R.I.P. Lux Interior
It saddens Rocks Off, deeply, to pass this along, but evidently Lux Interior, founder and frontman of psychobilly godfathers (and all-around badasses) the Cramps, has died. Details are extremely sketchy right now, but apparently Interior, 60, may have died over the weekend and news only leaked out today. Which is…
R.I.P., The ClobberLine (As Big-City Prices Rejoice)
Somewhere in Hempstead, there’s a big red phone that will never ring again. Lawrence Marshall has announced that the 40-year-old dealership is closing its doors, and thus no dotty old ladies will ever again shout “Ray! There goes that ClobberLine again.”Nor will any giant Aggies evermore answer said ClobberLine and…
His Twinkie Defense: It Was A Long Time Ago
This website, called the T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project, is, in Internet terms, an ancient classic. A War and Peace of the Web, if you will. When it was posted in – oh, em, gee – 1995, it caused a minor sensation. And it was started by two Rice students, Todd Stadler and…
Live Nation and Ticketmaster Near Merger
The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that entertainment megacorp Live Nation and Ticketmaster, the world’s leading ticketing agency and an important player in artist management, are in talks to merge the two companies. “The resulting firm” – called, appropriately, Live Nation Ticketmaster – “would be able to manage everything from recorded…
Robert Tolan’s Lawyers Aren’t That Impressed With Bellaire’s Proposed Racial-Profiling Study
As the Houston Chronicle reported today, the city of Bellaire has hired an outside consultant to review whether there’s evidence of racial profiling in who the police department pulls over on traffic stops.The announcement came in the wake, of course, of the police shooting of resident Robert Tolan, gunned down…
Local Rotation: Muhammad Ali & Black Congress’ Split Cassette (That’s Right, Cassette)
Yesterday afternoon, Rocks Off bought his first new cassette tape since 1996. The last tape we bought was the Schoolhouse Rocks soundtrack that came out the year before. It was a collection of 90’s indie rockers like Pavement and Daniel Johnston doing covers of tunes from the classic Saturday morning…
Don’t Worry About That Plane Buzzing Downtown Houston. Really
Houstonians downtown during today’s lunch hour were treating to a very curious aerial display as they walking to and from their offices. A small single-engine was seen doing swoops and twirls in between our tallest skyscrapers. The plane’s flight was mostly up and down Main, but the flight plan seemed…
Abe Saavedra Is Leaving The Building
Abe Saavedra, HISD superintendent, announced his resignation this morning to pursue a “second career” at the ripe old age of 58. Saavedra’s leaving follows a big retreat the board had, where he just might have been told of some boardmembers’ continuing frustration with what they’ve called poor communications.Especially since Saavedra…
Fish Story: Crazy Irishman Sushi Roll
In Café this week, we sampled the “Crazy Irishman” at Soma on Washington Avenue — one of the wildest looking sushi rolls in town. It’s one of the spiciest too. The roll contains salmon, tuna, and avocado which is all wrapped in green soy bean paper and then flash-fried. The…
A Missing Gasp In Last Night’s A Bronx Tale
Michelle Obama, Chazz Palminteri, A Bronx Tale and the American Dream all collided yesterday during opening night of Palminteri’s one-man show. A Bronx Tale, based in part on Palminteri’s life, shows a kid named Calogero growing up in a tough New York City neighborhood during the 1960s. Pulled in one…
Chart Check: Texans on Amazon.com
[Rocks Off scrolled through the various Top Sellers lists on Amazon.com this afternoon to see which albums by Texas artists are moving, and where.] Top Sellers Overall 2. Steve Martin, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo 7. Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel, Willie and the Wheel…
His Twinkie Defense: It Was A Long Time Ago
This website, called the T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project, is, in Internet terms, an ancient classic. A War and Peace of the Web, if you will. When it was posted in – oh, em, gee – 1995, it caused a minor sensation. And it was started by two Rice students, Todd Stadler and…
No Idea Festival Returns to Houston March 1
Local creative-music organization Nameless Sound has announced the lineup for the Houston installation of the 2009 No Idea Festival, to be held Sunday, March 1 at Art League of Houston (1006 Willard): Mario de Vega (Mexico, electronics); Jawwaad Taylor (New York City, electronics, voice/MC, trumpet); Annette Krebs (Berlin, guitar, electronics); Jason…
Thelma’s Closed By Fire
Nationally famous Thelma’s Bar B Que at 1020 Live Oak closed due to a fire. The front of the business appeared as ramshackle as always, but a sign on the door announced the bad news. The rear of the building where the barbecue pit used to be was badly damaged…
Sherlock’s Pub Gets Spanked Back With Harassment Ruling
The ass-spanking and breast-squeezing has come to a stop at Sherlock’s Pub (we assume), but it was an expensive lesson.The owners of the bar on Westheimer agreed to pay $115,000 to settle a class sexual-harassment case brought against them by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the EEOC announced today.The commission…
Artist of the Week: Somber Element
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. Being a music critic is a really precise,…
Heartbreaking News For Barbecue Fans: Thelma’s Gutted By Fire
Thelma’s, one of the city’s most famous “unknown” barbecue joints, was apparently gutted by fire over the weekend.We’re told someone saw the fire engines out at the shack on Friday; another passer-by on Sunday says the place looked gutted.We’re sending someone out now to get photographic evidence and further information,…
Tonight: Mike Barfield and Danny Gardner at Under the Volcano
Mike Barfield, “Lonesome Train” Mike Barfield and Danny Gardner have been around the Houston roots-rock/country scene so long they remember Club Hey Hey and Blues Burger. Back before they parted company – Barfield moving to front the Hollisters and Gardner working with Mitch Jacobs in Romeo Dogs – they teamed…
Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On At The Space Station
Every so often, the International Space Station makes a routine adjustment that involves firing some rockets to adjust the orbit. Usually it creates so small a motion that those on board have been known to sleep through it.Not on January 14, according to newly released info. The “routine adjustment” that…
It’s Spindletop In The Gulf For A Houston Oil Company
There’s black gold, Texas tea deep, deep in the Gulf of Mexico, if Anadarko Petroleum is any indication.This morning the exploration company announced its second major find in three days from deep-water drilling in the Gulf.The details of the finds are a little mind-numbing to the layman — they’re spudding…
Classic Rock Corner: Graham Nash Interviewed
There isn’t much mystery to Graham Nash. Not that that’s a bad thing at all. In fact, if you want to know how the British expat with the distinctive tenor vocals feels about anything – political and social issues, fellow musicians, his wife and children even religion – it’s all…
BARC’s Firing Of Vet Doesn’t Add Up
On Tuesday, Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care veterinarian Gil Costas was fired for what Health and Human Services Department spokeswoman Kathy Barton said was not having proper state certification.Barton said Costas did not have “site-specific” Texas Department of Public Safety controlled-substances registration. But Jane Ray, of DPS’s controlled-substances division,…
The Roosevelt Special at the Original in Fort Worth
Commenting on the Palmetto Inn’s Number #10 Dinner, a plate of cheese enchiladas with chili and queso Jim Sherman wrote: “Needs a sunnyside-up fried egg on top!” That reminded me of another famous Tex-Mex dish–the “Roosevelt Special” at the Original Mexican Eats Café on Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth…
John Royal’s Top 25 Random Baseball Facts
There’s this new list craze going around Facebook in which you list 25 random things about yourself. And the geniuses at the Big League Stew baseball blog got hold of this and made it into a list of 25 Random Things About Yourself As It Relates to Baseball. Thus… 1…
John Royal’s Top 25 Random Baseball Facts
There’s this new list craze going around Facebook in which you list 25 random things about yourself. And the geniuses at the Big League Stew baseball blog got hold of this and made it into a list of 25 Random Things About Yourself As It Relates to Baseball. Thus… 1…
Much-Loved Veterinarian Fired by BARC
Gil Costas, a part-time veterinarian at Houston’s Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care, was fired today for lack of state-mandated certification, Houston Health and Human Services Spokeswoman Kathy Barton told Hair Balls. The news was originally broken by Nicole Sica, editor of the animal-welfare blog Poocini and a writer for…
Environment Texas Wants More Solar Power (Big Surprise)
Environment Texas held a press conference today in front of the Mirabeau B. Sales Center at the corner of Waugh and Hyde Park to, excuse the pun, shed light on the positives of solar energy, specifically in terms of promoting “green” collar job growth in the solar power industry and…
For Buddy, Ritchie and the Bopper: Don McLean’s “American Pie”
We still believe in rock and roll, guys…
Tell NASA Where You Want Hubble to Point
Hot on the heels of a new report from the Baker Institute suggesting NASA concentrate on improving conditions here on Earth and postpone all this “outer space” foolishness, NASA has come up with yet another neat little thing to help reignite enthusiasm for what it does. We say “yet another”…
Buffalo Chicken Pizza at Russo’s
Houston’s second Russo’s New York Coal-Fired Pizza (their name is as much a mouthful as their enormous slices), located next to a Charming Charlie’s on I-10 at Echo Lane, has only been open for 15 days. Despite this (and perhaps because of the popularity of their other, well-oiled location on the Northwest Freeway),…
Can’t Get It Out of My Head: David Allan Coe’s “Whips and Things” (NSFW)
That lovable scamp Mojo Nixon just played this song on his Sirius XM Outlaw Country shift, and now only God knows when Rocks Off is going to be able to scrub his mind clean of “Pussy-Eatin’ Pamela,” “Suck-’em Silly Shirley” and a few others he can’t bring himself to type. And,…
Digitalia: Rocks Off Has New Twitter Account, Email Address
Rocks Off is what a good friend likes to call “last caveman to the fire,” meaning whenever some form of new technology comes along, he procrastinates as long as possible before embracing it. However, once he does come around, it’s with guns blazing – for example, he’s a texting fiend…
Say Hello to EaDo
We once described the area immediately to the east of the George R. Brown Convention Center as a “silent, godforsaken stretch of no-man’s-land” that is neither the Warehouse District, nor the Third Ward, nor the East End. We employed that bulky definition because by 2000, its 1980s and ’90s name…
Aeros Can’t Seem to Come Back from Breaks
Photo by Fred Trask The best offensive force the Houston Aeros have had this season, Krys Kolanos, was returned to the Aeros from the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. And this seemed to be a good thing since the Aeros had a game on Thursday night. Northwest Airlines had a different…
Aeros Can’t Seem to Come Back from Breaks
Photo by Fred Trask The best offensive force the Houston Aeros have had this season, Krys Kolanos, was returned to the Aeros from the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. And this seemed to be a good thing since the Aeros had a game on Thursday night. Northwest Airlines had a different…
It’s Been 50 Years Since the Music Died
Fifty years ago today – February 3, 1959 – the world lost three of its early pioneering rock and rollers in a fiery plane crash over Clear Lake, Iowa. Texan Buddy Holly, Chicano rock godfather Ritchie Valens, and Sabine Pass-born disc jockey/songwriter J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson all lay…
Aftermath: Broken Social Scene at Numbers
On the one hand you have your “scene,” you know the one. With the super-skinny jeans, the ambivalently knotted skinny ties, the American Spirits blown carefully through the nose, the ironic hair. And on the other, you have your Broken Social Scene. With the music. And those voices. And all…
Health Code Roundup: Health Department Violations Waning?
I don’t know whether to be impressed or disgusted. That’s because I’m not sure if all the restaurateurs have been on their best behavior, or if the Health Department has just been sitting around playing GTA4 on the Xbox 360s they got for Christmas, because there were no health code…
HPD Thinks Houstonians Should Actually Use Turn Signals
Be warned if you plan on driving the Loop — especially the South Loop — today: HPD is out in force, handing out tickets for what we always thought was a Houston tradition.People actually use their turn signals on the freeway these days? You could have fooled us.But an HPD…
Aftermath: The Killers at Verizon Wireless Theater
Next year this decade will be over, and very few new bands have distinguished themselves either at the turnstiles or the cash register. Even one of the main ones that has, the Killers, chose to hit the theater circuit this winter after releasing its third album, Day & Age, instead of risking…
50-cent Breakfast: Spicy Hog’s Head Cheese
I heard the lines were pretty long outside of Denny’s this morning. This is the day that all Denny’s locations are serving a free Grand Slam breakfast. I like eggs and pancakes and all, but I started wondering if Denny’s food was really worth waiting in line for. Then I…
DPS Officer Finds Magic Bus Full of Marijuana
The Texas Department of Public Safety has sent out a release, bragging about its latest haul. On Saturday a DPS officer saw…oh, man, that’s a lot of weed. Just look at that shit. It’s an entire school bus, filled with bricks. Wow. Found on US 59 in Webb County, the…
The Whole Wide World: Peter Tosh’s The Ultimate Experience
Peter Tosh The Ultimate Experience (Shanachie) www.shanachie.com More than 20 years since Peter Tosh’s 1987 assassination, the Wailers co-founder’s legacy (as well as Bob Marley’s) live on around the world, but that rings especially true in his native Jamaica, where he burst out of poverty and misery to become one…
Google and NASA Team Up in Plan to Destroy Human Race
Remember the Futurists? Bunch of Italian guys. Loved technology. Fascism too. Looks like Google and NASA plan on bringing those guys back, or least an even more futuristic version of them, with Singularity University. Housed in NASA’s Ames Research Center, the University will be headed by Ray Kurzweil, who’s (kinda)…
Memo from KPRC Management re: Ashley Madison Super Bowl Ad
FROM: KPRC STATION MANAGEMENT TO: ALL KPRC STAFF CC: KPRC SALES STAFF SUBJECT: ASHLEY MADISON.COM As I’m sure most of you have heard, during the third period of Sunday’s Super Bowl – and wasn’t that an exciting game by the way – this television station aired a commercial for a…
Memo from KPRC Management re: Ashley Madison Super Bowl Ad
FROM: KPRC STATION MANAGEMENT TO: ALL KPRC STAFF CC: KPRC SALES STAFF SUBJECT: ASHLEY MADISON.COM As I’m sure most of you have heard, during the third period of Sunday’s Super Bowl – and wasn’t that an exciting game by the way – this television station aired a commercial for a…
Miss Pop Rocks Watches the Super Bowl
Oh God, my stomach is so distended. WHY do I do this to myself every Super Bowl Sunday? I watch one football game each year and it’s this one, and the only reason I watch it is to have an excuse to eat snacks and watch commercials. A few thoughts…
The World’s Biggest Boobs Are In Houston
Hair Balls had to do a double-take (OK, a quadruple-take) when we saw this story about Houstonian Sheyla Hershey’s world-record-nabbing knockers.On its surface, Hershey’s story is another perfect example of a person doing weird things in order to become reality-show fodder. But a funny thing happened in the course of…
Slam One Down For Free
Are you hungry for breakfast? Are you poor (or at least cheap)? Good news! Just in time for the recession, all Denny’s restaurants across the nation are offering their Grand Slam breakfast for free tomorrow only from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. That’s two pancakes, two eggs, two sausage links and…
Construction On A New, Tolerance-Free Pedestrian Bridge Begins In Memorial Park
While everyone’s attention has been distracted with the semi-wacky Tolerance Bridge (new name coming soon!) over White Oak Buffalo Bayou, another fancy pedestrian bridge had a groundbreaking Friday.The $4 million bridge over Memorial Drive will connect the northern and southern portions of the park and allow people — at least…
Cy-Creek High School Needs Musicians for Career Day
Attention local musicians: Would you like to pass along some of your hard-earned knowledge to the younger generation? And, in doing so, perhaps keep a few lucky high-schoolers from selling their souls to the Man? If so, even if you don’t actually make a full-time living from your music, you’re in…
Album of the Week: Bruce Springsteen’s Working on a Dream
Bruce Springsteen is one prolific motherfucker. After all, he’s produced one entire 4 CD box set (Tracks) of songs that he thought weren’t good enough to be included on a regular album, and much of it still blew away anything in comparison. In that vein, we have Working on a…
SXSW Film Festival Line-Up Is, To Use A Terrible Word, Finalized
The SXSW Film Festival’s complete line-up has been announced, featuring 108 features over nine days, with half of those being world premieres.(And many of those “world premieres” being also “the only time these films will play on a large screen.”)The big names include Spike Lee, with his filmed version of…
Aftermath: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Super Bowl XLIII
Part 1: “10th Avenue Freeze-Out” and “Born to Run” Score another one for the old folks. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s quarter-hour onstage at Super Bowl XLIII Sunday night may not have been the most contemporary booking the NFL could have landed – but, and we’ll get to…
So It’s Come To This: Jay’s Corn Dog Tamales
Well, I decided to take up Robb’s challenge and come up with something for the football weekend. But I wanted to push the envelope a little with an over the top, artery clogging, bad for you something. And that something turned out to be corn dog tamales…
Rice’s Nanocars Are Cooler Than Ever
Rice has been among leaders in developing nanocars, which are even smaller than Cooper Minis, although they probably have more leg room and are less annoying to look at.Now they’ve made another breakthrough — they’ve gotten the things to move at room temperature. Previously the nanocars only rolled at temperatures…
HISD’s New Top Cop Has No Stance On The Drug-Sniffing Dog Issue
After this morning’s ceremony to swear in Jimmie Dotson, the new Chief of Police for HISD, Officer V.L. Mitchell stood in the back, eating from the buffet as Dotson spoke to the news cameras at the front of the room. Mitchell has been an HISD officer for 21 years, drove…
Turning the Screw: Balls Deep, UGK, DMX, MC Hammer, Theophilus London, Run-DMC, Lil’ Jon 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: “Hoes,” Balls Deep Wire To Wire Bun B will release the final UGK album, 4 Life, this March. We…
The Renovated Downtown Library, Still Proudly Sporting Ike Plywood Over Its Windows
The boarded windows at the entrance of the newly renovated Central Library downtown are (we guess) a nice compliment to the red, trademark sculpture also front and center. The makeshift repairs were put in place after damage to a lower window, likely caused by Hurricane Ike, created a crack in…
The Sweet Smell Of Condenscension, From Harvard Via Dallas
There’s some sort of school up north called Harvard, or something like that (we guess it’s like Rice), and it has some sort of business school.Now apparently when you get a degree from that there Harvard business school, you can pretty much pick and choose what city you want to…
Hamburguesa Estilo Monterrey
What exactly is a hamburguesa estilo Monterrey? I visited the Hamburguesas Del Rio location at Avenida Constitucion 1121 Pte. Centro in Monterrey, Mexico to seek the definitive answer to that question. I had long assumed that the term described a specific Mexican-style set of garnishes, namely the shredded lettuce, chopped…
For Groundhog Day — The Five Best Movie Rodents
February 2 marks that special days in Western civilization, in which we commemorate the mystical powers of a being emerging from a hole in the ground. No, I’m not talking about Easter, but rather Groundhog Day. And what better way to mark the annual resurrection of Punxsutawney Phil then listing…
Tonight: Broken Social Scene at Numbers
Since 1999, Canadian indie rockers Broken Social Scene have made consistently brilliant and always original experimental baroque-pop music, enlisting the help of a myriad of artists along the way: Metric’s Emily Haines, Leslie “1,2,3,4” Feist, Jason Collett, Amy Millan of Stars and Jason Tait of The Weakerthans. Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew, BSS’…
Over the Weekend: Last Concert Cafe, Super Bowl and Groundhog Day
We’ll have some Groundhog Day coverage up in a little bit (yep, you read that right), but we start things off with the usual Bill Olive action. 1 a.m. at Last Concert Cafe Saturday night was all right for hanging out in the Warehouse District… Super Bowl XLIII …and then…
Jury’s Still Out On The Houston Radicals (And Informant) Who Tried To Bomb The GOP Convention
Texas-style radical politics took center stage last week at Minnesota’s Federal district court in Minneapolis, as a trial which has involved anarchists, death threats and bomb-sniffing dogs paused Friday with a deadlocked jury. David Guy McKay, of Austin, faces up to ten years in federal prison, for possessing eight Molotov…
Super Bowl XLIII Recap
So I suppose I should say a little something about the Super Bowl. But before I do, I’d like to make an appeal to all future Super Bowl organizers. Please, no more American Idol rejects (or winners) for the anthem. Please. When Jennifer Hudson hit the 10 minute mark on…
Super Bowl XLIII Recap
So I suppose I should say a little something about the Super Bowl. But before I do, I’d like to make an appeal to all future Super Bowl organizers. Please, no more American Idol rejects (or winners) for the anthem. Please. When Jennifer Hudson hit the 10 minute mark on…
Local Scientists Say The Superbugs Are Coming To Get Us
Listen up people – we have run out of options. At least when we come to superbugs, if University of Texas Medical School researchers Dr. Barbara E. Murray and Dr. Cesar Ariasare to be believed. The two study infectious diseases for a living, so they should know. Their article in…
What This Area Needs Is A Good Nanotechnology Center
David Goswick is thinking small — very, very small. No, even smaller than that. Goswick, the head of Historic Real Estate, wants to build the Nano World Headquarters right here in River City, ah, … we mean Houston. The idea behind the Headquarters is that Houston (well, at least the…
HPD’s Pilot Program To Deal With Mentally Ill Becomes Permanent
In December, we published a story that involved the Houston Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team, and one of its new programs that only a couple other departments in the country were trying.That program, the Crisis Intervention Response Team, pairs street officers with counselors from MHMRA for patrol. Previously, it’s just…
Chinese Restaurant Dragon Dance Ritual
JC and I ran into a dragon dance performance in front of Hung Kee Chinese restaurant in Old Chinatown today. During Chinese New Year, dragon dance teams appear at Chinese-owned businesses to “choi chang” literally, pick greens. The restaurant and two other retail establishments filled red envelopes with folding money…
Houston’s Own Artisanal Gelato
The dulce de leche gelato was masterful: velvety smooth with that familiar thick sweetness, but not overwhelmingly so. Some dulce de leche treats take on an overpowering, sickly sweet caramel flavor, but not this gelato. The shards of dark chocolate scattered throughout added a welcomed bite to the texture and the creamy taste…
Video: Love Street Light Circus at International Coffee Building
Love Street Light Circus, “Get Back” / Video by John Gray…
Bikers — Someone Actually Wants To Hear From You
Bikers, the city of Houston wants to hear from you. Some of us only want to hear how you’re going to get out of our way during rush hour, but city officials would rather hear about what you think is needed here to help you bike better, or whatever it…
How Can Exxon Make A Giant Profit And Conoco A Giant Loss? Gas Is Gas, Right?
After reading about ExxonMobil’s record $45.2 billion annual profit, Hair Balls was scratching our head over why Exxon had a profitable fourth quarter, when Conoco lost $31.8 billion. Does Exxon jack up the cost of Little Debbies at its stores or something?Fortunately, we caught Hoover’s Oil & Gas Industry editor…
Library, Homeless Advocates Meet; It’s “Chill”
This afternoon, the folks from Food Not Bombs, a local group that serves vegan food to the homeless four nights a week in front of the Houston Public Library, met with some people from the library to decide how they could avoid another confrontation. “It was a lot more chill…
Residents File Their Own Suit Against Treatment Plant
Less than a month ago, Houston City Council members responded to an avalanche of complaints about explosions and sickening smells coming from a CES Environmental Services Inc. waste treatment plant in southeast Houston and decided to sue the company under nuisance laws in an attempt to remove the facility. Since…
Alcohol-Free Wine: Poorly Conceived Dreck
Sutter Home Winery is a reasonably credible wine maker. Sure, to some people they may be one step up from Two Buck Chuck, but you have to think the wine makers at Sutter Home retain some shred of pride and dignity.Or not…
Free Tickets for Back In Black and Fan Halen
Fan Halen We have been given a handful of tickets to tonight’s Fan Halen/Back In Black show at the House Of Blues to give away. Hurry up and come grab a few while they last. The Aqua-Net stench isn’t too overpowering as of this posting so we should have a…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Good Trouble for Hayes Carll in 2008
We freely admit we are homers, as big a fans of Hayes Carll as Milo Hamilton is of the Astros, but the Press isn’t the only media outlet in the country impressed by Carll’s first Lost Highway album, Trouble in Mind. The album, which featured the Americana Music Association’s song…
What’s So Bad About That Bill White-MLK-Obama Ad, Anyway?
Ever since Isiah Carey broke the story on his Insite blog, most of the other media outlets in town have followed up with items on the allegedly offensive advertisement that Mayor Bill White took out in the Houston Defender, a black paper, for Martin Luther King Day.This is, supposedly, a…
Chamillionaire’s Inaugural Diary, Part 5: Back Home
I was told by my travel agent that I wouldn’t be able to leave Washington D.C. ’til the end of the week because of the lack of return flights, but luckily some seats opened up for me. A high fever had already taken over my body, and I was ready…
Saturday Night: Echoes at FBI Rocks
If you say you want the Pink Floyd experience, it generally means you’re going to the laser show at the Planetarium, probably with pharmacology of questionable legality. But if you actually want a chance to stand in the audience of a Pink Floyd concert when they ruled the 70s like…
Seguin State University, Here We (Don’t) Come
This is it, people – the pivotal moment we’ve anticipated for weeks, nay, months.The new name for the University of Houston-Downtown is…in the final stages of being decided. UH System Chancellor Renu Khator and UH-D President Max Castillo will pass on this afternoon five tentative finalists to the UH Board…
“Knitta, Please” Lives On And Goes International
It’s been three years since we first wrote about Knitta, the Montrose artistes who were pioneering the art of guerrilla knitting.Since then the phenomenon has spread worldwide, according to today’s UK Telegraph.”Knitters turn to graffiti artists with ‘yarnbombing'” is the headline.You’ll have to imagine hearing this in a plummy BBC…
Cheese Enchiladas with Chili and Queso
So let’s just say you had some chili con carne and chili con queso on hand for one reason or another this weekend. (Who said anything about football?) If you also happened to have some yellow corn tortillas, you would have all the makings of one of my favorite Tex-Mex…
Sprawl – America Is Dying of Wetnurse
Why, oh why, didn’t I know about Sprawl? Back in ’93 and ’94, when the bulk of this disc was recorded live, I was a teenager adrift in the populist crapulence of alternative radio, searching for identity and a sense of belonging. Despite its omnipresence and conviviality, even toward the…
Yay! Houston’s KBR Gets Another Iraq Contract!
UPI (Motto: “Yes, we’re still around”) is reporting that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a “follow-on” contract to Houston’s KBR (Halliburton) to continue work on a convoy supply camp in Iraq.And why not?It’s not like KBR has senators demanding investigations into allegations that soldiers have been electrocuted…
Pittsburgh/Arizona Fusion Cuisine: Fried Bologna Migas
Not that I’m thinking about theme food for a football game or anything, but what about this for an inspired Rust Belt/Sun Belt fusion dish? My family is from Pittsburgh, so I associate the foods I ate in my youth with the Iron City. And I ate a lot of…
Super Bowl XLIII Preview
So I’m supposed to write a Super Bowl preview. But just what can I write about the Super Bowl that hasn’t already been written elsewhere? If you want some stats, I can tell you that, in the regular season the Cardinals were fourth in the NFL in points per game…
Super Bowl XLIII Preview
So I’m supposed to write a Super Bowl preview. But just what can I write about the Super Bowl that hasn’t already been written elsewhere? If you want some stats, I can tell you that, in the regular season the Cardinals were fourth in the NFL in points per game…
10 Records for the Thinking Hardcore Fan
The 2008 release The Chemistry of Common Life, by the shadowy experimental punk band Fucked Up, took the indie rock world by storm, prompting some critics to call it a breath of fresh air from the moribund depths of hardcore. This Friday, Super Unison brings Fucked Up to Houston, and…
The Five Best Super Bowl Movies
The Super Bowl is about more than just gorging ourselves on lite beer and fatty foods before calling in sick to work on Monday: it’s about terrorism, and transsexualism, and the dread that comes from knowing your bookie is going to have your legs broken because Whisenhunt called for a…
Football Watching Food (No, Really)
Okay, nice joke J.C., you totally had me. Although I should have known something was up since nobody makes their own corny dogs (except maybe Jay Francis). Don’t look for any Super Bowl recipes from me. The spirit has gone out of our great national guacamole-eating holiday since the NFL…
The Likely Conspiracies Behind The Katy ISD Counterfeit Ring
Various news outlets reported Wednesday that the Katy Independent School District received 10 reports of counterfeit bills passed in school cafeterias in the past couple of months. These include several high schools and an elementary school.Steve Stanford, district spokesperson for KISD, tells Hair Balls that the school district gets counterfeit…
Today: Love Street Light Circus at International Coffee Building
It was 40 years ago today… “Get Back” into both Houston and London’s past today when the same band that performed the Beatles’ White Album front-to-back last November recreates the Fab Four’s famous January 1969 Apple Records rooftop performance at noon on top of the International Coffee Building, the downtown…
Brays Oaks Goes Back To The Stone Age
Beautification supplies: Trees — check. Shrubs — check. 800-pound boulders — check. Yep, the Brays Oaks Management District decided that putting humongous boulders at ten of the area’s main intersections instead of actual street signs would be a good idea. The boulders do have ‘Brays Oaks’ sand-blasted into the stone,…
The New DA Announces A Victim’s Rights Division
Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos announced today she’s expanding and improving the division that serves Harris County’s crime victims. “Government exists to protect and to serve; that’s what we’re doing with this new division,” Lykos tells Hair Balls. “We’re ensuring that it’s not bureaucratic.”The announcement was met with some…
Conroe Announces Second Annual Texas Independence Day Music Festival and Chili Cook-off
The City of Conroe has announced the program for its second annual Texas Independence Day Music Festival and Chili Cook-off on March 7. The musical lineup:…
Red-Light Cameras: Bob Stein Responds, And He’s Pissed
We’ve heard back from Bob Stein, the Rice professor taken to task over his red-light-camera report by attorney Randall Kallinen, who’s accused him of buckling under political pressure to change his findings.Stein simply says the allegations against him are untrue. “Read the report,” he says, “and read what [Kallinen] says…
Houston Writer Digs Up An Old Interview With A Movie Legend
The late John Cassavetes is a criminally underrated filmmaker who made “indie movies” in the days before indie movies.He died 20 years ago; a Houston writer has now unearthed a long, rare and interesting interview he did with the director shortly before he died.At the time Joe Leydon, who now…
Mess With the Owl, Get the Horn-Shaped Tufted Feathers
I’m not sure what exactly is going on with Houston’s college basketball teams, but it does appear that there might be something in the water. First there was Houston’s Aubrey Coleman stepping on the face of Arizona’s Chase Budinger on Saturday while the Coogs had a big lead, which they…
Mess With the Owl, Get the Horn-Shaped Tufted Feathers
I’m not sure what exactly is going on with Houston’s college basketball teams, but it does appear that there might be something in the water. First there was Houston’s Aubrey Coleman stepping on the face of Arizona’s Chase Budinger on Saturday while the Coogs had a big lead, which they…
Neil Diamond Turns On His Heart Light For H-Town (Again)
When Neil Diamond hit Houston last October, he told us in the crowd that the proceeds from that night’s merchandise sales were going into a Hurricane Ike relief fund. He had traveled around our area with Mayor Bill White and seen the destruction and utter insanity that the hurricane had…
The Wind Devastated Galveston, Now It’s Helping The Comeback
The winds (and resulting storm surge) of Hurricane Ike ravaged Galveston, but it’s wind that has helped the Port of Galveston get back into the black for the first time since the storm.Is that ironic, or is it more like rain on your wedding day? We’re not sure. And Port…
That Report On Red-Light Cameras Is Getting Blasted Again
Houston civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen says the results of an open records lawsuit against the city shows that red light cameras do not work and that city officials have been misleading the public about their benefits.In December, a study authored by Rice University political science Professor Bob Stein came…
Chamillionaire’s Inaugural Diary, Part 4: Bush Departs, Obama Arrives
The sweetest revenge for eight years of failed policies came when the helicopter door opened. To watch former president George W. Bush walk to that helicopter and wave bye to the world had to be the most memorable moment of the entire inauguration. Who would have thought that Bush could…
Tonight: Los Campesinos! at Walter’s on Washington
Los Campesinos! We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Arts & Crafts) www.loscampesinos.com We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed is a difficult album to wrap your head around. On the one hand, Los Campesinos!’ two lead vocalists Gareth and Aleksandra Campesinos have syrupy and consistently beautiful voices–at the same time innocent…
Black Day For What Makes Houston Houston
Chase Bank recently announced that it will close 36 of its newly acquired Houston-Area WaMu locations over the next month. (Leaving a mere 220 behind.) Starbucks likewise announced 200 upcoming nationwide closures. Swamplot scarcely exaggerates the matter when it brands it a “Pad Site Massacre.” Nothing screamed “bubble economy” louder…
How to Cook a Corn Dog
Sunday, February 1, is the biggest alpha-male event of the year — Super Bowl Party! The beer will flow and the steaks will grill. In the spirit of cooking up some good eats, I’ve put together a few recipes for the best grub for the big game. So ladies, mosey…
Eyeballin’: Paul Simon – Live from Philadelphia
The early ’80s were an interesting time in the career of Paul Simon. The past glories of hits with Simon & Garfunkel – along with his sizable solo charting – were behind. And he had yet to reinvent himself as a world music maven with 1986’s fine Graceland. His 1980…
The Nanny State Hates The Cars On Your Front Lawn
As goes Port Arthur, so goes Houston.The noble Golden Triangle town recently passed an ordinance banning people from parking their cars on their front lawns.Always eager to take their lifestyle cues from Port Arthur, the Houston City Council has followed suit with an ordinance of its own.Homeowners associations will be…
Monster Jam: Absurdly Huge Trucks to Crush Cars This Weekend, Unprovoked
Many people might see this as Super Bowl weekend, but I know that, for some reason, there are many of you out there who see this Saturday as being the most important day of the weekend. That’s because it’s the Monster Jam at Reliant Park. That’s right, the place is…
Monster Jam: Absurdly Huge Trucks to Crush Cars This Weekend, Unprovoked
Many people might see this as Super Bowl weekend, but I know that, for some reason, there are many of you out there who see this Saturday as being the most important day of the weekend. That’s because it’s the Monster Jam at Reliant Park. That’s right, the place is…
Oldies, And Not Goodies, On The Pollution Front
The wheels of environmental justice move ever so slowly. To call it a snail’s pace would be an insult to mollusks everywhere. But it is what is, as we say in the parlance of our times, so now we have the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality assessing penalties against two…
Oh Noes!! Mickey Rourke Drops Out Of Wrestlemania!! (Danny Bonaduce Still Available, Though)
Houston, you have had a tough few months.Ike hit. The Texans missed the playoffs. And now — most crushingly of all — comes news that Mickey Rourke won’t be coming to Wrestlemania after all.Of course, this being professional wrestling, things may change a half-dozen times before the event. Still, a…
Fake Tatas on the Rock of Love Bus
What could you do with all the fake tatas on the Rock of Love Bus? You could make a raft big enough to save all the people from that Hudson River plane crash. You could rebuild the face of a young burn victim. You could make one million rubber door…
Ra Sushi Scrambles Menu, Adds to Happy Hours
We started with the kind of sake most people use to drink shooters and beer. It was warm, clear in color, dryly medicinal in flavor and called Hananomai Katana. Okay, adventures in drinking phase one. Actually, it wasn’t that bad at all and as it made its way down, it…
Miami, Meet Blue Bell Ice Cream
Another day, another territory conquered by the little creamery in Brenham.In stories that echo the hyperventilation that accompanied every opening of a Krispy Kreme here (and what ever happened to them?), media in Florida are breathlessly counting down the days until Blue Bell ice cream hits Miami and environs.”The Blue…
Penguin Encounter
In the movies, penguins can sing and dance. In real life, it seems they can draw too. Moody Gardens’s 45-minute Penguin Encounter includes a biologist-led tour of the pengers’ habitats and one-on-one time with them, along with a penguin-created piece of artwork. (We’re guessing there are little feet involved, because…
A Bronx Tale
Chazz Palminteri was a young, out-of-work actor in 1989 when he wrote the play that changed his life. “I said, ‘If they won’t give me a part, I’ll write one myself.’ I went to the store, got five pads of yellow paper and started writing A Bronx Tale.” Based on…
Amy Welch and Jarrett Hallcox
Blood spatter’s abhorrent to most people, but not to authors/scientists Amy Welch and Jarrett Hallcox. For them, it’s a story waiting to be told. The pair train CSI units for the National Forensic Academy, and they’ll take you inside their splatter-filled world today when they discuss and sign their new…
The Hero Squad vs. the Princess Snatchers
The Hero Squad has a daunting task ahead of them: They have to figure out if Nikolai Oshkoshbgoshikov is an evil mastermind, or just a misunderstood guy with a really, really long name. (E-vil mastermind! E-vil mastermind!) They’ll find out in today’s performance of the children’s play The Hero Squad…
The Wiz
All of us have met an Evillene or two in our time, but Dorothy Gale met her first in The Wiz. Everybody knows the story, a sort of blaxploitation version of The Wizard of Oz. While the acting and music are only uneven at best, the real genius of The…
House of Mind
Artist/dancer Pat Graney’s installation House of Mind is taking over DiverseWorks’s entire 6,000-foot building. All of it. She’s filling it up with, among other things, a 100,000-button waterfall and a book room consisting of 4,000 books. Graney has had a little help, of course. Houstonians donated thousands of books, along…
The Man Who Saved New Orleans
Playwright Thomas Meloncon’s new play is called The Man Who Saved New Orleans. It’s a misnomer, of course, because we all know nobody saved New Orleans. Meloncon explains the title refers to one of the characters, not the city. “Arthur Prejean is an 86-year-old blind man who heads the family…
tetris
It seems as though everything ‘80s is trendy again, given the new 90210 and the resurgence of Mickey Rourke. But in her new evening-length dance performance, tetris, choreographer Toni Valle and a dozen other modern dancers take a more insightful look at the decade. Based on the concept that there…
Crooked Fences: Border Realities
Fence, or no fence? See what two experts, Dr. Tony Payan, associate professor of political science, University of Texas-El Paso, and Raúl Salinas, mayor of Laredo, Texas, have to say on the matter at the talk Crooked Fences: Border Realities. They know firsthand the challenges the U.S. and Mexico face…
Taking Flight
Adriana Sevan has had a very successful acting career. TV, film, stage — you name it, and the New Yorker’s done it. Lately Sevan has been winning accolades for her writing. Her one-woman show Taking Flight, making its regional premiere here, focuses on the time the writer/actress spent by her…
Carl LaBove
Comedian Carl LaBove calls himself a “scene-ist,” performing scenes instead of jokes with punch lines, and one of his most popular scenes is about teaching self-defense to wildebeests. “That is the dumbest animal I’ve ever seen in my life,” he says. “Two thousand pounds, horns, hoofs — lions run up…
Eurydice
If you like your stories to follow a nice, straight line, you might find Eurydice a bit of a challenge. Not because the plot wanders, but because playwright Sarah Ruhl’s use of language is simultaneously jarring and poetic. You can guess from the title that this is a retelling of…
David Alan Grier
Comedian and actor David Alan Grier has plenty to say about new President Barack Obama, recently telling GQ, “My white friends say, ‘Ooh, this must be great for you.’ And I’m like, ‘Why? I’m only half happy, because he’s only half black. Give me a real black man, a scary…
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Think the ballet’s “a drag”? Well, when Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo take the stage today, you’ll be at least half right. The Trocks are a legion of male dancers disguised as female ballerinas. Sure, they’ll leave you rapt from their performances en pointe, of everything from Act II…
Texas Tastemakers
Taste the love when Chef Martha Hopkins leads Texas Tastemakers: Sensual Foods. The author of Intercourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook, Hopkins will show you how to make a sensuous Valentine’s Day dinner guaranteed to put you in the mood. The menu includes grapes rolled in almonds and ginger, fried oyster salad…
Caught in the Net
Ray Cooney’s Caught in the Net features John Smith, a London taxi driver with a secret — well, two actually. He’s a bigamist. So far both his families have remained happily ignorant of each other, but his delicate balancing act is about to be upturned. His daughter from family A…
Megacities: 12 Stories of Survival
The 1998 Austrian-Swiss documentary Megacities: 12 Stories of Survival, directed by Michael Glawogger, chronicles in 12 chapters life in the slums of Moscow, Mexico City, Bombay and New York. The film has been compared to the 1961 cult classic Mondo Cane, but with half of the world’s people living in…
Bryan Burrough
If one thing is comforting during these times of economic distress, it’s the occasional dose of schadenfreude. Not to say that we love hearing about financial ruin or anything, but when a very rich man has to publicly downgrade from, say, a new Bentley to a reconditioned Beemer, we secretly…
16th Iranian Film Festival
It’s a shame that many people know Iran only as a country of foot-stomping dictators and uranium-enriching scientists. It’s a place of artistic ingenuity, social activism, people as beautiful as the country’s mountains, and orchards. All of this is on display in the four films from the 16th Iranian Film…
Macbeth
It’s all backstabbing, double crosses and catfights in Macbeth, the latest production by Opera in the Heights. Based on Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth the opera tells the story of a man’s rise to power helped along by his ambitious wife, who’s not afraid to get her hands dirty (well, at least…
Man of La Mancha
The Spanish Inquisition isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a Broadway musical, but Man of La Mancha manages to pull it off. The story’s hero, Don Quixote, goes around fighting with imagined foes, bringing justice to the world that exists only inside his head…
Joshua Bell and Jeremy Denk
Kids taking violin lessons are often daunted by the fact that you have to hold the damn thing with your chin. Apparently Joshua Bell didn’t mind. He’s called, by some, the best American violinist performing today. Now the Society for the Performing Arts presents Bell and another prodigiously talented young…
The Last Kiss
Singer and poet Vladimir Vysotsky was in Russia; his wife actress Marina Vlady was in France. It was a hell of a way to run a marriage. The Last Kiss, a documentary about this pair’s unconventional relationship, retells their history through archival footage (with English subtitles), providing rare cinematic access…
Taste of Australia
Australian cuisine: Drop by the Taste of Australia event at Spec’s downtown today and you’ll find out it’s more than just koala steaks and the big bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz. Featuring free wine and food samplings from the land down under, along with cooking demonstrations by Chef Jason Gould…
Spoken Word Workshop with Bill Milligan
Go from wannabe to polished artist during a Spoken Word Workshop with professional poet and actor Bill Milligan. An ex-member of guerrilla troupe Sudan Arts Southwest, Milligan shows teens how to take poems and lyrics from rough ideas to finished, ready-to-perform works. 6 p.m. Robinson-Westchase Neighborhood Library, 3223 Wilcrest. For…
Target Free First Sunday
Write a haiku or learn origami at today’s Journey to Japan, this month’s installment of Target Free First Sunday. The family flick Totoro is on the schedule, along with crafts, performances, festival ceremonies and snacks. Did we mention this is free? 1 to 5 p.m. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,…
Invaders to Mars
You won’t see any Martians in Invaders to Mars, but you will see volcanoes, canyons and storms that engulf the entire planet. Everything’s based on the data that we’ve been collecting since we sent the first probes and spacecraft to explore Mars in 1964. In the 40 years since then,…
Cheaters
She wants to get married, he doesn’t. Their solution? Dinner with both sets of future in-laws to talk things over. What they don’t know is that his mom is doing it with her dad, and his dad is knocking boots with her mom. (That adds extra meaning to “Pass the…
Kimberly Frost
First-time Houston novelist Kimberly Frost is launching The Would-Be Witch, the first in her series of Southern witch books. Described as a paranormal romance, Would-Be Witch is the story of Tammy Jo Trask, a young witch living in a small Texas town. Sadly, Tammy Jo seems to be devoid of…
Pioneers of Hip-Hop Tour
As the nation’s first president to blast hip-hop on his iPod takes office, this package tour could be considered a Council of Cultural Advisers. (Not a bad idea, that.) Anchored by the genre’s godfathers, the Sugar Hill Gang — who laid some rhymes over the bassline of Chic’s “Le Freak”…
Los Campesinos!
If you’ve misplaced your Ritalin or you need some sensory stimulation to prepare for a big test, consider the bratty indie art-punk of Wales’s punctuation-abusing Los Campesinos!. Arts & Crafts picked up the group’s debut LP, Hold on Now, Youngster, presumably because it sports a stockpile of cathartic hooks as…
Recent Super Bowl Halftime Highlights and Lowlights
It’s time once again for that annual binge of pageantry and advertising dollars known as Super Bowl Sunday. The matchup on the field this year actually looks decent — the Cardinals’ high-flying offense versus the Steelers’ none-more-black defense — but everybody knows the real action takes place during the halftime…
Warren Hood
Warren Hood is probably tired of hearing about his musical genes, but it’s really not possible to write about the young guy without at least tipping a hat toward his father Champ Hood. Hood the Elder, who most notably played with the legendary Walter Hyatt and passed away in 2001,…
Fish Out of (Frozen) Water in New in Town
She’s too thin. She’s a bobblehead. Her forehead doesn’t move. Where has that Jerry Maguire girl gone, the one we once knew and loved? Did the Oscar from Cold Mountain ruin her forever? Or is Kenny Chesney to blame? It’s not easy being America’s Sweetheart. Nor any easier being Lucy…
The Zydepunks
Musically speaking, the Zydepunks’ name is a little misleading. Yes, accordion and gnashing guitars are an essential part of the New Orleans quintet’s sound, but its nautically obsessed new album Finisterre (Nine Mile Records) sails a considerable distance from either zydeco or punk rock. Rollicking opener “Papirossen in Gan Eden”…
Totally Fucked Up
Punk-rock godfather Joe Strummer of the Clash may have propagated the idea of a band as a gang. But for members of Canadian experimental hardcore sextet Fucked Up, their situation is more like having rival members of the Bloods and Crips in the same group. “We fight about everything,” offers…
“Museum of Unnatural History” is a Pitch-Perfect Parody
Elaine Bradford crochets clothes for dead animals. Maybe “clothes” isn’t entirely accurate; Bradford’s creations are more like “cozies” for stuffed wildlife. She is most widely known in the art community for her series of crochet-covered mounted deer heads. Her new show at the Art League Houston, “Museum of Unnatural History,”…
Longtime Cult Band O.A.R. Hopes Top 40 Success Doesn’t Leave It “Shattered”
It’s always an odd thing for a band — and its fans — if it eventually breaks through to a wider audience. No musician embarks on a career just to be a cult favorite, but “early” fans always take a certain caustic pride of ownership, in being able to say…
Ume
A couple of years ago, word began circulating around Austin about a trio fronted by a lovely young lass — who turned out to be former Houstonian Lauren Larson, forcefully backed by bassist husband Greg and drummer Jeff Barrera — with vocals as sweet as her explosive guitar bursts were…
A Digital Bathroom Wall for Pat Lykos
The new Harris County district attorney won election on promises of reform, and immediately afterward, snapped her staff to attention. Seven assistant DAs were promptly fired. The others, some 250 of them, were informed that Pat Lykos would be referred to as “Judge,” and they would attend her swearing-in ceremony…
Ska/Reggae Fest, with the Slackers
Given its members’ myriad side projects, it’s a wonder that we still get to see the Slackers proper live anymore, ever. It seems like each one has his own rocksteady, dub, jazz, punk rock, garage or soul iron in the fire so that when the Slackers finally do tour as…
THE GROVE’S MAPLE MANHATTAN
Maple syrup was a big part of my diet growing up because it’s what goes on Eggo waffles. In the ’80s, I consumed approximately 7,000 of those yellow discs, always with a liberal dose of Vermont’s finest tree juice. But I never thought of maple syrup as a cocktail accoutrement…
Slip-Up on Taxes
Galveston County is getting screwed out of about $33,000 in property taxes from a League City marina. The county knows about it, but doesn’t seem to care. On the Wharf Marina Web site, it says plain as day (if you don’t take into account spelling and grammatical errors) that wet…
Mexican Barbecue at Casa Grande Mexican Restaurant
The barbacoa ($5.50) at Casa Grande Mexican Restaurant (3401 N. Main, 713-227-8801) is a house specialty for good reason. The meat is incredibly soft and tasty, but the thing that distinguishes it from other versions is that it’s not dripping with grease, and consequently, you can taste the beef and…
BARC Sucks
Properly trained, a man can be dog’s best friend. — Corey Ford On a Sunday morning in February 2008, the owner of a two-month old Belgian Malinois mix decided the puppy needed to be put down. In an e-mail from the owner, “Judy J.,” that became part of the subsequent…
The Quanell X Factor
It’s all a photo op: As I was reading the story about Quanell X and his transformation from celebrity racist to unifier of mankind [“Quanell X,” by Chris Vogel, January 15, 2009], I couldn’t help but recall my own Quanell X story: After Hurricane Katrina, my other (white) co-workers and…
Tradição Brazilian Steakhouse
Vanderlai Bernardi should know a thing or two about Brazilian churrascarias – not only is he from Rio Grande do Sul in the south of Brazil, where the churrascarias are so popular, he worked at Fogo de Chão for many years before opening Tradição Brazilian Steakhouse (6800 Southwest Fwy., 713-339…
Why Do Mexicans Take So Long To Warm Up Their Cars
Dear Mexican I am a naturalized (legal) hispano in the U.S., and I just realized what the “illegal” craze is about. What immigrant-bashing citizens are trying to protect here are people like…me. Consider what this concerned woman said to John McCain during a public meeting in New Hampshire last year…
Malt Shop Burger at Cheeburger Cheeburger
The name comes from this Saturday Night Live routine about a diner where they said, ‘No Coke, Pepsi’ all the time, and that’s why we have no Coke, only Pepsi products,” the teenage waiter at Cheeburger Cheeburger told us with a big smile. Located in the Vintage Park Shopping Center…
Don’t Stop Believin’
Noise has been thinking about the relationship between faith, music and religion — call it spirituality if you must — a lot lately, but it really hit a high-water mark last week. Friends and family going through health crises and losing their jobs, a bank account that’s seen better days…
BARC Sucks: System Failure
November 2005 was a tough time for BARC. Not only did the Mayor’s Task Force on Animal Control issue a critical assessment of BARC’s failures, City Controller Annise Parker released the results of a performance audit of the facility. (The entire audit can be found on the Office of the…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Hedwige Jacobs — New Drawings,” Hot and Grounded, “Michael Guidry: How soon is now?,” “Neva Mikulicz: Recent Work,” “Perspectives 164: Stephanie Syjuco: Total Fabrications,” “Susan Chen: Butterflies Shift North”
“Hedwige Jacobs — New Drawings” Raised in the Netherlands, Hedwige Jacobs must have drawn upon the sprawling landscape of Houston — she currently resides here — rather than her Dutch upbringing to create this set of new drawings. Though at first glance some of the works look like large-scale doodles,…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Arms and the Man, How I Learned to Drive, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mrs. Warren’s Profession
Arms and the Man G.B. Shaw’s sparkling romantic comedy from 1894 takes on manly soldiers who are praised for desertion, a middle class as snooty as the upper class, headstrong servants, blustery fools, romantic heroines who save the enemy because they’ve just seen an opera where such a thing happens,…
TSOL
TSOL singer Jack Grisham is the evil doppelganger of suave Chris Isaak. Both are known for surfing and the accompanying swagger, brawn and good looks. Both have a legacy of fisticuffs. Isaak jabbed inside the boxing ring and has a bum nose to prove it, while Grisham’s autobiography is called…
