Houston’s Traffic Pain Is a Slow Burn Thanks to a Lack of Vision
One of the toughest things to deal with besides daily traffic in Houston is the prolonged traffic nightmare faced by Houstonians over years and years and years thanks to poor planning and a lack of foresight. While most cities struggle with similar issues, ours feels like its own special brand…
Kevin Durant Praises LeBron James, Countdown to 2016 KD Sweepstakes Begins
“I’m going to do what’s best for me. It’s hard to talk about that right now when I’ve got two years left in Oklahoma City. I’m just going to focus on that. I’m not going to make a decision based on what anybody else does.” — Kevin Durant, 7/29/14 LeBron…
Hump Day Cocktail: The Ekvator at Provisions
They’re using science tools to mix the drinks. There’s a beaker and an eye dropper and careful measurements, but then there’s the rhubarb and the garlic honey and Etta James playing over the speakers giving the place a homey, easy feel. Science meets soul. I’m drinking an Ekvator, described as…
Patrick Peterson Signs $70M Extension, J.J. Watt Watch Begins
On the surface, it’s odd that a contract extension inked by a cornerback on the Arizona Cardinals should worry Houston Texan fans about their all-universe defensive end. But this isn’t just any cornerback, and he wasn’t just drafted in any year. The cornerback is 2011 first round pick Patrick Peterson,…
Filling the Gaps: Lankford Grocery
I’ve lived in Houston for 22 years. It took me 16 of those to visit the Rothko Chapel for the first time. I didn’t eat at Ninfa’s on Navigation until I’d counted myself a Houstonian for nearly a decade. I still haven’t eaten at Frenchy’s. The list of glaring omissions…
The Best Comics in July Part 1: Jailbreaking Your Sexdroid
Each month the staff at 8th Dimension Comics picks out the best book to review. Look for Part 2 tomorrow. Alex and Ada #7 Look, we all know that sexbots are just a matter of time. It’s like space colonization or reliable electric cars; it’s going to happen. The question…
Counting Crows at Bayou Music Center, 7/29/2014
Counting Crows, Toad the Wet Sprocket Bayou Music Center July 29, 2014 It would be easy to assume that a Counting Crows concert featuring Toad the Wet Sprocket would be a nostalgia-laden ’90s throwback showcase, but that would be highly inaccurate. There certainly was some pre-millennial love in the air…
The Dark Side of the Boom: Oil Is Doing Great Things for Some in Texas, but Not for Everyone
It was like landing on the moon. The thought ricocheted through Joleena Malugani’s mind as she took in the vast, dusty expanse of the corner of West Texas claimed by Midland and Odessa. Malugani was fresh out of college when she came across an Ector County Independent School District booth…
Mildred’s Umbrella Has Its 16th World Premiere With Keian McKee’s Comedy Pollywog
In Keian McKee’s new play Pollywog, the lead character is a woman named Polly. About to go on her first ocean swim, she has her mother’s ashes with her. As a child, Polly was being taught how to swim by her mother, but those lessons stopped suddenly when her mother…
This Week in Food Blogs: Fluffy Pancakes & Fluffy Scrambled Eggs
Zagat Houston: Searching for the perfect ice-cold treat to cool off with this summer? Check out Zagat Houston’s list of the best ice cream parlors in Houston. Indulge in Cloud10 Creamery’s twist on the classic banana split featuring caramelized bananas with vanilla bean, chocolate and Nutella with marshmallow ice cream…
Five Texas Politicians Who Should Have Palin-style Internet Shows
We all thought Sarah Palin would be focused on seizing the White House, but this week she announced that she is seizing the Internet. Carpe diem! Or something. Yep, the lovable former Alaska governor and infamous vice presidential candidate is offering herself up to the world via the Internet. You…
5 Best Shops to Visit When Looking for Local Texas Artists
As a local fashion reporter, I get to speak with a lot of designers and artists — perks of the job. Being invested in the success of Houston’s emerging designer community bleeds into my daily life as well, and I find myself frequenting shops that support local talent; maybe it’s…
Review: AC and Really Good Food Have Been Added to The Boot
The plywood walls and rickety shelves are gone, replaced by eggshell-colored paneled siding and sleek black wall mounts holding rows of Southern beer and half-empty liquor bottles. There’s a new coat of paint on the outside, though years of chipped layers are still visible under the facelift. The perpetually open…
Texas Cities Top Rankings in Recession Recovery Study
The Great Recession is a thing of the past in Texas, according to a study by Wallet Hub. The website ranked the economic recoveries from the Great Recession of America’s 150 largest cities by non-metro population, and Texas cities were atop the pack. Wallet Hub used 18 metrics in its…
100 Creatives 2014: Paige Kiliany, Director
Paige Kiliany was just 13 when she realized she wanted to be a theater director. As a child, Kiliany performed in summer stock musicals with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. “That gave me a window into the backstage world,” she tells us. “I saw all that the directors got to…
First Look: The El Cantina Superior Is Not So Super
Screaming children, smoky fajitas and weak margaritas basically sums up The El Cantina Superior. This new Tex-Mex spot opened just a few weeks ago in the Heights at the corner of White Oak and Studewood. Based on the hype, it seemed to be the new place to be. Unfortunately, it…
Perry Isn’t Giving National Guard Troops Arresting Power, and That’s for the Best
As we continue to follow Gov. Rick Perry’s quest to stay viable as GOP 2016 White House contender, we have to wonder how he has actually convinced himself that putting a whole bunch of armed people on the border is in any way a good idea…
Viral Craigslist Post Says Smartphones Are Ruining Dining Out…But Are They?
About two weeks ago, an anonymous commenter posted a diatribe to the Craigslist “Rants and Raves” section that has actually made people pay attention (as opposed to recent Houston posts about kids at Starbucks and the stupidity of Craigslist readers). “We are a popular restaurant for both locals and tourists…
How Paul McCartney Spread His Wings In the ’70s
Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s By Tom Doyle Ballantine, 288 pp., $27 While mighty expanses of forests have sacrificed themselves to create all the pages written about Paul McCartney’s time as a Beatle, the ensuing post-breakup decade has killed far fewer trees. The 1970s found McCartney…
5 Mind-Blowing Facts Hidden in Video Game Manuals
If there’s anything I truly miss about gaming as a kid (Aside from, you know, having the ability to play Final Fantasy VI for eight straight hours on a Saturday) it’s game manuals. Oh, they still exist, sure, but they are to gaming what album inserts are to music. It’s…
OG Ron C to Host New Chop Not Slop Clinic
Since its debut a few months ago, DJ Supastar’s Spin Academy has hosted plenty of large names in the DJ world, from DJ EQue to DJ Kid Capi. Located right near the Astrodome, it’s a hub for any number of aspiring DJs whether old or new to try their hand…
A Long-Overdue Trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
While it’s true that my Bucket List could be contained in a fairly small bucket, a big one got checked off recently when I was able to finally stroll into that big ass glass pyramid on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland: I had arrived at the Rock…
Five Classic Bands Who Need New Names
As we often talk about here on Rocks Off, band names are important. They’re a brand for your merry group of music-playing ladies and gentlemen, but problems can arise when the brand ends up superseding important things like quality. There are a few bands running around today either in shambles…
Proposed I-45 Redo Includes Option for Replacing the Pierce Elevated With Parkway
Imagine downtown Houston with a wide parkway right down its southwestern edge no longer blocked by a massive elevated freeway which currently highlights a giant neon cross and a ton of traffic at all times of the day. This is one proposed option being offered by TXDOT as part of…
Ridiculous, Tired Responses to Appeals Court Blow to Virginia Same-Sex Marriage Ban
In what has become a “second verse, same as the first” kind of response, another appeals court upheld challenges to a states’s ban on same-sex unions on Tuesday. In this case, it was Virginia’s voter-approved ban that was shot down on pretty much the same grounds many others (Utah, Oklahoma)…
Houston author Rick Mitchell on Modern Jazz: “There’s Too Much Good Music Out There!”
No matter how great you think your music room is, Rick Mitchell’s is better. Way better. The longtime local journo–who spent a decade as the jazz and pop writer for The Houston Chronicle and even longer as the Artistic Director for the Houston International Festival–settles into a comfy, well-used easy…
Dollar Tree Buying Family TreeDollar for 8.5 Billion Dollars
For years, I’ve wondered how dollar stores could survive this deep discount tactic never realizing how many there were. On Monday, it became clear just how profitable these stores can be when Dollar Tree agreed to buy Family Dollar for the cost of 8.5 million items in its stores…not including…
First Look at Dosi, A Korean Small-Plates Restaurant and Soju Bar
It would be tempting to visit Dosi just for Korean fried chicken. The tempura-battered free range chicken comes to the table tantalizingly stacked in a mound of tasty, bright orange, spicy-sweet gochugang (Korean red pepper) glaze, without a doubt the best version you can find in Houston at the moment…
10 of the Best Things About SDCC 2014
There is so much happening at San Diego Comic-Con that all any individual gets to see or do is a very small percentage of what’s going on. There are, of course, the big Hollywood announcements that come from Hall H, but there’s a whole world beyond the big panels that…
Classmates.com Is Still a Thing?
The above image is a screenshot of an e-mail that appeared in my inbox recently. It’s from Classmates.com. If you have never heard of it, well, it’s not surprising. Just as certain inventions like the car killed off horse-drawn carriages, Classmates has been rendered almost entirely useless by Facebook…yet the…
Finding the Black and White Truth on Tomlinson Hill
If your car radio is usually tuned to NPR, you may have already heard from journalist and author Chris Tomlinson–his recent appearance on Fresh Air with Terry Gross likely caused a driveway moment or two. Tomlinson will be discussing and signing his new book, Tomlinson Hill, at Brazos Bookstore on…
Seasonal Special at JerryBuilt Homegrown Burgers
If children were allowed legal access to cars and could drive themselves to dinner, JerryBuilt Homegrown Burgers would be the most profitable restaurant in town. The combination of cheeseburgers, ice cream, cookies, a wall-length chalkboard ready for doodlin’, and a Coke Freestyle Machine pretty much make this place heaven for…
Johnny Manziel Autographed Jersey Expected to Fetch $100K
I’m not quite sure where the whole Johnny Manziel train is headed. All indications lately seem to be that it’s on course for a fiery football pile-up once Manziel finally takes the field in an actual NFL game against a team with different-colored jerseys. There have been reports of Cleveland’s…
Pop Rocks: Bruce Campbell Might Be the Coolest Dude Ever, the Twitter Proof
I did not come to know actor Bruce Campbell until I started watching the show Burn Notice, the popular USA Network Miami Vice-meets-The A-Team spy show that ended its seven-year run in 2013. Cambell played Sam Axe, a former FBI agent and Navy Seal who loves beer, the ladies and…
The Rocks Off 200: Meagan Chambers, Don’t Gag Her Gorgeous Guitar
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Gag Me,…
Handicapping Houston Restaurant Weeks 2014: Your Guide to the Best Bets
Every year we bring you a guide to the best meals and deals of Houston Restaurant Weeks, and this year with more restaurants participating that ever before, we had a heck of a time choosing our best bets. We’ve scoured every menu for the most interesting dishes, largest quantities of…
Real Estate, Like Everything Else, Getting More and More Public
Recently I was speaking with a colleague who lives near me. We are both rather fixated on the development to our entire area, hoping as property values continue to rise and nearby infrastructure is improved, the surrounding commercial developments will improve. Better grocery stores. More restaurants. The whole nine yards…
Book Check: The Other Side, Lacy M. Johnson
Title: The Other Side Tell Me About the Author: Lacy M. Johnson is the Director of Academic Initiatives at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston; she earned a Ph.D. from the university’s acclaimed creative writing program in 2008. She’s the author of the…
100 Favorite Dishes 2014-15: No. 76, Parrillada Platter at Tinto Grill
Once again, Kaitlin Steinberg is eating her way through Houston and counting down her 100 favorite dishes as we work our way toward our annual Menu of Menus® issue and culinary extravaganza. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most delicious, most creative and, of course,…
Dog’s Owners Still Want to Know Why Officer Allegedly Left Their Dog to Die
An internal Houston Police Department investigation into a complaint that an officer left a dog on the side of the road to die after arresting the dog’s owner could take up to six months, according to an HPD spokesman. First reported by ABC-13, the complaint stems from the July 14,…
Podcast: Karina Longworth on Old Hollywood
On this week’s Voice Film Club podcast, Amy Nicholson of the L.A. Weekly and Stephanie Zacharek of The Village Voice interview film critic and author Karina Longworth, who’s just launched a fascinating new podcast on the history of Hollywood called You Must Remember This. [Subscribe to the Voice Film Club…
Bartender Chat: Brandon Ricks of Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge
When Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge first opened, there was an ongoing list on the chalkboard of fellow industry professionals who had broken glasses and were being publicly shamed for doing so. That list has been replaced by a list of hashtags in colorful chalk. There’s #CampartiLife…
Upcoming: August Alsina, BettySoo, Del Castillo, Juvenile, Max Stalling, Ricky Skaggs, Z-Ro, etc.
Acidic: With North Til’ Dawn, Rainchild, A More Perfect Union. Sun., August 3, 8 p.m., $8. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston, 713-225-5483. Air Traffic Controller: With The Tragic Thrills. Fri., August 15, 7 p.m., $10. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston, 713-225-5483. AJ Jordan: Sun., August 31, 8 p.m.,…
New Houston Rap: What if We Had a Bobby Shmurda?
In the span of four months, hip-hop has found its latest winner of the Chief Keef/Trinidad Jame$ Memorial Trophy. You may remember those two, both of whom were signed due to viral hype — Keef mostly off the strength of what he’s accomplished to the teenagers of Chicago and Jame$…
The Who’s “Other” Rock Opera Survives in Fine Form
The Who: Quadrophenia Live in London Universal CD/DVD, various formats and prices While it is not their most famous rock opera — that would be the one with a certain deaf, dumb and blind boy, Pinball Wizard, Acid Queen and good ol’ Uncle Ernie — the Who’s Quadrophenia is in…
The Funniest Things Overheard at the 2014 Juggalo Gathering
Note: this past weekend our colleagues at St. Louis’ Riverfront Times risked life and limb to cover the 2014 Gathering of the Juggalos outside Thornville, Ohio. Photos by Nate “Igor” Smith unless indicatedAnother Gathering of the Juggalos has come and gone, and with it thousands of face-painted, fun-loving freaks and…
Donatas Motiejunas Takes His Turn on Chandler Parsons
“Think before you speak.” — Chandler Parsons on Twitter, July 24, 2014 Chandler Parsons fired off these four words of advice late last week. Taking a run through Parsons’ Twitter feed, it’s hardly a deluge of self-improvement axioms. He doesn’t send out one of these a day to help his…
Hurricane Season 2014: Tropics Finally Heating Up as August Approaches
The National Hurricane Center has designated and area of low pressure in the eastern Atlantic as Invest 93L. It gives these designations throughout hurricane season to make note of systems that have the potential to develop. It is currently giving 93L a 40 percent chance of developing into a tropical…
Scenes From the 2014 H-Town Sneaker Summit
“I got more soul than Nike Airs, givin MCs nightmares” — Big L, “I Don’t Understand It” (1995) I have to admit, I’m not a sneaker head. Until yesterday I had never worn, much less owned, a pair of Jordans. Sure, I remember being the cool kid in the class…
Food Fight: Gỏi vịt (Duck Salad)
If you’re looking for the perfect summer meal, something light, cool and flavorful, gỏi vịt, or duck salad, is the way to go. This Vietnamese dish embodies summer and is exactly what you’d want to eat on a hot day. Shredded cabbage and red onions are the traditional base for…
The Leftovers: Things Get Metal
Let it never be said that HBO doesn’t know how to ramp up a show in the opening. This weeks’ episode begins with a member of the Guilty Remnant guilt getting duct taped to a tree and stoned to death in a gruesome and explicit manner. It’s a horrific seen,…
UPDATED: Big Landfill Fight Expected in Waller County Court Today
Update: Waller County Judge Terry Flenniken denied the change of venue motion. The trial is set to begin December 1. An intense, three-year fight over a proposed landfill in Waller County is expected to get even more heated at a court hearing today to decide whether to grant a change…
No One’s Dog at Diverse Works: A Heartbreaking Collection
As a Houstonian, it’s difficult to ignore the plethora of homeless dogs roaming about the city. The actual number of strays, however, is staggering. Over a million homeless animals call the Houston streets home. In fact, in a 2010 Health of Houston Survey, it was stated that strays are considered…
Preview of Delights at Kata Robata’s July 29 Eel Extravaganza
As reported on Friday on EOW, Kata Robata is set to celebrate Doyo-no-ushinohi, Tuesday, July 29, with a one day-only special menu of delicacies featuring freshwater eel. The holiday marks the first day of the period of the Ox and tradition dictates consuming foods whose names begin with a “u,”…
2014 Fantasy Crime League: Final Standings, Season Awards
After much debate and conjecture, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell weighed all the evidence, circumstantial and (presumably) visual, and handed down the punishment: Ray Rice would be suspended for the first two games of the 2014 season for his part in a violent incident with his then-fiancée/now-wife Janay Palmer a few…
The 20 Best-Dressed Juggalos at the Gathering (NSFW)
Note: this past weekend our colleagues at St. Louis’ Riverfront Times risked life and limb to cover the 2014 Gathering of the Juggalos outside Thornville, Ohio. All photos by Nate “Igor” SmithClearly, this man takes the top honors.Juggalo fashion generally involves great big pants and T-shirts that were possibly purchased…
Dish of the Week: Homemade Pierogi
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. See the complete list of recipes at the end of this post. This week, we’re covering the famed Polish pierogi. Pierogi are a type of dumpling popularized in Eastern Europe. While…
A Thin Wall of Air: Charles James: High Style Ballgowns and Furniture at The Menil Collection
A chance to get a glimpse of how the other half lives, or perhaps the top 1 percent, is available in the exhibit A Thin Wall of Air: Charles James, as The Menil Collection presents the exhibition of some of the gowns, and furniture, designed by James (1906-1978), known as…
Raid Nets Stolen Weapons, Drugs, Tatted Mom
Stolen assault rifles are no joke, and the authorities take it seriously when they find out where those weapons might be. In the case of the Harris County Sheriff’s Home Task Force and the High Risk Operation Unit, that meant forcing a mom and her 14-year-old son out of a…
3 Texas Writers Horror Fans Should Be Reading
Most Texans are well aware of our solid history in horror and alternative films, from Texas Chainsaw Massacre to the more recent works of Robert Rodriguez. Slightly less known is the important role our state has played in the development of many horror writers. Texas has long attracted notable writers…
True Blood: They Don’t Know What “Karma” Means
Pardon me as I wax spiritually about my brief years as a Buddhist… Karma is a bit more complicated than people think. You see someone scream at a supermarket cashier and then he or she slips on the way out the door and wipes out? Karma, baby! No, it’s not…
Is “the New Cupcake” the Cupcake?
Macarons are the “new cupcake.” Or is it pie? Or how about cake balls? No, it’s going to be doughnuts. But, what about popsicles? This has been the non-stop conversation over the cupcake trend since the personal-sized treats topped with a swirl of frosting became popular in the early 2000s…
Is Ted Cruz Ever Going to Learn New Tricks?
We must give credit where credit is due: Sen. Ted Cruz is the best politician around when it comes to getting himself into the news cycle. You want an opinion on the Ukrainian mess? He’s got one! You want a soundbite on Israel? Well, he’s got one of those too!…
Austin Mahone at NRG Arena, 7/26/2014
Austin Mahone, the Vamps, Fifth Harmony, Shawn Mendes NRG Arena July 26, 2014 It was in 2011 when I first came across Austin Mahone’s YouTube channel. I remember watching a few of his singing videos and forming a pretty vacant opinion of the then-brace-faced 15 year-old. To me, he was…
Not Jus’ Donuts Featured on TLC’s Buddy’s Bakery Rescue
Not Jus’ Donuts will be the next Houston bakery featured on Buddy’s Bakery Rescue (formerly titled Bakery Boss). The episode premieres Tuesday, July 29, at 9 p.m. on TLC. We caught up with the owner Myrtle Jackson and her two daughters, Andrea Jackson and Rosharon Cotton, to talk about their…
A Kickstarter-Funded Revival of Equus: Well-Handled With a Strong Lead Performance
The setup: Sir Peter Shaffer, knighted in 2001, has given us scores of plays, with Amadeus, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, and Equus the best known of them. Equus is a detective story of sorts as a psychiatrist tries to find out why a 17-year-old boy blinded six horses…
The Continuing CSN Houston Fiasco Makes Luc Besson Films Seem Sane and Logical
Luc Besson’s movies teeter on the edge of insanity. They’re full of stylized violence, shouting, slow motion and visual effects. They’re full of bright colors, big stars, fancy camera moves and flashy editing. Yet his movies usually make zero sense, appear to have no script, don’t follow the rules of…
5 Creepiest Quotes From Craigslist Houston M4W Ads
One of my more deplorable habits is that I like to troll Craigslist ads looking for the worst of humanity. I started doing it back when I ran a column that looked for weird band advertisements, but like all junkies I started hitting the hard stuff over in the Men…
Counting Crows Return Behind “Best Record We’ve Ever Made”
21 years after the release of Counting Crows’ notable debut August and Everything After, front man Adam Duritz is confident the band’s forthcoming seventh album, Somewhere Under Wonderland, is their best work to date. “Everybody’s freaking out about it,” Duritz says of the record, due out this fall. “Those who’ve…
Reasons We Should Eliminate Tipping at Restaurants
I’m always a little shocked and disgusted when I discover that someone I’m friends with is a lousy tipper, or expects some ridiculous level of service in order to extract a meager dollar bill from their miserly pocketbook. It’s not usually a case of that person simply being an insensitive…
Robbie Fulks at the Mucky Duck, 7/26/2014
Robbie Fulks McGonigel’s Mucky Duck July 26, 2014 Chicago songwriter and flatpicker extraordinaire Robbie Fulks made it look easy before an almost sold-out crowd at the Mucky Duck Saturday night. In spite of several quips about how hot Houston is in July, Fulks didn’t even break a sweat as he…
10 Reasons Juggalos Are Better Than You
Note: this past weekend our colleagues at St. Louis’ Riverfront Times risked life and limb to cover the 2014 Gathering of the Juggalos outside Thornville, Ohio. Life sucks. There is a multitude of reasons why, and no one has come to terms with this inescapable truth better than Juggalos. Zen…
The Five Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Doughbeezy, Peter Murphy, Steve Martin, etc.
John Egan The Big Easy, July 28 Give John Egan credit for taking chances. The longtime solo Houston bluesman’s new album, Amulet, is in some respects the polar opposite of its 2012 predecessor, Phantoms. Besides bringing in a few side musicians and respected Americana producer R.S. Field (Billy Joe Shaver,…
A Heartwarming Wedding In Juggalo Country
Note: this weekend our colleagues at St. Louis’ Riverfront Times are risking life and limb to cover the 2014 Gathering of the Juggalos outside Thornville, Ohio. Photos by Drew AilesTiffany and Dip Set, juggalo bride and groom, exhange vows.”Please, we ask you to hold your Faygo until the wedding begins,”…
Quattro at the Four Seasons Hotel Hosts Eid-al-Fitr Feast
For the second year in a row, Quattro, the restaurant inside the Four Seasons Hotel, will serve an Eid-al-Fitr buffet dinner to celebrate the end of Ramadan. This year’s feast will again be prepared by sous chef Hassan Obaye, who was born and raised in southern Morocco and learned much…
SDCC 2014 – Nerd HQ, Bee & PuppyCat and the Her Universe Fashion Show
San Diego Comic-Con is perhaps even more of a whirlwind this year than before. It seems like there are an unprecedented number of offsite events and you can have quite a con experience without ever entering the convention center. There’s so much going on that you almost don’t know what…
Club King Goes Bare and Bold, But Not Deep
Jon Bush’s documentary Club King is a fascinating look at the life of New York and L.A. club and party promoter Mario Diaz. There’s no denying it’s a wild and flamboyant ride through the underground gay nightclub scene of the ’90s and ’00s, but more often than not the film…
The 5 Best Fashion Stories of the Week: Condom Gowns and Photobombing a Supermodel
Lots of breaking fashion news hits the interwebs and I don’t want you to miss one bit of it. So, I present some of the biggest headlines each week for your reading pleasure. Click and enjoy!…
An NSFW Trip to Juggalo Night Court, Which Is a Real Thing
Note: this weekend our colleagues at St. Louis’ Riverfront Times are risking life and limb to cover the 2014 Gathering of the Juggalos outside Thornville, Ohio. This article was written by Daniel Hill. Those in the outside world tend to view the Gathering of the Juggalos as a lawless festival…
Updated: Breweries and Distributors Say Beer Fest’s Organizers Owe Them $100,000
Updated (July 25, 10:33 am): An early version of this story attributed a quote to Geoff Marolda. It should have been attributed to Walter Gordy III. Nearly two months after the fourth annual Houston Beer Fest, brewers and distributors say the event’s organizers owe them more than $100,000. Although an…
A King and Two Gents Are This Year’s Offerings at the Houston Shakespeare Festival
Years ago, Mirron Willis was one of the supernummeries – “the attendant to the far left” – during the Houston Shakespeare Festival. This week, he returns as a king in the title role of one of William Shakespeare’s greatest plays Henry IV Part I. Although Henry IV is considered one…
Consumer Reports Names the Best and Worst Fast-Food Restaurants in America, and the Results are Surprising
Last week we published an article about good, old-fashioned, roadside-style Texas burgers, and in this story, we might have insinuated that there are a lot of crappy fast-food burgers out there. One commenter called us out on it, writing: “I would also argue that McDonald’s does not serve a poor…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: Lucy
Title: Lucy Would You Take A Drug That Allowed You To Use 100 Percent Of Your Brain? If you did, you probably wouldn’t be allowed to live in America anymore. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: One-and-a-half Brains from the Planet Arous out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis:…
The Gilbert & Sullivan Society Does The Sorcerer No Favors
The set-up: The Sorcerer, the third collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan and their first full-length musical (1877), is the work that convinced producer D’Oyly Carte to bankroll their future partnership. It’s all about love and magic. Strange, then, that there’s no magic and very little love whatsoever in this production…
The Houston Press Is Expanding Its Food Coverage, Has Opening for a Freelance Restaurant Reviewer
The Houston food scene is gloriously rich, wild and big. And getting bigger. As a result, we at the Houston Press have decided to split up some of the responsibilities of our food coverage. Restaurant critic Kaitlin Steinberg will remain fulltime but move to a new role with additional daily…
Andre Johnson Reports to Texans Training Camp
Numerous reports Friday morning indicate that Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson has reported to training camp and will begin workouts with the team. This comes amid much speculation that the disgruntled veteran had been present at NRG Stadium early in the week though his agent would not confirm it and…
Constructing the Perfect Five-Man College Football Coaching Wrecking Crew
To say that the internet is the gift that keeps on giving implies that we’re cool with all of its little trends, memes, and time wasters. To be clear, there is plenty of repetitive, over-thought sludge that comes from our friend, the world wide web. Tebowing and flash mobs had…
How to Make a Comic-Con
And check out our first day slideshow with some of our favorite characters. For people who have never been to San Diego Comic-Con before, it’s difficult to imagine the scale at which the convention operates. It spills out of the convention hall itself and pretty much takes over every nearby…
South Mouth: Alt-Country Firebrand Robbie Fulks Returns
It’s been interesting to watch the career transformation of Robbie Fulks. The Chicago picker and writer grabbed some notoriety — and a decent alt-country cult following — after his frustrations with trying to “make it” in Nashville in the mid-’90s led to his did-he-really-say-that tune, “Fuck This Town.” The entire…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Christmas in July at Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co.
Christmas in July @ Buffalo Bayou Brewery Friday, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. 5301 Nolda Christmas is five months away, y’all. Get excited. Or just go drink some beer at Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company this evening during Christmas in July. The fun starts at 6 p.m., and for $25, each…
Just How Houston Are You? Sports Edition
There was one of those stupid Twitter hashtags things about Houston this week, this one showing just how much of a Houstonian a person really is. I’m tired of writing about the depressing antics of the Houston Astros and CSN Houston, and I had to miss this week’s CUSA Football…
100 Creatives 2014: Betirri Bengtson, Visual Artist, Creates Bodiless Soccer Players
When he came to Houston from Mexico almost 17 years ago, Betirri Bengtson brought his country’s fervor for soccer with him and poured it into his artwork. “In Mexico, we’re born and we grow up with futbol everywhere. In the streets, in the parks,” says Bengtson. His eerie and surrealistic…
Craig Kinsey Studies Hard on American Roots and Machines
I don’t really feel that it’s right to criticize Craig Kinsey’s American Roots and Machines as an album. It doesn’t really feel like one aside from the fact that it is a CD that goes round and plays music. Instead, Kinsey has gone to great lengths to build a stage…
Upcoming Events: Feast on Eel at Kata Robata & Get Ready for Houston Restaurant Weeks
Kata Robata will celebrate Doyo-no-ushinohi, Day of the Ox during the Doyo period, on Tuesday, July 29. Basically, it’s a day of feasting on freshwater eel in Japan. Chef Manabu Horiuchi will prepare a variety of freshwater eel dishes (unagi), as well as ones featuring saltwater eels (anago). The specials…
Athlete Twitter #FF: Philadelphia 76er Joel Embiid
When you’re the third pick in the NBA draft, there are a ton of expectations. Even with the relatively mitigated risk of the rookie wage scale, fans in the city that drafted a player are expecting some sort of return on the team’s investment in the player, and on their…
Openings & Closings: Closures & Confusion in The Heights
The Heights just couldn’t catch a break this week. City Oven, located at 2802 White Oak, took down its signage and began clearing out the restaurant on Sunday, July 20. City Oven was owned by HUSA Management, Inc., who also owns Local Pour, Baker Street Pub & Grill in Rice…
Love Dominique Ready to Crash the Men’s Club of Houston R&B
Tonight is homecoming night for Love Dominique, but a homecoming in the non-traditional sense. She’s a Missouri City girl born Dominique Henry, the kind who dreamed of big lights and stardom after hearing Brandy records in 5th grade and pestering her mom every single chance she got before, becoming an…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Tommy Davidson, Q-Fest, the H-Town Sneaker Summit and More
While other alumni of In Living Color went on to bigger fame (Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, David Alan Grier, Jamie Foxx), Tommy Davidson was perhaps an even more valuable all-around utility player, the Phil Hartman of the ensemble. Davidson is in town for a weekend run at the Houston Improv,…
10 Big Changes at the 2014 Gathering of the Juggalos
Note: this weekend our colleagues at St. Louis’ Riverfront Times are risking life and limb to cover the 2014 Gathering of the Juggalos outside Thornville, Ohio. This article was written by Daniel Hill and Drew Ailes. After a seven-year stint at Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, the Gathering of the Juggalos has moved…
A Conversation With Texas Punk Icon Gary Floyd
Gary Floyd is a long-loved underground music icon entangled in fiery black music, queer outrage, punk vendettas, barbed-wire politics, and Eastern spiritual bliss-outs. Whereas the homegrown Texas musical tornadoes the Dicks (later reinvented in San Francisco) were ribald and cantankerous, Sister Double Happiness were rootsy purveyors of sweeping, mesmerizing alt-rock…
The 10 Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: Rock Baby Rock It, Craig Kinsey, Bri Bagwell and More
Love Dominique Warehouse Live (Green Room), July 25 Local diva Love Dominique’s 2013 EP Wicked Heart did well in two unsigned-talent contests sponsored by Billboard and the Grammys, but her eponymous full-length album (available now) makes a more proper introduction. Its 11 electronically-guided tunes set a sexy mood begging for…
Battle on the Bayou Beard & Mustache Competition
Watch out, facial hair enthusiasts; the Battle on the Bayou Beard & Mustache Competition may be too hot for you to handle. After all, this bearded battle will be so full of whiskers, you may not know where to start. May we suggest the goatee contest, where the combed, pruned…
H-Town Sneaker Summit
As any proper sneaker fanatic will tell you, the H-Town Sneaker Summit is the very best place to buy, sell, trade, browse or just gawk over thousands and thousands of sneakers. From vintage and collectibles to the biggest and best new releases, this community event really is the next best…
Tommy Davidson
While other alumni of In Living Color went on to bigger fame (Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, David Alan Grier, Jamie Foxx), Tommy Davidson was perhaps an even more valuable all-around utility player, the Phil Hartman of the ensemble. “It was really funny — it was genuinely funny,” he told GapersBlock.com…
WWE — Raw
The Houston edition of WWE — Raw will not be a typical one. Oh sure, you’ll get the usual collection of hard-hitting action, blood-boiling promos and fun crowd chants, but right now the WWE is on the road to SummerSlam. What that means for fans is to expect bigger because…
Ilona Andrews: Magic Breaks
Perhaps the pen name “Ilona Andrews” is a bit of a misnomer, since it leads one to believe that the writer is a singular entity. But as any Ilona fan will tell you, the name is not rep-resentative of just one author, but rather a husband-and-wife duo, and they’re pretty…
Rob Reiner’s And So It Goes Provides More Groans Than Laughs
With Jack Nicholson still enjoying his retirement, it falls to Michael Douglas to swoon over the oh-so-cutesy Diane Keaton in And So It Goes, a timid, elder rom-com in the same wheelhouse as the 2003 Nicholson-Keaton team-up Something’s Gotta Give. A film of nothing but soft edges, director Rob Reiner’s…
The Big Slide Show
Now that the Lawndale Art Center has opened its annual exhibit of juried works, it’s time as in previous editions for “The Big Slide Show.” In this informal two-night event, 40 of the total 106 participating artists this year each have five minutes to present images of their work and…
Scarlett Johansson Effortlessly Carries the Fun, Unscientific Lucy
With his stately drawl, Morgan Freeman has narrated nonfiction documentaries about penguins, slavery, the lemurs of Madagascar, ancient Egyptian pharaohs, and the expansion of the universe. His is a voice of authority tempered by warmth and wisdom, capable of evoking felt human experience and the majesty of creation. In writer-director…
Little Shop of Horrors
The musical version of Little Shop of Horrors is based on Roger Corman’s non-musical 1960 low-budget film of the same title that has become a cult classic. The show opened at Manhattan’s Orpheum Theater in the East Village in 1982 and ran for five years, closing in 1987 after 2,209…
Hercules Surprisingly Has Both Brains and Brawn
One could be forgiven for being skeptical that a Hercules movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and directed by Brett “Rush Hour Trilogy” Ratner might have a brain in its head, but it actually does. We’re not talking Snowpiercer levels of intelligence, but it’s far less aggressively stupid than, say,…
Les Misérables
The Houston Family Arts Center brings us a home-grown Houston production of the musical Les Misérables with a cast of 40. Les Miz, as it’s known colloquially, chronicles the life of ex-convict Jean Valjean, pursued intensely by Inspector Javert, but includes the touching saga of Fantine and her daughter, Cosette,…
Throwback Thursday
Many people know Spring Street Studios is where you go to watch theater offerings from Stark Naked Theatre Company and Mildred’s Umbrella and that it is filled with visual arts studios as well. This Thursday, Spring Street Studios is hosting its first ever Throwback Thursday to celebrate both theater companies’…
Pump Boys and Dinettes
In 1981, some talented actors/performers put together a show about four gas station attendants and two waitresses. They called it Pump Boys and Dinettes and rode it to off-Broadway and then Broadway, garnering Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations along the way. The show’s lighthearted working-class appeal has enduring popularity…
Guardians of the Galaxy has a Sense of Humor, but No Real Wit
Beware the movie that’s Fun! with a capital F, the one populated with seemingly unpretentious characters that say adorable, clever things, the one that presents each off-kilter joke as if it were a porcelain curio, the one that boasts a comfort-food sound track of songs you’ve always liked but perhaps…
Hands-on History
There’s nothing quite like taking the time to check out the old George Ranch in Richmond, but it’s especially enticing when there are events like Hands-On History. This series of historic-themed experiences is taking place throughout the summer, and they’re adding a bit of extra oomph to an already awesome…
Get on Up is an Inspired James Brown Biopic
He couldn’t have known it at the time, but James Brown’s debut recording and first chart hit — made in 1956 with the Famous Flames — is a question that contains its own answer. The lyrics to “Please, Please, Please” speak, pretty obviously, of sexual desire. But Brown’s voice is…
“Posters of the Gorbachev Era: The Sunset of Soviet Power”
The “Posters of the Gorbachev Era: The Sunset of Soviet Power” exhibition takes a step back in time to the era when the Soviet Union began its transition from an empire back into Russia, as Mikhail Gorbachev announced in 1986 economic and political reforms under the banner of perestroika. Intended…
Magic in the Moonlight: There’s Nothing Inspired in Woody’s Annual Update
“The heart wants what it wants,” Woody Allen has taught us, and apparently what his heart wants these days is not to have to bother with writing second drafts of film scripts. His latest, Magic in the Moonlight, plays like a sumptuous vacation, its stars larking in ’20s finery about…
A Very Tamarie Christmas
Anything can happen in the madcap, imaginative world of Tamarie Cooper, who tackles the excesses of the holiday spirit during her annual original summer musical extravaganza, A Very Tamarie Christmas. Cooper says: “If you’re more of a humbug, have no fear: A Very Tamarie Christmas takes a satirical stab at…
Houston Symphony with Mariachi Cobre
The Houston Symphony has had a pretty wide range of collaborators in concert: rock bands…circus performers…Bugs Bunny cartoons. But a musical partner of more regional interest returns as the city’s biggest band presents a program once again with Mariachi Cobre. But make no mistake, these are not the performers you…
Pleasant Hill Winery’s 13th Annual Crush for Fun
Whenever a retrospective TV show highlights clips from I Love Lucy, you can guarantee they’ll show the one where the girls go to Italy and stomp grapes. Now you can channel your inner Lucy and Ethel (and work your calves at the same time!) at Pleasant Hill Winery’s 13th Annual…
Take Two: The Terminator
Who would have guessed that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best acting role would be as a robot? A cyborg at that. And he’s terrific. In James Cameron’s sci-fi whooper The Terminator (1984), T-800 Model 101 arrives on earth from the year 2029, programmed to kill sweet, but mighty tough, Linda Hamilton before…
D-Day 3D: Normandy 1944
Forget legendary, gruesome Troy, or the epic clash of east and west during the Greco-Persian Wars, or even the ill-fated shipwrecked Spanish armada in 1588 — the greatest fighting force ever assembled and sent into battle was Operation Overlord, the U.S. invasion of France launched upon the beaches of Normandy…
De-Lovely
Trying to make amends for the laughably inept first Cole Porter biopic (Night and Day, 1946, which starred Cary Grant as an ultra-straight Porter), director Irwin Winkler presents a new version for the hip, out generation, De-Lovely (2004). It’s better, but not quite a total success. Sure, it presents Porter…
QFest 2014: The 18th Annual Houston International GLBT-Q Film Festival: Of Girls and Horses
For all you movie mavens out there — and we do mean “out” — we have a film festival for you! The Houston GLBT-Q International Film Festival cruises into town with a five-day international array of world premiere features, documentaries, music videos, live performances and panel discussions. This is the…
A Most Wanted Man: Philip Seymour Hoffman Lends Le Carré Gravity
Philip Seymour Hoffman is an island of rumpled calm in Anton Corbijn’s urgent A Most Wanted Man, a glum-out-of-principle espionage story based on a John Le Carré novel. The role demands that Hoffman be quiet, steady and occasionally frustrated and that he hold secrets — often from us, which is…
Life Itself Celebrates Roger Ebert — and the Critic’s Capacity for Joy
To call Roger Ebert one of the great populist film critics is to damn him with faint praise. Though he took pride in working for the scrappier of the two Chicago dailies, the Sun-Times, and though we do have him to thank — or curse — for popularizing the thumbs-up/thumbs-down…
Conspiracy Theory?
Dear Mexican, I am from an Arabic-speaking country. After my education is completed here, I’ll be returning to my country or Kuala Lampur, the Garden City of Lights). Since I’ve been in this country, I’ve noticed there’s a rising tide of hatred toward Mexicans. I’ve talked to Mexicans and they…
Capsule Art Reviews: July 24, 2014
“Altered Angles: George Grochocki & Shayne Murphy” Two very different painters are having their work shown at the sleek Anya Tish Gallery — both take chances, and are courageous. George Grochocki seems minimalist but gives a lot, relying on three-dimensional shaping and the wit of almost-hidden color accents to add…
Capsule Stage Reviews: July 24, 2014
All in the Timing Remember that old philosophy head-scratcher: Give a monkey a typewriter and enough time, and eventually he’ll write Hamlet? That hardly gives proper credit to Shakespeare, but it says a great deal about Words, Words, Words, which happens to be the title of the second of six…
The 2014 Class of the Houston Music Hall of Fame
We could not be happier with the response to the creation of the Houston Music Hall of Fame. It was amazing to see the Houston music scene come together last year at the Houston Press Music Awards to pay tribute to those who came before and helped build the Houston…
Let the Food of El Sazon de Cuba Put You in a Miami State of Mind
Miami, baby. Miami. Whenever he said the name of the city, he got a wistful look in his eyes, as if he were actually picturing walking along the beach in the hot Florida sun or eating a Cubano under the shade of a palm tree. He moved here from Miami,…
The World Cup Boom Is Real, But Will Soccer Remain Must-See TV?
Odds are good that at some point in the last month you watched some of the World Cup. Whether it was from the comfort of home, with friends at the bar or while pretending to be busy at work, millions of folks did something they rarely do: watch soccer. Now,…
Christmas in July: Tamarie Cooper Brings Us Another Summer Extravaganza at Catastrophic Theatre,
Not since our own Bayou City bodacious Botticelli beauty, Tamarie Cooper, sat and spun on her Sit ‘n Spin in the fifth installment, I believe, of her original musical comedy summer extravaganzas once called Tamalalia has there been such a consistently hilarious show as her latest psychedelic voyage into the…
In Happy Christmas, Anna Kendrick Is the Best at Being the Worst
Uncomfortable-silence auteur Joe Swanberg has made a career of testing how much falseness you can strip out and still have a movie. What if people on-screen talked like people off it, and they spent as much time looking at phones and laptops as you do, and if their moments of…
