10 American Artists Who Don’t Sound American
July 4 weekend is a time to celebrate all things America. This includes barbecue, domestic beer, baseball, and perhaps most notably, music. After all, what makes Americans feel more patriotic than the right song, everything from Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” to Tom Petty’s “American Girl?” Not all American music…
At WAN Poetry, a Place of Home and Healing in Houston
Erica Nicole’s left hand shook tenuously, her poem wilted from the oppressive summer humidity. Approaching the vintage style microphone with a rainbow ribbon pinned to her chambray shirt dress, she spoke: One man might have done the shooting, but we have been loading the bullets for him for years. Erica…
Mark May Returns to the Town He Once Called ‘Blues Heaven’
Dear Mark May, All is forgiven. Really. It’s OK that you moved back to your hometown of Columbus, Ohio, about five years ago after spending nearly 20 in our fair city. Local audiences were privileged to experience your brand of fiery blues rock whether as a solo artist, with the…
Dish of the Week: Kimchi Burgers
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’re firing up the grill for burgers, but first, we’re taking a look at a special topping: kimchi. Kimchi, the national dish…
Vicky Hamilton Recalls Wild Times in the Hair-Metal Era
Appetite for Dysfunction By Vicky Hamilton self-published; www.vickyhamilton.com, 360 pp., $25 On the HBO series Vinyl, actress Juno Temple plays Jamie Vine, a young, ambitious, and persistent woman in the ‘70s music biz who wants to be an A&R rep but has to deal with the industry’s inherent sexism. Change the setting…
Todd Solondz’s Wiener-Dog Embarks on a Satiric Odyssey
A wiener dog is the perfect mascot for Todd Solondz’s films. Dachshunds are ridiculous, funny without trying, but that zero-dignity waddle belies a much fiercer purpose: to hunt and kill small prey. Solondz’s body of work, stretching from coming-of-age cringefest Welcome to the Dollhouse to his newest, Wiener-Dog, has the…
Swiss Army Man Has Wonder but Too Much Farty Dada
People made a stink about the walkouts during the Sundance premiere of music-video-and-advertising geniuses the Daniels’ first feature film, Swiss Army Man. It stars Daniel Radcliffe (Manny) as a farting, rotting corpse with superpowers and Paul Dano (Hank) as a sad-sack suicidal stalker trying to get home through a forest…
In Netflix’s The Fundamentals of Caring, Paul Rudd Scores Big With Low-Wage Work
Has Paul Rudd become Hollywood’s idea of the face of economic insecurity? There his handsome mug was, in Ant-Man, beneath a Baskin-Robbins ball cap, his character making do behind an ice-cream counter while Marvel made bank in promotional tie-ins. And now, in The Fundamentals of Caring, Rob Burnett’s alternately winning/cloying…
Longhorn Network Disaster Continues With Elimination of “Longhorn Extra”
The Longhorn Network is still among the most paradoxical creations in the history of sports, as back in 2011, its creation essentially saved the Big XII conference from implosion, and yet here, five years later, it remains a reason that all nine Big XII schools not named “Texas” are at…
America Is Already Great; Celebrate Independence Day in Houston and Surrounding Areas
We’re not only Texas proud, we’re America proud, and there’s no better way to celebrate our great nation than with Independence Day (and weekend) celebrations throughout Houston and surrounding areas. With opportunities all over Harris County, there’s something for everybody. Happy Birthday, America! Friday, July 1 Red, White & Zoo…
Refn’s Neon Demon Is a Stylish Giallo Jolly Until It Tries to Get Real
Let me tell you all the good things about Nicolas Winding Refn’s high-art, lowbrow horror film The Neon Demon before I tell you what I will not tolerate. After Drive, Refn seems obsessed with his idea of Los Angeles, one where there’s always a full moon, no traffic and everyone…
Woody Harrelson and Liam Hemsworth Square Off in Confused Western The Duel
This sadistic pulp-revisionist Western starts so well that you might feel something like loss as it ends: The Duel could have been something. The opening is all evocative mud and blood as a pair of knife-fighters, their left arms tied together, stab in a downpour. Cut to two decades later,…
Cultural Bundling, and Why We Can’t Seem to Have Productive Debates About Guns in This Country
Well, here we are again. In the wake of yet another mass shooting in America, and we’re again collectively asking why these kinds of tragedies continue to happen more and more frequently in this country. The killing spree that left 49 innocent people dead and another 53 wounded at an…
Former Dallas Cowboy Greg Hardy Tries to Rehab Image Via Twitter Makeover
The NFL is as Darwinian an endeavor as there is in today’s world. Generally speaking, if you can continue to perform important functions (like sacking quarterbacks) at a high level, many teams (in particular, the Dallas Cowboys) will overlook most off-the-field transgressions (up to and including a domestic assault conviction). …
Darrell Scott Following Example of Mentor Guy Clark
No slouch of a songwriter himself, Darrell Scott spent years on the road with recently deceased master songwriter and former Houston resident Guy Clark. Scott, who returns to the Mucky Duck Thursday for an early show, spotlighted Clark in “Down to the River,” the opening tune on his recent release,…
Seriously, the Boy-Band Era Wasn’t ALL Bad
The ’90s was a really weird time for pop music. Hell, one look at MTV’s ’90s afternoon staple, Total Request Live confirmed as much. After all, this was a show in which music videos from the likes of Eminem, Britney Spears, Korn and Tom Green (yes, Tom Green) all shared…
Notorious Ex-Judge Chris Dupuy Free After Charges Dismissed
Christopher Dupuy spent 11 months in Galveston County jail awaiting trial for allegedly posting online escort ads using the likenesses of two women he knew, but a Galveston County District Court judge on Monday tossed the charges, calling the statute used to charge Dupuy “overbroad.” Prosecutors allege the 44-year-old Dupuy,…
Houston’s 15 Most Underrated Solo Musicians
Calling anything “underrated,” particularly in the Internet age, is just poking the proverbial bear. It’s entirely possible, hypothetically, that somebody out there somewhere legitimately thinks Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and/or Bruce Springsteen are underrated. In Houston, even talking about musicians far enough on the mainstream’s radar to even potentially qualify…
Residents Ask Mayor Turner to Halt Post Oak Bus Project in Effort to “Save Uptown”
“See this right turn lane filled up?” asked consultant Wayne Dolcefino to about a dozen angry Uptown residents, standing along Post Oak Boulevard near the intersection with San Felipe Street on Monday morning. “That’s going away. The right lane at Westheimer? That’s going away too.” A woman’s jaw dropped, as…
14-Year-Old Stabbed to Death in Southwest Houston Monday Night
Late Monday night, a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death outside a strip mall on Beechnut near Sam Houston Tollway. Witnesses told police they heard screaming and saw the boy, identified as Joseph Aguirre-Flores, running from two attackers around 11 p.m. They stabbed him multiple times and fled on foot…
Houston Bike Plan Finalized With 133 Additional Miles
After dozens of public meetings and more than 4,000 survey responses, the city has finalized its ambitious Houston Bike Plan. Initially released in February, the plan calls for adding more than 1,700 miles of bike lanes and trails throughout the city over the next couple decades, costing up to $500 million…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: A Standout South American Brunch
This week, we’ve got reviews of two gourmet pizzas, a few summertime recipes and a look how the Woodlands Food & Wine Week went this year. Cane Rosso, 1835 North Shepherd, turned out to be a more casual restaurant than Kim of Adventures in a New(ish) City was expecting, but…
Houston Attorney Sues Starbucks Over Alleged Coffee Burns
A Houston woman is suing Starbucks over an alleged scalding-hot coffee mishap that seared her skin and left her in excruciating pain. Katherine Mize is also suing the barista who allegedly spilled the 20-ouncer on Mize as she was buying coffee for herself and some colleagues at the java giant’s…
The “As Essential as Dreams” Collection Is Almost Guaranteed to Surprise
When it comes to art, it’s easy to get lost in terminology, especially art that’s new to you. I know because I did that as I tried to understand “As Essential as Dreams: Self-Taught Art from the Collection of Stephanie and John Smither,” an exhibition that opened recently at the…
The “Bar Food” at Little J’s Might Ruin Houston Diners for Other Bar Menus
Little J’s at 5306 Washington isn’t the kind of place diners are likely to just wander into. It’s a decidedly relaxed neighborhood hangout. A recent email, though, tipped us off that the menu ambitions exceed the casual look and feel of the place. The food program was originally under the…
Two Stars From Happy Days and The Waltons Come Together in Hello, Dolly! in Galveston
Judy Norton and Don Most certainly know something about creating iconic characters. As feisty daughter Mary Ellen Walton on “The Waltons” and jokester Ralph Malph on “Happy Days,” the pair were guests in millions of living rooms via their hugely popular TV shows in the 1970s and early 1980s. And…
A Celebration of Bill Brown, Voice of the Astros
This is Bill Brown’s 30th season as the television play-by-play voice for Houston Astros. That’s longer than Milo Hamilton was around, and it’s longer than Gene Elston, the man Brown was hired to replace, served the team. The Astros have been rather quiet about this landmark, which is rather fitting…
Why Do We Have to Wait for Comic Conventions to Break Out the Cosplay?
Riddle me this, Batman. Why do we have to wait for comic conventions to break out the cosplay? We’ve heard about casual Fridays, so, why not cosplay Fridays for work? In fact, why can’t we all sport our crime-fighting, alter-ego bad-a** selves at the grocery store, at the car wash…
Second Chances: We Give Five Houston Restaurants Another Opportunity to Impress Us
Some new restaurants seem charmed from the start. They open their doors, the food is great, the staff is well-trained and everything simply runs smoothly. Those restaurants, however, are very few and far between. Most need a few months to work the kinks out. Some may need even longer and…
HISD’s College Success Program Uncovered Inequities and Is Changing the Status Quo
After two rejection letters, Austin High School senior Beksy Hernandez packed it in. She would go to work for an insurance agency. College was not for her. College was not for kids like her. Why had she thought that it was? A misguided sense of independence had worked against her…
Upcoming: Chaka Khan, Charlie Puth, Futurebirds, Halsey, Henry Rollins, Kanye West, ONO, Pride Houston, The Used, etc.
Note: Events in bold reflect highly recommended shows. 30footFall: With Bigwig, Pears. Fri., September 30, 8 p.m., $15 to $17. White Oak Music Hall, 2915 N. Main, Houston. 8 Ball and MJG: With Stunna Bam. Thu., July 7, 9 p.m., $25 to $50. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston, 713-225-5483…
Trap Karaoke Hits a New Level at Warehouse Live
Trap Karaoke is a thing. It’s the kind of thing that unifies 1,200 friends and complete strangers into swaying back and forth to a one-hit wonder from 2009. The kind of thing that combines regionality with crowd approval; a safe haven for anybody who’s rapped a song hard in the…
EDC Vegas 2016: The Best and the Worst
There’s a little bit of everything at EDC Las Vegas. The outfits, décor and stages are all unbelievable, and the massive festival grounds offer plenty of chances to intermingle with fellow ravers. Throughout the weekend, there were many, many bests. But, as with any large logistical nightmare of a gathering,…
Gary Ross’ Free State of Jones Can’t Quite Bring Its Fascinating History to Life
Woodrow Wilson described D.W. Griffith’s notorious Civil War epic Birth of a Nation as “writing history with lightning.” Gary Ross’ Free State of Jones, which covers roughly the same period as Griffith’s film, is more like writing history with index cards. Diligent and informative but also fragmented and inert, it…
Houston Woman Claims Uber Driver Sexually Assaulted Her
Houston police say a woman called early Sunday morning around 5 a.m. to report that a male Uber driver sexually assaulted her. The woman told officers she was intoxicated and called family to tell them she needed a ride home from a Chevron gas station at 6121 Irvington Boulevard, Houston…
At State Convention, Texas Dems Push For Equality For LGBTQ People, Women, Immigrants
Texas Democrats parsed few words describing how they really feel about the Republican policy crusade against LGBTQ people, women, immigrants and minority voters. At this weekend’s state Democratic convention in San Antonio, the Democrats unanimously approved their biannual party platform, which lays out the party’s ideals and wishes. This year,…
Asian Market Know-How: Six Noodles to Try in Your Kitchen
Egg noodles, rice noodles, ramen, udon—these are a few of the more common varieties featured on restaurant menus, but what about us home cooks?A homemade bowl of instant ramen can hit the spot, but a great adventure awaits at the Asian market. In Houston, both Viet Hoa and 99 Ranch…
NBA Finals, Game 7: Cavs Win NBA Title — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
July 8, 2010, the night of “The Decision,” seems like a lifetime ago. Honestly, in NBA terms, LeBron has lived two lifetimes since then, with his graduation to being a champion in Miami and, finally, his redemption in Cleveland coming full circle, bringing a beleaguered sports slum of a city…
We Hope Wheeler Walker Jr. Hates Sound Issues as Much as He Hates Us
Wheeler Walker, Jr., Birdcloud House of Blues June 18, 2016 Some words always stick out, no matter what the situation is. Whether from a sea of chatter or coming out of a muffled PA, our ears catch these words and hone in on them. Expletives are magic like that. Wheeler…
Dish of the Week: Panzanella, or Tuscan Bread and Fresh Tomato Salad
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’re sharing gearing up for the season with a dish that’s perfect for the summer: panzanella salad. Panzanella, also known by the…
Texas Supreme Court: County Not Liable for Flooded Homes After Tropical Storm Allison
The Texas Supreme Court dealt a blow Friday to hundreds of families’ whose homes were ruined by 1998’s Tropical Storm Frances, 2001’s Tropical Storm Allison and another 2002 flooding event. The high court dismissed a class-action lawsuit that Edward and Norma Jean Kerr filed 15 years ago against the Harris…
Comicpalooza 2016 Day 3: Charities, Hallway Musicians and Why Costume Contests Suck
The final day of Comicpalooza is always my favorite. Most of the top quality guests and programming is still going on, but the crowds are usually thinner and a less in-your-face. It’s particularly fun if you stay in one of the hotels catering to the con crowd that serves free…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Summer’s in Full Swing
Monday, June 20 Free Iced Tea at La Madeleine To celebrate the first day of summer, La Madeleine locations around Houston are offering free iced teas, both Mango Breeze and traditional, all day long. As everyone from the South knows, there are few better ways to beat the heat than…
Asteroid Day 2016: Be Prepared, Houston, on June 30
Houston: In addition to on-the-regular flooding and hurricane risks, you may have another natural disaster to worry about. Asteroids. Ginormous asteroids have nailed Texas in the past. There’s a 13-kilometer diameter impact crater centered around the Sierra Madera Mountains in west Texas. The Odessa Meteor Crater is a collection of…
Hong Kong Hospital Shoot-‘Em-Up Three Is on Life Support
If we can credit any director with upholding the legacy of Hong Kong crime cinema in the age of American action-movie dominance, it’s Johnnie To. Unlike contemporaries who’ve lapsed into semi-retirement (Ringo Lam) or turned increasingly to historical epics (John Woo), comedy or wuxia (Andrew Lau), To continues to hold…
“O.J. Simpson: Made in America” — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
I remember June 17, 1994 like it was yesterday. Anybody who was at an age of self-awareness at that time does. We were in the middle of the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, a couple months away from a baseball work stoppage and O.J. Simpson made a run that…
Police: Man Pretending to Be FEMA Rep Took Thousands of Dollars From Flood Victims
Preying on people desperate for FEMA relief following this spring’s historic flooding events, one man allegedly pretended to be a FEMA representative in order to scam residents out of thousands of dollars, police say. Late last week, prosecutors charged Derron Skinner with felony forgery after multiple women who police say…
The 10 Best Dog-Friendly Restaurant Patios in Houston
It was a long slog to get a Houston ordinance passed that allowed restaurants to decide for themselves whether or not to allow dogs on their patios, but the “Paws On Patios” allowance finally happened in 2011. That opened up a variety of venues for people to dine with Fido…
Daniel Johnston Holds a Living Room in Awe, Briefly
Daniel Johnston House Party Comedy June 18, 2016 After Daniel Johnston’s Saturday night set in Houston, I wondered whether Mozart was ever booed following a live performance. It’s odd to consider today that one of the classical masters was a working musician during his time. Like any artist, he was…
10 Best Cereals From Childhood, Ranked (with video)
It’s six a.m. on a Saturday. The parental unit is sleeping late and you’re left to forage on your own, the soft sounds of your footie pajamas taking you straight toward the cereal cabinet for greatness in a box, the all-sugar-little-added-value, strangely-colored food group known as breakfast food. Oh, joy!…
‘Love & Hip Hop Houston’: Perfect For Reality TV, If Not Real Life
Houston and reality television aren’t exactly right for each other. There is a Hollywood aspect to the city: the glamour and flamboyance found inside the ritzy areas of River Oaks, the never-ending financial surplus that is the Galleria, and all that constitutes the privilege of ballin’ out. Those who live…
Shows of the Week: Rap’s Hottest Newcomer Lands In Houston
ANDERSON .PAAK & THE FREE NATIONALS House of Blues, June 22 The adjectives used to describe Anderson .Paak’s stage show border on the type of hyperbole reserved for acclaimed films. “Superb” meets “enchanting” meets “memorable”, that sort of thing. For .Paak, it’s something that’s been a long time coming, a…
Houston’s 10 Best Dog-Friendly Bars
Houston, with its dog parks, jogging trails and pockets of green space, is a dog lover’s paradise. But time with one’s canine is no longer reserved for fetch in the park or a walk in the neighborhood. Rather, a number of Houston-area bars not only welcome dogs; they encourage people to…
How EDC’s Ground Control Crew Quietly Keeps the Festival Safer
Behind an unmarked door in a nondescript wall behind a row of vendor tents, there’s a small army of positive-minded people whose job it is to make EDC Vegas fun and safe for every attendee. They’re called Ground Control, and over the course of the weekend, 370 of them roam…
Taking a Helicopter to EDC Vegas Is Totally Worth It — If You Can Afford It
Choosing to ride a helicopter into EDC might sound a little ridiculous; it did to me. But while most of the hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers make the hour-or-more trek to from the Vegas Strip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway by car or shuttle, a few take to the air…
Dirty Chicken Problem Causes Recall of Over 50,000 Pounds of Meat
Restaurants, hospitals, schools and other places that buy raw chicken in institutional packaging need to check their stocks. GNP Company, a company based in Cold Spring, Minnesota that ships chicken nationwide is recalling approximately 55,608 pounds of chicken that may be contaminated with “sand and black soil.” The brand most affected…
Comicpalooza 2016 Day 2: Of Guns and Quidditch
Apologies in advance. This is going to be the Empire Strikes Back of my coverage trilogy. In the wake of the Orlando shooting everyone is kind of raw on the subject of guns. Some fear that mass killers wait around every corner of every possible location, while others are more…
Donald Trump Holds Noisy Campaign Rally in the Woodlands
Donald Trump held a hastily scheduled rally at the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center on Friday evening, and about 5,000 people turned out to see the controversial presumptive Republican presidential nominee. The thing is, it didn’t seem like many of the ticket holding audience members were that interested…
Donald Trump Met By Protesters At River Oaks Fundraiser
About 150 protesters lined up across the street from attorney Tony Buzbee’s River Oaks mansion Friday evening, sweating in the sweltering heat index—which topped 100 degrees—and watched as a cavalcade of Donald Trump’s donors rolled down River Oaks Boulevard and into Buzbee’s police-protected compound in their air-conditioned luxury cars to…
Comicpalooza 2016 Day 1: Houston, We Don’t Have a Problem
Over the last year the fan convention scene in Houston has been somewhat in a state of crisis. We exposed some of the shady aspects of Anime Matsuri, everything from unpaid debts to sexual harassment accusations against the founder. Then Comicpalooza’s attempt at a smaller, auxiliary convention in September, FanFair,…
Legendary Houston Music-Business Figure Don Gomez Passes Away at Age 91
Veterans of the Houston music scene who have been around for decades are mourning the loss of Don Gomez today. The former owner of Rockefeller’s nightclub and a promoter, booking agent and manager for Houston-area artists for half a century, passed away earlier Friday, according to one of his good…
Dallas Photographer Clocked by a Rock at Dallas Trump Rally
Dallas photographer Danny Fulgencio was shooting the Donald Trump rally for our sister paper, the Dallas Observer, and the Dallas Advocate on Thursday evening when a rock sailed through the air and clocked him on the forehead. Fulgencio was standing on a concrete bench in front of the Alamo Drafthouse to get…
City Activates Emergency Heat Plan Day After Child Dies In Hot Car
After a three-year-old child died in a hot car yesterday, the City of Houston activated its Heat Emergency Plan, which kicks in after the heat index reaches 108 on two consecutive days. Around 2 p.m. yesterday, emergency crews rushed the boy to the hospital after he suffered cardiac arrest in…
Upgrades at the Original Ninfa’s on Navigation Means New Cocktails and Wood-Fired Dishes
After a much-needed kitchen renovation, chef Alex Padilla of The Original Ninfa’s On Navigation has a new toy to play with. It’s a top-of-the-line Mugnaini wood-burning oven that can reach over 1,000 degrees. That means diners can expect to see some new, interesting dishes featuring roasted whole red snapper, beef…
A Revealing Visit to the Daniel Johnston Homestead
At some point or another, we as individuals have to undergo formative experiences in life that help us grow and understand the world we live in. These occurrences stand out because they’re ones you know you’ll never forget, even as you’re living them. It’s as though all of sudden life feels…
HISD Passes its 2016-17 Budget, Dumps Teacher Bonuses and Apollo Tutoring
Houston ISD trustees approved a 2016-17 budget Thursday that ended the district’s teacher bonus program and the tutoring remnants of the Apollo program, instead redistributing more money to campuses with the highest number of low-income students. In one 5-2 vote with two trustees absent, two of the district’s most historic…
Yes, the Old Zelko Bistro Is Closed — but a New Restaurant in Bellaire Is on the Way
The rumor mill has been churning ever since a “for lease” sign went up in front of Zelko Bistro, but it wasn’t clear whether or not it was actually doing business in the interim. As confirmed by operating partner Dalia Zelko, it is indeed closed for good now. However, that’s…
We Kissed & Made Up With Wheeler Walker Jr….Sort Of
If you’ve been paying attention to Twitter over the past couple of months, you may have noticed a few dust-ups between this here publication and a raunchy new country singer who calls himself Wheeler Walker Jr. After listening to Redneck Shit, the first release from “Wheeler,” a.k.a. comedian Ben Hoffman,…
Court: Texas can’t block Syrian refugee resettlement
A federal court in Dallas on Thursday declined to grant Texas’s wishes to halt the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state, saying that Texas failed to provide a legitimate reason to block the refugees and did not present “a substantial threat of immediate injury.” The legal saga began November 30, when the…
Woman Claims Landlord Ordered Her Apartment To Be Barricaded
Joe Gutierrez was watching television in her Montrose apartment when a man she didn’t recognize started barricading her front door. At first Gutierrez thought she heard construction, but when she peeked outside her window, she saw the maintenance man nailing boards across her front door, blocking the entranceway. Gutierrez panicked…
Friday Free For All: Colonial Blue, Major Lazer, La Dusseldorf, Fiddle Witch, etc.
The Friday Free For All relays albums, artists, videos and vibes the Houston Press Music staff has been grooving to over the past week. COLONIAL BLUE Pay attention to this local trio that just showed up on my radar maybe two months ago. Colonial Blue’s music is rootsy enough that…
