Dave Grohl Doc Sound City Screens at River Oaks January 31
For one night only, Dave Grohl’s Sound City flick will screen at the Landmark River Oaks on January 31. Tickets should be available for pre-sale on the Landmark site very soon. Rewind: Dave Grohl Releases Trailer for Nerd-Boner Doc Sound City Rocks Off has been tracking the film since it…
Sarah Tressler: Congrats on New Reporting Gig in San Antonio!
Just when we thought we’d never read any more reporting from our favorite stripper-journalist-professor, Sarah Tressler has landed a job with the San Antonio Express-News. Editor Mike Leary told us in an e-mail that Tressler was tapped to be part of the paper’s Go Team, which “covers breaking news, primarily…
Sources: Astros Blocked a Potential Deal That Would Have Brought CSN Houston, Rockets Games to DirecTV
According to sources with knowledge of the situation, the Houston Astros, who are part owners of Comcast SportsNet Houston along with the Houston Rockets and NBC, nixed an 11th-hour deal with DirecTV that could have put CSN Houston on the provider and delivered Rockets games to its subscribers at the…
Nesha Kraidieh: Mom Allegedly Shoots and Kills Couch-Sitting Son
The case is still developing, but according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, a mother allegedly took the life of her 19-year-old son as he sat on a couch. On Monday, Nesha Kraidieh and her son Phillip Vanshawn Apostolo became embroiled in an argument at a home in the 5000…
Today’s DVDs & Blu-rays: 5 Broken Cameras, Two Criterion Collection Classics and More
It’s hard not to get into the politics of 5 Broken Cameras. The documentary was made by Palestinian cameraman Emad Burnat and Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi and chronicles Burnat’s life in a West Bank village that’s threatened by Israeli settlements. Burnat bought his first camera to capture the birth of…
Home Infusing Liquor: Peanut Butter Bourbon
This is the second in a two-part series on home whiskey infusions, which make excellent gifts year-round and are a fun way to stock your bar aside from making simple syrups and shrubs. Check out part one on the basics of liquor infusions and a recipe for Apple Pie Whiskey…
Ty Segall: 2013’s Busiest Musician?
One would think that after releasing three albums in a year, an artist might consider taking a “hiatus”; anything from a drug binge to a bender in Mexico. Not Ty Segall, he doesn’t take breaks. He has formed yet another new project with guitarist Charlie Moothart, appropriately called Fuzz, and…
Houston Press Staff Writer Named a Co-Defendant in Swamplot vs. Mark Thuesen Suit
Craig Malisow of the Houston Press has been named a third-party defendant in a lawsuit that pits Swamplot against former homeowners’ association president Mark Thuesen and vice versa. On August 27, 2012, Laurence Albert, a co-founder of the real estate blog Swamplot, filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against Mark Thuesen,…
Don Giovanni: Not a Nice Guy But a Fun Role for Adrian Erod to Play
Adrian Erod, a baritone opera and lieder singer from Austria, has done The Marriage of Figaro, and Così Fan Tutti. But he was still missing one opera from the famous trio by Wolfgang Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, and that was Don Giovanni (Italian for Don Juan). On…
Songza: Can a “Musical Concierge” Match Your Mood?
“Working? Relaxing? At the gym? Songza plays you the right music at the right time.” Or so it thinks. I do a lot of weird stuff, Songza. As I write this, I am still nursing a swift kick in the feels after a brutally frustrating Sunday-evening Texans loss to the…
Robert Delane Moore: Angelina County Four Wheeler Thief Arrested for Meth Dealing As Well
When Angelina County Sheriff deputies rolled up on a suspicious vehicle Sunday, no doubt they were unsure as to what they would find. They were told there was a suspicious vehicle in the area, but when you’re deep in the heart of east Texas, ain’t no tellin’ what you’re gonna…
Are Other Nut Butters Healthier Than Peanut Butter?
I found myself a bit stumped last week when trying to decide which nut butter — peanut, almond or cashew — to choose as the spread for my Monster PBJ sandwich. The food truck offers all three, as well as gluten-free bread and other options for the truly discerning sandwich…
What Has Happened to Washington Avenue?
To be perfectly honest, I never much cared for Washington Avenue. Then again, I don’t have anything resembling what you might call a South Beach personality. I tend to shun velvet ropes and collared shirts after hours, and I definitely prefer either a band be onstage or to hang out…
Things Are Not Always What They Seem: The Illusion of the Precise and Liquescent Light at Wade Wilson Art and Anya Tish Gallery
Stand approximately 10 feet away from “I Told You So,” Todd Williamson’s canvas painting depicting a lone white line traveling horizontally across a dark background. Next to it, a grayish black line creeps vertically down the perpetual white space of “Grand, Precise, Illusion,” another Williamson canvas piece. Take a few…
Dean of Senate John Whitmire Praised for 40 Years of Service
Colleagues spent Monday afternoon lauding Sen. John Whitmire, known as the Dean of the Senate, for his 40 years of service in Texas elected office. The Texas Senate, more than any other elected body in Texas, knows how to do pomp and circumstances. It’s often a slower and frequently a…
Upcoming: Crystal Castles, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, K-Rino, Los Lobos, etc.
Alicia Keys: With Miguel., Mon., March 18, 7 p.m., $49.50-$125.00. Toyota Center, 1510 Polk, Houston. Almost Kings: With Surrender the Fall, Shaving Suzie., Sun., Feb. 3, 8 p.m., $10. Scout Bar, 18307 Egret Bay Blvd., Houston. Balmorhea: With BE Godfrey, Idyl., Sat., Feb. 9, 8 p.m., $10/$12. Walters, 1120 Naylor…
Deception: More Heroin Is Needed
This week’s Deception reminds us that when you find yourself in a web of lies, eventually you are going to get all tangled up, or whatever the saying is. Here are some things we learned this week: 1. Robert Bowers is evil. 2. Julian is the reason his dead sister…
Personal Pan Pizza? More Like Personal Pain Pizza
A few weeks ago I wrote about the horrors of a limited-release Pizza Hut perfume, which then had me thinking about my days working at a Pizza Hut kiosk when I was in college. Inside one of the dining halls was a Pizza Hut Express, where we cranked out personal…
Pop Rocks: You Better Hope These Aren’t the Aliens Hanging Around the Eagle Ford Shale
Yesterday it seemed like everyone — well, everyone with a vague connection to the oil business, so we’ll include the entire state of Texas — was atwitter over news that UFOs had been spotted hovering over the Eagle Ford Shale near the Mexican border: Strange things are afoot in the…
Visitor’s Guide: 7 Things About Houston We Bet You Won’t Find in Fodor’s
With Houston landing at number seven on the New York Times list of places to visit in 2013 last week, I decided to give you seven things not to look at when you visit on Monday. Today, I go for the opposite approach. Houston is not exactly a beauty queen…
The Rocks Off 100: Dwight Taylor Lee, the Wandering Bufalero
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. Who Are You? “I’m Dwight Taylor Lee, singer/songwriter/producer,” Lee introduces himself. “Member of Lazlo…
First Look at Fat Bao: Fusion Dumplings and Fried Avocado Sticks
I am an admitted, established sucker for fried avocado, roasted cauliflower and gua bao. So one would think that I’d be a sucker for Fat Bao, too, the new fusion restaurant specializing in bao — steamed buns folded like half-moons into what are essentially the Chinese version of finger sandwiches…
Shane Trumble: Extensive Child Porn Collection and Kids’ Underwear Found in New Caney Trailer Home (This Is So Wrong)
This dude’s alleged actions are grosser than grossest. It also may be disturbing to some readers — you’ve been warned. At approximately 6 p.m. Wednesday, Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constables requested a search of the New Caney motor home occupied by Shane Anthony Trumble, his father and his grandmother, Cynthia…
The 5 Most Important Years in Goth Music: 1983
All this week, Rocks Off will be looking at the biggest years for goth music and exactly what they meant for the genre. Just as Bauhaus was breaking up, a place in England opened up whose gothic importance cannot be overstated. Beginning in 1982, the Batcave intended to bring about…
5 Beloved Pop Cultures Seen Through the Eyes of White Supremacists (sNSFW)
I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you’re not an insane Neo-Nazi, even though statistically speaking someone reading this right now probably is one. Here’s how I know that. A little bit back in my coverage of American Horror Story: Asylum, I mentioned how a…
What’s Cooking on Pinterest? Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes
I’ve never liked making ordinary white, vanilla or chocolate cupcakes; they need some extra pizazz or an interesting ingredient for me to want to make them. I stumbled upon these cupcakes a while back on Pinterest, but never really thought to try to make them. It was definitely one of…
As a Quarterback, Matt Schaub Is the Worst Kind of High-Maintenance Chick
“What if this is the best I’ll ever look, the best I’ll ever be, the best I’ll ever do-and it’s not very good?” — Mitch Robbins in City Slickers For the Houston Texans, 2012 was supposed to be better than 2011. I suppose if you want to take the term…
Glorious Sideboob Goes Above Ground at the Golden Globes
Last night social media was buzzing around the Golden Globes, first at Jodie Foster’s glowing Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award acceptance speech (where she came out of the closet again) and, of course, the copious sideboob all over the awards event itself. And not just sideboob, but also inner…
Pink Floyd’s 10 Best Pre-Dark Side of the Moon Tracks
In anticipation of the upcoming 40th anniversary of Dark Side of the Moon, originally released in March 1973, we here at Rocks Off would like to remind you all that Pink Floyd existed for some years before that monumental album. While the band experienced some success, they of course never…
Top 10 Restaurants in River Oaks
The last time we tackled the Top 10 restaurants in River Oaks, Tony Mandola’s was still open in what is now Brasserie 19’s spot in the River Oaks Shopping Center. Needless to say, things have changed a bit in three years. And in spite of its ritzy exterior, River Oaks…
UPDATED: Pearl Bar Visited By Comptroller Saturday Night
UPDATED (Tuesday, 9:09 a.m.) with clarification from TABC. UPDATE 2 (Wednesday, 1:45 p.m.): R.J. DaSilva of the state comptroller’s office said his office had conducted a “limited seizure” operation at Pearl Bar Saturday. According to sources in the Washington Avenue bar scene, Pearl Bar (4216 Washington) was raided and shut…
Woodlands Pavilion Moves Up to World’s No. 2 Amphitheater, Says Pollstar
Houston’s edgy restaurants and diverse museums may have drawn the attention of The New York Times, but both alternative and classic rockers, plus brawny country stars, scattered boy bands and Latin lovers, drew enough people through the turnstiles of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion that concert-industry tracker Pollstar has just…
Weekly Weather: Here’s Your Cold Weather, Complainers
Right around Christmas, all anyone seemed to be able to talk about was how warm it was. “It doesn’t feel like the holidays when it is warm outside” was the familiar refrain online and off. Oh, to have the glorious cold winter weather to make us feel like celebrating. Well,…
Saturday Night: Ray Price at Stafford Centre
Ray Price Stafford Centre January 12, 2013 Ray Price has seen scoundrels, outlaws and pop-star pretty boys rule over country music for most of his lifetime, but he sounds determined to go out the same gentlemanly crooner he’s always been, the picture of stoicism to the last. Price, who celebrated…
“Partay Garage” in Heights Area Not Exactly What I Expected
When friend and former Houston Press colleague John Nova Lomax told me about a place he rode by in the Heights called “Partay Garage,” I was immediately intrigued. I rushed to the Web site and it appeared to literally be a garage you could rent to throw a “partay.” Perhaps…
Moon Tower Inn Reopens After 15 Months, Ragged Edges Still Intact
The T-shirt I woke up in on Sunday morning came from Moon Tower Inn, but not in typical fashion. This isn’t one of their “Come and Take It” or “UGHDK” shirts. The tattered sleeveless Misfits shirt once belonged to former Moon Tower bartender Bryan Jackson. He and I were so…
Spare Change: Armed Robbers Hold Up Convenience Store, Net $20
Police in Brownsville say two armed robbers entered a Stripes Convenience Store on Friday and robbed it at gunpoint. One of the two, wearing a “baby blue sweater with a hood” (aw, cute!), went behind the counter and pointed a gun at the cashier before grabbing about $20 in cash…
This Camelot Boasts Younger Actors and Real Swords on Stage (Paramedics Standing By)
The time of Camelot with all its passion starting with the love triangle between Arthur, Lancelot and Guenevere was also a time of epic battles, says director Richard Stafford. So in this production of Camelot for Theatre Under the Stars, Stafford decided to employ real broadswords in the fight scenes…
Texans-Patriots: The 10 Last Rapper Tweets of the Season
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in the sight of God and his company, to mourn the loss our valiant football heroes, the United-States-Houston-Texas Texans. They were taken from us too soon, to be sure. But know that theirs was a lush, well-lived life full of successes earned and…
[PHOTO] The Day After: Wondering If the Guy with the Texans-Themed Truck Has Regrets
Boy oh boy oh boy, Sunday was a tough day for football fans in Houston. The Texans got crushed once again by the New England Patriots in Foxboro, this time ending their season on a decidedly down note. Our own Abrahán Garza happened to spy this Texans-themed truck with the…
Friday Night: Whitechapel and Emmure at Fitzgerald’s
Whitechapel, Emmure Fitzgerald’s January 11, 2013 While Houston’s past three generations of metalheads gathered at Warehouse Live for sludge supergroup Down’s biennial stop through town, the youngest generation –throngs of deathcore fans — packed Fitzgerald’s to the rafters to see three of the biggest names in the genre. Since doors…
Are All Girls Really the Crazy Bitches TV Makes Us Out to Be?
Yesterday, Season Two of HBO’s beloved anti-Sex and the City Lena Dunham vehicle Girls premiered. The media is somewhat torn over the show. The Los Angeles Times described it as “hard to love,” while The Hollywood Reporter called it a “brilliant gem.” There was original backlash then backlash to the…
Liquor Infusion for Dummies, Plus How to Make Apple Pie Whiskey
This is the first in a two-part series on home whiskey infusions, which make excellent gifts year-round and are a fun way to stock your bar aside from making simple syrups and shrubs. If you have ever been to El Gran Malo, you probably have an idea of just how…
Mini-Madoff Sentenced to Ten Years for $7.8 Million Fraud
For ten years, a Houston attorney told friends and prospective investors he was involved in real estate investment. But the money collected merely fed a Ponzi scheme that federal prosecutors say cost more than 20 victims $7.8 million. On Friday, Bill F. Davis was sentenced to ten years in prison…
Moore’s Opera Center Opens Spring Season With Italian Love and Russians Vying For an Apartment
Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston starts its spring season traditionally and otherwise with The Marriage of Figaro and Moscow, Cheryomushki. The first is a romantic successor to The Barber of Seville, written by Mozart and sung in Itallian with subtitles. The second is a much lesser known…
Friday Night: B.B. King at House of Blues
B.B. King House of Blues January 11, 2013 “An abbreviated hour with a legend is still very magical, even if it doesn’t live up to expectations.” — me, October 2011 There is no dispute, Mr. Riley B. King embodies the blues moreso than anyone has ever embodied anything, ever. He…
Visitor’s Guide: 7 Things We Don’t Want You to See When You Come to Houston
Last week, many were surprised — some even perplexed — to see our beloved city on the annual New York Times list of places to visit in 2013. Houston was number seven on a list of 46 that included Rio, Amsterdam, Singapore, Hawaii’s Big Island, Oslo, Bangkok and Paris. Yes,…
$7 Well-Spent at Monster PBJ
I was fully prepared to turn my nose up at Monster PBJ. A $7 peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Prepared with your choice of locally sourced breads, nut butters and jams? It sounded like a Portlandia episode. “We can pickle that!” I love it when I’m wrong. I’m officially here…
The Submission: A Story of Ensnarement Caused by Misguided Intentions
The set-up: In The Submission, a young, gay white playwright writes a play about an African-American family struggling to escape from “The Projects” and submits it to the Humana Theatre Festival under the pseudonym of a black female to increase its chance of acceptance. Complications ensue. The execution: These complications…
Friday Night: Down and Warbeast at Warehouse Live
Down, Warbeast, Honky Warehouse Live January 11, 2013 “Seems like we just played here,” said Philip Anselmo as he surveyed the crowded Warehouse Live ballroom from the stage on Friday night. The feeling was understandable: The singer’s band, Down, had indeed played the same stage just eight scant months ago…
Man Who Bit Off Woman’s Ear in Beaumont Probably Not Mike Tyson
Some days just don’t go the way you want. There you are, in line at a convenience store, minding your own business, just trying to buy some Skittles and beef jerky, and out of nowhere, some dude sneaks up behind you and bites your damn ear off! You’d be surprised…
The Boys in the Band: A Gay Family Sticking Together
The set-up: Mart Crowley’s historic gay play The Boys in the Band (1968) is the mother of them all. When it premiered off-Broadway a full year before the seminal Stonewall riots, Crowley’s acid-dipped drama shocked theater-goers with its full frontal assault. No one had ever been this close to a…
What’s Cooking This Week? Chicken Paprikas, Black Bean Quesadillas & 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…
5 Music-Themed Petitions For the White House
We now know definitively that the United States government will not be building a Death Star, at least not under the Obama administration. We know this because enough citizens signed an online petition on the subject that the administration had to respond. Like all good things on the Internet, We…
(UPDATED) Menil To Remove Controversial Art Guys Piece From Its Collection Property
Update: The Menil Collection has clarified that The Art Guys Marry a Plant has not been removed from its collection, just moved from its property. And “The Art Guys Marry a Plant” saga continues. Less than two years after the Menil Collection acquired a controversial piece by the Houston duo…
UTMB Pays Fine in Animal Welfare Act Allegations
Three University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston employees have been fired, and the university has agreed to pay $9,143 relating to allegations of Animal Welfare Act violations. Under the settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the university did not admit or deny any wrongdoings in what the USDA stated…
What Are the 30 Seminal Texas Restaurants?
After reading Chris Gray’s recent feature (“The Texas 30”) on the 30 best Texas albums of the last 30 years, the question of the 30 best Texas restaurants naturally arose at the Houston Press offices. But not just the best — the most seminal. What are the restaurants that are…
The 5 Most Important Years In Goth Music: 1979
All this week, Rocks Off will be looking at the biggest years for goth music, and exactly what they meant for the genre. Like any good structure, goth is built on the foundations of other previous cultures. You can walk back through David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and…
Whoever They Hire, the New Astros Radio Broadcasters Have Their Work Cut Out for Them
The Astros television broadcast booth was finalized last week. Bill Brown will return at the primary play-by-play voice. Alan Ashby will be the primary color analyst. When Brown doesn’t work (he’s doing a reduced schedule this season), then Ashby will do the play-by-play and he’ll be joined in the broadcast…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Week
The Helio Sequence Walters, January 15 The Helio Sequence’s indie cred was secured when affable hipster tastemaker Fred Armisen (SNL, Portlandia) recently named last year’s Negotiations to his Top 10 list, alongside albums by Bob Mould, Guided by Voices and Dirty Projectors. Only the Portland duo’s third full-length in a…
Steven Petronio Crafts Haunting Dance From Nick Cave’s Music in Underland
The Setup In 2003, Sydney Dance Company commissioned Steven Petronio to create a ballet for them. Inspired by the music of Australian musician Nick Cave, his collaborator on this work, Petronio conceived Underland, a chilling piece exploring the dark motifs of Cave’s music. The Sydney Dance Company’s license on Underland…
What Does “Comfort Food” Mean Across the World?
“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” — Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin A lot of people have a problem with the term “comfort food.” It’s far too arbitrary, they argue. It changes from one part of the world to the next. Ice cream and brownies…
Patriots 41, Texans 28: Offense Turns Offensive On Big Stage. Again.
Check out our photos from the final Houston Texans watch parties of the year. Ignore the main box score numbers. Forget the 425 total yards for Houston and the 28 points. Same for the 41 placed in the New England column. In the big picture, it’s more of the same…
Your 2013 Golden Globes Liveblog: Revenge Of The Golden Bozos
I hate to go all deja vu on you, but just like last year, the Golden Globes are taking place the same days as a Houston Texans divisional playoff game. And like last year, the Texans are going home while the Patriots and Ravens play for the AFC Championship. So…
Game-Day Snacks: Buffalo Chicken Nachos
Note: This is a rerun of a post from earlier this year in which Eating…Our Words blogger Brooke Viggiano shares a favorite tailgating recipe in honor of game day. When it comes to game-time snacks, there’s really nothing better than hot wings and nachos. …or is there? What’s the only…
Game-Day Snacks: Homemade Corn Dogs
Note: This is a rerun of a post from earlier this year in which Eating…Our Words blogger Brooke Viggiano shares a favorite tailgating recipe in honor of game day. A classic hot dog is good and all. But you know what’s better? A Corn dog, corn dog, corn dog, corn…
Texas Tailgating: Atomic Deer Turds
Note: This is a rerun of a post from 2008 in which former Houston Press food critic Robb Walsh shares a favorite tailgating recipe in honor of game day. Tailgaters love to stuff jalapeños with cheese (usually cream cheese) and wrap meat around them. To make “atomic buffalo turds,” you…
Alicia Keys, Miguel Hit Toyota Center March 18
The R&B show of 2013 thus far. This makes a certain member of the Rocks Off crew even happier he’s sitting out SXSW than he already was. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. next Friday through houstontoyotacenter.com, and Citi Private Pass has the pre-sale exclusive honors…
Monster Jam Invades Reliant Stadium This Weekend and Next
As the Houston Texans buckle down for this weekend’s do-or-die against the New England Patriots, just steps away, 3,500 yards of dirt are being fashioned into a monster truck course for the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam on the floor of Reliant Stadium. Monster Jam brings dozens of car-crushing trucks…
How Beyoncé Microwaved the News This Week
Here’s how a major announcement would roll in the life of Brando: short, quick, brief moments of celebration, smug congratulations and thank-yous from people before the realization that only douches do that sort of thing and I’d be captain of their army. And nobody wants to hitch a ride on…
iFest Bringing Bootsy, Baby and a Boatload of Brazilians
This was a surprise. The Houston International Festival, sort of like ACL goes to the museum, just announced its 2013 lineup about half an hour ago, right out of the blue. Get ready to get funked up in Sam Houston Park rather than outer space. Topliners include funk warlord Bootsy…
Carlos Perez and Crystal Calvo: Raymondville Couple Toke in the Car in Front of Infant
On Sunday, as the afternoon sun gave the right of way to a dark evening, Carlos Perez and Crystal Calvo keep a spark glowing inside of their car and in front of their four-month-old baby. According to the Harlingen Police Department, Raymondville residents Perez, 23, and Calvo, 22, were posted…
(UPDATED) Cyclists May Crash the Chevron Houston Marathon This Weekend
Update: This story has been corrected to reflect that there is no entry fee and thus no charity donation to a dog rescue group. Inspired by the Wolfpack Hustle bike rides in Los Angeles, some Houston cyclists plan to crash this weekend’s Chevron Houston Marathon — or at least the…
Heights Residents, Beware of “Door Tag” Scam
Yesterday, when I got home to the house I rent in Lindale Park just east of the Heights, I found a door tag (see image) on my door alerting me that someone attempted to deliver a package and directing me to call a number to reschedule delivery. My first couple…
Typewriter: 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…
Dan Shaughnessy Is Back: The Texans Have “Zero Chance” to Beat the Patriots
Our favorite whipping boy from Boston is at it again. Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, who called the Texans “frauds” and “tomato cans” recently, went back to work on the Texans in a column for the venerable paper again today, this time to tell us he’s really sorry that we…
Houston Needs a Real Country Station, Not More Bull
Somewhere in college, those of us arts and humanities types who were passionate about music, but knew we were not talented enough to perform it professionally, eventually wandered into the journalism school or the student radio station. Everyone else must have wound up in a marketing classroom. Rewind: Houston FM…
Author Nick Flynn wants Readers to Wake Up … Or Not
For a man who’s written two memoirs, including the popular Another Bullshit Night in Suck City which was adapted into the Robert De Niro film Being Flynn, author Nick Flynn doesn’t think seem to think that fans are very interested in his life. Actually, he doesn’t think he has any…
Sammy Sosa’s Pinterest Account Shows Sosa’s Maniacal Interest In Sammy Sosa
The final ballot count for baseball’s 2013 Hall of Fame induction class was announced on Wednesday. Not surprisingly, the baseball writers collectively chose to induct nobody in this year’s class. Even less surprisingly, the players on the ballot who had the stain of performance-enhancing drug use on their résumés got…
Metal Lifers Warbeast Trample Warehouse Live Tonight
For metal fans, it’ll be thrash before hash tonight at Warehouse Live when Arlington’s Warbeast returns once again in support of Down, the New Orleans sludge metal supergroup fronted by Pantera’s Philip Anselmo. Rewind: Down Singer Philip Anselmo Kicks Off Busy 2013 Despite the clash of styles — Warbeast plays…
Upcoming Events: Guys and Gals, We Really Like You and Want You to Be Happy
The 4th annual Valentines for Soldiers event is coming up on Monday, January 21 from 6 to 9 p.m., once again held at the Saint Arnold Brewery at 2000 Lyons — and it’s certainly come a long way since a few people gathered at the request of local food blogger…
Person Of Interest: On The Horns Of A “Prisoner’s Dilemma”
We’re entering our second episode with Mr. Reese sitting on the sidelines, locked up on Rikers Island while Finch, Carter, and Fusco carry the burden of saving some NotW’s bacon and stymying the authorities. The authorities who are hunting them, as we’re reminded before every episode. Going into last night,…
UPDATED: Angry Bagwell, Biggio Didn’t Make Hall? Blame the Houston Chronicle for Not Doing Its Job
Update: We were contacted by Major League Baseball, who let us know that they have reviewed all relevant tapes of Bob Costas speaking about Craig Biggio and he did not suggest Biggio had used PEDs. We apologize for the error. So you’re angry about Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio. You…
Houston Lady Bartenders Prep and Party for Speed Rack 2013
This Sunday, January 13, the Original OKRA Charity Saloon will host the Speed Rack Send Off Party for five Houston competitors from 6 to 10 p.m. (and possibly later). The party serves multiple purposes: All donations, proceeds and tips from drink sales will go to breast cancer research (because that’s…
Fresh Cream and the Top 10 Power Trios of All Time
Forty-six years ago this week, British blues-rockers Cream unveiled their debut album, Fresh Cream, one of the most deeply influential rock and roll records of all time. The original supergroup, the band was intended to unite the “cream” of the late-’60s British blues scene, featuring Eric Clapton on guitar, Ginger…
Memory House: Working Out How to Stay Together and to Go Away
Playwright Kathleen Tolan spent eight months researching overseas adoptions by Americans of Russian children (something now closed to us) while getting ready to write Memory House, a play about an American mother and the daughter she’d adopted from Russia. The genesis for the play came years before when Tolan met…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Zero Dark Thirty
Title: Zero Dark Thirty Is It A Lock For Best Picture? Not even close. Early momentum has been derailed by political uproar, and the fact director Kathryn Bigelow wasn’t nominated probably sinks its chances. I mean, the Oscars are bullshit anyway but David O. Russell? Fuck a Silver Linings Playbook…
William “Billy” Michael Martin: Steals Panties, Masturbates in a Hospital, Dresses Like a Pregnant Woman and Has a Thing for Blond Chicks
According to a report from KTRE 9, the ABC affiliate in Lufkin, police apprehended William “Billy” Michael Martin, 45, and charged him with three counts of burglary after he went into the East Texas Medical Center, stole master keys and stole photos from various offices as masturbatory aids. Oh, but…
Big California Wine Crushes a Houston Import from Italy: Sutter Home Forces Trinchero Family to Remove Its Own Name from Labels
La reproduction interdite… When a colleague showed me the new label for Trinchero Barbera d’Asti Superiore (2006 vintage) last night, I thought to myself, either he is playing a practical joke on me or this is a work of surrealist art. As if plucked from a painting by Magritte or…
Veteran Rap Group 4th and Inchez Is Not Concerned with Your Free Will
“Murder, murder. Kill, kill. We be takin’ yo’ lunchbox, motherfuck you and your free will.” — 4th and Inchez The video that follows includes all sorts of things. I feel in confident that describing a majority of them to you will not, in any way at all, lessen your desire…
2013: The Internet Says ‘Wear This!’
It’s basically impossible to keep up with what’s in and what’s out in fashion. Let’s face it, it’s a sales technique; a ploy to get us sucked into a cycle of continuous spending and consuming. And we’d be really pissed about it … … if it weren’t so much freaking…
Largest Skate Park in America Being Built Near Greenspoint
When I tell people I grew up near Greenspoint, they jokingly respond, “Oh, you mean Gunspoint?” Thing is, I’m old. Well, I’m not OLD old, but I’m old enough to have grown up in a neighborhood just north of Greenspoint Mall that was more like living in the country than…
Saint Genevieve’s Brunch Scene: La Strada Lite
The next time you find yourself with nostalgic thoughts of the old La Strada scene (big gay brunch is the best kind of brunch, after all), I’d suggest one of two things: Head over to the unofficial “new” La Strada at Berryhill Baja Grill on Sunday and shake your ass…
Top Five Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Underland, Nick Flynn and More
With so many stories to tell, American dancer/choreographer Stephen Petronio chose a darker journey when the Sydney Dance Company commissioned him to write what became Underland in 2003. In 2011, Petronio was able to buy the rights to the modern dance work set to the music of Australian pop musician…
With God on Our Side: 5 Artists Who Have Claimed God Loves Their Music
The majority of the population of the world believes in some concept of God, and most believe they have it right and everyone else has it wrong. Musicians aren’t exempt from this and, in the grand tradition of trying to figure out what God is thinking, many have claimed God…
Texans-Patriots, The Rematch: Top 5 Ways for This Outcome to Be Different
We know, we know. The last time these two teams met, the Patriots slaughtered the Texans along the same lines of what Alabama did to Notre Dame earlier this week. That doesn’t mean it will automatically happen again. Even in New England. Want evidence? It doesn’t take going back very…
Health Department Roundup: Double Dose of Ruchi’s, Bennigan’s, Sylvia’s and More
We’re considering changing the name of this series to “Ruchi’s of the Week.” It’s not like we have anything against the chain. We ate at the Shepherd location when it was one of the few places open after Hurricane Ike. It was better than having a staring contest with our…
Houston’s Top 5 Punk Bars
5. LOLA’S DEPOT Is it possible for a place to look run-down — in a good way? Some who wax nostalgic about Lola’s wasteland pre-eminence as the place to score drugs in the ’80s now joke of it as a “neighborhood bar,” offering such high-class amenities as ATM machines. Remnants…
4 Ways American Video Games Retconned Japanese Culture
My best friend in high school was a guy named Carlos, and he had a somewhat interesting attitude towards culture shock because unlike a lot of people we knew in east Houston he had actually been deported to the United States (Long story). As a result he was keenly aware…
Football! This Weekend’s Best Bets, NFL Divisional Round Nut Cuttin’ Time!
This past Monday night, I had the privilege of attending the BCS Title Game in person in Miami. I say “privilege” because, despite my Notre Dame background, the trip itself and the magnitude of the event were amazing. Yes, my team lost, but the vibe in the building before kickoff…
Openings & Closings: Set a Lunch Date (Not with This Guy)
It was a bit of a boring week around the city as far as either openings or closings were concerned. There was a break-in at Reef — the most recent of several — earlier this week, and a conspiracy theory worthy of Ancient Aliens popped up in our comments section…
The Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend
Down Warehouse Live, January 11 Long-running sludge daddies Down are still riding high from last year’s six-song EP, Down IV Part I – The Purple EP, and rightfully so. The effort was one of 2012’s best releases, making it onto plenty of year-end lists and satisfying Down fans’ hunger for…
Biopics I Actually Want To See
Forget zombies, sequels, and remakes. Gimme more biopics. The upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic with Sacha Baron Cohen in as the Queen frontman goes into production this spring according to IMDb, which means that sometime by the end of this year we could get a trailer or at least a few…
Roky Moon and The Kiss Goodnight
Mike Hardin is excited about the next chapter of the Roky Moon story, after the original Roky Moon & BOLT! lineup splintered in mid-2012 after nearly three years. “I’d like to gauge people’s interest in Roky Moon, since I haven’t played in almost a year,” says former Houstonian Hardin, who…
The Great Outdoors
Live Shots I don’t know about you, but I am not totally in love with winter weather. Yes, it affords you the ability to wear beanies and cool fingerless gloves and to dress like a hoodlum, but it’s the heat that I love the most. That’s why I love thinking…
The Helio Sequence
The Helio Sequence’s indie cred was secured when affable hipster tastemaker Fred Armisen (SNL, Portlandia) recently named last year’s Negotiations to his Top 10 list, alongside albums by Bob Mould, Guided by Voices and Dirty Projectors. Only the Portland duo’s third full-length in a decade, the melancholy Negotiations mingles some…
David Grissom
Every Texas music fan has his or her own favorite guitarist (probably several), but David Grissom’s name doesn’t come up in that conversation often enough. True, he has plenty of fans who remember when his technically flawless but passionate fretwork anchored Joe Ely’s legendary Live at Liberty Lunch-era band or,…
Why Do Mexican Men Like Classic Cars?
Dear Mexican, What is it about Mexicans and collecting old cars? I have three Mexican neighbors with middle-class incomes but in each case, when the old car or truck wouldn’t run anymore, they would buy a nearly new replacement and then just let the old clunker sit in the driveway…
Do the Curry Crawl
Top 10 As we enter the new year, I’m trying to make good on a few resolutions. And one of those is to get outside the Loop a bit more — even though a great bounty of amazing restaurants have opened inside the Loop in the last 12 months —…
Keane
UK rockers Keane have been a dependable touring and recording act for the past decade, building upon the success of 2004 breakout LP Hopes And Fears and cultivating an earnest catalog of plaintive nice-guy rock. Imagine the thematically similar Snow Patrol but with movable parts, less remorse and a touch…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Girls Only — the Secret Comedy of Women, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Year in Review
Girls Only — the Secret Comedy of Women Two gifted female improv actors in Denver, Barbara Gehring and Linda Klein, discovered a golden lode of material in their high-school diaries and mined it into scripted vignettes of what it’s like to be young and female. The resulting comedy is having…
Rage Against the Machinima
The video titled “Thank you, I will miss you guys” is barely more than a minute long — all one shaky handheld shot trained on the face of then-21-year-old Ben Vacas. Vacas, known online as Braindeadly, has big brown eyes, a faux hawk, a stubbly goatee and a British accent,…
Raw Materials at Cove
For a look at more of Cove’s cozy quarters and fresh-caught seafood, browse through our slideshow. At Cove, Jean-Philippe Gaston concentrates on a tenderloin-shaped piece of Verlasso salmon — furiously orange and marbled with only the most necessary rivulets of fat — with intense focus as he makes each quick…
Fair Play
Eddie Rabbitt couldn’t sing. The late “I Love a Rainy Night” voice had lost his mere hours before he was scheduled to perform at the 1983 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Rosanne Cash carried the matinee, in the days when the rodeo double-billed its entertainers, but couldn’t carry the Astrodome…
War/Photography
”WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is blunt, soul-searing, often painful — and maybe the most important exhibition you will ever see. Seven years in the making and featuring nearly 500 works, the show has a 165-year time span. It ranges…
Promised Land‘s Hard Sell
Salesmen are typically depicted in screen drama as the quintessential American phonies. The exceptions — in Barry Levinson’s Avalon or Whit Stillman’s Barcelona — are buried under a mountain of films proving the rule. That one set of phonies are being dramatically indicted by actors is an irony that we…
Darkness on the Edge of Town
‘Just so you know, it’s going to take a while,” says the CIA officer to his newly arrived colleague at the start of Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty. The year is 2003, the place a secret prison (or “black site”) somewhere in the deserts of the Middle East or Asia,…
Godzilla and Flowers
When he died in December 2011, Kim Jong Il left behind more than a dynastic regime and a closet full of drab pantsuits. Jong Il, who ruled the hermetic North Korea from his father Kim Il Sung’s death in 1994 until his own passing 17 years later, was a noted…
B.B. King
No man has ever looked happier singing and playing the blues than B.B. King, or given audiences such joy with songs riddled with such pain. The 87-year-old guitarist and singer adores being onstage, and has released more live albums than he has children. (Almost.) His most recent studio effort, however,…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Claes Oldenburg: Strange Eggs,” “Ewan Gibbs: Arlington National Cemetery,” “[Houston Times Eight],” “Joseph Havel: Hope and Desire,” “Laura Nicole Kante: Fibers of Being,” “Staring at the Wall: The Art of Boredom,” “Unpremeditated
“Claes Oldenburg: Strange Eggs” The name Claes Oldenburg may bring to mind sculptures of giant lipsticks, ice cream cones and shuttlecocks. Today, the esteemed 83-year-old artist is known for his playful, larger-than-life public art installations of ordinary objects. This conversation between art and the everyday is one Oldenburg’s been having…
Down
Long-running sludge daddies Down are still riding high from last year’s six-song EP, Down IV Part I – The Purple EP, and rightfully so. The effort was one of 2012’s best releases, making it onto plenty of year-end lists and satisfying Down fans’ hunger for new material because their previous…
Ray Price
Once Hank Williams Sr.’s roommate, Ray Price turns 87 years young at this Saturday-night Stafford Centre birthday party. The East Texan got his big break on 1953’s “I’ll Be There (If You Ever Want Me),” a song supposedly once slated for Williams, but quickly became a top country star himself…
Karma
Highlights from Hair Balls Political Animals To the Staff of the Journal News: When I read recently about how a gun owner published the names and addresses of many of you on a Web site in retaliation for you publishing the names and addresses of gun owners in your area,…
