DEFCON Dining: Sometimes You Let the Baby Drink Gravy+
Dining out with children is an exercise in situational awareness. Each experience is unique, with different variables leading to different possible outcomes, DEFCON-like in their escalating threat levels. Keen observation, forward planning and prior experience are critical in determining the proper strategy. Here at DEFCON Dining, we do the grunt…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Berry-licious Pie & Super Beef Sunday
Now through Tuesday, January 26, “Citrus Fest” is taking place at Central Market, 3815 Westheimer. With citrus at its yearly peak, the grocer will feature more than 40 different citrus fruits for shoppers to savor. They’ll also be showing off the amazing versatility and flavors of citrus with an array…
Openings and Closings in Houston: Rev Up Your Sweet Tooth
Ogden Hospitality closed two of its concepts in The Heights last week– although many patrons aren’t very surprised. Bradley’s Fine Diner, 191 Heights. and Funky Chicken, 181 Heights, both got the ax from the restaurant group which can now focus is efforts on Pour Society, the gastropub that is admittedly more…
Disciplined Houston Doctor Sues Reporter For Writing About Him Being Disciplined
A Houston doctor has sued a dead patient’s mother and the owner of the Austin American-Statesman for what he claims was a hit piece published in violation of a settlement order. Joel Joselevitz, 56, was one of three physicians whose disciplinary history with the Texas Medical Board was covered in a…
Artist Illustrates a Fiction With Featureless Topographies
The stark terrains of Garland Fielder, as seen in his “The Map and the Territory” exhibit at Anya Tish Gallery, are evocative of both the angular landscapes of a video game and the featureless simulated topography seen by a military pilot navigating a drone 7,000 miles away from its target…
Local Husband-Wife Law Partners Running for Same Court in Different Primaries
A husband and wife legal team hope to double their chances at ousting a local county civil court judge by running for the seat—both of them, at the same time, in opposing party primaries. F. Richard Leach, one of two candidates in the Democratic primary for Harris County Civil Court…
New Photo Exhibit Shows What Humans Leave Behind on the Gulf Coast
In Victoria Sambunaris’s 2015 photograph Untitled (Intracoastal Waterway with red barge), the color of the water is the pale tan of over-creamed coffee. The camera angle emphasizes the flatness of the landscape; it is as if you could see the curve of the Earth in the distance. The water stretches…
Houston Texans Free Agents: Who Will Be Back? Who Will Be Gone?
As we saw earlier this week, the offseason evaluation for the Texans and head coach Bill O’Brien has already begun. Monday, three assistant coaches were shown the door, and now the offseason process of evaluating the roster, which happens in a fluid manner throughout the season anyway, begins. There will…
Italian Artist Spent 40 Hours Obsessively Marking Wall in Current Exhibit
Italian artist Andrea Bianconi has faced the wall, again, and has triumphed in his obsessive and imaginary site-specific illustration on the west wall of Barbara Davis Gallery, part of his current exhibit, “Fantastic Planet.” Truly a labor of love, as the work can only survive for the duration of the…
Bullet Train Opponents Urge Japanese Ambassador Not to Support the Houston-to-Dallas Line
Texans Against High-Speed Rail has long been vocal about their opposition to Texas Central Partner’s plans to use Shinkansen technology to build a Houston-to-Dallas high-speed rail line. But now they’ve really upped the ante with, well, a letter. On Monday the coalition that’s formed to fight the bullet train found…
Navigating Social Media’s Bittersweet Presence
Remember when Facebook (and MySpace) were new? Like an unexpected high school reunion, we all started making connections that seemed unreachable just a few years before. The sudden joy of reconnecting with a long lost friend or the ease at starting an instantaneous conversation with friends around the globe seemed…
Denver’s Yawpers Make Acoustic Music Rock
Texas-born Nate Cook of Denver trio the Yawpers brings his band to Rudyard’s Thursday night in support of their hard-rocking second album, American Man. While the band’s debut, 2012’s Capon Crusade, was a self-release, the latest effort has been picked up by Chicago-based alt-country label Bloodshot Records. The album was…
#NewHoustonRap: BeatKing’s “BussibaK” Takes It to the Sheets
The best songs of the week vary in style and texture. Fine, that’s being sort of facetious, but they’re all pretty damn good and are all aimed to get you through the work week at least. BEATKING, “BussibaK” There’s no sample that Stunt N Dozier and BeatKing won’t turn into…
Young State of Grace Waiter Killed in Houston Hit-and-Run; Fundraiser Under Way [UPDATED]
Twenty-three-year-old Alex Hill was crossing the intersection of Taft and Westheimer on Friday at 12:30 a.m. when he was hit and killed by a driver who ran the red light. The four-door sedan sped away and the driver has not yet been caught. Now, Hill’s family is trying to raise…
Kata Robata’s Manabu Horiuchi Wins Truffle Chef Charity Challenge With Japanese Soba Noodles and Uni
Truffles were the the name of the game last night as 20 of Houston’s top chefs competed in the Second Annual Truffle Chef Charity Challenge benefiting Les Dames d’Escoffier. Organized by truffle importer, DR Delicacy, the premier event gave chefs an opportunity to battle each other in a friendly in…
College Football Playoff: Alabama Wins Title, Beats Clemson 45-40
Sometimes, the sign of a truly great team is the ability to win football games in many different ways. To that end, the College Football Playoff National Championship game didn’t look like a normal Alabama game on Monday night. While there was plenty of hitting from both teams, there was…
EPA Questions Its Own Fracking Report Right When It’s Least Likely to Matter
Despite all of those videos out there showing a North Texas man lighting his water on fire as it flowed right out the tap — a development that many blamed on hydraulic fracturing in the Barnett Shale — last year the Environmental Protection Agency concluded that fracking doesn’t pose any…
The 39 Steps: Hitchcock as Vaudeville
The set-up: Patrick Barlow’s award-winning The 39 Steps is a grand goof. A knock-off of the immortal filmmaker’s first international hit (1935), itself a suspenseful and adept adaptation by Charles Bennett and Ian Hay from John Buchan’s Edwardian spy novel, this Catskill version is pure farce. Four actors play all…
A Texan Comes Home With Cirque du Soleil Toruk: The First Flight
When Cirque du Soleil Toruk: The First Flight rolls into Houston, it will be a special homecoming for one member of the renowned entertainment troupe’s cast. Dustin Walston, Longview native and Stephen F. Austin State University alum, is making his Cirque du Soleil debut. “This is definitely the pinnacle of…
Harris County Has Its First Case of the Zika Virus
Harris County just got its first case of the Zika virus. On Monday the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services sent out a release stating that the Centers for Disease Control has confirmed that a person who recently returned from Latin America to Harris County came back with the…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: Lee’s Ups Its Fried Chicken Game
This week, we’ve got some decadent recipes to nurture your sweet tooth with, plus a few restaurant reviews and a recipe for barbecue lovers to enjoy. Erika of The Pancake Princess blog is starting a family classics series that features beloved recipes from her childhood, and the first recipe is…
Upcoming: Bad Ass Weekend IV, Florence + the Machine, Propain, Southern Culture on the Skids, Young Girls, etc.
[Note: events in bold reflect highly recommended shows.] 2016 Japan Festival: April 16-17, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., TBA. Hermann Park, 6001 Fannin, Houston, 713-526-0077. Al Scorch: Free. Cactus Music, 2110 Portsmouth, Houston, 713-526-9272. Alan Haynes: Sat., January 30, 8 p.m., $5. The Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club, 5731 Kirby, Houston,…
How the Evangelical Church Is Failing Women
As the calendar reflects 2016, I’m vaguely aware of an anniversary. Or maybe a birth. Either way, I’m reminded my new found atheism is about a year old. Surprising, only because I never thought I’d ever claim to be an atheist. Nor would anyone who has known me for any…
HISD Trustees May Vote to Gut That Pesky Ethics Policy [UPDATED]
Poised to make history in a whole different kind of way, the Houston ISD Board of Trustees Thursday night may vote to essentially gut their ethics policy by removing or significantly changing a key provision. That provision states that a board member who accepts $500 or more in one year…
Hunky Dory Indeed: Richard Knight’s New Place is Pretty Spectacular
To fully understand and appreciate Hunky Dory, it’s important to know a little about chef Richard Knight’s first Houston restaurant, Feast. Without Feast and Knight, there would be no Hunky Dory. (Really, the story of Feast, its proprietors, Treadsack and Hunky Dory could be made into a movie that would…
Sorry for Life?: Ashley Ervin Didn’t Kill Anyone, But She Drove Home the Boys Who Did
When Ashley Ervin was sentenced to life in prison for capital murder, her bedroom was decorated with Mickey Mouse everything. She was 17 when the crime happened in 2006 — a junior in high school who had just gotten her first job as a cashier at McDonald’s, her first bank…
The Rodeo Sticks to What Works, But Opens the Door to Change
Give the folks at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo credit: whatever your opinion of this year’s lineup, they’ve got to have some pretty thick skin. Every major news outlet in town linked to the list of entertainers on Facebook shortly after it was revealed just after midnight Monday. Later…
#NewHoustonRap: Show Louis’s Scars Show On ‘Love & Drugz’
This is about Show Louis. Five years ago, Show Louis went by Rock Show. I met him at a mixer for another artist at SF2’s now-defunct Southwest location. His eyes were low and he happened to wear a fitted hat, but he couldn’t help but mingle with plenty of rappers…
Sexism In Music Media: The Problem No One Wants to Address
If it’s January, Revolver’s “Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock” calendar must be out. As we move into the New Year, you can expect to see it in the greenrooms and offices throughout the music industry. Love it or hate it, the calendar represents the reality of music media faced by many female…
Why Mexican and Border Journalists Are Pissed About Sean Penn’s “El Chapo” Guzmán Story
On Friday afternoon a bombshell story broke out of Mexico: Just months after tunneling out of a maximum security prison, Mexican authorities had captured Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, the infamous leader of Mexico’s hulking Sinaloa drug cartel. On Saturday Rolling Stone magazine added a strange addendum to the Chapo…
David Bowie, Restaurant Reviews and Coincidences (Updated)
I woke up around 4:30 this morning, rolled over and looked at my phone on the nightstand. I don’t know what woke me up so early. On the screen was a news alert that David Bowie is dead. Sometime around my first cup of coffee, I realized that he will…
Window Washers Rescued From Dangling Scaffold in Downtown Houston
The Houston Fire Department on Monday rescued two men stuck on a malfunctioning scaffold dangling from the tallest building in downtown Houston. HFD’s High Angle Rescue Teams arrived at downtown’s Chase Bank building Monday morning as a scaffolding malfunction stranded two window washers 71 stories above the pavement. According to…
Chron Confuses David Bowie With 1989 “Weird Al Actor”
Some Houstonians woke up this morning to some confusing news from the Houston Chronicle: “‘Weird Al’ actor dies at 69,” the breaking news headline read. Then they probably turned on the radio on their morning commute and learned that David Bowie, the iconic rock star, also died at 69, of…
No Messing Around, Houston Texans Fire Three Assistant Coaches
“Obviously, the evaluations start right away. We meet with the players here at 11 (a.m.) and then we’ll begin right away with our staff, evaluating our season strategically, personnel, schemes, everything. Every aspect will be evaluated.” — Bill O’Brien on Sunday morning Well, when Bill O’Brien says “right away,” he…
Astros Hacking Scandal: Is Baseball Concerned That No One Seems To Care?
The accusations read like something out of a season finale for an HBO drama about Major League Baseball front offices and the lengths to which they’ll go in order to win. Repeated computer hacking, password theft, vengeance. It all seems so surreal. But it happened. It happened to the Houston…
State Appeals Ruling That Would Force Officials to Actually Prevent Foster Kids From Being Abused and Raped
In an appalling but not unsurprising move, state officials are appealing a federal judge’s December ruling ordering an overhaul of a foster care system that, according to the ruling, has shown deliberate indifference to children’s safety. Judge Janis Jack found in favor of New York-based advocacy group, Children’s Rights, that…
Dancing is a Full-Contact Sport at First Annual Texas Hardcore Fest
Texas Hardcore Fest, Day 2 Walter’s Downtown January 9, 2016 Houston was in kind of a sour mood on Saturday night. Part of that was probably the humiliating NFL Wildcard defeat over at NRG Stadium. Another part of it was likely due to our distinct shortage of suitable winter clothing…
Houston Awakens to Uncomfortable Reality of Losing David Bowie
To millions of fans, the idea of waking up in a world without David Bowie is inconceivable, but it’s a sad reality this morning. According to The New York Times, the malleable music icon known for his ever-shifting personae passed away Sunday following an 18-month struggle with cancer that only…
The Cougars Aren’t Satisfied, and That’s a Good Thing
The Houston Cougars defeated the Tulane Green Wave 63-45 last Tuesday. It wasn’t a pretty win — the Cougars shot just 41-percent from the floor (and were just two of 14 from behind the three point line) while Tulane hit just 32.7-percent of its shots. But beauty doesn’t matter much…
Dish of the Week: Hungarian Goulash
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. This week, we’ll be warming up with a cold-weather favorite: Goulash. Goulash is a type of Hungarian soup or stew made with a combination…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Citrus Fest Begins
Monday, January 11 DR | Delicacy Truffle Chef Charity Challenge Want to see some of Houston’s best chefs make incredible dishes using fresh black truffles direct from Spain? You can find them doing just that from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Astorian, 2500 Summer. Your $150 general admission…
The Mosaic Hub’s Southern Twang Sees the Return of the Variety Show
Natalie Lerner has a gift for spotting patterns in the entertainment community. The Mosaic Hub – which she founded in 2010 – came about because she wanted to bring back the old-timey variety show style of entertainment – kind of a mix of The Ed Sullivan Show “meets America’s Got…
David Bowie Created an Enormous Creative Legacy, and Will Be Sorely Missed
Very early this morning, I received a message from a close friend, asking me if David Bowie had really died. I was shocked, and scrambled to find out if the horrible news was true, or just another fake Internet story, created by the types of jerks who enjoy celebrity death…
Star Wars Has Been Going Feminist for a Long Time
You might have heard that Men’s Rights Activists have been claiming they cost The Force Awakens millions in ticket sales by boycotting the film because of its female lead, Daisy Ridley. If you want to read a really, really bizarre take on the film I recommend Davis Aurini’s (of The…
Why I’ll Probably Never Release Another Album
These days I’m mostly known writing articles that piss off the world’s more meatier meatheads, but I actually got started as a writer because I was a popular rock musician. Ten years ago I set out with some guys and a girl to form The Black Math Experiment; I’d describe…
Bail Hearings: Where Prosecutors And Magistrates Ensure Defenseless People Stay In Jail
University of Houston law professor Sandra Thompson promises that bail hearings are not what you’ve seen on TV—especially in Harris County. Here’s what happens: You get arrested, spend the night in jail, and then, within 24 hours, you’re sitting in a little room and speaking to a magistrate (no, not…
The Secret Menu Items of Houston Restaurants
Don’t you just hate it when an old favorite disappears from the menu? Here’s a secret: it might not be unavailable. Even after some dishes are taken off the menu, certain restaurants know that their loyal customers are still going to ask about them and keep what they need on-hand…
Madonna’s Top 10 Tracks of the 21st Century
Mention Madonna these days, and folks still tend to envision dark roots, conical bras and maybe a rosary necklace or two. Hey, at least they aren’t remembering “Swept Away.” But Madonna always shuddered at the thought of becoming a nostalgia act. Over the past 15 years, she’s released five albums…
Nine Oddball Electric Guitars Released By Major Companies
Electric guitars have been the foundation of many types of our most popular music styles for decades now, and over that time a lot of funky and oddball instruments have been designed. The mid-1970s through the 1980s seems to have been a particularly fertile period for guitar models that came…
Rodeo’s 2016 Lineup Welcomes Little Big Town, Jason DeRulo, Shawn Mendes and Plenty of Familiar Favorites
The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo revealed its 2016 lineup just after midnight on Monday, and among its mix of familiar veterans (Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley) and first-timers (Little Big Town, Shawn Mendes, Jason DeRulo) is a generational milestone of sorts for the show,…
NFL Playoffs: Chiefs 30, Texans 0 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
You are what your record is. That was (and presumably still is) the mantra of Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells, which makes what I’m about to say all the more appropriate considering that the prominent members of this Houston Texans’ coaching staff are either direct descendants or second…
Former Cardinals Official Pleads Guilty In Astros Hacking Scandal
A former executive in the St. Louis Cardinals organization pled guilty in U.S. District court today for hacking into the Astros computer system and snooping on the team’s scouting evaluations, analytics reports and notes from trade talks with other ball clubs, according to a Department of Justice press release. 35-year…
Bradley’s Fine Diner and Funky Chicken Have Closed — Third Ogden Concept In Houston Still Open (UPDATED)
The Houston Chronicle reports that two of the three Bradley Ogden restaurant concepts in Houston have closed: Bradley’s Fine Diner and Funky Chicken in the Heights. Pour Society, the company’s third concept, located in the Gateway Memorial center is still open. Bradley’s Fine Diner (which translated to an unfortunate abbreviation,…
Blue Bell Has Once Again Found Listeria in the Brenham Plant
The hits just keep on coming for Blue Bell. Just a week after it was discovered that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the company over the 2015 listeria outbreak, the actual listeria is back. Blue Bell has been struggling to right itself ever since Brenham-based company was forced…
Lil Troy Will Always Be a Baller
“I grew up in South Park…Dead End,” proclaimed Lil Troy as we sat down in his Toyota Center suite after his performance during Thursday’s Houston Rockets halftime show. It was “Throwback Thursday” night, where the players as well as the fans wore their red and mustard attire reminiscent of those…
Iraqi Refugee Living in Houston Charged With Attempting to Support Terrorists
A Palestinian-born Iraqi refugee living in Houston was charged with attempting to provide support to ISIL Thursday. Unsealed Thursday, the indictment accuses Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 24, of attempting “to provide material support and resources, including training, expert advice and assistance, and personnel — specifically himself —” to ISIS,…
What’s in a Name? Asia Market and Villa Arcos Struggle to Fix Brand Confusion
Lawrence and Noi Allen excitedly emailed members of Houston’s food media in February 2015 to announce they’d sold their cramped combination restaurant and grocery store on Cavalcade. They were building out a full-fledged restaurant at 4822 Fulton, which opened in September. What they didn’t know was that the new owners…
Noshing With the Pfeffermans: How Transparent Gets Food and Heritage Right
The seventh episode of Transparent’s second season, now available on Amazon, takes place on Yom Kippur. The holiest day of the year in the Hebrew calendar, it’s a holiday on which Jews fast to symbolically atone for their sins. It’s also a significant occasion for Transparent, which, like the Pfefferman…
Beauifully Designed The Other Mozart Shines a Light on the Composer’s Forgotten Sister
The set up: Alongside every great man is a woman who may be as wildly talented and unique as he is. Yes, of course, that’s not the way the saying goes. But permit here the morphing of the phrase for the sake of Nannerl. Never heard of her? Well, what…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Gear Up for Galveston Restaurant Week
Date Night – Dinner on Bourbon Street @ Well Done Cooking Classes Friday, 6:30 p.m. (approximately three hours) 2811 Airline Suite 5 Enjoy this social cooking class, where you’ll learn how to make and enjoy a NOLA-Inspired Date Night. The menu includes Mini Shrimp Po-Boys, Blackened Salmon, Spicy chicken and…
Don’t Worry, Jeff Bagwell Should Get Over the Hall-Of-Fame Hump Next Year
Jeff Bagwell fell short of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Again. For the sixth time. This time, though, Bagwell came as about as close as possible to getting in, without actually getting in as he ended up 15 votes shy of the required total. The denial for Bagwell…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Carb Up for the Marathon
The famed Momofuku Ssäm Bar is taking over Underbelly, 1100 Westheimer, on Sunday, January 31; and you can expect the tickets to fly when they go on sale this Monday, January 11 at underbellyhouston.com. Since Chef Chris Shepherd introduced some of Underbelly’s iconic dishes—Korean braised goat and dumplings, Cha Ca Style Whole…
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: The Other Mozart and WWE Live!
There was another Mozart. Older sister to Wolfgang, Nannerl was said to be just as accomplished as a musician and composer. Actress, producer and playwright Sylvia Milo discovered her existence nine years ago while visiting Vienna, and in the Mozart House saw a portrait of the two of them “playing…
Openings and Closings in Houston: Baker St. Bids Adieu
Rice Village’s popular Baker St. Pub & Grill, 5510 Morningside, has closed. The owners of the Village Arcade, where Baker St. was located for 15 years, decided not to renew the eatery’s lease. Hospitality USA, the restaurant group that owns the pub, is searching for a location to open a…
Metalcore Locals Apothica Ready to Take Flight
Houston locals Apothica have been making their rounds in area clubs for three years now. Expanding out of the Bayou City and playing this Sunday at Austin’s Dirty Dog Bar, the five-piece metalcore group will embark on many more out-of-town shows before two more tours this year. Ready to start…
Harris County Plans To Be Nicer to People Charged With Drug and Non-Violent Crimes
Drug offenders in Harris County are about to catch a break—or at least have a greater chance of avoiding jail time. On Thursday, Harris County criminal justice officials announced plans to offer rehab to repeat drug offenders caught with less than one gram of a controlled substance, and, starting in…
Why Is It So Easy for the Feds to Deport Women and Children Fleeing Violence at Home?
When she was six months pregnant, the young mother had been raped and beaten so badly by her partner that she had to be hospitalized for fear of miscarriage. Eventually, she got a restraining order against her abuser, but soon afterward a member of a violent gang came looking for…
The Bizarre Alternate Reality of Houston’s HD Radio Stations
A lot like music itself, some types of technology are more interesting because they never quite caught on with the masses. Consider HD radio: unlike its television counterpart, adopted almost straightaway by both manufacturers and viewers, HD radio is still struggling to find its footing. In theory, it’s brilliant: HD…
Why Aren’t More People Calling the Oregon Militia Terrorists?
When the news that a group of dozens of armed militants had taken over a remote federal wildlife refuge in Oregon Saturday night, and were prepared for a lengthy occupation as a protest against “tyranny”, much of the public seemed to share a collective WTF moment. The events leading up…
The EU Puts Another Snag in the Halliburton/Baker Hughes Merger
Now there’s been another hitch in the proposed merger between Halliburton and Baker Hughes. Halliburton and Baker Hughes have been trying to get various regulatory entities around the world to give in and let the two companies merge, but the duo — the second and third largest oil field services…
Whitney Mercilus Named AFC Defensive Player of the Month
Say what you will about the Houston Texans modus operandi when it comes to personnel, but they have been pretty consistent in one thing — if they like their first round picks, then they typically come at them with a contract extension a year early rather than a year too…
Brooks Place LLC Receives Threat of Violence Over Open Carry Policy (UPDATED)
Brooks Place, the well-regarded barbecue trailer in Cypress, has been making headlines for not only allowing, but encouraging diners to openly carry handguns in a holster. The business owner, Trent Brooks, offers a 25-percent discount to open carriers with a valid concealed handgun license. This morning, Brooks discovered a threat…
Family of Student Shot at TSU Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Eighteen-year-old Texas Southern University freshman Brent Randall was on his way to class on the afternoon of October 9 when he was shot to death outside his dorm room. His half brother was also shot but survived. Less than 12 hours earlier, another student was shot and wounded outside the…
KPFT’s Zin Tribute Was as Live as He Would Have Wanted It to Be
“Play it live.” That was Zin’s main motto inside the doors of KPFT. No matter who was on the station, whether he interviewed or performed with them, he always wanted their purest form to be heard. Multiple tributes had been given since his death on Sunday, whether on Zin’s AllRealRadio station via…
Jeff Bagwell Misses Hall of Fame By 15 Votes, Which Is Still A Win
Last summer, Astros fans finally got a taste of what it’s like to have one of “your own” go into the Baseball Hall of Fame. No, I’m not counting Nolan Ryan, who the Astros share with the Mets, Angels, and Rangers. By “your own” I mean a player who went…
Sasha Banks Talks Dominating in NXT and 2016 Being the Year of The Boss
The answer to the question of, “Which wrestler in the WWE had the best 2015?” is a tricky one. Do you go with Roman Reigns, who seemingly has the might of the entire company backing his rise to the top? Do you go with John Cena, who still moves mind-blowing…
Dealing With Pet Loss Through Arts and Crafts
Over the holidays my family went through a series of pet tragedies. Over the course of six months our Boston Terrier, Molly, had continued to lose weight until she was down to nine pounds. After endless rounds of tests we figured out she was suffering from a cancer that she…
Join the Houston Film Critics Society This Saturday for Its 2015 Awards Show
The Houston Film Critics Society (an organization which foolishly let me into their ranks years ago) is holding its 2015 awards program this Saturday, January 9, at Sundance Cinemas. Awards include the usual suspects (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, etc.) as well as a few unique to the HFCS. For example,…
UH’s Tom Herman Clashes With Radio Hosts on Air
Houston Cougars football coach Tom Herman went on John Lopez and Nick Wright’s SportsRadio 610 sports show yesterday. To call the exchange contentious would be an understatement. (The full 22-minute interview can be heard here. h/t sportsmedialm for the link). The genesis of the discussion goes back to a John…
Petition Calls Texas “Civil War Ball” a “Slaver’s Plantation Ball”
Ah, the Civil War: lest we forget, the bloodiest battle over the most embarrassingly despicable practice in American history. In Texas, there are dances named after it—and the latest, in Georgetown, has not necessarily been met with the warmest welcome. Petitioners are calling the “Civil War Ball,” which is scheduled…
What Houston Restaurants Serve Beef From Texas? (UPDATED)
Texas is cattle country. Drive a few miles outside the city and, lo and behold, there are cattle grazing. Oddly enough though, many steakhouses aren’t serving beef from the ranches in their own backyards. Many obtain meat from what are essentially packing houses, including Standard Meat in Dallas and Freedman…
It Doesn’t Really Matter If You Intended to Offend People; You Did
Man, it seems like everything is just so politically correct these days, am I right? You can’t make any sort of joke without some rabid social justice warrior jumping down your throat. It’s almost like people can’t take a joke anymore. Except that’s not actually the case. People can take…
Remembering Texas Blues Wildman Long John Hunter
Bluesman Long John Hunter, onetime running buddy of Houston’s beloved Little Joe Washington, passed away Monday at his home in Phoenix, Arizona. Hunter, 84, was born in Ringgold, Louisiana, on July 13, 1931. Hunter grew up in Arkansas and Texas. He was working in Beaumont when, at age 22, he…
Sure, Trump Sounds Like George Wallace. But What About Ted Cruz?
Not too long ago, Donald Trump’s Republican presidential campaign was considered a joke with bad hair, but as we get closer to the primaries, the whole thing is starting to look less amusing. The sheer shock of his rise has been drawing comparisons to George Wallace’s 1968 campaign, as the Rachel…
Top Three Bandidos Bikers Arrested After Two-Year Investigation
High-level members of the Bandidos motorcycle club referred to an assault on a rival gang as a “fishing trip” in a coded telephone conversation, saying that “everyone got to catch a fish” during the assault in Port Aransas, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday. As the Houston Chronicle first reported,…
Fun Things the Rodeo Wants You to Know This Year
That distant rumble you may have started noticing in the past few days is the machinery of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo steadily springing to life. The world’s largest rodeo and the Bayou City’s biggest party is now 55 days away, running March 1-20 this year, with some important…
An Asymmetrical Rendezvous With Otherworldly Oscillations: Notsuoh on a Tuesday
1. SHOW REVIEW: DISTANT WORKER, ILLICIT RELATIONSHIP, 404 NOT FOUND Notsuoh, January 5 Hastening to Notsuoh Tuesday night to catch Distant Worker, Illicit Relationship, and 404 Not Found, I didn’t much puzzle the odds of hearing the Pain Teens back to back with Rusted Shut on KTRU on the radio…
My Cousin Sat on My Lap and I Got Hard. Help!
MY COUSIN SAT ON MY LAP AND I GOT AROUSED Dear Willie D: It was a family ride to the neighborhood pool. Everybody was already in their swimwear. My dad drove while my mom was in the passenger seat. I was in the back seat with my three sisters, and…
Grand Jury Indicts Trooper Who Arrested Sandra Bland
A Waller County grand jury has decided to charge the state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland with perjury, a class A misdemeanor, KRIV first reported earlier today. In July, trooper Brian Encinia pulled over Bland’s vehicle near Prairie View A&M University for an alleged improper lane change, and the traffic stop…
Fighting the Abortion Stigma With a Supreme Court Brief
In a groundbreaking series of filings with the U.S. Supreme Court this week, more than 100 women in the legal field, politics, business, higher education and even one Episcopal priest publicly revealed their own personal stories of abortion. In the filings, among 45 amicus briefs filed with the court ahead…
Houston Chefs Fight to the End on “Chopped” (UPDATED)
(Spoiler alert: This episode of Chopped will air again on Thursday, January 14 at 8 p.m. and—for you night owls—Friday, January 15 at 2 a.m. If you plan to watch it and don’t want a recap, stop reading now.) Judges for Food Network’s cooking competition show, “Chopped” all had nice…
Trump Is Trying to Birther Cruz (And It’s Awesome)
Well, it seems that the campaign trail bromance between fellow Republican presidential wanna-bes Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump is no more. After all the good times the pair have had in recent months, somebody asked the Donald what he thought about Cruz’s candidacy and Trump immediately pointed out that…
Texas Responds to Obama’s Gun-Control Announcement Exactly How You’d Expect
As President Barack Obama announced new executive actions aimed at curbing gun violence yesterday, Texas lawmakers wasted no time expressing their discontent at what they perceived was an overreach of presidential power and a trampling of constitutional rights. Surrounded by family members of gun violence victims, a tearful Obama said…
The Houston Restaurants That Do and Do Not Allow Open Carry (UPDATED)
Now that January 1 has rolled past and it’s legal to openly carry handguns (where they aren’t still banned), many Houston restaurants have had to make a firm decision on the issue. As private property, restaurants have the right to post 30.07 signs forbidding patrons and employees from openly carrying…
Chris Brown & Solo Lucci’s “Wrist”: Why This Song Sucks
There are no scientific metrics to tell you why Chris Brown’s “Wrist” is terrible. You cannot put “Wrist” on a scale of 1 to 10 and expect it to succeed. You cannot try to make a chart of good Chris Brown songs and bad Chris Brown songs and expect “Wrist”…
Top 5 PlayStation Exclusives to Look Forward to in 2016
Ever since the Final Fantasy series switched from Nintendo to Sony I have been an unabashed PlayStation fanboy. I have owned literally every system Sony has put out since 1994, both console and portable. Over the course of the holidays I played everything from Discworld to Ico to Contrast. One…
Matt Sonzala Remembers Zin: “His Love Saw No Boundaries”
Hip-hop wise, as much as I support what people consider to be the Houston sound, it has always bothered me that in a city with so much culture, the base-line items are the only things that so many people ever see. Big, brightly painted cars with oversized wheels, Styrofoam cups…
Don’t Be So Quick to Write Off Houston Radio
Houston radio, and the sorry state thereof, has been a third rail of local conversation for as long as anyone here can remember. (Anyone under 40, anyway.) It’s a lot like the weather or traffic here: often frustrating and, since there’s not a lot us ordinary folk can do about…
The Shape of Film to Come: 2016’s Must-See Movies
As we cap another year in moviegoing — and as the industry prepares for its annual spasm of awards and accolades — it seems an apt time to look ahead. Here are ten films you won’t want to miss in 2016. 1. The Invitation (Dir. Karyn Kusama) The Invitation has…
What to Binge: The Best TV of 2015
Last year turned out to be a challenging one for couch potatoes. In 2015, the “more programming, more problems” state of television held just as true for viewers as it did for network executives; there was simply too much to watch. But the annum of Peak TV did deliver some…
The Top 10 Films of 2015
How good was 2015 for movies? My first draft of a top 10 was a staggering top 30. I had to make some agonizing cuts and punt by giving documentaries their own sidebar — this year, they’ve earned it. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it: Watch every one…
