Free Press Summer Fest ’13 Announces Postal Service, Stooges, Cat Power, TV On the Radio, Social D, Geto Boys, Calvin Harris, etc.
Moments ago, the lineup for the 2013 Free Press Summer Festival was announced online at fpsf.com. Let’s get to it, shall we?…
Ten Ways the Smartphone Is the Swiss Army Knife of Technology
Growing up, I loved the Swiss Army knife I got from my dad. They came in what seemed like a million variations. Mine had several knives, including the one that looked like a saw, as well as a corkscrew (not sure why Dad thought I needed that one), combination bottle…
Dear City of Houston: Your Downtown Hopper Parking Pass Is Stupid
Dear City of Houston, How’s it going? You know I love you. I mean, I’m a freaking advocate! But there are plenty of things I’d like to see changed. I want more light rail. I want the constant road construction to stop. I want a flying car. You know, the…
Top 10 Educated Guesses for Free Press Summer Fest
Tomorrow, we will know who will be playing the fifth annual Free Press Summer Fest June 1 and 2 in Eleanor Tinsley Park. We know this because Monday, our rivals over at the Houston Chronicle revealed that they will have an exclusive announcement of the FPSF lineup sometime Thursday, thanks…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Joe Macri of Up Restaurant, On Growing Up in a Southern Italian Family, and How He Moved to Houston Within 10 Days of Visiting for the First Time
This is the first part of a Chef Chat series. Parts 2 and 3 will run in this same space on Thursday and Friday. Up Restaurant in Highland Village boasts one of the most beautiful dining rooms in the city. Above the bar, a gigantic, glittering Swarovski chandelier immediately wows…
Texas-Bred Piano Prodigy Van Cliburn Dead at 78
Kilgore-raised Houston Symphony Orchestra alum pianist Van Cliburn has died at the age of 78, according to the Dallas Morning News. Sources say he passed away early this morning in Fort Worth, which he had called home these past 27 years. A former child prodigy, Cliburn was a worldwide sensation…
Reality Bites: Robot Combat League
No one can say for certain, but it’s hard to believe the creators of Syfy — then the Sci-Fi Channel — could have predicted the direction their humble little TV station would take. For sure, there have been high points (the Battlestar: Galactica reboot chief among them), but for more…
Thirteen Former Corrections Officers Indicted for Racketeering and Drug Charges
Anyone who has watched TV knows that prisons are seriously screwed-up places. They call them “correctional facilities,” but very few believe much is being corrected inside the walls. And if you believe TV and movies, prison guards are often corrupt bullies who just want to kick prisoners’ asses and take…
Philippe Debuts New Catering Program with an Intimate Soiree
It’s Monday night, a night when I’m usually at home, puttering around the kitchen making something for myself while watching The Bachelor or Dancing with the Stars or whatever reality TV show I’m into at the moment. Instead, I feel a little bit like Cinderella going to the ball as…
Last Night: Gary Allan at Reliant Stadium
Gary Allan Reliant Stadium February 26, 2013 Gary Allan is a complicated man. If no one understands him but his woman, it doesn’t matter because she’s already 30,000 feet above him, on an airplane bound somewhere far away from his ass. That’s the premise of “Watching Airplanes,” the 2007 hit…
“Racist” Democratic Adviser Takes to Colbert, Refers to Hispanics and Blacks as “Demographics”
For anyone without their head dug in a sand-pit over the past three months, you can’t go more than a few minutes without hearing about America’s changing demographics. The minority swell; the youth bubble; the shrinking, screeching white populace: All of it has turned one party as confident as it’s…
Rocks Off’s Rodeo Concert Guide for “Bros”: Alan Jackson
The Rocks Off Rodeo Concert Guide is our annual helpful(?) primer for those of you unsure about your HLSR music choices for the big event at Reliant Stadium. Date: February 27 Name: Alan Jackson A.K.A.: “As seen in Cracker Barrel.”…
A Dozen Years Later, Charivari Is Still a Star
Every once in a while, I encounter an older restaurant that’s changed or grown so much over the years that it practically begs for a review — even if Robb Walsh or one of my other Houston Press predecessors have already ably reviewed it in the past. Charivari, the subject…
Cruz Ortiz Charms at David Shelton Gallery
Cruz Ortiz is known to work in wheat paste murals, video, street sculptures and guerrilla AM radio broadcasts. His latest solo exhibition is just gouache on paper and panel, but that doesn’t make it any less quiet. “I Speak Lightning” at David Shelton Gallery is a loud, blaring show. It…
This Week in Food Blogs: Official Texan Foodie Rules
Texas Monthly: “For a city that sits so near to the coast, Houston is often criticized for lacking in contemporary seafood establishments,” notes Layne Lynch in Texas Monthly. To find out why, Lynch visits with Jean-Philippe Gaston of popular new raw bar Cove. “We’re the fourth largest city in the…
An Honest Conversation About Houston and Screw Music
Every day without fail, I wonder about the current legacy of screw music. It creeps up on me like one of those terrible slasher flicks you used to sneak and watch as a teen, knowing the plot well before you even got halfway through the film: Moments of what should…
Houston Gives Comedian Gabriel Iglesias a Record-breaking Audience
Four years ago, comedian Gabriel Iglesias played Houston, filling a comedy club with an audience of just a few hundred people. This week, Iglesias is back in town and he’s playing the Toyota Center with more than 10,000 tickets already sold. What happened in those four years? “I learned how…
Let’s All Sue Our Parents Like This Brooklyn Guy
We are undoubtedly a sue-happy country. At the slightest hint of discrimination, neglect, insult — hell, even if you have a bad day — you can find a reason to bring someone to trial. It’s obviously all about money, the green foundation this country was built upon, but has it…
Food, Art and Love: Notes from the 2nd Annual Bento Competition
The Consulate-General of Japan at Houston and the Japan-America Society of Houston hosted its second annual bento competition this past Saturday, along with sponsors H-E-B’s Sushiya, Satake USA Incorporated and Glen Gondo of the Greater Houston Partnership. It was held in the Community Room at the H-E-B at Bunker Hill…
Macklemore’s Terrifying Secret: He’s Not Really That Good
When I first heard about Macklemore, it was through the word of mouth surrounding the craze over his video for the song “Thrift Shop.” Memes make stars these days, and the kitschy, comedic video and song about wearing clothes from Goodwill really struck a chord with my young, hipster peers…
Cowboy Diaries 2013: Cody DeMoss, Louisiana Cowboy with a Pencil Moustache
True cowboys are hard to find, but not at the Houston Rodeo. Life on the road leads them here this time every year for the biggest rodeo in the world, where they’ll ride and wrangle livestock for cash and glory. Each day, Hair Balls will spotlight one person with enough…
Brand-New Version of the Houston Press Mobile App Available Now
If you’re one of the many Houstonians who have already downloaded the Houston Press mobile app, you know just how handy it is to have the Press with you wherever you have your smartphone. Today we’re happy to announce that we’re taking things up a notch with the new and…
Get Your Mobile Concert Listings with the New Version of the Houston Press Mobile App
If you’re one of the many Houstonians who have already downloaded the Houston Press mobile app, you know just how handy it is to have the Press with you wherever you have your smartphone. Today we’re happy to announce that we’re taking things up a notch with the new and…
Find Your Next Meal with the New Version of the Houston Press Mobile App
If you’re one of the many Houstonians who have already downloaded the Houston Press mobile app, you know just how handy it is to have the Press with you wherever you have your smartphone. Today we’re happy to announce that we’re taking things up a notch with the new and…
Never Miss a Thing with the New Version of the Houston Press Mobile App
If you’re one of the many Houstonians who have already downloaded the Houston Press mobile app, you know just how handy it is to have the Press with you wherever you have your smartphone. Today we’re happy to announce that we’re taking things up a notch with the new and…
Michael Brown: Whoops — I Didn’t Really Mean to File for Bankruptcy After Buying That $8 Million Mansion!
As if the clusterfuck of multi-jurisdictional litigation involving wife-beater and alleged flight-attendant-choker Michael “I Did Not Give That Woman Anal Herpes” Brown is not crazy enough, the former TV-ad icon is seeking to dismiss his bankruptcy filing in a Miami federal court. Avid Brown-watchers will remember that, a few weeks…
Top 5 Cupcake Toppings Besides Frosting
Cupcakes are hands-down my favorite treats: personal cakes with the perfect amount of frosting to cake. Not to mention, they’re super cute with pretty piped frosting on top. However, as much as I love decorating the top of each cupcake with a swirl of frosting and possibly some sprinkles, I…
100 Creatives 2013: Katia Zavistovski, Contemporary Art Curator
As a curator, Katia Zavistovski has definitely made an impact that viewers won’t be able to shake for a long time, if ever. Take, for instance, her “Staring at the Wall: The Art of Boredom” exhibition. On display at Lawndale Art Center from November 2012 through January 2013, the show…
Friends in High Places: 5 Weird Actor/Musician Friendships
You or I may not be a fan of Justin Bieber, but you know who is? Mike Tyson, that’s who. As Iron Mike explained a little while ago, he thinks Bieber is “pretty awesome.” Apparently the ex-heavyweight champ got turned into a Belieber through his wife, who hooks Tyson up…
The Truth About Tom Brady’s New Contract (with Special Guest Star Matt Schaub!)
Of the three major professional sports leagues, football has the methodology of compensation that is the least broken and the fiscal system that is least susceptible to ruin at the hands of compulsively spending owners, and it’s all because of the NFL’s policy of utilizing non-guaranteed contracts. Unlike the NBA…
City Hall Farmers Market Starts Its 2013 Season Today
Arriving just in time for some seriously pleasant weather and National Strawberry Day, the 2013 season of the City Hall Farmers Market is kicking off today downtown. This marks the fourth year that the market has been operating in front of City Hall on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 1:30…
10 Most Ridiculous Robot Masters from Mega Man
Mega Man was the first Nintendo game I ever bought, and the series remains one of my favorites. The premise is simple: Robots built to aid in human tasks go rogue and must be taken out by Mega Man. Unfortunately, some of those “human tasks” were just beyond contrived and…
Daddy, Why Is Numbers Called Numbers?
One thing has always bothered me whenever I attend concerts and dance nights at Numbers, and that is, “Why the hell is it called Numbers, anyway?” Now, I know that I have something of a fixation on the meaning of names in the music scene, but I’ve also had several…
Goro & Gun Gears Up to Open Soon: Alex Gregg and Mikey Nguyen Filling Out Front of House
Tonight, Joshua Martinez officially changed his Twitter handle from @TheModular to @GoroNGun, reflecting his newest downtown venture: a ramen shop opening soon on Main Street. But the Twitter update was only the latest sign that Goro & Gun is gearing up to open its doors shortly. There are also the…
Upcoming: Soundgarden, Suicidal Tendencies, Alkaline Trio, Morrissey, etc.
Aaron Carter: Sat., May 11, 8 p.m., $15/$20. Concert Pub (North), 2470 FM 1960, Houston. Adler: Wed., July 24, 8 p.m., $15/$17. House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room), 1204 Caroline, Houston. Alkaline Trio: With Bayside., Fri., May 3, 8 p.m., $18.50-$25.00. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline, Houston. Alt-J: Fri., Sept…
Chris Sutton: School Cop Busted for Allegedly Having Sex with Male Teen He Met on Grindr
A former school cop and a high school referee have been charged for having sex with the same teenager in Conroe. Chris Sutton, a 14-year veteran of the Conroe Independent School District police, and Brian Ortiz, who has been a football and basketball referee employed by CISD for a year…
Blanco’s Supposedly Needs a New Home by November
Houston has known for a little while that Blanco’s days are numbered. About six weeks ago, the Houston Chronicle reported that the honky-tonk in River Oaks had been sold to nearby St. John’s School as part of a 13-acre land deal to expand the independent private prep school, which has…
Weather Week: Is It Still Cold Outside?
We’ve reached a funny time of the year in Houston. It’s the time of year when people begin to quietly grumble about the weather. In all honesty, people grumble (often not that quietly) about the weather in Houston all the time, but mostly because it is hot or humid or…
Last Chance for VIP Passes to Houston Press Haute Wheels Food Truck Festival
It’s last call on our half-off deal ($35 for $70) on VIP tickets to the 3rd Annual Haute Wheels Houston Food Truck Festival, March 23 & 24, 2013. More than 300 people have taken advantage of today’s Houston Press Voice Daily Deal, and the clock is ticking. Join us at…
Last Night: Toby Keith at Reliant Stadium
Toby Keith Reliant Stadium February 25, 2013 Toby Keith. That big galoot. Thanks to one song that he didn’t even play Monday night, Toby Keith is still painted in much of the media as a frothing, flag-waving, rabid right-winger of Nugentesque proportions. In point of fact, he’s much too laid-back…
Dynamo’s New Unis: Ranking Their Six Outfits Through The Years
Danny LopezWith the Houston Dynamo set to make their 2013 debut this Saturday night at BBVA Compass Stadium, there was one last item of official business to take care of — unveiling their new 2013-2014 home and away kits. Alongside their new television partners in Comcast SportsNet Houston, Dynamo players…
Wanted in Houston: An Old-School, Over-the-Top Ice Cream Parlor
While there are certainly a few glaring gaps in Houston’s restaurant scene (Burmese?), I am and continue to be pleasantly gobsmacked by the diversity of our city’s food options. Which makes the absence of one particular thing all the more painful. Are you there, God? It’s me, Joanna. Please bring…
Cowboy Diaries 2013: Will Lowe, Three-Time World Champion
True cowboys are hard to find, but not at the Houston Rodeo. Life on the road leads them here this time every year for the biggest rodeo in the world, where they’ll ride and wrangle livestock for cash and glory. Each day, Hair Balls will spotlight one person with enough…
Today’s DVDs & Blu-rays: The Master and Nobody Gets Out Alive
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams star in The Master; Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed. Still aglow with Oscar buzz, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master is out on Blu-ray/DVD this week and that’s a very good thing. For most of us, it’s going to take multiple viewings…
Colbert Bumps Campbell’s Go Soups into My Shopping Cart
I am always on the lookout for cool little treats I can stash in the pantry. “Shelf stable” are dirty words to some, but I don’t mind the occasional canned soup or quick, just-add-hot-water snack. When my husband — who shoulders most of the cooking duties — is out of…
Rocks Off’s Rodeo Concert Guide for “Bros”: Gary Allan
The Rocks Off Rodeo Concert Guide is our annual helpful(?) primer for those of you unsure about your HLSR music choices for the big event at Reliant Stadium. Date: February 26 Name: Gary Allan AKA: NA…
Five Reasons the Young Rockets Will Make the Playoffs This Year
Last year, the Rockets were in the driver’s seat with just a few weeks left in the season. They were in the sixth spot in the Western Conference seeding and had a virtual lock on making the playoffs. Then all hell broke loose. They lost six straight games and found…
How Billy Corgan Won at Life and Won My Heart
I’ve previously been critical of Billy Corgan for a lot of the ridiculousness he has engaged in. But folks, I’m here to tell you, all of that changed for me last week when I saw this video of good old Billy and his wrassling federation shilling furniture. Now I get…
D-FENS: 1993’s Vigilante Porn Epic Falling Down Turns 20 Years Old
Twenty years ago today, the world met William Foster, Michael Douglas’s embattled, harried and very vengeful unemployed defense engineer in Falling Down. The film, helmed by hit-and-miss director Joel Schumacher, was one of the most controversial flicks of that year. It also happens to be one of the director’s best…
Proof the Zagat Guide Is Increasingly Meaningless
Spotted this weekend on the door of a local Subway franchise:…
I’m in the Market…for a Massage?
Perhaps because I don’t shop regularly at Whole Foods Market, I only just noticed that in addition to a juice/java bar, a woefully small parking lot and an amazing selection of yogurt, they also have an on-site massage therapist. Which is genius, I think, because grocery shopping, at least for…
UPDATED: Finding Beauty in the Imperfect at Inman Gallery
There are quite a few similarities in Inman Gallery’s new two-person exhibition, “Farewell Ruins.” Both artists work in ceramics to create otherworldly sculptures that take on unfamiliar forms that don’t strive for perfection. They are also both named Julia. But that’s where the similarities end. Through entirely different processes, Julia…
Last Night: Tame Impala at Fitzgerald’s
Tame Impala Fitzgerald’s February 25, 2013 It’s been a heady past few months for Tame Impala, the drone-y Aussie band with a jones for Floyd, Abbey Road and endless Teutonic jams. Their sophomore album, Lonerism, hit the rock press close to the end of 2012 and began an assault on…
Ouch: Rep. Jessica Farrar Again Seeks to Put Teeth in Breastfeeding Law
As new mothers know, infants are not the most patient people when it comes to getting fed. If they get hungry, and you’re a breastfeeding mom who hasn’t brought along a bottle of your best, then it’s time to whip out a breast. In Texas, if you happen to do…
Desmond Bryant’s Mugshot Ends the “Best NFL Mugshot Ever” Debate
The Super Bowl is a few weeks into the rear-view mirror now, OTA’s are a few months away, so for NFL players we are in the first “Crime Season” of the NFL calendar. Crime Season occurs in dormant weeks and months where undisciplined players really don’t have anything to do…
Pop Rocks: When Is It Okay to Call Someone a C*nt?
Satirical Web site The Onion has already deleted the Tweet that set social media ablaze last Sunday night: The Onion is taking heat today after calling 9-year-old Best Actress Oscar nominee Quvenzhane Wallis a vulgar and offensive name on Twitter. The parody newspaper and website deleted the tweet a few…
Crawfish Season Comes Earlier Each Year, Thanks to Massive Houston Demand
The tiny, peckish crawfish I ate over the weekend at The Hideaway on Dunvale — my preferred spot for crawfish — would seem to indicate that although crawfish are available in Houston, crawfish season has not yet truly arrived. This is a point of contention every year among crawfish lovers,…
The Rocks Off 100: Danielle Renee, Only Beast’s Destroyer of Walls
Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, 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 the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Drummer John Salinas and…
Got AIDS? Got Cancer? This Friday’s Curse-Removal Event Will Make You Feel Brand-New!
Have AIDS and lupus? Have familial strife and financial failure? Have anything that’s gone wrong in your life, even though you don’t feel you’ve done anything to deserve it? Have two eyes, a heart and a penchant to disbelieve scientific inquisition? If you’ve said “yes” to any of these –…
Playlist: Remembering Bill Hicks in Song
The older I get, the more I am convinced that Bill Hicks was the most important comic who has ever lived. It’s not just because he’s a fellow Houstonian and we tend to put him on a pedestal here, it’s that even decades later, it’s easy to find nuance and…
Methadone Tastes Horrible: Anthony Bourdain’s 10 Best AMA Responses on Reddit
Early yesterday afternoon, celebrity chef, author and TV star Anthony Bourdain popped into social news mega-site Reddit to do an informal Q&A session — or AMA (Ask Me Anything in Reddit Speak) — with the site’s users. AMAs have fast become a popular tool for celebrities, newsmakers and even politicians…
10 Books Every Goth Needs on His or Her Shelf (But Doesn’t Have to Actually Read)
Having wandered around the goth scene the better part of the last decade, sipping absinthe in the homes of hosts of spooky musicians, artist, and funeral home workers, I’ve come to the conclusion that not having a visible library is a major gothic faux pas. Every elegant sinister figure in…
Zapruder Analysis of Erin Andrews Shutting Down 50 Cent’s Attempt at a Kiss
“So I’m watching the Daytona 500, and they cut to a shot of Erin Andrews making her way through the pits and she bumps into 50 Cent…” Honestly, if I were to start a sentence off with that lead-in, how excited are you for the rest of the story? Giddy,…
French Cultures Festival 2013 Will Attempt to Show Why French Matters to Houston
On March 8, the French Cultures Festival, a celebration of all things French, will kick off its sixth annual appearance in Houston with something it has never tried here before, says Program Director Charlotte Esnou. “We are organizing a big live concert downtown at Discovery Green on March 8. This…
Top 10 Restaurants in the Third Ward
All of Houston’s original six wards are rich with history, but none captivate me quite as much as the Third Ward. Once home to the city’s wealthiest residents, the area just southeast of downtown has gone through a tremendous amount of change since it was first established in 1836. The…
Hey There, Feuding Musicians: Let’s Play the Twitter Quiet Game
Hey there, Twitter-feuding musicians. It’s time we take it old-school with a kindergarten version of the quiet game. Don’t know the rules? Here’s a crash course: Whoever shuts up the longest wins. I know you love the media attention, and you’ve got a subpar album to promote, but there’s nothing…
What the Hell? 17 Inches of Snow in Amarillo? (w/Video)
We’re not saying a lot of people have travel plans that take them to Amarillo, but if they did, today is a hell of a day to avoid the Panhandle. Amarillo is getting hit with a blizzard that is dropping 17 inches of snow in some places. That, no doubt,…
Dieter Werner, Text-Stalker and Murder-Abettor Extraordinaire, Has Convictions Wiped
It seems that Dieter Werner has finally hit a lucky streak. After a rough run — having his ex-girlfriend find the pair of tracking devices he’d latched onto her car; after being sentenced ten years on a pair of charges of stalking — the 70-year-old has finally caught a break…
An Overly Ambitious Oscar Party Menu to Match an Overly Ambitious Ceremony
Like Seth MacFarlane, and the Oscar ceremony itself, our Oscar menu was just a little too ambitious. Considering there were only three of us in attendance — me, my husband, my friend Erin — perhaps three appetizers, a main course and dessert (plus cocktails) was a bit much. Luckily, the…
Make a Film About the Houston Music Scene, Win Stuff
The people at Nokia and Sundance are launching a short-film competition, asking filmmakers, fans and musicians themselves from cities all over the world to shine a light on their respective music scenes. For the last cycle of the competition, the organizers showcased videos from Portland (natch), New York City, Los…
Dude Crashes SUV into Roof, Lives to Tell the Tale
Is it Festivus? Because there sure was a Festivus miracle early Sunday morning on the north side of the county. Police say a 24-year-old man was likely speeding (ya think?) when he hit a sloped embankment about 2:15 a.m. Sunday and went airborne. His SUV clipped the roof of one…
Water World: Motionhouse Performs Scattered
The Set-Up: On February 22, the Society for the Performing Arts presented the Houston debut of U.K.-based dance company Motionhouse. Headed by Artistic Director Kevin Finnan, Motionhouse performed its 2009 piece Scattered: A Meteor Shower of Unlikely Moments at the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater. The Execution: The use of water…
Burgers Off the Beaten Path: Chief’s Cajun Snack Shack
In response to last week’s laughable Zagat list of Houston’s best burgers, we’re launching a series at Eating…Our Words that will spotlight overlooked but no less notable burgers off the beaten path. After all, hidden treasures are the city’s greatest commodity. You may find yourself faced with many questions upon…
Rocks Off’s Rodeo Concert Guide for “Bros”: Toby Keith
The Rocks Off Rodeo Concert Guide is our annual helpful(?) primer for those of you unsure about your HLSR music choices for the big event at Reliant Stadium. Date: February 25 Name: Toby Keith AKA: “That dude on the Ford commercials”…
Jaiden Pratt: 4-Year-Old Accidentally Kills Himself with His Drug-Dealing Father’s Stolen Pistol, Cops Say
A four-year-old boy found his father’s stolen pistol in his living room and accidentally shot himself to death with it Sunday morning, police say. Jaiden Pratt had been visiting his father for the weekend; the father had been asleep on the couch in the apartment when the boy found the…
Kanye West Has Saved Humanity — At Least As Far As Kim Kardashian Is Concerned
I always knew there was a reason that Kayne West existed on this planet and it had absolutely nothing to do with the “rapping,” he claims to do. Last week, Kayne’s current boo and soon to be baby’s momma, Kim Kardashian, made a shocking statement to Dujour magazine — a…
Saturday Night: Buxton at the Continental Club
Buxton Continental Club February 23, 2013 Buxton’s songs project an odd kind of innocence for a band that has been getting pretty seasoned the past couple of years. It’s been five since they appeared out of the La Porte/Deer Park area with A Family Light, a mini-album that distinguished itself…
Chef Ryan Savoie to Head Up New Lunch Program Launching at Saint Arnold Brewery
Houston’s oldest microbrewery once hosted a tour only once a week, back in the days when the Saint Arnold Brewery was still located in a warehouse that lacked both air conditioning and space for its growing crowd of fans. Four years ago, the brewery moved into a big new facility…
Paradise Hotel: A Classic Farce With Seduction, An Escape Ladder and A Surprise Ending
The set-up: In Paradise Hotel, a classic farce by the master of the genre, Georges Feydeau, co-authored by Maurice Desvallieres. A successful engineer seeks to seduce the wife of his business partner, who has been neglected by her husband. Through a series of coincidences, they end up in the low-rent…
Friday Night: Every Time I Die and the Acacia Strain at Warehouse Live
Every Time I Die, the Acacia Strain, etc. Warehouse Live February 22, 2013 Buffalo’s Every Time I Die has been around long enough that fans know exactly what to expect from their gigs: unrepentant mayhem both onstage and off, soundtracked by a high-energy stream of stomping, howling hardcore. When the…
Cougars Making Uniform Changes Just to Make Changes
Photos have been leaking out for the past month or so of new helmets and uniforms for the University of Houston. As an alum, I’d like to offer up an opinion on the proposed new looks — yes, looks, as in multiple looks. And my basic opinion is, enough already…
2013 Oscar Recap: “Here’s To All The Losing Works Of Art”
This year was only the second time in several decades we haven’t thrown a party for the Academy Awards, and it only took a few minutes of red carpet coverage to remind me why we usually have people over: this shit is nigh intolerable unless you’re surrounded by a bunch…
Houston Sets Off National Dialogue on Islamic Innocence
The imam smiled. He’d been waiting for this question, it seemed. It was a soft Saturday afternoon, and this imam, Azhar Haneef, the national vice president of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, had just finished an hour-long tour of videos displaying the prophet Muhammad’s pacifism at the Baitus Samee Mosque in…
Somebody Please Stop Tupac’s Mom
At this point, you would think we’d all be used to Tupac Shakur’s memory being exploited. After all, the late rapper has had more albums released since he died than within his lifetime. That being said, I guess I’m just not as jaded as I’d like to appear. My heart…
What’s Cooking This Week? Loaded Chili Dogs & More
I love cooking for my fiancé and me, but most of the time, cooking for two proves to be difficult. If I don’t make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredient’s I’ve bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter…
Michael Kroetsch: Charged & on the Run for Defacing Obama Mural
Houston police have charged but not yet arrested a 58-year-old man for the latest defacing of the eye-catching series of President Obama murals near the Breakfast Klub. Court documents show that Michael Dale Kroetsch has been charged with felony criminal mischief in the most recent act of vandalism January 28…
Are Juicers a Judicious Use of Our Hard-Earned Cash?
To juice or not to juice — a question we have been asking ourselves for quite some time. “Juicing” seems a bit faddish to me, but a few months ago my husband did a brief juice cleanse and he really enjoyed it*. A few weeks ago our friends Pete and…
God of Carnage at Stark Naked Theatre Offers a Four-Star Cast Ready and Willing to Go For Broke
Check out our interview with Kim Tobin and Kay Allmand. The set-up: What could be better in the theater than adults behaving badly? How about four of them? And what if the two married couples, seeming normal and under control, swiftly descend into the most uncivil behavior that is also…
The Best Shows in Houston This Week: Tame Impala, Dropkick Murphys, Zac Brown Band, Nosaprise, Etc.
Gary Allan RodeoHouston, February 26, 7 p.m. The maturest, most workmanlike male vocalist on country music’s A list, Gary Allan may not own a clutch of People magazine covers, but his Top 10 bell-ringers pile up pretty quickly: “Watching Airplanes,” “Nothing On But the Radio,” “Tough Little Boys,” “Right Where…
Johnny Manziel Files Suit for “Johnny Football” Trademark Infringement. Good For Him!
It’s going to be at least another several months before Texas A&M quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel can capitalize financially off of his nickname “Johnny Football,” and if he and his family have their way it will be much longer before anybody else can. As reported back in…
Fraudulent Fish: 50 Percent of Seafood Sold in Texas Mislabeled, New Oceana Study Reports
Think that tai sushi you’re eating is red snapper? It’s far more likely to be tilapia, says Oceana, a Washington, D.C.-based ocean conservancy organization. This isn’t a new concern, of course. Former Houston Press food critic Robb Walsh wrote a scathing exposé of the issue back in 2001, “Fish Fraud,”…
The WWE Hall of… Presidents? 5 Commanders in Chief That Ruled the Squared-Circle
I recently was put in the strange position of being in total agreement with Donald Rumsfeld. The former Secretary of Defense called out the Olympics for deciding to omit wrestling from the games. His Washington Post op-ed piece said the decision was made in the spirit of too much “kumbayah,”…
Gothic Council on the Perfect Gothic Workout Music
I hate working out unless it involves backflips and body slams. I used to do all my exercise in a bingo hall with no a/c, in a wrestling ring that was harder than Frank Zappa in a used-panty store. Since I long ago left my wrestling dreams behind, I’m forced…
RIP Norma Zenteno: Houston Guitarist and Music Scene Mainstay
Earlier this week, I reported to you about local musician Norma Zenteno and her brave fight against Stage II breast cancer, and a benefit being held in her honor this coming Sunday at SRO Sports Bar. It is now my sad duty to report that she has passed away this…
Michael Palmer, West Columbia Police Chief, Accused of Stealing Drugs from Ongoing Cases
After being accused of swiping pills from his department’s ongoing investigations, West Columbia Police Chief Michael Palmer has been jailed for drug possession and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony. The chief, currently suspended, was arrested Thursday and placed in Brazoria County Jail. His bond is set at $100,000. The…
Announcing the New Houston Press Web Editor
Cory Garcia, who has been writing about music at the Houston Press for the last year while working fulltime at the Victoria Television Group as its interactive content coordinator, will be the new Press’s Web editor. Garcia will replace Web Editor Brittanie Shey, who has decided to return to freelance…
Announcing the New Houston Press Web Editor
Cory Garcia, who has been writing about music at the Houston Press for the last year, while working fulltime at the Victoria Television Group as its interactive content coordinator, will be the new Press web editor. Garcia will replace Web Editor Brittanie Shey who has decided to return to freelance…
Announcing the New Houston Press Web Editor
Cory Garcia, who has been writing about music at the Houston Press for the last year, while working fulltime at the Victoria Television Group as its interactive content coordinator, will be the new Press web editor. Garcia will replace Web Editor Brittanie Shey, who has decided to return to freelance…
Announcing the New Houston Press Web Editor
Cory Garcia, who has been writing about music at the Houston Press for the last year while working fulltime at the Victoria Television Group as its interactive content coordinator, will be the new Press web editor. Garcia will replace Web Editor Brittanie Shey, who has decided to return to freelance…
Rick Perry Gets Heckled Over His Medicaid Stand
One of the first rules we think Rick Perry opponents should learn is: Let the man talk. Let him ramble on and all you have to do is wait for him to insert his expensively booted foot in his mouth, whether it’s something golden like the legendary Oops Moment, or…
Last Night: Unknown Mortal Orchestra at Fitzgerald’s
Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Foxygen Fitzgerald’s February 22, 2013 It took a good 20 minutes, but finally the lights went red (just like the last time they were here) and Unknown Mortal Orchestra slithered to the stage. Front man Ruban Nielson was ominous in a black leather skullcap and what I…
Cast a Vote & Houston Might Get a Grant Funding One-Bin Garbage Collection
Every day, don’t you just hate separating your junk from what needs to be recycled and what’s trash so that the city of Houston doesn’t fine you for hating the Earth (and Captain Planet)? Well, that can all change by spamming a few clicks. The Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge has…
The Electric Six Is on Tour to Fund Live DVD Project
In my eyes, one of the most underrated rock albums of the past decade is Electric Six’s Fire, released in May 2003. It remains a solid set of 13 smutty, decadent rock cuts, and I find it hard to settle on a favorite after all these years. “Gay Bar,” “She’s…
Taiwan Cinema Film Fest at Rice Media Center This Weekend
Rice Media Center is hosting a film festival from Taiwan — the other China — that gives you a chance for a closeup look at films made there in the mid-1980s. Entitled Taiwan New Cinema: 30 Years On, the mini festival consists of three different films each shown at 7…
Community: How Did We Not Know That Jeff Was Thoraxis?
I read an interview with Community’s creator Dan Harmon, who is no longer a part of the show, in which he described his plan to move the characters away from their central hub at Greendale Community College. Eventually, Harmon mused, they would have to graduate college and what do you…
Dot Coffee: The Week in Photos
It’s time again to check out the Houston Press Flickr Pool and see what kinds of art shots our talented photographers have added. We love street art, unique perspectives and beautiful photos of Houston’s creative community. If you think you’ve got a good eye, drop your pictures in the pool…
Celebrate National Margarita Day Today with 15 of Our Favorites
For whatever reason, some marketing genius decided that February 22 is National Margarita Day. I can’t figure out what significance this day has to margaritas or tequila or Triple Sec or limes. Even the National Margarita Day’s web page offers no clues as to why February 22 is so important,…
Last Night: P!nk at Toyota Center
P!nk with The Hives Toyota Center February 21, 2013 On Thursday night at the Toyota Center, P!nk did things onstage that made her contemporaries look like saggy blobs of glitter and Starbucks. Not many poppers in her weight class can sport a body that makes Lady Gaga, Britney, Katy and…
Daycare Firestarter Jessica Tata on List of DA’s Cases Under Review for Potential Exculpatory Evidence
The criminal conviction of Jessica Tata, who owned the daycare where four children burned to death in 2011, is among more than 120 cases under review for possible exculpatory evidence, according to a letter the Harris County District Attorney’s Office sent to criminal defense lawyers this week, in connection with…
Person Of Interest: The Female Of The Species
You can alway tell when Person of Interest is taking a break, because they start throwing the doomsday shit at you. Last night, for example, the usual opening “you are being watched” titles were interrupted as the Machine informed us an anomaly had been detected. A “relevant” one. Even before…
The Adventures of Jim Crane, and Other Astros Spring Training Things to Know
It’s all over tomorrow. The Astros’ off-season is finally ending. It might only be a spring training game, but after a winter of trades and new coaches and just a general reshuffling of the team, the Astros are finally going to get to play a game against another team. And…
Aaron Watson Aims to Show Bar-B-Que Cookoff a Real Good Time
When “Honky Tonk Kid” Aaron Watson named his latest album Real Good Time, he was not only trying to sum up what the album was about, he was also trying to one-up a couple of country music icons. “It’s funny because George Strait has his Here for a Good Time…
Upcoming Events: Bake Like Bouchon at Central Market
Aspiring pastry chefs and home bakers — don’t all freak out at once. Christina Tosi, award-winning pastry chef at Momofuku Milk Bar, and Sebastien Rouxel, author executive pastry chef for Bouchon and the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, are both headed to Houston to teach one-off cooking classes at Central Market…
Faces of Prostitution: Mugshots of the Women Busted in “Operation Red Light”
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office led a multi-agency investigation into local prostitution, because apparently it was time to put an end to the World’s Oldest Profession. On the night of February 20, eight massage parlors were targeted, HCSO says, “as follow-up to the recently adopted Harris County Sexually Oriented Business…
Maverick Wine Importer Doug Skopp Delivers Old-World Flavors Against All Odds
Maverick wine importer Doug Skopp (above) and his Houston-based Dionysus wine distribution company first came to my attention via our mutual friend and Houston Chronicle sports and wine writer, Dale Robertson. “You’ve got to meet Doug,” Dale kept saying to me. “He’s the guy bringing in the Barberas you like…
The Genesis of King’s X: The DUg Pinnick Interview, Part 2
In Part 2 of Rocks Off’s interview with the King’s X leader, DUg Pinnicktalks about possibly creating grunge, using Drop D tuning, and his new album, titled Naked. You can check out Part 1 right here. Go ahead and open another window on that browser. It’s Friday. Many Houstonians discovered…
Top Five Things to Do This Weekend in Houston: MountainFilm on Tour, God of Carnage, La Bayadère and More
You’ll have two chances to catch the MountainFilm on Tour film festival, with screenings on Friday and Saturday. Since 2000, MountainFilm on Tour has been going on tour around the country to bring its unique adventure and avant-garde showcases to a wider audience. This year the festival gives Houstonians the…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Snitch
Title: Snitch When Will We, As A Nation, Stop Snitching? To be honest with you, I never knew this was a thing. Like, when I was a kid, we all knew from hours spent watching Kojak and The Rockford Files that witnesses were always to afraid to talk. Was there…
Enabler’s Jeff Lohrber Talks Andy Hurley and the Upcoming Shift of Redemption
With the recent news of Fall Out Boy’s reunion, I found myself much more concerned with the fate of a wholly different band. Specifically, Milwaukee hardcore act Enabler. The Southern Lord band just released a stunning, slamming slice of hardcore and metal last year on their sophomore record All Hail…
A Texan Attempts To Get A Yankee Ready For RodeoHouston
This past weekend I — Craig Hlavaty — took fellow Art Attack writer and New York native Christina Uticone on a trip to one of my most favorite shops in Houston, the Texas Junk Company, in anticipation of RodeoHouston season here in the Bayou City. Located in the center of…
Want Love? Live in Texas? Then I’ll See You at Walmart
Walmart has anything you could need. Ninety-eight-inch televisions. Formica bookshelves. Palettes of alcohols. Piles of strollers. All for under $50, and all available just down the interstate. The Waltons have perfected the pursuit of capitalism, 102.7 billion times over. They’ve timed their sales, and pitched their products, and undersold the…
Sacramento Kings Fans React to the 2013 Thomas Robinson Heist
As general managers of any team goes, let alone a team that is three seasons removed from being in the playoffs, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is a pretty popular guy. Yes, he’s accessible and honest and willing to explain the deals he makes (or doesn’t make) in just…
The Rest of the Best: Houston’s Top 10 Festivals
Houston is flush with great festivals. Our mild winters and open spaces make festivals pretty much a year-round thing. We’ve decided to look at the top festivals in the area. Now keep in mind, we’re not looking at events where music or food are the main attraction; these are family-friendly…
Best Shows in Houston This Weekend: Rebelution, Graveyard, Every Time I Die, Walker Lukens, Etc.
Rebelution With J Boog, Hot Rain House Of Blues, Friday, 8 p.m., February 22 For a clue on just how much Rebelution must love ganja, beyond even the exquisitely explicit “So High” on its 2012 release Peace of Mind, consider that the Santa Barbara reggae-pop crew also issued acoustic and…
Health Department Roundup: Coreanos, Pondicheri, Ruggles Green and More
By today’s standards, Pete Wells’s November review of Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen & Bar is ancient, up there with Hadrian’s Wall and some other things you forgot after college. But there’s apparently still mileage there, as evidenced by the parody menu a New York programmer created (with some help). The…
Texas’s Forgotten Artificial Reefs: Six Great Photographs
For the past 30 years, the Texas Artificial Reef program has been adding reef sites throughout the state’s waters, with 68 reef sites in the Gulf of Mexico ranging from 40 to 360 acres in size. The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department realizes most people haven’t heard of the program…
Rocks Off’s Cactus Music Series Continues with Chase Hamblin and Trampled Under Foot
Rocks Off has been sponsoring Cactus Music in-store performances for some time. This weekend we have two acts we are proud to be bringing to you in conjunction with Quinn and his band of merry Cactus employees. This afternoon at 5:30 p.m., we present Kansas City blues-rock act and International…
100 Creatives 2013: Ashley Horn, Choreographer, Filmmaker and More
Before she presented choreography and motion pictures at the Houston Fringe Festival, performed with FrenetiCore, and designed costumes for Sol Y Luna Dance, Ashley Horn took a left turn, then a right, then another left and another right and so on. “My freshman year of college, I went to a…
Food Writing Freelancers Wanted for China — No, Silly, for the Houston Press
The Houston Press is looking for a few more freelance food writers to help our readers navigate the gastronomic layout of the Houston area. Crucial ingredients: You not only know something about food, but you are willing to interview other people about it. You are alert for trends, keep abreast…
Lil Wayne Apologizes to LeBron for All-Star Weekend Outburst, Still Hates Chris Bosh
The NBA trade deadline came and went at 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon, and somehow, some way, with everyone fully expecting the Rockets to be one of the passive spectators at deadline time for a change, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey managed to steal the spotlight. Given Morey’s seeming addiction to…
It’ll Take More Than a Newsletter to Clean up the Word Juggalo
Juggalos have always had an image problem. Back in the day it wasn’t so bad; sure, you might get called a drug-addicted hillbilly with bad taste in music, but that’s the kind of casual hatred an Insane Clown Posse fan learns to live with. Those days were annoying, but at…
Openings & Closings: Taco USA Takes The Woodlands
There were lots of good scoops this week from around the city, so let’s get straight to the action. Eater Houston editor Eric Sandler reports that pastry chef Roy Shvartzapel — who’s worked in kitchens from El Bulli to Bouchon — plans to open an “avant garde and modern approach…
Happy Purim, Y’all: It’s Hammered Time!
Beginning Saturday evening through Sunday, February 24, Jewish people everywhere will be letting their curly sideburns down and getting crazy because it’s Purim, y’all! And it is the best Jewish holiday of the year. While Purim is a Jewish holiday it is not explicitly religious, which is why I am…
Roll Them Bones
Highlights from Hair Balls Texas It’s just a snapshot, but if a new poll is to be believed, Texans are nearly as unified in their desire to vote on gambling legalization as they are in loathing Lance Armstrong. A survey released by Let Texans Decide, an organization leading the movement…
In Defense of New Girl (Hear Us Out…)
Depending on your perspective, Zooey Deschanel is either the cutest, funniest, most adorable little retro-kookster on earth, or she’s an irritating try-hard with zero comedy chops. The only thing the world seems able to universally agree on is that Deschanel has nice bangs. As such, her sitcom — New Girl,…
River Phoenix’s Dark Blood: Not the Epitaph He Deserves.
When River Phoenix died in October 1993, he was three weeks away from completing his performance in Dark Blood, an $8 million indie film that had already done five weeks of shooting on location in southern Utah. In this lurid modern film noir, Phoenix was cast as “Boy,” a mysterious,…
Zack Kopplin, The 19-Year-Old Face of the Anti-Creationist Movement
When Zack Kopplin was six years old, his younger sister, Lila, came bounding down their Baton Rouge stairs. Joining her family at the table, she shared her news. “I know where babies come from!” she exclaimed brightly. “God makes the babies up in heaven and brings them down to mommies…
Rodeo Houston Fun
It’s the time of year when otherwise urban Houstonians take to the streets in ten-gallon hats, plaid shirts and spurred boots, all for the sake of celebrating a spontaneous eruption of Texan culture. With all the food and fun of a state fair and all the nonstop equine action of…
Nosh Bistro, You Sexy Thing
See more of Nosh Bistro’s elegantly quirky interior and its colorful kitchen in our slideshow. “It looks like Prince exploded in that place,” grumbled one of my friends — French and very fussy — about the new Nosh Bistro, recently opened in the same plot at Kirby and Highway 59…
The Art of War
Fernando Brito was a marketing graduate who couldn’t find a job in his hometown of Culiacán. His photographer brother turned down a photo editor job at a newspaper there, but recommended Brito, who up to that point had taken photos only as a hobby. Brito says the paper was “half…
Old Habits Die Hard
Before anything else, here’s how dumb things get in A Good Day for Die Hard–Related Media Product, which is being sold as a bang-bang movie sequel so that nobody catches onto its true nature: a black-ops experiment testing the human faculty for discovering coherent patterns in unrelated shards of image…
Birds Do It; Witches Don’t
Here’s a question you can spit back next time someone complains that our popular culture is top-to-bottom depraved: “Then why are our high-school witches, vampires and superheroes so passionate about their abstinence?” That glitter-pored Twilight hunk and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man have won tween hearts and Hollywood billions by cavalierly refusing…
Spoiler Alert
Kids born in 1992 can buy beer now, and according to the usual timeline of nostalgia, this means that the fetishization of all things ’90s is already well underway. And while John Dies at the End is assuredly a product of today’s online world, it feels remarkably like the work…
Street Knowledge
Ask Willie D: BABY MAMA DRAMA I have joint custody of my son. I love him to death, but his mom, my ex-wife, is driving me away from him by constantly trying to push my button wanting to argue. I’m trying to be peaceful for my son, but I’m thinking…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Joshua Goode: Origin of Myth,” “Mac Whitney: Sculptures and Paintings,” “Maggie Taylor: No Ordinary Days,” “Mie Olise: Crystal Bites of Dust,” “The Progress of Love,” “Rosa Loy: Souvenir,” “Wilo Vargas: Hierophany and Pareidolia”
“Joshua Goode: Origin of Myth” Joshua Goode is a big kid at heart. The Fort Worth artist has a silly sense of humor, plays with toys and is boundlessly imaginative. Just look at his show currently up at Darke Gallery, better off temporarily known as the Contemporary Alternative Natural History…
Capsule Stage Reviews: The First Church of Texaco, The Language Archive, True West
The First Church of Texaco A corporate tycoon returns to his roots in an abandoned gas station in Blessing, Texas, and hires the local librarian to be his secretary, while fighting a hostile takeover of his corporation, and the librarian uses him as surrogate pastor for the community. The tycoon…
Dinner and a Show
Top 10 Chances are that if you’re heading downtown for a night out at the opera, the symphony or the Alley, you’re not simply grabbing McDonald’s on your way — you want to make an evening of this, as well you should. Many restaurants have done away with theater menus,…
Are Burritos Supposed to Explode?
Dear Mexican, In the past, you have defended illegal immigrants by arguing that they (paraphrasing one of your previous columns) will do the jobs gabachos won’t do for the same wages. I agree. I have a white-collar job, so I’m totally content to benefit from the low prices brought about…
