Sheriff Hoping Big Reward and Billboards Will Lead to Answers in Family Murder
WHO KILLED THE SUN FAMILY? $70,000 REWARD. You’ll be seeing that on billboards in the Houston area and in other parts of the state since investigators still can’t tell us what happened to a Cypress family found murdered inside their Fosters Creek Drive home. While the shock from the murder…
Peacock Attacks Actually Do Exist
Did you know that all peacocks are not peacocks? Yes, there is a difference. A male is a peacock and a female is a peahen and together they are peafowl. These exotic birds are mostly known for their enormous feathers, but they’re also known to attack. On Valentine’s Day, one…
Listen: The State of the Movie Musical on This Week’s Voice Film Club Podcast
Anna Kendrick in Pitch Perfect. On this week’s Voice Film Club podcast, Voice film critic Stephanie Zacharek returns from the Berlin Film Festival and joins the group to discuss the state of the movie musical…
Connor Walsh Takes on the Role of Aladdin for Houston Ballet & Keeps Up With His Favorite Soccer Team on the Side
OK there’s a dragon, some of the names are a little different and Aladdin is Chinese but other than that, the ballet Aladdinthat the Houston Ballet has planned tracks along the same lines as the story most people came to know growing up, says Connor Walsh, principal dancer for the…
HPD Warns Pedestrians About Deadly Stretch of Bellaire Boulevard
Let’s face it, Houston’s not a walking city, but that’s still no reason that pedestrian deaths should be more than double what they were last year. Three people have been killed within about a month, all on a five-block area of Bellaire Boulevard. A 40-year-old man was struck and killed…
Reality Bites: Ghost Adventures Revisited
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. The Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures was one of the first “Reality Bites” I ever did, way back in 2011, and the reaction was … spirited. I think it generated more…
Greater Houston Football Showcase Helps High School Kids Realize College Dreams
Check out our slide show of the 6th Annual Greater Houston Senior Football Showcase. Later this week, the NFL Combine begins in Indianapolis. It’s quite the spectacle, as hundreds of prospects gather in one place to participate in drills with the hope of furthering the pursuit of their dream to…
No Ren Fest? No Problem! Gratifi Brings More Mead to Houston
When I hear “mead,” I think of the Renaissance Festival. So I was surprised earlier this week to be contacted by Kevin Strickland, the owner of a newly revamped Gratifi, saying he had just gotten in some mead, which is essentially honey wine. “Do people actually drink that?” I wondered…
This Week in Food Blogs: Honey Apple Pancakes, Brussels Sprouts Recipes
Zagat Houston: You can find a classic dish, such as chicken and dumplings or chicken-fried steak, in a variety of restaurants in Houston. Some places you can get it on the cheap, and some places have taken the classic dish to new heights (with prices to match). Zagat Houston’s Amber…
Infant Mortality Is Higher When a Republican Is in the White House, Study Shows
Let’s get this out of the way at the front. The study — the one I’m about to delineate — does not mean that there is a causal relationship between Republican presidents and infant mortality. It means that after the authors controlled for certain relevant variables — e.g., education attainment,…
5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Resident Evil
Resident Evil was definitely the first game I remember being so engrossing that I was just as happy watching other people play it as I was playing it myself. Though it seems tame today when compared to, say, The Last of Us, when it came out it was more than…
Road Warriors Dr. Dog: “We’re a City-By-City Band”
Dr. Dog aren’t the same band they used to be. Gone are the days of the gritty, ramshackle group of Philadelphia drifters who firmly planted themselves in the world of indie rock. Now, for a band that has seen all the successes you could ask for after more than a…
Jamie Kilstein: “What Are You Laughing At?”
Three years ago, progressive, feminist, vegan comic and Citizen Radio podcast host Jamie Kilstein had a hot-shot agent, big-time manager and lots of offers for television work. Then he said, “Rape jokes aren’t funny,” in an MSNBC interview, and suddenly he was persona non grata in the comedy world. “Daniel…
Houston’s 10 Most Treacherous Freeway Entrance Ramps
When discussing Houston traffic, it is unfair to compare the city with more compact places around the country. We are spread out, more like LA than Chicago. That means freeways and lots of them. Unlike places in the northeast, the vast majority of these multi-lane deathtraps are not toll roads;meaning…
5 Mardi Gras Classics, and Where to Get Your Fix in Houston
Mardi Gras (that’s French for “Fat Tuesday”) is a religious holiday that is believed to have its roots in medieval Europe. Traditionally, it’s the last night to indulge in rich, fatty foods before Ash Wednesday, when the ritual fasting of the Lent begins. While the actual day — this year…
Ghost The Musical Is Bigger on Spectacle Than Charm
The set-up: The 1990 film Ghost, starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, earned more than $500 million, the highest grossing picture of the year, and won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Goldberg. It was made into a musical in England in 2011, with…
NASA Is Defending the Planet From Asteroids
The asteroid that hit Russia came out of the sky just like we all thought it would — a fireball meteor, a streak of light that landed with the impact of a bomb. We’ve seen it in the movies for years, but it seems NASA took the asteroid as a…
Kitchen Improv: Microwave Magic
If there’s one thing Shiftwork Bites taught me, it’s how to improvise. From poaching eggs in a coffee maker to the space management required to cook in 25 square feet, I learned how to make do with what limited resources I had, both in terms of space and equipment. I…
Tips for Avoiding the Crazy Fashion-Obsessed Guy
The metrosexual man has been a member of our society ever since the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy team hit the streets in 2003. With their arrival, men all of a sudden had hair regimens and knew what the word non-comedogenic meant. (It means a product will not clog…
Accused Killers Giving Satan Worship a Bad Name
God is good, and for some Satan is too. Satanists don’t deserve the bad rap they’re getting after the recent news linking accused killers to the Prince of Darkness. The words “satanic ritual murder” or “occult killing” set off alarms in God-fearing people, and that’s probably why prosecutors and the…
100 Creatives 2014: Pamela Fagan Hutchins, Novelist
If you ever meet Pamela Fagan Hutchins and she seems overly emotional, don’t worry. She’s just working. The bestselling novelist finds that in order to make her books engaging, in order to make her characters seemingly get up off the page and start walking around, she has to do what…
UPDATED: Win Two VIP Tickets to Menu of Menus and Iron Fork
Tickets are selling quickly for this year’s Menu of Menus Extravaganza, which will be held at Silver Street Station on April 8. The event will feature more than 40 local restaurants with incredible free samples as well as the annual Iron Fork competition, which will pit last year’s champ, Kevin…
Is “Indie” a Bogus Concept in 2014?
Recently Joe Steinhardt took a moment to ponder the year that had just passed, and didn’t like what he saw. Steinhardt runs one of my favorite music labels, Don Giovanni Records. His New Jersey-based outfit was built, as he tells it, to promote the music his friends made. His label…
The Most Underrated Restaurants in Houston…According to You
Recently, we stumbled across CultureMap’s article about the most overrated restaurants in Houston. In it, Eric Sandler called out Uchi, Underbelly, Mark’s, Mai’s, Haven, The Breakfast Klub, Torchy’s Tacos, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, Houston’s and Reef as restaurants whose “execution doesn’t quite match their rhetoric or commensurate level of…
The Time I Met a “Fake Nerd Boy”
As guests become finalized and folks gear up for the upcoming Comicpalooza this May (Four days long this year…pity your intrepid geek reporter’s feet and back!), I would like to relay to you a story from last year’s convention and what it tells us about the concept of the “fake…
Road Warriors? Rockets Reach Pivotal Stretch Away from Home
The Rockets have played fewer games on the road than any contender in the Western Conference, but that will change beginning tonight at they begin a five-game west coast road swing against the Lakers. Of their next 12 games total, eight are away from the friendly confines of Toyota Center…
H-Town to Boomtown: Beaumont Has a Music Festival, Too
The 2014 music festival season is kicking into gear, with Free Press Summer Fest announcing its lineup last week. The rundown features at least a half-dozen acts coming right from Coachella, which announced last month, and probably at least a few who will be performing at Bonnaroo, which announces this…
Vote or Die: The Last VJ’s Top Five Videos of the Week
Welcome back to The Last VJ, music fans! This week we get to hear from Gem Club, one of the bands that got me into regular music video coverage in this dismal age of such things, though watching them is still a punch to the soul. In fact, for the…
Five Reasons to Be Excited About Kimbra’s New Album (Remember Her?)
You may know her from pop star Gotye’s 2011 hit single “Somebody That I Used to Know,” but Australian export Kimbra is anything but your typical pop singer. While her work as of yet has definitely held a large mainstream appeal, it’s clear she has every ambition to break the…
Houston Music Fans Show Their Artistic Sides
There’s a moment unlike any other in the career of a local musician, and that’s when someone takes it upon themselves to create a work of art centered on you or your music. It’s a bizarre mixture of fear and amazement, when you briefly flirt with the line between man…
HISD Superintendent Terry Grier in Paris, Superintendent Who Knows When to Travel
At last week’s school board meeting as parents, children, teachers and politicians lined up to protest the Houston ISD administration’s plan to shutter five schools, Superintendent Terry Grier was not at his usual place at the podium — instead he was at the annual conference of the American Association of…
The Corner Table and City Parking Ordinance Saga Continues
A handful of folks who live next to the popular River Oaks eatery Corner Table say the restaurant’s customers are crowding the streets with parked cars because the restaurant doesn’t have enough parking spots — in violation of the city parking ordinance. Sure, this might be one of those issues…
Tony’s Still Wows Nearly 50 Years After First Opening
With newer, hipper Italian restaurants opening in Houston every year, it can be easy to overlook the fine-dining behemoth that is Tony’s in favor of something, perhaps, less dated. But this would be a mistake. Tony’s opened in 1965 as a mom-and-pop Italian eatery serving hearty bowls of pasta and…
Reality Bites Turns 20 Today, Still Isn’t Very Good
To begin with, I’m not referring to *that* Reality Bites, your weekly glimpse into the abyss that is (mostly) basic cable reality television. That’s only 2.5 years old and just as bitingly hilarious as ever. Cough. No, I’m talking about 1994’s Reality Bites. You remember: Winona Ryder before she became…
Kinky Friedman’s “Legalize It” Campaign Hits Mucky Duck
The Kinky Friedman Agriculture Commissioner campaign rolled through Houston this weekend, with the candidate playing a sold-out show at Mucky Duck Sunday night and speaking at a NORML luncheon this week. As reported in a recent Houston Press cover story, Friedman, who previously ran for governor as an independent, is…
Making a Difference: Artists Who Have Share Their Wisdom
“Joni Mitchell once said that singing, crying, and laughing all come up out of the same need. So, I think that’s what art is for…” — Erykah Badu A certain array of life questions are essential to one’s own personal growth and development: who am I? Where am I going?…
Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show Premiere; Sugary and Sweet
It’s been a long time in the making, but last night The Tonight Show finally saw its new host, Jimmy Fallon, take the reins. Last year, NBC announced that long-time host Jay Leno would be stepping down — again — to pass the torch to Fallon. After the sloppy mess…
Weather Week: Springpocalypse is Here
It would appear that winter is definitely in the rearview mirror for the city of Houston. This doesn’t mean we won’t see some cool to cold weather before the long, hot expanse of summer sprawls out before us, but it is unlikely we will have any weather like we cataloged…
Cascade Ice Pumpkin Pie Water: A Love Story
In late October of this past year I fell in love. Mine was an unexpected passion and still to this day bemuses me. I was wandering around the grocery store in that trance-like state that comes from being in the grocery store too long because you know there is some…
Planters and Mr. Peanut: A Tasty History
No offense to Mounds and Almond Joy, but I’ve never been able to relate to their slogan: “Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don’t.” Because, um, I always feel like a nut (and you can take that in the figurative sense as well). I may not always want…
The Wizard of Oz Heads for Houston and Yes, Toto Is Live Onstage!
As far as Danielle Wade — the lead in the touring The Wizard of Oz musical — is concerned, the two dogs who play Toto are some of the best aspects of the show. “Nigel is the lead Toto, Loki is the understudy. It’s really cool to hear the audience’s…
NFL Draft 2014: Nolan Nawrocki’s Annual “Character” Salvo Hits Johnny Manziel
There are parts of the NFL Draft process that can be a lot of fun. The chess game between front offices, the study and analysis of game film, and the leaks of really horrible Wonderlic scores at the combine — I love those things! Then there’s the overanalysis, the portion…
Native Americans to Take Last Stand Against the Keystone Pipeline
It’s a gross understatement to note Native Americans haven’t done well in the United States, historically speaking. They tend to end up on reservations, on the losing side of history and with the short end of the stick. It’s a truth that’s hard to ignore these days, but it isn’t…
The Rocks Off 200: Renée Jonard, Princess of Noise Pollution
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Houston native…
Pop Rocks: Dear Florida, We Need to Have a Talk
Hey, Florida. How’s it going? We see you all sunshine and old folks down there. We admit we enjoy your beaches, your drag queens and your television shows. Hell, we even admit to wearing a white jacket and a brightly colored button down in the ’80s. That was a wild…
Bartender Chat: Christa “Monster” Havican of Boheme
Welcome to Eating…Our Words’ Bartender Chat, in which we sit down with local bartenders and get to know their style. Whether they’re slinging beers or mixing complex cocktails, bartenders are our buddies and confidants, but we’re turning the tables and the camera on them to find out what they’re passionate…
The Hermann Park Train, Our Number One Bucket List Item, Gets a Tunnel Makeover
Last August, we gave you our list of the 100 things to do in Houston before you kick it. Number one on our list was riding the iconic Hermann Park train. It is a joy for kids young and old. This March, it will get even more interesting. Hermann Park…
Review: The Last of Us: Left Behind
I’m eschewing my normal Review for the Lazy Gamer Konami format this go round to tell you a story. The Last of Us: Left Behind is honestly my first real downloaded content expansion pack. Hard as that is to believe in this age in gaming the concept of extra DLC…
City Hall Farmers’ Market Returns on Wednesday With Celebrity Cooking Demonstration
The spring farmers’ market season is here. On Wednesday, February 19, Urban Harvest’s City Hall Farmers’ Market returns, kicking off at 11 a.m. The market will include most of the vendors from the previous season, including Angela’s Oven, Blackbird Foods, Melange Creperie and Sinfull Bakery, to name just a few…
The 10 Best Bioshock Items on Etsy
When it came time to upgrade to a PS4, I went on a massive trade-in spree in order to afford the new system. While that did allow me to pick up the eighth generation console on my Ramen-noodle lifestyle salary, it did mean that a lot of games I normally…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013-2014: No. 29, Caesar Wedge Salad at Provisions
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus® issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
Lou Dobbs Calls Out Louie Gohmert Over ‘Political Theater’ on the Debt Ceiling
Congressman Louie Gohmert probably expected a warm and cuddly welcome when he turned up on the Fox Business Network last week. Instead, the Tea Party darling from Texas got a stern talking to from Lou Dobbs over Gohmert’s efforts to block a deal on the debt ceiling. In case you…
These Are Houston’s Seven Hottest Rap Songs (Allegedly)
No exact science can determine what’s hot in music. Maybe it’s the right sound, the right combination of lyrics and rhythm or just a little bit of luck. And since commercial radio is so dominated (and saturated) by Top 40 records, determining local and regional records on their way up…
Upcoming: Eisley, Chevelle, Queensryche, Ledisi, Merle Haggard, Old 97’s, St. Vincent, etc.
American Gypsy: Fri., February 28, 10:30 p.m., Free. Monnalisa Bar, 800 W. Sam Houston Pkwy N., Houston, 713-973-1600. Betty Who: With Zak Waters, Cardiknox., Fri., March 28, 8 p.m., $10 to $14. Fitzgerald’s, 2706 White Oak, Houston, 713-862-3838. Big Head Todd and the Monsters: Fri., April 11, 7 p.m., $25…
The Five Most Important Ways Emo Changed Popular Music
Some things never change. For a few years when I was younger, “fuck emos” was a battle cry among fans of “real punk” or “real music,” who hated the wave of emo in popular music and as a lifestyle of teenagers across America. Now, in some ways, that sentiment seems…
Coachella Before Coachella: The 1983 US Festival
US Festival 1983: Days 1-3 Directed by Glen Aveni MVD Visuals, 135 minutes, $19.95 In 1982, flush with cash, Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak wanted to throw “a big party” and create an ’80s version of Woodstock that would combine a music festival with displays and demonstrations about emerging technologies,…
Houston Restaurant News Site B4-U-Eat Is No More
This morning it was working and bringing Houstonians news of restaurant openings and closings, and this afternoon it is no more. When we tried to access B4-U-Eat.com today, we found the following message from the administrators:…
Greg Abbott, The Nuge and a Subhuman Mongrel Chimpanzee
Listen up, and listen good: The Nuge has spoken. He has dubbed Barak Obama a “subhuman mongrel” and a “chimpanzee,” and thereby exposed the entire Democratic party as the chimpanzee-lovers they clearly are. The Nuge ain’t no chimp-lover. The Nuge doesn’t fling feces. He only covers himself in it in…
Huffman Man Shuts Down ABC News Team
One of the key characteristics of any good journalist is that he or she doesn’t take “No,” for an answer. It’s our daily duty to talk to people who, quite frankly, don’t always want to be talked to. We get paid to do this, man. So when you send a…
Cruz, Hated Enough by Republicans, Should Get a Food Tester, ABC News Reporter Says
Republicans have been at odds with Sen. Ted Cruz for a while now, but his latest stunt seems to have propelled inner-party hatred to new heights, the kind that might require a food taster, according to Jonathan Karl at ABC News. Cruz has spent much of his time in the…
Elizabeth Strout on Creating The Burgess Boys
The published version of Elizabeth Strout’s newest novel, The Burgess Boys, differs greatly from what the Pulitzer Prize winner originally envisioned. Strout, appearing at the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series on February 24, tells us the basic elements of The Burgess Boys, a novel about two adult brothers living…
Fung’s Kitchen Celebrates Lunar New Year With Lions and Cantonese Food
More than 300 people attended the annual Lunar New Year celebration and banquet at Fung’s Kitchen. As in years past, chef and propietor Hoi Fung presided over the festivities alongside friend and colleague Martin Yan, well known for his television series Yan Can Cook. Yan, who had flown to Houston…
The 10 Worst Roads in Houston (Right Now)
When I recently asked people to give me their worst roads in Houston, I knew what I would be in for. Having already discussed the matter with others at the Press as well as friends and acquaintances, I could guess what people would say. The truth is, there are a…
Brave Is Totally Game of Thrones
Of all the gifts Santa Claus has ever brought my daughter the one that has proven to be her favorite is her LeapPad tablet. If you haven’t seen one it’s part iPad, part Nintendo DS and it’s got a library of great educational games, story books, and other neat stuff…
Recipe of the Week: (Real) New England Clam Chowder
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. Before the temperatures rise to ungodly levels, we’re sharing the secrets to a cold-weather favorite, New England Clam Chowder…
How Open-Carry Group Wants to Honor Texas Independence
At the end of the day it’s about firepower. Or, as it’s being sold by gun advocates, it’s about our Constitutional rights. Yet, maybe, it’s about acknowledging how Texas got free from Mexico, as the group Open Carry Texas said in a message last week to media. “On March 2nd,…
Young the Giant at Bayou Music Center, 2/16/2014
Young the Giant Bayou Music Center February 16, 2014 Nine dates into an ambitious tour sprawling 44 cities, Young the Giant are feeling the love. “It takes a lot to get back into being on the road,” lead vocalist Sameer Gadhia said. “Sometimes you feel like shit the whole way,…
Macbeth Is Cut to Its Essence in Streamlined, One-Act Version at Main Street Theater
Even though Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s shortest plays, Main Street Theater will be putting on an 80-minute version with no intermission courtesy of visiting director and actor Guy Roberts in a co-production with the Prague Shakespeare Company. “It really streamlines the play and focuses on the story of…
Top 10 Dog-Friendly Restaurants in Houston
Recently, our music blog listed the top ten bars where your dog is welcome, and we thought, hey, why should the bars get all the canine love? Thanks to Paws on Patios, an organization started in 2010 that made it possible for Houston restaurants to get permitting from the city…
NBA All-Star Game Has Turned into the AND1 Mixtape Tour
Why not just make it a three-on-three tournament or a trick shot competition? Why even bother trotting out the “All-Stars” and making them jog up and down the court? The All-Star game in New Orleans Sunday night wasn’t even a pick up game because guys in those games actually care…
Dear Norway: Give Mass Murderer Anders Behring Breivik a PS3
One of Norway’s most notorious killers is threatening a hunger strike if his PS2 is not upgraded to a PS3 according to a report by Kotaku. In 2011 Anders Behring Breivik killed eight people in a bombing in Oslo, then went on to end 69 more lives when he attacked…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013-2014: No. 30, Ice Cream in a Cone from Fat Cat Creamery
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus® issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
With a Little Patience, Maybe the Astros Can Make Out Like Bandits on CSN Houston
It’s easy to say that Jim Crane and the Houston Astros should just agree to any deal that Comcast or the Rockets put in front of them regarding CSN Houston carriage. The only concern of most fans is that the games get on television. Nothing else matters. And the truth…
clean/through at Catastrophic Shows Addiction Without Compensating Benefits
The setup: The new play from Houston playwright/actor Miki Johnson, clean/through in a world premiere, illuminates the power of addiction, both to drugs and to relationships, as she focuses on the sobering effects on participants, on companions, and on family. The execution: The depiction of drug addiction is not a…
The Rare Glenmorangie 1963 Arrives in Texas at Reserve 101 (It Will Set You Back $550 a Shot)
Scotch fans will be excited to hear that Reserve 101, the downtown Houston bar with the largest selection of whiskey in town, just obtained a rare treat: On Saturday, the bar officially received a bottle of Glenmorangie 1963, one of only 50 in the world. Reserve 101 is the only…
Crvnes, a Free-for-All DJ Palace, Rises at the Old Meridian
Along a dimly lit street, inside of a dark and aging building, at the top of a haunted stairway, sits a shadowy and cavernous room. With a simple donation bar at one end, and a hard-hitting combination of CD-Js and speakers at the other, this is no velvet-rope club or…
Jim Ross on Jamaican Nightclub “Daggering” is Best Jim Ross Dub Yet
For the amount of convenience, enjoyment, and entertainment it gives us, I don’t know that there’s ever been a better pure value than the Internet, and as a subset of that, I would say that no portion of the internet is a greater value than YouTube. Someday, perhaps they’ll find…
Top 5 Cappuccinos in Houston
When I go to a coffee shop, nine times out of ten I order a cappuccino. To me, it reflects the true talent of a barista — getting the foam-to-espresso ratio just right; making sure the java is strong enough to ensure a caffeine boost; and guaranteeing every sip is…
Dom Kennedy at Warehouse Live, 2/14/2014
Dom Kennedy Warehouse Live February 14, 2014 Mad love, among other things, was in the air Valentine’s Day for Dom Kennedy’s “Get Home Safely” tour. The bass of the Ballroom’s speakers pushed the aromatic cannabis scent out the front doors of Warehouse Live onto St. Emanuel Street, while couples and…
Look Out, Amsterdam; Colorado’s Pot Tourism Industry Is Comin’ For Ya
So you want to get Rocky Mountain high, but you aren’t sure how to navigate the regulations of the legal pot industry. Well, no worries. You can still get high on Colorado’s supply. All it takes is some road trippin’ and some cash. If you’ve got a couple of vacation…
Touché Amoré’s Jeremy Bolm: “It’s All Kind of Overwhelming”
Touché Amoré has been one of the shining stars of the emo/post-hardcore revival that has taken place over the last few years. Their style sits comfortably alongside the genre’s mainstream forerunners from the past decade like Thursday, but just as easily places them among heavier, more aggressive counterparts like Converge…
Five Great Rock/Country Crossovers
It’s strange, but unless you’re a musician, it seems like there’s hardly any crossover between fans of country and rock. In fact, if you ask people what kind of music they like, especially if they’re mostly rock fans, a lot of the time their answer will be “anything but country.”…
The Most Gangsta Funeral There Will Ever Be
Note: Houston’s Shea Serrano is an award-winning music writer and goofball whose recent exploits include Bun B’s Rap Coloring and Activity Book, and writes this weekly column about his life and times. Last week, I went to the funeral of a person whom I cared about. While I am of…
The Best Shows in Houston This Week: Touche Amore, Demi Lovato, Neutral Milk Hotel, etc.
John Egan The Big Easy, February 3 Solo bluesman John Egan sings in a tone that suggests someone is constantly walking over his grave, and his lyrics are loaded with bad mojo like nature gone haywire and apocalyptic visions. All he needs live is his National Resonator, one of those…
In Politics and Media, Perception Is Apparently Reality
Chris Cillizza, a blogger/reporter for the Washington Post who appears frequently on cable news shows, recently wrote this concerning the CBO jobs reports kerfuffle: My job is to assess not the rightness of each argument but to deal in the real world of campaign politics in which perception often (if…
HISD Board Votes to Continue Eliminating Teacher Jobs Through RIFs While HFT President Says Process Is Being Abused
It used to be that RIF had a good connotation – standing for the much appreciated nationwide program Reading is Fundamental. But starting in 2011, RIF has meant nothing but a pink slip to Houston ISD teachers. That’s the year the district started its Reduction in Force process that unlike…
Weather Weekend: Spring (and Love) Is in the Air for Valentine’s Weekend
When George Harrison sang “It’s been a long cold lonely winter” in the song “Here Comes the Sun,” I doubt he was imagining weather in the southern United States, but, surprisingly, it has been pretty accurate this year. Fortunately for us in Houston, it appears the trend of cold, gray…
Houston Author Dean James Tops the Bestseller Lists With The Silence of the Library
Houston-based author Dean James is something of a star — his books have topped the bestseller lists, he’s won several important awards, he has legions of loyal fans and followers and he managed to introduce a male protagonist in a cozy mystery series where female main characters are the norm…
How to Shop for Wine (Without Sounding Like a Dick)
For previous posts in our “how-to wine” series, please click here. Like so many women and men across America, hundreds of Houstonians will head to their neighborhood wine shop today to pick up a special bottle of wine for a Valentine’s Day dinner. For some of them, it will be…
Last-Minute Valentine’s Day: Literally the Least You Can Do for the One You Love
You want to be romantic. You want to give the love of your life something special, make her day. But you’re kind of an idiot. You don’t plan ahead and you’re not exactly the most thoughtful guy on the planet. Plus, you’re cheap. Well, you’re in luck, bozo. There are…
Review: The Last of Us: American Dreams
In just a few days we’re getting new downloadable content for The Last of Us, which was easily the best game of 2013. The expansion, Left Behind, is set to follow Ellie in the time before she began her journey across the country with Joel and features her young friend…
Get Hungry and Get Ready for the Menu of Menus Extravaganza 2014
I hope everyone is over the whole new year dieting thing by now, because the 12th annual Menu of Menus Extravaganza is coming up soon, and, as always, there will be a lot of food. Join us on April 8, 2014, at Silver Street Station from 7 p.m. to 10…
NFL Draft 2014: The Jadeveon Clowney Rule
Houston Texans safety D.J. Swearinger was at a community appearance on Thursday morning at Harvard Elementary School. As these normally appearances go, Swearinger spent a few minutes talking to the media about football, the Texans, and the state of the union in D.J.’s world. With Swearinger one season removed from…
Snoop Dogg at House of Blues, 2/13/2014
“So what we get drunk? So what we smoke weed? We’re just having fun, We don’t care who sees. So what we go out? That’s how it’s supposed to be… Living young and wild and free!” Snoop Dogg House of Blues February 13, 2014 Whether the poster says Doggy Dogg,…
Cameron Weiss, Agent for Michael Sam: “I’ve Been Positively Surprised”
As we’ve come to learn in the last five days, Missouri defensive end Michael Sam has been and will be a game changer in several ways. In the most conventional football fashion, Sam was a game changer on the field as his 11.5 sacks led the SEC in 2014. The…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013-2014: No. 31, Cochito con Mole Xico at Hugo’s
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus® issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
Romance Novelist Susan Mallery Returning Here With Her Latest Book in the Blackberry Island Trilogy
The first romance novel Susan Mallery ever read “I borrowed without permission from a friend’s mother.” And she loved it. While in college she saw the local adult education center had a course in how to write a romance novel. “I finally took the class and it truly changed my…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: Endless Love
Title: Endless Love So It’s a Love That Never Dies? You’re thinking of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the story of an undead monster and his unholy obsession with the reincarnation of his dead love. It’s actually more romantic than this. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant to the Film: One smoke alarm…
Public’s Help Needed in Finding Suspect in Fatal Hit-and-Run
It’s a parent’s worst nightmare: Your teen heads out of the house never to return. A Cypress Lakes High School student was killed this week, her 14-year-old body struck by a hit-and-run driver, and Harris County sheriffs are looking for the public’s help in nailing whoever did this. To make…
Where the Chefs Eat: Joseph Stayshich, Mike Potowski, Daniel Nossa
This week, we check in with the chefs from the Benjy’s family — Joseph Stayshich, Mike Potowski and Daniel Nossa — to find out where they like to chow down about H-town. While all the answers are thoughtful and give a good roadmap of great eats around town, Nossa, who…
12 Fashionable People You Must Follow on Instagram
New York Fashion Week is winding down and, while many fans are getting the latest news and updates on Style.com, the majority of us have been following the shows via Instagram. The best of the runway, backstage, parties, and celeb sightings can be found on the media sharing site via…
Power Trip Returns for Another Badass Weekend
If you’re heading out to the 2nd Badass Weekend festival downtown this weekend, don’t forget to bring your earplugs — the ones that go in your ear canals, not your earlobes, dude. Matter of fact, a mouth guard not be a bad idea, either, because Dallas’ Power Trip is playing…
Houston Flu Cases on Decline as School Mourns Teacher’s Death
We have a lot of flu this year. But you probably already know that. Although exact numbers are hard to come by since hospitals only voluntarily provide information on flu cases, we do know that there were 132 positive results found this flu season in Houston’s bureau of lab services…
Doctor Who: 5 American Presidents The Doctor Has Met
All of space and time at his disposal, and yet The Doctor always seems to end up somewhere on Earth. Man, it’s almost like it’s cheaper there or something. All joking aside, Doctor Who started out as an educational children’s program that was supposed to teach kids about science and…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Share Your Love for Valentine’s Day & Craft Beer
Show the LOVE @ My Food Park HTX Friday, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. 800 Hwy 6 South Celebrate Valentine’s Day with food trucks at My Food Park HTX from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. today. Grab something sweet from Zeapod Cakery or The Waffle Bus, after you enjoy lunch…
The Legend of Wendy Davis: Separating Fact from Fiction
“Print the legend!” This is how Jeff Davis, ex-husband to Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate and rising star in Democratic circles, responded (“with palpable weariness”) to a New York Times reporter who was trying to get to the bottom of what’s really the truth about Wendy Davis’s biography. And why is…
Upcoming Events: City Hall Farmers’ Market Is Back
The City Hall Farmers Market returns on Wednesday, February 19. Head to the market from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. to purchase a variety of seasonal produce and various products from more than 35 vendors during the spring season kick-off. Whether you want to stock up on some veggies, enjoy…
100 Creatives 2014: Heather Gordy, Artist
Artist Heather Gordy, it seems, was destined to work with death. “I dissected a lot of things when I was little,” she tells us laughing. “My mother thought I was either going to be a mortician, a veterinarian or an artist because I was always dissecting things when I was…
Hydrocodone Was Allegedly Found on City Jail Guard
Don’t bring your drugs to work. Especially if you work in a jail. Dominique Natrel Duncan just lost his $30,000-plus-a-year gig according to the Harris County Sheriff’s office, which arrested him this week on a charge of illegally possessing painkillers with intent to sell…
The Top 5 Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: A Burlesque Valentine’s, Bobby Lee and More
Looking for sexy, sensual Valentine’s Day fun for Friday? It doesn’t get any sexier than VauLt Houston’s 3rd Annual Valentine’s Day Burlesque Show. Now in its third year, the show features aerial and classical burlesque with all the skin, dance moves and sass Houston has come to expect from its…
Openings & Closings: Fish & The Knife Finally Opens; Gigi’s Closes
The week was filled with openings and upcoming restaurant announcements, as well as one notable closing. Gigi’s Asian Bistro and Dumpling Bar has closed after serving customers classic Asian dishes and dumplings for six years inside the Galleria. Houston Chronicle’s Greg Morago reported that the restaurant closed on Wednesday, February…
The 10 Best Songs for Jilted Lovers
Let’s be honest here: Valentine’s Day is the most annoying, garbage holiday ever invented. It’s such cloying BS, a day where corporations literally victimize the entire population of U.S. single people into feeling bad for being single, and scare the hell out of those who are in relationships lest they…
At Houston Tattoo Shops, “Nothing Gets Done Unless Music Is Playing”
Late last year, I asked my daughter what she wanted for Christmas and she said she wanted the entire family to get tattooed together. It was so much easier when I could just buy her a Barbie dream house and be done with it; but, as she’d just left home…
Houston’s Top 10 First-Date Bars
As our sister blog Eating…Our Words does, from time to time Rocks Off will be giving your our picks for the top taverns in various Houston-area neighborhoods. Of course, the lines can be porous, but here anything with a TABC license that cannot reasonably be considered either a restaurant, coffeehouse…
Houston’s Best Concerts This Weekend: Delbert McClinton, Manowar, Young the Giant, etc.
Delbert McClinton & Leon Russell Nutty Jerry’s (Winnie), February 15 Even into their seventies, both ends of this barrelhouse duo live up to the title of Delbert McClinton’s 1992 album Never Been Rocked Enough, and should make superb Saturday-night fare at one of Southeast Texas’ biggest dancehalls. The tireless McClinton…
Linda Eder Valentine’s Day Concert Postponed Because of Weather
That bad weather back East means Linda Eder and her band will not be heading to Houston for a Valentine’s Day concert it has just been announced. So if you were counting on Eder and her group to put you in the mood, you’ll have to wait till Thursday ,…
The Next Great Winter Olympic Training Ground: The Astrodome
When Judge Roy Hofheinz conceived of an indoor stadium, he was doing so as a true Houstonian. Despite pleas from health-care providers and forward-thinking politicians, Houston is not really an outdoorsy city. That has changed somewhat with the construction of hike and bike trails, the massive renovations to the area…
Listen: How the New RoboCop Compares to the 1987 Version
On this week’s Voice Film Club podcast, Voice film editor Alan Scherstuhl and L.A. Weekly film critic Amy Nicholson are joined by the Washington, D.C.-based critic Chris Klimek, a contributor to the Voice, NPR, Washington City Paper, and The Dissolve. (Voice film critic the pod’s co-host Stephanie Zacharek is tied…
“Sochi As Hoth” Star Wars Olympic YouTube Is Phenomenal
We all dork out over something. Me, I actually have a short list of things I dork out over, and just to refresh, my definition of “dork out” is “to spend an inordinate amount of time obsessing over and following, to the extent that a majority of society wouldn’t understand.”…
Local Couple Seeks to Improve School Lunches With Wholesome Tummies Franchise
One of the most pressing issues concerning childhood obesity deals specifically with the lunches and snacks that are served to students in schools. For years, many people have fought to force schools to serve healthier lunches. In 2010, British chef Jamie Oliver began his “Food Revolution” in America, hoping to…
Theresa Rebeck’s Fool Makes The Last Comic Standing Look Like Child’s Play
In playwright and Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck’s latest work, Fool, now headed for the Alley Theatre, the setting is a medieval kitchen where she pits two court jesters against each other with potentially disastrous consequences for one of them (the loser will be beheaded). According to Alley Artistic Director…
5 Things the Rockets Must Do Post All-Star Break to Be a Serious Contender
The Rockets came within a whisker of losing to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night at Toyota Center. Riding a six-game winning streak and heading into All-Star break, it wouldn’t have been all that surprising to find the Rockets going down to an inferior opponent. The game before a break…
10 Most Romantic Horror Movies for Valentine’s Day
Look, I can get behind a good romantic comedy to celebrate Valentine’s Day with. Addicted to Love is one of my favorite movies of all time, after all, but frankly, that genre has more sap than Bob Sapp if Bob Sapp were a maple tree… which would not be the…
Judge Marvin Isgur Treated the Astros Like Nolan Ryan Treated Robin Ventura
While most of the city’s attention Tuesday afternoon (and that of the local sports media) was centered on Nolan Ryan’s return to the Houston Astros, on the other side of downtown Houston the asses of the Houston Astros’ bankruptcy attorneys were being handed to them by Judge Marvin Isgur. And…
February Kickstarter Round-Up: Wooden Pens and Crazy Filmmakers
Once a month we’ll be bringing you a look at some of the best local Kickstarter campaigns in order to let you know what’s getting ready to be unleashed through the help of small investors. Frontier Graveyard: The Risen: I’m usually brutal on any kind of books raising money on…
First Look: Drexel House Is Working Out the Kinks
At first look, I wondered if we’d mistakenly walked into a frozen yogurt place. Similar to the ubiquitous “froyo” spots, Drexel House, recently opened in Highland Village, was super-small, modern in style, and had no real decoration apart from its lighting fixtures and a chalkboard wall listing its menu. Steel…
Snoop Lion and Five More Weird Religious Conversions That Need to Happen
A funny thing happened to our old buddy Snoop Dogg last year: he got religion. And not just any old religion, either. In a move that we probably should have seen coming, the Doggfather formally embraced the Rastafari movement, a Jamaican spiritual ideology with fewer than a million adherents worldwide…
Happy Endings Dog “Rescue” + Life Partners, Inc. + Camp Diggy Bones = Doggie Purgatory
Linda Robinson-Pardo Facebook screenshotWhat say after the glamour shot, we save some dogs? The owner of self-proclaimed animal rescue with an alleged history of not paying boarding fees is still refusing to explain why her rescue’s major donor, the CEO of a multi-million dollar investment company, pulled his funds and…
Rombauer and Beard: Their Words Belong on Your Shelf
Joy of Cooking is one of the most influential cookbooks of all time, but there’s a surprise about the author.
The 10 Things I Learned on Being a Chick From Jason Ellis’s “Awesome” New Book
Let’s talk about skateboarder-turned-MMA-fighter-cum-shock-jock Jason Ellis’s new book, The Awesome Guide to Life — Get Fit, Get Laid, Get Your Shit Together, shall we? This book landed on my desk by some small miracle, perhaps sent over to us by the gods, and most definitely because somebody, somewhere knew I…
The Rocks Off 200: Junior Gordon, Big Man With a Big Sound
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Junior Gordon…
Race Day to Honor Firefighter who Survived Hotel Blaze
Even after he battled the deadly five-alarm blaze that killed four of his fellow Houston firefighters and took his legs after a roof collapsed, Capt. Bill Dowling is still fighting. One of the lucky ones that fateful afternoon in May, Dowling is the focus of a fundraiser this weekend organized…
Of God and Final Fantasy
I have to admit that while Lightning Returns is definitely my favorite entry in the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy it does indeed take some getting used to. Don’t get me wrong. It’s beautiful, brilliant, and I’ll never get tired of Lightning stabbing things, but in many ways it’s very far…
Build-A-Bar Goes N/A: Nilsson Schmilsson
My wife is pregnant. It’s our third time in the barrel, and as unexpected a ride as the prior two. We (think we) know what we’re in for this time, though, so it should be smooth sailing. To help ensure pacific waters, I’m (mostly) teetotaling in sympathy with my wife…
The Rest of the Best 2014: Houston’s Top 10 Parks (Inside the Loop)
There have been a few changes to our choices of top ten centrally located parks since 2013’s list. The top three spots are filled by the same parks, but not in the same order as last year. A couple of things affected our choices. One, better weather. The recent drought…
Will You Be My Valentine, Houston? 10 Reasons to Fall in Love With the City’s Food Scene
Yes, yes, we’ve all bitched at some time in our lives that Valentine’s Day is an arbitrary holiday created by greeting card companies to make money while simultaneously forcing single people to re-examine their sorry existences, and because of this, we’ve all become huge grouches. Until, that is, we actually…
City Investigating Claims that Animal Planet Show Illegally Brought Bats Into Salon
Houston’s Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care is investigating whether bats brought into a Montrose beauty salon in 2013 for the show Call of the Wildman violated a city ordinance. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals lodged the complaint after reading a Mother Jones expose about how the show…
So, How About That FPSF Lineup Anyway?
My initial, visceral reaction to the lineup was two-fold: a) Deftones? Yay!; b) that is a mighty impressive EDM lineup. I figured Zedd was a pretty solid lock for the festival, but Above & Beyond is an outside the box choice that I’m in love with. Having just seen them…
Vote or Die: The Last VJ’s Top Five Videos of the Week
Welcome back to The Last VJ, music fans! This week we cover a pretty wide gamut this week, everything from creepy dollhouses to a variety of ways to describe getting your period at the beach. Plus, there’s some God Module because everything is better with God Module. Don’t forget to…
Ghost the Musical
“It’s like a rock concert infused with this romantic story line,” according to actor Steven Grant Douglas, who plays Sam Wheat in Ghost the Musical, coming to Houston courtesy of Gexa Energy Broadway. “It’s about what it means to love somebody and to take things for granted. Don’t take your…
“Dark Light: The Micaceous Ceramics of Christine Nofchissey McHorse”
Newly arrived curator Elizabeth Kozlowski (she joined the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft staff just a month ago) was still installing the exhibit “Dark Light: The Micaceous Ceramics of Christine Nofchissey McHorse” when we spoke to her. She told us she was struck not only by the forms McHorse created,…
“Georges Braque: A Retrospective”
It’s been 50 years since the death of artist Georges Braque, but his work continues to impress and influence. A friend and colleague of Picasso (the two are credited with the invention of Cubism), Braque is often under-recognized for his contributions, but in “Georges Braque: A Retrospective,” now on exhibit…
The Magna Carta
Even if your high school history is a bit rusty, you know that the Magna Carta is an important historical document. Often called “The Great Charter,” it’s considered a landmark document that established basic civil liberties. It was the genesis for many of today’s concepts of law (trial by jury…
The 1987 RoboCop’s ED-209: The Movies’ Greatest Badass Robot?
Director José Padilha’s long-delayed RoboCop reboot has arrived, and it’s neither an unalloyed (see what I did there?) triumph nor the travesty that partisans of Paul Verhoeven’s subversive Reagan-era classic had feared. At least, and at most, it’s different, taking bold liberties with the original text, as remakes should. One…
In Berlin, In Order of Disappearance Feels Like a Tarantino Picture
Though it’s difficult to pinpoint the typical Berlin Film Festival film, I’ve attended the festival enough times to attest that most pictures in the competition lean toward the somber end of the scale: You’re more likely to see a drama about immigrants in tough circumstances or children left to fend…
Endless Love Earns Its Title the Bad Way
The endless love in question unfolds in that universe where shy, bookish teenage girls are always catalog-model beautiful, not a pimple in sight or a pound overweight, not a garment from Hot Topic darkening their closets. The movie tells us that 17-year-old Jade Butterfield (Gabriella Wilde) is “awkward” and has…
About Last Night: Hilarious Sex-Talk Romance Trumps One of Its Predecessors
Just as animated characters who look too human creep us out, could there be a phenomenon we might call the RomCom Uncanny Valley, a case when movie stars’ gorgeousness fully outshines our ability to believe their characters’ humdrum relationship problems? Radiant lovers make radiant love — and then argue about…
Stations of the Cross Leading at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival
Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, both of which publish special daily issues at the major international festivals, may be the most famous movie trade magazines. But every morning at any of these festivals, including Berlin, most critics I know – and probably plenty of industry people, too – turn to…
VauLt Houston’s 3rd Annual Valentine’s Day Burlesque Show
Looking for sexy, sensual fun for Valentine’s Day? It doesn’t get any sexier than VauLt Houston’s 3rd Annual Valentine’s Day Burlesque Show. Now in its third year, the show features aerial and classical burlesque with all the skin, dance moves and sass Houston has come to expect from its burlesque…
Jim McCue
This weekend’s shows mark a return to Houston for comedian Jim McCue. “First time [at the Joke Joint Comedy Showcase]. But I actually opened for Lewis Black [in Houston], I guess, like, four years ago now.” Black, known for his multiple Grammy winning comedy albums and recurring appearances on ,…
Willie D’s 10 Naughty & Romantic Tips for Valentine’s Day & Beyond
Editor’s Note: This column is the one-year anniversary of Ask Willie D. Congratulations and a big thank-you to Houston’s funniest, realest advice columnist! As any loyal Ask Willie D reader knows, I respond to a great deal of relationship-based letters. However, the fact that the column started its run one…
Houston Roller Derby
The women of the Houston Roller Derby league soundly defeat visiting teams with so much regularity that the city’s known to field one of the toughest flat-track leagues in the country. So when league members take on each other, things get real crazy real fast. Today’s all-Houston bout opens the…
Romeo & Juliet
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Romeo & Juliet, part of the BroadwayHD presentation of New York theater productions via movie theaters. Romeo here is played by Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings, The Pirates of the Caribbean), and Juliet is played by Condola Rashad (Sex and the City, Smash). The…
Bobby Lee
“As an older guy,” former MadTV favorite Bobby Lee starts, “my body is changing. It’s getting scarier. I look like a scallop. I look like a mythological creature. I look like Pikachu with diabetes.” Comedy lovers are in for a Valentine’s Day Treat when Lee returns to the Houston Improv…
Miranda James: The Silence of the Library
Houston-based author Dean James is something of a star — his books have topped the bestseller lists, he’s won several important awards, he has legions of loyal fans and followers and he managed to introduce a male protagonist in a cozy mystery series where female main characters are the norm…
Stephen Bishop’s Tales of Angry Rastas, Animal House and Debby Boone’s Missing Grammy
In his career of almost four decades, singer/songwriter/guitarist Stephen Bishop has seen and done a lot. In a phone interview, fascinating stories come pouring out of him at such a rapid pace, it’s a wonder the man hasn’t sat down to write an autobiography yet. We spoke with Bishop about…
The Gentler New RoboCop Limited Only by Focus Groups
Congratulations, Detroit. In 1987, Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop cemented it as the most violent city in the world, an honor the Motor City resented for decades until its powers that be realized they may as well erect a statue of Peter Weller and milk the tourism. Twenty-seven years later, the attention…
Deportation, Mexican Women and Pride
Dear Mexican, I know an 18-year old getting deported from the USA. He has been here since he was five years old. His entire family is here and undocumented. He grew up in juvenile halls and did a felony as soon as he turned 18. Will he be deported for…
Capsule Art Reviews: “The Age of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute,” “Funnel Tunnel,” “Garden Object”
“The Age of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute” These days, Impressionist exhibitions are the art museum version of the ballet The Nutcracker: frothy and beautiful, if a little overexposed, and sure to pack ’em in at almost any price. Even though we’ve already…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Dr. Faustus, Failure: A Love Story, Freud’s Last Session, The Good Thief, Into the Woods, Sexy Laundry
Dr. Faustus What a thoroughly bewitching production this is. The magicians at Classical Theatre have outdone themselves in bringing to life this rare Elizabethan gem from Christopher Marlowe. Everything about it works, from the antique English dance band tunes which set the tone, to the imaginative, awesome theatricality that gives…
A Young Man’s Violent Threat on Facebook Lands Him in Jail, and Limbo
Approximately one hour after Justin Carter posted a sarcastic comment on a Facebook thread, his life began to unravel. The process began behind the scenes, in another country. The 18-year-old Carter had no way of knowing that, while he did grunt work at a drapery shop in San Antonio, a…
Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette Is a Disappointing Sister Act
Initially, there seemed to be some sort of failure to communicate. When we arrived for our 7:30 p.m. reservation (made a mere four hours before), the women at the hostess stand seemed perplexed and annoyed after we said that perhaps they might want to try a different spelling. The restaurant’s…
Winter’s Tale Is Pretty but Not Much Else
It’s a little sad that Colin Farrell has outgrown roles that require him to wear raggedy sweaters and say things like “For fook’s sake!” It had to happen, though. Farrell has always made a terrific bad boy, but he clearly knows he couldn’t be a scamp forever, and he seems…
City Slickers
Only in Houston I have a love-hate relationship with my suburban lifestyle. For instance, I love sitting in my backyard, drinking cold beer and tending to something sizzling on the smoker. I hate getting threatening letters from the hypercritical HOA doofuses who apparently have nothing better to do than measure…
Foodie Words That Must Be Banished Now
Food Nation Just as various foods come in and out of style, so, too, do the words that describe them. In 2011, the word “taquito” was added to the Oxford English dictionary and “chimichurri” was added to the Oxford Dictionaries Online. In 2012, the online dictionary added “frankenfish,” “locavore” and…
Ride at Your Own Risk
Highlights from Hair Balls Traffic I learned how to ride a bike in the parking lot of the not-quite-completed Greenspoint Mall in the ’70s. My first fall was when I couldn’t figure out how to steer around a piece of debris and went sailing over my handlebars. Within a couple…
