Spring Training: Milo Hamilton, Harry Caray, Drayton McLane, Roger Clemens and Ria Cortesio
Just taking a little time here for some quick spring training notes…. Did you know the Astros acquired a new shortstop the other day? I must have missed it, but according to Milo Hamilton, some guy named Miguel Te-HAY-da was playing at short for the Astros yesterday. Sure, that Miguel…
Do We Finally Have a Republican Candidate Who Can Cure Bird Flu?
Yesterday’s GOP presidential primary was a snoozer, but it did reveal this: 143 people thought Hoa Tran would make a good president. Or at least a good Republican candidate for president. Tran more than doubled the Harris County vote of wacko Hugh Cort, dealing a likely knockout blow to Cort’s…
Aeros Come from Behind and Best the Providence Bruins
For 187 minutes and 38 seconds, Houston Aeros goalie Barry Brust had been perfect. Perfect as in no goals allowed in a time period spanning over three games, including two straight shut-outs. It was a streak as impressive as Barack Obama’s 11 straight Democratic primary victories. Then at the 4:12…
Reverberations: Thee Headcoatees, The Love Me Nots, The Black Hollies and L.A. Slumlords
We’re still getting the ball rolling over here, so expect this space to grow, specifically with an array of record reviews in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I recommend taking notice of the reissue of Thee Headcoatees’ four Vinyl Japan albums, out next Tuesday on Damaged Goods. On the…
Scott Baio is 46…and Annoying as Hell
The Scott Baio show is working my fucking nerves. Now why you got to go and be so mean, MPR? Truth be told, I don’t have any real problems with Senor Charles in Charge. In theory he’s probably an all right guy just struggling to get work and pay the…
Perchance to Make Tortillas at a Tex-Mex Restaurant
I have fulfilled a lifelong dream. For years now, I have secretly envied those fortunate few who man the tortilla stations at Mexican restaurants. What could be more fulfilling than playing with dough all day? Could there be a more therapeutic job? I have longed to sink my fingers into…
Drenched in Blog: SXSW Bitchin’ Band Alert: Magic Bullets
The name Magic Bullets at first had me excited because I thought they may be some JFK assassination-themed band. You know, with a tatted-up Lee Harvey Oswald doppelganger on bass or something. But instead I got really chilled-out Scot-Pop ditties from San Francisco. Magic Bullets do a very lush jangle-pop…
Spring Training: Roger Clemens, Bill Murray and Bill James
Surfing about the nets these past several days I came to just one conclusion: Roger Clemens is a prick. Yeah, I already held that opinion, but reading up on the new Barry Bonds happenings just further cemented my opinion. Last week, when the judge dismissed the indictment against Bonds, she…
Don’t Go To Dubai With Doobie In Your Shoes: A Public Service Announcement From Houstoned Rocks
If this article is any indication, any of you local musos playing oil company shindigs in Halliburton’s new hometown and our upstart rival as the energy capital of the world had better not attend or play any jam band shows, eat at Last Concert, or go anywhere near Devin the…
Name Game: From Fletcher to Chavez, with X and Clemens Too
LULAC has been trying to get Beaumont ISD to change Fletcher Elementary’s name to Cesar E. Chavez Elementary. (Fletcher has an 81 percent Hispanic student body.) Seems LULAC tried getting a city park renamed after Chavez and struck out, so the organization thought it might have a better shot with…
Indian Breakfast at Kings Chicken
In this week’s Café review, I wrote about the breakfast offerings at the Pakistani halal chicken shack and curry joint called Kings Chicken on Beechnut…
Dog Abuse Bad. Cow Abuse Awesome.
I’ve called out you PETA types in the past. Not so much because I condone the mistreatment of animals, but because I have questioned your priorities in demanding harsher punishments for the likes of Michael Vick than for Ray Lewis and Leonard Little. Well, I’m calling you out again…
SXSW: And So It Begins…
As the rest of the country is poring over injury reports and the RPI Index to make sure their NCAA brackets are in order, those of us with even a small stake in the music business are gearing up for a completely different kind of March Madness. That’s right, it’s…
Looks Like There’s At Least One Houston Historical Marker For Music
A couple of weeks ago, we groused in Racket about the complete lack of music-related state historical markers in Houston, and even cited Frenchtown as an appropriate spot to put one up. I am happy to report that since some time last year, the lack has not, in fact, been…
Chicago Connections: Barack Obama, Dorothy Tillman and Tony Rezko
First, in December 2006, controversial Chicago alderwoman Dorothy Tillman was exposed by a community newspaper for using a taxpayer-funded development project to steer contracts to family and friends and possibly cheat the IRS. Then, in April 2007 – despite being endorsed by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama – Tillman was…
Steroids and Roger Clemens: Drayton McLane Can’t Quit You
I’ve got another attorney Roger Clemens might want to consider for replacing Rusty Hardin. I suggest Dennis Riordan, also known as the attorney for Barry Bonds. And why would Rocket want to hire this guy? How about this: Unlike Hardin, Riordan knows how to handle the Feds. Because, if even…
What’s Up With That Bizarro Jack Nicholson Video Supporting Hillary Clinton?
So what’s up with this totally nuts video Jack Nicholson made endorsing Hillary Clinton? Granted, it’s not so weird that he would endorse her…only odd that he’s done so by creating a short video montage of some of his “greatest hits” from film history. The problem? In most of the…
Announcing the Winner of Our Astros Marketing Slogan Contest…
The time has come. After reading through almost 150 submissions, I have decided upon the Astros marketing slogan for the 2008 season. And let me tell you, it was not an easy decision. Many of the suggestions were good, so I’ve decided to share what I felt were the top…
Rockets-Nuggets: 15 and Counting
This winning streak is not about respect. Oh sure, it makes for a nice story. The headline practically writes itself: “Rockets’ record-tying run quiets the critics.” But ultimately, playing the respect card is blatant oversimplification at best, borderline lazy at worst. Respect, or lack thereof, was not at the heart…
Over the Weekend: Red Door, Boheme, Scene, Astros and Rockets
We hope everyone had a great Texas Independence Day yesterday. We sure did, even though we didn’t know it was a holiday. So much for the seventh grade. 1 a.m. at Red Door, 1:20 a.m. at Boheme and 2:30 a.m. at Scene Photog Bill Olive once again hit the streets…
Get Lit: Stephenie Meyer’s Teenage Vampires
Bella Swan loves Edward Cullen in the most desperate way. He’s handsome, mysterious and smart. The catch is, Edward is a vampire – forever frozen at 17 years old. Bella really wants to be a vampire too because what teenage girl wants to be older than her boyfriend? As her…
Ralph Nader…the Lyndon LaRouche for a New Age
Have a moment? Then let me take you back to the year 2000. Miss Pop Rocks was just a young lass then, fresh out of college and earnest as Hell. In my gin-and-tonic infused idealistic stupor, I fell crazy ass in love with Ralph Nader. I ordered a Ralph Nader…
$13 at Prince’s Hamburgers
Where: Prince’s Hamburgers, 3899 Southwest Freeway, 713-626-9950 What $13 gets you: Stuffed It seems to me that $13 at Prince’s Hamburgers ought to cover lunch or dinner for two, but it doesn’t. Even if you steer clear of the big ticket items such as the fried shrimp basket ($9.95) or…
A Modest Proposal: Train the Homeless to Be Better at Being Homeless
Increasingly the last few years, as suburbanites continue to move into the city’s core, there has been much wailing, flailing and gnashing of teeth about the homeless problem. And let’s face it — many homeless people smell, are scary-looking, and make us feel bad about the entire human experience. When…
Languages in Houston: Espanol y mas mas mas
OK, according to Language Line Services, when people call for interpreting help in Houston, the No. 1 foreign language requested is Spanish. No surprise there. But Vietnamese has jumped to the No. 2 spot ( No. 5 in the country) and some of the others may surprise you as well…
Early Voting in Fort Bend County
Out in Fort Bend County, usually a stronghold of Republicans, the polling place at Hightower High School meant a wait of about 25 minutes mid-day – if you were a Democrat. There was no wait on the Republican side because no one was there other than a lone poll worker…
Re: Early Voting in Houston
The traffic reports keep coming in. Here’s the latest batch: “Yesterday it took me an hour to vote at the West Gray center on my lunch break. I guess you can’t eat and vote.” “I just went to the Ripley center on Navigation and there is no line. I had…
Slideshow: Top Ten Reasons Not to Go to South Padre for Spring Break
Heading south for Spring Break? Read this list and you just might think twice. — Keith Plocek…
Spring Training: Meet the New ‘Stros…
I’m back with another edition of spring training notes. But first, remember that you have until 5:00 p.m. today to make your suggestions for the Houston Astros 2008 marketing slogan. So get them in now. Speaking of suggested slogans, Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN.com had an article on the whole Rocket…
MySpaced Out: A MySpace Mixtape
Clicking through MySpace, one comes across tons of dreck, but every once in a while a diamond gleams in the pile of trash, some virtually anonymous flash of brilliance blinds the brain with humor, underdog sass or gumption. If I were one to make mixtapes (or CDs), here’s a handful…
Houston Aeros Beat Lake Erie Monsters, Tied for Last Spot in AHL Playoffs
With only 22 games left in the season, the Houston Aeros are caught in a dogfight. A dogfight for a spot in the AHL playoffs. And after last night’s 1-0 victory over the Lake Erie Monsters, the Aeros are now in a tie for that last spot. Barry Brust got…
This Just In: FBI Opens Investigation of Clemens
The FBI has just announced that it is opening an investigation into whether former Red Sox / Blue Jay / Yankee / Astro / Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens lied to Congress regarding questioning on steroid use. The investigation will be conducted by the Washington Field Office of the FBI, and…
Drenched in Blog: SXSW Bitchin’ Band Alert: Ghosthustler
A lot has been made this past year about the new wave of French techno; namely, groups like Justice and the renaissance of scene forefathers Daft Punk. Hell, this blog all but looked like it was written by a member of Justice’s street team at one point in December. It…
Early Voting in Houston
Abrahan Garza Planning on early voting at the last minute? A few of our staffers hit the polls this week and brought back tales of traffic. Read below to find out where the good spots are. We’ll keep updating as more and more civic duties (ahem) are fulfilled. “I went…
Reverberations: Opening Up the Garage
Welcome to Reverberations, a weekly column on all things garage rock… There was a time – between the British Invasion and the eventual manifestation of Television – when a bunch of guys who’d come up on the cutting power of surf noise and the Yardbirds’ filthy, oversexed blues took what…
Cover Story: Barack Obama and Me
I used to talk to Barack Obama on a regular basis back when he was a rank-and-file state legislator in Illinois and I worked for a pair of community newspapers there. I lived two blocks away from him and worked in the same building that housed his favorite barbershop. Obama’s…
Jean Karotkin, Divya Murthy, Deborah Bay and Christopher Olivier
Dallas photographer Jean Karotkin started taking photos when she found out she had cancer. Soon after hearing her diagnosis, Karotkin set about photographing survivors across the country, winning national acclaim along the way. That was three years ago, and Karotkin has since become a survivor herself and moved on to…
Metro, University of St. Thomas and Denis’ Seafood
Card Report Useless: What a screw-up [“Queue Card,” Hair Balls, by Richard Connelly, February 7]. I got a loft downtown about four weeks ago. Getting a Metro ticket with cash is hit or miss. Half the time the kiosks don’t work. The other half I’m telling people how to use…
Free First Sundays: Family Flicks
Squish SpongeBob and mute Hannah Montana; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Target Free First Sundays: Family Flicks series is more fun than both those characters put together, and is a learning experience to boot. There are four films on today’s schedule. The first two are adaptations of children’s books…
Dance Infusion
Uptown Dance Company Artistic Director Beth Gulledge-Brown might have a touch of ADD. We say “might” because the company’s upcoming dance concert Dance Infusion is about as wildly varied as it can get. “Yes, we do like to have a big variety,” laughs Gulledge-Brown. There’s jazz, swing, hip-hop, modern-infused dance,…
Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenaged Blockhead
Imagine the Peanuts characters all grown and turned into a gang of foul-mouthed, angst-ridden teenagers, and you’ll get the basic idea of Bert V. Royal’s Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenaged Blockhead, the latest offering from Unhinged Productions. CB, the central character of this spoof, is emotionally crushed when…
Gimme Shelter
Initial media reports called it a drug-fueled riot. Cultural commentators deemed it the anti-Woodstock and said it ended the ’60s. VH1 ranked it the third most shocking moment in rock and roll history, behind only Michael Jackson’s first child molestation arrest and John Lennon’s murder. At the December 1969 Altamont…
Papermoons
At first listen, Papermoons can sound a little over-sentimental. Local duo Matt Clark and Daniel Hawkins pen poppy, sweet, poetic ballads about the darker side of love. It might make you roll your eyes — that is, until your sweetie says “so long” and you’re left shuffling through records to…
Loreta Kovacic
You might want to catch Loreta Kovacic at Notsuoh this week. You’d have a bit of a drive to her next gig — it’s at Carnegie Hall. (Yep, that Carnegie Hall.) The Croatian-born pianist is based in H-Town now, and she’s taking time from rehearsing for her big concert to…
Tatsuya Nakatani
Tatsuya Nakatani is the baddest thing to hit the 26,000-person burg of Easton, Pennsylvania since the town on the Delaware River was a Prohibition Era nightclub refuge. Nakatani, born in Osaka, Japan, has set up a recording studio and record label in Easton, which has pumped out a sizable slice…
One for Doc Concert
Get a sneak peak at the new downtown park Discovery Green and enjoy a stellar lineup of music at One for Doc, a concert honoring HSPVA Director of Jazz Studies Emeritus Dr. Robert Morgan. Dozens of ex-HSPVA’ers will take the stage during the show, including Warren Sneed, Brandon Lee, Everette…
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
When hard-hitting, groundbreaking director Spike Lee announced he was taking on Hurricane Katrina, we knew we were in for good stuff (as much as a poignant portrait of human suffering can be called “good stuff”). But he exceeded expectations with the four-hour opus When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in…
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Parade
As a ten-year-old Yankee transplant to Houston in the mid-’70s, the strangest cultural tradition I encountered (outside of the delicacy called Frito pie) was the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Parade of cowboys, Stetsons and Dolly Parton lookalikes that signaled the kickoff of the rodeo. For two weeks, I…
Translations
From the sweet hard bosom of Ireland comes some of the world’s most beloved playwrights — John Synge, Samuel Beckett and Martin McDonagh. They’ve all changed our understanding of what a play can be. Right alongside these giants stands Brian Friel, whose tender Translations became a hit when it opened…
No Logo — Brands, Globalization, Resistance
No Logo — Brands, Globalization & Resistance, a 40-minute film by Canadian journalist/activist Naomi Klein, is actually a lot more entertaining than its dour title suggests. This week’s installment in the Houston Community College REEL Culture Film and Speaker Series, the film is based on Klein’s book by the same…
Lady at Stages Repertory Theatre
It seems that almost every American male writer has to pen some version of the hunting-trip story before his career can be called complete. Everyone from Ernest Hemingway to Jack London to James Dickey (whose Deliverance has to be the granddaddy of all hunting trip tales) has written at least…
A Little Day Music: Strike 3 Percussion
You wouldn’t think there’d be much work for a freelance percussionist, but Brandon Bell stays pretty busy. So do Brian Vogel and Matthew McClung, his band mates, in Strike 3 Percussion. The trio will be performing at today’s A Little Day Music free lunchtime Da Camera concert. Strike 3 performs…
Tenth Annual UH Moores Jazz Festival
The annual UH Moores Jazz Festival is always a big-tent, all-ages affair. During the two-day event, listeners can hear everything from aspiring local junior-high prodigies to world-class jazz masters. While much of the daytime programming highlights exceptional talent from area schools, the evening programs feature an internationally known guest soloist,…
Brent Weinbach
“Sometimes people criticize me for acting too creepy onstage,” San Francisco comedian Brent Weinbach deadpans in his stand-up routines. Truth be told, it does take a while to get used to the physical and gross-out comedy laced into Weinbach’s spot-on impressions and intelligent social commentary. One minute Weinbach is pretending…
Joyce Yang
Before she was old enough to drive, pianist Joyce Yang played Prokofiev with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Before she could legally have her first drink, she won the silver medal at the 2005 Van Cliburn international piano competition. Kind of makes life’s usual landmarks pale by comparison, no? Today, Seoul-born Yang,…
“Escaping Their Boundaries: The Children of Theresienstadt”
More than 12,000 children passed through the Theresienstadt ghetto in Czechoslovakia on their way to various concentration camps during the Holocaust. About 90 percent of them would go on to perish at the hands of the Nazis. Still, as the Holocaust Museum Houston’s new exhibition “Escaping Their Boundaries: The Children…
Last Acts
Jake Heggie’s world premiere opera Last Acts is fit for an era that likes everything lithe and lean. It is not, at least not now, an opera in the traditional sense — sweeping, epic, grandiose. Commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera and based on the play Some Christmas Letters by…
“Craft in America: Expanding Traditions”
“Craft in America: Expanding Traditions” features handcrafted furniture, textiles, baskets, jewelry and more — many tilting toward the offbeat and avant-garde. The touring exhibit is a companion to the recent PBS series chronicling the development of American craft in the past two centuries. Houston is only one of seven stops…
Sarah Miles Bolam
No matter who we elect as our next president, you can be sure there will eventually be a film about him — or her. From silent shorts of Teddy Roosevelt to Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, presidents just seem to make for good movies — just ask Sarah Miles Bolam at…
Third Ward TX
It takes more than good intentions and a fresh coat of paint to rebuild a community. Rick Lowe and the other founders of the Project Row Houses learned this as they began turning abandoned shotgun shacks into artist spaces. The film Third Ward TX documents the organization’s triumphs and struggles,…
Hilary York
Hilary York knows how to create radio-friendly tunes without pandering to the audience. Her songs are accessible enough to be played alongside any regular rotation including John Mayer or Jack Johnson, but they’re devoid of any campy riffs or hooks that scream, “Put me on the radio!” “Out of Sight”…
Carolyn Wonderland: Miss Understood
It seems like ages since blues wonder woman Carolyn Wonderland has put out a record — five years, to be exact. In the interim, she’s moved to Austin, had record deals that fell apart and been sought out by Bob Dylan, all the while playing her ass off everywhere from…
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week
Barbie: Mariposa and Her Butterfly Friends (Universal) Comanche Moon (Sony) Day Zero (First Look) Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale (HBO) Family Affair: Season Five (MPI) The Fugitive: Season One, Volume Two (Paramount) Goya’s Ghosts (Sony) Highlander: The Source (Lionsgate) Jesse Stone: Sea Change (Sony) The Last Emperor: The Criterion…
Drunk Clams at the Tilted Kilt Pub and Eatery
Who knew they drank? It takes 15 minutes to get the clams drunk enough to serve at The Tilted Kilt Pub and Eatery (2000 Highway 6 South, 281-496-5458). But it’s time well spent, because the “drunken clams” ($13.95) are a very special appetizer. The clams are steamed in Guinness for…
Snoop Dogg
Is there anything Snoop Dogg can’t do? Possibly, although it’s hard to imagine what that might be. The star of stage and screen — his upcoming credits include the romantic comedy The Golden Door, Latina gang diary Por Vida and the self-explanatory Coach Snoop — now also has the No. 1…
British Sea Power: Do You Like Rock Music?
Do You Like Rock Music? charts another step in the evolution that took British Sea Power from post-punk-flavored debut The Decline of British Sea Power to slicker sophomore disc Open Season. For record No. 3, BSP enlisted three producers, including former Arcade Fire drummer Howard Bilerman — notable because this…
X-Clan’s Brother J Drops Some Knowledge
Always near the forefront of conscious hip-hop, Brother J and X-Clan sat poised to take over the world 18 years ago. Their Afrocentric LP To the East, Blackwards, thrived in that time of heightened social awareness, addressing issues of race, stereotypes and socioeconomics like few had before. Eventually it would…
Too $hort: Get Off the Stage
Get Off the Stage marks Too $hort’s 17th album, not counting compilations and reissues, but it’s also the end of an era. It’s his last for Jive, the label he’s been associated with since 1988. “I’m a legend in the game,” he says on “Shittin’ on ‘Em,” adding, “I got…
Paneer and Pizza at Gourmet India and Kings Chicken
There were three chicken, one goat and five vegetable entrées offered at the lunch buffet at Gourmet India the day I stopped by. The lunch shift was the only time I ever saw a decent crowd at this elegant Punjabi restaurant located on Westheimer at Eldridge Parkway. It’s hard to…
Pat Metheny Trio: Day Trip
After Pat Metheny’s successful collaboration with pianist Brad Mehldau (2007’s Metheny/Mehldau Quartet), the versatile guitarist returns to the trio format with two renowned musicians in their own right: Philadelphian bassist Christian McBride (Chick Corea, Queen Latifah, Sting) and Mexico City-born drummer Antonio Sanchez, a fixture in the Latin jazz scene…
French and Italian at Bistro Don Camillo
If you want traditional French food, head for Bistro Provence (13616 Memorial Dr.). But for something a little different, try Bistro Don Camillo (6510 Del Monte Dr.). As Jean-Philippe Guy, owner of the newly opened restaurant, says, “If you want a mixture of French and Italian, then you’ve found your…
An open letter to Alanis Morissette
Dear Alanis: This is your time to shine. That whole Jagged Little Pill thing was just a fluke, even if it did give us the greatest moment of meta-irony ever to be recorded. Despite the nearly boundless sarcastic joy that little ditty brought to music critics the world over, the…
Local Motion at Sound Exchange
Sound Exchange 1846 Richmond, 713-666-5555 1. Times New Viking, Rip It Off (LP/CD) 2. Hate Eternal, Fury & Flames 3. Hearts of Animals, 7″ 4. CoCoComa, s/t (LP/CD) 5. LSD Pond, s/t (CD) 6. Hellhammer, Demon Entrails (LP/CD) 7. Disfear, Live the Storm (LP/CD) 8. Pixies, Doolittle (LP) 9. Television,…
Marilyn Manson’s celebrity dating club
Rose McGowan. Dita Von Teese. Evan Rachel Wood. They’re all talented, beautiful and have all been to bed with super-freak Marilyn Manson. Though this will never make sense to us, we can’t help wondering which other entertainment types might satisfy Manson’s appetite for the bizarre. Lindsay Lohan: Lohan is beautiful,…
Capsule Art Reviews: “AES+F,” “Chantal Akerman: Moving Through Time and Space,” “Death and Shit Like That,” “Gratitude, There’s No Competition,” “Jac Leirner,” ” Perspectives 159: Superconscious, Automatisms Now”
“AES+F” AES+F is a Russian art powerhouse comprised of Tatiana Arzamasova, a conceptual architect; Lev Evzovitch, a conceptual architect and filmmaker; Evgeny Svyatsky, a graphic artist; and Vladimir Fridkes, a fashion photographer for the likes of Vogue. The group combine their diverse skills to spectacular effect: Their work is slick,…
Justice League: The New Frontier, The Darjeeling Limited, Death at a Funeral, Beowulf: Director’s Cut
Justice League: The New Frontier (Warner Bros.) Based on Darwyn Cooke’s comic-book mini-series, a masterpiece starring all of DC Comics’ major-leaguers at the dawn of their immortality during the Cold War, this animated adaptation plays stronger, faster and further than any direct-to-DVD in recent memory. It’s a grown-up superhero’s story,…
Sister Act: The Other Boleyn Girl
When you sleep with the King, it ceases to be a private matter.” And so it comes to pass that young Mary Boleyn (Scarlett Johansson) must stand before her father, Sir Thomas (Mark Rylance), and her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk (David Morrissey), and report the nitty-gritty details of having…
Capsule Stage Reviews: “Regrets Only,” “Young and Fertle”
Regrets Only After seeing Paul Rudnick’s torn-from-the-headlines social satire about gay marriage, you’ll know one thing for sure: Never get into a bitch-slap contest with him, because you will lose big-time. Whatever the occasion, he’ll jab you in the eye with a politically incorrect barb, bon mot, epigram, put-down, or…
Text Adventure: Lost Odyssey
Lost Odyssey wants to be Microsoft’s answer to Final Fantasy, not that that’s such a good idea. Like Star Wars, Final Fantasy survives as a power brand thanks to the shining stars of its past, rather than the overwrought installments of recent years. Final Fantasy XII — the most bloated,…
Why won’t Mexicans vote for a black man?
Why won’t Mexicans vote for a black man? Hillary Hater Dear Readers, Dozens of ustedes have sent the above question since the Iowa caucuses, forwarded mainstream media reports on this supposed phenomenon, and cringed with me when pundits took as gospel Hillary Clinton pollster Sergio Bendixen’s assertion to the New…
Javajazz: No java, no jazz, lots of rock
Mike Leibovich is hanging upside down from the ceiling by his goddamn legs. O.S.H.A. would not be pleased. The keyboard player for Sherwood, a California-based band signed to MySpace Records, Leibovich is keen to try pretty much anything onstage, but this rafter-swinging feat is a rare gem, and the situation must…
Built to Spill, Meat Puppets
There’s nothing more difficult for a rock band than overcoming a mid-life crisis. Built to Spill’s first album in five years, 2006’s You in Reverse, though, is a testament to the band’s collective coming of age. Songs like “Goin’ Against Your Mind” and “Conventional Wisdom” are given room to develop…
Katie Stuckey & the Swagger
Relative newcomer Katie Stuckey cleaned up pretty good in the Press’s 2007 music awards, winning Best Female Vocalist and Best Folk/Acoustic Act. Since then, she’s done what other newcomers to the scene have done: scratched around for gigs, trying to parlay that awards buzz into some kind of traction. Part…
Bayousphere
The intricate architecture, hand-carved from Italian marble and Turkish limestone; the hushed, sacred feel; a visitor can be in only one place: Stafford, right next to Sugar Land. The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir opened in 2004, the first traditionally built Hindu temple to open in the United States. To view…
Blitzen Trapper
Did you ever wish that your favorite band would try dabbling in something different, maybe change it up every once in a while — perhaps add a little bit of prog or some alt-country? Maybe you should consider making Blitzen Trapper your new favorite band. The Portland natives’ latest record,…
Barack Obama and Me
It’s not quite eight in the morning and Barack Obama is on the phone screaming at me. He liked the story I wrote about him a couple weeks ago, but not this garbage. Months earlier, a reporter friend told me she overheard Obama call me an asshole at a political…
“How Artists Draw”
The process of drawing is the focus of The Menil Collection’s outstanding new exhibition “How Artists Draw: Toward the Menil Drawing Institute and Study Center.” Beautifully curated from the Menil’s drawing collection by Bernice Rose, it includes a hit parade of modern artists but makes you look at their work…
Houston Musical Landmarks and the I.Am.We Collective
Leaving the I.Am.We Collective at sundown on a Monday, having just seen a touring band play a President’s Day matinee gig, is a weird sensation. As streams of office drones commute from cubicle jobs in Houston and Sugar Land toward their two-car garages, you’ve got a beer-buzz and a ringing…
6TH STREET’S GREY GOOSE LEMONADE
My never-ending search for unique cocktails and eligible cuties leads me all over this sprawling city. What I want to know is, why doesn’t Houston have any real public transportation? All the driving puts a damper on my drinking — and my sex life. After obsessing about excessive energy consumption…
Personal Foul: Semi-Pro
Semi-Pro’s much better than Blades of Glory, which wasn’t nearly as good as Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which was a little better than Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, which was almost as funny as Old School, which was better than everything else Will Ferrell had done…
It’s All Good at Gershwin Glam
You have to love the way Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch puts together a repertory evening. It’s like a fine meal. At the recent Gershwin Glam rep, which opened last Thursday night at the Wortham, audiences feasted on a delightful appetizer, George Balanchine’s Serenade; a brilliant, meaty entrée, Christopher…