Best New Act 2007
The Houston Press Music Awards are here and it’s time to start voting. Pick up a Houston Press newspaper starting July 5 or go online at www.HoustonPress.com to vote. To help get you acquainted with the musicians and groups you’ll be voting for, here are the nominees for Best New…
There Definitely Is Something in the Water
Last month we asked Houston’s high school students to cool off and focus on the theme of water, and the kids came back with what just might be the best wave of photos yet. You can check out the online gallery here. And be sure to come back to this…
A River Runs Through It
German artist Mario Reis is happy to let the river do his work. Visit the opening of “Earthworks” this Saturday at Gallery Sonja Roesch for a look at three artists who use, you got it, the Earth to make their art. On view will be works by Mario Reis, Perla…
Because All Great Sports Rivalries Should Be Settled in the Courtroom
Warriors coach Don Nelson claims the Mavericks owe him $6.5 million for deferred compensation for coaching the Dallas ballers from 1997 to 2005. Yeah, it does seem like a jerk move to ask for the money from a team you creamed and humiliated. But instead of giving Nelson his $6.5…
This week in Café: T-Bone Tom’s in Kemah
During Prohibition, Kemah was a town of ill-repute, a place where Houstonians could easily find alcohol, gambling and prostitution. The Edgewater Casino was the hub of the waterfront action. In 1950, a restaurant called Jimmie Walker’s Edgewater Restaurant and Supper Club opened in the casino’s lower floor. The casino was…
This week in Café: T-Bone Tom’s in Kemah
During Prohibition, Kemah was a town of ill-repute, a place where Houstonians could easily find alcohol, gambling and prostitution. The Edgewater Casino was the hub of the waterfront action. In 1950, a restaurant called Jimmie Walker’s Edgewater Restaurant and Supper Club opened in the casino’s lower floor. The casino was…
Little Gentlemen and Gentlewomen One and All
A partnership of sports and character building was announced today by the Houston Independent School District, to wit: “All HISD students ages seven to 18 are being given an opportunity to learn the game of golf absolutely free.” According to HISD spokesman Norman Uhl, “The golf instruction is centered on…
The Truth about Reporters and Dogs
Part of a kid’s face was eaten off by a pit bull the other day, according to the Chron. Now, we all know that pit bulls like nothing better than to dine on the flesh of young children, but if you look closer at this story, you’ll notice something: the…
Call It a Second Wind. Or at Least a Breeze.
Well, now that’s a way to start off the second half of the season. The Astros have won two straight games. Next stop, 40 wins. I’m sure that a bunch of people are thinking that the Astros are playoff bound. The team has won four of its last five games,…
Get Lit: Landsman, by Peter Charles Melman
Landsman’s protagonist is an unlikely one: a Jewish street tough who escapes the hellish ghettoes of New Orleans by joining the Confederate army. But Elias Abrams’ tale, as recounted by author Peter Charles Melman, is a fascinating, entertaining, finely written account of one man’s struggle to find something worth living…
Maybe the East Germans Can Help
Those funny folks at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce are at it again, keeping up their opposition to the border fencing the Department of Homeland Security has planned for South Texas. This time, McAllen Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Steve Ahlenius has come up with a list of ways…
Doug Supernaw Committed
Channel 2 News is reporting that troubled Doug Supernaw was committed to a mental institution today. Supernaw has been in Harris County Jail since April after the latest of a long string of minor drug and alcohol arrests and blown-off court dates. His behavior has been increasingly erratic the last…
Taking the Family to Pico’s
So my aunt Libby is in town from Atlanta with my two cousins, 13-year-old Kevin and 14-year-old Joshua. To celebrate, my grandparents took her family and mine – my wife Jacqueline, soon-to-be-11-year-old son John Henry and two-year-old daughter Harriet out for a Mexican meal. After some debate, we settled on…
Taking the Family to Pico’s
So my aunt Libby is in town from Atlanta with my two cousins, 13-year-old Kevin and 14-year-old Joshua. To celebrate, my grandparents took her family and mine – my wife Jacqueline, soon-to-be-11-year-old son John Henry and two-year-old daughter Harriet out for a Mexican meal. After some debate, we settled on…
An Accountability Moment
Well, since the first half of the season is now complete, I thought that I’d revisit my pre-season predictions and see how I’m doing. I picked the New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, and the Los Angeles Dodgers to be the National League Division champs with the Atlanta Braves being the…
Live Shots: The Police
Daniel Kramer At a little after 8:40, Andy Summers walks onto a darkened stage with Stewart Copeland climbing into his drum kit. Copeland bangs a gong hanging behind him and Summers starts on the guitar. Then from the darkness of stage right, Sting appears and The Police are suddenly rocking…
Blog War!!
Isiah Carey’s Insite, the always, perpetually, endlessly entertaining blog of the Fox 26 reporter (He loves the new Doobie Brothers DVD!!!! Almost as much as he loves exclamation points!!!), took a somewhat weird turn last week. Writing about the murder trial of Ashley Benton, the 17-year-old accused in the gang…
Rashard Lewis Won’t Be Singing That Ozzy Tune Anytime Soon
Don’t do it, Rocket fans. Don’t allow yourself to be fooled into thinking that Houston actually has a chance to land free agent and hometown hero Rashard Lewis. I know it’s tempting to be swayed by GM Daryl Morey when he says the Rockets are “going after Rashard.” I know…
Off and Running
For ten years, Martha Claussen has been the public relations director at Sam Houston Race Park. She is that rarest of pr people: Gets information to journalists quickly, is very knowledgeable about the industry she represents, steps aside after setting up interviews and doesn’t fudge on her facts. She conducts…
Why Major League Baseball Sucks: Reason #252
Scott Boras isn’t the devil… or is he??? I bet most baseball fans despise super-agent Scott Boras. Not me. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t like the guy, but I don’t think he’s responsible for ruining the game as some would have you believe. If owners are stupid enough to…
Pleasant Surprise
Wow. Who saw that coming? Not only did the Astros win a series. The Astros actually won three of four games from the Colorado Rockies. The only series loss came on Saturday night when the Astros offense failed to show up. Otherwise, the offense partied like it was 2000 –…
Sad News from the Poor Dumb Bastards
I received an email from Byron Dean of the Poor Dumb Bastards this morning confirming others I got in my inbox earlier. Guitarist Hunter Ward passed away suddenly over the weekend, amid rumors of drug use. More details to follow. – John Nova Lomax…
There Is But One Story with Many Tellings
We were listening to Morning Edition on NPR (FM 88.7) this morning when we heard an interview with Aminatta Forna, author of Ancestor Stones, a fictional chronicle of the lives of five Sierra Leonean women. The author read a passage that detailed a hungry crowd’s reaction when a box of…
Desperate Dreams
In Kim Addonizio’s My Dreams Out in the Street, every character has his poison. Protagonist Rita prefers vodka and cranberry; her missing husband Jimmy likes beer; private investigator Gary usually drinks Jack; and his miserable wife Annie swills Chardonnay. Smack, coke and weed figure in, too. It’s not their fault…
YouTube Friday
No, it’s not quite as genius as the guy who choreographed Star Wars figures to this tune, but it’s okay. Who knew Bert could be so sinister? — John Nova Lomax…
That’s a Lot of Photos
With more than 140 photos, Russell Lee Photographs is fat. With a price of $50 and weighing in at almost five pounds, that’s $10 per pound. I wish Linda Peterson, Head of Photographic and Digital Archives at the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin (how’s…
Speculation Time
We know the Rockets aren’t done wheeling and dealing. We also know GM Daryl Morey came up empty in his efforts to acquire Spanish guard Rudy Fernandez on draft day (Portland swooped in and grabbed him instead). Well, now comes word that the Blazers have yet another trade in the…
Houston to Austin and Back Again
Next Monday, Chris Gray will be occupying the assistant music editor’s chair previously occupied by Scott Faingold and Olivia Flores Alvarez. Gray comes to us from the Austin Chronicle, where he was a contributor for over ten years and that paper’s lead music columnist since January of 2003. (Read his…
She’ll Always Be Wearing Diapers in Our Hearts
So apparently everyone’s favorite wild-and-crazy astronaut was not wearing diapers on the drive to Florida. Today Lisa Marie Nowak’s attorney informed a group of reporters that the diapers found in Nowak’s car after her historic drive off the cliff of sanity were toddler-sized and leftover from her family’s evacuation during…
Feeling a Draft
His number might as well double as the Rockets’ draft day grade. I lied. Yesterday, I said the Rockets, despite lacking prime real estate in the NBA draft, were poised to take a step forward thanks to the depth of the 2007 class and the fact that a handful of…
Check Your Head
Not only does wearing a bike helmet totally mess up your hipster haircut (not in that good messed-up way, of course), but it also makes you more likely to be hit by car, according to an article we just read in Scientific American. Last year British psychologist Ian Walker attached…
The Power of Christ Compels Him
We’ve had our fun with Craig Biggio over the years, and there are certainly much more devoted fans of the guy than me. But he gave Houston a tremendous, theatrical night Thursday – bringing out the hippie-ish Jeff Bagwell was stellar – and he also deserves thanks for something else…
Way to Go, Biggio
There was some big news in Astro land yesterday. That’s right, Rick White was released and Stephen Randolph was designated for assignment. But the “oops, I did it again” bullpen did it again, this time the culprits were Trever Miller, Chad Qualls, and Brian Moehler. Okay, okay. There was some…
Newspaper on the Radio
Our very own Rich Connelly will be on Ralph Cooper’s Sports Rap today at 5:10 p.m., talking about this week’s cover story. You can listen live here. We don’t know about you, but we’re not-so-secretly wishing Howard from Memorial will call. – Keith Plocek…
When Mom Pops
The debate continues over whether women suffering from depression should take antidepressants while pregnant. Daniel Kramer Two studies published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine report an increased risk of babies being born with potentially fatal birth defects when moms pop Paxil, Prozac or other SSRIs during their…
Drive Me Crazy
We need a stentorian voice here to intone dramatically the words “In The Future!” Then again, maybe we don’t, because the full script would read “In The Future….Your butt will help you make your life-or-death driving decisions!!” That’s the message we picked up at a demonstration this morning of the…
It Definitely Was Intimate
Here are a couple of shots from the Jonathon Dewveall Band performing last night at happy hour at Dean’s Credit Clothing. (There’s no need to adjust your monitor: Last night, the Jonathon Dewveall Band did indeed consist of one dude and his onlooking girlfriend, although he assured us his bandmates…
It’s Official
This year’s draft is quite possibly one of the most exciting in a couple of decades. Between the Durant-versus-Oden debate and the new tall Chinese guy (Yi Jianlian), a lot of new talent is headed into the NBA. You can watch the draft with other fans at the Rockets Official…
The Next Jordan (No, Literally. That’s the Guy’s Name)
The Rockets are now back in the second-round mix thanks to this minor deal that just went down. I’m hoping this is a move to put the team in position to grab my main man from Marist, point guard Jared Jordan. — Jason Friedman…
Rockets Should Improve, But Will It Matter?
Is this the next Rocket? (We’re talking about Fazekas, wise guy.) Those of you (like me) battling the summer sports blues, take heart! For one day at least, we’re going to be treated to some genuine edge-of-your-seat, heart-pounding excitement. That’s right, I’m talking about the NBA draft. Of course, perhaps…
Jesus Saves
Well, gee, it didn’t take a prophet to see this coming: Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda, a.k.a. the Missouri City Jesus, has been busted using charitable contributions for his personal expenses. The Miami Herald has the story: The Miami-based preacher who has basked in international attention since declaring himself the…
Oops
It’s art! No, not this guy. Just regular ol’ art. If the Astros bullpen had a theme song, it would have to be Britney Spears’ “Oops, I Did It Again.” Because yesterday the bullpen, oops, did it again. This time, the offender was one Dave Borkowski who came in with…
Mail Call
Disappointed: As a musician and former resident of the Houston area — and as a devout reader of the Houston Press — I was really disappointed by the inaccuracies of John Nova Lomax’s article on SoundExchange [“SoundExchange Wants to Kill Internet Radio,” Racket, May 17]. The insinuation that SoundExchange has…
Ratatouille
Anyone can cook, but only the fearless can be great.” So goes the personal mantra of the late celebrity chef Auguste Gusteau, whose disembodied spirit materializes — Jiminy Cricket-style — to guide the rodent hero of Brad Bird’s Ratatouille toward his goal of gastronomic excellence. He also seems to be…
“Soñadores y Visionarios”
“Soñadores y Visionarios,” at the De Santos Gallery, is an overview of modern Spanish photography, but you won’t see any of the Spanish clichés here — no flamenco dancers, no bullfighters. Translated roughly, the exhibit’s title refers to the dreamers and visionaries of contemporary photography in Spain. The exhibit shows…
Betty Davis
Betty Davis was different — three-javelins/thigh-high-silver-boots/skyscraper-Afro/Egyptian-warrior-from-outer-space-getup-on-her-album-cover different. And a whole lot more besides. For decades, Davis’s uniqueness was known only to rare-funk specialists and assiduous beat-diggers. But now, thanks to Seattle-based Light in the Attic Records, her eponymous 1973 debut LP and 1974’s They Say I’m Different are available to…
Live Free or Die Hard
Still an all-American bloodhound after all these years, Bruce Willis’s Det. John McClane begins Live Free or Die Hard sniffing around a Rutgers-Camden parking lot and busting the frat boy who’s been trying to cop a feel off his daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Oh, Dad! Since much of the…
5 Wines That’ll Blow Your Mind
We asked Michael Housewright, the self-described “head wine nerd” at Max’s Wine Dive, to let us in on his wine-buying philosophy. He responded with this stream-of-consciousness-style narrative that sent us running to the nearest wine store. Michael Housewright: At Max’s, we tend to focus on the irreverent side of wine…
Merle the Pearl
Who is the greatest three-tool talent in country music history? Who best combines singing, songwriting and playing, ev-var, in the annals of twang? I put that question to an ad hoc panel of local performers John Evans, Miss Leslie, Hilary Sloan, Johnny Falstaff and Davin James, as well as former…
Evening
Parked uneasily between sensitive indie and studio chick-flick, Lajos Koltai’s Evening makes star-studded hash of Susan Minot’s beautifully written, if emotionally constricted, novel about a terminally ill woman trying to wrestle meaning out of the shards of her memories. Floating in and out of delirium in her Cambridge, Massachusetts, home,…
Picazo Restaurant
Butternut squash is one of those vegetables that need something extra to make them taste good. At Picazo Restaurant (1421 Preston, 713-236-1300), chef David Palomo has found the perfect solution — butternut squash with fontina ($8.95). He partially cooks the squash, then slices it in half, removing the seeds and…
R. Kelly’s Artistic Process
Most likely by now you have fully absorbed Double Up, the latest chart-topping treatise from crazed/brilliant R&B lothario R. Kelly. Which means that, despite the current attention lavished on lead single “I’m a Flirt,” you have discovered the record’s true emotional core: the slo-jam ballad “Sex Planet.” “Sex Planet” is…
Back in the Fight
It takes Bruce Willis a while to get warmed up. He’s always just a bit below room temperature — a cool brother, dig, dating back to his Moonlighting days as a private dick belting out “Tighten Up” while going undercover as a man of the cloth in Wayfarer shades. He’s…
THE SHILOH CLUB
I pop into the Shiloh Club (1321 Studewood St., 713-880-2401) in the middle of the afternoon to check in on my favorite mercenary bartender, Maggie, who has served me drinks at more bars than I’ve had black-outs in. The first thing I notice is a pack of regulars staring at…
Stuff you need to know to avoid musical ostracism
Poor Graphic Design The New Pornographers’ titanic struggle to come up with a halfway-decent album cover. At least this one isn’t bright green and yellow. This song will change your life The New Pornographers’ “Myriad Harbour.” Garish visuals aside, behold this slightly-less-cryptic-than-usual anthem from the wacky/beautiful Dan Bejar. Sporting Trifles…
Opera Vista
Watching Opera Vista’s exhilarating inaugural program last weekend (June 21–24), one thing’s certain: In the contemporary world of opera, the fat lady’s still alive. In the dark decades since Richard Strauss and Benjamin Britten, the last truly great opera composers, she’s supposed to have swooned, taken to her divan and…
Los Tigres del Norte
The average unsuspecting gringo has no idea: Across Latin America, Los Tigres del Norte are huge. Regularly selling out stadiums of more than 80,000 seats, registering global sales of over 32 million records — yeah, that kind of huge. Playing continuously for close to 40 years now, the five-piece band…
Stage Capsule Reviews
Forever Hold Your Peace The singing Fertle Family is back with a story nothing short of hilarious. As the eve of Gwenda and Uncle Al’s wedding approaches, guests are frantically trying to get to the wedding. Meanwhile, menopausal Justicena, who can’t seem to understand her husband Pete’s love, kicks him…
Various artists
During the ’70s, a slew of Cuban songwriters and musicians who had their ears tuned to illegal radio from the States started blending Afro-Cuban music with the sounds of American soul and funk. In this collection, compiled by music historian Dan Zacks, who found some of the source tapes in…
Art Capsule Reviews
“Allison Hunter: New Animals” “New Animals” is a continuation of Allison Hunter’s “Simply Stunning” series, which showed at New York’s 511 Gallery last year. The Houston-based photographer’s recent work concentrates largely on animals, and the images reflect a progression toward emancipating creatures from the worldly environment. Sheep and deer inhabit…
Roberto Fonseca
Although a member of Buena Vista Social Club (in 2001, at the tender age of 26, he replaced legend Rubén González) right up until the group’s final recordings, Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca is not at all interested in having his music viewed as nostalgia. Though certainly respectful of the various…
Mexican-American Culture
Dear Mexican, A friend asked me years ago to come up with a Spanish word or phrase that contains fewer syllables than its English counterpart. After years of thinking about this, the only one I could come up with is “Tengo sed” (three syllables) compared to “I am thirsty” (four…
Daddy Yankee
Daddy Yankee doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo that reggaetón is supposed to be over. Because on El Cartel: The Big Boss, the fiery Puerto Rican rapper acts like the party’s just begun. While detractors continue to proclaim the genre’s premature death, this proper follow-up to 2004’s “Gasolina”-powered smash…
Crackers & Cheese
Black Snake Moan (Paramount) The best place to see Craig Brewer’s mash-up of blood-boiling exploitation elements would be a Mississippi drive-in circa 1972. His tale of a black bluesman (Samuel L. Jackson) who chains up a seething, scantily clad cracker nympho (Christina Ricci) would’ve had the lot under martial law…
Jesse Malin
I like his music, but what is it with Jesse Malin’s gawd-damn hair? I mean, really, when did it become necessary for artists to wash their hair in peanut butter before the photo shoot? With fans like Springsteen and Adams (that’s Ryan, not John Quincy), Malin’s got cred no publicist…
Our top DVD picks for the week of June 28
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3: The Complete Series (Shout!) Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (Anchor Bay) Dead Silence (Universal) Echo & the Bunnymen: Dancing Horses (MVD) Film School (Docurama) Frankenstein Conquers the World (Tokyo Shock) Going Under: Unrated Version (Blue Underground) High School Musical: The…
Little Brother
North Carolina’s Little Brother is not your average Southern hip-hop group. Unlike its Dirty South counterparts, the duo rarely raps about dubs, drugs or the usual bitches and hoes, unless done in a satirical manner, as on 2005’s The Minstrel Show. Formed in 1998 at North Carolina Central University, the…
Rotten Piece
Rusted Shut may be the face of the Houston noise scene, but Rotten Piece is its brain. Patrons of art galleries, DIY spaces and dimly lit bars in Scarytown can claim credibly to have seen the husband-and-wife team of Shaun and Carol Kelly a dozen times without witnessing the same…
Beer island
Beer Island (2631 White Oak Dr., 713-862-4670) is a beer joint, and beer joints do not exist to surprise. They exist for the sustenance of those greatest of barroom traditions: sloppy billiards, conspicuous consumption of cheap beer, chasing unrequited “love” and eventually descending into an alcohol-induced argument about religion. I’m…
Sports talk radio stations fight for listeners in Houston
There’s an intense battle going on here in Houston, one that’s baffling national observers, one that’s resulted in unprecedented upheaval in an industry that rakes in millions, a life-or-death struggle that will likely see at least one huge company stagger out of town with its tail between its legs. And…
The Death Set
The Death Set are Aussie psychopaths, transplanted to Baltimore, who have played with the likes of Mission of Burma and Dan Deacon. If you can imagine a melding of Mission’s frenetic guitar assault and Dan Deacon’s idiosyncratic electro-pop wackiness, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what The Death Set…
La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant
Above the door of the original La Fiesta on Katy Freeway and Bunker Hill, there’s a Schlitz beer poster. It’s a photo of a caballero in a huge sombrero sitting astride his horse in front of a Mexican church, with the beer logo beside him. The politically incorrect stereotype is…
Jock Radio: No-Call List
The sports-talk radio world thrives on repetition — the audience is constantly churning (a listener who stays tuned for 30 minutes is considered gold), there’s a limited amount of subjects, there are callers who somehow think they have something new to say about a subject that’s been discussed ad nauseam…
The Police
The true kings of ’80s pop are playing together again for the first time in 20 years. In celebration of the band’s 30th anniversary, The Police are trekking the globe, playing everywhere from Austria to Australia. Highlights from the band’s nine-month reunion tour include the headlining slot at the annual…
“Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection”
“Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection” gives you the chance to change your thinking about baskets. Sure, they’re handy things for carrying muffins or picnics around, but what about a basket made from postcards? Or fish skins? Or maybe porcupine quills? Pretty wild, huh? Well that’s…
Jock Radio: Numbers Game
Ratings are everything in radio. But often, to an outsider, the numbers can mean nothing. Arbitron does the ratings, and provides figures. But as soon as they do, the spinning starts. Station executives cite whatever demographic shows them in the best light and often say they don’t pay attention to…
Pete Best
When I picked up The Pete Best Band’s Live at the Adelphi, the hipster at the cash register smirked behind his foggy glasses. Having once been a record clerk myself, I knew what the clerk was thinking: “This sad sack must be one of those Beatlesheads, actually buying a record…
American Homefront
Fernando Dovalina, playwright-in-residence for Unhinged Productions, went back to his journalistic roots to find inspiration for his newest play, American Homefront, premiering this weekend at Silver House Theatre. A retired Houston Chronicle editor, Dovalina recounts a story from the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, during which “two of [the hostages] were…
Friends sponsor movie fund-raiser for injured Gulf Coast surfer
Nate Lytle may be only 23, but he’s well-known among Gulf Coast surfers. He’s an energetic, friendly guy who’s always been eager to help out anyone in a pinch. Unlike most surfers, or at least most surfers we’ve run into, he’s also deeply religious. Lytle never shied away from taking…
Sicko
We’re Americans. We go into other countries when we need to. It’s tricky, but it works.” So declares Michael Moore in the midst of his new documentary, Sicko. Moore may be riffing on the war in Iraq, to name only our most recent intervention, but he’s actually referring to U.S…
Bored Games
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Wii
Price: $49.99
ESRB Rating: E (for Everyone)
Score: 3 (out of 10)