Mea Culpa, Glenmorangie
Single-malt Scotch is one of my favorite winter drinks. I usually have a couple of bottles in my liquor cabinet. There are several unique whisky “terroirs” in Scotland; the Lowlands, the Highlands, Speyside, and the Islands are the main areas. Each has its own characteristic flavors.Speyside Scotch is the most…
Guitar Zero: Played It ‘Til My Fingers Bled…
No, this song is NOT about the year of Woodstock and the Moon Landing. It was the summer winter of ’69 2010. Robert told me to come up with five songs I wanted to learn how to play (on guitar, in case you weren’t keeping up). The Wife, seeking to…
Texas’ Youth Prisons Among The Worst For Sexual Abuse, Study Finds
The Texas Youth Commission can’t seem to stop its staff members from raping young inmates locked up at state facilities, according to a recently released federal report that paints the state agency as one of the worst in the country.The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted the investigation, as required…
Garage-Rock Provacateur Jay Reatard Dies Suddenly at Age 29
This afternoon word began spreading on Twitter and various indie blogs that prolific garage rocker Jay Reatard had died. His label, Goner Records, posted a quick message confirming Reatard’s passing on its online bulletin board at around 3 p.m., stating: “It is with great sadness that we report the passing…
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. Chicken Fried Texan: Arguing the well-reasoned point that chicken-fried steak is the…
Be Proud, Texas: Your Public School System Is So Great It Can Turn Down $700 Million
Governor Rick Perry, in a valiant bid to be talked about approvingly on Fox News and Rush Limbaugh’s show, came to Houston today to announce he will be rejecting $700 million in federal stimulus funds for education.Because, you know, Texas has the whole education thing covered.”Texas is on the right…
Spoon to Engage In Transference at Stubb’s SXSW Wednesday
Yes, Houston, they’ll be back… Whenever Rocks Off thinks about Spoon – which, over the past decade, has been quite a bit – the one word that always comes to mind is “punctuation.” No other band we can think of consistently crafts songs that are so heavily punctuated, from Britt…
Local Teachers’ Union President Calls “Bullshit” On The HISD Superintendent, The New York Times And The Washington Post
Caught on her cell phone today, Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, said that many people are distorting what Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a Tuesday eight-page speech about overhauling teacher evaluations.The speech was reported in the New York Times and…
Hot Sauces That Will Make You Cry Like A Baby, Part II
A few months ago, Eating Our Words featured the “Top 5 Hot Sauces That Will Make You Cry Like a Baby.” We received so much feedback on other hot sauces to try that we decided it was time for another round of hot sauce punishment. Forget making you cry like…
Cesar Lozano, Illegal Alien, Is Now Big Cease, American Dream Come True
The video that usually crowns our Latino hip-hop blog is going to come at the end of our story today, because without explaining how the American Dream has evolved, the music video won’t be given the meaning it deserves. First, you need to know that the American Dream takes on…
The Saddle Dog at Blanco’s
When we were at Blanco’s Bar & Grill last weekend, listening to some honky-tonk and watching friends get glared off the dance floor by superior two-steppers in Stetsons, we noticed a peculiar item on the menu. The Saddle Dog is a hot dog wrapped in cheese and a flour tortilla,…
Houston 101: The End Of Gaslight Video Spells The Final Demise Of The West U. Tenderloin
With the recent verdict against Eugene Etheridge and the permanent closure of his infamous Gaslight Video on Bellaire Boulevard in the West University area, an era has drawn to a close. No longer can the 3500 block of Bellaire be accurately described as the Red Light District of West University…
The New American Whiskeys
Branch Water Tavern, the subject of this week’s Café review, has a collection of rare American whiskeys behind the bar that really widened my horizons. St. George single-malt tastes like it was made in Scotland. It starts out as dark-brown ale and is distilled in a tiny copper pot still…
More SXSW Speculation: Perhaps a Visit from the Plastic Ono Band?
We haven’t even passed MLK Day, and already Rocks Off is spinning our collective wheels about SXSW. Hell, we haven’t even covered RodeoHouston, and we have already begun talking about where we are going to crash every morning at dawn. Rocks Off would like to admit that even on the…
Our First Reader Judge: The Houston Press Cupcake Smackdown
Round one is over. We have picked the first of two reader judges for the Houston Press Cupcake Smackdown on January 24. She’ll join two pastry experts at Block 7 Wine Company, where she’ll be blindfolded before judging cupcakes from eight bakers around town, plus a homemade version. Who is…
Game Time: Man, That Lane Kiffin Sure Is Good At Getting Hired
Believe it or not, there was a time when I was actually a somewhat successful person in the business world. Eventually, I eschewed all the accoutrements that come with corporate glory (you know, things like decent paychecks, steak dinners, ulcers….stuff like that) for the wacky world of sports talk radio…
Get Your Geek On
Remember how we told you about geeks and drinking and trivia and all that good stuff last week? Well, to refresh your meatball-addled memory, here’s a reminder: Geeks Who Drink pub trivia is tomorrow night (January 14) at Maple Leaf Pub starting at 8 p.m., with a special Eating Our…
Extreme Makeover: Kemah Edition
Photos by Lee Riner / Click here for a slideshowThe Kemah Boardwalk has been hopping more than usual lately — and in a weird way, some of it’s because of Hurricane Ike (“You Bastard!”)It’s not gawkers hoping to see debris everywhere, 16 months later. Although we did see a large,…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Nashville Veteran Has A Few Issues With Paper’s Country Music Poll
Some people are downright up in arms about the Nashville Scene’s Best of Country Music poll. One of LOM’s correspondents who went ballistic is a longtime Nashville musician and producer. To say he thinks the whole argument that Brad Paisley and Miranda Lambert deserve to be winners because they are…
The Top 10 Places to Eat on Long Point
As more development and activity pushes consumers north of the Katy Freeway — such as the giant new shopping center and mega H-E-B at Bunker Hill, the push from MetroNational to create a “Memorial City”-branded area around Gessner, the eternally popular IKEA at Antoine and the soon-to-be-facelifted Marq*E Entertainment Center…
The World’s Least Likely Democrat, Gunning For County Commissioner
Remember Dave Wilson? The guy who got his 15 minutes of fame days before the runoff election right here in Houston? You know — the guy who owns a print company and has a lot of time on his hands so he decided to wage war against Mayor Annise Parker’s…
Artist of the Week: Cum On Feel the Noiz with DOGGEBI
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 sheaserrano@gmail.com. During the summer, we taught a creative writing…
News From The Job Market: It’s So Bad, You’ll (Allegedly) Put Up With A Boss Masturbating On You
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 could take months, even years, to get another gig. Especially one with health benefits.)For Shanna Vonfeldt, the answer to…
Year of the Meatball: Doyle’s “Spaghetti Works”
If there is an iconic meatball in Houston, it must be one served on top of he spaghetti at Doyle’s on 34th Street in Garden Oaks between Ella and T.C. Jester. Opened in 1954, Doyle’s was one of the first restaurants in the city to offer pizza. But what really…
What’s In a Name? Thrashers Owl Witch Explain the Messed-Up Mythology Behind Their Moniker
It’s a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off, we’re trying hard to decode Houston’s oddest monikers in order to find a little meaning. The best way to listen to thrash metal is to turn it up to full volume and then place…
Surprise! Another Community College System Is Unhappy With Former HCCS Head Bruce Leslie
Former Houston Community College System chancellor Bruce Leslie left his job in 2006 before his term was up, after some stormy times with the system’s board.As the Houston Press reported two years prior to that, dissatisfaction with Leslie was rampant. Critics said he suppressed those who disagreed with him and…
Four Hot Home Remedies for a Cold
We’ve always been interested in finding natural solutions when we are feeling bad. Some packaged cold remedies make us feel like total poop, which is no good if we have to go into the office. Here are a few of our home hot drinks that help us beat both the…
Idol Beat: Here We Go Again…
I’ve never watched a whole season of American Idol before, but that’s a minor detail. Actually watching this show doesn’t seem to be necessary to know as much about it as the most devoted fans: Amateur singers + judges = quasi-drama. I also know that this is a transition year…
American Idol: It Begins
I’ve never watched a whole season of American Idol before, but that’s a minor detail. Actually watching this show doesn’t seem to be necessary to know as much about it as the most devoted fans: Amateur singers + judges = quasi-drama. I also know that this is a transition year…
Loon Star State: Gunsmoke On The Border, Pigeons Dropping In Nacogdoches, And More
Loon Star State: Texas Small-Town Crime Round UpThe crime dates only from 1986, but the motive could be from 1886…Authorities in Rio Grande City recently arrested 53-year-old Juan Francisco Martinez for the Easter Sunday 1986 murder of Margarito Alaniz Jr. Police say that Martinez and Alaniz were good friends on…
The Aeros’ Scrappy Jean-Michel Daoust Coukd Be Key To Playoff Chances
The Aeros find themselves in the middle of a four-game stretch against the Rockford IceHogs. This stretch of games is important because Rockford is a division rival. But they’re also important because, right now, these two teams are battling out it for positions in the playoffs. It’s also important because…
Stirred and Shaken: Byzantio’s Motito
Some New Year’s resolutions make themselves. After spending 2009’s last days staying at a friend’s place in New Orleans, where closing time has about as much significance as Who Dat Nation does in Orléans, France, my body was telling me it was time for a booze sabbatical. “Man, shut up,…
Despite Impending Merger, Live Nation Shows No Longer Available Through Ticketmaster
Last week, shareholders of both Ticketmaster and Live Nation voted to approve the companies’ impending merger, which was first announced last February. The stock price of both companies rose sharply after the announcement, and the Dow Jones Newswire reported that the U.S. Justice Department could approve the merger as early…
I Wanna Be Your Dog (or Cat): Resolution Time
New year. New decade. New mayor. New director of the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care. But same old problem: Too many awesome dogs and cats stuck behind bars, the clock ticking as they wait for a good home. Hair Balls is hoping that, along with the traditional new year’s…
Pit Bull Puppies, A Toddler & Injuries: The Debate Continues
A newspaper report out of East Texas probably isn’t going to do wonders for changing the vicious image normally associated with pit bulls. From the Tyler Morning Telegraph:Police and animal control officers continue an investigation Tuesday into an attack involving the child, who suffered major injuries after the Monday mauling…
Plat de Charcuterie, Chez Moi
Chris Shepherd does his own charcuterie at Catalan. I love his salami. David Grossman does his own charcuterie at Branch Water Tavern too. Don’t miss his chicken liver mousse. Marco Wiles calls it salumi at his salumeria, Poscol. I have sampled products from each and been quite impressed. But it’s…
Lagunitas Brewing Co.’s Cappuccino Stout
This week’s historical justification for sampling a random beer is also a cheesy metaphor. One-hundred-sixty-two years ago this month, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill near Coloma, California, kicking off a greedy rush West. Today, if you drive two-and-a-half hours toward the Pacific from Coloma to Petaluma, California, you’ll find…
Fast-Tracking Ch-ch-ch-anges at HISD
David Bowie could have been singing in the background as HISD Superintendent Terry Grier demonstrated this morning why he’s gained a reputation as a top administrator who doesn’t wait around long before trying to institute changes.He reiterated at a Tuesday morning media briefing that while he’s not in favor of…
Wine of the Week: Elizabeth Abraham of SoVino
A few months ago, Eating Our Words visited SoVino (507 Westheimer) for happy hour. Although we didn’t love the happy hour specials, we were blown away with the wine selection. We decided it was time for another visit to this restaurant/wine bar. After all, since the name means “Southern Hemisphere…
Who Might Replace Simon Cowell on American Idol? Funny You Should Ask…
[Ed. Note: Thanks to Craig Hlavaty for sparking this idea with his suggestion that Andy Rooney take over for Mr. Cowell.] As most of you no doubt already know, American Idol returns tonight, which means a return to watching overly processed people performing overly processed versions of overly processed songs…
Shameless Chef: Dirt Pudding
Don’t touch that. Leave it the hell alone. Hi, this is the Shameless Chef, and you’ll have to pardon my irregular typing and somewhat cranky demeanor. I’m hung over as hell this morning, and my sister thought it would be a good idea to drop her kid Randy off with…
Game Time: Sifting Through Mark McGwire’s Bullshit
At this point, using the word “courageous” to define any of the performance-enhancing drug users of baseball’s Steroid Era that “come clean” about their transgressions is a bit disingenuous. “Courageous” would be their giving back all of the money that steroids helped them make. So if you’re looking for someone…
Gumby, We Hardly Knew Ye: 10 Stop-Motion Videos for the Late Art Clokey
Late last Friday, Rocks Off learned that Gumby and Davey and Goliath creator Art Clokey had passed away in his sleep at age 88. The pioneering stop-motion animator and his clay work were fixtures in children’s television from 1957 on. All of Clokey’s characters were moral, fun-loving and devoid of…
Donut Patrol: Cake Balls
“I’ll have a macchiato and one of those doughnut holes,” I told the guy behind the counter at Coffee Groundz at 2503 Bagby. I didn’t really want a doughnut hole — what I really wanted was a large bowl of the fabulous Trentino dulce de leche gelato with chocolate that…
Possible Suicide After Police Chase, Bayou Body Count No. 11
You’d think that you would be jumping for joy if you successfully outran the cops in high-speed car chase.Apparently, you’d be wrong.In the early morning hours on Monday, police found the body of a man in a storage shed at 5815 Hirondel who appeared to have shot himself. He was…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Nashville Scene Critics’ Poll Lauds Brad Paisley’s So-Called Edginess
Lonesome Onry and Mean didn’t vote in Houston Press ex-sister paper Nashville Scene’s annual Best of Country Music poll, but that doesn’t mean we won’t comment on the results. This year’s poll essentially boils down to the Big Four: Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson. Compiler Geoffrey…
HISD Superintendent Terry Grier Sings The Banana Song
Not since the days of former superintendent Billy Reagan has the Houston media had a chance to sit down in a media roundtable with the superintendent of the Houston ISD, but Tuesday morning Superintendent Terry Grier rejuvenated the discarded tradition and invited the Houston Press and others in for a…
HISD Superintendent Terry Grier Sings The Banana Song
Not since the days of former superintendent Billy Reagan has the Houston media had a chance to sit down in a media roundtable with the superintendent of the Houston ISD, but Tuesday morning Superintendent Terry Grier rejuvenated the discarded tradition and invited the Houston Press and others in for a…
Muhammadali Seeks Naked People for New Video
On the heels of the news that Hell City Kings is in the process of filming their first music video comes word that indie-grungers Muhammadali are planning their own shoot February 6 at the Free Press Houston warehouses. Veteran director Mark Armes and graphic artist Shelby Hohl are said to…
Worst Indian Food in the City?
Cold, greasy onion bhaji, gritty coconut chutney, lumpy rice and cold chicken curry are only a few of the treats we encountered on the lunch buffet at Chutneys (1010 Lamar). There was also lukewarm lentil soup and some hockey-puck idlis. A friend of mine had suggested we check out the…
R.I.P., Another Exotic Car: Maserati Plows Head-First Into Cop Car
It’s been a tough couple of months for exotic sports cars in Texas. First we had the Bugatti that was allegedly (but probably not) hit by a bird and ending up in a lagoon; now we’ve got a Maserati plowing head-first into a cop car.(Note to drivers of exotic sports…
Plenty of Passes Left for Tonight’s Crazy Heart Screening
Sig’s Lagoon (3710 Main) has plenty of passes left for this evening’s preview screening of Crazy Heart, the Golden Globe-nominated film starring Jeff Bridges as a hard-luck country singer who finds… wait for it… One Last Shot At Redemption when he meets kind-hearted journalist Maggie Gyllenhaal. (Rocks Off likes Maggie Gyllenhaal.)…
Yes, Anastasia, You Too Can Cyber Land a Job in a Recession
Pardon us, but we’re about to impart some useful, seasoned knowledge on you. Don’t get too accustomed to it, however. We’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming of a wee bit of technology talk with a whole lot of intertwined innuendo in no time.But for today, we educate. Our topic?…
Sweet Victory: The Eating Our Words Cupcake Smackdown
Ed. Note: The comments section is now closed, as we have made our decision. Sofia Straus joins Melanie Tello as our second reader judge. Good luck to them both. We broke you in easy with the first Eating Our Words event: a wine tasting with light bites and smooth jazz…
Unidentified Female, Bayou Body Count No. 10
Houston police are investigating the death of a woman found dead inside a business building on Friday night.At about 10:45 p.m., police were dispatched to 3029 Broadway, which houses both a skin care and a construction business, phone records show. There, police found the woman’s body. She appeared to have…
Magnolia City Mixtape: Nameless Sound Kids’ Classes, Runaway Sun to NYC, ’59 Nash for Sale, etc.
New Year, new feature for Rocks Off. Each week we’ll digest the Houston music scene’s subtle notes you might not have caught in your online travels. We call it Magnolia City Mixtape. Like to hear it? Here it go. Starting today, Nameless Sound is offering free creative music classes for…
The Five Real Reasons Spider-Man 4 Won’t Happen
I imagine most of you are aware of the sad news by now, but just in case you hadn’t heard, Spider-Man 4 isn’t happening: A few days after script issues pushed it off the May 2011 calendar, Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today that Spider-Man 4 ain’t gonna happen…
Finger Limes
We found these tiny delicacies while perusing the shelves at Central Market this weekend. Finger limes come from a tropical rainforest tree that grows naturally in Australia. While the seeds and trees migrated over to California in the 1960s, the fruit has only been grown commercially in the last five…
Ask A Rapper-Related Underground Mixtape DVD Show: Pitch Control TV
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. Something you always wanted to…
Brett Myers And His Checkered Past Come To The Astros
Congratulations to Brian McTaggart over at MLB.com. Since he left the Houston Chronicle to handle the Astros beat for MLB.com, he has scooped his former employer time after time after time again. The latest coming on Friday afternoon when he scooped the Chron by hours as to the Astros signing…
Coming to the Small Screen: I Can Do Bad All By Myself
Madea rides again in Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself, being released on DVD today. With more than $48 million in ticket sales, Perry’s latest release proves that he’s still got that magic touch. We say magic because Perry’s plays and films, which are aimed squarely at…
Where Are We Drinking?
A lonely drink waits like a wallflower for its owner to return. Can you figure out where we’ve abandoned our cocktail this week? Leave your best guess in the comments section below…
Distant Early Warning: Angie Stone, Ani DiFranco, Beach House, Chrisette Michele, Dax Riggs, Johnny Winter, Yanni, etc.
American Sharks, Passengers, Big Black Spiders, Young Brothers, The Mahas: Fri., Jan. 22, 8 p.m. Walter’s on Washington. Angie Stone, Joe: Fri., March 26. Arena Theatre. Ani DiFranco: Thu., April 8. Warehouse Live. Beach House: Fri., April 23. Walter’s on Washington. Blaspherian, HOD, Gravehill, Disfigured: Sat., Feb. 27. Walter’s on…
Becky Hamilton, 52, Bayou Body Count No. 9
It’s the kind of thing that sounds like it could be a mob hit … or possible a pissed-off athlete.But whatever the case, Houston police are trying to figure out who and why someone stuffed a dead body into a locker that was found in a field just south of…
Pop Rocks: The King Is Dead
Last Friday — January 8 — marked what would have been the 75th birthday of Elvis Presley. The milestone was dutifully noted on most national new broadcasts and publications, tastefully hitting the high points of the King’s life without dwelling overmuch on this drug- addled final years. The bulk of…
MasterMind Update: An Art HQ In An Old East Texas Schoolhouse Looks More Likely Now
Rounding out our earlier updates about last year’s MasterMind winners is a report on the progress of the Fodice Foundation, a project started by Houston artists Katy Anderson and Patrick Medrano to save a crumbling East Texas schoolhouse and, eventually, turn it into a center for artists from all mediums…
Miss Rockefeller’s? Marcia Ball and Texas Johnny Brown Headline iFest Benefit February 12
Like many of you – we’re guessing, anyway – Rocks Off never saw a show at Rockefeller’s. We didn’t get inside the Loop much during high school (too busy checking groceries) and, although we managed to go to Mary Jane’s, the Satellite Lounge and maybe the Abyss (it’s a little…
The Colder the Water, the Sweeter the Oysters
When the water gets cold, oysters put on glycogen to insulate themselves. That’s why Northern oysters are sweeter than Gulf oysters in the fall. The colder the water, the sweeter the oysters — up to a point. When the water temperature falls below 40 degrees, oysters stop feeding and shrivel…
Cafe Du Crepe at Bayou City Farmer’s Market
It was a cold morning at the Bayou City Farmer’s Market (the parking lot behind 3000 Richmond at Eastside). It wasn’t as hopping as it’s been in the past, with shoppers or vendors, but this was good for selfish reasons – the stalls were still full when we rolled in…
Announcements That Are Almost As Startling As Mark McGwire’s Steroid Confession
Former St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire gave a statement today to the Associated Press admitting he used performance-enhancing drugs during baseball’s steroid era.The sports world is reeling from the confession, which came completely out of the blue. It is, of course, absolutely shocking; in fact, it ranks right up there…
Trying Duck at Auntie Chang’s
Friday we popped over to Auntie Chang’s at 2621 S. Shepherd. We decided to venture beyond the usuals (eggplant and water chestnuts in garlic sauce, lo mein, tasty steamed dumplings, and sesame chicken) and try something different. After a few minutes of perusing the menu, our eyes wandered over to…
Pupusas at La Pupusa Alegre
Pupusas are like Salvadorian quesadillas, only the edges of the “quesadilla” are sealed shut, creating a positively awesome hot pocket of goodness within. Some people liken them to stuffed corn tortillas or thinner versions of the Mexican gordita, but we think they’re more like envelopes of melted divinity. The inside…
Hard-Rockin’ Backslash Wins Our First High School Rock Off
Houston’s Backslash, none of whom were alive when Appetite for Destruction came out, won the first annual Texas High School Rock Off Friday night at House of Blues, taking home $500, a spiffy new trophy and the chance to open for a national act to be named later at House…
Game Time: Texas Tech Just Wasn’t That Into You, Mike Leach Era
In the end, Ruffin McNeill never had a chance.Despite an Alamo Bowl week where he managed to keep his team focused and united amidst the most bizarre circumstances and an Alamo Bowl game where he made some gutsy calls to get Texas Tech past a frisky, albeit depleted Michigan State…
Swiss Chard
“Bright lights” is a variety of Swiss chard that grows exceptionally well in Houston. You encounter this stuff all the time if know any gardeners. You can substitute it for spinach or tender greens in lots of recipes, but it doesn’t do well with long cooking. In fact, you can…
Unidentified Male, 17: Bayou Body Count No. 8
Houston can be a dangerous city. You can get shot just walking down the street.On Saturday afternoon, two guys, ages 21 and 17, were ambling down the sidewalk at 9000 Long Point Road in northwest Houston when suddenly a pair of men sidled up next to them and starting shooting,…
Aftermath: The Wailers, and Much Gnashing of Teeth from Our Writer, at House of Blues
Aftermath recently read the following quote on Twitter: “Reggae is actually the only musical genre in which its greatest artist ever is actually its most popular as well.” While Aftermath thinks this reveals a major disservice to artists like Lee “Scratch” Perry, Toots and the Maytals and even pre-reggae toaster…
Texas Traveler: Day 2 Of Exploring West Texas
Ed. Note: Read about Day 1 of our West Texas travels here. Hotel hunting in Del Rio doesn’t turn out as I expected. Our guidebook recommends Amistad Lodge, a place built in the 1960s right on the water of Lake Amistad, with porches that face the lake. It’s a bit…
Recipe: Crab and Veggie Boil
We are huge fans of good old fashioned crab boils. Screw the temperature – they make us feel like we’re at an ocean-side resort, steps from warm, white sand and gently lapping waves. A recent trip to one of our favorite purveyors of specialty foods, Phoenicia, revealed a magnificent find:…
The First George Bush Keeps On Mackin’
We’ve seen before the playa ways of George Bush the First.Now, via the Houston Aeros’ Facebook page, we see there’s no quit in this man.Party on, dude…
Carolyn Rodriguez: From Selling Crack to Prescribing “Medicine” for the Soul
One of the first things Carolyn Rodriguez, the Houston-based female singer and rap artist by way of Arkansas, by way of North Carolina, said to us is that she doesn’t like bios. “When you make a bio you have to keep it politically correct,” she tells Rocks Off. “You can’t…
Odd Pair: Tater Tots and Palacio de Bornos Verdejo 2008
Whether it’s caused by a bad day at work, a hangover or a break-up, we all have them – an insatiable craving for greasy, drive-thru tator tots. Resistance is futile. You might as well just turn your car in the direction of the nearest Sonic. (We will work out on…
Houston To Become Another Detroit, Expert Says
If the Ike cat story was the feel-good item of the morning, here’s your Debbie Downer special. Houston, and it’s energy industry, is doomed, and we just might become a new Detroit, one expert says.”So could Houston be replaced by Japanese consumer electronics firms? Yes, easily,” says Dana Blankenhorn of…
Aftermath: Willie Nelson and an Arena Theatre Audience Apparently Raised In a Barn
Congratulations, Houston music fans! We are barely a week into the new year, and you already proven to Aftermath that our dreams and hopes for a new decade of change and decorum during live shows was just that: A wish that will never come to fruition, right up there with…
Marcel Simpson, 19: Bayou Body Count No. 7
If you try to take my shit, I can shoot your ass.This is the compact all Texans make with each other, whether they want to or not. It is both an unwritten cultural law and a general principle that can be upheld in a court of law.The notion may soon…
Reds Beans and Ricely Yours
I had red beans and rice with an excellent smoked sausage at Kojak’s deli last Monday. Red beans and rice on Mondays is an old New Orleans tradition. It comes from a time when ham was commonly served for Sunday dinner and Monday was laundry day. The beans would simmer…
RodeoHouston 2010 Entertainer Lineup Includes Mary J. Blige, Black Eyed Peas, Justin Bieber and Some Country Folks You Can Probably Guess
Monday morning, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced the remainder of its Reliant Stadium entertainment calendar for this year’s rodeo, which begins March 2. Debuting on Reliant’s revolving stage this year are Jason Aldean (March 6) and Texans the Eli Young Band (March 19). Returning from last year are…
Take That, Ike — Your Lame Attempt To Keep A Cat From Its Owner Has Been Thwarted
Okay, is the moral of this story a) Love can overcome all obstacles, or b) Cats are too proud to walk a bit to get back to their owner?Your decision no doubt rests on whether you’re a dog or a cat person.But it’s the feel-good story of the early part…
Are You the Worst Cook in America? Prove It
Above is a photo of a cake that I attempted to bake when I was 14 years old (also known as the age at which I was really old enough to know better). Because I was — and admittedly still am — impatient, I couldn’t wait for the hot cake…
Rocks Off Has Some Issues This Morning, But Not as Many as This Guy
Rocks Off came into the office this morning to discover we had been beset by a bad case of the gremlins. One of our photographers’ Web site was down, there was another mix-up with the Willie Nelson photos from Saturday night (which has since been fixed) and… well, it’s just…
This Week In TV: NBC Imploded. Again
I had no idea Houston could get this cold, I’m tired of reruns, and I still think your Batman voice sounds like Cookie Monster. This was the week in TV Land: • So, NBC imploded. Again. As last week drew to a close, rumors started spreading that NBC was going…
Turning the Screw: Bun B, Cham, The Box, Trae, Jay’Ton, Lloyd Banks, Kid-n-Play, Kurupt, NBA Jam, Diddy, 9th Wonder, Snoop, RZA 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: “On To the Next Year,” Bun B Yikes. Bonus Verse of the Week: “All You Know,” Happy Perez ft…
Where Are We Eating?
It’s January, and the cool waters of the Gulf are producing fat, buttery oysters, heavy with brisk freshness and the briny taste of the sea. A solitary oyster rests on a fork somewhere, a diner momentarily distracted by a sip of Shiner before finishing it off. Do you know where…
UH Loses: Fans Tossed From The Game
Hofheinz Pavilion was a rather interesting place to be on Saturday night. There was the Houston Cougars playing a conference opponent in front a national television audience. There was a close game that saw the Cougars down by only one point with 1:19 remaining in the game.Oh, yeah, and there…
Last Year’s MasterMind Awards Winner: Nova Arts Project
Earlier this week, Hair Balls reported on Hightower High School’s Broadcast Academy, which, since winning a Houston Press MasterMind award last year, has continued to do great things. For another winner, things have taken a different turn. The Nova Arts Project, an alternative theater group, received a $2,000 award in…
Inquiring Minds: The World Of Ghost Mountain
Tomorrow night at Walter’s On Washington, three Houston bands throw down their first gigs of 2010. For Roky Moon & Bolt they have a new album in the offing and the future seems pretty clear cut. They are riding into this new year with quite an amount of steam behind…
BARC Fires a Vet, But Hey It’s All Good
Houston’s Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care fired a veterinarian Thursday, but Interim Bureau Chief Gerry Fusco said two part-time vets will cover those hours so there will be no lag in services. Fusco and Janice Evans, communications director for Mayor Annise Parker, said they could not by law comment on…
Upcoming Events
First, a bit of good news from the streets of Montrose: Ruggles (903 Westheimer) has finally reopened after damages from Hurricane Ike and fire damage from renovations kept them closed for over a year. Head over this weekend and give them a warm welcome back to the fold, and keep…
Another Side – Several, Actually – of Willie Nelson
It’s easy for older Willie Nelson fans to overlook his modern works, where he saw his influence dig out tributaries away from the safer riverbeds. In the past two decades, he has ventured out from his hearty country roots into reggae, spooky Daniel Lanois-produced noir, pop standards, Spanish-tinted passages and…
This Week in Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly round-up here at Eating Our Words, where we’ve built a little fort out of our vast stockpile of holiday leftovers. To start things off this week, Greenway Barista checked out the frogurt at Blueberry Hill. Aw, we’re calling it “froyo” now? That’s not nearly as…
DWI Attorney Tyler Flood Now Watches Over Washington Ave. By Billboard
As the enormous and bespectacled eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg looked out on The Great Gatsby’s Valley of Ashes, Tyler Flood now watches over Washington Avenue from a billboard on Sandman Street. It went up just in time for New Year’s Eve. The billboard is the latest in a long…
Happy 75th Birthday, Elvis, Wherever You Are
Remember that scene from Pulp Fiction where Mia Wallace explains to Vince Vega that there are two kinds of people in this world – Elvis people and Beatles people? Well, Rocks Off is an Elvis person. We’re not a fanatic or anything, but we have been to Graceland, have a…
Garlic Zeppole and Foie Gras Ice Cream: Challenging the Idea of Traditional Desserts
We entered through the back door into the labyrinthine kitchen of Textile. It was our third time at Scott Tycer’s restaurant (although the first in its kitchen) and we were glad to be back: The desserts were the best part of our first two visits, and we were eager to…
What’s Your Bra Color? Nah, You Can Do Better
Black. Beige. Nude. Purple. Fuchsia. What do these colors have in common? Perhaps they resemble the spectrum of brilliance you projectile puked after a particularly steep, single-handed tab at Shot Bar. Good guess. But we’re actually referring to the unexpected vomit of hues that splattered Facebook status updates yesterday afternoon…
Crossfire from Tony’s Christmas Massacre
Jonathan Honefenger is working as a waiter at Branch Water Tavern these days. Which is kind of odd, considering that he was one of the brightest new stars of the wine scene when he was hired away from Poscol by Tony Vallone a couple of months ago. His stint at…
Tyagaraja/Alpha Rev Show Postponed Due to Cold Weather
Rocks Off isn’t sure whether or not “postponed due to cold weather” is actually code for “postponed due to slow ticket sales” or not, but either way tonight’s show at Warehouse Live (also featuring the Fox Derby and the Language Room) has been put off until January 29. Enjoy the…
Alley Theatre’s Artistic Director Gregory Boyd Goes Down the Rabbit Hole With Alice
Alice is a children’s book writer who’s estranged from her husband and not doing well at all with her daughter. Worst of all, to Hair Balls’s way of thinking, she has writer’s block. So she goes to the strange and crazy place called Wonderland, dancing and singing her heart out…
Texas Traveler: Historic Hamburgers in Jefferson
The two-thirds-of-a-pound hamburger at the Historic Hamburger Store in Jefferson turned out to be two one-third-pound patties on top of each other. The regular price was six bucks, but by the time I had added bacon, Swiss cheese and jalapeños, it came to almost ten dollars. The meat patties were…
Houston Musicians Recall Their Own Rock and Roll High School Days
Tonight Rocks Off is hosting the first annual Texas High School Rock Off, with local bands from area schools fighting for a grand prize of $500 and bragging rights around town. This past week we have profiled the seven bands in the running: The Paperwaits, Useful Information, The Handshake, Living…
Game Time: Longhorns Come Away With “Rocky Balboa” Respect
Around 10:15 PM last night, about the time the wheels started coming off the University of Texas Longhorns’ run at what would have been an historical comeback, I got the following text from AT&T (verbatim, including all of the texty little abbreviations): “The AT&T All-America Player of the Year is…
When It Comes to Latino Rap, Trae Is Part of La Familia
A couple of years ago, our brother was attending San Antonio Community College. One evening, he told us a story about a young cutie he was trying to spit game to at the end of his day. “So I walk her to her car after class,” he recounts. “And sitting…
Bartender Chat: Elizabeth Kessler
Elizabeth Kessler proves that you don’t have to be a bartender for years to make a great drink. She’s only been bartending for ten months, but she quickly fills drinks, delivers food and chats with the regulars just like an old pro. Kessler took the job at Community Bar (2703…
Exotic Texas Gulf Coast Crime Round-Up: Zip-Tied Kids, Flipping Out In Victoria, And Santa Punishes A Pedophile
A few awful items and weird crime tidbits from the Texas Gulf Coast… A Brownsville jury convicted 27-year-old Juan Luis Sanchez on ten counts of possession of child pornography. Sanchez’s predilection was discovered not through diligent Web sleuthing on the part of the authorities, but rather because Sanchez, evidently no…
New iPhone? Rocks Off Has an App for That.
We know a ton of you got iPhones over the holiday break. Well, good news: Rocks Off has spent the last few months developing our own iPhone applications (or “apps,” as the urban kids are saying) and we’re thrilled to debut them here. All inquiries, criticisms, and requests for download…
Pasta with Truffles, a Bargain at $110 a Bowl
I split a bowl of pasta topped with huge slices of a white Alba truffles with a lunchmate at Da Marco over the holidays. A bowl of tagliatelle and truffles goes for $125 at dinner. It’s only $110 at lunch, so we paid a mere $55 each for the ethereal…
Long Faces for the Longhorns
Although they ultimately couldn’t stem the Crimson Tide in last night’s Rose Bowl after star quarterback Colt McCoy was injured early in the first quarter, University of Texas fans were still excited early in the game at Lucky’s Pub. Meanwhile over at the Fox and Hound, Alabama fans had their…
Five Spot: The Kanye Is Not Going To Act Like A Dick In 2010… Until He Does
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. We take in a ton of music each week… turns out that’s actually a…
Joshua Hubbard, 19, Bayou Body Count No. 3; Steven Armstead, 18, No. 4; Michelle Allen, 24, No. 5; David Pena, 24, No. 6
It was just an ol’ fashioned drug deal gone wrong.A little before 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, an African-American husband and wife entered a home at 1028 Marjorie Street in north Houston to buy drugs. Once the dealers showed the goods, the husband walked back outside to supposedly get the cash.He…
Fresh Fish Available Under the Bridge
Pier 8 Seafood (409 Todville Rd., Seabrook) under the famous Kemah bridge is hands-down our favorite place to get an affordable “you buy, we fry” seafood lunch. This Filipino family-owned business offers fresh, quality seafood at reasonable prices, preparing deep-fried fish the way it is done in the Philippines. That…
Aeros At The Halfway Point: Fingers Crossed For The Playoffs
The Houston Aeros wrap up the first half of their season tonight, and they open the second half of the season on Sunday. They will be hosting the Rockford IceHogs at the Toyota Center, and in doing so, the Aeros will be facing a team directly in front of them…
Benjamin Wesley’s Animation Comes to Life In “Crazy” New Video
Late last night we got our first peek at a new clip from local singer-songwriter Benjamin Wesley for his single “People Will Never Stop Being Crazy.” The video comes almost a year after his Geschichte release, and is in fact the first music video he has made to promote the…
The Case Of That 12-Year-Old Girl Beat up By Galveston Cops Drags On
It hardly seemed possible, but things are getting ever weirder in the case of Dymond Milburn, the 12-year-old African-American girl whose mother claims in court that several Galveston cops jumped out of an unmarked van, tried to kidnap Dymond and then beat her up in her front yard for no…
5 to Try: Dim Sum Staples
It’s hard to beat a leisurely Sunday meal with friends. This week, instead of gathering over eggs, breakfast tacos and pancakes, why not try brunch the Chinese way and head out for dim sum? Literally meaning “to touch your heart,” dim sum always brings a variety of dumplings, steamed dishes,…
Tonight: Sufjan Stevens’ Ode to an Expressway… and Hula Hoops
Musical cartographer Sufjan Stevens may have given up on his attempt to record 50 albums, each one dedicated to a different U.S. state, but he’s still writing music about places. In 2007 he paired with cinematographer Reuben Kleiner to create a film dedicated to the BQE, the 13-mile New York…
Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Congratulations, Houston! After many years of moaning about our city having only two seasons — summer and a slightly less hot summer — you’re finally getting that “winter” you always complained about never having. Those days of 90 percent humidity and 90 degree temperatures don’t look so bad now, huh?…
Rejoice, Michael Jackson Fans: Sheila Jackson Lee Might Not Be As Vulnerable As She Appears
The United States Congressional District 18 race just got a bit more exciting after Jarvis Johnson, the District B Houston City Councilmember, officially filed on Monday at Harris County Democratic Party Headquarters. Not to be outdone, Attorney Sean A. Roberts also decided to jump into the race against incumbent Democrat…
UT Would Have Won 85-21 If Colt McCoy Had Played
How big a margin would the Horns have won by if superhuman Colt McCoy had managed to stay in the game? One can only guess. UT would probably have made Yates High look like the Marquess of Queensberry.We’re guessing that’s what we’re going to hear from Horn fans, at any…
Halfway To Excuseville For UT Fans
Look at the bright side, Horn fans — your inevitable defeat now comes with a ready-made excuse. If Colt McCoy hadn’t been injured, UT would have continued to receive wonderful gifts from Bama and turned them into field goals, therefore (somehow) winning the game.The UT crowd at The Tavern at…
The Game Goes On
Yo folks — our Sean Pendergast (to be honest, we share him with 1560AM The Game — is live-tweeting the UT-Bama game here. (Sample tweet: “McElroy, throw the f-ing ball, even if it’s incomplete. I’m tired of watching you get sacked like a little bitch..”)Our thoughts so far:a) Who the…
And So It Begins
The Game is close to beginning — once you’ve had Flea and Josh Groban collaborate, things can only go up. We will say the Dr Pepper BCS trophy is likely the cheesiest-looking major trophy in sports. WIth the DP logo slapped prominently on it, the thing looks like a stand-up…
Freezing Your Ass Off Tonight? Get On A Metro Vehicle
If you somehow find yourself out in the cold with no place to go tonight, one way to escape the freeze will be through Metro.The transit agency says that in addition to space heaters at 28 Park & Rides, it will park METROLift vehicles at each of the 18 transit…
Monkeys Eating Jell-O: The 5 Cutest Animal Mealtime Videos
Tooling around on the Internet the other day as we are wont to do when there’s nothing on TV and it’s horribly drizzly outside, we stumbled across something that brightened our entire day (granted, that’s pretty easy to do — we’re easily amused here at Eating Our Words): Monkeys. Eating…
Everybody’s Invited to Bluesman Earl Gilliam’s 80th Birthday Party
Tomorrow night at the Big Easy, come out to help Houston blues legend Earl Gilliam celebrate joining the octogenarian club with what is sure to be a packed crowd. The blues pianist has been laying waste to crowds since the New Waverly native fell into the Houston scene in 1950…
Openings and Closings: 2009 Edition
The year gone by marked some very exciting restaurant openings (such as Haven, Branchwater Tavern, Yelapa Playa Mexicana and Stella Sola) and some equally important closings (such as Cafe Annie, Bedford, Las Alamedas and Felix Mexican Restaurant). To close out the year, Robb Walsh recapped his favorite restaurant openings of the past decade as well…
Your Last Shot At Free UH Tickets, And A Chance To Party With Sean Pendergast, Is Almost Here
Time is running out on the chance to spend some time with blogger extraordinaire and 1560 The Game host Sean Pendergast — with the added value of free food, drink and college hoops thrown in. (Technically, you can even enjoy the free stuff and ignore Sean all night long.)Sean will…
Freeze Frenzy: Save the Sorrel!
With a hard freeze coming tonight, Houstonians are rushing to harvest their winter gardens. “I am cutting all the citrus off the trees in my yard tonight,” chef Bryan Caswell told me. Gardeners are bringing as many of the greens and lettuces as possible to avoid losing them. Look for…
How Texas and Alabama Match Up… Musically
For once, Rocks Off is grateful for this sinus-splitting headache (thanks, Mike Stinson!), because it gives us something to focus on besides the fact that we are crawling out of our skin waiting for kickoff tonight. At this point, sports pundits have analyzed the Longhorns and Crimson Tide to within…
You May Be Dead, But You Can Still Get A (Too Late) Pardon, Texas AG Rules
Good news if you were wrongfully imprisoned by the state of Texas for a long, long time, but you then died before you could be pardoned — and face it, in those circumstances you could use some good news — state attorney general Greg Abbott ruled today that you can…
Health Dept. Roundup: Odd Names Edition
Each New Year tends to be greeted with a dose of confusion. Am I really as old as I feel? Is this car I’ve woken up in mine? Similarly, we’d wager there are days when health inspectors arrive at the restaurants they’re meant to peruse, check the name on the…
Happy Hour Scene: Blue Fish House
Blue Fish is primarily a sushi place, and that’s what scared us before we went there. “Happy hour sushi” makes us think of a dimly lit room with red walls and techno blasting through the speakers. That prediction wasn’t too far off on our Wednesday-night visit — we heard One…
He Said She Said: Our Musical Resolutions for 2010, Part 2
Did you know the U.S. Government publishes a list each year of popular American New Year’s Resolutions? No. 1 is “lose weight,” and No. 2 is “manage debt” which shows the kind of fucked-up priorities we as Americans have as we finish this decade off with the worst recession since…
Lord, Throw Me In A Green Plastic Tub And Drag Me To The Curbside
It’s official — Houston is a green city, and the rest of Texas is now catching on. So while the EPA may or may not have “castrated” the Clean Air Act in Houston, at Pastor Ezell Simmons’s Eighth Street Gospel Temple Church of God in Christ, the Green Gospel is…
Tong Ho: Edible Chrysanthemum Greens
Here’s an Asian green you’ll see on your herb plate when you order soup noodles this time of year. It’s called tan in Vietnamese, tong ho in Chinese, and shingiku in Japanese. Edible chrysanthemum leaves, as they are known in English, can be eaten lightly cooked or chopped up raw…
Game Time: The Five Most Dominant Performances In A College Football Title Game
The time for talking is almost over, and tonight we’ll find out if the shrinking spread on this season’s BCS Title game and the last minute rush by some to the Texas Longhorn bandwagon is a harbinger of things to come. Me personally, I think Nick Saban dials up some…
The H-Town Countdown: We Interrupt This Countdown to Bring You Some Basketball/Rap Metaphors
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. You know how at the end of each American Idol season they drag…
Recipe: Honeyed Marcona Almond Brie En Croute
Perhaps we’re the only ones feeling the post-holiday slump, but it’s been a bit discombobulating going from full speed ahead partying to life in its more quiet normalcy. To combat this sharp dip in festive fun, we’ve decided to have a few (a very, very small few) of our closest…
Evander Holyfield’s Ex-Wife Sues In Houston, Seeking Child Support
It looks as though the never-ending divorce saga of former heavyweight boxing champ Evander Holyfield has found its way to the Houston courts.On Wednesday, Holyfield’s ex-wife, Janice, filed papers in Harris County District Court seeking to collect nearly $280,000 in past-due child support and interest that the boxing legend was…
As the Decade Turns, Thoughts on the Music Connecting Then and Now
For us, this decade began on a sand bar in the outer Fiji Islands raising a glass with dear friends to the first sunrise of the millennium. At that time, and well into the decade for that matter, we owned neither a bed nor a couch; both represented a major…
Pecorino di Fossa: Cheese of the Hole in the Ground
The cheese list at Da Marco Italian restaurant is short but full of surprises. Take this aromatic sheep’s milk cheese called formaggio di fossa, for instance. I had some the other day with crusty bread and berry jam and the last splash of a luscious Montepulciano. The cheese was outrageously…
An Orangutan Predicts Longhorn Victory Tonight, But Can Such Animals Be Trusted?
Everyone knows orangutans like to wear people clothes or tool around with Clint Eastwood, but they’re also famed football oddsmakers. To wit: Bruno, an o-tan at the Los Angeles Zoo, has predicted UT will beat Alabama tonight. In what might be interpreted as a not-so-subtle allusion to the sport’s latent…
In Other News, There’s A Job Opening
Once again, the Bayou blog — a must-read for all your Golden Triangle weirdness — comes through.This is a screen capture of Beaumont’s Fox 4 web page, which features news headlines and a “Job of the Day.”We can only say that they move quickly in Beaumont…
Recipe: Beer Bread
We swung by Fiesta Mart to nab baking supplies this week and happened to find Guinness on sale for $6.99. It occurred to us we that should include the 250-year-old beer in our baking run, so we hopped on the Internets and, working from several similar recipes, came up with…
Our Texas High School Rock Off Preview, Part 3: Backslash, Searching for Signal and Disfunkshun
This Friday, House of Blues hosts the first (and perhaps only) Texas High School Rock Off, co-sponsored by Fuse, Sonicbids and Rocks Off our own damn selves. See here for information on tickets, which start at the allowance-friendly price of $8. The winner receives $500, a trophy and an opening…
Rice Proves To Be Cure For Struggling Coogs
The Houston Cougars didn’t see the old year out in the fashion they wanted, and they sure haven’t seen the new year in in the fashion they desired. Coming into last night’s battle with the Rice Owls at Tudor Fieldhouse, the Cougars had lost three straight, including a stunning New…
Spotlight on Ceviche
When our abuelita came to visit for the first time from Callo, Peru, one of the first things she did was teach our mother how to make ceviche. Ceviche is the quintessential Peruvian food, reportedly invented by the fishermen of Callo or Lima on long fishing trips. Abuelita’s recipe was…
He Said She Said: Our Musical Resolutions for 2010
It’s barely a week into 2010, and we still find ourselves writing 2009 on invoices and checks. We can’t seem to shake that last quasi-awful year out of our heads. It seemed like one of the most interminable years we had ever had the bittersweet pleasure to find ourselves mired…
President and Barbara Bush Catch Chorus Line at the Hobby
Theater-goers at the Hobby Center for last night’s performance of A Chorus Line got an added bonus when right at 8 p.m. in walked President George Bush (the first) and his wife, Barbara, acoompanied by a small entourage. Whispers swept through the crowd as audience members made sure of what…
Pop Rocks: Why 2010 Is Going To Suck, Pt. 2
We covered the first half of 2010 a couple of days ago, to resounding snores, but that won’t keep me from exercising my First Amendment right to complain about derivative cinematic entertainment I could otherwise easily avoid. Now then…The A-Team — June 11I like how shows like Beavis and Butthead…
Salad City
It can be a struggle to find a good salad in a town so fanatical for Tex-Mex. And barbecue. And burgers. But we know they’re out there somewhere. It’s still early enough in January that you might not have broken all of your New Year’s resolutions… So where do you…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: No Wrong Answers on Ray Wylie Hubbard’s New Album
Lonesome Onry and Mean’s second early pick for our 2010 best-of list is Ray Wylie Hubbard’s A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkenment, (Hint) There Is No C, set to drop this coming Tuesday. Ever since he started working with producer/guitarist Gurf Morlix four records ago, Hubbard has gotten further and further from…
The Ultimate Menu For Your Texas-Alabama Viewing Party
The BCS Championship is tonight. Have you made all your viewing-party plans?Any good viewing party needs a menu that supports the local team. If you’re a fan of good college football, it’s understandable that you might not be too familiar with the University of Texas Longhorns.Not to worry!! We’ve got…
Houston Symphony: Mahler’s First with Marin Alsop
It was just two years ago that Marin Alsop took over the helm at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The classical music world took note for two reasons. First, because in doing so, Alsop became the first woman to head a major American orchestra. Second, because her talent and expertise promised…
Celebrate Dance
Think the season for reveling is over? Not at the Jewish Community Center’s 30th annual Dance Month. They’ll kick off the monthlong schedule of performances and presentations with Celebrate Dance, a gathering of local dance luminaries and the people who love them. Head to Warehouse Live to mingle with honorees…
Mary Karr
Mary Karr wasn’t exactly itching to pen her latest memoir, Lit. The renowned Texas novelist/poet has voiced how frustrating the writing process can be in interviews with Salon and National Public Radio. This is surprising, considering that she already has two memoirs under her belt – The Liar’s Club and…
“Empathy, Recent Paintings and Monotypes”
It’s not quite correct to call the New Orleans-based artist Keith Perelli a painter: To create the abstract, nature-infused portraits in his new exhibition “Empathy, Recent Paintings and Monotypes,” he generally used printmaking inks to paint human faces and bodies onto Plexiglas, then transferred the images onto paper with an…
The Honeymoon Period Is Officially Over
Gerald LaBita, producing artistic director of Theatre LaB, knows a good thing when he sees it. “Fifteen years ago, we were the second theater ever to produce The Vagina Monologues with Eve Ensler; now she’s a multimillionaire!” he happily boasts. Now he’s offering Houstonians a chance to witness his newest…
KOLD Radio, Whitefish Bay
Imagine Garrison Keillor without the irony, and you get some idea of what talk radio in small-town Minnesota sounds like, at least according to Phil Olson’s KOLD Radio, Whitefish Bay. The comedy of oddballs opens in a lonely bar that’s got a one-room radio station attached. Lars is in the…
Houston Homeless Run
Mention the homeless and most people envision a scraggly man standing at an intersection with a homemade sign that says, “Will work for food.” Sure, that’s one segment of the homeless, but teens, women, families and the elderly are also among the 16,000 Houstonians who find themselves without shelter on…
Kid Toons: Winter Day Dreams
Make moviegoing a real family affair at Kid Toons: Winter Day Dreams. Group sing-alongs, giveaways, music videos and cartoon shorts precede an animated film, the centerpiece of the event. And with its super-low ticket price, Kid Toons is a great way for the whole family to spend a weekend morning…
Magnificent 7 Ice Carving Competition
Art made from chainsaw, blowtorches and ice? Must be time for the annual Magnificent 7 Ice Carving Competition at Discovery Green. Ice artists from across the country come to the event to show off their skills and earn bragging rights. Among them is the local DLG Ice Factory’s Reverend Butter,…
Met Opera Live in HD: Der Rosenkavalier
Saturdays are usually pretty good, but this Saturday promises to be even better with a live transmission of Der Rosenkavalier , a performance that’s part of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD broadcasting series. Renée Fleming, the woman many call this generation’s Beverly Sills for her ability to make opera…
Patti LaBelle
Three things you can expect at any Patti -LaBelle concert: One, she’s going to kick off her high heels sometime during the first half of the show. (If you’re in the first row, watch out — those heels tend to fly.) Two, she’s going to roll around on the floor…
Ron Hoover: “A Retrospective”
It took most of the fall and countless e-mails and phone calls, but the staff of the Art Car Museum has more than succeeded in tracking down and rounding up works by the abstract painter Ron Hoover, a local favorite who passed away last summer. For the expansive Ron Hoover:…
Bobbindoctrin’s 6th Annual Puppet Festival
Bobbindoctrin’s 6th Annual Puppet Festival has lots of fist-up-the-rear-end action. (Puppets, people, puppets.) Along with tabletop hand puppetry, the local collective’s annual showcase also includes marionettes, shadows and taxidermy. (Yep, that’s right, dead animals.) “Some of the films that we’re showing are by Wladyslaw Starewicz…this Russian filmmaker from the ’20s…
Night and Day
Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo is not so much an acquired taste as he is an unknown quantity, at least outside of art houses and specialized venues for the cinematic cognoscenti. Those in the know love his spare, standoffish, improvisational style, or as Film Journal’s Adam Hartzell observed, “his unsexy sex…
The BQE
Perhaps the ugliest stretch of road in the world – believe it or not, even I-45 pales in comparison to its incomparable urban blight – the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, devised by mega-maniacal, misguided city planner Robert Moses in the ’30s, is a traffic-clogged, potholed boondoggle of colossal proportions. It’s a monument…
Stirred and Shaken
At Rebels Honky Tonk (5002 Washington, 713-862-7172), the classics are relegated to the bathroom. The record jackets mounted on the men’s-room wall feature the likes of Willie Nelson and Marty Robbins, but on a recent Wednesday night a couple KILT-FM DJs were pumping nothing but the latest chart-topping, completely indistinguishable…
Texas High School Rock Off
We wonder if the prospect of starting a band is as appealing to today’s youth as it was for us and our older siblings. In the U.S., at least, it doesn’t seem like it. The Rock Band and Guitar Hero video-game franchises virtualize the high points of the experience —…
The Wailers
While in some sense it is a shame that Bob Marley’s band has splintered into rival touring acts the Wailers and the Original Wailers, it does nothing to diminish the talent or accomplishments of the musicians involved. Marley collaborator, arranger and bassist Aston “Familyman” Barrett leads the Wailers into Houston…
Willie Nelson
We sure hope we don’t have to tell you why you should go see Willie Nelson at this point, especially if you never have. He only seems immortal, but the man will be 77 in April. In fact, 2009 might go down as a relatively slow year for Nelson: He…
Houston Punk Revue
When he’s not advocating fair trade or just generally getting under the University of Houston administration’s skin, controversial social activist Tim O’Brien’s passions run equally hot toward music. O’Brien recently finished his U of H dissertation on Lightnin’ Hopkins and has helped organize local benefits for ailing musicians Peter Case…
Charlie Robison
For a while there, Houston-born Charlie Robison was everybody’s favorite country-music bad boy, the guy who would say anything at any time, the kind of guy the Nashville suits fear. Along the way, he married and had children, and for a long period music seemed to take a back seat…
Capsule Art Review: “Cy Twombly: Treatise on the Veil”
“Cy Twombly: Treatise on the Veil” This rarely exhibited painting by Cy Twombly is accompanied by several works from the artist’s private collection that “document,” in a sense, the piece’s creation. Treatise on the Veil comes from Twombly’s “gray-ground” period (1966-1971) and very much resembles a huge chalkboard with a…
Up on His Hustle
“Follow my lead / Do as I say, not as I do / Follow my lead / Mayday, mayday” — South Park Mexican, “Follow My Lead,” The Purity Album (2000) If you were an 18-year-old aspiring rapper and high-school dropout at the turn of the century, would you have known…
Electric Warriors
Since debuting at Walter’s on Washington last March, Roky Moon & BOLT have seared their billowing glam-rock into the local music scene. Barely three months old, the quintet took Best New Act at the 2009 Houston Press Music Awards, then turned in buzzworthy sets at Free Press Summerfest and November’s…
No Can Do
If you think sardines always come in a can, think again. The sardinas a la brasa en escabeche ($7), one of the many hot tapas available at Andalucia Tapas and Taverna (1201 San Jacinto, 832-319-6673), are fresh sardines. Usually larger than the canned version, they’re split in two, stripped of…
Capsule Stage Reviews: A Fertle Holiday, Wonder of the World
A Fertle Holiday Another annual Christmas pleasure in Houston comes courtesy of Radio Music Theatre. This year marks the 25th production of A Fertle Holiday. The crowd-pleasing skit-comedy show celebrates family and the difficult joys of coming together for obligatory Christmas joy. Of course, the best thing about an RMT…
The Chelsea Grill
Tony Gutierrez is entering the third stage of his life. He started out as a flight attendant, then moved to Houston eight years ago and opened Crew Staffing, which supplies employees to the hospitality industry for private parties and social gatherings. Now he has opened The Chelsea Grill (4621 Montrose,…
Gay-Basher Denied Parole Again
CRIME Gay-Basher Denied Parole Again Last of The Woodlands 10 stays behind bars By John Nova Lomax The parole of Jon Buice, the last incarcerated member of the so-called Woodlands 10, was denied again recently. Buice is currently serving a 45-year sentence for his role in the Montrose murder of…
Commitment Problems
Commitment Problems Online readers comment on “Holiday Madness,” by Margaret Downing, December 24: A good alternative: So people are involuntarily committed, if they are a danger to themselves or others? I am not sure what the real story is here. This place is an alternative to jail for many people…
Revolting Youth
For years, Hollywood has wrestled with adapting C.D. Payne’s 1993 novel Youth in Revolt — which, actually, was three novels collected under one title, and so the possibilities were endless given 500 pages of material to mine. In 1996, FOX filmed a pilot starring Chris Masterson as Nick Twisp, the…
SPECIAL BEST-OF EDITION
Dear Readers, The Mexican is still trying to shake off the Herradura from the previous year, so I’m reprinting this week a favorite column of mine from el pasado. To make up for my siesta, though, I’m bringing back the YouTube edition of this column, where I’ll take the questions…
No Luck Among the Irish
Is this a commercial for the National Tourism Council of Ireland or for the conditioner Amy Adams uses in her hair? Either way, both look fabulous. Then there’s the movie, a soggy affair directed with no great enthusiasm by Anand Tucker. Leap Year draws its dubious premise from a supposed…
Love and Theft
It feels a little foolhardy to even attempt to sum up the decade just past in a few paragraphs. For us, if the ’00s were 3,653 days long (remember those leap years), that means hundreds — probably thousands — of live shows, thousands of performers, just as many albums and…
Strike a Pose
Too much is never enough for fashion designer turned filmmaker Tom Ford, whose debut feature flaunts its capital-A Artiness the way some Napoleonic gym rats flaunt their overdeveloped musculature. Unlike his fellow art-house Michael Bays — Julie Taymor, Julian Schnabel and Baz Luhrmann — Ford doesn’t whip his camera into…
Straight Up
Hello, reader. How are you? I’m Shea. I officially became the Houston Press Nightfly columnist two years ago this month. That equates to 76 articles, or more than 63,000 words written about Houston nightlife. That’s 63,000 more than I thought I’d manage. I assumed my time here would go like…
International House of Sandwiches
Item #17 on the menu at Juan Mon’s International Sandwiches is the “Venice,” a fresh baguette stuffed with spaghetti, salami, provolone cheese, grilled onions and sour cream. To be honest, I ordered it because it sounded goofy. But after my first bite, I put the ridicule on hold. Shockingly, the…
Weed Takes Root
These are not your run-of-the-mill potheads jammed into the long, narrow classroom at Oaksterdam University, a tiny campus in downtown Oakland, California, with no sign to betray its location on busy San Vicente Boulevard south of the Beverly Center. A serious vibe fills the loftlike space, where rows of desks…
