Kill Us Now: We Covered the Houston City Council Today
Things at a Houston City Council meeting can get pretty dull. And by dull, we mean crushingly boring. As in, it was so lifeless today that matters got desperate for several reporters listening to the council members drone on and on. And on. One TV reporter — an exceedingly friendly…
Politicians Singing: Where Does Colin Powell’s “Call Me Maybe” Rank?
In what was a surprising move, at least to us, former Secretary of State Colin Powell broke into a bit of this year’s song of the summer, “Call Me Maybe,” today on whatever CBS is calling its morning show these days. Let’s just say he didn’t nail it. But was…
California Grapes in Texan Wine? Get a Rope
Did you know that most wine bottled and sold in Texas isn’t grown here? Despite the fact that Texas is the fifth largest wine-producing state in the U.S.? It’s true: Much of the wine that we enjoy as a Texan product — even the stuff held up as a domestic…
100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 77, Tonkotsu at Cafe Kubo’s
This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we’re counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston’s cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least once…
Maurice McKnight: Family Sues Over Male Stripper’s Deadly Stage-Diving Assault on Dad
The family of a man killed by a male stripper enraged his tips had been cut off has sued the club and other companies associated with the incident, asking $4 million in damages. According to the suit, Kelvin T. Elam Monroe, 37, accompanied three female business associates to a now-closed…
Aquiles en Houston in Real Life at La Fisheria
Houston has hosted its share of reality television shows, from Animal Cops (which I can’t bear to watch even a single episode of) to the currently filming Mother of the Bride. And we’ve also seen shows such as Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Eat St. and Meat & Potatoes come through…
The Beat Goes On: Dave Wakeling on His Band’s Two Tone Legacy
In the late ’70s and early ’80s, England was something of a musical petri dish as scores of bands blended genres of music and, in the process, sometimes created whole new ones. It was also the heyday of bands like Madness, The Specials and The Selecter who blended a punk…
Swedish Developer May 86 Lake Thicket and Its Wildlife
In February, a Swedish development and construction company named Skanska snatched up the vacant ARCO building at 15375 Memorial Drive and some of the infrastructure surrounding Lake Thicket, which is home to armadillos, opossums and migratory birds such as Canadian geese. “They told us that they were going to develop…
Reality Bites: The Catalina: Sexy Time
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. The Catalina is “a party hotel” located in South Beach, Miami (not Ohio). It appears to cater exclusively to a demographic Henry Jones Sr. once described as “the slime of…
Is This the Most Interesting Underground Rap Video Made In the U.S. This Year?
This is Dustin-Prestige, and below is the video for his song “I Am Legend.” Recently the Houston Press announced the categories for this year’s Houston Press Music Awards, among them was the inaugural Best Music Video category. [More info on all that soon, but remember nominations close at midnight tomorrow…
Today’s Cover Story on the Texas Wine Industry
See our slideshow of Texas wines and wineries. The cover story for this week’s issue of the paper, coming out online this afternoon, is an article on the Texas wine industry by my colleague Katharine Shilcutt and me. In the piece, we take a hard look at the challenges that…
Jose Flores: Shooting at Cops Plus Refusing Their Orders Equals a Face Like This
Jose Bustos Flores was in no mood to deal with cops early Tuesday morning, it seems. The 44-year-old first drew the attention of two HPD officers working security at a Gulfgate apartment complex when they heard shots fired. They then saw two vehicles driving towards them at the front of…
“This Place Smells Weird,” The Mexican Food/Body Odor Corollary, and Other Parental Embarassments: DEFCON Dining at Himalaya
Dining out with children is an exercise in situational awareness. Each experience is unique, with different variables leading to different possible outcomes, DEFCON-like in their escalating threat levels. Keen observation, forward planning and prior experience are critical in determining the proper strategy. Here at DEFCON Dining, we do the grunt…
You’re Not Fooling Anybody: The Case Against Encores
I find it greatly amusing when people bring their children to rock shows. Not babies or toddlers mind you, which is just awkward, but 8 to 12 year olds; kids old enough to have intelligent thoughts and vocalize their natural curiosity at the often strange behavior that people are allowed…
Hope Is Never Silent: A Traveling Queer Art Exhibition
A selection of artistic works from LGBT artists and their artist friends with a West Texas perspective is on its way to Houston. Jerome Larez, the founder of Hope Is Never Silent, “a traveling Queer Art Exhibition from Lubbock,” says the works will be displayed at the Houston GLBT Community…
Robert Gutierrez, 25, Bayou Body Count No. 82
An argument turned fatal in the Denver Harbor neighborhood Tuesday night, leaving a 25-year-old man dead. Robert Gutierrez was at home in the 6900 block of Boyce when he got into an argument with someone described only as “an unknown Hispanic male.” The argument ended when the man shot Gutierrez…
Fresh-Squeezed Juices at H-E-B
I’m smitten with the W. Alabama H-E-B, in part because of its wide selection of Heinz products. Although I also have been admiring H-E-B’s fresh-squeezed juice bar, it wasn’t until last week that I actually confirmed the rainbow assortment of flavors did (at least in two cases) taste as good…
Why Do We Care That NFL Players Suffer Concussions?
On May 2 of this year, former NFL legend Junior Seau was found dead in his home from an apparent self-inflicted shotgun blast to the chest. After investigation, San Diego police formally ruled his death a suicide, setting off gross public speculation upon the manner of his demise and widespread…
The 3 Best Musician/Wrestling Tag Teams
The world of wrestling and the world of music have an awful lot in common. You’ve got you over-the-top characters, the lights, the spectacle, the flashy costumes and choreography. (See this, in fact.) Pretty much the only thing separating them are the injuries, and depending on the rock show not…
Last Night: LMFAO at Toyota Center
LMFAO Toyota Center June 12, 2012 Check out our photos of LMFAO and fans in our slideshow. One imagines it’s both easy and difficult being in LMFAO. You write songs about drinking and getting laid (easy) that are crass enough to seem edgy to teens while not being so crass…
Speculations about Ricky Craig of Hubcap Grill’s New Concept
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard of the two-location, critically acclaimed Hubcap Grill burger joint and its bold, outspoken owner, Ricky Craig. It’s commonly accepted, both in Houston and out, that Hubcap Grill serves up some of the best (if not the best) burgers in the city…
Max & Min: Go to Extremes with Your Summer Look
BREAKING NEWS: It’s really hot outside. That’s right, the temperatures are rising and the humidity level is creeping up, up, upward. It would be completely depressing, if it weren’t yet another opportunity to shop for new clothes. As far as I’m concerned, there is really only one option for summer…
Comment of the Day: Passionate Sports Talk Radio Fans Debate Host Rankings
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous…
A Talk With the Ban-Happy Head of the “We Survived Bush, You Will Survive Obama” Facebook Page
This interview was conducted via e-mail and Facebook after the author was banned from the We Survived Bush, You Will Survive Obama Facebook group for questioning the veracity of a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln. Jef With One F: Thank you for lifting the comment ban. Lou Colagiovanni: Apparently it…
Need Father’s Day Gift Ideas? We’ve Got You Covered
Father’s Day is right around the corner. If you enjoy procrastination as much as I do, then you haven’t gotten a gift yet, either. But don’t fret! Whether your dad’s a master griller, an aspiring molecular gastronomist or a total wino, we have plenty of gift ideas for him. Gourmet…
Todd Hebert Brings His Snowmen and Jack-o’-Lanterns to Devin Borden
In his show of new acrylic paintings at Devin Borden Gallery, Todd Hebert presents subjects that are comically lowbrow and adolescent — a jack-o’-lantern candy bucket, a snowman, bubbles, a baseball. But for all their childlike connotations, Hebert’s acrylics don’t come off as overly nostalgic or predictably sentimental. The snowman…
Know Your Local Media: The Chron’s Eric Berger on Hurricanes, Climate Change and Evacuating Katy
Full disclosure: In 2000, I was working on a grassroots campaign supporting the arena referendum that passed and resulted in the building of Toyota Center. At the time, the Houston Chronicle’s Eric Berger was covering the campaign, a less contentious follow-up to the loss suffered a year earlier that almost…
Sanctus Bellum Gallops Down Treacherous New Path on Sophomore Album
For a year supposedly prophesied by the ancient Mayans to herald the end of all existence, 2012 has been disappointingly doom-and-gloom free thus far. No ominous comets, no Biblical plagues — not even a triple-digit heat wave yet. Luckily, local doom/classic metal band Sanctus Bellum is ready to inject a…
This Week in Food Blogs: Reformed Shitshows and Santorini on the Run
Delicious Mischief: If I didn’t have a lady-poker-and-fried-chicken night all lined up for this past Sunday, you can bet I would have been at Triniti for its dinner collaboration with the Mercury Baroque string ensemble. Fine dining with courses orchestrated to match a series of classical movements? Le sigh. Luckily,…
100 Creatives 2012: Radu Runcanu, Painter from Romania
Radu Runcanu was interested in all sorts of things when he arrived in the United States from Transylvania. From an artistic stance, the painter, drawer and sculptor was awfully curious about how his Old World background would intersect with Houston, which must have looked like the newest of the New…
Hispanics Saving Texas Democrats: A Perpetual Mirage?
The quixotically optimistic Texas Democrats — who haven’t won a statewide election since 1994 — bellowed a lot of things at the Texas Democratic Convention last weekend, but, really, most of it seemed to translate to one refrain. All together now: The Hispanics are going to save us! The Hispanics…
A Slew Of New Houston Rap MP3s That Don’t Suck
Here’s a story. Back in late April, early May I had to fight through the most unwanted thing to anyone who owns a Macbook: A hard-drive fail. I’m sure we can curse Steve Jobs, Siri and the rest for making those short-ass chargers, but there’s more headache than need be…
Dead Celebrity Holograms: A Top 5 Wish List
We could have seen this one coming a mile away. The estates of dead celebrities are suing for the rights to their hologram counterparts. If you’ve been following the latest, bizarre trend of deceased celebrities being virtually reincarnated to perform their greatest hits for thousands of paying fans, then the…
NBA Finals: Series Prediction and a Few Prop Bets
Finally, it’s here! If you had allowed David Stern to sit in a room with all 16 playoff teams on the wall by conference, and allow him to pick his dream matchup for the NBA Finals, it’s without a doubt the Miami-Oklahoma City matchup we’re getting here. LeBron versus Durant,…
Cute New Dinosaur Billboards Coming…For the Creation Museum?
What kid can resist a dinosaur museum? So when a billboard like this goes up in Houston, which the AP says is going to happen, you might have to do some fast talking. “But, little Johnny, I’m not sure I want you thinking that dinosaurs and humans were around at…
100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 78, Oxtail Francobolli at Aldo’s Cucina Italiana
This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we’re counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston’s cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least once…
Join Us for Cocktails & Covers at House Of Blues Fridays This Summer
The other day, Rocks Off was researching another blog, and we stumbled across Duran Duran’s 1995 all-covers LP Thank You on Spotify. Then we listened to it all the way through, on purpose. Recorded when the Birmingham-born band was at a post-“Ordinary World” fork in the road, Thank You wasn’t…
Torina Ann Gutierrez: Busted After First-Grade Daughter Eats Angel Dust Sandwich at School
FacebookTorina Ann Gutierrez sends her love to the world a year before sending her daughter to school with angel dust.Teachers and staff at Popham Elementary in Del Valle had rarely seen one of their pupils acting so strangely and alarmingly. According to the Austin American-Statesman, on May 4, the six-year-old…
Tapas, Tapas Everywhere–And Plenty of Wine to Drink
Take a culinary adventure through Spain with this week’s Houston Press Voice Daily Deal, good for half-off ($20 for $40) at Tintos Spanish Restaurant and Wine Bar. Travel through the menu of hot and cold tapas to taste the flavors of Spain with traditional and modern dishes: empanadas, patatas bravas,…
Top Ten Awkward Electric Daisy Carnival Dance Move GIFs
Chris VictorioSee our Electric Daisy Carnival slidshows: Day 1, and another Day 2 Day 3 By Christopher Victorio and Ben Westhoff We love you, Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas. In fact, here are five reasons why you rule the roost. But my oh my you dance funky. We’re not saying…
Texas Freedom Network: SRO Crowd Hears How To Get The Crazies Off The State Board Of Education
The Texas Freedom Network has one litmus test when it comes to electing members to the State Board of Education: Do they love public education? Sure, the question sounds a sappy, but the State Board of Education was stacked, for a number of years, with those who had nothing but…
Upcoming: Beach House, Billy Joe Shaver, Tomahawk, Lyle Lovett, Hatebreed, Etc.
Ashbury Keys, three33, Wiretree: Sat., June 23, 8 p.m., $5. Fitzgerald’s, 2706 White Oak, Houston. Bass Drum Of Death, DZ Deathrays: Thu., July 12, 8 p.m., $8/$11. Fitzgerald’s Beach House: Wed., Sept. 19, 8 p.m., $20-$25. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline, Houston. Billy Joe Shaver: Sat., Aug. 11, 9 p.m.,…
Stew on This: One Pot Meals From Around the World
Family-style dining is a universal trend in food. There are cultures whose every meal is shared, served in a communal pot with some sort of bread or grain as an accompaniment. With origins in leaner times, one-pot meals exist the world over, bringing families together in good times and in…
DVDs & Blu-rays: Shallow Grave and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows stars Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Jared Harris; Guy Ritchie directs. Arthur Conan Doyle purists will be appalled to see his legendary detective Sherlock Holmes in drag in A Game of Shadows, Guy Ritchie’s latest installment in the action/adventure series starring Robert Downey…
Warren Buffett Buys The Bryan-College Station Eagle
Good news for a good Texas newspaper — Warren Buffett, the current savior of print media, is buying the Bryan-College Station Eagle for an undisclosed price, the Omaha World-Herald reports. Buffett has gone on a newspaper-buying spree, using his vast fortune to give hope to journalists and, not incidentally, make…
Which Houston Rapper Bet “Whatever” On the NBA Finals?
Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Each week, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week’s Panel: Mac, Mug, Killa Kyleon, TroubleSum, Propain, hasHBrown, Yung Truth, O.N.E., Chingo Bling, more. Not Invited: Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley This Week’s Prompt:…
Molly Ivins Returns at Main Street Theater
Molly Ivins the late and famous Texan journalist and pundit, will walk the boards at Main Street Theater this week, channeled through actress Sara Gaston in Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins. This isn’t a Meryl-Streep-plays-Margaret-Thatcher treatment, handing out one-liners along the way, Gaston says. “We weren’t…
Where Are We Drinking? Clue: Midtown and Down
Although this place is brand-new, its beer list is already bangin’ and its bartenders busy — it’s been packed nearly every night of the week since its soft opening a week ago. No other clues should be necessary this week; you know where we’ve been living lately. Leave your best…
Unidentified Woman, Bayou Body Count No. 81
The body of a 57-year-old woman was found at a bus stop Saturday morning, dead from head trauma and possibly a gunshot wound, police say. A passer-by saw the body about 6:20 a.m. at a bus stop in the 5600 block of West Tidwell. Paramedics arrived but pronounced the woman…
Miley Cyrus Without A Bra: What’s Up With That? (NSFW)
So what’s with Miley Cyrus never wearing a bra in public? Or sometimes even no underwear (NSFW, duh) now that I think about it. I ask because every time I turn around, I see another tweet or gossip headline touting some “sweet” pics of the former Hannah Montana and newly-engaged…
Portable Pleasure with Oh My! Pocket Pies at Inversion Coffeehouse
Inversion on Montrose is a lifesaver. It’s where I go to get work done when my Internet goes down, where I stop to get a cup of coffee after battling early-morning rush-hour traffic, and where I can grab a tasty pastry to sate my hunger. Usually I choose my all-time…
8 Keepers From Mail Call: Hacienda, Elvin Bishop, Janiva Magness, Etc.
Once again, the mailbox has overflowed like a backed-up sewer and Lonesome Onry and Mean has had to make some space decisions: Does this record go on the shelf (keep it, it’s good, but I want to listen to something else now), in the Goodwill box (what were they thinking…
Cambodian Refugees’ Flight to Houston, an HGO New Opera
For years, playwright Catherine Filloux has also worked on refugee issues on the side. So the daughter of an Algerian mother and a French father was the perfect fit when Houston Grand Opera’s HGOCo began looking for someone to write the libretto for an operetta about Cambodians coming to Houston…
“The Popeye” with Hot Dog at Jus’ Mac
For months, my friend Maggie has been gently trying to get me to accompany her to Jus’ Mac. When we can’t decide where to eat dinner (and this is often), she mentions Jus’ Mac, and I, like clockwork, suggest another option. This is not just because I’m a selfish control…
Is Revolver The “Best” Beatles Record Ever?
Revolver: How the Beatles Reimagined Rock ‘n’ Roll By Robert Rodriguez Backbeat Books, 256 pp., $19.99. While popular consensus and mainstream pop culture holds that Sgt. Pepper is the “best” Beatles album (as if it were a quantifiable title…), a dedicated and growing chorus holds that its predecessor, Revolver, is…
Theresa Landry, “Mother Theresa” Of Neighborhood, Bayou Body Count No. 80
A woman who was known as “Mother Theresa” for all the help she gave around the neighborhood was shot to death early this morning. Houston police did not reveal the identity or age of the victim, whose body was discovered in the 5400 block of Chennault, but KHOU reports it…
Pop Rocks: I’m Shocked, Shocked To Find Out There Are Nude Snooki Photos
If there’s anything truly shocking about this, it’s that it took as long as it did: Nicole (Snooki) Polizzi is causing a buzz in the media just one day after her fellow “meatball” Deena Cortese was slapped with handcuffs for disorderly conduct at a bar in Seaside Heights. In photos…
Annise Parker Is The Queen Of The Roller Derby
Mayor Annise Parker visited the Roller Derby Saturday and blew the first whistle. She stayed for both matches, watching the HRD Knockouts vs. Assassination City (Dallas, of course) and the Houston Roller Derby All-Stars vs Arch Rival Roller (St.Louis) Girls All-Stars at the Bayou Music Center…
The Many Uses of Avocados
I’m about to let you in on a little culinary secret. And very soon, you’re going to thank me for sharing it. Ready? Avocados can be used for so much more than for guacamole. Among other things (like toppings and side dishes), they can be used as cooking substitutes, as…
How I Got Banned from the “We Survived Bush, You Will Survive Obama” Facebook Page
When I started following the popular We Survived Bush, You Will Survive Obama page I did so because I liked the sentiment it seemed to project of telling the doomsayers to breathe into a bag, pull on their big-girl panties and stop saying that the world was ending because of…
Drops In the Bucket List: 5 Venues To See a Show In Before You Die
I’m not much of a traveler. Outside of a few trips to Vegas, I’ve never been on a real grownup-type vacation. Every year it’s a struggle to think of something to do with my vacation days, one that eventually leads to a few four-day weeks and a couple of midweek…
The Brews Brothers Bring Craft Beer to Galveston
Have you been to the Strand lately? Galveston’s main pedestrian thoroughfare seems to have wilted somewhat despite the flurry of post-Ike rehabbing and renovation. The end of the Strand near Hendley Market is completely quiet these days. And at the opposite end, the Railroad Museum still stands sadly unopened after…
Summer of 1982: 10 Films We Wish Would Play On the Big Screen
What were you watching 30 years ago? If you have no recollection what was showing on the silver screen that is just fine because the Alamo Drafthouse has done your research for you. For the entire summer, Alamo has been screening some of the best films from 1982. For those…
Ranking Houston’s Sports Radio Personalities
The Houston sports talk landscape is complicated and fascinating. We are blessed with four full-time sports stations, several other sports-themed shows scattered along the dial and one national sports network headquartered right here in the Bayou City. When I ranked the best sports talk shows in Houston a few weeks…
5 Video Game Hoaxes That Would Be Really Awesome
A little while back I fell for an April Fool’s Joke played by Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon. He hinted that the oft-rumored crossover between Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct was officially in the works, and I bought it because there have been whispers of NetherRealm studios trying to buy…
30 Seconds With Keith Moody
Rising alternative-country superstar Keith Moody has a voice like a summer rainstorm, capable of sweeping all your love away. We withstood the storm for 30 seconds to see what we could glean from the man. Rocks Off: What is the worst song in the world? Keith Moody: “Barbie Girl” by…
Comment of the Day: Not Much Sympathy For Hart Galleries
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous…
Byron Reado, 29, Bayou Body Count No. 79
A man was shot to death at a southside apartment complex Saturday afternoon, and police say they have little to go on in trying to solve it. Police got a shooting call for an apartment complex in the 7400 block of Calhoun about 2:30 p.m.. They arrived paramedics told them…
Weekend Review: Pacquiao Gets Jobbed, Humberto Quintero Makes “Chinese Eyes”, Gary Stevens Humanizes Horses
Every year, it seems like there’s one weekend around this time of year where the sports gods decide to remind us that we are heading to that abyss section of the sports calendar, where trying to find actual sports topics to carry blog posts and five hours of radio a…
Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, AKA St. John’s Revisited in an Interview
Houston: The Rushmore School In a story on The Onion’s serious site, A.V. Club, writer Kyle Ryan who used to attend Strake Jesuit, delves into the St. John’s/Houston background of Wes Anderson’s film Rushmore. As Ryan starts: The world of Houston prep schools is small. Students who attend one of…
100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 79, Aporreado at Los Corrales
This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we’re counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston’s cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least once…
Top Five Reasons Electric Daisy Carnival Rules
Photo by Christopher VictorioSee also our EDC slideshows: Day 1, and another Day 2 Day 3 Sure, we have our issues with the predictability of Electric Daisy Carnival’s lineup this year: With the likes of Tiesto, David Guetta and Afrojack on the bill, it was about as surprising as taxes…
EDC 2012: The Underground Has Left the Building
Photo by Christopher VictorioEDC girls give PLUR.See also our EDC slideshows: Day 1, and another Day 2 Day 3 Twenty years after rave culture first entered the American mainstream, the success of a festival like Electric Daisy Carnival begs the question: Can electronic dance music retain its authenticity, warehouse roots…
Sheila Scott, 53, Victim Of Murder-Suicide, Bayou Body Count No. 78
A 53-year-old-woman was shot to death by her husband, who then turned the gun on himself, Houston police say. Sheila Scott was shot several times by her husband Eugene Scott, 54, shortly befoe midnight Friday in their home in the 8300 block of Glenheath, near Hobby Airport, police say. A…
A Meaty White Wine for the First Pesto of Summer
Fresh basil has been arriving from our Community-Supported Agriculture subscription, and that means it’s time for long noodles with pesto at our house. Traditionally, Genoese pesto is made with freshly grated pecorino, sheep’s milk cheese. But at our house, we go for the pan-Italian (or pseudo-Genoese) version, which calls for…
Jurassic Park: Live on Stage in Pauper’s Parody
Austin’s Old Murder House Theatre has gained a reputation for doing amazing things on stages. Things like Aliens on Ice, and unlike Ridley Scott they know how to make a spectacle enjoyable without throwing money at landscape artists until they have enough to afford their own space program. Now they’re…
The Night After Cancellation, EDC Closes Fest With Massive Turnout
Photo by Christopher VictorioSee also our EDC slideshows: Day 1, and another Day 2 Day 3 See also: EDC Vegas Pulls Plug on Music Due to High Winds Organizers of the second annual Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas declared the three-day party a success , despite high-winds that cut…
Remembering Bob Welch: Fleetwood Mac’s Secret Weapon
This past Thursday, former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Bob Welch committed suicide in his home outside Nashville at age 66. It was a tragic loss that stunned the Fleetwood Mac family, both past and present. Mac’s Stevie Nicks called Welch’s death “devastating” in London’s The Daily Telegraph: “I had many great…
Unidentified Austin Woman, 24, Killed Allegedly Buying Weed, Bayou Body Count No. 77
A 24-year-old Austin woman was shot and killed after a weed buy turned into a robbery, Houston police say. The woman, whose identity has not been released, was with two other Austin women when they met three males to buy some pot in the 200 block of Rosamond Sunday night,…
Borgias: Petty Joy in the Death of Peckerwoods
There’s an old proverb among wrestling fans; never go to the show before a pay per view. It will always be a big spectacle that leaves you waiting for the main course. You can say the same thing about the last episode before the season finale. With the previous food…
H-E-B Wine and Food Week 2012 Ventures Inside the Loop for First Annual 80 Sips Around the World Event
See our slideshow of photos from Wine and Food Week 2012. This past week, The Woodlands hosted its Wine and Food Week 2012, sponsored by H-E-B. Most of the events, including wine and cheese tastings, multi-course dinners and conversations with winemakers, were held in The Woodlands, with one important exception:…
New Wave Crazy: Blondie & Devo Hit Arena Theatre September 19 (UPDATED)
UPDATE: According to Press Here Publicity, the venue is Arena Theatre, not Bayou Music Center. Everything else is the same. This makes me happier than anything on a Monday morning should. I listen to music in cycles, and for the past several months have been stuck in the ’80s, more…
Motorcycle Lesson Turns Deadly When Man Hits Accelarator And Is Thrown From Fifth Floor Of Garage
A 27-year-old man who was being given motorcycle lessons died when he was thrown off the bike and over the fifth-story wall of a parking garage, police say. The man, whose name has not been released, was being taught by a friend how to ride in the garage at 2929…
It’s a Colorful Circus at the Koelsch Gallery
If the world is a stage and life is one big carnival, artist Doug Forrest has found a way to capture them both in his new exhibit Doug Forrest: Board-Walk Circus, on display at the Koelsch Gallery. Forrest has a colorful personal history that is apparent in his art. He…
Where Are We Eating? Clue: Hangout Steak
At this Montrose watering hole, “steak night” means something more than just a piece of skirt steak thrown on a charcoal pit. These are prime cuts of meat — for not much money — and you can get your steak topped with extras like blue cheese, local onions or fresh…
What’s Cooking This Week? Garlic Mustard Beef Skewers, Tomato & Goat Cheese Tarts + More
I love homemade meals with my fiancé, but most of the time, cooking for two proves to be difficult. If I don’t have a game plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredients I’ve bought (and I HATE wasting food). Enter…
Mad Men: The Real Don Draper (Again), Season Finale
(SPOILERS ABOUND) It has been a slow and steady race to the finish for this season of Mad Men. Last night concluded Season Five in a somewhat neat and tidy bow. I honestly went into this episode having no idea what it would be about. The biggest events of the…
Is This The Dawning of A Cougars Renaissance? Don’t Be Too Sure
The Houston Chronicle’s Sam Khan, Jr. had a good story on Houston Cougars athletics yesterday. It’s called a story of a renaissance, and it looks back at the last 10 months of the program. It’s told through the eyes of the football program, going through the incredible season the Coogs…
Friday Night: The Crystal Method at Fitzgerald’s
The Crystal Method Fitzgerald’s June 8, 2012 The Crystal Method are not young and sexy. The Las Vegas duo’s faces are lined, their midsections are soft and their hairlines are a little fucked-up. Basically, Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland have been around the block a time or two, and they…
Uncover the Seedy Underbelly of Sandwich Breads with Sprouted Grain Bread
I have a tendency to get obsessed with foods, especially when I find something healthy that I like, because left to my own devices I would probably only eat pasta with garlic and oil, pepperoncini, dark chocolate, and the occasional pizza. I discovered sprouted-grain bread back when a turkey sandwich…
Big Range Dance Festival Celebrates Ten Years of Postmodern Movement
The tenth anniversary of Big Range will most certainly be remembered for its hallmark piece, Afternono, a site-specific work choreographed by Suchu Artistic Director Jennifer Wood. The dance is set inside the West Oaks Art House, a space that was previously a J. C. Penney department store. Site-specific works are…
True Blood: Season 5 Opens With Tired Classic Rock
Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He’s lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood — which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. I did not have high…
Noise Ordinance Is Bombing In Court; Cases Dropped
Due to a lack of witnesses and insufficient evidence, the Harris County court system shuttered each and every sound ordinance case that was heard late last week. Local musicians, DJs and bar owners have been under the microscope since Houston City Council overhauled its decade-old sound ordinance on October 10…
Friday Night: The Beach Boys at The Woodlands
The Beach Boys Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion June 8, 2012 The Beach Boys taught a generation of American kids how to be teenagers. With songs about the perils of love, the magic of cars, school ties, faceless authority, and depression and isolation, they wrote the book on high-octane hormonal rock…
TDCJ’s 10 Most Terminally Ill Inmates Cost $2 Million a Year to Treat
Jailed offenders with terminal illnesses have a price tag, and the 10 costliest inmates in the state’s prison’s system totaled almost $2 million in health care costs in 2011. That’s a figure quoted by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who tracks such topics as chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee…
To Make Your Eyes Really Bigger Than Your Stomach
While I was seriously disturbed to hear that feeding tubes were the latest trend in weight-loss, I am more bewildered by the development of “diet glasses.” Oh, those wacky Japanese. What, will they think of next? I have little trouble understanding how fabricated scents could trick subjects into believing they’re…
Michael Peranteau Chats About His New Art League Gig
Though Michael Peranteau was bummed to leave Project Row Houses, he already feels at home at his new gig as Art League Houston executive director. “Yeah, it was really hard to leave there,” Peranteau tells Art Attack by phone. “I live four blocks away. It was really like a family,…
Why Big Companies Hide Contact Information on Their Web Sites
A few years ago, I was getting ready to sell a house. My existing mortgage company had been purchased by another company and my account had been transferred. However, when it was transferred, the permissions that allow customer service representatives to do basic, but important, tasks like provide a payoff…
Man on Fire: A Playlist for Thich Quang Duc
Photographer Malcolm Browne took the above, unforgettable picture on June 11, 1963 when a Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire and burned to death in complete, immobile silence as a protest against Buddhist persecutions by the Roman Catholic Vietnamese government. During the self-immolation, Duc remained perfectly…
Winnie Cooper Is Single: Let’s Play Matchmaker!
If you grew up watching The Wonder Years, you more than likely had a crush on Winnie Cooper, played by Danica McKellar. The show ran from 1988 until 1993 and chronicled the life of Kevin Arnold and his family and friends as they liived through the late ’60s and early…
A Photo Tour of Oxheart, a Meal Which Left Me Speechless
It’s been 24 days since I had my first — and only, to date — meal at Oxheart, the young restaurant which recently landed at the very tippy-top of Alison Cook’s Top 100 Restaurants in Houston list despite only being open for roughly three months. And although more than a…
Euro 2012: How to Fake a Conversation on Europe’s Huge Soccer Tournament
Wait a minute, your American red blood-soaked brain might be thinking, wasn’t there just an international soccer tournament? World…something? And didn’t we win that already? Are we going to kick ass in this one, AGAIN? In short:a) two years ago, b) Cup, c) no and d) no, because this tournament…
Laura Bryant: Waco Nurse Lives Vegas High Life At ACM Awards
You win a contest, all expenses paid, to a major country-music awards show in Las Vegas. What happens next? Rocks Off will admit we had never even pondered that question until someone from Reliant Energy offered us a chance to interview the winner of Reliant’s “Dream Trip of a Lifetime.”…
Are Foam Parties Dangerous?
Picture your perfect Saturday night: the drinks are flowing, the tunes are cranking and you and your friends are dancing it up, having a grand old time. Now picture that evening exactly the same except you are covered in foam. We are not talking about the type of foam that…
EDC 2012: Calvin Harris Plays CDs of Himself Singing
Calvin HarrisSee also our EDC slideshows: Day 1, and another Day 2 Day 3 Dance music is fighting for its soul. The charts are filled with tracks (Rihanna, Flo Rida) that borrow from the ecstatic trance and pulsing grooves of electronic dance music. The last time pop was so infatuated…
EDC Vegas Pulls Plug on Music Due to High Winds
Photo by Christopher VictorioEDC raversSee also our EDC slideshows: Day 1, and another Day 2 Day 3 [Update at 2:48 a.m]: EDC is over for the night. Organizers are waiting for crowds to thin out before making an official announcement. More details and older updates at the bottom. Electric Daisy…
EDC 2012: Coachella or Electric Daisy Carnival: Which One Is Better?
Kaskade.See also our EDC slideshows: Day 1, and another Day 2 Day 3 See also: LA Weekly’s Complete Coachella Coverage Dance music is coming to an arena near you: Kaskade will be the first DJ ever to play L.A.’s Staples Center (July 27). And mainstream concert promoters such as Live…
EDC 2012: House Music Beef With DJ Sneak Plays Out in Steve Angello’s DJ Set
Steve Angello / FacebookSee also our EDC slideshows: Day 1, and another Day 2 Day 3 In early spring, a Twitter beef erupted between DJ Sneak, a Chicago house music legend, and Steve Angello, one-third of the DJ supergroup Swedish House Mafia. Sneak called SHM’s music “fake shit” and said…
Baron Keith Armstrong, 45, Victim of Bizarre Rage Incident, Bayou Body Count No. 76 (UPDATED)
A man will likely face murder charges in a bizarre incident that began with a fight over keys and ended with a death, a sexual assault and two other assaults, police say. Johnathan Renard Castaneda, 25, is on the run after the incident in the 5200 block of Van Fleet…
Comment of the Day: The Poop-Related Side Effects of Downtown Life
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous…
Alfonzo Dewayne Anthony: Second Exemplar of East Texas Tattoo Artistry to Hit Jails This Week
The fine art of East Texas tattoo artistry is rockin’ it this week. Earlier, we brought you the story of Jonathan Thompson, the Trinity man in the Trinity jail with the tat suggesting that Trinity County constable Woody Wallace should suck his dick. And now, let’s meet Lufkin’s Alfonzo Anthony,…
HISD Deals with the STAAR Results
If there’s anything that can fix public education, it’s yet another standardized test with a bizarre acronym. Forget TAAS and TAKS — get used to hearing about STAAR. (The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, of course.) The Houston school district says STAAR is “much more rigorous” than TAAS,…
This Week in Deliciousness: Doing the Wrong Thing ‘Cause It Feels So Right
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating…Our Words, where the hellish heat of the Houston summer months means chefs and bartenders alike are trying to sneak cucumbers into things. QUIT IT. We started the week off right with a great big celebration of things we know are wrong…
Michelle Lyons: Ex-TDCJ Spokeswoman Sues Over Alleged Gender Discrimination
Michelle Lyons, who left the Texas Department of Criminal Justice last month after accusing her bosses of retaliating against her for answering a media inquiry from a blogger critical of the department, has sued the TDCJ in federal court. Filed on Monday, the suit alleges that Lyons was demoted from…
Fat Tony Grows Up On California Fresh New LP Double Dragon
Things are different. Like, REAL DIFFERENT. Except some things are the same, mostly. The last time Fat Tony released an album, it was 2010. He’d become a beloved underground performer — cool, clever, handsome, fun to watch perform, etc. — but his arms hadn’t yet extended out too much further…
The Bard’s a Perfect Fit with Houston Ballet in Romeo and Juliet
What makes Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare’s most popular work is its accessibility to the masses; everyone at one point has been the Romeo or Juliet of their own lives. The innocence of first love, the transitional purgatory between adolescence and adulthood, and the tragedy of unrealized dreams are the themes…
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas from TUTS: A Home-Grown Musical with Verve and Charm
See our interview with John Holly, the former executive producer of Theatre Under the Stars, who has returned to Houston to play the cameo role of the governor — the same part he played 22 years ago, and our interview with Michael Tapley, who has played Melvin P. Thorne all…
100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 80, Dahi Puri at Shiv Sagar
This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we’re counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston’s cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least once…
Stay Tuned For The Electric Daisy Carnival
Rocks Off is pleased to tell our readers that this weekend we will be running coverage from the Electric Daisy Carnival, one of the largest electronic-music festivals in the world and the largest in the U.S., as it takes over the Las Vegas Motor Speedway over there in Sin City…
Tyler Duffey, J.T. Chargois: The Minnesota Twins Hope the Rice Owls Can Save Them
It’s been a tough month or so for Rice Owls pitcher Tyler Duffey. There’s the disappointment that comes from the way the season ended, losing in the conference tournament and not making it past the NCAA Regionals this past weekend. And nothing can compare to what happened in late April…
Last Night: Santigold at House Of Blues
Santigold, Charli XCX House of Blues June 7, 2012 Watching Santigold onstage, you’d have almost no idea that the 35-year-old former punk singer had a hand in developing the careers of some of the biggest pop starlets in the last decade. That is until you break down that her costume…
Happy Birthday, Kanye West: 10 Gift Ideas for the Mighty Yeez
Today is Kanye Omari West’s 35th birthday, and that’s a bit of a problem. We’re happy to celebrate, of course, but Rocks Off is big on giving gifts, and Yeezy’s already got it all: Hit records, a world tour, a celebrity paramour and sunglasses with no glass in them. What…
Trina Turk Capsule Collection for Banana Republic a Perfect Fit
What a difference a mall makes! Last night’s Trina Turk for Banana Republic launch at the Houston Galleria Banana Republic store was positively boring compared to the hair-pulling, elbow-throwing crowds at the Missoni for Target event last fall. When the floor opened to shoppers at 6 p.m. there was an…
Chef Chat, Part 3: Mario Valdez of The Rainbow Lodge and His Rustic Texan Fare
Mario Valdez The Rainbow Lodge 2011 Ella Blvd. 713-861-8666 www.rainbow-lodge.com This is the last installment of a three-part part chef chat series. Read Part 1 and Part 2 for more. This week, we’ve been chatting with Mario Valdez, the 24-year-old chef who is reinvigorating the menu at Rainbow Lodge with…
Joe Bankson, Gena Charlton: Liberty Co. Couple Sues Media, Sheriff Over That Psychic-Inspired Search for Mass Graves
Remember last summer’s sudden media hysteria about a large number of children’s graves on a Liberty County home? It was all inspired by a psychic who phoned the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, and, we think, some tipster in that office who gave out bad info that led outlets such as…
Jose Ramirez-Lopez: Tells Jury at His Deportation Trial Just Because I Was in the U.S. Doesn’t Mean I Was in the U.S.
Jose Ramirez-Lopez, 30, has been arrested at least twice for being in the U.S. illegally and sent back to Mexico He “did not have consent of the Secretary of Homeland Security for permission to re-enter the United States,” prosecutors say, but was arrested after being found sitting in front of…
Upcoming Events: Ghetto Dinner Goes Greek
Do you know how to say “Ghetto Dinner” in Greek? Courtesy of Evan Turner, now you do: γκέτο δείπνο. Turner is partnering with Ghetto Dinner chef Adam Dorris (recently of Stella Sola and the reprised Ghetto Dinners at Grand Prize Bar) to do a Greek version of the ultra-casual, ultra-hip…
When The Beach Boys Went To The Movies
The Beach Boys have embarked on a 50th-anniversary reunion tour this year, kicking off the media blitz with a Grammy performance featuring everybody from Maroon 5 to Foster the People. As one of the pioneering rock bands of their era, the Beach Boys made a return to the spotlight that…
Spaceman: The Week in Photos
It’s time again to check out the Houston Press Flickr Pool and see what kinds of art shots our talented photographers have added. We love street art, unique perspectives and beautiful photos of Houston’s creative community. If you think you’ve got a good eye, drop your pictures in the pool…
Lewis Scholten Jr.: Trailer Park Party King, Awesome Facebooker Busted for Murder
A trailer park stabbing just off Rockport’s Monkey Drive has led one man to the cemetery and another to the Aransas County Detention Center. According to KRIS-TV, early Monday morning 26-year-old Matthew Chipps went to the home of 42-year-old Lewis Scholten Jr and an argument broke out. According to a…
5 UNsexiest Vampires
True Blood starts up this weekend, and being Houston Press’s resident high-five inspector, astrologist and vampire/vampyre expert, I will once again be bringing you my particular brand of coverage of the show as I have for the four years past. It’s still a good show, though I suspect it’s time…
A Prince Among Rosés: Tempier Bandol
When you taste wine, its initial impact is visual. The color and transparency or opacity of the wine is the first in a series of four “tasting” moments: Visual, olfactive, tactile/gustatory, temporal/mnemonic. In other words, the impressions that the wine makes on your eyes, nose, mouth and memory. These phases…
7 Cool & Cheap Weekenders: Weird Fest 2012, The Suffers, Etc.
Houston House of Creeps (807 Williams), now near Last Concert Cafe, is hosting Weird Fest 2012 starting at 7 p.m. The lineup, as per the Facebook event page: Driver Friendly (Tour kickoff show in Houston), Fingers Crossed (Houston Assholes), Deep Cuts (Scored every Disney Classic soundtrack), Chemistry (these kids are…
Longhorn Panic: Sealy WR Ricky Seals-Jones Decommits
It wouldn’t be June if we didn’t have some sort of off-the-field drama to worry about with our college football. And since the realignment talk this summer is at a dull roar at best, and since the resolution of a college football playoff is still several weeks away, how about…
Video Game High School: Deafeatorito with Cheese
Coming off the unbelievable euphoria of the last episode of VGHS took a solid week, and frankly I didn’t think that the show could top such an incredible high…And I was right, but maybe not in the way I was thinking. Is Episode 5 as much fun to watch as…
Health Department Roundup: Nidda and Friends
You know what’d be interesting? Seeing a Health Department inspection of Minute Maid Park. We worked there a few years back, so nothing the city might turn up would surprise us at all (except maybe Carlos Beltran’s personality, or Drayton’s buried treasure). I guess when your average nightly attendance is…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Prometheus
Title: Prometheus Does Ridley Scott Still Have It? Scott is still capable of rendering scenes of visual magnificence and making future tech palpable to modern audiences. Unfortunately, this time he’s working with a script by the guy who created Lost. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant to the Film: Two Marvin…
Digital Chaos: 8 Experiments In Wub Machine Remixing
Contrary to what they want you to think, Diddy his crew at Bad Boy did not invent the remix. If you really wanted to meet the people who first made dance remixes you’d have to go back a bit further in music history, to the land of the mid-’70s. In…
Midtown Gallery Has a Bold Red Landmark Once Again
Good news for all you lost art lovers — Gallery Sonja Roesch has a new red landmark to help you find your way. For much of last year, the light gray Midtown space at 2309 Caroline St., was instantly recognizable thanks to the presence of a 35-foot sculpture by John…
You Win Some, You Dim Sum: A First-Timer’s Guide to Eating Dim Sum
What’s not to like about simmering hot tea, savory, steamed gow gee and marinated chicken feet? Dining without adventure is no fun. If you’re looking for an authentic Chinese culinary experience — or even a fat-filled, fried hangover brunch — the wild east of dim sum has you covered. For…
Jerry Hart of Hart Galleries, Scheduled to Serve His Time on a Felony Conviction, Reflects on the Past
Photo by Steve JansenJerry HartJerry Hart has been sitting at Avalon Diner for nearly two hours and he’s barely touched the English muffin that he glazed with butter when it first arrived at the corner table. The antique dealer, convicted of misapplication of fiduciary property in connection with his once…
Week in Photos: Venus Transit
Each week, we take a dip into the Houston Press Flickr pool and see what our talented photographers have been up to. We’re looking for pictures that represent the best of Houston, from food to art to events, to secret hidden spots of beauty. Just drop them in our Flickr…
5 Father’s Day Gift Tips for the Gamer Dad
The average age of a video gamer these days is 37, and 58 percent of them are male. That means the odds are pretty good that this Father’s Day the man in the household will be getting video games on June 17 from their wives and kids. That’s where this…
Gator Gum and 7 Other Discontinued Snacks That I Wish Were Still Around
Remember Gatorgum? No, it’s not a gum disease caused by the disgustingly sweet nature of Tim Tebow that has been crippling the entire female population ever since the QB’s time back at the University of Florida (although that’s not a bad name for the Tebow hysteria, is it?). It’s the…
Dems Dream of a Blue Texas As They Convene in Houston
For people who’ve been losing Texas elections pretty consistently since the `80s, Democrats at the Democratic State Convention officially kicking off today in downtown Houston are surprisingly upbeat. That’s because many of them are expecting the tide to turn in Texas politics, maybe not today or tomorrow, but relatively soon…
100 Creatives 2012: Ariane Roesch, Mixed-Media
Even by an artist’s standard, Ariane Roesch gets her hands into some unconventional stuff, ranging from fancy-pants light installations to solo ukulele performances. As of the beginning of 2012, Roesch is the main gal behind UNIT, an online store “for limited edition prints, products, and publications by emerging and established…
Openings & Closings: Haven Raises the Bar
Hang onto your napkins, folks — it’s been a busy week for restaurant news around Houston. While coffee connoisseurs across the city eagerly await the opening of Blacksmith and Southside Espresso, another new coffee shop is already taking shape in Midtown. Aperture Coffee & Wine Bar took over the old…
Gothic Council Presents: Gothic Poetry Slam
That up there is a poetry performance piece done by regular Gothic Council member and author of the Encyclopedia Gothica, Liisa Ladouceur. The video, directed by Tomb Dragomir, helps answers the eternal question, “What is goth?” This is, of course, the whole purpose of the Gothic Council. Well, that and…
Phantom Cellphone Vibration Syndrome Is Real, Damn It
Talk about a first-world, (half) white person problem to have. This past week I developed a sporadic vibration in my left thigh where my cellphone usually resides when it rests in my pocket. I will feel a phantom vibration every few minutes that mimics my phone’s notification buzz. It got…
Top 10 Weirdest Kiss Memorabilia Items Up For Sale
In rock n roll and pop music, merchandising has always been a somewhat lucrative ordeal. This especially rings true whenever an artist becomes extremely popular. It is a great marketing ploy, whether for teens, diehards, collectors or regular fans. Let’s face it, when it comes to music merchandising, Kiss has…
5 Most Overrated Art Movements of All Time
Some artists working in these movements are holding it down on Art Attack’s “5 Most Overrated Paintings of All Time” breakdown. Others, like Juxtapoz and Claude Monet, are posting up on one of our overrated lists for the first time. Congratulations? Good job? Hmmm…..
Everything About the Shell Video Is Fake, Apparently
First there was the fake video. Then there was the fake press release saying Shell was going to sue over the video. We wrote about it, having received releases from Shell before, and this one was a good-looking fake, we’ll give them that. Ad Age reports the press release is…
Booing Rick Perry’s Plug for Dewhurst? Other Possibilities
The crowd at the state GOP convention was listening to a very Rick Perry-like speech from Rick Perry when all of a sudden he injected that “my friend David Dewhurst” should be sent to Washington. Then, booing commenced. Or so the lamestream media would have you believe. Perry, ducking reporters…
Happy Birthday, Michael Watts: Revisiting SwishaHouse’s Best Tape
Actually, that might not be totally true. It might be a falsity to call 1999’s The Day Hell Broke Loose SwishaHouse’s best tape. I’m sure arguments could be made for something from their Before da Kappa series or After da Kappa series. Someone who’s especially sexy might even try and…
100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 81, Grilled Shrimp Po-boy at Pappadeaux
This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we’re counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston’s cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least once…
Robert Pemelton: The Smiling-est Damn (Alleged) DWI Mugshot Ever
Robert Pemelton decided to show off in his black Jaguar on a Harlingen street about 1:30 yesterday; unfortunately for him, a cop saw it all and stopped him. Pemelton failed field sobriety tests, but apparently he doesn’t feel too bad about it — his mugshots show him all smiles, like…
Readers Poll: What R Your Favorite Prince Songs 2 Listen 2?
Today Prince Rogers Nelson turns another year older, hitting the big 5-4. Last year on the occasion of his birthday, I showed you some fun and freaky pics from his career as pop music’s most enigmatic, maddening and (bare) ass-shaking personality. This time around though, I asked folks on Twitter…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Mario Valdez on Cooking Wild Game
Mario Valdez The Rainbow Lodge 2011 Ella Blvd. 713-861-8666 www.rainbow-lodge.com This is the second part of a three-part chef chat series. Read Part 1 here and Part 3 in this same space on Friday. EOW: As chef de cuisine, how much control do you have on the menu? ML: It’s…
Years of Refusal: 8 More ’80s Icons Who Should Follow Morrissey Into Retirement
Morrissey announced this week that he plans to retire in two years. That’s tragic news in some circles, but we think it’s a good move. In 2014, he’ll turn 55, and the Smiths thing is never happening. How much longer is he supposed to do this? Another ten years ’til…
Cesar Avila: Immigrant Smuggler Convicted of Holding Them for Ransom
A jury has convicted an immigrant smuggler of imprisoning his customers until their families coughed up $5,000 each. Cesar Avila, 35, was found guilty on one count of hostage-taking conspiracy, four counts of hostage taking, one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence and four counts of…
Hot Spots for Cool Treats: Where to Get Great Gelato, Ice Cream and Snowcones in Houston
I spent the morning over at KHOU’s studios this past Tuesday discussing ice cream and other cool treats with Debra Duncan on Great Day Houston (all pandering aside, a really great crew of people to work with and always a very fun time) and special guests Matt Marcus and Ryan…
Free for All: Joyful Noise, Don Ed Hardy, the World Naked Bike Ride, and “Interstitial Spaces”
Written and directed by Todd Graff, Joyful Noise has a familiar formula: a church choir has to pull it together as they prepare for a big singing contest. We’ve seen it before with Whoopi Goldberg and a young Lauryn Hill in Sister Act 2, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Beyoncé in…
Photos of a Guy Crapping in the Press Parking Lot & Its Aftermath
Life in the big city. We’re not sure if it was an offended reader (maybe a Phish Phan?) or just someone who answers nature’s call wherever he might be, but someone took a crap in our parking lot last week. Shit happens, you know? But someone in the nearby ExxonMobil…
Last Night: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings At Wortham Center
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Lillie and Roy Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center June 6, 2012 Gillian Welch’s songs have a pretty high body count. Not everyone may notice because the music is gorgeous, well-crafted and sturdy, but the songs themselves are told by a disproportionate amount of corpses. Hello,…
Dumb: Robbing Cop Car Parked in Front of Cop Shop. Dumber: Accidentally Turning the Flashing Lights On
There’s dumb and then there’s dumber, as Hollywood has taught us. Two thieves, whose names have not been released, apparently fit the part, according to KHOU. The two not only broke into a cop car last night, the cop car they broke into was sitting in front of the HPD…
Cachaca, Caipirinha and a Cuban: a Great Afternoon
After having the best caipirinha we had ever had (in the States) at Artista last week, some friends and I decided to have a cachaca tasting at home and make our own caipirinhas. To go with our Brazilian drink, our Cuban friend was charged with providing the snacks. We had…
Aging Gracefully: Seven Over-Fifty Female Celebrities Show Us How It’s Done
When it comes to beauty, Hollywood can be a depressing place to find your reference. Attempts to stay young through bad plastic surgery transform beautiful faces into odd masks of their former selves — Meg Ryan, Priscilla Presley, and Daryl Hannah come to mind as examples of beautiful women who…
NBA Playoffs: “Good Job, Good Effort” Kid Has Been Located
Well, that didn’t take long. On the heels of the Boston Celtics’ 94-90 win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, there were two stars usurping the spotlight after the game. One was Boston forward Kevin Garnett, whose 26 points and 11 rebounds led the Celtics to the huge upset…
Where the Chefs Eat: John Sikhattana, Ji Kang, Junnajet Hurapan
When we started this Where the Chefs Eat series a few weeks ago, one commenter scoffed at the notion that chefs actually care where they eat in their downtime. While it’s true that many chefs choose expedience over gourmet after dark, most of the answers we’ve gotten have been thoughtful…
Bun B: The Trill OG Crosses The Gumball 3000 Finish Line
After leaving the Gumball 3000 afterparty in Las Vegas, I made it back to my hotel at about 4:30 a.m. The plan was to sleep for a few hours, then head to Los Angeles, where the rally was set to arrive at the finish line on Hollywood Blvd. Originally, I…
Lucas Johnson: A Print Master at Moody Gallery for PrintHouston
All summer long, the practice of printmaking is being marked through PrintHouston — a celebration across nearly 30 galleries featuring hundreds of artists who make both traditional and contemporary prints. But none may be able to capture the range of the practice and history here better than one show by…
10 Things That Have Happened To Rock Stars’ Ashes
Recently, I explored some of the strange things that musicians have been buried with. In the course of researching that article, I came across a lot of tales about the cremated remains of rock stars. Some very odd things have occurred with famous ashes, so being the resident morbid person…
The 18th Cocktail Bar: The New Blind Pig in Town
They say everything old is new again — though Prohibition ended long ago and we can all freely enjoy an adult beverage, we’re still nostalgic for the speakeasy — or blind pig — as seen in the creative and stiff cocktails at such places as Anvil, Prohibition and Hughes Hangar…
Trailer Park: The First Trailer for Django Unchained Is, Um, Unchained
The first trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s slave-‘sploitation epic Django Unchained has leaked, and it’s full of eyebrows, bullwhips and funk, man, loud-ass funk. Is Leo drinking out of a goblet with a straw? And why does he still look like a child? We’ve already listed our hopes for the film,…
Comment of the Day: Dallas Socialite’s Child-Porn Stash
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous…
Jay Lee: Local Photographer Threatened With Lawsuit by Woman Who Used Copyrighted Photo Without Permission
When Houston photographer, Houston Chronicle blogger and KPFT tech-talk show co-host Jay Lee found out last month that one of his copyrighted pics of Houston’s skyline had been used without permission on multiple Web sites, he sent the Web hosts a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice informing them of the…
Pop Rocks: How Did We Forget It Was the 25th Anniversary of Predator?
There’s been a lot of talk about the “greatest summer of movies” (1982, according to the Alamo Drafthouse) lately, and plenty of our entertainment contemporaries are talking about the anniversaries of films like The Godfather (30th) and Lawrence of Arabia (50th). Clearly, many great movies were released in years ending…
Top 5 Awkwardly Named Grocery Store Products
Bizarrely named foreign foods (e.g., Spotted Dick) are always good for a laugh, but what about the weird monikers that grace the labels of products on our own shelves? Here are five awkwardly titled domestic grocery store products. Bet you can’t ask Grandma to pick them up at the store…
God Knows Why, But You Can Now Buy Game of Thrones and True Blood Cookbooks
I am the last person in America to have neither watched nor read Game of Thrones and/or True Blood. I’m not being willful about this; I just don’t have cable. And my patience for campy vampire TV shows ran out with the cancellation of Moonlight and season 5 of Buffy…
Five Ways the Rockets Season and the MLB Draft Are Alike
I’ll be the first to admit that while I like the game of baseball and generally keep up with it and the Astros during the season, I’m not an avid fan. I’m certainly not enough of a fan or baseball nerd to understand what the 40-round major league draft means…
A Game of Thrones Cookbook? Five Television Shows That Need Cookbooks
You love Game of Thrones. You quote it obsessively. You have claimed the Iron Throne many times over in the GOT board game. You have even pre-ordered the Game of Thrones Lego set. You are the biggest fan in the world. Or are you? Have you yet enjoyed the opportunity…
The Burger Guys Bad-Ass Brunch Is Back: 5 Things to Know Before You Go
Long ago, The Burger Guys held routine Bad-Ass Brunches that would feature inventive breakfast dishes such as Shrimp and Oats, Steak Meets Eggs and Glass of Milk. But then the guys got busy with running a temporary second location downtown and just being crazy, creative burger guys in general –…
New Doc The Art Of Rap Spills Hip-Hop’s Secrets
Rap wasn’t always like Lil Jon’s yelling his famous “What!?” and “Okay!”, or repeating your name over and over throughout the song like Houston’s own Lil Flip. Nowadays most see rap as lyrics telling a woman how to position herself or look for a man, rhymes about money and talk…
Top 6 Ways To Improve Summer Fest Next Year
More FPSF 2012 Coverage: • Summer Fest line-up reviews on the Rocks Off blog. • Free Press Summer Fest 2012: The Sexy, Sweaty Crowds • Popsicles and Pizza: The Food of Summer Fest • FPSF: The Bands from Saturday • FPSF: The Bands from Sunday Free Press Summer Fest is…
We Moustache You All a Question: Where Do We Go from Here?
This past weekend at Free Press Summer Fest, moustaches were all the rage, like the ones growing on some of the festival-goers (like my friend Charlie above), and on shirt designs, sunglasses and other carnival fare. Our fashion experts here on Art Attack snapped a picture of Charlie for a…
Comcast Customer Service: A Horror Tale, Part 2
For about a year, things were actually fine with my Comcast service. But then I moved apartments, which means I had to transfer my cable to the new pad, which means I had to call Comcast customer service, which means there’s a part two of what may become a multi-part…
Polisse
French director/actor Maïwenn’s latest directorial effort, Polisse (how a French child might spell “police”), shows the inner workings of one of the Child Protection Units in Paris. Raw and occasionally unfocused, the film shows the gritty, unglamorous life of the squad as they deal with the dregs of humanity and…
And I Feel Fine…: End of the World Shorts for 2012
It’s the year 2012, and according to some predictions, time for the end of the world. Big Head Productions is giving us a preview of the apocalypse with And I Feel Fine…: End of the World Shorts for 2012. Some 100 plays were submitted, with just 11 making it to…
World Naked Bike Ride
Naked people get a lot of attention — or so the people behind the World Naked Bike Ride are hoping. They’re protesting the pollution caused by fossil fuels by biking naked. The movement was founded in 2004; that’s the same year that Klaus -Töpfer, then executive director of the United…
Romeo and Juliet
The Houston Ballet’s repertoire is filled with famous love stories, but none so captivating as Romeo and Juliet, the Bard’s iconic tale of two star-crossed teenagers. When the two fall in love, their feuding families do everything they can to keep them apart. Love prevails, but not without tragic consequences…
Paramount Turns 100
It’s a warm spring evening on the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood, and the crowd jostling for hors d’oeuvres in the lobby of the Paramount Theater exudes the anticipatory hum of a gala studio premiere. Only tonight’s feature presentation isn’t a new summer blockbuster or year-end prestige release. Rather, it’s…
”Don Ed Hardy: 2,000+12”
Tattoo artist and painter Don Ed Hardy celebrated the dawn of the new millennium by creating a unique piece of art, the painted scroll 2,000 Dragons. The piece, now on display as part of ”Don Ed Hardy: 2,000 Dragons + 12” at DiverseWorks, measures more than half a football field…
Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-ass Wit of Molly Ivins
Few people have inhabited the Texas spirit and sense of humor as completely as liberal newspaper columnist and author Molly Ivins. Now that spirit and humor hit the stage in Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-ass Wit of Molly Ivins. She grew up in Houston (we raise ’em sassy here), but…
Houston Roller Derby
The women of the Houston Roller Derby have built a national reputation for themselves with a combination of elegant athleticism and pure, brutal competitiveness. (We especially love the brutal competitiveness.) Houston’s flat-track roller derby teams tend to dominate the out-of-town competition, but they have their work cut out for them…
UCLA Festival of Preservation: The Crusades
Hold onto your chain mail; you’re in for a glorious medieval romp with master filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille’s The Crusades (1935), his burly and immensely entertaining pageant about Richard the Lionheart (the extraordinarily photogenic Henry Wilcoxon, the leading man in DeMille’s previous blockbuster Cleopatra). Mammoth forces align against worthy Islamic…
8th Annual Wine & Food Week
The folks over at the 8th Annual Wine & Food Week are a sneaky lot — they rope us in by touting the fact that there will be more than 500 wines available during this year’s celebration, knowing very well that it’s a physical impossibility for anyone to sniff/swish/swallow that…
Heaven and Hell
Ars Lyrica Houston joins forces with New York Baroque Dance Company to explore the fate of ungrateful women during the concert performance of Heaven and Hell. (Can you guess where the women end up?) The musicians share the stage with seven dancers and six vocalists for a fully staged program…
”Unrivaled Splendor: The Kimiko and John Powers Collection of Japanese Art”
”Unrivaled Splendor: The Kimiko and John Powers Collection of Japanese Art” is coming to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for a three-month stay. The exhibit is made up of 85 masterworks from the Powers Collection, thought to be one of the three most important collections of Japanese art in…
Jurassic Park Live
Steven Spielberg spent $63 million on the blockbuster film Jurassic Park. The Old Murder House Theatre has spent $21,330 on the parody Jurassic Live. The stage show follows in the footsteps of the troupe’s previous production Aliens on Ice by taking the Brachiosaurus-size phenomenon of Jurassic Park (translation: huge) and…
2012 Houston Beer Fest
The annual Houston Beer Fest explores all things beer, including tastings from breweries all over the state. Everything from stout to lager to a selection of hard ciders (yum!) will be on hand, including a new wheat ale from No Label brewed especially for this year’s festival. Four different stages…
Anna Bolena
In its continuing effort to bring the world’s greatest opera performances to the movie screens of the hinterlands, New York’s Metropolitan Opera offers its high-def Summer Encore Series for June and July. Donizetti’s thrilling and trilling Anna Bolena kicks off the series. Starring the Met’s current darling, Russian soprano Anna…
Fierce Reads Tour
Hunting for the perfect vacation books for your teen? Look no further! The Fierce Reads Tour is making a stop at Blue Willow Bookshop, with five authors making their debut in the young adult arena. If your teen is a fan of The Hunger Games series, she’s sure to be…
Citizen Kane
“It’s terrific!” blazed the 1941 RKO posters for Orson Welles’s first movie, Citizen Kane (1941). You’ll think so, too, when this pseudo-bio film noir unspools during CineMark’s Classic Films Series. The one person who didn’t think the movie was terrific was newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, who bellowed that he…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Extremities, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Next to Normal, Rum and Vodka
Extremities Theatre Southwest’s production has put the tingle into William Mastrosimone’s creepy little Off-Broadway hit. Psychotic stalker Raul (Kevin Daugherty) has set his sadistic sights on the lonely farmhouse shared by Marjorie (Elizabeth Marshall Black) and her two roommates, Patricia (Kelly Walker) and Terry (Melanie Martin). He’s done his homework…
John Michael Montgomery
Kentucky native John Michael Montgomery was the undisputed king of Slow-Dance Country in the ’90s, with songs like “I Swear” and “I Can Love You Like That” mopping the floor with last-call dreamers and teens at the prom. Remember, his hit with “I Swear” predates syrupy R&B-lite act All-4-One’s 1994…
The Cave Singers
A Seattle trio of erstwhile rockers, the Cave Singers cut the electricity upon forming in 2007 and dove headlong into an amiable, relatively laid-back variety of trad folk and folk-blues, sporting a touch of pop and given a curious edge via Pete Quirk’s reedily textured lead vocals. But with last…
Pleasure Pier
Highlights from Hair Balls TEXAS Pleasure Pier: Not Bad Galveston’s new attraction opens By Brittanie Shey You can barely tell that the Flagship was ever there. The past-its-prime hotel, which was destroyed in 2008 by Hurricane Ike, has been replaced by Landry’s new Galveston Island Pleasure Pier, a glimmering beacon…
Flashbulb Fires
Flashbulb Fires is an unusual booking for Dan Electro’s, the venerable north Heights haunt known for its hard-rocking guitar-slingers and headbanging bands. In walks in Flashbulb Fires, a Colorado trio whose roots lie more in the lush psychedelic pop of mid-’90s Elephant 6 collective, with a hint of the blissful…
Crossing the Line: Bordering on Revolution
The U.S. Supreme Court will rule this month on legislation that forces police to scrutinize Latinos, both immigrants and citizens. President Barack Obama has deported 1.5 million people. And 41 states are attempting to limit the voting rights of young people and minorities. In “Crossing the Line,” Village Voice Media…
LMFAO
It’s 2012, you guys, and if the ship sinks this year, at least LMFAO will die knowing that they tried to rock each and every one of our parties even if we resisted. The duo of Redfoo and SkyBlu is now a viable arena act after years of opening slots,…
The Rest of the Best
There are so many truly fabulous patios in Houston that it’s difficult to limit the list to only ten. So this isn’t a definitive list of the city’s best patios for all time, but a list of the places where I’m enjoying dining alfresco at the moment. I hope you…
Lucio’s Hidden in Plain Sight
Take a trip through this hidden gem in our slideshow of Lucio’s kitchen, dining room and fabulous patio. Just when you think you know a neighborhood and just when you think you’ve uncovered every stone there is to pluck up and examine, Houston surprises you. It’s one of the endlessly…
Insults and the One-Eyed Revolutionary
Dear Mexican, I work construction here in Texas. The mojados at work call me “Chicano” (which really angers me) to make fun of me, and I reply to them by saying, “¡México, bien por su gente!” This usually leads to debates that the Hispanic population will be the majority of…
The Beach Boys’ Endless Summer
The Beach Boys embarked on a 50th-anniversary reunion tour this year, kicking off the media blitz with a Grammy performance featuring everybody from Maroon 5 to Foster the People. As one of the pioneering rock bands of their era, the Beach Boys made a return to the spotlight that was…
The Blues Broads
With four women with voices of this caliber, this show in The Woodlands threatens to reverberate all the way to Galveston. Queen bee of this bunch is Angela Strehli, Clifford Antone’s onetime muse in Austin who has been a linchpin of Bay Area blues for many years. Strehli has been…
American Falls
With American Falls, new playwright Miki Johnson has captured lightning in a bottle. Catastrophic Theatre likens it to Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, but after mentally riffling through Carson McCullers, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Edward Arlington Robinson and Edgar Lee Masters, I settled on David Lynch’s television series Twin Peaks. But…
Subverting the Rom-Com
With her high cheekbones, feline brown eyes, and heart-shaped mouth, actress Aubrey Plaza is bombshell hot. But in an unusual twist for a twentysomething performer at the beginning of her career, Plaza’s natural foxiness is a resource that has gone largely unexploited. Not exactly a character actress, as she hasn’t…
Santigold Goes Hard
Despite spending the previous evening performing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and hosting a celebratory afterparty at downtown New York hot spot Le Baron, Santi White, a.k.a. Santigold, is surprisingly fresh-faced and cheerful the morning after the release of her second album, Master of My Make-Believe (Atlantic/Downtown). Her demeanor…
Oslo, August 31st
In just two feature films, writer/director Joachim Trier has proven to be unparalleled in exposing the foibles and delusions of all the sad young literary men — or of one man in particular. The twentysomething character played by Anders Danielsen Lie in Reprise (2006) finds immediate cult success with his…
Satin Doll
Houston jazz and blues diva Jewel Brown may be the only woman on the planet to have worked in Jack Ruby’s nightclub and done a special command performance for Russian political jefe Vladimir Putin. A Yates High School graduate whose life story makes Alice in Wonderland look believable, Brown has…
Prometheus
Arriving in theaters on the back of a portentous ad campaign, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus assumes the air of something more than a summer movie, a blockbuster-with-brains that links the genesis and the ultimate fate of mankind beyond the stars. It is, incidentally, the story of an ambitious mission gone wrong…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Bo Joseph: Empire of Spoils,” “David Aylsworth: The Reverses Wiped Away,” “Endearing the Line,” “The Graphic Arts of Hans Erni,” “HJ Bott: Rhythm and Rhetoric,” “Jason Yates: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything,” “Source Material: Wor
“Bo Joseph: Empire of Spoils” In Bo Joseph’s first solo show at McClain Gallery, his paintings are hardly reproducible — they’re made through a complicated method involving layers of oil pastels, water-based tempera and acrylic-based ink on sheet paper that often damages the delicate paper in the process. Joseph works…
Crossing The Line: Days of Rage
The U.S. Supreme Court will rule this month on legislation that forces police to scrutinize Latinos, both immigrants and citizens. President Barack Obama has deported 1.5 million people. And 41 states are attempting to limit the voting rights of young people and minorities. In “Crossing the Line,” Village Voice Media…
Crossing the Line: Welcome Back, Jim Crow
The U.S. Supreme Court will rule this month on legislation that forces police to scrutinize Latinos, both immigrants and citizens. President Barack Obama has deported 1.5 million people. And 41 states are attempting to limit the voting rights of young people and minorities. In “Crossing the Line,” Village Voice Media…
Crossing the Line: Love the Beans, Hate the Beaner
The U.S. Supreme Court will rule this month on legislation that forces police to scrutinize Latinos, both immigrants and citizens. President Barack Obama has deported 1.5 million people. And 41 states are attempting to limit the voting rights of young people and minorities. In “Crossing the Line,” Village Voice Media…
YACHT
YACHT’s blissed-out dance party is one of a kind. Mystical founder Jona Bechtolt and semi-recent vocal addition Claire L. Evans have worked hard to keep their ebullient sound growing more buoyant and propulsive with every release, including last year’s Shangri-La. Their synthesizer-based tracks overflow with good-time lyrics and dynamic beats,…
