4 Alternate Timelines Mortal Kombat Needs to Explore
Mortal Kombat in 2011 was the greatest example of reboot storytelling in any medium. I mean that with the utmost sincerity. It simultaneously managed to acknowledge everything that had happened over the course of all the games and still start completely over without erasing the universe thanks to Raiden sending…
Big Business May Help Defeat Anti-LGBT Bills This Session
Pocketbook issues — and the chance to bring the Final Four or the Super Bowl to Houston — may actually drive a stake in the heart of anti-gay legislation this session. Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, has identified 20 bills this session, including two constitutional amendments, that propose denying services to…
The Hunchback Variations Features Two Deaf Men Searching For a Sound Effect
Quasimodo sits behind a table alongside Ludwig van Beethoven. They’re on a panel trying to work out a special sound effect in Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. And both are deaf. Greg Dean is the director/actor (Quasimodo) in Catastrophic Theatre’s production of The Hunchback Variations, by Mickle Maher (The Strangerer…
Steve “Zetro” Souza Can’t Get Exodus Out of His Blood
If there’s anything that three decades spent in the wild and wooly world of heavy fucking metal has taught Exodus singer Steve “Zetro” Souza, it’s to never say never. After being not-so-amicably dismissed from the band for the second time back in 2004, it looked for all the world as…
Freetail Brewing Company Debuts in Houston This Week
Another Texas brewery has just arrived on shelves in Houston. San Antonio’s Freetail Brewing Company just shipped its first round of beers to Houston, thanks to a new distribution deal. Freetail Brewing Co. has been in existence since 2008, but it was the building of a new brewing facility last…
Duke 68, Wisconsin 63: 4 Winners, 4 Losers
Three weeks and 67 games in the books, and we have our 2015 men’s basketball champion, as the Duke Blue Devils knocked off the Wisconsin Badgers 68-63 Monday night to capture head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s fifth title as head coach in Durham. It was a strange game in this way…
Kitchen 713 Is a Mom-and-Pop Gem and a Worthy Dining Destination
So many new restaurants these days project an opening date and then push it back, sometimes for a month, often longer. When James Haywood and Ross Coleman found the space for their restaurant on Canal and North Hagerman in Second Ward, they got things moving quickly. Coleman returned to Houston…
How Dickinson ISD Punishes Students Who Take Dual College Courses Off Campus
It was 2 a.m. and his oldest son was up in his room studying. Jeremias Parada was nothing but proud. This is what it would take to succeed in this country, he’d told his sons. Work hard, set goals and you could find your way to all sorts of rewards,…
The Alley’s Production of All My Sons Howls to the Gods
“Attention must be paid.” That most famous line comes from Arthur Miller’s masterpiece Death of a Salesman, but it’s the only appropriate way to describe the Alley Theatre’s superlative production of his first big hit, All My Sons (1947). If you’re unfamiliar with Miller, America’s lion of the theater, everything…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: High Marks for Peli Peli and Underbelly
South African restaurant Peli Peli has opened a second location and it’s in the Galleria in the former Gigi’s Asian Bistro spot. Tag Sale Tastes went in and had a first look at the menu. They tried, among other things, stuffed mushrooms, Carrot Bredie, Chilean Sea Bass (aka Patagonian Toothfish)…
Reverse Equation Offers Calming Aquatic Abstracts and Mathematical Mindscapes
Experience the cool, calming aquatic inspired imagery of abstract painter Katherine Houston, then warm up your brain with the three-dimensional geometric mindscapes of math artist Michael Schultheis, both on display now in the Reverse Equation exhibit at Laura Rathe Fine Art. Schultheis plays with the concept of spherical geometry so…
USW Strike Is Still on for LyondellBasell and Marathon Locals
The national United Steelworkers oil refinery strike technically ended weeks ago, but the local union members at LyondellBasell and Marathon are still grappling with company officials over their local contracts. The strike started back in February after Royal Dutch Shell officials failed to negotiate a national pattern contract that satisfied…
Whole Foods Opens New Store on Voss
Whole Foods continues to take over Houston with new stores, but this will be the last opening until 2016. The latest addition is a relocation of the Woodway store (which closed as of April 3) into a shiny new place with more features. It follows several new openings over the…
Ray Wylie Hubbard’s Good Misfortune
one time waylon jennings asked me to write him some songs. i said ”what kind of songs?” he said ”waylon ‘goddam’ jennings songs. what else, hoss?” i regret to this day i was unable to empathize in order to do that. — Ray Wylie Hubbard, from A Life…Well, Lived As…
Upcoming: Action Bronson, Ben Folds, GBH, Smashing Pumpkins, Vans Warped Tour, etc.
2nd Annual Crawfish Boil: With John Evans Band, Mandi Powell, Mike Dean, The Captain Legendary Band., Sat., April 25, 2 p.m., $10 to $30. Redneck Country Club, 11110 W. Airport Blvd., Stafford, 281-809-4867. 3LAU: With Botnek, Bright Lights. Fri., May 15, 9 p.m., $15 to $25. Stereo Live, 6400 Richmond,…
The Speed Trap of Speed Dating In Montrose
Lowbrow (1601 W. Main) is a late-night or brunch destination for many. For me, it’s the place you go when everyone wants to drink (there’s a full bar), but someone in your party still wants to get a bite to eat and won’t settle for picking up something on the…
Rap’s “People’s Champions” Tell Fans “Your Lives Matter!”
The People’s Champions Tour feat. Talib Kweli & Immortal Technique Warehouse Live April 3, 2015 “It’s a revolutionary (party), they ask me what I’m writin’ for I’m writin to show you what we fightin for!” When it comes to the real hip-hop, the one that inspires thought to aid one’s…
UPDATED: Longtime Chef Randy Evans Is Leaving Houston
Updated 4/6/2015, 3:23 p.m. Chef Randy Evans returned our call and had this to say: “I’m going to miss the people and the food. Houston’s been great to me. I just turned 40 and that’s a big milestone. I’m not actually starting at H‑E‑B until August 1–exactly one year after…
Easter Sunday Filled With Sounds of Tomorrowland
The Van Allen Belt, PopeNQM, FLCON FCKER, Matsu Mixu Fitzgerald’s April 5, 2015 There were no empty tomb events downstairs at Fitzgerald’s last night. No necromancy took place on Easter Sunday. Even if there were such a parlor trick, just about as many people who realized the profoundly large boulder…
Despite Earning Excess Profits for Years, CenterPoint Is Asking for a Rate Increase
During a presentation for investors last June, CenterPoint Energy vice president Tracy Bridge boasted that for years the company was making more money than actually permitted by state regulators. See, back in 2011 the Texas Public Utility Commission, which regulates the rate power transmission companies like CenterPoint can charge, authorized…
Houston’s Moving Sidewalk Launches a Hand-cut Ice Business to Sell to Other Bars
In its infancy, the question in Houston’s cocktail scene was, “Are quality ingredients used?” Now, it is assumed that if you’re going to serve cocktails you know what you’re doing (or you’ll be subject to mockery–your choice). There is, however, an often-overlooked ingredient–ice. Believe it or not, good ice is…
Houston Artists Pay Tribute to Selena
“We remember our daughter every single day. We don’t need a special day to remember her.” Those were the words spoken by Abraham Quintanilla in an interview with the Associated Press concerning the 20th anniversary of the death of his daughter, slain Tejano queen and entertainer Selena Quintanilla. As someone…
Real Ale Brewing Co. Unveils a Brand Redesign, 12-packs & Bombers
Real Ale Brewing Company, based in Blanco, Texas, has been a mainstay of the Texas craft beer scene since it opened in 1996. Longtime craft beer drinkers will recognize the familiar old-timey photos on the labels of Real Ale’s oldest brews, or the red, silver, and gold of the Fireman’s…
Could You Hit a Wrestling Move on These Rappers?
It’s nearing the end of the school year. That means that for some reason, there’s going to be a fight-video Vine montage at your high school. People are going to “oooh” and “ahhh” and somebody is going to get one clean punch in and things will be over. Dunzo. Point…
Hey, the Astros Are Back Tonight. Remember Them?
Tonight’s the night. The start of a new season. A new beginning. The Houston Astros are no longer the joke of baseball. Or so say the supposed experts of baseball. The Astros were a semi-competent team toward the end of last season, and some of the much ballyhooed young talent…
Dish of the Week: Charoset
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. In honor of Passover, this week’s featured dish is charoset. One of the symbolic foods of the Passover Seder Plate, charoset (or haroset) is…
Boobs, Breasts and Tits: Socially Conscious Cancer Survivor Fights Back With Body, Mind and Art
Upon receiving a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer, as 1 of every 8 women in the United States will, it is natural to want to fight the disease with every arsenal in the medical toolbox. Thedra Cullar-Ledford, in her Drawing the Eye to Nothingness exhibit at G Gallery, has launched…
Bill Would Let School Officials Give Students Mental Health Evaluations
State Rep. Jason Villalba, a Dallas Republican, has filed some, shall we say, rather intriguing bills during the 84th biennial Texas Legislature — like the one that would make it a crime for bloggers and citizens to film law enforcement, and the one that would force parents to vaccinate their…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Wine Dinners & Festivals Galore
Monday, April 6 Steak Night At Moving Sidewalk Chef J.D. Woodward returns for one night to his former home turf to serve up some juicy steaks and hearty potatoes. A vegetarian option is available as well. There are happy hour prices at the bar all night and dollar beers. Dinner…
2015 Final Four: 4 Winners, 4 Losers
Heading into Saturday night, I thought there were two immutable truths about this year’s Final Four in Indianapolis, and they were as follows: 1. This is the most decorated foursome of coaches I can ever remember at one Final Four. Izzo, Coach K, Calipari, Bo Ryan. Even the four that…
Houston’s Newest Jazz Jam Invites Vocalists to Step Up to the Mike
We’re at Costa’s Elixir Lounge discussing the bar’s Vocal Jazz Jam with Paul Chester, the well-known and highly-regarded Houston musician who co-hosts the new Thursday night event. He and Tianna Hall, the always-busy jazz vocalist and his jam counterpart, are trying to recall a song they performed when the jam…
Bad Religion Fires Up a Dizzying Punk Time Machine
Bad Religion, Off! House of Blues April 3, 2015 For more than three and a half decades, audience expectations of Bad Religion seem rather cut in stone. They don’t expect some wavering, ever-experimenting, genre-morphing shenanigans, but something far more rigorous: relentlessly propelled speed and intelligent fury; nasally wry wordplay vocals…
The Five Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Dengue Fever, Arrested Development, etc.
Dengue Fever Fitzgerald’s, April 6 The subset of Cambodian-American bands that have made a lasting impression on the wider indie-rock world pretty much belongs to Dengue Fever. Since the L.A.-based band’s eponymous debut in 2003, fetching singer Chhom Nimol and her bandmates have created a unique hybrid of traditional Southeast…
UPDATED: H-E-B Recalls All Blue Bell Products Because of Listeriosis Threat
Updated, 4/6/2015, 11:33 a.m. The Houston Chronicle says that Sam’s Club and Kroger’s have also pulled all Blue Bell products from their shelves as a precaution. San Antonio-based grocery store chain H-E-B has issued a recall on all Blue Bell products. The company has stores all across Houston. A consumer…
HCC Trustee Wants to Make Transgender Discrimination Part of City Charter
In the court battle that’s effectively stalled the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, we’re still waiting for a judge to determine whether anti-LGBT activists gathered enough signatures to send the issue to a ballot referendum. But Dave Wilson, a Houston Community College trustee who runs something called “Houstonians For Family Values”,…
Swan Lake Flies in Straight from Saint Petersburg
It’s no secret that Russia adores its ballet. Nothing from history illustrates this devotion quite as much as when Russian fans of Marie Taglioni made a soup out of her used pointe shoes in 1842. (Yes, they ate it.) But now, more than a century and a half after the…
Jazmine Sullivan Shows How a True Church Girl Can Sing
Jazmine Sullivan House of Blues April 2, 2015 If I could get the guy who was standing behind me last night at the Jazmine Sullivan show to review the concert for me through his loud and excited remarks, I would, because there were some great ones. Alas, he is probably…
Nathan Quick Has Come a Long Way in a Short Time
Last April, local Americana singer-songwriter Nathan Quick was promoting the release of The Mile, a six-track EP that was nearly two years in the making. Three weeks shy of a year later, he has already returned with new material: another EP to precede a full-length album that is planned for…
The John Biggers Exhibit “MAAME” Is a Most Satisfying Retrospective
From April 4 to 24, RedBud Gallery may well house the coziest, most satisfying retrospective of a renowned artist in Houston. The fact that it’s been more than 25 years since the last commercial exhibit of the work of John T. Biggers (1924-2001) alone makes it a noteworthy event. What…
Kiesza & Betty Who Bring Retro Magic to Fitz
Kiesza, Betty Who Fitzgerald’s April 2, 2015 A Kiesza/Betty Who tour makes so much sense that it’s actually kind of surprising that it happened. It’s a pairing so natural that it feels like cheating to put them on the same bill. We’re talking two dance-friendly singers who released their major-label…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Furious 7
Title: Furious 7 Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: “Ralph, Jesus did not have wheels.” Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Two Predator drones out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: “No speed limit signs on this highway, no one to say ‘Take it easy,’ no cops to…
Sake 101 at Kata Robata
Drink more sake. That was the most important message given by Kata Robata general manager Blake Lewis at a sake class last weekend. Forty years ago, Japan had more than 4,000 sake breweries. Today that number is down to around 1,500. Sake is falling out of favor with Japan’s young…
When It Comes to the Astrodome, Ed Emmett Thinks That You’re an Idiot
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett thinks that you are an idiot. Not that he’s actually said that, but seeing as how he’s pushing another renovation plan for the Astrodome, one that currently involves no private financing and costs $243 million, what Emmett thinks of the citizens of Harris County is…
Doctor Who: The Doctor and William Shakespeare
If there are historical figures that The Doctor has interacted with more than the famous playwright William Shakespeare, I’ve been unable to find them. No fewer than six different incarnations of The Doctor have either met or had adventures with the Bard, including at least two trips in the Tardis…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Good Friday, Passover & Easter Delights
Good Friday Fish Lunch @ Saint Arnold Brewery Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. 2000 Lyons The final Lenten lunch at Saint Arnold Brewery will feature fancy Lawnmower-battered cod loin with hand-cut fries and tartar sauce. Advanced tickets ($19) can be purchased to ensure your spot in the event of…
Best Comics in March Part 2: Jem and the Freakin’ Holograms
Every month the staff at 8th Dimension Comics helps us select the best comics that come out. Check out Part 1. Star Wars #3 I finally got a chance to catch up with the new Star Wars series being done at Marvel by Jason Aaron, and I haven’t loved an…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: The Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair Is Almost Here
Yellow Rose Distilling, 1224 North Post Oak, is raising a glass to charity by introducing the Thur Mix A Lot guest bartender series. Every Thursday from 4 until 7 p.m. throughout April and May, visitors can sip and support local nonprofits as their favorite mixologists put a spin on whiskey…
How Not to Behave at a Houston Concert
Unfortunately, the last show I attended in Houston was the worst show I have ever been to. However, the fault was not that of the person onstage, but of the crowd. In between acts, the people around me were also complaining about how rude everyone was. The couple beside me…
March Madness 2015: Final Four Best Bets
Ah, futures bets. That old wagering proposition that for the house looks like easy money, easy bait for drunks rolling through the sports book at two in the morning and says to himself “Hey, I went to UC-Irvine! You mean if I put $100 on them to win the tournament,…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Dance Salad, John Biggers and More
Li Cunxin, a former member of the Houston Ballet, is set to attend the 20th annual Dance Salad Festival. (The festival has two programs, one on Friday and another on Saturday.) Cunxin won’t be dancing; he’s here as the artistic director of Australia’s Queensland Ballet, one of the companies showcased…
Openings & Closings: Good-bye to Museum Park Cafe
It was somewhat predictable that after losing high-profile chef Justin Basye, Museum Park Cafe at 1801 Binz might have a rocky road. However, it was apparently even rockier than expected, even with well-regarded Jason White (formerly of Voice and Oxheart) in the kitchen. Its last day of service is April…
Houston’s 10 Best Bars During Springtime
Now that spring has arrived and the weather is nice, it’s time to venture outside and enjoy it before the extreme heat of summer arrives and many of us retreat to the comfort of indoor air conditioning. Drinking beer and eating outside on patios is the thing to do this…
Nathan Quick’s City Lights EP Is Fast and Dirty
It’s been just over half a year since Nathan Quick’s last offering, The Mile. That album was a jangling, poetic affair that was fun to listen to, but City Lights is a whole different animal. If The Mile was a big dog, then what we have here is a wolf…
The 10 Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Bad Religion, Datsik, Slim Thug, etc.
Bad Religion House of Blues, April 3 Since 1980, before their future nemesis Ronald Reagan even set foot in the White House, Bad Religion has been one of the main standard-bearers for L.A. punk, confronting all manner of societal ills and weathering endless shifts in popular taste to emerge bloodied…
Officer in Ticket-Rigging Scheme Accused of Lying Under Oath
In January, Gregory Rosa was one of three Houston police officers charged with falsifying police reports in an apparent ticket-rigging scam. Authorities now claim Rosa lied under oath when one of his bogus traffic cases went to trial. Per a felony indictment filed in Harris County yesterday, Rosa has been…
Marvel’s Daredevil, on Netflix, Plods Promisingly Toward Comic-Book Glory
The screen version of any long-running comic-book superhero inevitably feels thin compared to the richly detailed idea of that hero in the minds of the fans who grew up with it. Five movies in, no Hollywood Spider-Man has yet embodied, all at once, the comic iteration’s glorious contradictions. He’s the…
Texans Sign Another Wide Receiver, Adding Nate Washington
When the Texans made the minor administrative change to J.J. Watt’s upcoming $10 million roster bonus, it opened up $8 million in salary cap space, and many out there speculated that this was the precursor to another significant move in free agency. Truth be told, there probably isn’t anything that…
Reviews for the Lazy Gamer: Krinkle Krusher
Game: Krinkle Krusher Platform: PS4, PS3, PS Vita Publisher/Developer: Ilusis Interactive Graphics Genre: Castle Defense Describe This Game in Three Words: Without Any Bite Score: 3 out of 10 Synopsis: In a magic land a legendary tree has finally borne fruit and a kingdom celebrates with a fair. Unfortunately the…
Nickelback Sticks to Its Shtick at The Woodlands
Nickelback, Pop Evil Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion April Fools Day, 2015 Seeing a rock band live is a great barometer of where they are in their career. Did the venue size from their last tour go up or down? How many songs from the new album are they playing? How…
Easter Cocktail: The Strawberry Rum Swizzle
Known as the National Drink of Bermuda, the traditional Rum Swizzle has dark or amber rum with pineapple juice, orange juice, and grenadine, with some some recipes calling also for Angostura bitters. This combination of ingredients makes for an intense citrus-flavored cocktail that’s liable to sneak up on you, especially…
Houston’s Biggest Blunders: Identity Crisis
Houston is a wonderful place, but we have made more than our share of mistakes over the years. From traffic to tear downs, sprawl to self promotion, we have found ourselves cleaning up the messes of former Houstonians for decades. We hope this series will help illuminate some of the…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Greg Lowry of Bradley’s Fine Diner and Funky Chicken
To be blunt, chef and longtime Houstonian Greg Lowry has been brought in by Bradley’s Fine Diner as a fix-it man — to build on the good things already in place such as a successful Sunday brunch menu and a gorgeous interior. Lowry’s job is to tune up the menu…
Best Comics in March Part 1: Spider-Man and Thor Are Better Than Ever
Every month the staff at 8th Dimension Comics helps us elect the best comics that come out. Tune in tomorrow for part 2. Thor Annual I think it’s safe to say that the shake-ups in the world of Thor have been extremely good for the God/Goddess of Thunder. The persistent…
Local Pour Opens a Second Location in The Woodlands
Local Pour, the Hospitality USA (Baker St. Pub and Grill, Sherlock’s) establishment focused on local food and drink, opened a second location in the Woodlands at 1900 Hughes Landing this Wednesday with a contest giving its Facebook fans the chance to tap the first keg of their favorite beer at…
10 Best Houston Hoaxes and Pranks
Yesterday was April Fools’ Day, otherwise known as the day it sucks very hard to be a journalist. Pranks and jokes and hoaxes abound and telling real news from fake news becomes impossible. Hopefully everyone has gotten it out of their systems by now, and to celebrate today we look…
Anita Sarkeesian Releases Her First Positive Women-in-Gaming Video
This week Anita Sarkeesian released the latest video regarding video games through Feminist Frequency, her first of the year and the first since the start of the #GamerGate and its anti-feminist backlash. Rather than a new entry in her Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series, it was the first…
Desert Island Discs: Mlee Marie Mains of Hearts of Animals
From time to time, we ask local musicians for their Top 5 absolute desert-island discs, the records that made them the musicians they are today. This week: Mlee Marie Mains, the heart of Hearts of Animals. BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE, Tighten Up Vol. 88 The songs on this album are like…
Alisha Pattillo Isn’t Hurting for Gigs These Days
There’s at least a 66 percent chance that Alisha Pattillo is awake right now. And, if she is, she’s probably doing something to advance her music career. Pattillo is the ultra-active jazz saxophonist who leads Alisha’s Quartet and runs the Thursday Jam Session at Dan Electro’s with her friend, Erin…
Fifty Shades of Grey Made Me a Freak. Help!
Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off’s advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! FIFTY SHADES OF GREY MADE ME A FREAK Dear Willie D: It’s hard to watch the…
The 25 Best Concerts in Houston Before FPSF
Jazmine Sullivan House of Blues, April 2 You know those artists who you search on YouTube late at night to watch video montages of their “Best Vocal Moments”? Jazmine Sullivan is one of those artists. The self-proclaimed “church girl” released her third album, Reality Show, earlier this year after taking…
Jockey Faces New Allegations of Shocking Horse at Sam Houston Race Park
A jockey still facing criminal charges for allegedly using a buzzer to shock a horse during a stakes race at Sam Houston Race Park in January has now been accused by the Texas Racing Commission of using a buzzer to shock the same horse in the same race at Sam…
Texas Stories That We Wish Were April Fools’ Jokes
You’ve probably already had your fair share of fake news and bogus announcements today. The problem is, some of these little lighthearted hoaxes don’t seem that far removed from reality. A Republican-authored bill in the Lege requiring “Hymen Inspections”? Totally false (yet somewhat believable). New Land Commissioner George P. Bush’s…
Council Approves Memorial Park Master Plan
After surviving a seemingly endless public input meeting on Tuesday, on Wednesday morning the Houston City Council voted unanimously to approve the new Memorial Park Conservancy Master Plan. The Memorial Park Conservancy has been working on this plan for months in response to the devastation caused by the drought and…
(Trevor) Noah And The Flood (Of Twitter Backlash)
Well, that had to be the shortest honeymoon in history: Within hours of the announcement that he had been named the new host of “The Daily Show,” the comedian Trevor Noah was subjected to the full scrutiny of the Internet. As potential audience members scoured his past work and his…
Film Podcast: In Defense of Furious 7
Furious 7 and While We’re Young are two very different movies — one’s all synchronized driving and explosions, the other’s all sorta-depressed New Yorkers who don’t drive — but both receive generally positive reviews from Alan Scherstuhl and Stephanie Zacharek of the Village Voice, and Amy Nicholson of LA Weekly,…
Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Testifies at Aaron Hernandez Murder Trial
We are a couple months into the Aaron Hernandez trial now, and after a slow several weeks of nondescript law enforcement characters and forensics experts, business picked up this week. It started with the continuation of the testimony of Shayanna Jenkins, Hernandez’s fiancé and the mother of their two year…
View Some of the Most Important Archaeological Finds of the 20th Century at The Houston Museum of Natural Science
Objects from what is being billed as one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century can be viewed at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in its upcoming exhibit, China’s Lost Civilization: The Mystery Of Sanxingdui, opening April 10. The ancient jades, weapons, burned animal bones, elephant…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Greg Lowry of Bradley’s Fine Diner and Funky Chicken
In an article last year titled Does Houston Hate Celebrity Chefs?, we cited example after example of a celebrity chef who came to Houston only to be greeted with skepticism and indifference. Such has been the case with Bradley’s Fine Diner. Namesake chef Bradley Ogden got off on the wrong…
Big Wins at Menu of Menus for Kevin Naderi and Radio Milano
The 13th Annual Menu of Menus at Silver Street Station was a fun, food-filled extravaganza with dozens of offerings from Houston restaurants, wineries, dessert makers and more. Participating Houston restaurants included critical favorites Songkran Thai, Andes Café, Fat Cat Creamery, DGN Factory, Garson, Latin Bites, Mala Sichuan and many, many…
U.S. Military Forces Will Take Over Texas This Summer and Put Enemies in FEMA Death Domes. (Either that, or a military training exercise kicks off in July).
While you were busy fretting over Zayn Malik leaving One Direction, the U.S. military-industrial complex was planning a covert operation involving FEMA death camps and martial law right here in Texas. Or at least that’s how conspiracy theorists are interpreting a weird military training exercise called Jade Helm 15, which…
Mad Men: What’s Left After Achieving Everything?
Mad Men has always been, among many other things, about the exit of the old guard and the entrance of the new — and the acceleration of that transition by the mood and the movements of the Sixties. The pilot, set in 1960, finds the Sterling Cooper higher-ups scrambling to…
In Its Second Year, Houston Whiskey Festival Takes Steps Forward
You may remember that I covered the inaugural Houston Whiskey Festival last year. While I enjoyed myself, learned a lot, and discovered a couple of new personal favorites, the event showed some seams, as many first-year events do, and as much as anything, I was interested in seeing if the…
Houston Creatives 2015: Nathan Lindstrom, Elite Photographer
Nathan Lindstrom is one of Houston’s top photographers with a list of credits that is a mile long. His work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Marie Claire, Forbes and more. He shoots everything from corporate photos to rural landscapes to boxing. His fluency in Spanish netted him the post…
Ousted Texas Hoops Coach Rick Barnes Quickly Lands In Tennessee
Despite a school record 402 wins and a virtually perennial trip to the NCAA tournament each season (16 trips in all, as many as the school had in its history before Rick Barnes arrived), in the end, Rick Barnes career resume was not enough to save him from his last…
Bunny Butt Petits Fours and Other Delicious Giggle-Worthy Easter Treats From Three Brothers Bakery
What’s trending in Easter baked goods this year? Rabbit tushes. Bakers are eschewing traditional animal representations of Easter such as the itsy-bitsy baby chick in favor of focusing on bunny buttocks; even Pillsbury has embraced this fad. Beloved Three Brothers Bakery has followed suit and is offering its own bunny…
Marie Davidson Creates a Musical Trip for the Mind
Consider the following collaboration: Nico, Charles Bukowski and David Lynch sit together at Lynch’s nightclub, Club Silencio, to discuss sound track ideas for a film titled Un Autre Voyage. After hours in which they try to decipher each other’s esoteric communication patterns, an agreed-upon idea emerges: creating a travelogue from…
Ultra 2015’s Best and Worst Fashion Trends
Written by Kat Bein. There have been a lot of changes at Ultra Music Festival. The audience is over 18 now. And many of rave culture’s familiar accoutrements — finger gloves, glow sticks, rage totems, etc. — have been banned under the fest’s new Prohibited Items policy. There are those…
Try These Five Seriously Delicious Biscuits Dishes in Houston
Everybody loves a good flaky, buttery and golden brown biscuit. But when slathered and smothered with things like chorizo gravy or creme fraiche, these 5 Houston spots take flaky, buttery, and golden brown biscuits to the next level. See also: Try These 5 Seriously Awesome Sliders Try These 5 Outrageously…
An Excerpt From the New Pimp C Bio, Sweet Jones
SXSW is arguably the Holy Grail for awkward swag that turns out to be gems. Any time you consider walking down Sixth Street, you may find up getting handed a promotional lighter, a CD, a flash drive, a pair of underwear (true story) or even a piece of anti-religious propaganda…
Debate Over Feminist Pop Stars Not Always So Simple
I have to be honest: as a male writing about feminism and the ever-changing landscape of women in music, I feel a bit apprehensive because there is a certain set of rules and moral guidelines I must not break. For example, when I use the term “women in music,” am…
50 Things People Say at Miami’s Ultra Music Fest
Written by S. Pajot/Miami New Times Ultra Music Festival is 36 solid hours of EDM-themed overstimulation. Superfamous DJs! Pop-star cameos! Half-naked ladies! Oiled-up beefcakes! Dancing robots! Human tacos! Toothpaste Man! Pyrotechnics! Cryo cannons! Fireworks! Everything at Ultra deserves an exclamation point. Or maybe ten. And there’s never less than 120…
City Council Hears Last Public Input on Memorial Park’s Master Plan
Some people love the Memorial Park Conservancy’s master plan that will guide how the park will evolve over the next 20 years and some people hate it. Since the Houston City Council is set to vote on the plan at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, the council heard from both sides…
UH Reveals Matthew McConaughey Speaking Fee
Well, we now know how much the University of Houston will pay Matthew McConaughey to deliver the university’s upcoming commencement address in May. And we also know now that UH is paying $20,250 to a mysterious, self-proclaimed booking agent based in Carlsbad, California, with no apparent connection to McConaughey whatsoever…
Patrick Beverley Declared out for the Season
On Monday night, the Rockets were in Toronto, trying to win a basketball game, which it just so happens is something they haven’t done in that city since sometime during the Yao Ming era. They still haven’t. They lost the game 99-96, and while every game is crucial right now…
Take the Robert Durst Tour of Texas!
We can’t get enough of eccentric millionaire Robert “I Only Chopped Up My Neighbor, I Didn’t Murder Him” Durst, and now that he’s facing another murder charge in Los Angeles, it may be awhile before we see his constantly blinking mug in Houston again. But at least he’s here in…
The Suffers Light Up Late-Night TV the Right Way
Houston’s The Suffers delivered a gangbusters performance of “Gwan” on The Late Show With David Letterman Monday night, leaving the longtime late-night host giddy and the show’s bandleader, Paul Shaffer, chirping “Mighty! Mighty!” as the credits rolled. A track from their self-released debut EP Make Some Room, “Gwan” opened with…
Pharmacists Group Urges Members Not to Sell States Execution Drugs
It could soon get even harder for Texas to replenish its ever dwindling supply of execution drugs. On Monday the American Pharmacists Association adopted a policy discouraging members from selling death-penalty states drugs for use in lethal injections. Here’s the language of the new policy the APhA just voted to…
Traffic in Houston Sucked Even More Last Year, Says Report
Yes, it is taking you longer to drive to work. The folks at TomTom, a tech company that feeds mapping and traffic data to smart phones and other GPS devices, came out with their annual traffic congestion study yesterday. And for the first time in a few years, congestion on…
Dear Selena…
Dear Selena, I’d like to begin by saying “Thank you.” I wasn’t always the coolest or most popular kid in school. Some kids would call me “four eyes” or “band nerd”, or make fun of me because I went to karate class instead of gym. But there was one thing…
In Pursuit of Balance: California Winemakers Take Houston by Storm
Houston was literally buzzing yesterday with Californian winemakers and wine industry super stars who had come to Texas to pour their wines at the In Pursuit of Balance tasting (commonly known by its acronym IPOB). From the morning seminars and afternoon tastings at El Parador to the late-night after party…
Urban Eats Puts New Spins on the Classics That Really Work
The “3 Pig Truffled Mac & Cheese” at Urban Eats is one of the best versions of the dish in Houston. The secret is a complex cheese sauce that includes Fontina, Gouda, Cheddar, Velveeta and cream cheese. Three kinds of pork join the show and turn it into a hands-down…
Up and Out: NFL Veterans Are Expected to Train the Lower-Priced Players Replacing Them
When Chris Myers got the phone call on March 4 asking him to come to NRG Stadium, he knew. He knew that the Texans weren’t asking him to come in and help lay out their draft board or shoot a video for Texans TV. It was his time, and time…
One Hundred Years Strong: Tour the Major Modernist Thrust of European/American Art at the Menil
Ostensibly this is a review of the exhibition “Barnett Newman: The Late Work,” which recently opened at The Menil Collection. It’s their major show of the spring season, and I’ll talk about it some toward the end. But even more important than a single major show is the opportunity the…
Finding Beauty and Dignity in the Undignified World of Ship-Breaking
Life at sea has always been adventurous and lucrative, from the early wooden rafts of ancient Assyrians to the Phoenician traders of 1200 BC to the fully rigged galleons of the 14th century. Modern day oil tankers and container ships serve as the subject matter for Jeff Jennings’s New Work…
The USW Strike Still Isn’t Over at LyondellBasell and Marathon
The national United Steelworkers strike technically ended more than two weeks ago when Royal Dutch Shell and the international arm of the United Steelworkers finally hammered out a pattern contract agreement that would last for four years. But even though most of the union members will be back on the…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: Combination Platters and DIY Chocolate Easter Eggs
If you know local fried chicken expert Jay Francis, then you’ve probably also been breathlessly awaiting his list of church-sponsored fried chicken picnics across Texas. (Well, maybe you haven’t, but we certainly have.) Air up the tires, check the oil and get ready to go on some delicious road trips…
Up-and-Coming Houston Chefs: Meet Five of the Youngest at the Center of Their Kitchens
There are no boring chefs. The very nature of the business demands creativity tempered with a heaping spoonful of practicality. Successful chefs don’t just learn how to be good cooks. They must also become teachers, managers, leaders, accountants and diplomats. They also live in a tightly interwoven community. We interviewed…
NCAA Elite Eight: 4 Winners, 4 Losers
When you write the many, many thousands of words that I do here all year long, you stumble upon concepts that become part of your writing “brand,” and I suppose that “4 Winners, 4 Losers” is one of those things for me. I originally started using it as an easily…
A Mind-Blowing Theory About Ever After High
My daughter has been into the Monster High stuff since day one, so it’s only natural that she’d also get into the fairy-tale spin-off Ever After High dealing with the teenage children of famous fables. Netflix started re-editing the webisodes and showing them as 45-minute specials recently, so it’s been…
Upcoming: 311, Ariana Grande, Gin Blossoms, H.R., Juicy J, Van Halen, Wishbone Ash, etc.
311: With The Green., Fri., July 31, 8 p.m., $39.50 to $49.50. Bayou Music Center, 520 Texas, Houston, 713-225-8551. 420 Evening Fest: With Decades Of Rock, Black Kennedy, Vanilla Whale., Mon., April 20, 6 p.m., $5. Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar, 1031 E. 24th, Houston, 713-862-8707. 8Ball & MJG: With Lil…
The Breakfast Club Sound Track Sounds Even Better Now
When The Breakfast Club arrived in theaters 30 years ago, I passed on it. Instead, I waited until it was released on VHS, then went to Foodarama’s video department and waited some more, until a copy in a hard-shelled casing was finally available, tucked behind the empty slip-cover that showed…
What Can Jay Z’s New TIDAL Service Do for You?
When you’re a 45-year-old mogul, partying with Taylor Swift is usually a business decision and not one made for pure recreation. Earlier this month, Jay Z decided to take a risk that was a) bigger than losing 92 bricks and bouncing right back; b) crazier than trying to convince us…
How Will Henri Morris Defend Himself Against Claims He Drugged and Molested an Employee He’s Already Admitted to Drugging and Molesting?
On a Wednesday morning last December, 67-year-old Henri Morris sat slumped over in his chair at a defense table inside the federal courthouse in downtown Houston. Morris listened intently, occasionally shaking his head as his attorney quietly talked him through a plea deal he’d arranged with federal prosecutors. The day…
The Suffers’ Path to Letterman Tonight, in Pictures
Tonight is a special night for Houston music: one of our own hometown bands will hit the stage of The Late Show with David Letterman at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. But this isn’t the first time a Houston musician has been on the show lately –…
Bands Rally to Save Their Beloved Mango’s
Last Saturday night in Montrose, reports our photographer Francisco Montes, “everyone was there to squeeze as much life out of Mango’s as possible. Every band rallied people to the front and poured their energy onto that stage one last time. “The night was over way too soon, and it was…
Fantasy Crime League Update: Saints CB Dixon Nabbed for Resisting Arrest
I have the good fortune of being able to say that I’ve never been arrested. It’s nothing I go around bragging about. To me, being a law abiding citizen is merely the cover charge to get into the club of good human beings. It’s no reason to stump for VIP…
Dance Salad Festival Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary With Dance (of Course)
Li Cunxin suspects it may feel a little strange for him to sit in the audience of the Cullen Theatre and not be the person dancing on-stage. “[This] city holds so many wonderful memories for me when I danced with Houston Ballet for nearly 16 years…the Wortham stages are where…
LMNOP – A New Muzical When Actors Really Have to Know Their Lines
Letters are falling from the sky. Well actually from a monument in town and the local leaders in an island community take this as a sign that they should no longer be using the ones that hit the ground and ban them one by one. Based on the novel Ella…
Historic Wunsche Bros. Cafe Damaged in Fire
A fire at beloved Old Town Spring restaurant Wunsche Bros. Cafe & Saloon destroyed a substantial part of the building. According to television station KPRC, firefighters were called about 3:30 a.m. Sunday…
Anime Matsuri Returns to Houston and It’s Bigger Than Ever
Anime Maturi, the convention that anime fans of all ages love, returns from Friday April 3 through Sunday, April 5. It’s now in its ninth year and there are several new features for 2015. The show has grown so large it will take up all of the first floor of…
Dear NCAA: For the Love of God, Please, No More Basketball Games at NRG Stadium
Basketball in football stadiums suck, especially NCAA tournament games. The depth perception is thrown off, no matter where the giant black curtains are hung. Fans pay high prices to sit in lousy seats with horrible views of the game. It’s a lousy experience for all involved. So let’s just stop…
Win-Win With Catering from Ohba Sushi
“Oops” is not what you say upon discovering you’ve scheduled an international trip over Valentine’s Day, leaving your significant other alone with only two cats for romantic entertainment. Most of the words that come out of your mouth involve four letters and therefore are not fit to print. Even worse,…
The Nature of Forms and Intentionally Dirty – Dual Exhibitions at Nicole Longnecker Gallery
The current dual exhibitions at Nicole Longnecker Gallery – photographer Frank Sherwood White’s The Nature of Forms and Julian Lorber’s Intentionally Dirty – both illustrate the erosion of nature through thoughtful and captivating imagery, though the resemblance ends there. White plays with the shape of rocks, often pitted and marred,…
Dish of the Week: Carrot Cake
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. With Easter right around the corner, this week we’re taking a look at carrot cake. In case you’ve been living under a rock, carrot…
5 Houston Retailers Catering to the Newest Shopaholics…Men
I never knew I would see the day where this statement was true…men are taking over the fashion landscape. No longer relegated to five or six male models serving only as partners to the women, designers are paying just as much, if not more, attention to their male centric offerings…
This Week in Houston Food Events: It’s Menu of Menus Time!
Monday, March 30 Cheese Tasting At Revival Market Drop by Revival Market and for a complimentary cheeses paired with beer, cider and honey. 550 Heights. 5 to 7 p.m. “In Pursuit Of Balance” Wine Event at The Parador Wine initiative group “In Pursuit Of Balance” is hosting a walk-around tasting…
The Houston Music Bucket List
I’ve never been terribly impressed with anybody’s “bucket list.” First of all, they’re awfully morbid and judgmental; like, “do this before you die…or else.” Besides, I’m of the mind that if you want to do something, you should just do it and not sit around making up lists about it;…
Jadeveon Clowney Feels Good About How His Knee Is Healing
Is it a bad thing that we are nearly a year into Jadeveon Clowney’s tenure as an employee of the Houston Texans and it still doesn’t feel like he is actually a real person? Like he’s some mythical creature (with one horrific knee)? With just a few dozen plays under…
Locals Weigh In on Kendrick Lamar’s Modern Classic
The weekend before last, Stevie Wonder touched down in Houston to perform Songs In the Key of Life in its entirety. About the same time, many of us were hearing Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly for the first time. It doesn’t feel like a stretch to imagine a day…
An Ultra Music Fest Newb Loses His Virginity
Note: One of the biggest dance-music festivals in the U.S., Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, took place in South Florida this weekend. Ryan Pfeffer of our sister paper in Broward/Palm Beach, Fla., filed this report. Downtown Miami’s 32-acre Bayfront Park is swarming with some 60,000 glistening, glittered bodies. The lights on…
The Five Best Concerts in Houston This Week: Mike Stinson, Big Business, Kiesza, etc.
John Egan The Big Easy, March 30 Give John Egan credit for taking chances. The longtime solo Houston bluesman’s 2014 album, Amulet, is in some respects the polar opposite of its 2012 predecessor, Phantoms. Besides bringing in a few side musicians and respected Americana producer R.S. Field (Billy Joe Shaver,…
Houston’s Society For the Performing Arts Announces Its 2015-16 Season Today
In a season once again serving up an eclectic mixture of dance, music and theater as well as speakers including returning favorites such as writer/performer David Sedaris and chef/author/TV personality Anthony Bourdain, Houston’s Society For the Performing Arts remains dedicated to its mission to bring the arts to Everyman. No,…
Houston’s Biggest Blunders: Mass Transit
Houston is a wonderful place, but we have made more than our share of mistakes over the years. From traffic to tear downs, sprawl to self promotion, we have found ourselves cleaning up the messes of former Houstonians for decades. We hope this series will help illuminate some of the…
The Departed Start Over Again With Hippielovepunk
North or south of the Red River, pedigrees don’t come any purer than Cody Canada & the Departed. Not so long ago, Cody Canada and Jeremy Plato were part of Cross Canadian Ragweed, the rangy Oklahoma rockers whose small-town spin on Steve Earle-style diesel-country was all the rage in Stillwater…
Wrestlemania 31 Preview and Predictions
You can measure how far we’ve come technologically as a species since 1985 in a number of ways. You can look at medical advancements and our ability to treat certain diseases or heal certain injuries. You can look at transportation, and how much easier it is to get from one…
Runaway Sun Showcase “Bad Bad Man” With Short Film
Nearly a decade removed from the release of their debut album, Houston’s own Delta-rock blues group Runaway Sun is still enjoy performing their earlier cuts. So much so, in fact, that the band recorded a music video for “Bad Bad Man,” one of the tracks from their eponymous release, which…
The Foreign Exchange (and Soul) Ride Again at Club Tequila Urban
The Foreign Exchange, Dwele Club Tequila Urban March 27, 2015 Forgive me, but the last time I ever stepped foot inside Club Tequila was when it was a food market. Or at least had all the makings of a food market. Now the venue space had expanded to incorporate lounge-like…
Judge: Anti-HERO Signatures Shy of Referendum, But There Are Still More to Count
Opponents of the city’s equal rights ordinance are still about 3,000 signatures short of the amount required for a referendum, the Houston Chronicle is reporting. But 8,500 more signatures are still to be reviewed for authenticity. A coalition of conservatives who opposed the bill submitted what they said were enough…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: Home
Title: Home Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: “Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos.” Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three Gorts out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Lone human joins forces with renegade extraterrestrial to resist alien subjugation. Tagline: “Worlds collide.” Better Tagline: “The animated…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Thai Brunch & a Rare Beer Fest
2nd Annual Patio Crawfish Boil @ Tony Mandola’s Gulf Coast Kitchen Saturday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. 1212 Waugh Head to this Gulf coast kitchen for a good ol’ fashioned Cajun crawfish boil on Saturday. Live music starts at 1 p.m. but the mudbugs start at 11 a.m. Get them…
It’s NCAA South Regional Time. Are You Ready?
The NCAA has rolled into town, turning NRG Stadium from a huge barn into a huge basketball arena. Last-minute touches were still being applied to the stands, but Duke, Gonzaga, Utah and UCLA were in town and prepping for tonight’s games. Yesterday was media day, the chance for players to…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Celebrate National Oyster on the Half Shell Day, Passover Seder and MOM
Tuesday, March 31 is National Oyster on the Half Shell Day. Since that actually exists, Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar, 3201 Louisiana, will be celebrating by offering all happy hour and dinner time raw and baked oysters at half the price. The slurping begins at 4 p.m. Also on…
Openings & Closings: Neapolitan-Style Pizza Is on the Way
Foodies familiar with the Dallas area were abuzz this week with the news that Cane Rosso is expanding to better cities with a new Houston location. The Houston Chronicle’s Syd Kearney says that it’s opening in the same center as the forthcoming Hunky Dory and Bernadine’s at 1835 North Shepherd…
How Shinyribs Became Texas’s Hottest Band
Winfield Cheek is just happy to be here. Now into his eighth year as funky keyboardist with Shinyribs, one of the fastest-moving bands in the Texas scene right now, Cheek seems content with his place in the band and the universe. “Man, it took awhile but this band has really…
March Madness 2015: Friday’s Sweet Sixteen Best Bets
Hey, Houston, I don’t know if y’all were aware, but the next round of the most widely watched basketball tournament in the world is about to take place right here in our own backyard…. I’m being cute. I’m sure you all knew this. (I think.) You just don’t appear to…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Dancing With the Machine, Texas Abstract Group Signing and More
There are two great shows opening this week so it’s going to be tough deciding which performance to attend on Friday. Thankfully, both continue through next week so you’ll have time to catch them both before either ends their run. First up on Friday is FrenetiCore Dance’s first full-length narrative…
Houston’s 10 Best Gaming Bars
In addition to venturing out to bars for drinks, food, music on the jukebox and good conversation, sometimes you and your friends need some competition to break up the monotony. Whether it is pool, darts, video games, washers, bocce ball, trivia or other diversions, these bars have got you covered…
Is There a Little Life Left In Mango’s After All?
Ever since a big “For Lease” sign went up on the side of Montrose rock dive Mango’s in December, local underground music fans have been patiently and glumly waiting for word to come down regarding the venue’s official closing date. Nearly four months later, though, the place remains up and…
The 10 Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Schoolboy Q, Adnan Sami, Jewel Brown, etc.
UH Frontier Fiesta TDECU Stadium (University of Houston), March 27-28 Known as “The Cage,” TDECU Stadium is still just getting started as the home of the fightin’ Houston Cougar football team, but UH’s annual spring carnival (which turns 75 years old this year) is the field’s first real opportunity to…
10 Reasons the Texans Should Be on Hard Knocks
So the rumor mill was spitting out information last week that the decision makers behind Hard Knocks, HBO’s voyeuristic peephole into training camp life in the NFL, had the Cleveland Browns in their sights as the subject for this summer’s edition. I’m guessing there were some pretty formulaic reasons behind…
Booking Agent Files Amazingly Insipid Letter About Matthew McConaughey’s UH Speech
A talent booker for Matthew McConaughey doesn’t want anyone knowing how much the University of Houston is paying his client to deliver UH’s commencement speech in May, and has outlined his arguments in one of the most idiotic letters to the Texas Attorney General we’ve ever seen. It’s awesome. Instead…
Pentatonix’s A Cappella Cool Proves the Future Is Now
Pentatonix Bayou Music Center March 25, 2015 As Pentatonix performed to a filled Bayou Music Center on Wednesday night, they barely ever took their microphones from their faces. This wasn’t because of nerves or lip-syncing (I would re-think my entire life) or anything of that sort, but simply due to…
March Madness 2015: Thursday’s Sweet Sixteen Best Bets
I admire confidence. I despise stupidity. And I have no idea what category West Virginia freshman Daxter Miles’ “guarantee” of a Mountaineer win over Kentucky falls under. I do know that I’m glad it happened, as it added some juice to an otherwise potentially juice-less game. In case you missed…
Judge Alicia Franklin’s and Attorney Doug York’s Tone-Deaf Honeymoon Registry
Lawyers in Houston are scratching their heads over a lavish honeymoon gift registry posted online by Harris County Family Court Judge Alicia Franklin and her fiancé, attorney Doug York. We’re joining in on the head-scratching, especially since the exposure of the site — which describes the couple’s plans to stay…
Sylvan Esso Brings on Miles and Miles of Smiles
Over the past year, the North Carolina electro pop duo Sylvan Esso has toured the country supporting TUNE-Yards, did the late-night television rounds and played festivals across the globe. Rolling Stone listed the group’s single “Coffee” as one of the 50 Best Songs of 2014, and NPR named them one…
Alton Brown and His Culinary Variety Show Come to Houston
“Alton Brown Live! The Edible Inevitable Tour” comes to the Cullen Performance Hall at the University of Houston on April 4. The original 7 p.m. show in Houston on Saturday sold out, so another one has been added for 3 p.m. (Let’s hope Brown doesn’t run out of steam after…
Thousands of Low-Income Women Aren’t Getting Cancer Screenings or Birth Control Because Texas Banned Planned Parenthood
A new state report confirms what basically everyone who wasn’t a die-hard anti-abortion activist or politician predicted a couple of years ago when Texas lawmakers kicked Planned Parenthood out of its widely successful program for giving uninsured, low-income women cancer screenings and birth control. According to new numbers out of…
Recipe: Overnight-Rise Oversized English Muffins
Do you know the muffin man? The muffin man, the muffin man. Do you know the muffin man? Who lives on Drury lane? It’s not every day that one finds culinary inspiration in a nursery rhyme, but after I read an interesting print article about innovative toppings for English muffins,…
5 Reasons Slender: The Arrival Didn’t Live Up to the Hype
Horror gaming has really undergone a renaissance these days thanks to the increasing ability of indie developers to create and release products. What Tobe Hooper was doing with movies in the ’70s, game makers are doing now with games like Amnesia and Five Nights at Freddy’s. So I was delighted…
Two Generations, One Actress: Sutton Foster on Her Empowering Role in Younger
Doing everything right in one generation just makes you old-fashioned, even obsolete, in the next. That’s the harsh reality that confronts 40-year-old Liza — played with spirited, sarcastic élan by Tony-winning actress Sutton Foster — when she attempts to re-enter the workforce after a decade and a half of stay-at-home…
Texas Finds a New Drug Dealer
Texas prison officials said Wednesday they’ve acquired a new “small supply” of pentobarbital, the barbiturate Texas uses to execute prisoners by lethal injection, according to the AP. That means Texas has at least enough lethal-injection drugs on hand to kill all four prisoners slated for execution in April. And, as…
UPDATED: HISD Students Are Cooking Up Change
“Cooking up Change” is a competition for high school culinary students that challenges them to create school menu items that are healthy, compliant with USDA guidelines and within a budget of a mere $1.40 per meal. It’s the same kind of budget constraint that food services programs in public schools…
Will a Bill to Regulate Texas Payday Lenders Finally Pass?
There are few legal enterprises in this country as despicable as the payday-loan and rent-to-own businesses. They share the same parasitic business model — one that achieves maximum profit potential the more desperate and/or unsophisticated a consumer is. That’s partly why Houston and other cities throughout Texas have regulated these…
Coming Soon: The 12th Annual Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair
The five-day ultimate wine and food connoisseur event in Sugar Land returns for its twelfth year. Several chefs are coming to Houston from other cities to participate, including former White House chef John Moeller; Maine-based Chefs Shanna and Brian O’Hea; Jose Duarte of Taranta in Boston; Jeff Balfour of soon-to-open…
Best of Houston: 9 Best Houston Horror Shorts Online
A combination of increasingly cheaper film making supplies and the magic of the Internet has given the short film a wider audience than it ever has had before. When you throw in our annual Splatterfest horror short film festival every year Houston ends up producing a startling amount of excellent…
Webb Wilder Keeps the Crackle in His Groove
Webb Wilder, who rolls into McGonigel’s Mucky Duck on his first-ever solo tour Sunday, is a lifer, a rock and roll true believer who refuses to give in to the modern-day music business model. Thirty years after the release of his monumental cowpunk statement It Came From Nashville, Wilder soldiers…
Hansel and Gretel
The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, both the graduate opera students and the chamber orchestra, will present Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel in German with English surtitles. This delightful cautionary tale by Humperdinck (no relation to the pop singer of the 1960s) tells the story of the Brothers…
Selena: 20th Anniversary Screening with Live Performance by Bidi Bidi Banda!
It’ll be 20 years since Tejano superstar Selena’s tragic and surprising death on March 31, 1995. It’s been a little less than 20 years since Jennifer Lopez, a then young actress with an unusually large butt, snagged her first starring film role as the Grammy award-winning dead singer, who also…
Murder by Natural Causes
Before reality TV and Real Housewives of Whatever, the small screen was filled with such as Columbo, Mannix, McCloud and Murder She Wrote. Created, written and produced by William Link and Richard Levinson, these on-air series fed America’s fascination with murder and mystery. The crime-writing duo also penned the television…
My Ex Is Threatening Revenge Porn. Help!
Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off’s advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! MY EX THREATENED TO POST NAKED PICTURES OF ME Dear Willie D: When my boyfriend was…
Der fliegende Holländer
Wagner probably never imagined the implications of technology for his concept of gesamtkunstwerk, or total artwork. The height of this was opera, which incorporates music, visual art, costuming, acting and more. Now the cinema is part of that idea as Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer comes to the River Oaks Theatre…
Air Sex Championships
A new hobby is sweeping the nation — it’s part talent contest, part miming, part comedy show and part pornography. Yes, you read that right. Air sex contests are captivating audiences across the country, and Houston’s Annual Air Sex Championships are coming up soon. Brock Laborde, a producer and judge…
Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park 2015
Bayou City Art Festival’s featured artist, Gregory Arth, is pretty easygoing when it comes to selecting mediums. “The one that’s on the easel!” he laughs. Working in a variety of formats keeps him interested, he insists. Along with painting on canvas, he’s painted murals in Cinemark theaters and on the…
La Tragedie de Carmen
Whether you’re a fan of French composer Georges Bizet’s Carmen, at more than three hours in length, or a novice to opera, you’re sure to appreciate the upcoming production of La Tragédie de Carmen at Opera in the Heights, the final offering of its 2014-15 season. “In 1983, a British…
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
It’s the story of the trials of Joseph, the kid who was his father’s favorite out of 12 brothers and had the special coat to prove it, and could see the future through dreams (although somehow he missed that his envious brothers would throw him in a pit and sell…
UH Dance Ensemble
Sophia Torres, artistic director and founder of Psophonia Dance Company, is not the only person disturbed by the slew of public figures and athletes who have been recently accused of abusing women — but she may be one of the few who have choreographed a dance about it. Torres explains…
Black Narcissus
In co-directors/writers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s Black Narcissus (1947), it’s not the rarefied air of the Himalayas that transforms the staid nuns at their aerie convent into their truer secret selves, but the physical beauty of moviemaking at its most magical. The nuns’ stunted lives don’t stand a chance…
13th Annual Houston Press Menu of Menus Extravaganza
Legal constraints prevent us from calling the 13th Annual Houston Press Menu of Menus® Extravaganza presented by Stella Artois the most exciting food event on the planet. Or saying that it’s the one event Houston food fans can’t miss…so we won’t. (But we will strongly hint at it. Wink, wink.)…
The Illustrated Side of John Lennon
John Lennon drew long before he was in the Beatles, becoming an accomplished student at one of the UK’s leading art schools. When the iconic band split up, Lennon put his musical activities aside for several years to spend time with his new family but kept right on drawing; maybe…
Capsule Art Reviews: March 26, 2015
“Paintings” In his new “Paintings” exhibit at Hiram Butler Gallery, acrylic artist Brooke Stroud calls upon both the known and the unknown, producing rectangular nature-inspired abstracts with saturated gradations of hue, punctuated by blocks of color. Two of his strongest pieces, 2015’s Blue Standard and last year’s Star Nursery, are…
Capsule Stage Reviews: March 26, 2015
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat If you’re feeling a bit sleepy when Joseph begins, don’t worry, the show will slap you awake fast. And hard. This is the most frenetic show in memory, fast-paced, constantly on the go and terrifically cheesy. Nobody and nothing stops. Ever. It’s the siege…
Kevin Hart’s Nerdiness Rescues Get Hard From Its Uncomfortable Homophobia
Get Hard, Etan Cohen’s comedy about a white stockbroker who hires a black man to prepare him for a ten-year stretch in San Quentin, is like a spoon that’s almost-but-not-yet sharpened into a shiv. With just a little more effort, it could kill. Judging by the poster, in which star…
Insurgent Might Be a Synonym for “Brain-Dead”
We’re two films into the kiddie-dystopia Divergent franchise, and it’s still unclear if the sequel’s director, three screenwriters, eight producers and especially original novelist Veronica Roth have bothered to double-check a dictionary. Divergent, and now this new sequel, Insurgent, tracks the monotone mishaps of Tris (Shailene Woodley), a very special…
Merchants of Doubt Reveals a Country Eager to Be Fooled
The Amazing Randi insists that the public wants to be fooled, that it’s easier and more comforting for us not to see unromantic truths — you can see him proclaiming this, a little sadly, in Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom’s doc An Honest Liar, which plays like a companion piece…
