The Replacements’ Self-Destruction Couldn’t Kill Their Spirit
Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements By Bob Mehr Da Capo Press, 520 pp., $25.99 Perhaps no band bio has been so aptly named – even though the title actually comes from a Dave Edmunds and Rockpile song that the Replacements admired. Despite an impressive body of work that has…
So-Called Outlaw Wheeler Walker Jr. Chickened Out of Our Interview
The arrival of Wheeler Walker Jr., a mysterious “outlaw” with plenty of favorite bad words, brought a number of questions for critics who just weren’t sure to write about the guy. His carefully crafted backstory says that he’s a man who wants to record pure country music, something that’s decidedly…
Do Texas Prison Reforms for Transgender Inmates Go Far Enough?
When a transgender woman named Sarah went to prison, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice did not allow her to bring her hormone treatments with her because she didn’t have a prescription. For transgender men and women who rely on hormone therapy for both their mental and physical health, this…
Check Out the Gorgeous Winter Dishes at BCN Taste & Tradition
We’ve been consistently impressed with chef Luis Roger’s beautiful and delectable cuisine since we reviewed BCN Taste & Tradition just over a year ago. So, when we were invited to check out the new winter menu, we said “yes,” knowing full and well the kind of photo opportunities the food…
Encaustics Artist Triumphs in Battle of Man vs. Machine
You won’t find anything like 2014’s Mannequins at the leatherbar: It’s starting to get crowded or 2015’s flaming, leather-clad Harnificent in Joel Anderson’s current exhibit at Archway Gallery, but while “#Heatstroke3D” is decidedly more vanilla, it shows a brave leap in a different direction. The artist has come far in…
Immigration Backlog Bounces Thousands of Cases to Late 2019
Houston immigration attorney John Nechman used to wear a suit to work practically everyday because he was always in court. But things drastically changed about a year-and-a-half ago, when all of his removal cases scheduled to be heard in Houston’s downtown immigration court were reset to the same 10-day span in…
Carla Harvey of Butcher Babies Won’t Take No for an Answer
Carla Harvey is an inspiring artist. A well-spoken, intelligent and creative woman, she just so happens to share front woman duties for the Butcher Babies with Heidi Shepherd. Harvey is stunningly beautiful, no question about it, but to take her at her appearance alone would be an enormous oversight of…
Here Are 10 Seafood Sandwiches in Houston to Help You Get Through Lent
Hope you pigged out on Fat Tuesday, because the 40-day Lenten season is here. It’s often a time of prayer, atonement and — most importantly for the purposes of this article — Fridays in which you abstain from meat and get jealous of your co-worker’s bacon cheeseburger. Well this year,…
Handicapping the Super Bowl 51 Halftime-Performer Race
Super Bowl 50 is over. The NFL’s obsession with making everything gold and drubbing it into our heads that their 50th edition of the “Big Game” would be the most important ever has ceased. Plus, we now know that Coldplay wasn’t going to have a washout performance because Beyonce and…
Lack of Diversity Is One Problem the Grammys Have Never Had
It’s 2016 in America and, oddly enough, more people of color are vying for the Republican party’s presidential nomination than have been tabbed for acting awards at this year’s Oscars. To some, how many black, Latino or Asian actors aren’t nominated for an acting award is a trivial matter. It’s…
Deadpool Motormouths Filthily Through Better-Than-Usual Superhero Stuff
A guy I grew up with had the superpower to make anything dirty. No matter what you’d say to him, he’d manage to make it about his dick, or about anal sex, or about how girls — so he had heard — smelled like fish. I asked him what he…
La Cenerentola at Opera in the Heights Proves Rossini Could Do More Than Just Barber
The set-up: Librettist Ferretti removed the magical elements from the tale of Cinderella, La Cenerentola, to allow opera composer Gioachino Rossini to soften his opera buffa, but there’s more than enough fairy dust to go around. Opera in the Heights literally sparkles with it, and its gem-like production of this…
Trial Under Way for Man Charged in Connection With Animal Crush Videos (Warning: Graphic Content)
Nearly four years after he was charged with animal cruelty in connection with filming “crush” videos, Brent Justice’s trial kicked off Monday with Justice arguing….well, we’re not exactly sure. Representing himself, the 54-year-old Justice failed to suppress a 2012 police interrogation video in which he admitted to filming a scantily…
The Johnny Football Saga Enters a Dark, Sad Chapter
A couple of years ago, when Johnny Manziel was wrecking shop as a collegian in the SEC under the “Johnny Football” moniker, he would get into mischief off the field, the evidence would pop on social media, and we’d all have a good laugh. We would tell ourselves (and Johnny…
“Statements,” at MFAH, Is a Remarkable Exhibit of Artistic Steps Forward
You don’t often get the chance to see in person a work of art that changed the course of history, but you can see one now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. And not just any history, but Houston’s history. Even the history of MFAH itself, in fact. The…
With Primary Looming, Congressman Kevin Brady Wades Into the Bullet Train Fight
Just in case his constituents were not already aware of his stance on the Houston-to-Dallas bullet train project, U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady made it clear that he’s against it. The longtime congressman sent a letter to state legislators urging them to get State Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton to decide whether…
New Restaurant Owners Think Tequila, Tacos and Cocktails Are the Keys to Success in Midtown Houston
As reported last week, Cook & Collins has closed. Spare Key, the under-the-radar craft cocktail bar on the second floor, is temporary closed for remodeling but will reopen the evening of Wednesday, February 17. Subdued Cook & Collins was a tricky proposition for bar-centric Midtown. However, the two men who…
Katy Couple Charged in Bizarre Servant Slavery Case
A Katy couple was arrested yesterday after allegedly forcing a 38-year old Nigerian woman to work as a personal slave while subjecting her to bizarre abuses, including making her strain leftover milk from cereal bowls to use in her tea, and, in one instance, beating her because she dressed the…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: Spicy and Spotted Cocktails
This week’s blog round-up includes a hearty vegetarian recipe, a classic Southern meal idea straight from Alabama and a review of a favorite Houston dual-concept restaurant. Gristle & Gossip has a recipe for you to try for next week’s meatless Monday– check out this one-pot lentil, sweet potato & coconut…
The CDC Alcohol and Pregnancy Guide Adapted for Men
The Centers for Disease Control is the ultimately good, but occasionally really embarrassing parent of government agencies. Remember that time they tried to teach us disaster prep by pretending zombies were real? Stop trying to be cool, CDC. This time they’re in some hot water over a recent report regarding…
Between Review Visits, Brick & Mortar Kitchen Changed Completely, and Not for the Better
Originally, this review was going to praise Brick & Mortar Kitchen’s market-fresh ingredients, fine-quality meats, crispy pizzas and thoughtful entrées. When we made an appointment to photograph the dishes just a few days later, though, there had been major changes — and not for the better. Brick & Mortar Kitchen…
It’s Official: Harris County Sheriff’s Deputies Can’t Have Sex With Witnesses, Victims
Thanks to a Harris County Sheriff’s Office policy update, it is now officially against the rules to have sex with witnesses or victims involved in an ongoing investigation— just in case deputies were on the fence about that. It used to only be officially against the rules to have sex…
Upcoming: Beyoncé, Disclosure, Jimmy Buffett, Nikki Hill, Rusted Shut, Santigold, Salt-N-Pepa, The Temptations, etc.
Note: Events in bold reflect highly recommended shows. Adam Carroll: Sat., February 13, 8 p.m., TBA. Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe, 413 20th, Galveston, 409-762-9199. Al Staehely, John Staehely, and Evelyn Rubio: Fri., February 19, 8 p.m., TBA. Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe, 413 20th, Galveston, 409-762-9199. American Head Charge: With Motograter.,…
Obsessed With Movies? A Beginners’ Guide to Movie Prop Collecting
Millions of people collect stuff, whether it’s stamps, comic books, classic cars, or any number of other things. About 17 years ago, my love of the “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” television show led me to discover prop collecting, and I’ve been hooked ever since. How’d that happen? I was spending…
In Texas, a Hospital Ethics Panel – Not the Patient or Family – Decides Whether to End Care
She closes her eyes for only a second, but when Evelyn Kelly wakes up, doctors surround her son’s hospital bed at Houston Methodist, and J. Richard Cheney, the Houston Methodist Bioethics Committee chairman, looms over her, holding out an envelope. Kelly had been sitting alongside her son, David Chris Dunn,…
The Women of ‘90s Country Are Back to Save Us All
No one really thinks of the 1990s as a golden era for music, especially country. In fact, you have to go back to about the 1970s to find any artists who are really treated like legends, like the beatified trifecta of Willie, Waylon and Cash. George Strait might be a…
Technical Death Metal Don’t Come Any Finer Than Nile
Karl Sanders is a hidden gem in the world of metal, but only because his band, Nile, misses the mainstream by a long shot. Which is unfortunate for a band who features not only Sanders on guitar but drumming marvel George Kollias. Yet Nile as a whole remains unique both…
Now Is The Suffers’ Time to Shine
Kamerra “Kam” Franklin doesn’t seem like a singular bit of energy when you see her in person. She almost feels kinetic, a combination of 40 or 50 different singers who all pile inside her when the curtains rise and stay with her weeks after she walks offstage. She glows, radiates…
An Older, Wiser Michael Moore Invades Europe
“I’ve turned into this kind of crazy optimist,” Michael Moore admits in his new documentary Where to Invade Next, his first film in six years. At 61, the gadfly savant has mellowed. Instead of charging into rooms, he shuffles, the American flag wrapped around his shoulders like a grandmother’s shawl…
Bipolar Love Rages Through the Urgent Touched With Fire
Grown-ups may wince, but Paul Dalio’s earnest, ambitious manic-poet romance Touched With Fire is a gift to the young and passionately creative, to the brains-a-poppin’ kids caught up in invention and each other and the invention of each other. You don’t have to be bipolar to get caught up yourself…
Straight White Men May Bend Your Mind
Playwright Young Jean Lee is known for tackling subjects about people who are unlike her. In Straight White Men making its regional premiere at Stages Repertory Theatre, the Koren-American Lee, writes about exactly what the title suggests, and used actors and focus groups to help her get close to the…
Beyoncé’s “Formation” Celebrates a Woman at the Height of Her Power
Beyoncé moves in the same way a war general does. It’s never one singular act with the 34-year-old pop diva. If she’s releasing an album, you’re getting videos for every track. If she’s performing at the Super Bowl, the entire game is going to feel different once she leaves. This…
J.J. Watt Is Damn Near Immortal, Wins Third NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award
Amidst a season where his team started off 2-5, and then a stretch run where he was playing with essentially one hand, throughout the season J.J. Watt still maintained his usual super human level of energy and, aside from the three one-handed weeks, his super human level of production. Still,…
Behind The Brick & Mortar Kitchen Review: A Change on Your Part May Constitute an Emergency on Ours
As a restaurant critic and food writer, occasionally my world collides with my husband Chuck’s, who is a professional food photographer. We’re used to it. Over the course of our 22-year marriage, we’ve run a graphic design business and an IT company together. When one or the other of us…
No, Houston Will Not Make a Lot of Money Hosting the Super Bowl
The clock is ticking for Houston. The Super Bowl returns in one year, and with it, the chance to wipe away memories of Janet Jackson’s nipple-slip. And it’s another year until the NFL media shows up and whines about how spread out the hotels are, how bad the traffic is,…
The Good, the Bad and the WTF? Your Super Bowl 50 Commercials Recap
Did you watch Super Bowl 50 because you’re a big fan of the Broncos or Panthers? Doubtful. Did you watch it because you were cheering for former Texans like Gary Kubiak, Wade Wilson, and Owen Daniels? Then you’re suffering from the NFL equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome. Do you appreciate the…
The Sound of Music Arrives With More Politics and All the Songs
It was 1938. World War II hadn’t happened yet and the Austrian people were right on the verge of being taken over by Germany and its Nazis. They had no idea what to expect. In many ways, the same questions are being asked today about what any country should do,…
Charged With a Crime? You Might Be Paying a Court Fee That Is Basically Un-Enforceable
Seventeen-year-old Malik Walker was in a 7-11 convenience store one day when police stormed in and arrested a group of younger boys from his high school. They had just run away from a burglary and into the store, and while police found nothing on Walker, according to his court-appointed attorney,…
Super Bowl 50: Broncos 24, Panthers 10 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
Well, unless you were among those who had wagered on Denver and the points or the under, that was about the most hideous Super Bowl of all time last night. The Denver Broncos, behind a defensive touchdown, a 4 yard drive for another touchdown, three field goals, and a tsunami…
An Intriguing Story Is Not in the Cards for 52 Pick Up
The set up: Do we ever tire of relationship stories? Of inspecting and dissecting the details of romantic commitments? The permutations of being and then perhaps not being with that special someone floods everything from our music to our literature to our coffee talk. And yes, of course, the stage…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Chocolate, King Cakes and Wine in Store
All Week Long Chocolate Festival at Central Market Head over to Central Market, 3815 Westheimer, to pick out the perfect sweets (and not-so-sweets) for your sweetie. The special offerings for the chocolate festival include dark chocolate butter, five-chili and cocoa-seasoned ribeye steaks and smoked paprika cocoa dry-rubbed chicken breasts. Monday,…
Dish of the Week: Sole Meunière
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. With Lent about to begin, we’re sharing a fish dish perfect for your meat-free Friday: Sole Meunière. Meunière is a French term for both…
MFAH Puts on the Ritz With Art Deco Style
There’s a reason we get all fired up when iconic architectural landmarks are threatened. From the modernistic design of Houston’s City Hall, to the Gothic-inspired JPMorgan Chase & Co. skyscraper to the beloved River Oaks Theatre, the symmetrical, machine-inspired designs of the popular Art Deco movement remind us of a…
NASA Says Asteroid May Buzz Earth in March
NASA scientists announced that an asteroid will be swinging by Earth next month, possibly coming within 11,000 miles of the planet. If you think 11,000 miles doesn’t sound that impressive, that translates to 266,422 Astrodomes (stacked), 101,894 San Jacinto Monuments, 57,964 Chase Towers, or 289 stretched out Loop 610s. When it was first spotted…
Houston Barbecue Icon Jim Goode Dies at Age 71
As reported in the Houston Chronicle obituaries, the father of Houston’s most iconic barbecue joint and a family restaurant empire has passed away at age 71. In 1977, native Texan James Douglas “Jim” Goode opened the first Goode Co. BBQ on Kirby Drive. Thank your lucky stars for that, because…
The Future Looks Very Bright for Alessia Cara
Alessia Cara Warehouse Live February 5, 2016 Want to feel better about the future of pop music? Go see Alessia Cara in concert. While the masses were still raving about Taylor Swift and the critics were (admittedly correctly) fawning over Carly Rae Jepsen, Cara quietly released one of the best…
No Pain, No Gain: New Interchange at 59/610 Will Test Our Traffic Patience
Anyone who has had the unfortunate luck of spending even a few minutes on Highway 290 between the North Loop and Cypress knows that gridlock can be a relative term. As the expansion of the ever congested thoroughfare continues through the end of 2017, all Houston drivers can do is…
The Only National Food Holidays That Matter
The “national food day” gimmick is out of control. These days, there’s everything from National Cream Puff Day to National French Fried Clam Day. There’s even a Turkey Neck Soup Day. It’s an overdone marketing technique that’s just not very creative. (If you’re curious as to how many silly food…
In Defense of Gloria Steinem
In an interview with Bill Maher Friday evening, long-time feminist icon and political activist, Gloria Steinem seemed to make a misstep of enormous proportions. When responding to Bernie Sander’s widespread popularity among female millennials, Steinem was quoted as saying, “When you’re young, you’re thinking, ‘Where are the boys?’ The boys…
Music’s Hilarious Influence on the 2016 Presidential Campaign
Anyone following either the Republican or Democratic primaries this year has been treated to one of the funniest circus acts we’ve had in American politics in a long time. While candidates on both sides could either be seen as incredibly scary or as total jokes, depending on your personal views,…
Shows of the Week: That Lil’ Ol’ Band From East L.A. Is Back
LOW Walters Downtown, February 8 Low’s purposeful, quietly intense music has made them one of indie-rock’s most admired minimalists since 1994 debut I Could Live In Hope, which marked the dawn of the Minnesota trio’s oft-copied “slowcore” aesthetic. Such broad strokes also tend to paint Low as overly dour and narcoleptic; there may be some truth…
Five Reasons Your Lead Singer Sucks
Anyone who has ever been in a rock band has had to learn how to get along with other band members, and let’s face it, that’s not always an easy thing to do. For every rock musician who is a responsible individual showing up for rehearsals and gigs without stirring…
All the Way Delivers a History Lesson on Underhanded Politics for a Good Cause
The set-up: Robert Schenkkan’s political behemoth All the Way is more freighter than sleek ocean liner. This sprawling tanker can only travel one way – forward – with no ability to maneuver and turn around, or even glide effortlessly. Everything is gray and ash, utilitarian, no curves. Load on the…
Lamb of God Leads Houston’s Best Metal Show of 2016 So Far
Lamb of God, Anthrax, Deafheaven, Power Trip Revention Music Center February 4, 2016 The deep rumblings, screams, and thrashing bass beats emanating from Revention Music Center Thursday night came from a lineup of bands that delivered Houston’s best metal show in 2016 so far. Anyone in earshot of any band in this…
Top 10 Super Bowl One-Hit Wonders (w/ VIDEO)
In the NFL, it’s a long season, and on the aggregate, over the long haul, the great players certainly steer the tone of the season and put their teams in position to win a Super Bowl. However, football can be an awfully random games, and on a play to play…
Sheriff Hickman Shoots the Messenger, Pushes Back on Chron Jail Series
Late last month Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman raised eyebrows when, at the end of a presentation to commissioners court, he announced he was shuffling around some very critical staff: he’d lowered the number jail compliance inspectors and disbanded a team of “proactive” investigators dedicated to rooting out the type…
Super Bowl 50: Five Best Prop Bets And Prediction
The Super Bowl is 48 hours away, and normally I’d say the time for talk is over, but there’s been almost zero talk between these two teams during this buildup week. The Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos have both handled their business in the most professional manner possible, which really…
University of Houston Main Campus Recognized Nationally for Its Beauty
Longtime Houston residents are pretty used to beautiful photographs taken on the Rice University campus with its rolling lawns, porticoes and tree-lined pathways. Less well known — but clearly this is about to change — is the University of Houston’s main campus which has been working hard in the last…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Lobster Rolls & Game Day Watch Parties
Lobster Friday @ Bernie’s Burger Bus Friday, 11 a.m. 5407 Bellaire, 2643 Commercial Center #320 (Katy) Bernie’s Burger Bus will welcome the hordes again for #LobsterFriday, where fans can get lobster poutine and Maine-style lobster rolls at both locations in Bellaire and Cinco Ranch. Chef Justin Turner’s famous Maine-style lobster roll…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Described This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: “Is this the end of Zombie Shakespeare?” Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three-and-a-half D’arcys out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Zoms nom in pom rom com. Tagline: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains…
Activists Tell Houston to Stop Subsidizing Crappy Jobs
Former Governor Rick Perry liked to refer to Texas’s economic growth throughout the mid-aughts as “the Texas Miracle.” Back in ’03, the state started awarding a ton of grant money and tax incentives to big business in exchange for the promise that they’d create more jobs for Texans. But when…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Valentine’s Treats & BBQ Deals
On Tuesday, February 9, celebrate Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday with a King Cake Cupcake from Ooh La La Dessert Boutique, available at all three bakery locations. From Wednesday, February 10 through Sunday, February 14, treat your loved ones to Valentine’s Cuddle Fest at Phoenicia Specialty Foods and MKT BAR,…
Openings and Closings in Houston: Beaver’s Expands, Piqueo Rebrands
Little Liberty, brought to you by the F.E.E.D. TX Restaurant Group, is now open at 2365 Rice in the former Ruggles Cafe & Bakery spot. Its offerings are very similar to the other Liberty Kitchen concepts, but the location is just a bit more little. The description on its Facebook…
Eastdown Warehouse Remembers Big Gerb This Weekend
According to Eastdown Warehouse’s Adam Rodriguez, his friend Gerardo Martinez, Jr. could have been a comedian. He had a quick wit and won people over easily. Fortunately for Houston rap fans, Martinez chose music instead. As Big Gerb, he was one of the city’s most promising young artists. When he died…
Congress Scolds NASA, Underscoring How Far We Are From Mars
It seemed like Congress was finally in the mood to appreciate NASA. After all, the federal space agency has been doing the kind of work that gets a space agency noticed the past couple of years. It pulled off the first launch of the Orion spacecraft in 2014, and then…
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Lunar New Year and Mardi Gras
Part picker, part visionary, Thorsten Brinkmann sees the hidden beauty in discarded objects and has created an imaginary world where golf balls are juggled into wall art, vases serve as human heads and the ordinary becomes extraordinary. “[Brinkmann] has exclusively collected objects here for this installation, and so he’s visited…
Your Pop Culture Sanders vs Clinton Memes are Sexist and Unfunny
So a new wave of memes has been making the rounds on social media comparing Bernie Sanders to Hillary Clinton on issues like jet skis and space vampires. It started out as a joke campaign by Obvious Plant, and then spread as other people picked up the gag. At first…
Bob McNair’s Eloquent Treatise on Native Americans
One of the last times we checked in with Texans owner Bob McNair, he was shoveling money to bigots trying to kill a city ordinance that gave minorities and people his age extra protection from discrimination. Of course, the HERO ordinance, which was actually on the books for a…
Houston Mourns Warehouse Live Production Manager Morrow “L.A.” Potts
When a person passes, you can find a story in the pages of their life that conveys the impact they had on this world. Last Mother’s Day, Lorina Norris, who lives in Riverside, Calif. got a call from her son in Houston, who told her that a cake was on…
Willie Nelson’s Advice Pays Off Big for Kinky Friedman
Former candidate for governor and agriculture commissioner Richard “Kinky” Friedman comes to the Mucky Duck tonight on the heels of a slew of wonderful reviews for his first album of fresh material in 37 years, The Loneliest Man I Ever Met. When we recently caught up with him at his…
Sara Fitzgerald Speaks: “It Was Like a Black Box Man Cave in Here”
With all the uproar surrounding Fitzgerald’s this week, it’s only fitting to hear from the owner herself. Sara Fitzgerald is no stranger to the ups and downs of the music business. At the helm of the historic Heights venue since 1978, Fitzgerald has witnessed every trend in the Houston music…
The 10 Sundance Movies to Watch for in 2016
The biggest story at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was the record-breaking bidding war for The Birth of a Nation, a prestige biopic about rebellious slave Nat Turner. When Fox Searchlight snatched it for $17.5 million — $5 million more than any other flick in the festival’s history — their…
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Only Fitfully Comes to Life
You’re probably right if you think you might get a couple laughs out of a movie titled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. You’re also right if you’ve guessed that this gung-ho but cruddy-looking mashup fails from A to Z: It’s neither good Austen nor good zombie flick. But in those…
The Coens’ Hollywood Farce Hail, Caesar! Flames Out
A kick for those who’ve distractedly thumbed through Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon, Joel and Ethan Coen’s bustling comedy Hail, Caesar! looks back to the waning days of moviedom’s golden age: specifically, to 1951, when big-studio fixers were still tidying up the messes left by the talent (scrubbing now done by…
Scholars and Headbangers Agree: Thrash-Metal Greats Anthrax Are ‘Kings’
Thrash-metal veterans Anthrax are due to release their latest album, For All Kings, later this month. While many Houstonians wait in anticipation for the release, many will find themselves listening to the new tracks live tonight at Revention Music Center alongside with Lamb of God. Just as drummer, Charlie Benante…
De-Funding Planned Parenthood Was Really Bad for Low-Income Women in Texas
In case you haven’t heard, Texas officials really do not like Planned Parenthood. As part of their years-long effort to crush the women’s health care provider, they’ve done virtually all in their power to ensure no state or federal funding trickles down to, say, provide birth control, STD testing or…
Love and Information Explores Modern Love and Communication
We meet. We talk. We exchange information ranging from the mundane to the catastrophic. It takes minutes, no more. And then we do something else. Abandoning the normal narrative story structure, playwright Caryl Churchill instead recreated these familiar life patterns in a 57-part series of vignettes in Love and Information,…
University of Houston Signs Killer Recruiting Class, Dominates Social Media
If you’re looking for a case study in the transformative effects that one great leader can have on an enterprise, you needn’t go any further than a short drive down I-45 to the Cullen exit and watch University of Houston head coach Tom Herman work. Yeah, like you didn’t already…
Menu of Menus® 2016 Is Coming and the Presale Starts Now! [UPDATED]
Last year, over 2,000 attendees enjoyed the annual Houston Press Menu of Menus® Extravaganza presented by Stella Artois. Our favorite food event returns for its 14th year on April 5, 2016. This year features an all-new Iron Fork competition with a new emcee and a new set of competitors, too…
Surprise! Anti-HERO Architect Jared Woodfill Wants to be State GOP Chairman
On Wednesday, Jared Woodfill, the former Harris County Republican Party chairman, announced his run to be chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, as pretty much everyone has anticipated. It is “time to fight the good fight!” he says. Woodfill warned in an email to supporters announcing his candidacy that…
Police Still Seeking Clues in Craft Beer Distributor’s Murder
Three years ago this week, Ash Rowell, a 35-year-old father of three, opened the door of his Montrose home to his killer. The well-liked face of craft beer distributor Duff Beer, Rowell took a bullet, and then staggered into his family room and collapsed. His wife, Lesli, was in the…
Could This Court Ruling Endanger Workers in the Ship Channel?
Javier Delgado had been welding for about an hour the morning of June 2, 2012 when his torch hit either oil or vapor still lingering in the pipe. The resulting explosion at Oiltanking Houston, a crude oil storage terminal in Channelview, was so forceful it decapitated Delgado, a father of…
Jennie C. Jones at CAMH: Combining Art and Sound in Engaging Ways
As a kid growing up in Cincinnati Ohio, Jennie C. Jones was exposed to music from a very early age, through both music lessons and her mother’s record collection, but it wasn’t until the artist was in her early 30s that she began to incorporate sound and audio devices into…
Lamb of God Storms Back into Houston Thursday
The list of American heavy metal bands that have enjoyed more 21st-century success than Virginia’s Lamb of God is a very short one indeed. Since their commercial breakthrough with As the Palaces Burn in 2003, the thrashy, growling headbangers have released a string of five more albums, sold millions of…
Made in Houston: A List of Excellent Valentine’s Day Treats
For Valentine’s Day, consider spreading some love not just to those near and dear, but also to Houston’s local economy. The Bayou City is home to talented chocolatiers, great pastry chefs and excellent retailers who make and sell outstanding treats. Here’s a list of where to buy beautiful, tasty Valentine’s…
Don’t Worry, Everyone, Greg Abbott Is Totally Against Rape
A group of assholes promoting the legalization of rape are staging some meetings across the country this weekend, including in cities throughout Texas, prompting our fearless leader Gov. Greg Abbott to wag his official gubernatorial finger. Apparently there are actual human beings who exist and publicly say that rape should…
10 Houston Bars That Would Make Great Movie Sets
Has anyone ever used that old “my life could be a movie” line on you? Have you ever used it on anyone else? Few among us indeed are immune to the occasional daydream that your life is actually being scripted, and you sure would like the director to yell “Cut!”…
Measuring the Fallout From This Week’s Fitzgerald’s Implosion
If you were anywhere near the Internet or social media Wednesday, you felt the quake coming directly from beloved Houston music venue Fitzgerald’s. Dozens of Facebook feeds showed photos of the damage left behind: toilet paper strewn across the upstairs area, and Satanic graffiti scrawled all over one of the…
My Baby Mama Is a Prostitute. Help!
MY BABY MAMA IS A PROSTITUTE Dear Willie D: My baby mama is a prostitute that blames me for her problems. I’m trying to get a job, but can’t bring in the money she does so she knocks me all the time. Because she leaves me with the kids, I…
Bad Things Have Been Going Down at Fitzgerald’s [Updated]
The Houston Press is still figuring out all the details, but it appears things have come to a head over at Fitzgerald’s. The building’s now-former occupants have apparently been evicted by their landlord, Sara Fitzgerald, which we have confirmed with multiple sources today, but these photos pretty much say it…
Harris County Leads Country in Exonerations. Again.
For the second year in a row, Harris County leads the country in recorded exonerations—and nearly all of them were for drug convictions, according to the latest annual report from the National Registry of Exonerations released today. In 2015, Harris County cleared the names of 42 people who originally pled…
Arian Foster Instagrams That He Can Begin Jogging
On a sunny October afternoon in Miami, in the waning moments of a blowout loss to the Dolphins, Texans running back Arian Foster was split out into the slot in an empty backfield formation. The ball was snapped, Foster took one step forward, and in an instant he crumbled to…
Tap Jammin’ Brings Razzle-Dazzle to Dance Month in Houston
Dance enthusiasts attending the Tap Jammin’ program — part of Dance Month at the Kaplan — should bring their tap shoes along and get ready to show off their own stuff. Tap Jammin’ brings together tap-dance legend and Lawrence Welk show alum Arthur Duncan, Austin-based Acia Gray’s Tapestry Dance Company…
Son of Episcopal Priest Gets Life Sentence for Killing Parents and 5-year-old Brother
In New Orleans on January 31, 2015, a cab driver picked up a young man with three cellphones. He was talking on speaker on one of them, telling a man with a heavy accent that he had to get out of town. The guy said needed a new phone, too,…
Officials Confirm Sexually Transmitted Zika Case in Dallas
The first locally-transmitted Zika case was confirmed in Dallas County on Tuesday. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported the first case of Zika virus disease contracted in Texas, involving a Dallas County resident who had sexual contact with someone who acquired the Zika infection while traveling abroad. Case…
Buying Beer, Part 3: Seasonal and Limited Beers [UPDATED]
We’ve covered readily-available beer, both that which should be consumed immediately (Part 1) and those that are good candidates for cellaring (Part 2). Now we’re going to start getting into beers that aren’t quite as easy to find. That said, the seasonal beers in this list tend to be overlooked…
Living in a House Where No One Can Agree on the Temperature or Lights
I am essentially a mushroom that can type. I never turn on a single light in my house I don’t absolutely have to, and I once failed a question on a test in fourth grade because I said 80 degrees was a more comfortable temperature to be in than 70…
It’s Rude to Hog the Streaming Music in Your Car
Excluding the offenses that could get you a night’s lodging at the local jailhouse, which crimes are you most likely to commit in the car? Do you cram fast food into your hungry face while you’re literally single-handedly navigating a suddenly-treacherous-thanks-to-you roadway? Are you an insufferable ridealong who corrects your…
Texas Electricity Regulators Won’t Fix a $50 Million Mistake
Hot weather and blasted A/C might be two factors influencing your utility bill. But since utility prices in Texas are ultimately decided by a computer, not humans, consumers may have something else to worry about: computers making errors based on wrong information, which can make your utility bill to shoot…
New Tape Is Next Chapter in Doeman’s ‘Outer Body Experience’
Any story about Doeman begins and end with Southeast Houston. It’s what he’s known for two decades now. It’s where he was raised. Where he, his father and brothers all thought boxing would be the initial path to leaving. It isn’t inked on his skin the same way the DYNA…
HPD Chief Will Resign at the End of the Month
Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland on Tuesday announced his resignation after 39 years with the department and six years as top cop. Mayor Sylvester Turner broke the news at a press conference, saying the resignation would be effective at the end of February. McClelland was appointed by Turner’s predecessor, Annise…
Despite a Tortured Production Process, Jane Got a Gun Is Worth Its Salt
Jane Got a Gun’s reputation precedes it, but it shouldn’t define it. After a tortured production that included the departure of original director Lynne Ramsay (Morvern Callar, We Need to Talk About Kevin) and a revolving door of leading men, the Western arrives in theaters long after popular opinion declared…
The Tick Speaks: Patrick Warburton Talks Venture Brothers, Male Modeling and the Time Family Guy Went Too Far
Patrick Warburton is that rare voice actor who looks like he sounds. His imposing, muscular physique complements his deep basso voice, but his warm tone gives a touch of soul to his many memorable performances as lunkheaded alpha males. Quite likely your ears perk up when you hear him. He…
The Coens’ Hollywood Farce Hail, Caesar! Flames Out
A kick for those who’ve distractedly thumbed through Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon, Joel and Ethan Coen’s bustling comedy Hail, Caesar! looks back to the waning days of moviedom’s golden age: specifically, to 1951, when big-studio fixers were still tidying up the messes left by the talent (scrubbing now done by…
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is Neither Good Austen or a Good Zombie Flick
You’re probably right if you think you might get a couple laughs out of a movie titled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. You’re also right if you’ve guessed that this gung-ho but cruddy-looking mashup fails from A to Z: It’s neither good Austen nor good zombie flick. But in those…
