“The Monumental Sculpture of Bernar Venet”
French artist Bernar Venet has transformed Hermann Park from a green space into an outdoor gallery with the exhibit “The Monumental Sculpture of Bernar Venet.” More than a dozen of his signature steel sculptures dot the park; the works are enormous, some standing 30 feet high and weighing 12 tons…
Artopia Preview: Going GONZO With Obama
The Houston Press Artopia party is Saturday, and Hair Balls is previewing a different participating artist each day this week. Artopia will feature 27 artists, as well as live art and music performances, fashion shows, and a presentation of the Press’s MasterMind awards. For more details and ticket information, click…
If — If — Pastor Dixon Assaulted His Wife, It Was Somewhat Foretold
We told you earlier today about prominent pastor James Dixon being charged with assault his wife after an incident in which police reports say he “threw her to the ground.”The media reports caught the eye of longtime Metro critic Tom Bazan, who immediately thought of his own run-in with Dixon,…
City Settles In Death Of Montrose Bicyclist
Much of Montrose was rocked last year when Leigh Boone, a 29-year-old vivacious executive assistant at the Houston Center for Photography, was killed when two fire trucks racing to a false alarm collided.Boone was on the sidewalk, seemingly safe, but suffered fatal head injuries.The city approved a $225,000 settlement with…
Some New Stuff From Our “Washington Shore” DJ Dave Wrangler
Rocks Off is pleased as punch to announce that Houston mash-up maestro Dave Wrangler will be providing the tunes for our douche-tastic “Washington Shore” party at the Washington Avenue Drinkery on February 11. Wrangler also agreed to craft some custom Washington Shore mash-ups we’ll be bringing you as the gelfest…
Sampler Plate: This Week In Food Blogs
Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Hungry In Houston: A newcomer to the local food blog scene, this…
Delicious Brain Tacos
Tacos dorados are tortillas that have been stuffed and secured with toothpicks, then deep-fried. I tried some at De Buey Y Vaca taqueria at the Airline flea markets while working on this week’s review. The sweet potato version was bland, and the refried bean-filled taco was pretty good. The best…
Game Time: We Interrupt This Tebow Documentary For Seven Other Reasons To Watch The Senior Bowl
Every year around this time, NFL prospects gather in Mobile, Alabama for the beginning of what amounts to a three-month job interview, complete with numerous forty-yard dashes, questions about their upbringing, and requests to “cough while I stick my fingers right…HERE!” It’s a fascinating time for the diehard NFL fan,…
Bringing New Orleans to Houston
Last week, Greenway Barista visited various restaurants and bars in New Orleans. Lucky him. But while we can’t all jet away to New Orleans, we can bring NOLA to us with one of our favorite cookbooks, Cooking up a Storm. During Hurricane Katrina, many classic New Orleans recipes were washed…
Please Don’t Call It “Meridian” Anymore – Old Chinatown Club Is Now “Wired Live”
Rocks Off got word today that Meridian (1503 Chartres) is going through a hefty remodeling and restructuring project. Sometime next week, the Warehouse District venue will be rechristened Wired Live, with all-new signage and from talking to manager and booker Mike Kelley, a whole new attitude and business model. Meridian…
The Moonshine’s A Harsh Mistress, East Texas (Of Course) Man Learns
Uncle Slaton’s got his Texan prideBack in the thickets with his Asian brideHe’s got an Airstream trailer and a Holstein cowStill makes whiskey ’cause he still knows how — James McMurtry, “Chocktaw Bingo” Thanks to an informant’s tip, a real-life Uncle Slaton was busted earlier this month in Smith County,…
Ziggy’s In Montrose Might Close Over Parking Dispute
Ziggy’s Bar and Grill, the yellow restaurant in Montrose, is the latest business fighting with the city about parking, a problem usually reserved for all the new places popping up on Washington Avenue. Last week, Ziggy’s owner met with city council, according to the restaurant’s Twitter page, to “discuss the…
Ziggy’s In Montrose Might Close Due To Parking Dispute
Ziggy’s Bar and Grill, the yellow restaurant in Montrose, is the latest business fighting with the city about parking, a problem usually reserved for all the new places popping up on Washington Avenue. Last week, Ziggy’s owner met with city council, according to the restaurant’s Twitter page, to “discuss the…
A Tasting at Sushi Raku
If you’re going out to eat and have time for an appetizer, ebi mayo is a pretty good way to start things off. The fried rock shrimp with spicy yuzu mayonnaise ($9) at Sushi Raku was crispy, zingy and delicious. We were at a tasting at the new Midtown restaurant…
Inquiring Minds: Exene Cervenka on Losing a Friend, Weeping Willows, Albums as Collage and Her Good Buddy Biscuit
Exene Cervenka is one of those musicians who makes an interviewer nervous; like, you hope the questions you come up with are good enough not to piss her off, or worse, laugh at you. Besides a published poet and accomplished visual artist, Cervenka and now-ex-husband/recurrent musical collaborator John Doe founded…
Why Do Houstonians Hate Beagles?
The American Kennel Club has put out its annual report listing the most popular breeds nationwide and in specific cities. As in most years, Houston generally mirrors the national trends.The nation’s most popular dogs:1. Labrador Retriever2. German Shepherd Dog3. Yorkshire Terrier4. Golden Retriever5. Beagle(No, we don’t know why it’s called…
New Thai Joint Opens on Bangkokheimer
Thai Bistro, the popular Houston Thai restaurant located at 3241 Southwest Freeway, recently opened a new location at 11660 Westheimer, the former location of Thyme Table Café. The Houston Chronicle’s Alison Cook loved Thyme Table for reasons I never understood. I tried it and found it too boring to write…
Low-G: From E.S.L. Mockery to Historic Spanish Hip-Hop
“When I’m on my last line I’m gonna let ya’ll know.” “Yo, yo I want to welcome… welcome everybody to Hustle Town. Are we recording? Alright, let’s do this, fellas.” True Houston Latino rap fans don’t need us to cite the opening lines of this track or what album it…
Dynamo May Go Uptown For A New Stadium
KTRK’s Miya Shay reported an interesting development in the never-ending quest to build a stadium for the Houston Dynamo — the team is considering an offer to build it near the Galleria, instead of the east side of downtown.The idea surfaced at yesterday’s Commissioner Court meeting, and Dynamo president Oliver…
The 10 Most Useless Kitchen Gadgets
Last week found many of our readers up in arms about being told they didn’t need a bread machine, pasta maker, fondue pot or whatever other countertop device that sits gathering dust in 90 percent of all other kitchens whose owners were unfortunate enough to have wasted money on them…
Prominent Pastor Accused Of Domestic Violence
James Dixon, the well-known minister of Houston’s Community of Faith church, has been charged with hitting his wife.The arrest was first reported by Fox’s Isiah Carey; Dixon made an appearance in court this morning and is free on bond.George Flynn, spokesman of the Harris County DA’s office, gives Hair Balls…
Goth-Rock Icon and Web Recluse Daniel Ash on His New It’s a Burn Out EP
Every Goth in Houston knows, or should know, that if you want to know what’s up or going down with any major Goth musician from the ’80s or ’90s, then all you have to do is keep an eye on Lonnie Locascio’s MySpace or Facebook. Between being on a first-name…
Second Baptist’s Ed Young: Washington Is Broken, But Thank God Uncle Sam Has A TV In His Hospital Room
We all need a laugh in these desperate times, so we suggest you head over pronto to the website of megacurch Second Baptist.Head over there, that is, if you want to see a pallid Uncle Sam ensconced in a modern-day hospital bed. He’s in his full official regalia, which is…
Grab a Sack of Fat Gulf Oysters
Gulf oysters are extra fat right now after our recent cold snap. José at Airline Seafood at 1841 Richmond showed me the only sack of oysters he had when I stopped in on Tuesday. He said he was expecting a fresh shipment today. The bag of oysters on hand were…
Latest Principal Shifts In HISD Bring Grumbling
There’s been a sudden round of mid-year principal shifts in the Houston school district, and it hasn’t brought smiles.Energetic and popular Lee High School principal Steve Amstutz is moving on after failing to raise the troubled school’s “unacceptable” Texas Education Agency status. His attempt to do so by bringing in…
Idol Beat: L.A. Is No Lady
The latest round of American Idol auditions took place in Los Angeles, or more accurately, Pasadena, where 11,000 people showed up last June to try and secure a spot in the September callback. As you probably could have predicted, the episode opened with a stereotypical montage celebrating the mythic version…
Aeros’ Power Play Rises From The Dead, As Do Their Playoff Hopes
The Houston Aeros come into tonight’s game against the Chicago Wolves with 34 games remaining in the season. The Aeros, with a record of 22-17-6-1 (51 points), still sit on the edge of the playoff race, and if they’re going to stand any realistic chance of making the postseason, then…
Brew Blog: Rogue Ales’ Hazelnut Brown Nectar
This week we have no historical justification for trying Rogue Ales’ Hazelnut Brown Nectar (though the brewery’s own Oregon became a state in the first half of next month 151 years ago). We assume you’ll take comfort, in lieu of a lesson, in the justification being food-related. While home over…
Artist of the Week: Proud Member of the “Overeducated Underclass” The Cocker Spaniels
Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. The three coolest guys of all time are…
American Idol: L.A. Is No Lady
The latest round of American Idol auditions took place in Los Angeles, or more accurately, Pasadena, where 11,000 people showed up last June to try and secure a spot in the September callback. As you probably could have predicted, the episode opened with a stereotypical montage celebrating the mythic version…
Young Sisters Get Boys Haircuts And A Role In TUTS’ Miss Saigon
Two Houston sisters, Audrey and Emma Kim, ages 4 and 6 respectively, sacrificed their long hair the other day in order to play the part of Tam, the son who is born to the main character Kim in Miss Saigon. The girls, both students at Theatre Under the Stars’ Humphries…
Miller Outdoor Theatre Unveils $1.5 Million New Sound System In March
Miller Outdoor Theatre has been busy lining up part of its spring schedule. During the winter downtime, the theater has been undergoing a $1.5 million upgrade of its sound system. When the new system is installed, there will no longer be any speakers on the stage. Operations Manager Reg Burns…
Stirred and Shaken: Avant Garden’s Strawberry-Fig Gin & Tonic
Centuries of belly dancing tradition have culminated in an effective way to make me feel uncomfortable. I have no idea how I’m supposed to react to it, as I found out last Tuesday at Avant Garden (411 Westheimer, 713-526-4648). When a costumed woman is twirling and gyrating for a small…
I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat): The Mad Libs Edition
Hair Balls was cleaning out our closet the other day and, right there next to our old Little League uniform and a fossilized finger-bone of Jimmy Hoffa, was a stack of old Mad Libs books. It unleashed a flood of memories — staying up past bedtime with friends, laughing like fools as…
Right-Wing Bloggers: Armed, Dangerous And With The Governor
Governor Rick Perry spent the weekend holding a summit for conservative bloggers and social-media types. It included a trip to the gun range, because Rick Perry is a Texan, dammit, and you’ll pry his firearms from his cold, dead etc. etc. We know bupkis about guns, but the Come and…
The Meat of the Matter at Ray’s Franks
For weeks, there have been rumors swirling about the impending demise of popular downtown eatery Ray’s Franks. We first talked about our love affair with the horror movie-themed restaurant in July 2009, not long after it first opened its doors. The menu items consisted of cleverly named burgers and hot…
Pasadena Family Feud Heads To The Courtroom
It may never rise to the mythic stature of the Hatfield-McCoy family feud, but the Schmidt and Hinson families of Pasadena are doing their best to keep alive their long-standing neighborly donnybrook, which a month ago cost one woman her life.Before things turned deadly late 2009, the two families, who…
Eddie Van Halen Can’t Drive 55, But He Is 55
Today marks the 55th anniversary of the world receiving the gift of the illustrious finger-tapping stylings of Eddie Van Halen. Hard rock wouldn’t be the same without his goofy face on stage wailing away on his “Frankenstrat” and his strong arm tactics behind the scenes. Rocks Off has long been…
Baked Zebras
On a recent trip to Border’s bookstore, we found ourselves perusing an intriguing little table with a big percent-off sign. Everyone loves a good Christmas reject, so we were quite pleased to find an old-fashioned lunch box adorned with black-and-white zebra stripes. Called Zebra Mix, it was very kitschy-cool. Even…
My Organic Dirt Patch: Baby Greens
As you may recall, I pulled out some jasmine and replaced the soil to create a raised bed in early November. The first seeding was on November 19. So it’s been a little over two months now since I started this garden. My chard and onion transplants and the lettuce…
Great Moments In Douchebaggotry: Fred Durst, Porn Star
Great Moments in Douchebaggotry is brought to you by Rocks Off’s upcoming “Washington Shore” party, Thursday, February 11 at the Washington Avenue Drinkery. All types of douchebags are encouraged to attend. The word “douchebag” has changed in the past 20 years or so. It used to be a word more…
Tomorrow Night Is The Night To Party With An HISD Teacher: It’s Bonus Time!
Gigolos, gold diggers, get yourself ready — the teachers of HISD will be out tomorrow night, and they will be $40.4 million richer than they are today.Tomorrow is the day teacher-performance bonuses get direct-deposited into the relevant accounts. Surely you can cadge a few free rounds at the celebration Happy…
Odd Pair: Wings and Wine
This year, one of our friends is having an Owner’s Box-themed Super Bowl party. No rowdy keg-stands or beer pong here — this party is all about class. But you can’t watch football without Buffalo wings. How to class them up? You guessed it – wine. Our trusty wine gurus…
Game Time: When Good Practical Jokes Go Bad
I like a good practical joke as much as the next guy, just as long as it entails the following two things — (1) the target of the joke winds up embarrassed beyond belief, and (2) I am not said target.Way back in the day, there was a show called…
Don’s Cracklins
Cracklins taste like deep-fried bacon chunks with some crunchy skin attached. At Don’s Specialty Meats in Scott, Louisiana, the cracklins are always hot. They are also tossed with a salty, peppery seasoning powder. Buy a bag of these things to nibble on in the car, and you risk losing control…
Because We Haven’t Written About 10th Grade Cutie In What? Two Weeks?
In news that is sure to send shockwaves of joy, relief and fear through most Montrose-area bars, Rocks Off’s favorite minors 10th Grade Cutie are turning legal drinking age this winter. Last night we stopped by Super Happy Fun Land to give special salutations to the birthday boy, 10GC guitarist…
Pie in the Heights
It wasn’t in red on our calendar, but apparently January 23 was National Pie Day. Joanna Torok and Joe Phillips, co-owners of a new mobile eatery called Oh My! Pocket Pies, weren’t about to miss out. The two-month-old business takes the form of a truck, typically parked in Kim Hung…
Your Car Isn’t Broken, It’s Just Become A “Stationary Driving Platform,” If You Use NASA’s Spin
Used cars long ago become “pre-owned.” Kamp Krusty isn’t a “fat camp,” it’s an “image enhancement camp.” Torture is now “enhanced interrogation.”The silly-euphemism bar is set pretty high these days. But NASA is taking a shot at winning the competition, not because it is easy but because it is hard.The…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: I See Hawks in L.A. Soar on Shoulda Been Gold
I See Hawks in L.A. are perennial roots-rock favorites in Southern California. Their Shoulda Been Gold 2001-2009 compilation on new Collector’s Choice Americana imprint American Beat Records drops today and covers some of their most well known work like “Humboldt,” one of the best odes to the sweet leaf ever…
Baseball Is Coming: 25 Things To Love About The Astros This Year
Believe it or not, but pitchers and catchers are reporting for the Houston Astros on February 19, 2010. Yes, the Astros are going to suck this year, but it’s baseball, and I love baseball. That said, I realize that some of you might want some more specific reasons to get…
Highs and Lows of Boudin Balls
Last week, I ate the best boudin balls I’ve ever had. They were little golf ball-size nuggets that came hot of the fryer and then got rolled around in seasonings. Of course, it helps that I bought them at Best Stop Supermarket Scott, Louisiana, a little Cajun grocery and meat…
Free Press Releases Partial Summer Fest 2010 Lineup
…or did they? Rocks Off has the slightest feeling Omar Afra and friends might be messing with us. But who knows? We bet they’re right about Geoffrey Muller’s bands, though…
Artopia Preview: Michah Simmons, Artist And Bouncer
The Houston Press Artopia party is Saturday, and Hair Balls is previewing a different participating artist each day this week. Artopia will feature 27 artists, as well as live art and music performances, fashion shows, and a presentation of the Press’s MasterMind awards. For more details and ticket information, click…
The Shameless Chef: Hawaiian Sliders
All right, so last week we tried out a recipe I glommed off the back of a can. It was pretty good, but this week, I’d like to return to my standard practice of thinking up some goofy idea and running with it. As it happens, we’re cooking something I…
Critics Want To Know: Why Are Cops Shooting So Many People These Days?
Justice advocates are demanding to know why the hell the cops in Houston are shooting so many people.Lawyers and community leaders plan to address City Council this afternoon to ask that the city authorize an independent investigation that is transparent and open to the public into why officers shot more…
Magnolia City Mixtape: New Videos, 7-Inches, Poster Shows, National Blogpress… Enough to Make You Think We’ve Got an Actual Scene Around Here
Well, the Justice Department has approved the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly merger. What does this mean for you, the average concertgoer? Well, even more inflation on the already-ridiculous $6 Lone Stars at House of Blues. Free Press Houston had a well-written cover story last spring about the other possible pitfalls of…
UH & TSU Get A Little Closer To Each Other
The University of Houston and Texas Southern University are near-neighbors across Scott Street, but that hasn’t always made them the best of friends. UH has had a (under-the-table, to be sure) tendency to look down on the chronically troubled, historically black school.But these days, it’s getting tougher and tougher to…
The Big Three: Feta, Kalamata Olives and Sundried Tomatoes
Last week we brought you a trio of scrumptiously sweet ingredients aimed at improving your breakfasts and desserts. This week, we thought we’d give you a few simple ideas for some fast, delicious dinners. We are big fans of Mediterranean cooking – its fresh and unprocessed goodness leaves you feeling…
A Scientific Comparison Of Indianapolis And New Orleans
Even before Katrina, Houston was long a brother to New Orleans. Cars packed with revelers make that I-10 drive come Mardi Gras time, or whenever the urge hits.Katrina only cemented the bond. So with the Saints in the Super Bowl, as odd as those five words strung together may sound,…
Where Are We A.C. Slatering Peeing?
Oh Hell, the bar that houses this restroom has been a godsend these past two weeks. The bar itself, not the restroom, that is. Our internal plumbing is fine; besides, we are choosy as to where we A.C. Slater* anyway, what with all the diseases running rampant on the avenue…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Antoine Ware of Catalan
Yesterday we began our interview with Antoine Ware of Catalan. Here he discusses Catalan’s unique menu and lets us into his world. Eating Our Words: Tell us a little about Catalan’s mentality and what aspects you really feel define your kitchen. Antoine Ware: You’ve got to put in the hours…
As Losses Mount, Rockets’ Battier Looks To Power Of The ‘Stache
In many sports, the growing of facial hair is symbolic of success. It’s a frequent routine of playoff teams in baseball, for example, including the Astros’ franchise-best seasons of 2004 and 2005.But Shane Battier of the struggling Rockets (24-20) has a different idea. On a dare, he’s growing a mustache…
Ask A Rapper: 2 Man Army’s Praphecy Talks Nelly, Tribe, Arrested Development and Journey
The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place -lots of times, you’re even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good- so once a week we’re going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask…
DVDs This Week: Michael Jackson & Houston’s Je’caryous Johnson
There’s only one DVD release that’s getting any attention today: Michael Jackson’s This Is It. Culled from 80 hours of footage of Jackson in rehearsal for a series of London concerts, and interviews with associates and friends, This Is It is what fans get instead of a good-bye tour. The…
Pop Rocks: The Sublime Genius Of Heidi Montag
So I see Heidi Montag’s album dropped a couple of weeks ago. There will be more than a few of you who feel compelled to ask “Who?” when they hear that name. In that case, the first thing I’d like to do is welcome my Chinese readers who apparently don’t…
Where Are We Drinking?
It’s been perfect weather recently for one of our favorite activities: patio drinking until the sun goes down. Can you figure out where we were drinking in the shot below? Leave your best guess in the comment section…
Distant Early Warning: Blue October, Felix Da Housecat, Hank III, Les Claypool, Megadeth and Roky Erickson Returns
Blue October: Sat., May 15. The Showgrounds @ Sam Houston Race Park. “Choo-Choo Soul” With Genevieve: Sat., April 24. Verizon Wireless Theater. Cody Kouba: Thu., March 18. The Firehouse Saloon. Dale Watson: Wed., March 10. The Hideout @ Reliant Stadium. “Dirty Honey” With DJ Brett Koshkin, Ceeplus Bad Knives: Sat.,…
Who’s A Dude Gotta Blow To Rob A Bank Around Here?
If there’s one thing that sucks about society these days, it’s how you have to wait in line forever before getting any service. Especially if you’re trying to rob a bank.The gentleman pictured above no doubt thinks so. He walked into a Bank of America on the West Sam Houston…
More Personnel Moves In HISD’s TAKS-Cheating Investigation
There’s been more fallout from the Houston school district’s investigation into whether a principal at Key Middle School may have improperly tampered with TAKS scores and then tried to cover it up.HISD spokesman Norm Uhl tells Hair Balls six district employees have been reassigned since the Thursday announcement of the…
See Your Tax Dollars At Work: The Space Station Flying Over Houston
This week will be a great one for seeing the International Space Station — especially tonight, NASA says.Assuming the night sky stays clear, the ISS will be visible for three minutes starting at 6:09 p.m.Look five degrees above north-northwest and track it as it heads to 11 degrees above the…
Artopia: David Wilhelm On Why Art Isn’t Easy, It’s Dangerous
The Houston Press Artopia party is Saturday, and Hair Balls is previewing a different participating artist each day this week. Artopia, at Winter Street Studios, will feature 27 artists, as well as live art and music performances, fashion shows, and a presentation of the Press’s MasterMind awards. For more details…
Unnamed Male, 23, Bayou Body Count No. 24
Once again, the cops are short on details as it looks as if another man was shot and killed for no real reason at all.On Friday afternoon, a 23-year-old man, whose name has not been released, and his fiancée were strolling down Club Creek Drive, near the Westwood Country Club,…
Haggis and Single Malt Nacht
Today is Robbie Burns Day, the birthday of the Scottish poet who was born on this date in 1759. “Burns Nacht,” as it’s known, is celebrated with Burns Suppers, where revelers consume haggis and Scotch whisky while wearing the family plaid and listening to the dulcet tones of bagpipers. If…
$13 at Yum Yum Cha
Where:Yum Yum Cha, 2435 Times Boulevard, 713-527-8455 What $13 gets you: Enough variety to keep you happy and enough food to fill you up. Although Yum Yum Cha doesn’t have the crowded-ballroom ambiance of other dim sum destinations, or those steamy little carts rolling by, the luxury of being able…
Art Rock (and RSVP Invite): House of Blues’ Rockin’ Rodeo
Ever been thrown from a mechanical bull? Rocks Off has, and it ain’t fun. Nevertheless, if you think you have the stones (literally) to follow in the bootsteps of Urban Cowboy’s Buford Uan “Bud” Davis, or just think watching the ladies dance on El Toro a la Sissy is sexy…
Game Time: Brett Favre Melting Down….Right On Cue
We are inundated by so much marketing hype in this day and age. Between internet pop-up advertisements, electronic billboards, late-night infomercials, not to mention all of the traditional marketing avenues, we are promised so many things by so many people, yet rarely does it happen where you purchase a product…
Eyeballin’: Are You Ready for Thin Lizzy’s Are You Ready?
Classic Rock Bob has long sung the praises of Thin Lizzy as an extremely underrated band whose catalogue is full of sonic riches well beyond “The Boys are Back in Town.” But by the time this full-length concert was shot for the German TV show Rockpalast in 1981 around the…
Jause, the Second Breakfast
I had some cracklins from Don’s Meat Market in Scott, Louisiana and a glass of Independence Pale Ale for jause this morning. The second breakfast, known as “jause” in Austria or zweites frühstück in Germany, is a fine old tradition that I have adopted at my house. Sausage or cold…
Farewell, Conan: Don’t Give Yourself Away
About two weeks before I graduated from college, my best friend got out of the poisonous relationship he’d been in for five years. He was ecstatic at the possibilities before him, and those final moments of school held for him a wonder and freedom he didn’t even know he’d been…
Maté Madness
A healthy drink full of vitamins and antioxidants that will keep you energized? What is this miracle drug…um, drink? It’s yerba maté, a traditional South American drink and ritual. Maté is made by steeping dry leaves and twigs of yerba maté, a species of holly, in hot water. The traditional…
Report: Justice Dept. Approves Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger (UPDATED)
[UPDATED to include AEG President and CEO Timothy J. Leiwecke’s statement about the merger.] Via CNBC, businessinsider.com reported Monday morning that the U.S. Justice Department has approved the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster into a multi-platform entertainment corporation that can do everything but wash your car and walk your…
Texas Traveler: Terlingua to the Park
Ed. Note: This is the fourth part in a series of posts on traveling to Big Bend and back. Click back to read posts 1, 2 and 3. Let me start off by saying that if you are a Big Bend virgin and you have the opportunity to visit the…
Tough Little Pumpkin Jam
I had chilacayote jam on toast for my first breakfast this morning. (Yes, I had two breakfasts.) Chilacayote is a tough little pumpkin that is cooked in syrup in Latin America. It has an odd crunchy texture that makes an audible sound when you bite it — the fibrous flesh…
Wade Southerland, 36, Bayou Body Count No. 23
While his family and police nervously waited outside, a man killed himself early Saturday morning in his home near the Sam Houston Tollway in southwest Houston.The night started off with a fight between 36-year-old Wade Southerland and his wife, which later led Southerland’s spouse to call 911, saying her husband…
1992 Redo: DJ Flea and Dat Boi T Give Underground Artists (and Listener) a Free Weekly Music Platform
It’s something we haven’t addressed yet, but it’s been brought up numerous times in our talks with Houston’s underground Latino rappers. When Univision’s hip-hop stations in Houston went away this last decade, so did those artists’ airwave platform. But sometimes you have to look back in order to know how…
Houston’s Jesus Knows When The Next Caribbean Earthquake Is Coming, But He’s Not Telling
In case you haven’t gotten your share of tragic news out of Haiti, a reliable Hair Balls source tells us there will be plenty more death and destruction within the next 30 months. And just who is this unimpeachable tipster? Why, none other than Jesus Christ Himself, aka Jose Luis…
Just Desserts: Wrapping Up the Cupcake Smackdown
We lost count of the guests somewhere around the 300-person mark. The crumbs and frosting of 144 different cupcakes smeared most of the available table surfaces. Empty cups of milk and wine lay discarded across the room. And our panel of five judges were fairly begging for a platter of…
Aftermath: The Sword Puts Some Thin Lizzy Boogie In Its Mystical Metal
While Aftermath was watching The Sword at Warehouse Live Sunday night, our mind went forward, H.I. McDunnough-style, into our own future. We imagined ourselves waking up on some less-than-velvet morning 20 years hence, cracking open a cold one from the fridge and walking out to the garage to change the…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Antoine Ware of Catalan
Antoine Ware has been the executive sous chef underneath Chris Shepherd since Catalan (5555 Washington Ave.) opened. We caught up with the New Orleans native in, well, New Orleans. Here is his take on culinary cuisine: Eating Our Words: Everyone sees your beaming smile behind the kitchen at Catalan. Tell…
Hey Kids!! Stay In School!! And Here’s How You Do Oral And Anal Sex!!
Administrators at Crosby Middle School in Hitchcock brought in school board trustee Shirley Price to give a motivational speech to students.Probably a good idea — Price has overcome physical handicaps to get where she is today.Where she is today, though, apparently includes being a motivational speaker who thinks out of…
Most Downloaded “Hope For Haiti” Texan? Although She Killed, Not Beyonce
Between fighting crime, reducing global warming, mending our socks and, you know, everything else Rocks Off does when we’re away from the office, we caught a good bit of Friday evening’s “Hope for Haiti” telethon. We didn’t have much choice, because the George Clooney-organized, celebrity-packed fundraiser was on every single…
Is Anyone Rooting For The Colts In The Super Bowl?
Now that the NFL is down to two teams, the big question remains — who the hell is going to be rooting for Indianapolis?Let’s examine the options.The cities.On the one hand, you have a town (not a city) full of pasty Midwesterners, a burg that only has an NFL team…
Butcher Knows Best
Before our recent New Orleans road trip, we asked a few friends about places to go in New Orleans. We got some expected answers, like Commander’s Palace, Parasol’s Po-boys, Central Grocery and August. But we also got suggestions along the lines of, “For the love of God, you must go…
Aftermath: Everclear’s Perfect Soundtrack to Imperfection at House of Blues
While heading out of the House of Blues for some air, Aftermath and Mrs. Aftermath shared an elevator with Saturday’s opener, Clayton Senne. Previously, we sat through his electric organ driven pop/soul act with annoyance and irritation. At the time, we found his banter condescending and bass-heavy backing band a…
The Week In TV: Hope for Haiti (and Coco)
I’m loving the weather, thinking of overthrowing Comcast, and still humming “Free Bird.” This was the week in TV Land: • So, I’m pretty sure we all watched Conan O’Brien’s last episode as host of The Tonight Show. Nielsen ratings showed that his Friday episode drew a 4.8 rating in…
Texans Could Learn Something From The Saints
When the Houston Oilers split for Nashville, I found myself searching for a NFL team to adopt. As a native Houstonian, there was just no way that I could make myself a Dallas Cowboys fan. Especially if I wanted to keep my self-respect.I adopted the New Orleans Saints. The team…
Turning the Screw: Bun B, Z-Ro, LeBron, Prince, Ice Cube, The Kanye, Aziz Ansari, Omarion, Waka Flocka Flame (Just Read), Ja Rule and More
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off’s weekly rap post. It probably won’t rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: “O.G.” C. Loc, Bun B and Z-Ro Wire to Wire Bun B is still leaking tracks from his non-mixtape…
Where Are We Eating?
A meal so good that the photographer dove right in before remembering to stop and take a picture. Can you figure out what dish we were demolishing and what restaurant served it up? Leave your best guess in the comments section below…
Four Ways to Let the Internet Fuel Your Long-Distance Love
Your fantastic plastic Christmas tree has been lovingly packed away and stored in its original cardboard box from 1972. The holiday cheer has turned into New Year’s rue in the face of long lines to exchange that UFC: Best of UFC 2009 DVD and re-gift a copy of Julie &…
Houston Crossing Guards: The Two Million Dollar Question
The other day, when Hair Balls looked into why the City of Houston hadn’t been reimbursing Houston ISD all that it owed it for the work done by school crossing guards, the one question we didn’t get answered right away was: exactly how much money was missing anyway? Was this…
MFAH Screens Film About Iranian Rock Underground Tonight
It’s a hot weekend for musical movie lovers. Tomorrow evening is the Aurora Picture Show’s Soul Nite, featuring live performance reels from a bouquet of 1960s soul musicians, and tonight the Museum of Fine Arts is screening an award-winning film about the struggle of two Iranian teens trying to form…
Unidentified Woman, Bayou Body Count No. 22
It’s well established that Houston has more than its fair share of murders. Most often, they involve a bunch of guys at a colorful bar early in the morning, or a drug deal gone awry. But so far this January, there have been a remarkably high number of dead bodies…
This Week in Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly round-up here at Eating Our Words, where we’re waiting until there’s a public health care option to organize our Inappropriately Fried Foods Festival. We can’t wait until you guys get to try our patented mac ‘n’ cheese corn dogs! Greenway Barista started off the week…
Get Funky at Aurora Picture Show’s “Soul Nite” at the Eldorado Ballroom
The Eldorado Ballroom, the boxy Deco warehouse on the corner of Elgin and Dowling, will once again be filled with the sounds of soul thanks to Aurora PIcture Show and film curator Peter Lucas, who are presenting Soul Nite Saturday at 7 p.m. The ballroom, the epicenter of Houston’s black…
Upcoming Events
Smackdowns, showdowns, throwdowns. There’s food violence aplenty coming up for your voyeuristic pleasure. Bread and circuses, served up daily by your Houston food community. This Sunday, of course, is our very own Cupcake Smackdown at Block 7 Wine Company (720 Shepherd) from 4 to 6 p.m. You may have heard…
Top 10 Useful Kitchen Appliances That My Foodie Friends Make Fun Of
Katharine Shilcutt’s trashing of useless kitchen appliances really made me hot under the collar. I have all of those appliances — except the electric cheese grater. And I intend to go buy an electric cheese grater this weekend. Then I will invite Katharine over for spaghetti and make her grate…
Game Time: NFL Conference Title Predictions…Channeling College Football
There’s no two ways about it, my NFL playoff predictions have been terrible. As I outlined on Monday, I reached a point this past weekend, after going goose eggs on the first seven games, where I picked the Jets to beat the Chargers outright merely because every rational thought and…
You’ll Fall In Love With James Caronna’s Slacker-Pop
The latest release out of Red Tree Studios is a nine-song pop package by a slacker named James Caronna, Everybody Wants to Be in Love. If you were to put James Blunt and Jason Mraz in the telepod in David Cronenberg’s The Fly, James Caronna is exactly what you would…
Goodbye, Roll’n
We recently dropped into the Roll’n for a shot and a beer — a Miller High Life, to be exact — and found out that they are closing this weekend. That’s it. No more dive bar on San Felipe. After 41 years, the “old man” is finally giving up the…
Judge Blasts Autopsy In Baby-Killer Case; New Trial May Happen
Eleven years into a life sentence for killing his girlfriend’s daughter, Neil Robbins might be granted a new trial.After hearing arguments this morning from Robbins’s attorney, Brian Wice, and Montgomery County District Attorney Bill Delmore, District Court Judge Michael Mayes concluded that Robbins was convicted solely on the testimony of a state…
SXSW Adds Wild Moccasins, Roky Moon & BOLT, White Stripes’ Northern Lights Doc
This week Rocks Off is pleased to announce that Houston pop kids Wild Moccasins will be playing the Houston Press’ SXSW showcase. So you guys can now mark the Moccs down as another local band set to bear down on Austin in March. We will have the names of the…
Time Warp of the Bar Scene in New Orleans: French 75
The classic New Orleans Creole restaurant Arnaud’s (813 Bienville Street) houses the adjacent French 75 as its signature cocktail bar. Tiki monkeys line the wall, leopard print abounds, the carpet is as thick as the soles of our shoes, and the bartenders wear classic white jackets and bowties. It really…
Kay Bailey Hutchison Continues To Nail Down The Inside-The-Beltway Vote So Important To The Texas GOP This Year
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison rolled out the big guns today as President George H.W. Bush endorsed her. Coming on the heels of the recent endorsement of former Secretary of State James Baker, Hutchison has ably demonstrated what it takes to win the GOP gubernatorial primary. If it were being run…
PETA Be Buggin’ About Blinged-Out Border Beetle
Contraband along the Texas-Mexico border flows both ways. Drugs tend to come north. Desperados on the lam tend to flow south. But every now and then there’s a novelty like this woman and her strange pet. The Brownsville Herald picks up the tale: It wasn’t marijuana, cocaine or even heroin that U.S…
Moonie Bergeron’s Cajun Meats
“Let me make you a little snack pack for the car, honey,” Joyce said as she prepared the Styrofoam container. Joyce and Miss Peaches were the two women behind the counter at Bergeron’s Cajun Meats that morning. Joyce heated up one of Bergeron’s signature chicken patties, a spicy ground poultry…
Five Spot: In Which We Needlessly Prolong Our “Feud” With the GRIT Boys… and Post 5 New MP3s
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It’s five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Count the GRIT Boys, a trio of Houston rappers who’ve been bubbling around for…
For One Brief, Shining Moment…..
The word went forth at 9:30 this morning. Christina Garza, spokesperson for Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia, e-mailed reporters to tell them of a new development.”Sheriff Announces Employee Bill of Rights,” read the e-mail header.Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia has developed an Employee Bill of Rights for his agency after…
How to Create the Perfect Cheese Plate
Cheese is a magical, mystical thing. It can improve lackluster dishes, revive a downtrodden party, cure broken hearts, hide culinary disasters, mend fences, produce instantaneous smiles, and ward off evil spirits like osteoporosis via its double secret dairyful antibodies. The mere mention of cheese–solid or sliced, cubed, melted, or grated–makes…
Back to the Future: The Musical Lineage of the Sword
This Sunday night, Austin’s The Sword pulls into Warehouse Live to lay waste to our city’s collective eardrums. The band was in town last August for Summerfest and was shit-hot, coming right off of an opening slot for Metallica over in Europe. The sound was the same but somewhat leaner…
Late Night Scene: Capone’s
We decided to check out Capone’s Restaurant and Bar (4304 Westheimer) last night. Not only does the place close at 2 a.m., but it’s like happy hour all night long. This place really should be called a Capone’s Bar and Restaurant. It has what looks like Playboy models working behind…
Joshua Lelay, 24, Bayou Body Count No. 21
Joshua Lelay died in his brother’s arms.Though it’s probably a fairly safe bet that his brother didn’t whisper any parting words of comfort. After all, it was Joshua Lelay’s brother who is suspected of killing him.Harris County Sheriff’s deputies rushed out to the 18100 block of Calcaterra, about 20 minutes…
V-Zilla is Houston’s Hip-Hop Monster on the Mike
“The reason I want to be alone, is I’m tired of all the things that went wrong that would’ve went right if I had did ’em on my own.” – Nas That quote is perfect for this story because Victor Gurrola, Jr., aka V-Zilla, was once the best rapper the…
Oh No, I Got the Baby!
January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany, 12 days after Christmas, the day that the Three Kings honored the Christ child. The feast day is celebrated with a “King Cake” in many parts of the world. The King Cake often has a prize inside, often in the form of…
Closed-Minded Bigots Have Decided To Boycott Boycott Houston
Earlier this week Hair Balls talked to Pastor David Grisham, a man of the cloth who was proclaiming the utterly reasonable, open-hearted and accepting gospel that the world should boycott Houston because we have a gay mayor. Oh, and there’s a Planned Parenthood outlet mall here, or something.Sadly, some Houstonians…
Self-Admitted Wanker John Mayer Is Far From Alone at the Musical Spank Bank
Guess what you’re missing if you haven’t picked up the latest copy of Rolling Stone? Go on, guess. All right, we’ll tell you: according to their website, you’re missing the lowdown on John Mayer’s “journey from bedroom guitar player to the most angst-ridden playboy in rock.” They’ve quarantined the Rocks…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: R.I.P. Western Swing Guitar God Jimmy Wyble
It went without much notice, but jazz/western swing guitar great Jimmy Wyble passed away Jan. 16. Wyble, born Jan. 25, 1922 in Port Arthur, was a popular guitarist on Houston radio during the 1940s. He had a show with Cameron Hill, another noted local guitarist. Wyble and Hill moved to…
So It’s Come to This: An Office Clip Show
I’d hoped to see a new episode of The Office last night; the show’s been on a winter break since the Christmas episode that aired December 10, back when we all thought Conan O’Brien and health care reform could be counted on. But though last night’s episode, “The Banker,” was…
Like Everyone Else, Texans Kicker Kris Brown Knew He Had A Problem This Year
So let me see if I understand this: Kris Brown knew that he had a mechanical problem of some kind with his kicking, but he elected not to do anything about it because, like a golfer who doesn’t want to make mechanical adjustments between rounds, a kicker doesn’t want to…
How Far Did We Have to Scroll Down In the 2010 Pazz & Jop Poll to Find a Houstonian?
Our sister paper in NYC’s Cooper Square, the Village Voice, released its Pazz & Jop poll Thursday. The annual coast-to-coast survey of music critics ranks the previous year’s best (according to them, anyway) albums and singles. Rocks Off did not vote this year – as we wrote in the paper…
Wine of the Week – Budget-Friendly Wines
Last December, Eating Our Words looked at two inexpensive but tasty wines. We decided it was time for a closer and more in-depth look at budget-friendly options. Just because we are still paying off credit card bills from the holidays doesn’t mean we want to give up all our fun…
Light Rail Construction On The East End Line Not Going Smoothly For Businessowners
Metro board members yesterday heard from a business owner who said that light rail construction near his used car dealership is causing him to lose money because Metro isn’t keeping all its promises.Mark Rodriguez, the business owner, has a used car lot on Harrisburg Boulevard near the intersection at Lockwood…
HISD Investigating Charges Of TAKS Cheating At Key Middle School
The Houston ISD is investigating current and former employees at Key Middle School for alleged cheating on the TAKS test at Key. Some of those former employees ended up at Kashmere High School which the district is also investigating in regard to unathorized removal of computer equipment from Key — some of…
Charlie Huston Comes To Town With Tales Of A Sleepless Post-Apocalyptic Los Angeles
Charlie Huston, the author of the newly released Sleepless, didn’t start out to be a novelist; he had been hoping to become a screenwriter. That was six years and almost a dozen books ago.”I was not thinking of a career as a writer until it was upon me,” he told…
He Said She Said: Songs That Make Us Feel Like a Natural Woman
Despite what Shania Twain may think, feelin’ like a woman isn’t always about going totally crazy in men’s shirts and short skirts. The life of a modern woman is often more about balancing work and social obligations, maybe even with motherhood, while still trying to look good (if you even…
Food Fight: Battle Supper Club
Other cities have had them for years, but — as with many concepts — Houston is a bit behind the curve. We’re talking about chef-driven, intimate, fiercely modern, multi-course dinners that allow a culinary wild man (or woman) to experiment on a willing audience, while at the same time showcasing…
HISD Crossing Guards Will Get Their Due!
The city of Houston is supposed to pick up the tab for Houston ISD’s school crossing guards. The state decided this a few years back; in fact, for a while the city operated the program itself, but in a spirit of cooperation (and common sense) it ceded that duty to…
Game Time: Come! Watch The Amazing Vince Young Water Down Matt Schaub’s Pro Bowl Bid!
For better or worse, the Texans are still at a stage in their history where they are experiencing some “exciting but for most teams not really extraordinary” things for the first time. This will happen when the first four years of your eight-year existence were spent being constructed by Charley…
I’m Bound To Pack It Up: A Playlist for Team Coco
Former management at NBC was smart enough to stick with Conan O’Brien’s Late Night franchise despite an unsteady beginning, and were rewarded when Coco went on to build one of the most reliably solid shows in late-night history. He was afforded no such wisdom from Jeff “Soul Suckin’ Jerk” Zucker,…
Taco Truck Gourmet: Taconazo
The menu is short at Taqueria El Taconazo, Veracruz. There are fajita tacos, barbacoa tacos, and lengua tacos. I asked the taquero, whose name is Lalo, for a fajita taco, and I got one of the best grilled beef tacos I’ve had in months — two corn tortillas, nicely crisped,…
Health Dept. Roundup: (Vaguely) Sports-Related Edition
This week on Health Department Roundup, we work up a sweat while getting dirty. Welcome to the (vaguely) sports-related edition. Smokin J’s, at 550 FM 1959, committed an unspecified ordinance violation in a January 20 inspection, while perhaps draining some jump shots. Huddle House, at 8619 Richmond Ave., also stepped…
Unnamed Suspected Drug Dealer, Bayou Body Count No. 20
If there were a class for crooks, the message would be taught in Crime 101: Don’t dare the cops to shoot you, because they probably will.One suspected drug offender, however, apparently missed that little lesson. And not surprisingly, he paid for it with his life.On Friday, Houston narcotics officer R…
Carnival Kick-Off
The meat parade will be extra interesting at Pradaria Churrascaria on Westheimer just outside Beltway 8 this evening (Thursday). The Brazilian restaurant will kick off the carnival season with a Samba floorshow with the “Girls from Rio” dance group. The girls will be shaking it from eight to nine o’clock…
He Said She Said: Songs That Make Us Feel Like a Man, Baby!
He Said’s view of manhood wasn’t built on sweat and labor the way most guys would probably say. Early on in our musical journey, we always equated music to being sleazy and slithery, or just dancing. It makes sense that the past two and a half decades of our life…
NASA Wants To Know Where To Point Its Mars Camera; We’ve Got Ideas
So NASA is apparently taking public suggestions for where to point the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. No doubt the agency is anticipating a slew of requests for Victoria Crater or Olympus Mons, and I salute such educational endeavors. Then again, let us…
The 10 Most Useless Kitchen Appliances
We talk a lot on this blog about eating. We talk a lot about cooking. We also talk a lot about booze, food porn and the “less polite” bodily functions (in case you’re wondering, the “more polite” bodily functions include yawning and sneezing, but only if it’s a cute sneeze)…
Cutout Bin: Jeff “Crazy Heart” Bridges Also Collects Awful Album Covers
Tuesday afternoon, Cutout Bin received a breathless phone call from a friend: “Are you watching Ellen??” Um, no… Some people work for a living. Not me, but some people. So it turns out Jeff Bridges is on Ellen, and wouldn’t you know it, he has his “bad album cover collection.”…
HISD Mulls How to Best Save Its Schools, And Ex-Board President Larry Marshall Still Tries To Run Meetings
In a district where eight of its high schools and 11 of its middle schools don’t even have a school counselor, the Houston Independent School District trustees got together for an agenda meeting early Thursday morning to talk “transformation” possibly achieved through smaller learning communities and “close relationships” between students…
Woodlands Man Sues After Former Major-Leaguer (Allegedly) Assaults Him
A former relief pitcher for the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets has been sued for allegedly assaulting a Woodlands man during a New Year’s Eve party in Dallas.Randy Sorrels, attorney for 25-year-old Ivan Pinney, said his client’s left eye was severely damaged when he was punched and kicked…
Dolce Vita Open For Lunch
After four years, Dolce Vita (500 Westheimer) has finally expanded its hours. This casual wine bar and pizzeria has been feeding the hip Montrose crowd since January 2006 — but never for weekday lunch. “We had a lot of requests to open for lunch, and we’ve been open for four…
No “Hesitation”… Just Watch Peekaboo Theory’s New Video
All right, this is what we have been waiting for: cool videos from Houston artists. Hell, we have enough cats here with state-of-the-art equipment and skills, it seems silly to let it all go to waste on insurance company commercials and that dude who will pay you in $2 bills…
Happy Hour Scene: Nick’s Place
Certain bars have this game — a machine, really — that has a mechanical arm with a punching bag on the end, and when a person puts in money, the bag swings down, waiting to be belted. Usually it’s a group of three of four guys playing, standing around the…
Local Group Leads Charge To Limit “Harmful Substances,” a/k/a What Houston Is Known For
If you like the idea of lower health care costs and are not one of the twisted few who are philosophically opposed to breathing cleaner air, there’s a good chance you’ll be excited to know that there’s an effort underway to update the federal policies which govern toxic chemicals.Earlier today,…
The H-Town Countdown, No. 2: UGK’s Ridin’ Dirty
Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We’re counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com. UGK Ridin’ Dirty (Jive, 1996) When UGK first came into focus with their…
Coogs Lose…Is The Clock Ticking On Tom Penders?
Photo courtesy UHThe Houston Cougar football and basketball teams have one thing in common: neither can defeat the University of Central Florida.But whereas football coach Kevin Sumlin just received a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract extension, it might well be that this 78-71 Cougar loss to UCF is the final nail…
Another Way to Help Haiti… “Don’t Change” a Thing
Even though it misrepresents a bunch of funky Australian pub-rockers as a New Wave band, “Don’t Change,” from 1982’s Shabooh Shoobah, broke INXS on U.S. college radio long before “What You Need” or “Need You Tonight.” It’s always been one of Rocks Off’s favorites, from a group that has given…
A New Orleans Saint
Chef Donald Link has taken French-inspired Southern cuisine to New Orleans’s warehouse district at Herbsaint (701 Saint Charles Avenue). Famous for duck confit and frog legs, this institution is a must-stop on your next getaway to New Orleans. We ordered the confit, and it was an ideal appetizer. We also…
Idol Beat: Orlando Is Far from the Magic Kingdom
Last night’s American Idol was the fourth audition episode of Season 9 (and if you think we’re almost done with the cattle-call phase, you are in for a broken heart). I cannot stress enough the unreality of the show and the brilliant way it uses editing to mess with the…
American Idol: Orlando Is Far from the Magic Kingdom
Last night’s American Idol was the fourth audition episode of the ninth season (and if you think we’re almost done with the cattle call phase, you are in for a broken heart). I cannot stress enough the unreality of the show and the brilliant way it uses editing to mess…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Vince Gill Confirms for Conroe’s Crighton Theater
Lonesome Onry and Mean has been holding his breath for a few days, keeping a secret. We’ve been waiting on one last signature on the contracts before announcing one of the biggest shows ever at Conroe’s Sounds of Texas music series. But Wednesday night we got an email from Mark…
Kirk Daley, 30, Bayou Body Count No. 19
Sadly, it wasn’t a long week for Mr. Kirk Daley.He and a few co-workers left work early on Monday, probably with a skip in their step, to go cash their tax refund checks at a convenience store in northeast Houston at 8103 Homestead Road. When Daley, 30, was finished and…
Sunny Fruit Stand
Cut-up melons, mangos, cucumbers and coconuts were among the fruit cups on sale at the Sunny fruit stand on Saturday morning. The lady behind the counter was also selling hot elote (sweet corn) on a stick or in a bowl, along with chile powder-covered mangos on a stick and half…
Pop Rocks: Somebody Impregnate Jennifer Aniston Already
Imagine you’re…a certain relatively famous Hollywood actress. Gradually, and through no real fault of your own, you’ve seen the fame of your early days starring in one of the most popular sitcoms of all time fade and lead roles dwindle. Meanwhile a parade of your exes have either moved on…
Gulf Coast Reading Series: Rebecca Wadlinger, Will Donnelly and Briana Rochelle Olson
There’s a good chance Rebecca Wadlinger will try to win you over at today’s installment of the Gulf Coast Reading Series. “My general rules for reading are to keep it short, and to try to make the audience laugh at least a couple of times,” says the poet, translator and…
Texas Tequila Throwdown
Mike Cortez, the writer behind the blog bitemehouston, has put together the Texas Tequila Throwdown. “Basically, we’ve got seven tequila companies from all over Texas,” he tells us. “People are going to be able to come out and sample each tequila.” Cortez notes that each brand will have three types…
“2010 Print Auction Exhibition”
It’s a good time to buy cars, houses and art – especially when buying said art helps an institution thrive. So bring your critical eye to the Houston Center for Photography’s “2010 Print Auction Exhibition,” a show of photographic works from all over the world that will be auctioned off…
Doña Rosita’s Jalapeño Kitchen
Ruby Nelda Perez brings the one-woman show Doña Rosita’s Jalapeño Kitchen to Talento Bilingue de Houston today. Written by Rodrigo Duarte-Clark, the comedy is the story of Doña Rosita, who is thinking about closing down her restaurant to make way for a new shopping mall. Reminiscing about the experiences she’s…
Greg Berger: Amor en tiempos de influenza (Love in the Time of Flu) and La rebeldia bajo sitio (Rebellion Under Siege)
Sometimes to get his Mexican documentaries screened in the U.S., and sometimes just to be provocative, filmmaker Greg Berger resorts to free rooftop screenings, such as the recent showings of his short political films Amor en tiempos de influenza (Love in the Time of Flu) and La rebeldia bajo sitio…
“The New Normal”
The word privacy doesn’t appear anywhere in the U.S. Constitution. Oops! But even if the founding fathers had thought to mention the right to privacy, they never could have foreseen today’s perfect storm, the confluence of new technology with homeland security concerns, which makes privacy iffy at best. The situation…
17th Iranian Film Festival
While turbulent Iran struggles through its “worst of times,” its film output celebrates a golden age. The beauty, depth and courage within that proud, ancient country is on ample display at the 17th Iranian Film Festival, now showing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and no film is as…
David Wroblewski
Talk about beginner’s luck. Last summer, author David Wroblewski shook the literary world with his debut novel, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Featuring an unlikely plot about the life of a mute growing up on a dog-breeding farm in Wisconsin, it’s also a loose retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The book…
Voyeur
You’ve heard of outside the box. Clare Dyson wants you looking inside the box. That’s where she’s placed two dancers for today’s performance of Voyeur. Audience members take their places around a large wooden box at various peepholes to choose their point of view for the modern-dance piece. Some holes…
Tuna Does Vegas
Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard have been at it for two decades -creating those dark and funny characters who make up the citizenry of Tuna, Texas, a place where old women love chickens but hate kids, and kill dogs who wander into their yards with “bitter pills” of…
Thunder Rock
A 1939 New York Times review of the play Thunder Rock said the show “bids the world cheer up.” Sounds like good advice for the denizens of 2010 – maybe that’s why Company OnStage chose the Robert Ardrey script to start off its new year. In the play, the brooding…
The Planets: An HD Odyssey
Talk about playing with the big boys: The Houston Symphony has joined forces with another major local institution, NASA, for “The Planets: An HD Odyssey.” Around 2003, the symphony began rehearsing The Planets, a sweeping orchestral work by Gustav Holst, envisioning it as a performance before images from outer space…
Agnostic Front
While NYC hardcore is certainly not everyone’s genre of choice, it represents what might eventually be seen as the watershed moment when metal started to, just maybe, be cool. Of course, that wasn’t the perception at the time. In fact, bands like Agnostic Front largely alienated their dyed-in-the-wool heritage-punk audiences…
Tosca
There’s opera, and then there’s opera: those epic, lavish dramas filled with seductions and betrayals, murders and suicides, heart-wrenching ballads and wailing arias – all of which Puccini’s Tosca offers in abundance. The Houston Grand Opera presents its new production of the three-act masterpiece, which is sung in Italian with…
War Dogs of the Pacific
There have been lots of WWII films, but Harris Done’s documentary War Dogs of the Pacific may be one of a kind. The canines seen in the film were retrained family dogs that were paired with handlers, and initially scoffed at by soldiers. But then the dogs started to save…
24-Hour Play
The Rice University Players have a busy day ahead of them. The group is presenting a 24-Hour Play cycle. Small groups of students get together and, during one 24-hour period, write, direct and perform a play. There are no set themes or concepts. They are free to have any style…
“Poly-Lawn-Dale”
Ned Dodington’s installation “Poly-Lawn-Dale” was inspired by social anthropologist Paul Rabinow’s phrase “nature has never been natural.” To create the piece, he filled nylon stockings with grass pods and hooked them up to an IV bag full of growing solution. It’s an inventive take on Chia pets and a way…
Suicide Notes Movie Sneak Peek Party
Think of Suicide Notes as the little film that could. Producers snagged Lou Martini Jr. (from The Sopranos and As the World Turns), Sammy Kershaw (a Grammy Award-winning singer) and Sam Malone (the local radio personality) to star in the dark comedy about a playwright who gets himself in a…
Seymour Lipkin
Winning the Rachmaninoff Competition at just 19 was an auspicious start to what’s been a stellar career for pianist Seymour Lipkin, who makes a rare stop in Houston today. He’s enjoyed success in everything from chamber music to the conducting podium, prompting one critic to call him “a boldly incisive,…
Birthday from Hell
Gather around the cake and sing “Happy Birthday” with the Fertle family at Birthday from Hell. The latest Radio Music Theatre musical comedy starts as Bridgette Fertle is on the verge of turning 40. Her midlife crisis is intensified by the fact that everyone seems to have forgotten her birthday…
“Salvador Dalí: The Face of the Surrealist Movement”
Art collector and publisher Pierre Argillet met the famed surrealist Salvador Dalí in 1934. Argillet was just starting as a publisher and was hoping to convince Dalí to allow one of his copper plate etchings to be used in a project. The two got along so well during that meeting…
Bubble Wrap Wonderweek
It’s doubtful that when the brainiacs behind Bubble Wrap were inventing air-lined plastic sheeting, they knew the enormous joy the packing material would one day bring to children everywhere. But then again, maybe they did – even brainiacs can’t resist the satisfying pop, pop, pop of crushing those tiny air…
Soul Night 2
Dust off your afro, rearrange that Jheri curl and get your groove on, cause it’s time for Soul Night 2. Brought to you by Aurora Picture Show, this funky flashback from the ’60s and ’70s is all about sweet vintage performance footage from the likes of music legends James Brown,…
“Catherine Colangelo: Progression”
Artist Catherine Colangelo reveals parts of herself in “Progression,” an exhibit of paint, paper and fabric works. The recipient of an artist-grant fellowship from the Houston Arts Alliance told us via e-mail, “Lately, my work has dealt with notions of personal identity and how, as human beings, we can be…
Agnostic Front
While NYC hardcore is certainly not everyone’s genre of choice, it represents what might eventually be seen as the watershed moment when metal started to, just maybe, be cool. Of course, that wasn’t the perception at the time. In fact, bands like Agnostic Front largely alienated their dyed-in-the-wool heritage-punk audiences…
Flashbulb Fires
If it’s true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then a number of celebrated indie-rock bands should be positively gushing after hearing this record. On last year’s Glory, Denver’s Flashbulb Fires recalls a more sullen Arcade Fire, an act it name-checks in its bio; although Flashbulb Fires is…
Net Gains and Losses: Red Herring
H. Bruce Franklin’s 2007 book The Most Important Fish in the Sea helped bring the menhaden debate to a wider audience. Franklin, an English professor at Rutgers who is for some reason often described as a “cultural historian” in book reviews and interviews, has written about menhaden and Omega Protein…
Job Market Blues
COURTS Bad Job Market Blues So bad you’d put up with an (allegedly) masturbating boss? By Chris Vogel How many times does your boss have to masturbate on or around you before you quit your job? (Before you answer, remember, these are troubled times. Employment rates are tumbling and it…
Free Martin Zet
Images of stolid iron workers, sturdy collective-farm girls and the glory of the communist state: These are the things that Socialist Realism is made of. Looking at the wry, eclectic work of Czech artist Martin Zet, it’s hard to imagine him as a product of the Socialist Realist art academy,…
Pot of Gold
Pot of Gold Waste of resources: The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers [“Weed Takes Root,” by David Ferrell, January 7]. In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying…
Straight, No Chaser
We won’t go so far as to say it means we’re “maturing,” but one sure sign Noise is getting older is that recently we’ve begun paying much more attention to jazz. Maybe it’s all the time we’ve been spending at Warren’s. Jazz history is sunk deep into the cobblestones surrounding…
STAG’S HEAD PUB’S JAILBIRD
The Stag’s Head Pub (2128 Portsmouth, 713-521-2333) is a warm, comfortable place to celebrate a friend’s getting out of a cold, uncomfortable place with some inappropriately heavy Monday-night drinking. Mike (new nickname: Short Timer) had spent the weekend in county lockup for an unpaid traffic ticket. He’d been mostly blind,…
Net Gains and Losses
In 2003, Danny the polar bear, a resident of the Cincinnati Zoo, was having severe skin problems. The 800-lb. Arctic native’s hide was itchy and inflamed; constant scratching wore away fur, exposing the lesions scrawled across the black skin underneath. He was, according to what had to have been the…
Measures of a Man
Extraordinary Measures is a race-against-time thriller in which a desperate dad (Brendan Fraser) sacrifices everything to cure a rare disease that’s seconds away from killing his kids. Extraordinary Measures is also a heartwarming tale about a disgruntled doc (Harrison Ford) who throws in with a biotech startup fronted by…well, a…
Bobby Lyle
From jamming with Jimi Hendrix and touring with both Sly and the Family Stone in the early ’70s and as Bette Midler’s musical director in the ’80s, and recording half a dozen albums under his own name in the ’90s, keyboardist and now Houstonian Bobby Lyle has had a stellar…
1905 Pizza Bar
Chris Reyes owns Olives Martini Bar & Grille in Sugar Land’s Town Square. When the space two doors down became available after a sandwich place went out of business, Reyes snapped it up and opened 1905 Pizza Bar (2228 Texas Dr., 281-325-1011). “We called it ‘1905’ because that was the…
Everclear
Starting with 1993’s World of Noise, Everclear began sharpening its Portland-bred grunge to a fine power-pop point that culminated in 1997’s smash LP So Much for the Afterglow. Singles like “Father of Mine” and “Everything to Everyone” turned the band from MTV “Buzz Bin” also-rans into modern-rock mainstays. Lead singer…
Tasty Tentacles
The sight of the octopus a la plancha ($10) at Ibiza (2450 Louisiana, 713-524-0004), with its long tentacles reaching over the edge of the plate, may be somewhat disconcerting for some. The thinner ends of the tentacles are extremely crispy, since Chef Charles Clark cooks the octopus over hot coals…
Anvil
Canadian metallers Anvil, whose current tour mysteriously became “The Anvil Experience” a few weeks back, got a welcome blast of newfound adoration on the heels of 2008’s Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Sacha Gervasi’s excellent rock doc traced Anvil’s lagging career and attempt at reinvigoration, chronicling lead singer Steve “Lips”…
Comfort Food on Steroids
The grilled cheese sandwich at Two Saints Restaurant on Memorial came on thick-sliced, toasted artisan bread. The complex yeasty texture and crunchy crust created lots of “nooks and crannies” that made for very interesting toast. The cheese was full-flavored gruyère, one of my favorite melting cheeses. It oozed deep into…
Fat Man and Little Boy
Ex-Bad Liver Mark Rubin has always had a huge irony-filled humorous streak in his work, so we weren’t exactly surprised to see the following blurb on his new project Fat Man and Little Boy’s MySpace page: “We suffered for our art, now it’s your turn.” The site also describes the…
Giant Steps
Let’s say you wanted to learn all there was to know about the 100-plus-year history of jazz. There are a few things you could do. You could read all 480 pages of Ted Gioia’s The History of Jazz. That’d get you right. You could also trust the 7,000 or so…
Nothing’s Wrong
With last year’s Billy Joe Shaver-esque Something’s Wrong/Lost Forever (Bloodshot), San Marcos native Scott H. Biram has officially become his own sentient animal. His harrowing early records, like the bedridden Rehabilitation Blues EP, saw Biram moaning and wailing the blues, but Lost Forever brought his country roots to the forefront…
Age of Endarkenment
Ray Wylie Hubbard is talking about “them down-home country blues” — not just a song title from his brand-new album, but a feeling he wanted the entire project to have. “Yeah, you could certainly say ‘Down Home Country Blues’ and ‘Pots and Pans’ [‘You take some pots and pans and…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Body in Fragments”, “Cy Twombly: Treatise on the Veil”, Damascus Gate (Stretch Variation III), “Recent Accessions in Design”
“Body in Fragments” The Menil is always great at creating little mini exhibits from its vast collection, grouping together and juxtaposing modern and contemporary works with primitive art. “Body in Fragments” is no exception. The title says it all — every piece on display contains an element of body fragmentation,…
Capsule Stage Reviews: The Honeymoon Period Is Officially Over, Master Class, Rent
The Honeymoon Period Is Officially Over Houstonians owe Gerald LaBita, producing director of Theater LaB, a great big high-five for introducing us to Gemma Wilcox, the writer, director and star of her one-woman show, The Honeymoon Period Is Officially Over, which ran here for one too-short week. The story, about…
Readers Respond, and the Mexican Middle Class
¡ASK A MEXICAN! Dear Readers: Siempre, the wisest words that appear in this column come from ustedes, y the following two cartas prove this maxim. The first one addresses my year-end column, in which a working-class gabacho insisted his people apapachan a Mexicans mucho: Half-Mexican here. I was fortunate enough…
