Music Turkey of the Year: The Kanye/Rothko Chapel “New Slaves” Fiasco
Note: To go along with this year’s “Turkeys of the Year” Houston Press cover story, Rocks Off presents our choice — the aborted screenings of Kanye West’s “New Slaves” video on the sides of several Houston buildings, including the Rothko Chapel. This article was written by Nathan Smith. For the…
Potted Potter: A Gloriously Irreverent Show
The set-up: Under full disclosure I freely admit it: I’m a sucker for these zip-drive, silly British vaudevilles that take a beloved subject and kick it around unmercifully, like The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) or the Complete History of America (Abridged), both from the Reduced Shakespeare Company. In…
This Week’s Cafe Review: Morningside Thai Makes Great Thai Food…But Is It the Best?
Houstonians have a lot of big opinions, especially when it comes to food. When I first moved here, I was told that no matter what I write about burgers, barbecue or Tex-Mex, readers are going to challenge me because Houstonians hold these three things very dear. I have something to…
They’re Heeeeere….The 2013 Turkeys of the Year!
To gobble or not to gobble — that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the giblets and gravy of outrageous turkiness, or to throw up arms and just grab Whataburger. To sleep off the tryptophan — perchance to dream: ay, where’s the spicy rub? It’s…
Reality Bites: Buying Naked
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. Did you know Pasco Country, Florida is one of the largest nudist friendly areas in the country? Of course not, and why would you? Who seeks that kind of information…
Boobs Are Back? City Inks Deal to Allow Clubs to Go Topless, Provide Lap Dances Again
According to the Twitter feed of Janice Evans, the Director of Communications for Mayor Annise Parker, the city signed a deal today that will allow “gentleman’s” clubs to go topless again and allow lap dances previously prevented by the three-foot rule. The deal includes provisions for the creation of a…
Gary Clark Jr. at Warehouse Live, 11/26/2013
Gary Clark Jr. Warehouse Live November 26, 2013 Gary Clark Jr. is a stealthy kind of guitar hero. He won’t dazzle you with his fretwork very often (though he certainly could), but his subtle, brooding brand of blues doesn’t have to try very hard to loosen inhibitions. I witnessed behavior…
Does Anyone Prefer Gmail E-Mail Threads? I Thought Not
Since e-mail began, it was always sorted the same way. Every e-mail received ended up in an inbox including replies, forwards and everything else. Google has attempted to change all that by sorting emails in the form of a conversation thread. The idea is to make e-mail more like a…
How to Hide Your Turkey Gut and Other Dress Strategies for Success This Thanksgiving
In light of our recent questions about how, exactly, to dress on Thanksgiving Day, this seemed like the perfect time to offer our readers a definitive guide to dressing for the holidays. So how, exactly, does one “dress for success” for Thanksgiving dinner? That depends on the kind of Thanksgiving…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: Frozen
Title: Frozen So? Another Disney “Classic?” I’m less annoyed by Big Mouse calling everything a classic than I am their strategy of only releasing their movies “from the vault” at certain times. Kids don’t just decide they want to watch The Little Mermaid during your stupid windows of opportunity. Rating…
UPDATE: Lifting Photos for Commercial Use Still All Too Common Online
Update: The folks at 365thingstodoinhouston.com responded to me and agreed to remove the image or attribute it to me. I gave them permission to use it. They apologized and all’s well that ends well. It’s a Thanksgiving MIRACLE! Original Post The relationship between photographers and the Internet is complicated. On…
Fifteen Documentaries Released in 2013 That Help Explain the World
Beekeepers in More Than Honey.This year saw its share of incredible documentaries, but in 2013 the stand-outs are films that help flesh out the way we see the world. Below are 15 docs we suggest seeing, from the grisly to uplifting. Click on the name of the film to read…
Macklemore Has Something He Wants to Say
Last Sunday evening, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis accepted the award for Best Hip-Hop/Rap artist, one of six they were nominated for at the 2013 American Music Awards. But instead of a traditional speech, Macklemore (real name Ben Haggerty) took the opportunity to speak up against racial profiling via video feed…
Wine Insider: Pricing Extremes, Good and Bad, at Marco Wiles’s Dolce Vita and Vinoteca Poscol
In October, when Eating…Our Words published “Houston’s 10 Best Destinations for Wine,” a number of readers complained in the comment section that none of Marco Wiles’s restaurants had been included (his Da Marco was excluded, as were all “trophy wine” destinations; see the intro to the post for the explanation…
No More Issues: Houston’s Only Magazine Store Closes Today
I was sad to hear, a few weeks ago, that Houston’s only magazine store, Issues, would be closing at the end of the year. But I was even more dismayed to find out, while at lunch with a friend yesterday, that the store’s final day is actually today. If you’re…
Local Univision Channel Is the Most Watched Station in Houston
When you live in a city like Houston, it can be easy to forget just how diverse it actually is. Most of us have friends from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. Our co-workers and even family members don’t look like us and we embrace it. Houston is, after all…
This Week in Food Blogs: Cereal-and-Milk Cocktails, Apple Galettes and a Doughnut-Bacon Cheeseburger
Daily Details: Cocktail flavors can be quite inventive, but have these creations gone too far? Breakfast and cereal flavors are being made into cocktails at bars all around the world. This blog post from Daily Details shares insight into the cereal cocktails found in a variety of bars in the…
Thanksgivukkah Combines the Best of Both Holidays (Guilt Included)
There are certain events that will only occur once or so within our lifetimes. Such events include the Venus transit – when Venus moves past the sun – a back-to-back no hitter in baseball, which as of now was accomplished only in 1938 by Johnny Vander Meer of the Reds,…
The Top 5 2013 Political Topics to Avoid at Thanksgiving Dinner
In this age of pluralistic families, we are likely to encounter at our family Thanksgiving dinners folks of all political stripes. Perhaps you have a very conservative uncle/nephew/father, who thinks Obama is a raging socialist. Perhaps your younger sister is coming back from college imbued with a new sense of…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013: No. 65, Shorty Mac at H-Town StrEATS
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
100 Creatives: Dionne Sparkman Noble, Choreographer and Professor
What She Does: Ask Dionne Sparkman Noble what she does for a living and you might notice she takes a short pause before answering you. The pause, she explains, gives her time to decide which of her many job titles to use, because each title usually prompts more questions. “If…
Zapruder Analysis of a Fat, Drunk Chicago Bears Fan Smacking Into a Pole
Alcohol, like many mind-altering substances, has a tendency to take whatever your primary personality traits are and augment them. (I hesitate to say “enhance” them, because if your primary personality trait is “being an asshole,” then being a bigger asshole can hardly be seen as an “enhancement.”) If you’re a…
Woman Files Lawsuit Against Underbelly and The Pass & Provisions
As first reported by Houstonia Magazine, a former Underbelly server has filed a lawsuit against the popular Houston restaurant and its fellow award-winning eatery The Pass & Provisions, alleging “tortious interference, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.” According to court documents filed on November 13, the server, Rachel Johnston,…
GOOP: Gwyneth Paltrow’s Annual Xmas Shopping Guide as Unintentionally Hilarious as You Expected
I can’t figure out why I find Anne Hathaway’s insincerity so affected and annoying, while I find Gwyneth Paltrow’s total lack of self-awareness charming and amusing — it’s just the way things are, I guess. Maybe it’s because Gwyneth Paltrow is the product of Hollywood royalty (Blythe Danner and the…
Vote or Die: The Last VJ’s Top Five Videos of the Week
Welcome back to The Last VJ, music fans. Far be it from me to tell you not to go out and see some amazing live music this weekend, but there’s no getting around the fact that it is colder than a witch’s tit. That’s not conjecture, by the way. I…
Five Unknown Songwriters Who Deserve to Be Heard
Taylor Swift recently won her sixth straight Nashville Songwriters Award, as well as Artist of the Year at last Sunday’s American Music Awards. I’m no hater, but let that sink in for a minute. Six. In a row. Taylor Swift. I’m no one to disparage her talents. She writes good,…
Your Local Black Friday/Record Store Day Shopper’s Guide
Historically speaking, “Black Friday” is a phrase synonymous with discount hand-mixers and 5 a.m. tramplings at the local Walmart. By definition alone — so not hip. And while all of you normal folks — who would rather pay the extra $50 for a PS4 over pitching a tent in the…
