
Where: This Is It Soul Food, 207 Gray, 713-659-1608 What $13 gets you: A plate of good, down-home Southern soul food, with three heaps of vegetables and your choice of meats Thank goodness Frank Jones was poor as a kid. Jones, who along with his wife Mattie, founded This Is…
Last Of The LBJ Tapes Are Released; No Talk This Time Of His Pants Squeezing His Balls
You can say a lot of things about LBJ, but for all his faults he at least did us all a favor by taping tons of his phone conversations.Popular historian Michael Beschloss has put out two books with transcripts and CDs from the calls, tracing everything from screaming about Vietnam…
Houston Aeros at the Crossroads
Photo by Fred Trask Corey Locke rushes for the puck. When last I wrote about the Aeros, the team was coming off a fight-filled 4-2 victory that left head coach Kevin Constantine hoping his team had turned the corner on what was quickly becoming a disappointing season. The team then…
Houston Aeros at the Crossroads
Photo by Fred Trask Corey Locke rushes for the puck. When last I wrote about the Aeros, the team was coming off a fight-filled 4-2 victory that left head coach Kevin Constantine hoping his team had turned the corner on what was quickly becoming a disappointing season. The team then…
Over the Weekend: Dickens, BMX and 610 Blvd.
Quick not-so-random tip: If you haven’t already had your office holiday party yet, we definitely suggest you don’t show up too early. The food probably won’t be ready, but the drinks just might. Anyway… Dickens on the Strand For the past 35 years, Dickens on the Strand has been celebrated…
Turning the Screw: T-Pain & Friends, Pimp C, Asher Roth, Kanye vs. Colbert, Q-Tip, Suge Knight, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Young Jeezy, Paul Wall 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: “Chopped and Screwed” Lil’ O, T-Pain and Ludacris Wire To Wire Matt Sonzala et al. paid tribute to…
She’s Got Legs, She Knows How To Prosecute `Em
Murray Newman has been anonymously writing an entertaining blog about being a prosecutor in Harris County; now that he’s been canned (he supported incoming DA Pat Lykos’ primary opponent), it’s clear that a) the blogging will continue, and b) it will still be entertaining.Witness his latest scoop: Lykos has ruled…
60 Minutes Is Very Mean To A UH Alum
It’s not often a UH alum gets a big profile on 60 Minutes, unless it’s Tom DeLay.But last night the venerable news magazine profiled Julian Schnabel, the artist/film director who was nominated for an Academy Award last year the The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.So how’d he come off?Pretty shitty,…
Tragedy Strikes; Notre Dame Somehow Chooses Honolulu Over Houston
The commenters have had a lot of fun dismissing the euphoria that we felt at the idea that the storied and awesome Notre Dame football team might actually come to Houston for the first time in 35 years, to play in the Texas Bowl.Some people think a 6-6 ND team…
Aftermath: Terry Adams DVD Premiere at Block 21
On Saturday night, the parking lot of Block 21 was transformed into a BMX playground to celebrate the release of Dreamz, a documentary film about pro flatlander Terry Adams. Organized by the Byke Project, the event featured the star of the film, who won the bunny hop contest, as well…
Taking Extraordinary Photos of Ordinary Life, Fall 2008
From raw beginners with point-and-shoot cameras to more mature artists who will be exhibiting images at Houston Center for Photography, my fall class at the Glasscock School saw a wide range of experience. Over the course of eight weeks, through assignments and critiques, my students all gained a wider knowledge…
Judge Confident Her Drug-Court Project Will Survive Her Departure
Despite the sour grapes that could’ve grown out of the Republican Party due to the Democratic sweep, post-election transitions are going quite well, at least in Houston courts. Case in point, ousted Judges Caprice Cosper and Mike Wilkinson have agreed to carry on their work with the STAR (Success Through…
Thom Bell and the Sound of Brotherly Love
While the ubiquitous songs of Detroit’s Motown get anthologized and commercialized ad infinitum, and the critics salivate over the gritty southern soul of Memphis’ Stax, the third great movement/label of ’60s and ’70s soul has always gotten short shrift. Until now, that is, with the release of the box set…
Rebuilding The Republican Party Without Telling Them
Some Republicans are still licking their wounds after Obama’s big win last month. Others are planning for 2010. One of the “Let’s get ready for 2010” groups that has popped up is Rebuild the Party. Founded by Patrick Ruffini and Mindy Finn, both new media activists, Rebuild the Party went…
Bowling for UT, TCU, UH and Rice
I’m sure the Longhorns and their fans are still pissed they didn’t win the Big 12 and aren’t playing for the national title. But screw Longhorns fans. I think I can speak for many college football fans who are pissed the Horns are playing in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio…
Bowling for UT, TCU, UH and Rice
I’m sure the Longhorns and their fans are still pissed they didn’t win the Big 12 and aren’t playing for the national title. But screw Longhorns fans. I think I can speak for many college football fans who are pissed the Horns are playing in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio…
Highest-Ranking NASA Woman Ever Prepares For Re-Entry To Private Life
Shana Dale, the highest-ranking woman in NASA history, is leaving the agency after three years as second-in-command.NASA’s press release on the subject said she announced the decision today, but readers of her blog were tipped off about it last week. (Clearly, we were not readers of her blog.)Dale says she’s…
Knowles Sisters’ Ike Benefit Cancelled
Next Tuesday’s “Hope for the Holidays” concert with Beyonce and Solange Knowles, which was going to be taped to air December 21 on the cable music network Fuse, with proceeds benefiting the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund, has been cancelled. No further information was immediately available. – Chris Gray…
State School Board Member Cynthia Dunbar Still Bringing The Loony
The Texas State Board of Education is a fairly obscure group of individuals, staying below the radar except for the occasional ruckus over whether evolution’s a fraud or if math word problems should all include highlights from Ronald Reagan’s career.That ended this fall, when an unhinged screed published by member…
A Non-HISD Teacher Gets Busted For Pot
Other school districts have sat around on their hands, helpless while HISD gets all the great pub that comes with a having a string of teachers and administrators get arrested for drugs.Channelview represent!DA Kenneth Magidson announced today that a Channelview teacher (and assistant football coach!) named Brandon Jennings, 30, was…
Carnegie Parents Can Breathe A Sigh Of Relief — For Now
Houston Press editor Margaret Downing wrote this week about the continuing turmoil in HISD over plans to consolidate schools, including the high-profile proposal to merge brainiac magnet Carnegie Vanguard with low-income Worthing High.Carnegie parents have been up in arms ever since superintendent Abe Saavedra floated the idea a few weeks…
SugarHill Goes Live on the Web
Benjamin Wesley at SugarHill Studios Houston’s own legendary SugarHill Recording Studios is making the leap into the world of live Internet broadcasting 7 p.m. tonight at http://www.ecslive.com. The first musical gues is Benjamin Wesley of Tha Fucking Transmissions, Robert Ellis, Grandfather Child and Sad Gorilla. The show will also feature live…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Gwil Owen’s Gravy
Gwil Owen Gravy www.gwilowen.com Here’s another good record that fell through my cracks this year but deserves to be mentioned. Gwil Owen lives in Nashville and can write to the country form anytime he wants to – or his checking account tells him he needs to. But on his latest project,…
Songs Not To Play At Intercontinental Airport’s New Karaoke Booth
So now there’s a karaoke booth at Intercontinental Airport. According to the Houston Chronicle, travelers can choose from “hundreds of titles.”We got to wondering this morning about what’s in their song selections there and more to the point — what isn’t.We imagine that the management of IAH’s karaoke bar had…
Texans Score 30 Grammy Nominations
Allison Krauss, Robert Plant and T-Bone Burnett (far right) Texas artists landed 30 nominations in 20 categories when the contenders for the 51st annual Grammy Awards were announced today, including all five nominees for Best Tejano Album and four of the five Best Norteno Album contenders. All of this year’s…
Sikh Family Claims Harassment By Sheriff’s Deputies
A Sikh family in Houston, backed by a national organization, is crying foul over how they were treated by deputies of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.Kawaljeet Kaur tells Hair Balls that her family phoned 911 after discovering their home was burglarized November 26; things went downhill quickly from there.Here’s how…
At HISD, The Human Resources Department Is Now The “Department Of Human Talent” Department
The HISD board is having perhaps the most boring workshop ever this morning — talking about Human Resources.Thank God Houston Chronicle education writer Ericka Mellon is there to blog it.She reports a momentous change in HISD policy: The Human Resources Department will henceforth be known as the Department of Human…
Ten Other Instances of “Sloppy Seconds”
Sean Avery of the NHL’s Dallas Stars was suspended for an indefinite period by the NHL on Tuesday for comments he made in Calgary on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters, he made a comment about several players dating his “sloppy seconds.” And I know most of you in Houston would rather…
Ten Other Instances of “Sloppy Seconds”
Sean Avery of the NHL’s Dallas Stars was suspended for an indefinite period by the NHL on Tuesday for comments he made in Calgary on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters, he made a comment about several players dating his “sloppy seconds.” And I know most of you in Houston would rather…
Cutout Bin: Sharon Pillack’s A Fisherman’s Dream
Sharon Pillack, A Fisherman’s Dream (Jak Se Mate Records, 1983) So there I was, just walking down the edge of the creek from my favorite fishing hole. The largemouth weren’t biting and my pole seemed limp in my hands. I rounded the bend, and there she was: a bleached-blonde beauty with…
That Empty Lot Next Door May Stay Empty A Long Time, Suburban Guy
A homebuilder who has several developments in Houston has gone under.Kimball Hill Homes announced it’s filing for bankruptcy.”We deeply regret the necessity of today’s decision, but given the current housing and financial market conditions we are simply unable to conduct normal operations while the Company continues its sale efforts,” said…
Hot Squash Soup
On cold mornings, I like to turn on the oven to warm up the kitchen. I know you’re not supposed to heat your house with the oven. That’s why I try to stick something in there so I can claim I’m actually cooking. Roasting a couple of heads of garlic…
Aftermath: Deerhunter at Warehouse Live
Photos courtesy of Liz Countryman You know the feeling of putting on a homemade scarf just woven by your 90-year old great-grandma? That scarf is Deerhunter; only now two of your seventh-grade bullies are standing on either side of you pulling it as tightly as they can if only to…
All Political Roads Lead Back To Bob Lanier
Via Lone Star Times, we got word of the latest musings of Ana Marie Cox (the original Wonkette) in The Daily Beast. (Enough links for one sentence?)Cox writes about unlikely partnerships in the DC political world.And the top one in her list of five is….the unlikely crew of current Washington…
A Hold-Out In The Obama-McCain Election
The morning commute into town left me near a late-model Range Rover, bottle-blonde, soccer-mom Tanglewood type at the wheel.The luxury car featured two bumper stickers: One, a small decal with the McCain logo and a big drawing of kissy lips that said “Read My Lipstick.” Sort of clever, if you’re…
The Secret Lives of the Hottest News Guys on Houston Television
I am going to get totally sexist right about now and just talk about which male Houston news anchors and reporters are on my hot radar. Here’s my take on the finest gentlemen of Bayou City’s boob tube. Please be aware this is all completely fictional…it’s just what I imagine…
Tonight: Tejas Brothers at Greenspoint Mall
Tejas Brothers, “She’s About a Mover/Give Me Back My Wig” If you’re looking for a poster band for the Texican thing, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better one than Fort Worth’s Tejas Brothers. Currently gaining momentum due to heavy play on Sirius/XM’s Outlaw Country station, the Brothers sound like a simplified Sir…
The Recession Affects Free Booze In Houston, Unfortunately
Yesterday we were informed that it’s official – the country is in a recession. And the lean times got us thinking — can you still score a free drink in this town? Keith Plocek got drunk for free for ten days straight back in December 2005 for the story “Free…
Gabriel Iglesias
Homer Simpson once asserted that the only people who wear Hawaiian shirts are gay guys and big, fat party animals. We’re not much interested in Gabriel Iglesias’s sexual orientation, but the boisterous, tropical shirt-sporting comic undoubtedly embodies the latter group. The former All That cast member actually refers to himself…
Campfire Christmas
Yee-haw, y’all! It’s the holidays and the cowboys at George Ranch Historical Park invite you to join them for a Texas tradition, a Campfire Christmas. Tour the park’s 1830s Jones Stock Farm and the 1890s Davis Mansion to see how the holidays were spent in yesteryear, then join the cowboys…
I Set My Friends On Fire
Not long ago, South Florida teenagers Matt Mihana and Nabil Moo, formerly of a more by-the-numbers post-hardcore band, wanted to form a new project. They thought it would be funny to do a cover of Soulja Boy’s “Crank Dat,” with Matt screaming the vocals and Nabil tweaking the beat on…
Cold, Frankin Sense, and Brrr
Sharla Boyce’s holiday comedy Cold, Frankin Sense, and Brrr features a stuffy-nosed Frankin, who seems to have lost the Christmas spirit. Follow him as he sneezes his way from one adventure to another, including running into a lost Wiseman and a trio of singing bakers. 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays,…
The Illuminations Project
Some of Houston’s best dance troupes come together in The Illuminations Project to commemorate World AIDS Day. Today’s program includes performances by the Houston Ballet, Hope Stone and Houston’s Flyboys, Shawn Welling’s Planet Funk and the Lone Star Lariats, among others. They’ll perform everything from classical ballet to country and…
ClayHouston Festival 2008
Oh, clay. How you charmed our childhoods with your delightful squishiness. Most of us abandoned you, sadly, for pursuits like video games and smoking behind the garage, but there were those among us who nobly pressed on and now create delightful vessels, sculptures and other shapes. Both groups can unite…
The Santaland Diaries
When it comes to David Sedaris’s The Santa-land Diaries, actor Todd Waite knows his role. “[The] star of the show is his writing,” Waite says. “Just the line — to pick a line — ‘It breaks my heart to see a grown man dressed as a taco.’” Waite, an eight-year…
Sinbad
Sinbad could be the spokesperson for the “don’t believe everything you read” campaign. Last year, calls came flooding in soon after rumors of the comedian/actor’s death spread to Wikipedia (sorry, college kids, find a better source for your term paper). His managers and family were inundated with condolences, despite Sinbad’s,…
Star of Bethlehem
See the night sky as it appeared over the hills of Judea 2,000 years ago at the Star of Bethlehem, the holiday show at the Burke Baker Planetarium. Watch as science answers the questions “Who were the wise men?” “Where did they come from?” and “Did they actually follow a…
The Gate of Heaven
In December, it’s tough to find a performance that doesn’t feature Dickensian costumes, sugarplums or reindeer. Thanks is due, then, to DiverseWorks, which is there for the Santa-weary with a brand-new presentation of the play The Gate of Heaven. Written by Lane Nishikawa and Victor Talmadge, the expansive, thoughtful work…
Christmas for Sale (Slightly Used)
An original musical by the Houston Family Arts Center, Christmas for Sale (Slightly Used) is the story of Dave Rusk, who hasn’t had a “real Christmas” for years. To remedy the situation, he decides to buy Christmas. Oops! See if Dave comes around before it’s too late. 8 p.m. today…
The pAper chAse
When he’s not garnering Grammy nominations as a music producer, John Congleton is creating some creepy rock and roll. The Texas native, who has worked with the likes of The Mountain Goats, Modest Mouse, The Roots and Celine Dion, fronts The pAper chAse, a quartet from Dallas with a sinister…
Jo-Ann Power
Put a former Miss Texas-turned-sassy politician together with a mysterious bodyguard, add the politician’s teenage goth daughter and a dead guy, and you have Baring Arms, the latest installment in Jo-Ann Power’s Me and Mr. Jones mystery series. She reads and signs the book at 2:30 p.m. Murder by the…
Height’s Holiday Home Tour
Discover some amazing architecture, not to mention the Christmas spirit, during the 2008 Historic Houston Heights Holiday Home Tour. You’ll see a 1908 Texas farmhouse, a 1920 Craftsman bungalow and a 1912 American Foursquare along with three newer homes in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. Each home will be…
Like Water for Chocolate
Magic is everywhere in the 1993 film Like Water for Chocolate. It’s in the food Tita cooks for her family and friends, it’s in the matches that Tita lights when her lover Pedro dies and, of course, it’s in the film’s magical realism style. Tita, a young Mexican girl, is…
Pirate Proposal and Dogfighting Outrage
Online readers respond to “A Modest Proposal for the Rehabilitation of Galveston,” by John Nova Lomax, November 26. Lomax is not funny: I don’t care what he thinks about casino gambling in Galveston, his “solution” to the city’s problems is insensitive at best. Thousands of Galveston residents have lost everything…
Jubilee of Dance
In economic times like these, the word “jubilee” is an encouraging one. Your office may call off the holiday party and Dubai may buy your neighborhood pub, but cheer up — today the Houston Ballet presents its annual Jubilee of Dance, which showcases the range and myriad talents of its…
Winter Holiday Art Market
Let’s face it, people: Buying gifts based on Christmas wish lists is like doing your friends’ and family’s shopping for them. This year, give a gift that proves you actually know someone, instead of the gift that proves you can read mass e-mails you were BC’d on. Spacetaker’s Winter Holiday…
Adrianna M. Garcia: “Entre la Carpa/Inside the Tent”
A multicultural landscape dominates the work in Paintings by Adrianna M. Garcia: “Entre la Carpa/Inside the Tent.” There’s a reception with the artist on Friday, December 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. Regular viewing hours for the exhibit are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Through February 28…
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Imagine Bébé’s kids in a school holiday play, and you’ve got a good idea of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Grace Bradley steps in at the last minute to direct the school play after the original director conveniently breaks her leg. Not only is Grace racing against the clock to…
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Talk about multitasking. You can skate on the Discovery Green ice rink and watch a movie all at the same time during the Silver Blades on the Silver Screen event today. On screen is Tim Burton’s animation film The Nightmare Before Christmas. In the movie, Jack Skellington lives in Halloweentown…
Cory Wagner: Personal Panopticon
Cory Wagner’s Personal Panopticon is all about you. “I want it to be about the awareness of you watching you and you being the judge of yourself,” he says. The installation, all about the idea of self–surveillance, is a three-wall room the size of a small prison cell covered —…
Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano: “Fiesta Navidad”
If your exposure to mariachi music has been limited to a venue that includes chips ‘n’ salsa and half-price happy-hour margaritas, then you haven’t truly experienced the vibrant and energetic genre, one which deserves a listen in a real concert setting. Check that off your bucket list — and get…
Houston Artist Wendy Wagner launchs soft sculpture line – Qwerkys
Holiday Shopping Days at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston include the launch of Qwekys, soft handcrafted sculptures by local artist Wendy Wagner. Based on characters from her paintings and sculptures, Qwekys include the whimsical Miss Pretty (a shy octopus), the offbeat Froggee (a make-up wearing boy frog), and the suave…
Girls Rock!
Some girls spend their summers at camp learning archery or basket weaving. But a few lucky others rock the fuck out. Girls Rock! is (in case you didn’t guess) about the latter. The documentary follows young aspiring rockers through a summer at a rock and roll camp for girls in…
White Christmas
See the holiday story inspired by the most-recorded tune in history, White Christmas. The tale follows two ex-soldiers-turned-Broadway-entertainers who help an old buddy by putting on a musical. In between singing and dancing, the pair manages to fall in, then out, then back in love with two sisters. 2 and…
“Viewfinder: New Images by Texas Artists” Artist Talk
Get the scoop on the newest FotoFest exhibit during the “Viewfinder: New Images by Texas Artists” artist talk with participating photographers, including Austin’s Ben Aqua, who will discuss two groups of his photos, his series depicting an apocalyptic Utopia and his Veronica series of situational portraits. Dallasite Beau Comeaux will…
Dickens on the Strand
All right, Houstonians, if there’s ever been a time to visit our dear sister city on the coast, now is it. Despite the terrible toll Ike took on Galveston Island, the city’s historical foundation is going ahead with its famed holiday weekend, Dickens on the Strand. This year marks the…
Improv Night at Fitzgerald’s
Improv Night at Fitzgerald’s is perfect for actors or actresses looking to beef up their on-the-spot skills. The weekly class is hosted by LG Media Productions, a local film company, and offers a chance for all acting levels to quicken their wit. Best of all: It takes place at a…
Poison Pen Reading Series featuring Gulf Coast Magazine editors
This month’s Poison Pen Reading Series features writers who can do it in four minutes or less. (And, yes, we mean read.) The editors of University of Houston’s Gulf Coast Magazine will get three to four minutes each to share a short piece of poetry, fiction or nonfiction. “It’s a…
“New Forms: Rethinking Crafts”
It’s hard to feel inspired by the thousands of tchotchkes and trinkets you routinely encounter while holiday shopping, so if you’re feeling both broke and creatively drained, head over to catch the final week of the exhibition “New Forms: Rethinking Crafts,” hosted by the Community Artists’ Collective. Curated by Sarah…
First Thursday @ Dean’s: Houston filmmaker Van Blumreich
Houston filmmaker Van Blumreich presents his latest narrative short films, Imprint and Fury, at today’s First Thursdays at Dean’s. Neither of the works is cheerful, but both are engrossing: Imprint features a man who, ill with a mysterious virus and unable to pay for health care, becomes a hit man…
Lit Wits Book Club
Winning isn’t always a good thing. Just look at Bee Season by Myla Goldberg. The novel chronicles the disastrous actions set in motion when nine-year-old Eliza wins a spelling bee. Compared to her cantor/scholar father, her lawyer mother and overachieving older brother, Eliza was previously thought to be the family’s…
The Candidate Conspiracy Author John Odam
Ever heard of the Tejano Project? Despite its title, in John Odam’s novel The Candidate Conspiracy, the Tejano Project is not a campaign to get everyone dancing to Selena songs (although that might not be such a bad idea). It’s actually an international plan to make guns more easily available…
Hot Tamales
Sylvia Casares Copeland might be famous for her enchiladas (she’s the chef/owner of Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen), but she knows a few things about tamales, too. Learn how to make the Mexican holiday treat — from scratch — during her Hot Tamales cooking class. You’ll watch as she prepares pork tamales…
X-Treme Adventure
Let your junior daredevil test her limits at the Health Museum’s X-Treme Adventure 2008 with a rock wall, a superhero obstacle course and a bungee trampoline. There’s also superhero slime, sports demonstrations and arts activities. Of course, the museum’s other exhibits are open to all the X-Treme participants. 1 to…
Tokyo Majin, Vol. 3
With demon attacks on the decline, Tokyo is quieter than usual. But that’s not comforting to the school kids at Tokyo Majin, who know that evil is just waiting for the right time to strike. And the right time could be any second now. With one student engaged in affairs…
“Messiaen Centennial Concert: Visions de l’Amen”
If you’re into the dueling piano thing and can’t wait for the next Billy Joel/Elton John show, join lady ivory pounders Marilyn Nonken and Sarah Rothenberg for Da Camera’s “Messiaen Centennial Concert: Visions de l’Amen.” This work by composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) didn’t exactly top the French hit parade back…
Houston Homeless Run
Make a difference this holiday season by participating in the Houston Homeless Run. There’s a 10K Run, a 5K Run/Walk and a Little K for Kids. The race starts at Lamar and Louisiana and snakes through downtown before heading out on Memorial Drive and back again to finish at Tranquility…
Muppets, Music & Magic: Jim Henson’s Legacy: Muppet Fairytales
Classic children’s stories get a hand in Muppet Fairytales. (Get it? Hand? Muppets? People use their hands to make the…never mind.) Target Free First Sundays: Family Flicks presents a handful of tales starring Jim Henson’s plush characters as part of the Museum of Fine Arts’ film series “Muppets™, Music, and…
St. Nicholas Eve Holiday Gathering
Get a taste of some authentic Slavic food prepared especially by Chef Omer of Café Pita at the Czech Museum’s St. Nicholas Eve Holiday Gathering. There’s live music on the schedule along with a reenactment of the traditional Czech tale of the struggle between the Sweet Angel, the Incorrigible Devil…
Clive and Dirk Cussler: Artic Drift
Clive Cussler spends his time discovering sea wrecks when he isn’t writing Dirk Pitt adventures. But these days, Cussler should have lots more time for the ocean, because his son Dirk Cussler has joined in on the writing. The 20th Dirk Pitt adventure novel, Artic Drift, written by Clive and…
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
You know the story: The mean old Grinch (who has a heart “two sizes too small”) hates the Whos, the happy little people that live in Whoville. Jealous of their holiday cheer, the Grinch sets out to steal all the Christmas presents and decorations in order to stop Christmas from…
Santa’s Polar Blast 4D
What’s so special about Santa? Sure, there’s that delivering-Christmas-gifts-all-around-the-world bit, but really, he’s just a fat guy in a red suit, right? Well, at least that’s the way the snowman in Santa’s Polar Blast 4D feels. To settle the score, the snowman concocts a secret plan to take over Santa’s…
Anthony Hamilton
If Anthony Hamilton’s R&B seems grittier than the airbrushed variety common to today’s charts, it might have something to do with his biography. It took Hamilton a decade of hook-singing — for Eve and the late Tupac, among others — and failed solo deals before connecting with 2003’s platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated…
Fishbone
Over its nearly 30-year career, this diverse ska/metal/punk/reggae L.A. band never really got the recognition it deserved. The specific reasons are hard to pin down, except that upon founding guitarist Kendall Jones’s departure, Fishbone bounced from label to label during the ’90s, and the constant lineup changes that ensued definitely…
Texas Music on Sirius/XM’s Outlaw Country
“And I can sing all those songs about Texas…” — David Allan Coe, “Longhaired Redneck” In that longhaired redneck’s most famous song, 1975’s “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” his spoken monologue recounts Coe’s (presumably real) conversation with Steve Goodman, the late Chicago-born Jew who wrote the song…
Various Artists: Eccentric Soul: The Young Disciples
Just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis sits that city’s rough-and-tumble little brother, East St. Louis, Illinois. Despite decades of poverty and urban blight, any city would be proud to spawn the gritty, heartfelt soul of the East St. Louisans compiled on Chicago-based label the Numero Group’s Eccentric Soul:…
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…
Junque in the Houston Heights
We are in the living/dining room of Museum of the Weird, a 1939 bungalow on 24th Street in the Heights. On the table in front of us is an array of artfully lumpy ceramics made by children or perhaps adults with an eight-year-old’s level of manual dexterity. They are all…
Bayousphere
Those eyes speak volumes, but we’re not sure what they’re trying to say. Three lovely young girls wait backstage at the Stafford Civic Center, ready to perform in a classical Indian dance. The event was held to honor the 33rd anniversary of the Anjali Center for Indian Performing Arts in…
In the Pines of Houston
Unlikely as it seems, a 100-year-old Kentucky tobacco barn has become the vortex of Montgomery County’s bustling country and Americana scene. In less than two years, The Woodlands’ Dosey Doe Coffee House (25911 I-45 North) has gone from fledgling enterprise to major venue. And Dosey Doe is only part of…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Beauty and the Beast, A Fertle Holiday, The Nutcracker, Sunshine Boys
Beauty and the Beast Disney’s blockbuster stage adaptation of its sensationally successful animated movie (1991) was the company’s first foray into live stage shows, and they turned the clever musical cartoon, with its feisty, smart heroine Belle, into a literal retelling with loads of special lighting effects and intricate character…
Cadillac Records Can’t Handle the Truth
First, a key spoiler: Cadillac Records is not the story of Chess Records, the blues label started in Chicago in 1950 by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess that featured among its stable of artists Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Etta James, plus many others who birthed…
Duran Duran
Duran Duran’s attempt to contemporize its sound by collaborating with the likes of Justin Timberlake and Timbaland on last year’s Red Carpet Massacre didn’t quite pay off; both sales and critical reception were disappointing (and disappointed). The blokes from Birmingham should have known better: Considering the popularity of double-ought groups…
Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale is the Gift This Season Needs
Arnaud Desplechin is a cinema maximalist: A Christmas Tale feels like all 12 days of seasonal merriment, and then some. This comic, ultimately touching family melodrama is a heady plum pudding of a movie — studded with outsized performances and drenched in cinematic brio. The concoction is overrich, yet irresistible…
Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak
Despite what’s been written, Kanye West’s new style on fourth album 808s & Heartbreak, which incorporates “tribal”-style drum machines and auto-tuned vocals, doesn’t sound especially shocking. Immediately satisfying singles like “Robocop” and “Love Lockdown” make Young Jeezy’s much-discussed crooning and his T-Pain-assisted use of vocoder nonissues here. Kanye was never…
Drug Education
Houston school officials want to be very clear — the latest employees arrested for drugs were not teachers at a northwest side charter school. Their desire to make the point clear is understandable, given that so many teachers and staffers have been nabbed for pot lately. So let’s emphasize —…
Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs: Dirt Don’t Hurt
Britain’s Holly Golightly and her Brokeoffs get “high for Jesus” on this latest bang-and-clang collection of almost-Americana. With percussion that sounds like it was played with kitchen utensils on pots, pans and pieces of scrap iron, Dirt is another sadistically delicious collection that shows new directions for a genre that…
Lil Keke: Loved by Few, Hated by Many
Lil Keke is a Houston legend; that point is inarguable. But, despite perfectly capturing the late ’90s zeitgeist on geographically charged 1997 hit “Southside,” he has never had anything the mainstream could really latch onto. He’s never been seen as a novelty (Paul Wall, “Sittin’ Sideways”), just plain lucky (Lil’…
Think Buckcherry Has Mellowed? Crazy Bitch…
Drinking, drugging and crazy bitches sounds like more fun than the law would allow, but playing in a red-hot rock band is not always an all-you-can-eat orgy. “I think people realize there’s a lot more to this band than just fucking and partying,” says guitarist Keith Nelson. That revelation, surrendered…
Crime Doesn’t Pay(back): A Houston Press Special Report on Court-Ordered Restitutions in Texas
$120. That’s what crack dealer Gregory “Little Greg” Stewart was trying to collect as he repeatedly beat customer Rick Galloway in the head seven years ago on a Houston street corner. Injured, Galloway scrambled into a friend’s nearby home to try to get away, but Stewart crept inside the house…
Nonracist Racists and Mole Grammer
Dear Mexican, Why is it that those of us who oppose illegal immigration are called racist by many Mexicans? Personally, I think Hispanic people are beautiful and a diverse people who contribute tremendously to our culture (and spicy hot as well!). At the same time, I oppose illegals who wander…
Backlash Upon Backlash at HISD
J. Will Jones Elementary is 101 years old, the only public elementary left in Midtown, and before they shut it down, you should know that it’s a pretty good school and one that defies most notions you might hold about what’s needed to improve education. Five years ago, it was…
Puppy Love at Saint Dane’s Bar & Grille
Brooklyn music promoter and magazine editor Linyee Yuan was waiting for me at a picnic table on the deck of Saint Dane’s Bar & Grille the other day. She was in town visiting her parents for the Thanksgiving holiday. I am pretty sure the main reason she wanted to meet…
Chinese Democracy‘s Liner Notes Upstage Axl Rose’s Would-Be Magnum opus
We can all agree that November 23’s eons-delayed, punchline-defying, free-Dr Pepper-triggering release of Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy marks the death of something — some combination of the music industry, “the album” as a unit of cultural import, old-guard rock stardom, irony, sincerity, free-market capitalism, hip-hop, the spread offense and…
A New McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant
Ira Royal, general manager of the new McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant (1201 Fannin, 713-658-8100), has spent more than 20 years in the restaurant business with stints at Fox Sports Grill, Pappadeaux and BJ’s Brewery. “This is a great location in the new Houston Pavilions, downtown,” he says. “We’ve got…
The Toasters, Los Skarnales
The Toasters bill themselves as the U.S.’s longest-running ska band, which, given the ups and downs of the genre’s popularity on these shores, is a little like winning a tallest midget contest. Still, the New York band paved the way for countless latter-day ska acts — like, for instance, beloved…
Chaat House
Want to chaat? “Chaat” is a Hindi word that means to “lick” or “taste.” It is also a popular street snack eaten all over India. In Houston, it’s available at many Indian enclaves, and Chaat House (16338 Kensington Dr., Sugar Land, 281-565-0555) specializes in it. Try the mixed chaat ($3.25),…
I Set My Friends on Fire
Not long ago, South Florida teenagers Matt Mihana and Nabil Moo, formerly of a more by-the-numbers post-hardcore band, wanted to form a new project. They thought it would be funny to do a cover of Soulja Boy’s “Crank Dat,” with Matt screaming the vocals and Nabil tweaking the beat on…
SHOT BAR’S ADIOS MO FO
One thing I can appreciate is truth in advertising. Shot Bar (2315 Bagby, 713-526-3000) brings it. This is a bar that offers lots and lots of shots. It should. It’s a shot bar. I mean, that’s the name, for crissakes. It also offers a giant wheel — a Wheel of…
News on the March
Although the last place anyone might expect to hear News on the March’s harmonically rich Grand Ole Opry rock is when surrounded by bikinis, towels and crashing waves, there’s an essence of the Beach Boys in the local quintet and sand among the sawdust on its official debut, Glory Be!…
Andy Rourke
While Morrissey leads a life of leisure in Rome and Johnny Marr beefs up Modest Mouse’s guitar corps, the Smiths are back on the new-release rack (sort of) with Rhino’s comprehensive double-disc singles anthology The Sound of the Smiths. Bassist Andy Rourke, meanwhile, bounces between hired-hand work (Pretenders, Badly Drawn…
