Comment of the Day: The Dangers Of Reading Women Hitting Up Rick Perry With Women’s-Health Questions
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, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Tommy Tune 2012 Nominees Named Today
Theatre Under the Stars today announced the nominees for TUTS’ tenth annual Tommy Tune Awards — the awards dedicated to shining a light on high school theater’s best and brightest. John C. Breckenridge, TUTS President and CEO made the announcement of 154 nominations in 15 categories, saying the awards are…
15 American Foods That Are as Weird to Foreigners as Poisonous Blowfish Is to Us
“Boiled animal bones and hide, colored with garish chemicals, served with fruit,” wrote food blogger Dr. Ricky on Twitter yesterday. “Oh, you like your Jell-O don’t you?” When deconstructed in this way, a simple childhood dessert like Jell-O suddenly sounds rather vulgar and disgusting. And that was the point. Or,…
Last Night: Valerie June At Leon’s Lounge
Valerie June Leon’s Lounge March 20, 2012 “Tell your tale and listen too, as others tell their tale to you,” stated Valerie June around the start of her set Tuesday, framing the tone for the rest of the night. “Find a point at which you meet, and form a bond…
Texans Trade DeMeco Ryans — The Players Speak Out
Okay, this one I didn’t totally see coming. After a somewhat tumultuous one-week period that saw the Texans lose outside linebacker Mario Williams and guard Mike Brisiel to free agency, and cut offensive tackle Eric Winston as a cap casualty, the Texans decided to shed more salary yesterday afternoon, this…
Siniad Gonzalez: Your Glamour-Shot Mug of the Day Belongs To Getaway Driver
Not all mugshots are Nick Nolte disasters or Trinity, Texas entertainment. Some women go for the glamor look. Like Siniad Vanessa Gonzalez, charged with being the getaway driver for a home invasion. The three men involved in the caper are on the run, but the victim gave police a description…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Aquiles Chavez of La Fisheria
The first time you meet Mexican chef and Latin American TV personality Aquiles Chavez of the new restaurant La Fisheria, you immediately get a sense of his larger-than-life personality. He’s gregarious, funny, confident, outgoing and wholly unself-conscious. But most importantly, he grew up in the kitchen and loves being there…
Who Should Induct Axl Rose And Guns N’ Roses Into The Rock Hall?
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony is coming up quick on April 14, and the presenters for the event have been announced, except for one artist. Just who will speak about and induct Guns N’ Roses? Who is even qualified? Rapper Chuck D will induct the Beastie…
Craig Horner: Whatever Happened to Him? An Interview With a Fan
Whatever happened to Craig Horner? That burning question has haunted a horde of breathless fans like yourself, restless in their impatience, wondering if they would ever see again the chiseled abs that helped make The Legend of the Seeker a hit, nay, a cult television series, a sci-fi epic that…
Is Great Pizza in Houston Finally on the Rise?
Let’s face facts: Houston isn’t known as a great pizza town. We don’t attract heavy-hitters like Il Cane Rosso, in Dallas. Hell, we don’t even have one outstanding, nationally recognized pizza place here — no Pizzeria Bianco like Phoenix, no Pizzeria Mozza like Los Angeles. Last year, Greg Morago at…
Houston Press Music Has A New Email Contact
Recently, The Houston Press was shocked to discover there is not a separate contact for the music department besides for the specific staff members – who, we learned not too long ago, may not always be around or may leave quite suddenly. So we’re fixing it. God forbid something should…
Cover Story: Dekaney High School: A Bombing or Shooting Waiting to Happen
A Dekaney High School student collapses to the ground, his lips filled with the taste of rust as blood runs from his ear, down his cheek and into his mouth. A few feet away, a number of kids, who have formed a makeshift mosh pit in the school hallway, continue…
Reality Bites: Mob Wives
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. The women of Mob Wives are the embodiment of Karen Hill’s description from Goodfellas: They had bad skin and wore too much make-up. I mean, they didn’t look very good…
The Wheel Workers: SXSW Freshmen Get Their Feet Wet In Austin
Note: Allison McPhail is the spring 2012 Houston Press photo intern, as well as a member of Houston band the Wheel Workers. Written with Craig Wilkins We woke up early and followed the road to Austin. There was music to be heard, and our first SXSW show to play. About…
Trey Eric Sesler: YouTube Film Critic “Mr. Anime” Accused Of Killing Three Family Members
Trey Eric Sesler, a 22-year-old who styles himself “Mr. Anime” for his YouTube movie reviews, is in jail, accused of using a high-powered rifle to kill his parents and his brother. The murders were discovered Tuesday in the small town of Magnolia Waller. Police found the bodies of parents Lawton…
A Fan’s Opinion on What the New Dynamo Stadium Should Offer
BBVA Compass Stadium, the new Dynamo stomping grounds, is set to open in 51 days. According to the website, it “will be a state-of-the-art, open-air stadium designed to host Dynamo matches as well as additional sporting and concert events. When it opens in 2012, the 22,000-seat stadium will be the…
Mercury Kickstarts Annual Fundraiser With a Jewelry Raffle
There was quite a bit of old and new money mingling at Valobra, a fine jewelry store and scene of Mercury’s (formerly Mercury Baroque; they just changed the name) 11th Season “Party Like It’s 1699” Gala Kick Off Tuesday night. As precursor to its yearly gala scheduled for this weekend,…
City Says: Let The Downtown Dynamo Tailgating Begin!
It’s difficult to imagine a home Dynamo game without a festive tailgating scene that is celebrated by the senses of sight, sound and smell. The trouble is, the team is moving downtown and tailgating isn’t allowed downtown. That problem has been solved, however. The city council voted this morning to…
Daggering: Dance Simulating Hardcore Sex at the Glassell School of Art Core 2012 Exhibit
We were not quite ready for Nicole Miller’s docu-style short at the Core 2012 opening exhibition, held this past weekend at the Glassell School of Art. Her piece, a 34-minute film on the act of “daggering,” a Caribbean-born style of dance that simulates extremely hardcore sex acts of the same…
Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs
WineSleuth Uncorked: Although we’d love to see some more wine bloggers join our ranks here in Houston, we’ve been geeked to see the steady posting by our city’s local chroniclers of all things vinous. This week, stay-at-home mom Amy Gross shares her “ratatouille” moment — otherwise known as an epiphany…
Last Night: fun. At Warehouse Live
fun. Warehouse Live March 20, 2012 “Sing it at the top of your lungs,” fun. front man and vocalist Nate Ruess told the crowd Tuesday night, “Like it means something.” As the crowd chanted “Na-na-na” over and over, Ruess sang, “Carry me home tonight” repeatedly while fans hands reached high,…
Dan Workman, Blues Bassist But Not SugarHill President, Passes Away
Dan “Uncle Mojo” Workman, host of the Thursday-night blues jam at the 19th Hole bar in The Woodlands, passed away over the weekend. He had a stroke last Thursday and died Saturday morning, the Houston Blues Society said. According to reports, he had played his regular gig earlier Thursday night…
Your HISD Condom Poster of the Year
The Sharpstown International School is a magnet for grades 6-12 that prides itself on its worldly view. That would naturellement include sex, mais oui? In the heart of abstinence-only-lovin’ Texas, SIS has been sporting a hallway poster that tells teens that condoms are cheaper than squalling babies. A sensible enough…
St. Joseph Altar Is A Tasty New Orleans Catholic Tradition With Italian Roots
This past weekend and Monday, March 19, Southern Catholics gathered to celebrate the feast day of St. Joseph, aka San Giuseppe, the patron saint of fathers, workers, families and the Sicilian people, among others. Sicilian immigrants first brought the custom of St. Joseph’s Altars to south Louisiana as a way…
Casablanca Celebrates 70 Years of Being Wonderful
This year marks the 70th anniversary of one of Hollywood’s golden classics, Casablanca. For 70 years this film has been watched, quoted and adored. Of course, Casablanca has also been emulated by so many other romantic/suspenseful/dramas over the past seven decades, yet it’s argued that few have ever come close…
CAMH Wins Big-Deal Award for Stan VanDerBeek Retrospective
If you were super into the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston exhibit “Stan VanDerBeek: The Culture Intercom,” you weren’t the only one. CAMH and the MIT List Visual Arts Center, who co-presented the retrospective show, recently scored an award from the American division of the International Art Critics Association (AICA/USA) for…
Turn The Radio Off: Where Do We Find New Music?
Aside from the better gas mileage and the smell, the best feature of my new car is that it has multiple audio inputs: Bluetooth, USB, auxiliary — if a device emits sound, my car can probably play it if I find the right cord. It was finally time for me…
Top 5 Foreign McDonald’s Menu Items I Wish Were Available in the U.S.
One of the things I like best about traveling abroad is the opportunity to try new foods. McDonald’s isn’t the first restaurant I go to after clearing border patrol, but I confess I do always at least peek at (and sometimes sample) the weird, wonderful world of foreign fast food…
Elizabeth Proctor: Civil Suit Connected to Teacher Sex Case Dropped, for Now
A civil lawsuit filed in connection to a case of teacher-student sex has been dropped, the Abilene Reporter-News has reported. Both the teacher in question and the Abilene Independent School District were named in the suit, which alleged that some teachers and AISD employees were negligent in not reporting rumors…
Report: Texans Use Mobile Broadband More Than Any Other State
The next time you are driving down the freeway and some guy starts weaving over into your lane because he is busy on his phone, it’s a safe bet it is happening in the Lone Star state. According to a report from the non-profit organization Connected Texas, Texans utilize broadband…
BioShock Infinite Debuts Heavy-Hitters, Plus 5 Other Video Game Mega-Threats
Things have finally been really moving on the upcoming third game in the critically acclaimed BioShock series of first person shooters. Set years before the original Rapture Saga, Infinite takes place on a flying city called Columbia where ultra-nationalism has plunged the city into chaos and violence just as ultra-Randian…
Peyton Manning — The Betting Window Is Open
It’s official now, Peyton Manning will be a Denver Bronco after signing a five-year, $96 million contract that essentially boils down to being a series of one-year contracts over the next five years. No signing bonuses, no roster bonuses, plenty of protection in case Manning sustains injury again. In short,…
Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs
New York Times: Rest assured that even if you have to travel outside the great state of Texas, there are at least a handful of places across the country that do Texas barbecue right — even in Los Angeles and New York City. Writing for the New York Times, local…
100 Creative 2012: Joseph “JoeP” Palmore
Joseph “JoeP” Palmore is a class act. Introduced to the performing arts early on by his father, Joe, a former theater professor who taught classes at Texas Southern, University of Houston, Houston Community College and New York University, Palmore was destined to be in the limelight. He first emerged to…
Dweezil Zappa: Jimi Hendrix “Rings True To Every Generation”
As far as the estates of deceased classic-rock artists go, few can hold a lighter to the efforts of Jimi Hendrix’s in terms of keeping the artist and their music alive. In recent years, Experience Hendrix, LLC — run by Jimi’s half-sister Janie — has churned out a number of…
The Good, the Bad and the Spam: The Complexities of Switching to Gmail
My aunt called me on Tuesday. She just got an iPhone. Admittedly, she is not technically inclined and was in need of a little technical support. Apparently, when she deleted e-mails she received on her computer in Outlook, they still showed up in her inbox on her phone. I diagnosed…
Virtual Reality: 10 Jobs Technology is Wiping Out
As a kid, I remember watching cartoons originally released in the 1940s and 1950s happily showing off the “house of the future” or the “car of the future.” Some of these things were remarkably accurate: smart kitchens with fast cooking food. Some we’re still waiting for — I’m looking at…
Happy Birthday Nobuo Uematsu! Top 5 Boss Battle Themes
The man who was responsible for the soundtrack of our youth, Nobuo Uematsu, turns 53 years old today. In 1985, Uematsu was an amateur musician working in a Tokyo instrument-rental shop in when an employee with the video-game company Square asked him if he would be interested in composing some…
Kiss, Motley Crue Hit Houston Together August 3
Kiss and Motley Crue are set to go on tour this year together, hitting the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion August 3, in the the thick of what will probably be a nasty, hot Texas summer. What should they call this tour? Maybe the “Shout It Loud at the Devil Tour”?…
Chefs Chosen for 2012 Iron Fork Competition: Let the Games Begin
You may have been to our annual Menu of Menus grand tasting in the past, but this year’s event will be upping its game thanks to our first ever Iron Fork competition. Curated and emceed by Houston’s own celebrity chef Monica Pope, the chef throwdown will take place Iron Chef-style…
Dumb: Burglarizing The Home Of Two Sheriff’s Deputies. Cold-Hearted: Taking The Cash They’d Raised For Cancer Victim
We can be pretty sure that the cops will be active in hunting down the perps behind a Monday burglary in Galveston. That’s because a) the home that was hit belongs to two Galveston County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and b) among the loot taken was money from a fundraiser for…
Served With a Side of Nostalgia: Houston’s Top 10 Time Warp Restaurants
There are restaurants which evoke a strong sense of nostalgia, even if you’ve never dined there before. You can look around at the picture-lined walls or the spots near the counter where the linoleum has rubbed away and know that you are only a small speck of the humanity that…
Flaming Lips And Their Fwends Set To Weird Up Record Store Day
In a few weeks on April 21, Record Store Day is yet again set to obliterate the wallets of record collectors around the country, and the Flaming Lips will have quite a release for fans on that day. What would you think if I said that they have been recording…
Semi-Good News? Hemi The Dog Might Have Been Run Over, Not Skinned Alive
You might remember our story on Hemi, the East Texas rescue dog who cops said was found skinned alive and then went off to die. We think this might qualify as “good” news — police now believe he might have been run over by a car, and not skinned alive…
Wine Time: A Natural Sicilian in Houston
If you’ve been following along here at Wine Time, then you certainly know a thing or two about Natural wine and the often heated debate in the U.S. about exactly what Natural wine is, who makes true Natural wine, and who’s allowed to write about Natural wine (it’s a good…
Check out the Plans for BARC’s Bitchen Adoption Center
Mayor Annise Parker joined other officials in unveiling designs for a planned $12 million adoption center for the historically troubled Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care Tuesday. Scheduled to break ground in October, the initial phase of the center will be funded by $4.1 million in capital improvement project money…
Fat City Tackles Every Entry on Our 100 Favorite Dishes List
Because I’m getting to be an oldster, I’m still not as hip to newer sites like Pinterest and Tumblr as I once would have been to, say, Blogger or Wordpress. Tumblr sites in particular sort of confuse me — aren’t they just blogs? With more pictures and less writing? And…
Upcoming: Jandek, Kaskade, Drake, Father John Misty, Soulfly, Etc.
Augustana, Greylag: Wed., April 11. Fitzgerald’s, 2706 White Oak, Houston. Benjamin Wesley (Record Release), The Niceguys, Khruangbin: Fri., April 6. Fitzgerald’s Béla Fleck: Sat., Sept. 22. Dosey Doe Coffee Company, 25911 I-45 N., Spring. The Boxer Rebellion, Canon Blue: Thu., April 12. Fitzgerald’s Bret Michaels, Black Queen Speaks: Thu., March…
DVDs & Blu-rays: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, A Lonely Place to Die, Buster Keaton and More
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy stars Gary Oldman and Colin Firth; Tomas Alfredson directs. The Set-Up: It’s the 1970s and there’s a Russian spy inside the British secret service. Agent George Smiley (played by Gary Oldman) has been tasked with finding him. The suspects? Powerful men from the agency’s inner circle…
Comment of the Day: Do What For The Astros, Mate?
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, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Sinead O’Connor’s Top 5 F-Bombs
Sinead O’Connor may be one of my oldest pop-music crushes. I remember being fascinated with her close-cropped haircut in the “Nothing Compares to U” video, but I think it was watching her tear up that picture of the pope on SNL in 1992 that really did it. As a high-school…
Hilary Hahn Spends the Weekend with Prokofiev and the Houston Symphony
Violinist Hilary Hahn has a special regard for Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, which she’ll be playing with the Houston Symphony during a four-day stint at the end of March; as a young man, her teacher, Jascha Brodsky had performed the then new concerto in a competition and subsequently met…
Don’t Eat That: A List of Foods to Avoid
This is my close friend Jamie from Hackney, East London, and he will eat anything you put in front of him. Whole, raw jalapenos and Thai chiles, dubious Asian convenience store sandwiches at 3 am — whatever it is, it doesn’t bother him. He once showed me a video from…
Edgar Dale Whitt: Serious Charges For Patriarch of One Very Creepy, Tragic and Disturbed West Texas Family
The press release from Howard County Sheriff Stan Parker opens with a wholesome slice of Norman Rockwell Americana, with an officer responding to a report of a child riding his bike in the dark. When questioned, the seven-year-old boy told police he was running away from home. And we’ve all…
Houston Scores Big Time In Latest Editon Of Encyclopedia Of Country Music: Part 2
Our second installment of Houston connections in the recently published second edition of The Encyclopedia of Country Music is a truly monumental list of writers, performers and performances that show that while Houston may not have been the musical business center that Nashville became, the Bayou City has always had…
Getting Inside John Waters’ Twisted Bald Head at McClain Gallery
Over a film career spanning 40 years, John Waters has managed to simultaneously offend and entertain his audience. His art, it turns out, is no different. In Neurotic, McClain Gallery displays conceptual works by the “Pink Flamingos” director made between 1993 and 2009 that comment on film, writing, sex, humor,…
Wendy’s Tops Burger King as No. 2 Burger Chain in America; BK Fans Furious
Yesterday, it was announced that for the first time in 43 years, Wendy’s had bested Burger King to become the No. 2 burger chain in America (behind perennial No. 1, McDonald’s) based on sales alone. The Wall Street Journal reported that “Wendy’s had sales of $8.5 billion in 2011, compared…
HISD Cancels After-School Athletic Activities Due To Weather; Storm Is Mostly Passed
The worst of the weather has passed on through the Houston area. Things got a little wet, but the rain came down at a rate that kept all but the usual places from flooding. There will be enough water on the fields, and enough hassles getting around this afternoon, though,…
Azariah Mayreis, 2 Months, Skull & Ribs Fractured, Bayou Body Count No. 36
Azariah Mayreis, just two months old, died in a horrific manner, if what police and prosecutors say is true. The girl’s father, Shawn Mayreis, 34, has been charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury in connection with the infant’s March 8 death in which she suffered fractures…
How To Be In A METAL Band: The Blunt Version
With the SXSW trash bags barely at the curb, some musicians are licking their wounds. Discouraged perhaps by a bad sound system, disappointing turnout or their ham-fisted (or shit-faced) fellow bandmates, some are no doubt deciding to pack it in and pursue the straight-job route. Kinko’s is always hiring. Some…
Il Trovatore from Opera in the Heights: Elemental, Volcanic, In-Your-Face Opera
The set-up: Giuseppe Verdi’s monumental and monumentally exciting opera (1853, composed immediately after Rigoletto and before La Traviata) roars into Opera in the Heights and flattens everything else around. It leaves one breathless. The execution: The gypsy camp is swarming with excitement (the famous “Anvil Chorus”), but earth mother Azucena…
Modernist Cuisine: Volume 4 Ingredients and Preparations – Foodie Science Geek Mecca
Foodie science geeks, take note – this is your volume of Modernist Cuisine: Volume 4 Ingredients and Preparations. Thickeners, Gels, Emulsions, Foams, Wine and Coffee, oh my. Let’s start with the easy stuff – we all know how to thicken a liquid; add a starch and stir vigorously. Making a…
Hanging At The Hideout: Country Comes To Town At The Rodeo
This was my first rodeo. Before Friday I had never been to a rodeo let alone the rodeo. While I might have been there to cover the post-rodeo entertainment, it was also my chance to get the full rodeo experience. Compare me to the food critic excited about Olive Garden…
Crimes of the Heart Is Warm and Sweet in Texas Rep’s Capable Hands
The set-up: Sisterhood blooms at Texas Repertory Theatre, strong and resilient as if made out of steel magnolias. Oops, sorry, that’s a completely different southern-fried play. This sisterhood, a Pulitzer Prize-winner by Beth Henley, is populated by the MaGrath sisters — three of them, like out of Chekhov — who…
Let the Grillin’ Begin: Beer Can Chicken
The weather’s heating up, and I don’t know about you guys, but I plan on taking full advantage of the small window of outdoor bliss here in Houston — the time before the temperatures rise to the point of no return and the sun torches every living thing in its…
Librotraficante: Texas’ Banned-Books Caravan Finishes Up In Arizona
The Librotraficante made it back to Houston late last night, ending a generally successful caravan designed to bring attention to Arizona’s noxious law prohibiting Mexican American Studies and to promote minority literature. A final event in Tucson, Arizona was held Friday and was sold out, Librotraficante organizers said. “If state…
Christopher Windham: Outdoes Larry Craig in Trying to Explain Men’s Room Creepiness
First there was the “wide stance” and now this…. A 57-year-old Trinity man said he was followed into a convenience store bathroom by 27-year-old employee Christopher Windham. The man said he stood at a urinal and Windham went into an adjacent stall. As the man was peeing, he would later…
Pop Rocks: Down On Their Luck
You may have noticed there was no Luck recap yesterday. No wait, that would’ve implied any of you were reading them in the first place, which we all know wasn’t happening. Anyway, before I begin, I just wanted to point out the decision to abandon the weekly write-ups was actually…
App of the Week: SugarSync and DropBox, Two Great iCloud Alternatives
App: Dropbox Platform: Most smart phones Website: Dropbox.com Cost: Free (includes 2GB storage) App: SugarSync Platform: Most smart phones Website: SugarSync.com Cost: Free (includes 5GB storage) There has been an awful lot of talk about cloud computing over the last couple years, particularly since Apple entered the fray last summer,…
Law and Order: Top 10 Best (Or Worst) Musicians’ Arrests
Nobody is above the law – not even musicians even though some of them may think they are. However, some of their outrageous behavior has become legendary. Others have spawned rumors, killed their careers and/or made them the butt of many jokes. In fact, this makes me wonder why there…
Bree Olson Gets Naughty, Softcore To Support KONY 2012 (NSFW)
Porn star, ex-Charlie Sheen gal pal, and newly-brunette Bree Olson has released a video of her cavorting in skimpy beach and lounge wear to get the word out about the KONY 2012 cause that sweeped the Internet a few weeks back. Olson juxtaposes footage of herself — her signature blond…
Where Are We Drinking?
At this neighborhood cafe, you can enjoy a cortado or a breakfast croissant with a little light reading. Like Divorce magazine, out of Canada. (Yeah, that last part surprised me too.) Think you know where we’re drinking this week? Leave your best guess below…
Rick Perry ‘s Facebook Page Hilariously Trolled By Women Seeking Female-Problems Advice: The 10 Best Postings
Until it got noticed by whoever is running Rick Perry’s Facebook page — we’re guessing it’s not Rick Perry — a hunch of women were having a great old time posting to the wall. Spurred by Perry’s brave decision to force trans-vaginal sonograms on all women needing abortions, they deluged…
A Showcase Of Silly Industrial Dancing
In addition to our job duties as in-house bartender and beard hygienist, we’re Houston Press’ resident goth music expert, and industrial music falls under our purview because of that. It’s sort of like how Joshua Norton got to be Emperor of the United States, but he also had to take…
4 Supervillains That Must Exist in Gotham
Batman has the most awesome rogue’s gallery in all of comic history. Only Spider-Man even comes close, and most of his enemies are borderline mentally handicapped. Batman has the Joker, Mister Freeze, Poison Ivy, dozens upon dozens of diverse, nuanced menaces that keep a reader deeply enthralled. That being said,…
Crisis Averted, Texans Fan — Peyton Manning Spurns Titans for Broncos
In a Texans offseason that has seen some good (Arian Foster’s and Chris Myers’ multiyear contract extensions), some bad (Mario Williams’ leaving, although the Texans have proven they can survive that), and some ugly (the dismantling of the right side of the offensive line), strangely enough, the Texans’ hopes and…
Moises Macias, 27, Bayou Body Count No. 35
An argument over whether a woman had been assaulted ended in a shooting death in the Fifth Ward Sunday night, police say. Moises Macias, 27, died in front of his house in the 3800 block of Lee Road about 9:30 p.m. when he was shot by an unknown assailant. “About…
SXSW: Echoes Of Festivals Past In A Vastly Different Landscape
The most telling, most poignant comment about SXSW 2012 came on Twitter. Texas Monthly music writer Jason Cohen tweeted something to the effect that watching the band with the current No. 1 song in the country — in this case Brooklyn’s fun., who plays Warehouse Live tomorrow and whose “We…
Hugo Ortega Named a 2012 James Beard Award Finalist
After racking up an impressive amount of semifinalist nods for the 2012 James Beard Foundation Awards, Houston had only one finalist for the annual “Oscars of food,” announced today in Las Vegas. One of the most interesting things about the six semifinalists was how accurately they represent the current culinary…
Stick It Truck Serves Up a Dose of Festival Fun
There’s something about putting food on a stick that makes it more fun. Perhaps it’s the bite-size pieces. Maybe it’s being able to gnaw the tasty morsels directly off a skewer. Eschewing knives, forks and plates gives a sense of freedom to the whole act of eating. I think the…
Crystal Sugars: Not As Sweet As She Sounds, Allegedly
LinkedInErin Go Bragh, Crystal go downtown.Sure and begorra it sounds like it was quite the St Paddy’s Day donnybrook for Crystal Angel Sugars. Police say in court documents that the 38-year-old Humble woman slugged two men, one of whom was both her business partner in a bar and also her…
Greek Week at Niko Niko’s Market Square: You Don’t Have to Rush
Where I went to college, Greek Week meant something very different. At Niko Niko’s in Market Square Park, Greek Week is a week-long event that culminates in a celebration of 180 years of Greek independence on Sunday, March 25. In partnership with Market Square Park, the restaurant will be hosting…
Bun B’s Birthday: “Murder” Still Kills
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: Slim Thug, Lil O, E.S.G., Delo, hasHBrown, Medicine Girl, Mac, Chane, more. Not Invited: Marcus This Week’s Prompt: King Bun B’s birthday is…
Texas Gets a D-Plus In Fighting Corruption
Texas got a dismal D-plus for its efforts in fighting corruption in a broad nationwide study. At least they did better than New Jersey, you’re saying? Gedda loada dis: New Jersey won the freakin’ t’ing, with a B-plus. The Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity and Public Radio International conducted…
Jaap Blonk Presents a Dada Work That’s on Par With Duchamp and Breton
Damon Smith, a Houston-based double bass player and visual artist, completely remembers the first time he heard an interpretation of Kurt Schwitters’s Ursonate, a piece of Dada art that’s the sonic equivalent of the readymades of Marcel Duchamp in terms of scope and impact. “I think to have a sound…
Wine of the Week: Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Noir (Willamette)
Of all the wine-growing regions in the U.S., none seems to make more sense to me than the Willamette Valley, Oregon (although the Finger Lakes in New York state comes in at a close second). When rich white dudes were inspired to plant French varieties in Napa like Cabernet Sauvignon,…
10 Awesome Concert Posters at SXSW’s Flatstock 33
This poster by Nakatomi caused the kid behind me to say: “Dad, I want the giant squid poster. Now.” Flatstock is a dangerous place to be with a credit card. This year, Flatstock 33 (presented by the American Poster Institute) featured over 100 artists with enough completely badass concert posters…
Last Night: Alan Jackson At Reliant Stadium
Alan Jackson RodeoHouston, Reliant Stadium March 18, 2012 Be sure to check out our slideshow of Alan Jackson and the final day of RodeoHouston. By the time Alan Jackson’s 2012 RodeoHouston season-closing show was over, his missing moustache already had its own Twitter account. No, it was not I who…
Jarod Barry: Former Marine Gets Nine Years For Gruesome Child Porn
A former Marine will get nine years in a federal prison for possession of a particularly gruesome genre of child porn. Jarod Barry, 30, who left the Marines in January with an “other than honorable” discharge, was sentenced after entering a guilty plea last June. He had been a sergeant…
Sushi Club of Houston Partners up with MFAH to Bring Us Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Imagine getting into the mind of, or getting to spend a day in the life of, a true sushi master. The documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi pays tribute to one of Tokyo’s oldest, most revered sushi masters, Jiro Ono. The owner and sushi master at 10-seat Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo,…
Houston Roller Derby: 2012 Season Opener
This weekend kicked off the 2012 season of the Houston Roller Derby at the Bayou Place Live (formerly known as Verizon Wireless Theater), or, as one could call it, real life “Whip It,” just minus the adorable and lovable Ellen Page. These women are far from cute. Instead, they are…
The Worst Moments from SXSW 2012
You were a little flat at the end of your performance of “Happy Birthday” there, Wolf ViolinistThe last few days, Village Voice Media’s indefatigable music staff has been regaling you with stories of the best from SXSW 2012. In the midst of these discoveries, we’ve been culling another list: the…
Jesus Ordonez, 7, Killed When Drunk Drives Into Apartment, Bayou Body Count No. 34
A seven-year-old boy who was grilling with his father in front of their apartment was killed when a drunk driver smashed into the building, police say. Jesus Ordonez, 7, was killed. Another child, two-year-old (HPD has updated its info to note the second victim was four years old) Christopher Cruz,…
4 Ways LEGO is Helping to Advance Science
You know something that would really help people in dealing with each other? If you could know just by looking at them whether or not they had played with LEGOs as children. If you did, you were a person that was inventive, open-minded, and ready for all kinds of wacky…
Saturday Night: Brad Paisley At Reliant Stadium
Brad Paisley RodeoHouston, Reliant Stadium March 17, 2012 Brad Paisley is an easy guy to hate. He is talented in a way that seems effortless: Whether it’s writing catchy hooks, laying down solid guitar solos, or making silly jokes, everything he does seems to come easy. It would make me…
What’s Cooking This Week?
Every year, my mom serves up a classic Irish-American meal for St. Paddy’s Day. With visitors in town, I didn’t get a chance to enjoy the slow-cooked corned beef and cabbage, so I’ll be making a weeknight deli sandwich version instead along with some other favorites. Here’s what I’m making:…
Eatsie Boys Moving Into Montrose; Kraftsmen Cafe to Close
After much speculation as to the eventual the brick-and-mortar location of popular food truck Eatsie Boys, it was announced this morning that the food truck team will be moving into a space at 4100 Montrose. Fans of Kraftsmen Cafe will recognize that address as the bakery’s ivy-covered location between the…
Bad Vibrations: In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) Disappoints
The set-up: A period play with modern overtones combines a splash of science, pop psychology, sexual humor, and unlikely events to create a pastiche that somehow earned a Tony nomination as Best New Play in 2010. The execution: The play, like the title, is a hybrid, which stands at the…
Saturday: 21st Annual KTRU Outdoor Show At Rice University
KTRU Outdoor Show Rice University March 17, 2012 In spite of groovy, spacey melodies and an air of mystery about their set, emphasized in part by the lack of overhead light during their performance, the Lower Dens got the short end of the stick at the 21st annual KTRU Outdoor…
First Look at Katsuya by Starck
It was a rainy, humid, otherwise uneventful night, and glitzy California import Katsuya by Starck was having its soft opening. Only, there was nothing soft about it. Not the loud shouts of “Irrashaimase!” when you entered the main dining room, not the sexily lit bar with beautiful people milling about…
4 Things That Suck About Being a Good Dad
In most areas I prescribe to the idea that pride goes before a fall. Therefore, when it comes to discussing my writing, music, luche libre, etc., I tend towards self-deprecation. It’s my little way of reminding myself that I could always be better at something. That being said, I know…
Comment of the Day: Using Family Circus To Criticize Texas’ Abortion-Sonogram Law? For Shame!
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, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Hey, Rice Owls Fans, Do You Even Know You Have a Basketball Team?
The College Insider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) is just another of college basketball’s postseason alphabet tournaments — see also the NIT and the CBI. But the Rice Owls are playing in the CIT, and it’s the first time the team’s made a men’s postseason basketball tournament since 2005. It’s just a…
(Not) Coming to a Library Near You – Random House E-Books May Be on the “No Buy” List
There was one word that kept popping up in articles and readers comments about Random House’s recent decision to increase the price of its library e-books by as much as 300 percent: indefensible. Under the new pricing system, a book that sold for $28 in February, costs $84 as of…
Friday Night: Train At Reliant Stadium
Train RodeoHouston, Reliant Stadium March 16, 2012 Halfway through their Friday night show at the Houston Rodeo Train decided to host a dance-off. It was, much like their booking as rodeo entertainment, a noble but unsuccessful experiment. A year ago, the idea of Train as rodeo entertainment wouldn’t have seemed…
Daphne Spurlock: Slits 5-Year-Old Son’s Throat, Stomps on His Chest to “Release Demons”
Daphne Spurlock’s Facebook page is filled with religious imagery and Bible quotes; last February she wrote, “The best thing that ever happen to me is when I gave my life to Jesus and He filled me with His precious Holy Ghost.” Early Saturday morning, what her husband has called an…
Black Marble: “Backwards” Lynchian Nipplefest (NSFW)
Black Marble is a New York coldwave band with an excellent, minimalist sound that reminds us of the Glove, or possibly the starker moments of Houston’s own Bang Bangz. They’ve teamed with director Timothy Fiore on a music video fro their song “Backwards,” a work that is already penciled in…
Where Are We Eating?
This dish was so good, I forgot to even take a photo before digging in: yellowfin tuna steak cooked to a perfect rare, served on a bed of lentils and nopales. Yes — nopales. As in cactus. But where did I find this unusual fusion dish in Houston? Think you…
Getting Tattooed In The Sailor Jerry Rum Airstream By Ink Master Host Oliver Peck
I was invited by the Sailor Jerry Rum folks to visit their Airstream on the site of Mess With Texas this year at SXSW to meet and visit with world renowned tattoo artist Oliver Peck, who has a popular shop in Dallas — Elm Street Tattoo — plus another one…
Astros’ New Slogan: We Improve It Nine Different Ways
Just in case you haven’t gotten Astros Fever, the team has come up with a way to infect you: a new slogan. It’s “”Root. Root. Root.” CAN YOU FEEL THE POWER?!?! The team says “the slogan, inspired by the song Take Me Out To The Ballgame, will be prominently displayed…
5 Things That Won’t Happen to You in the Apocalypse
I have very mixed feelings about the new Steve Carell apocalypse movie, Seeking a Friend For the End of the World. On the plus side, the movie is packed with brilliant cameos to the tune of Patton Oswald, Gillian Jacobs, Rob Corddry and Rob Huebel, (Children’s Hospital) just to name…
The Best of SXSW Music: Saturday 3/17/2012
Nick RalloJustin Townes Earle at Stubb’s BBQSo, we come to it: the end of all things. Four days of madness, Doritos, Skrillex and finally, St. Patrick’s Day. Before we bid SXSW 2012 farewell, allow us to share our favorite moments from SXSW day four. Later, we’ll let you know which…
The Best of SXSW Music: Friday 3/16/2012
Marco Torres50 Cent and Eminem at the Austin Music Hall. More photos below.If you’re familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing a full day…
SXSW: World’s Youngest DJ, BabyChino, On Sixth Street
When I was nine years old, I was taping Nirvana and Soundgarden songs off the radio from a tiny boombox and learning to pee at a urinal without pulling my pants down to my ankles, but DJ BabyChino is gigging around the world. I caught him on Friday night close…
SXSW: Why Are We Here?
That headline is not any kind of existential plaint; Rocks Off was legitimately curious. We know why we’re at SXSW – it’s our job. But it’s a broad, broad spectrum between those of us doing some kind of business here this week and the hordes of people in Austin purely…
SXSW: Shitty Is Not Here — For Real
Shades of Cheech & Chong. Rocks Off saw this sign posted outside the Dirty Dog bar Friday afternoon and knew we had to post it. We have no idea who “Shitty” is, but he was definitely not in the building. But why?…
Rumor: Eminem To Perform At Tonight’s Shady Records SXSW Party
Most of the world’s biggest rappers – Jay-Z, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, T.I., 50 Cent – have performed in Austin within the past week, are about to perform, or are at least in the city partaking in the SXSW festivities. Rocks Off was leaving Stubb’s late Thursday night and heard…
Houston Rockets 2009 Draft Lottery Posse — Final Scorecard
I’ve mentioned this in previous posts, but one of the most amazing and envy-inducing pictures I’ve ever seen is a picture on Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey’s Mobile Uploads page on his Facebook account. It’s a shot of a blackjack hand, split three times (for four hands total), with a…
Pro-Lifers to Walk from Houston to Dallas
Thirty-nine pro-life women will walk, beginning tomorrow, from the Planned Parenthood building in Houston to the federal courthouse in Dallas, “where it all began.” “All” meaning Roe v. Wade, which heralded America’s descent into the Satan-worshipping, baby-killing, Muslim-led swamp that it is today, we guess. The women — “each one…
Jesus Caballero, 17: Maybe a Pool Cue Upside His Head Will End His Young Burglary Career
A man and his wife arrived at their southeast-side home shortly before midnight Thursday, only to find several dudes inside burglarizing the place. Including 17-year-old Jesus P. Caballero. The other members of the group quickly and efficiently took off as fast as they could but Caballero, Houston police say, “became…
This Week in Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we firmly believe that crawfish have been mollycoddled for far too long in this city. With that in mind, get prepared for this crawfish season with a little primer from our own Katharine Shilcutt. It’s simple, easy-to-follow, and…
Upcoming Events: Just Say No to Green Beer and Cancer
Instead of chugging crappy green beer for St. Patrick’s Day (which is tomorrow, in case you missed the memo), here are three other suggestions that don’t suck: Barbecue guru Neil “Bigmista” Strawder is returning home to Galveston tomorrow for a charity barbecue at St. Augustine of Hippo, the oldest African-American…
Project Runway All-Stars: Finale Part One
This week on PRAS: Michael Costello, Austin Scarlett and Mondo are given four days to design a mini-collection of five looks. They are given a $3,000 budget and sent off to visit Joanna Coles at Marie Claire. Coles proves once again she is one of the best parts of the…
Is Houston Goth Turning Towards Deathrock?
Traditionally, Houston’s contribution to the world of goth music has been primarily electronic-based. During the ’90s and early 21st century, bands like Bamboo Crisis, M87 and Asmodeus X helped the city gain a reputation as a hot spot of dark EBM and techno-industrial all across the country. Even today the…
Houston’s Al Green & Some Dude Named George Clooney Arrested In Sudan Protest
U.S. Rep Al Green of Houston got arrested today for protesting outside the Sudanese Embassy in D.C., but few people took note. That’s because among the other people arrested were George Clooney, who you might have heard of. The orchestrated arrests were part of Clooney’s campaign to raise interest in…
Modernist Cuisine: Volume 3 : Vegan Meets Carnivore
So far in our exploration of the five volumes of Modernist Cuisine, we’ve learned some history and fundamentals of cooking, and we’ve looked into cooking techniques and equipment, some of it uber-technical. Take a look back at Volume 1 and Volume 2 if you aren’t caught up. Now we are…
SXSW 2012: Our Inner Monologue (Day Two)
If you are here in Austin for SXSW you know that this place has just devolved into free cereal, Doritos, and Red Bull on the streets, which are bathed in lasers from the tops of buildings. Plus there are screaming humans of all ages, races, sizes, and creeds on the…
SXSW: Ten Things Your Outfit Says About You
Photo by Erik HessSome folks attend South by Southwest to look at bands, but a good many passing through the 2012 edition seem to enjoy the added benefits of being looked at, as well. Even without haute couture, music fans and opportunists on the streets of Austin send a wealth…
Rocks Off’s Ultra-Hip Rodeo Concert Guide: Train
Date: March 16 Name: Train AKA: “Too Bad They’re Not Called ‘Plane,’ Then My Vomiting In This Airsick Bag Would Be Technically Correct” Genre: Ubiquitous annoyo-pop…
Inventive, Precise, Colorful Music Saves The Bricklayer
The setup: Commissioned by HGOco, the community outreach arm of Houston Grand Opera formed to get new, diverse audiences into the seats, The Bricklayer tackles the ghastly, repressive Islamic Republic of Iran. The world premiere at Wortham Theater Center, HGO’s impressive No. 46, composed by on-the-rise Gregory Spears and written…
Comment of the Day: Contemplating Hemi, The Dog Who Was Skinned Alive
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, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Santi Cottontail: 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…
SXSW: Tom Morello, A Vigilant And Emphatic Nightwatchman
Besides Music World Gospel, New West Records is probably the most locally connected sub-major record label, and owner/partial Houstonian George Fontaine has long worn his heart on his sleeve about local music in general and recent New West additions the Wild Moccasins, Robert Ellis, Buxton and Grandfather Child in particular…
Odd Pair: Extreme House-Cured Charcuterie
Ever since the late 1990s and the advent of Molto Mario and his in-house salumeria at Babbo in Manhattan, extreme house-cured charcuterie has been embraced by chefs across the nation with seemingly unrivaled zeal. (Ever wonder why so many of them make “duck prosciutto”? It’s because hanging ducks take up…
RodeoHouston Wants To Send You To Vegas
The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is well on its way to drawing a couple of million more (mostly) country-music fans to Reliant Stadium again this year. Now the rodeo and Reliant Energy want to send one lucky fan to the Academy of County Music Awards in Vegas April 1…
Community: “Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts”
After much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments (and petitions and Evil Abed flash mobs) among the show’s small but ardent followers — to say nothing of creator Dan Harmon’s own angst over the show’s uncertain future — Community returned to NBC’s Thursday lineup last night. Maybe it was…
Shelley Linder & Holly Lopez: Two More Teachers Accused of Sexing Up Students
And your two Texas teachers of the day accused of having sex with students are: Shelley Linder from Brazosport High and Holly Lopez from central Texas. Both have been arrested and face charges, of different types. Lopez, 32, is accused of having sex with boys aged 14 and 13, but…
SXSW: Lil Wayne’s YMCMB Showcase At Austin Music Hall
“I believe in three things: I believe in God; I believe that I ain’t shit without you, and I believe that I ain’t shit without you!” – Lil Wayne to his fans After being shut out of the T.I./B.O.B show at La Zona Rosa by order of the fire marshal,…
Openings & Closings: L’Olivier Is Landing
First, chef Junnajet Hurrapan’s new hotspot Blu opens up in Sugar Land’s Town Square. Now, the development is getting another interesting addition. According to the weekly B4-U-Eat newsletter: The Japaneiro’s people are opening Guru Burgers & Crepes at Sugar Land Town Square in May. It will serve gourmet burgers, crepes…
Menil’s John Chamberlain Sculptures to Be Restored
Perhaps the only bummer is that he won’t be around to see it. This week, The Menil Collection announced that it has received Bank of America’s Art Conservation Project grant, which the museum will use to restore its John Chamberlain sculptures. The abstract expressionist — who created unforgettable works from…
Forgive Ed Wade? Why?
Still haunting the Astros.As the regular season start of Season One of the Jim Crane Era approaches, one can’t help but finally get some sense of optimism when it comes to the Astros. A sense arising primarily from the feeling that the adults are back in control of the franchise,…
Women On Top: 10 Female Artists We’re Way Into Right Now
UPDATED to correct an error in the Crystal Castles item. “Suffocation” is a Crystal Castles original, not a HEALTH remix. — Ed. March is Women’s History Month, and Rocks Off has been thinking a lot lately about the indelible contributions to popular music made by women over the last few…
Houston Family Arts Center Mining Theater Gold in a Strip Mall
This week, the Houston Family Arts Center became the first theater in Texas to receive an award from the American Association of Community Theatre. Is it the polished productions, the talented actors, the teaching academy or the entrepreneurial spirit that gained them this recognition? Or all of them? It surely…
Health Department Roundup
We’re kind of disappointed there’s not a flash-point restaurant or bar in this week’s crop of inspection reports – the kind of place that usually brings out the worst in bitchy internet commenters. No one gets worked up about the food-service area of the Hampton Inn on I-10. It’s spotless,…
The Best of SXSW Music: Thursday 3/15/2012
Nick RalloOh nothing, just a guy in a wolf mask playing “Happy Birthday” on the violinIf you’re familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing…
3-Year-Old Goes Flying Off Rodeo Carnival Ride In Video
KTRK obtained amateur video of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo incident in which a three-year-old girl was injured on a ride, and it contradicts earlier stories. When the incident happened Wednesday, rodeo officials said the girl had squirmed off the Techno Jump ride and fell to the ground, suffering…
Bartender Chat: Lacey of Felix 55
This week, I paid a visit to Felix 55, something that had been on my “to-do” list since Mihn’s happy hour post back in September. Sandwiched between D’Amico’s and Baker Street in Rice Village, Felix 55 may have the upper hand when it comes to post-work nibbles and cocktails. Sitting…
30 Seconds With Bri Bagwell
Up and coming country voice Bri Bagwell took a few moments out of her busy schedule of opening for Miranda Lambert and filming a new video from her song “Whiskey” to answer a few questions. Here’s what we learned about her in 30 seconds. Rocks Off: What is worst song…
Cowboy Diaries: JR Vezain — Texas Is Rodeo Bliss
True cowboys are hard to find, but not at the Houston Rodeo. Life on the road leads them here this time every year for the biggest rodeo in the world, where they’ll ride and wrangle livestock for cash and glory. Each day, Hair Balls will spotlight one person with enough…
Fared Shafinury & Tehranosaurus: Persian Music at the Houston Grand Opera
Last night, following the world premiere of The Bricklayer, a chamber opera developed by Houston Grand Opera’s HGOco as part of its Song of Houston: East +West initiative, Fared Shafinury of Tehranosaurus took to the stage to play his special brand of Persian music, alternately lyrical and intense. The Iranian-American…
Week in Photos: Captain Ron’s Boat
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…
Bernadette Stanis (a.k.a. Thelma in Good Times) Plays a Pastor’s Wife
Most people remember her as Thelma, the daughter in the mid- to-late ’70s show Good Times who played off her onscreen brother J.J. (actor Jimmie Walker ) and his dy-no-mite phrases. But when Bernadette Stanis comes to Houston at the end of the month, it will be to play a…
Awready!: U Of H Examines Houston Rap’s Legacy
In September, we wrote about a unique collection of Houston hip-hop artifacts that the University of Houston (and some of their friends) was putting together. For the story, we spoke with Julie Grob, the Coordinator for Digital Projects and Instruction at the U of H library system. She is smart,…
Five Questions Answered About the Rest of the Rockets’ Season
A buddy of mine texted me when news came of the Rockets trade of Johnny Flynn — the guard with a name like a `40s-era movie star — and Hasheem Thabeet to Portland for Marcus Camby and a draft pick. “This team was one Marcus Camby from being a championship…
Top 5 Local Acts We’d Like To See Playing SXSW
Neighboring Houston is already providing a wealth of talent to Austin’s SXSW this year, but so many other acts are flying under the radar that we think deserve that extra buzz, or maybe they just couldn’t make it for various reasons. Point is, we would have liked to just have…
Last Chance to Vote for Houston’s Worst BBQ
With roughly 1,000 votes at last count yesterday afternoon, it looks like our panel of barbecue judges will be hitting a slew of ‘cue chains when we head out to judge Houston’s worst barbecue next week. In “first” place so far with a solid 20 percent of the vote is…
100 Creatives 2012: Greg Carter
Filmmaker Greg Carter, like so many artistic people, started out in a whole other direction from where he ended up. He had been working on his degree in Engineering at Texas A&M when he realized that filmmaking was what he wanted to do. And he did. By 1997 he had…
7 Cool & Cheap Things To Do This Weekend — In Houston, Not At SXSW
T-Bone Walker heir Don Kesee, one of the area’s Houston’s most underheralded bluesmen – which unfortunately is saying something, but watch a little bit of the above clip at Navasota’s Blues Alley festival – comes into the city for a gig at the Shakespeare Pub. Super Happy Fun Land’s SXSW…
Forget Doonesbury: What If Other Comic Strips Took on the Sonogram Bill?
Some testicle-free newspapers got a bit nervous when Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau incorporated a story arc about Texas’s controversial “Sonogram Bill,” which requires women seeking an abortion to undergo a trans-vaginal ultrasound at least 24 hours prior to the procedure. Doctors must also present audio of the fetus’s heartbeat. The…
Ten Reality Show Pitches (And Only One That Is Real)
Now that reality shows are as commonplace as well, I dunno, Starbucks locations, it’s hard to be shocked by new ones when they are announced. Shows about teen moms, amorous Italian-Americans, and waxed and lumbering Armenian girls are now as American as Walmart, plasma TVs and Tim Tebow. An American…
SXSW: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Rock ACL Live
Bruce Springsteen’s Thursday started with a keynote speech in one of the big ballrooms at the Austin Convention Center, and ended with a mythic three-hour set at ACL Live across town, in front of a few thousand people cooing “Bruce”. The keynote and the show went hand in hand. If…
Beware the Ides of March: 5 Characters Who Were Warned
If you were walking down the street and a crazy-looking homeless lady wearing a Target bag fashioned into a serape turned to you and said, “Beware the Ides of March,” what would you do? 1. Laugh in her dirty face and walk away. 2. Ask her what she meant by…
Houston Rockets Acquire Marcus Camby and Derek Fisher. Wilford Brimley Next?
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post where I offered up some proposition wagers for the degenerates in the crowd who like to bet on really obscure things. (Yes, I am gazing into the mirror right now.) One of them was “Total Trades Made Before Deadline: OVER/UNDER 1 1/2″…
Bizarre Press Release of the Day: Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen
I have a mental list of all the strangest press releases I’ve received in my short time as food critic for the Press. They include: A hand-made flyer for a penis-shaped muffin restaurant in Montrose A self-written press release from a restaurateur who described himself as an “elitist” “asshole” “mercenary”…
Bartholomew Granger: In Midst of Courthouse Shooting Spree, He Runs Over His Daughter with His Truck
Something snapped in Bartholomew Granger yesterday as he went to Beaumont’s Jefferson County courthouse for his trial on sexually assaulting a family member. While driving in his pickup truck, he opened fire with a Beretta CX-4 Storm, injuring three people and killing a 79-year-old woman who was running an errand…
Missing Old-School Kool-Aid
First, a haiku: Cool flavors are gone The Wacky Warehouse is closed Kool-Aid I miss you The Kool-Aid I knew as a child seems to have disappeared. Yes, I know that people are still drinking the Kool-Aid; production of “jammers” and “bursts” are in full swing, and you can still…
SXSW: Five Attractive Strange People Working for Tips
Photo by Ben WesthoffAbnormally attractive pedicab driverEd. Note: This article was written by L.A. Weekly music editor Ben Westhoff. Paying homeless people $70 a day to serve as human wifi hotspots is a bizarre way to make a buck, but it’s indicative of the hustler’s spirit at South By Southwest…
Hemi the Dog: Found Skinned Alive, Goes Off to Die (UPDATED)
Boy, it’s an ugly story out of the East Texas town of Hallsville: A family dog skinned to death. The rescue dog, named Hemi, had wandered away from his home with the Smiddy family, KTRE reported. The daughter went to let another dog out of the house, and she saw…
Incredible Medibles: The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook, Part 2
The one thing that The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook doesn’t tell you is that making medibles is a smelly process. Measurements in the brand-new cookbook are accurate if disjointed — going from ounces to grams to cups in one recipe, for example — and the recipes are reliably good…
Top 10 Goth Songs From Houston Ever
The local goth scene in Houston has been around for quite a while. Though it’s never been a dominating force in Houston music, its influence has been felt, and some truly remarkable songs have made their way into our little black hearts. Here’s our pick of the Top 10 goth…
Free for All: Art Without a Price Tag
There’s only one place to be on Friday night, and that’s the opening of FotoFest 2012 Biennial: Contemporary Russian Photography. The festival is huge (more than 1,000 photographs by some 150 Russian artists covering the time from the late 1940s to 2012 and spread out over more than 100 galleries,…
Goodbye, Mario Williams: Texan Signs with Buffalo
So the #houstonwhatugot hashtag campaign proved to be a failure. The effort to keep Super Mario Williams a Texan has failed, as the free agent has signed a big deal with the Buffalo Bills. ESPN reports Williams got a six-year deal with $50 million guaranteed, a deal that could potentially…
Comment of the Day: Un-Learning “Bukkake”
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, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Five Appealing Baby Foods
You would think the recent baby boom among my friends and colleagues would put me in touch with my “parental” side. Instead, I’ve regressed, at least in terms of my eating habits. My recent exposure to baby and toddler cuisine has alerted me to a number of foods that satisfy…
Fool’s Gold Makers Dirty And Nasty Discuss… Fool’s Gold
The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place – lots of times, you’re even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good – so once a week we’re going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Something you always wanted to…
Burger & Beer “Flight” at The Counter
Burgers and beer. What’s not to like about them individually? And as a pair? You can unconditionally count on this food and beverage combination to satisfy your hunger and thirst and always put a smile on your face. Knowing what a fantastic duo they make, The Counter, the burger joint…
Five Attractive Strange People Working for Tips at SXSW
Check out the Sarah Palin lookalike porn star we ran into at SXSW as well as our slideshow. Ben WesthoffAbnormally attractive pedicab driverPaying homeless people $70 a day to serve as human wifi hotspots is a bizarre way to make a buck, but it’s indicative of the hustler’s spirit at…
Rocks Off’s Ultra-Hip Rodeo Concert Guide: Jason Aldean
Date: March 15 Name: Jason Aldean AKA: “Jason Aldine” Genre: Generi-country…
Murder Capital of the World: Documentary on Mexican Drug War & America’s Complicity
The documentary Murder Capital of the World debuted in Houston last night at Premier Cinema in Greenspoint Mall. Despite the seemingly over-the-top name, it wasn’t a horror flick, but there were several scenes that did manage to horrify the audience. You can’t make this shit up. It would be impossible…
Last Night: John Waters
Warning: This article contains direct quotes from John Waters. Offense is imminent beyond this point. If there is a Hell, then the doorman has the same grin that John Waters had when he walked onto the stage. It’s a sort of half friendly welcome, half double dog dare of a…
SXSW: Buxton At Skinny’s Ballroom
Buxton’s showcase show last night was made all the more sweeter knowing that there was a ring of Houston surrounding the narrow stage at the back of Skinny’s Ballroom, a venue I hadn’t darkened the door of in my previous Austin visits. A throng of well-wishers out front were mixed…
CorkScrew BBQ: Solid ‘Cue in Spring
Although “spring” is right around the corner (more like summer at this rate), the solid barbecue at Corkscrew BBQ at 24930 Budde Road is actually to be found in Spring, just south of The Woodlands. There, in a gravel lot off a quiet side road, Will and Nichole Buckman have…
The Best of SXSW Music: Wednesday 3/14/2012
Nick RalloSharon Van Etten, at the NPR showcase, was a stunner. Plus, there was a box accordionIf you’re familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with…
Spring Has Sprung: Cold Weather and the Drought Come to an End
Despite warnings to the contrary, our Texas winter was about as wet as normal. Last week alone, we had almost five inches of rain in the Houston area — more than our entire summer in 2011! With that dose of heavy rain came an end to our area’s drought, something…
Recipe: Flourless Cloud Bread
I gave up bread for Lent, which has been a huge pain in the ass because bread is a major component of pretty much everything I think is delicious. I’m the girl who snags a loaf of warm, fresh-baked french bread from the bakery at the beginning of a shopping…
Pulling A Cee-Lo: 11 More Contemporary Artists Who Need Their Own Vegas Residency
Cee-Lo Green raised eyebrows a couple of weeks ago when he announced that he was settling down — in Las Vegas. The Grammy-winning “Fuck You” singer says that his new semi-permanent show, “Loberace,” will launch Aug. 29 at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Vegas Strip and run at…
Appreciating the Fine Goods of Willem van Aelst at MFA
Willem van Aelst made a career out of painting still lifes of fine goods — furs, precious metals, feathers. In other words, items that would have appealed to his wealthy clientele. To think of it another way, it’s like a modern-day artist who paints Louis Vuitton purses. But if painted…
When Are Food Knock-offs Distasteful?
If your Girl Scout Cookie of choice is the Samoa, then you might be happy to know that these goodies are NOT only available through green-uniformed girl children and for $3-4 a pop. Keebler offers a nearly identical version called “Coconut Dreams,” which are available year-round and often on sale…
You Might Be Tempted to Buy a Gun (Or a Photo of One) After Seeing These Images
Guns are affiliated with the National Rifle Association, the American South and…Elton John and Emily Dickinson?? According to visual artist Harlow Tighe, an expat living in Europe, that’s exactly the case. Tighe grew up in South Carolina, where firearms were all over the place — “on gun racks, belts and…
SXSW: The Niceguys & ADD Have A Ball, And Throw Some Too
It’s easy to tell the Niceguys really like each other. The three MCs and one DJ seemed to be Houston’s more buzzed-about bands coming into the festival. Besides their spot on the SXSW Next Stage at the Austin Convention Center Wednesday afternoon, they were one of three Houston SXSW acts…
Cowboy Diaries: Jody Sheffield — Ex-Corporate Stiff
True cowboys are hard to find, but not at the Houston Rodeo. Life on the road leads them here this time every year for the biggest rodeo in the world, where they’ll ride and wrangle livestock for cash and glory. Each day, Hair Balls will spotlight one person with enough…
For St. Patrick’s Day: 10 Notable Irish Texans
This weekend brings St. Patrick’s Day, the annual celebration of all things Irish. Even in Texas there are parades. As well there should be, because Irish Texans have definitely made their mark on the world. Like these ten: 10. Matthew McConaughey His Mom was a McCabe. “McConaughey” is Gaelic for…
Pop Rocks: Which Celebrity Should I Sue?
If it’s month with an “R” in it, Lindsay Lohan must be in the news again: Lindsay Lohan is speaking out against claims made by a night club manager, who says the actress “grazed” his knee with her Porsche early Wednesday morning and bolted from the scene immediately. […] Lohan’s…
Verizon Wireless Theater Now Known As Bayou Music Center
Verizon Wireless Theater will no longer be known under that name, because owner Live Nation’s sponsorship deal with the communication provider has expired. The venue, which holds about 3,000 people within downtown entertainment complex Bayou Place, will now be known as Bayou Music Center. Rocks Off learned of the change…
UPDATED: Porn Star Lisa Ann and a Gigantic Fleshlight Spreading Joy at SXSW (VIDEO)
And check out the attractive people we found working for tips at SXSW as well as our slideshow. Aside from all the musical mayhem, lasers and massive crowds descending on Austin this week, I found porn star Lisa Ann and a walking Fleshlight roaming the city’s main party artery of…
Who Are You? The Weird World of Twitter Bios Reveals Politics, Marital Status and Justin Bieber Love
It’s a very odd thing to have a 140-character bio. Any person in marketing will tell you that good ideas require an “elevator pitch,” meaning you could pitch your idea in the time it takes to travel a few floors on an elevator. Really great ideas, some say, can be…
Tech Bites: 10 of the Best Free iPhone Apps for Foodies
Yesterday morning, I paid a visit to the set of Great Day Houston to talk with host Debra Duncan about the best iPhone apps for foodies. (Yes, Duncan is as nice and pretty in person as you’d expect — maybe even more.) In the video above, we demonstrated five of…
Spring Forward: Top 5 Must-Haves for the New Season
As daylight savings time forces us to lose an hour of sleep and spring forward, you should be thinking about acquiring some new pieces for your spring and summer wardrobe. In a conversation with Art Attack, John Maguire, dress buyer, and Jennifer Cunningham, contemporary buyer at Tootsies, one of Houston’s…
March Madness — The Most “Live” Teams at Each Seed, 1 through 16
Last year, the Final Four made its way to Houston and in a turn of events entirely emblematic of the type of sports year Houston sustained in 2011, we wound up with arguably the most underwhelming collection of four teams ever assembled at college basketball’s marquee event. The highest seeded…
5 Songs For International Day Against Police Brutality
Police brutality is definitely a real thing. Cases range from synchronized actions by oppressive regimes to curtail the populace to isolated incidents of extremely poor decisions making by rage-based authorities. Distinguishing between and guarding against police brutality is as difficult as it is necessary. Cops have to use force as…
UPDATED: Princeless: New Comic Gives Modern Girls the Princess They Deserve
UPDATE: Princeless has been nominated for two Eisner awards, Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12), and Best Single Issue (Or One-Shot) for issue #3. The results will be announced on July 13 at Comic-Con International. Here’s hoping such an awesome book will get the recognition it deserves! During our monthly…
SXSW 2012: Our Inner Monologue (Day One)
Rocks Off has only been here in Austin for SXSW for a little more than a day, and our brains are already swimming in confusion. Taco Bell hotels, gigantic Doritos stages, girls dressed like Roseanne, everyone wearing ill-fitting cold-weather clothing, and somewhere in the din of it all, your new…
St. Patrick’s Day at Bar Munich
Bar Munich will be celebrating by tapping a keg of Saint Arnold’s Bitter Belgian, a one-time, limited release of this variation of Elissa, at 3 p.m.. There will also be a DJ to provide entertainment starting at 10 p.m., and several drink specials, including jolly rancher leprechaun shots specials all…
5th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival
Come St. Paddy’s Day, Lucky’s will be fully decked out with leprechauns, bagpipers, and green beer for its 5th annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival. Doors open at 9 a.m. 94.5 The Buzz will be broadcasting live, and visitors will enjoy entertainment from 12 bands and four DJs. Join in the…
Coast of Utopia: Salvage
It’s time for the final part of Main Street Theater’s trilogy of Tom Stoppard plays with Coast of Utopia: Salvage. The epic story focuses on the philosopher Alexander Herzen and his experiences in London, following a time in Paris. A disenchanted Herzen is surrounded by other émigrés, Karl Marx among…
Fathers & Sons in Suck City
Written and directed by Paul Weitz, Being Flynn is an adaptation of Nick Flynn’s 2004 memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, which explored the author’s pivotal experience working at the Boston homeless shelter where his down-and-out dad Jonathan was a frequent guest. In the movie, Paul Dano and Robert…
Tour de Houston
You’ll have your pick of distances for the 2012 Tour de Houston Presented by Apache Corporation. The routes cover 20, 40 and 60 miles. If you opt for the longest trip, you’ll travel through the East End, past the Ship Channel and Brady’s Landing before heading over to Ellington Airport…
Alan Jackson
This year’s season of RodeoHouston musical entertainment, which continues to grow ever poppier and rockier, ends Sunday with the traditional country stylings of 20-year veteran Alan Jackson. The man has played the March event every single year since 1992, save two during the early ’00s, and his draw doesn’t seem…
Capital One Bank AGVENTURE
If you come to the rodeo hoping to learn a little more about the animals that make it work, this is the right place for you. Located in the Reliant Center, the Capital One Bank AGVENTURE is a large-scale educational gathering of livestock. See bees making honey, cows and goats…
Me, Myself & I
To be or not to…oh, wait, that’s the wrong playwright. We’re talking about another master, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee, although being and not being is still at the center of the plot. Albee’s 2008 Me, Myself & I is presented here by Edge Theatre, and Albee himself has been…
Anne Rice: The Wolf Gift
There’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is author Anne Rice is in town. The bad news is she won’t be reading or discussing her books, just signing them. Rice redefined vampires forever with her novels chronicling the vampire Lestat’s adventures, and brought the dark magic of…
Il Trovatore
Filled with intrigue and suspense, Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore closes the season for Opera in the Heights. A salacious delight, the opera has all the trappings of historical fiction — an abundance of family drama, revenge and a tangled love affair. The Count di Luna and Manrico, the troubadour, both…
Dance Days
The term “up close and personal” isn’t used to describe most dance programs, but it perfectly captures Circle of Perpetual Apparition, Suchu Dance’s contribution to today’s Dance Days at Discovery Green 2012. The piece, still a work in progress, has the audience sitting onstage in a circle, with the dancers…
Apocalypse Town
Home isn’t easy to define for Anthony Barilla. The musician, writer and theater artist splits his time between Houston and Mitrovica, a politically and ethnically divided town in Kosovo. Barilla moved five years ago when his wife got a job with a human rights organization. “There are days when I…
The Bricklayer
The reunification of an Iranian family at Bush Intercontinental Airport is the starting point for the English-language opera The Bricklayer, which is making its premiere with this production by the Houston Grand Opera. It’s based on a short story by Iranian-American author Farnoosh Moshiri, whose own life supplied much of…
In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)
Playwright Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) is more than just a play with a titillating hook. “It’s an examination of intimacy and roles between men and women,” says Leslie Swackhamer, who is directing Room at Stages Repertory Theatre. “It’s a play of ideas, it’s a…
Chico and Rita
There’s a scene early in the animated film Chico & Rita when Rita sings the classic “Besame Mucho.” It’s a quiet, subdued scene, but there’s magic happening on screen. It’s 1940s Havana, and pianist Chico has just seen Rita on stage. Four bars into the song, Chico is in love…
Our House
Last year, more people watched Jersey Shore than World News with Diane Sawyer, reported TVNewser. It’s that up-is-down reality that’s at the heart of Our House, a dark comedy written by Theresa Rebeck and directed by David Rainey. The show, presented by Black Lab Theatre in its regional premiere, explores…
St. Paddy’s Eve
Kick St. Patrick’s Day off with a good St. Paddy’s Eve party at The Continental Club. For a $12 entrance fee, visitors will enjoy live entertainment from Lee Macdougall at 8 p.m. and the Blaggards at 10 p.m. For information, call 713-529-9899 or visit www.continentalclub.com. Fri., March 16, 2012…
Dee Dee Bridgewater
It’s almost a rite of passage for women jazz singers to pay tribute to Billie Holiday. Few, however, have done it as well as Dee Dee Bridgewater, who won a Grammy for her release Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee. The trick to tributes is to…
Baroque on the Border
Modern-day beheadings, kidnappings and murders aren’t usually the subject of contemporary paintings. But for Mexican native Rigoberto A. Gonzalez, the artist behind Baroque on the Border,the pairing of subject matter and style seemed very natural. After seeing news reports and online videos of the increasingly brutal violence in Mexico, Gonzalez…
St. Patrick’s Day at Numbers
Numbers will be celebrating with a St. Patrick’s Day blowout. Those above the age of 21 can enter for free, although donations are welcome, and those below the age of 21 enter for $5. The entertainment includes Ancient Astronaut Theory, The Ballistics, Twenty Eleven, Papaya, Shadow Hound, Daze and Daze,…
FotoFest 2012 Biennial: Contemporary Russian Photography
It might be terribly unfair of us to focus on one artist in FotoFest 2012 Biennial: Contemporary Russian Photography, but the show is so huge (more than 1,000 photographs by some 150 Russian artists covering the time from the late 1940s to 2012), it’s almost impossible to take it all…
St Patrick’s Day at Khun Kay Thai Cafe
This Thai café will be offering food specials with such whimsical names as The Wee Folk (dumplings with a “mischievous sauce”) Thai-rish Kisses (fried bites of chicken or tofu), Wearin’ the Greens (a variety of green vegetables with shiitake noodles and shrimp), A Pinch on the Thai (chicken with vegetables…
”Transference: Andy Paiko & Ethan Rose”
Remember singing wine glasses? Performers would “play” the glasses by rubbing a wet fingertip around the lip of the glass and it would emit a sound. Glass artist Andy Paiko and experimental sound artist Ethan Rose have joined forces for “Transference,” an exhibit based on that idea at the Houston…
Breaking It Down: The Hard Stuff
Be sure to read our feature story on vets in pain, Breaking It Down. The prescription of first resort for doctors in the military and the VA is acetaminophen, but that over-the-counter painkiller brings its own risks. As with many of their age in the general population, soldiers are often…
Undercover Brothers
The television show 21 Jump Street, about cops who go undercover as high schoolers, debuted on Fox in 1987 — one year after the network premiered — and ran until 1991, launching the career of Johnny Depp (who cameos here, along with his former cast mate Holly Robinson Peete). As…
Blue Monday
Blue Monday is a Houston tradition that has virtually died out in the last few years. Once important social and musical events at such storied joints as Miss Ann’s Playpen and Etta’s Lounge, these soirees involving early-afternoon drinking, lively socializing and continuous jamming seem to have dried up completely, although…
Wake and Seek
It’s obvious that Jason Segel has a face for comedy. He’s got a lumpy, sad-sack mug with a dozen inflections to register disappointment, confusion and self-doubt. But as the basement-dwelling hero in the Duplass brothers’ new quest movie, Jeff, Who Lives at Home, Segel works his entire posture for laughs…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Anodyne,” “Bridge 11: Lia Cook,” “The Graphic Arts of Hans Erni,” “Love Man,” “Perspectives 177: McArthur Binion,” “Push Play”
“Anodyne” It’s difficult to label Joe Mancuso’s work by any traditional means. Is it sculpture? Painting? Installation? All of the above seem appropriate in the Houston artist’s latest show at Barbara Davis Gallery. These art vocabulary-defying conundrums begin with the piece Bouquet. It’s a careful arrangement of polywood, with flower…
Alan Jackson
This year’s season of Rodeo Houston musical entertainment, which continues to grow ever poppier and rockier, ends Sunday with the traditional country stylings of 20-year veteran Alan Jackson. The man has played the March event every single year since 1992, save two during the early ’00s, and his draw doesn’t…
KTRU Spring Outdoor Show
Saturday will be KTRU’s 21st Spring Outdoor Show overall, but first since it left the FM airwaves last April. Luckily, the beloved Rice student station is doing just fine, thanks to the miracle of HD radio (on 90.1 KPFT FM-2) and the Internet at ktru.org. Like Real Estate and Michael…
Band of Skulls
It’s tempting to say Band of Skulls could be the biggest thing launched out of Southampton, England, since the Titanic, but surely they’re hoping their career goes better than that. So far, so good — the UK press became enamored of the two boys and one girl upon 2009 XL…
Immigration, Immigration, Immigration
Dear Mexican, I work for a major news organization and often have heard the figure of 10 million illegal Mexicans. Unofficially, I have been quoted the number 20 to 25 million illegals, most of them not Mexican. From experience with the government, I would say these numbers are low. Why…
Capsule Stage Reviews: 13 Miles from Security, Oscar in the Box, Play On!, Shout! The Mod Musical, Whatever Happened to the Villa Real?
13 Miles from Security Local playwright Kathy Drum creates vivid characters in a Texarkana setting as the battle of the sexes rages on. The sometimes stark stage of the Obsidian Art Space now sports not one but two detailed sets, designed by Leighza Walker, the rural porch and yard of…
Breaking It Down
Be sure to read the sidebar to this story, Breaking It Down: The Hard Stuff. After two tours of duty in Iraq, Matthew Gonzales says he has the body of a 45-year-old. Trouble is, he’s 30. Before the war, the South Houston High School product was an avid athlete —…
High on Fire
De Vermis Mysteriis is the name of High on Fire’s upcoming album, the band’s sixth studio effort, and it seems to be helping continue their almost-militant assault on your hearing. First single “Fertile Green” is a worthy preview of the brutally burly things to come, thanks to the modern architect…
Crazy for Crawfish
It’s like clockwork: Every year when crawfish season comes around, Houston loses its damn mind. We spring from our homes like crazed cuckoos in search of the best per-pound deals on mudbugs all around town. We text our friends or post Facebook updates when we find those increasingly elusive $5.99-a-pound…
Long Live the Party
This week party-rocker Andrew W.K. returns to Houston for what is sure to be one of the most raucous shows at Fitzgerald’s since, well, maybe when Elvis Presley played the venue back in the ’50s. His current “10 Years of Partying” tour celebrates the past decade in W.K.’s world. W.K.’s…
Seeing Red
“What does it need?” ponders abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko (Scott Wentworth) in Red as he stares deeply into the unseen canvas that hangs in his cavernous Bowery studio, over the audience at the Alley Theatre. He peers through us as he contemplates the work in progress. Surrounding him are…
EMT Hires Hit Man
CRIME EMT Hired Hit Man for HFD Husband By Richard Connelly An emergency medical technician has been charged with hiring a hit man to kill her husband, a Houston firefighter. Court records show Brittany Martinez, 24, paid $1,000 and provided a work schedule and tips on how best to off…
Orgy
Modern-rock fans remember Jay Gordon’s group Orgy as one of the more challenging acts to get lumped into the ’90s nu-metal explosion. “Orgy offered a change from what people would have expected, and most fans welcomed us with open arms,” Gordon says, as his 2012 version of Orgy — he’s…
Tennessee Time
Valerie June was all set to make her first appearance in Houston a few months ago when her schedule suddenly got a little crazy and she had to cancel. After almost a decade of struggling with a solo career, the Memphis singer-songwriter’s ship had just come in. June’s manager, Memphis…
Against the Grain
The Hay Merchant (1100 Westheimer) was built out of the space that used to be Montrose’s iconic Chances Bar, which closed in November 2010. Its older brother down the street, classic-cocktail venue Anvil (1424 Westheimer), remains one of Houston’s most gushed-over drinkeries three years after opening. The new place is…
Pot o’ Parties
Be sure to also check out our St. Patty’s Day preview slideshow. This year, St. Paddy’s falls on a Saturday, so you’ve got all day to party, watch a parade, and ingest as much green food coloring as you can. And don’t forget to get a good running start on…
