Soggy Commute? Another Batch of Rain Will Move Through Houston This Evening
It appears Mother Nature has one more bout of rain in store for Houston this afternoon as a line of fairly strong storms moves east across central Texas toward our area. Pretty much all of Houston got between one and two inches of rain yesterday and I wouldn’t be surprised…
What’s Japanese for F***? Astros Announcers Suggest Yu Darvish Might Learn English Obscenities After Blown Perfect Game
With one out left in the ninth inning and Yu Darvish set to become just the 24th pitcher in MLB history to pitch a perfect game, someone named Marwin Gonzalez stepped to the plate and drilled a single right through the legs (and heart) of Darvish. There were certainly mixed…
Reality Bites: Bar Rescue
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. Managing a successful bar — or restaurant or genital piercing establishment (trying to cover all the bases here) — is a tricky proposition. Your might have a solid concept, a…
Texas Might Finally See the “Crack Cocaine” Gambling Its Citizens Seem to Love
Cathie Adams knows where she stands on slots. She’s done the research. She’s conducted the interviews. She’s seen what can happen when someone finds his way to the bright, baubly machines from which casinos get a hefty chunk of their income. “They’re called the crack cocaine of gambling,” Adams, president…
Lil Wayne: The Keith Richards of Our Time?
During a certain period in time, any given date between 2003 and 2007, when Lil Wayne decided to fully abandon his cartoon-gangster image, the one who sported a Cash Money medallion almost everywhere he went and whose teeth were ripe for a jeweler’s appraisal, into the hardest-working man in rap…
Sea Urchins and Shellfish: A Raw Bar to Be Rivaled at L’Olivier
If you’ve only driven by L’Olivier, you may have pegged the Montrose restaurant as a French restaurant and nothing more. Visions of bœuf bourguignon and pâté may dance in your head, and while you wouldn’t be wrong…you wouldn’t be entirely right either. The L’Olivier I’ve come to love is split…
Doctor Who: All You Need to Know About The Great Intelligence
I can safely assume that all my fellow Whovians have seen “The Bells of St. John” by now, and most of us are all up in a tizzy over the fact that we still know almost nothing about new companion Clara Oswin Oswald and the fact that Steven Moffat killed…
Geno Smith’s Former QB Coach Refutes Scathing Draft Evaluation
Driven largely by back-to-back classes flush with immediate impact players, expectations have changed for highly drafted rookie quarterbacks in the NFL. Consider that two years ago, six of the top 35 picks were quarterbacks, and already three of them (oddly enough, the second three drafted — Christian Ponder, Andy Dalton…
10 More Reasons Dolly Parton Is Badass
So, the 9th Annual Mountain Soul Vocal Competition is just around the corner, and you should care because it involves the ever-illustrious Country Barbie known as Ms. Dolly Parton. She’s my favorite, and just saying her name makes me want to adopt a Southern accent and wear rhinestones. If you’re…
Celebrating Outsider Artists at 14 Pews
East Sunset Heights film institution 14 Pews usually directs your attention to its screen, but this month, it’s encouraging you to also look at its walls. In collaboration with Houston arts organization Intuitive Eye, it is displaying the work of three acclaimed outsider artists in the show “Plain Sight.” Acclaimed…
This Week In Food Blogs: Landry’s Lawsuits and All-Day Sunday Funday in Sugar Land
Eater Houston: Congratulations are in order for Underbelly chef/owner Chris Shepherd, who was named Best New Chef yesterday by Food & Wine. Shepherd is one of 10 Best New Chefs listed by the magazine, and is joined by the likes of Michael Voltaggio at Ink in Los Angeles and Danny…
New Rolling Stones Tour Bypasses Houston For Now
The Rolling Stones announced the dates of their 2013 North American tour Wednesday morning, and Houstonians who were hoping to see the band on the North American edition of their 50th anniversary celebration will have to either hop on a plane or wait for a possible second leg. The tour,…
5 Reasons It’s Time for Kratos to Hang It Up
I gave a somewhat lackluster review to God of War: Ascension when I first played it, and frankly, beating the title only reinforced my poor opinion of the game. Fond as I am of Kratos and his endless, brooding quest to murder every single character in Edith Hamilton’s Mythologies in…
Comedy Is NOT Pretty: Dismissed from 1560, Comic John Wessling’s Heart Still Belongs to Radio
Chris Rock once said of the music business, “Here today, gone today.” The same might be said of radio, particularly sports radio, where hosts and shows change about as often as the baseball seasons. A few weeks ago, the latest change came at 1560 when Adam Clanton (now back on…
Grace Kelly, Super Guppies & Men Who Shouldn’t Wear Cowboy Hats: Great Old Photos of NASA’s 50 Years in Houston
Arcadia Publishing is a company specializing in affordable picture-filled books on local history across the country. They’ve done books on such Houston institutions as the downtown Foley’s, and now they’ve tackled the institution-alest Houston institution of all, NASA. See Also: – “Tatooine” Discovery: Five Other Times NASA Has Drafted Off…
What Was Your First Favorite Song?
Two of the last shows I have covered for Rocks Off, Elton John and George Strait, had set lists full of classic songs that I have been humming and tapping my toes to since I can remember. With careers with such longevity, both artists have touched generations, with their music…
Austin’s Moontower Comedy & Oddity Fest Announces Schedule Including Dana Carvey, Reggie Watts, Bill Hader and Jim Gaffigan
Austin’s Moontower Festival (no relation to Houston’s wiener-slinging bunch) comes into its second year boasting a massive lineup. In a city chock-full of festivals, it looks to be one of the coolest. Set for Wednesday, April 24, through Saturday, April 27, the lineup this year is stacked with big names…
Putting The Pass Behind Me
While the title may suggest that my experience at The Pass was negative, it was anything but. It was, in fact, one of the most complex and satisfying culinary trips I may have ever taken. However, my first time dining there could well be my last. Let me explain…
Brazoria County Hit With $850K Judgment In Judge Sex-Harassment Suit; Some NSFW Highlights of the Many, Many Porn Sites He Visited on County Computers
The horny ways of a Brazoria County judge keep coming back to bite that governmental entity in the ass. James Blackstock, the chairman of the county’s juvenile probation board, has long been the subject of rumors — and eventually court cases — about his sexual-predator ways. Now the county has…
Hell Freezes Over: The Ends of Five Great Musical Feuds
Last month marked the end of one of the great musical feuds of the 1990s. Any Britpop fan knows you can either be a fan of Oasis or of Blur, but not a fan of both. The two bands hated each other’s guts and were in constant competition throughout the…
100 Creatives 2013: Bevin Bering Dubrowski, From Volunteer to Executive Director at the Houston Center for Photography
What She Does As director of the Houston Center for Photography, Dubrowski is responsible for working with members, staff and the HCP board to establish the vision and direction of the small Montrose museum, something she says is a privilege. “Photography is changing every day. It’s how we tell our…
A Look Inside Batanga Tapas + Drinks, Now Open Downtown
There’s been a lot of talk about downtown Houston’s “revival,” sparked by a spate of restaurant and bar openings near Main Street. But the word “revival” seemed grossly inappropriate as I drove to Batanga Tapas + Drinks this past Saturday for its media preview party, as the word itself suggests…
March Madness Elite 8: 4 Winners, 4 Losers
And then there were four! (I know, on the list of lame, cliched, bloggy catchphrases “And then there was (however many are left)” is right behind “Houston, we have a problem.” but I’m still a little rattled from falling for the Dream Shake’s April Fool’s Day prank. I’m running simple…
Burgers Off the Beaten Path: Speedy Burger, Plausible Inventor of the Hamburguesa Mexicana
Whoosh-zing. My order is written on a paper ticket and fastened into a large, metal binder clip that’s suspended from a tiny zip line in Speedy Burger’s kitchen. The smiling teenager behind the counter flings it back toward the line cooks, where it whips through the air over a soda…
Is Matt Lauer Really That Bad?
Despite my vehement hatred toward the programming decisions that NBC has made over the past few years, I am a diehard Today Show fan and a Matt Lauer enthusiast. Therefore, I have been taken aback by the swirl of rumors going on around my favorite morning show host. I’ve been…
Surely Galveston Can Do Better Than “Galveston”
Notwithstanding the recent Galveston-based Carnival cruise liner whose faulty engines landed its passengers in a world of hurt (and national headlines), the island is again throwing its arms open for the upcoming summer season. Last week the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau announced that it had secured the rights…
April Schooled: How Two Different Pranks Caught Even Us Off Guard April 1
As the saying goes, you’ve got to get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over on us. Apparently, in at least two cases yesterday, people got up DAMN early because a couple of our writers got caught with their virtual pants down. We know conspiracy theorists think…
Lean Cuisine Salad Additions Are the Frozen Food/Produce Aisle Marriage You’ve Been Waiting For!
Sometimes a product is so weird, so ridiculous, that I simply must try it. Lean Cuisine’s new “Salad Additions” fall in that category so perfectly that I bought them almost immediately after seeing the commercial. “Simply add your lettuce!” the box promises: The microwave pouch of frozen meat and veggies…
Joshua Vela & Jon Lopez: Face 5 Years for Pointing Lasers at Highly Maneuverable Helicopters Who Could Chase Them Down
Two 21-year-old men have been arrested and face up to five years in federal prison for aiming laser pointers at helicopters, the FBI says. Joshua Nathaniel Vela and Jon David Lopez, both of Alice, will be arraigned Thursday in federal court, as the seriousness of the whole “being treated like…
(UPDATED) Burger Bracket 2013: The Final 4 — Well 3
Update: The Hay Merchant has unfortunately dropped out. But the remaining Final 3 will be there Saturday to battle it out for the supreme burger in Houston. Don’t forget to join us! We held off posting the result for the 2013 Burger Bracket until today, April 2, so that none…
Upcoming: True Believers, Lil Wayne, Dwight Yoakam, Cyndi Lauper, Man Or Astro-Man?, etc.
Second Annual Concert for Conservation: With Dwight Yoakam, Robert Earl Keen, Hayes Carll, Ray Wylie Hubbard. etc., Sat., May 18, 4:30 p.m., $25-$150. Sam Houston Race Park, 7575 N. Sam Houston Parkway W., Houston. Adam Bricks: With Benjamin Wesley and Ancient Cat Society., Sat., April 13, 9 p.m., $10. Continental…
Yes, Gas Station Robber, Please Stare Directly into the Security Camera. Thank You. Next!
Being a sheriff’s deputy can be a difficult job, so it’s nice when the crooks give investigators all the help they can. Take one of the guys who robbed a gas station in the 1700 block of Fry Road March 18. As the two went inside about 10:30 that night,…
A Visit to Collin Street Bakery Changes My Mind About Fruitcake
I had an epiphany recently. Fruitcake doesn’t always have to suck, especially when it comes from Collin Street Bakery. I nearly missed out on this revelation because I didn’t know where I had landed when I stopped for a quick cup of tea and a bathroom en route to Dallas…
Today’s DVDs & Blu-rays: Hemingway & Gellhorn and Unfinished Spaces
Both Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen got Golden Globe nominations for their performances in Hemingway & Gellhorn. Neither won and it’s easy to see why; while each turns in a decent performance (Kidman does markedly better than Owen), there is no sizzle between them. Since this is the story of…
One Short of a Six-Pack: Five Great Beer Songs Written By Texans
Beer has nothing to prove to you. The sudsy stuff has been around nearly 10,000 years by some estimates, and has played a critical role in building civilizations and maintaining life itself, according to various historians and scientists. Still, like an honors student aiming for valedictorian and a Dartmouth scholarship,…
One Man’s (Idiotic?) 2013 Baseball Predictions
The major league baseball season opened on Sunday night with the Rangers traveling to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington South to face the Astros. Most of the teams started up yesterday, and the rest of the league will get under way today. With the season starting, it’s time once again to…
The Disco Experiment: Why It Worked For Pink Floyd, But Not KISS
In 1979, disco was all the rage. For all the kids who had never bothered to pay attention when their parents would talk about it, it was sort of like dubstep. It was ubiquitous on the radio and even rock bands were vying to get in on the action so…
Five Foods That Make You Happy and Others That Make You Sad
We have all heard the saying “You are what you eat.” This common phrase implies that the types of foods you consume directly correlate with your outer appearance. But your food affects your body in more ways than one. Researchers have conducted experiments and studies to discover how foods make…
Houston Comics Speak Out About the Need for More Comedy Clubs
This past weekend, Houston lost the Comedy Showcase, the longtime comedy club down I-45 that helped break local and touring comics for the past three decades. The closure left Houston with just one dedicated comedy club, the Improv, near IKEA off the Katy Freeway. Comics in town are obviously distressed…
Discovering — And Rediscovering — Geoff Hippenstiel’s Oil Paintings
Geoff Hippenstiel has a most risky process: when he has a perfectly good painting, he intentionally messes it up to create a problem he then has to solve. It’s a method that could potentially ruin a work, but lucky for us, it results in paintings that are richly detailed and…
UPDATE: The Capitol at St. Germain Closed for Renovations
UPDATE: Jennifer Nguyen, publicist for The Capitol, reached out on Tuesday afternoon to state for the record that the restaurant is not closed for good and does plan to reopen. “There was water damage from a unit in the St. Germain lofts above on March 21,” Nguyen explained, “and it…
Top 10 Musicians Who Have Written Children’s Books
Today is International Children’s Book Day, celebrated every April 2 on the birthday of Little Mermaid author Hans Christian Andersen. It’s a day to honor the joy of reading to your children (which I do with Lovecraft because, well, I’m kind of a bad person), and some wonderful musicians have…
Weather Week: Remember Rain? Best Pack an Umbrella This Week
In case you had forgotten, that wet stuff falling from the sky on Sunday is rain. Yes, that’s right, Houston, it rained this weekend. And, more important, it isn’t over yet. Sunday was the first substantial rain we’ve had in over a month. The exceptionally dry month of March would…
(UPDATE: I’m an Idiot) Chandler Parsons’s Curious Case of (Ahem) “Food Poisoning”
UPDATE: Apparently the boys at the Dream Shake blog perpetuated the story below about Chandler Parsons, complete with Twitter corroboration from Parsons’ friends, as an April Fools’ prank. What you read below is my falling for it! So Chandler Parsons apparently did have food poisoning on Monday, like for real…
Odd Twist in Smear Campaign Against UH-D Student Targeted for “Homosexual Agenda”
It seems the smear campaign against Kristopher Sharp, the potential candidate for University of Houston-Downtown student body president, hasn’t yet slowed. One week after flyers touting Sharp’s “homosexual agenda” were plastered across campus, someone is posting as the junior in an attempt to gather a rally on April 3 –…
The Eating … Our Words 100: Staci Davis, Owner of Radical Eats
Eating…Our Words has embarked on a project to profile 100 Houston culinarians of all fields, practices, careers and backgrounds. This isn’t a Best of Houston® list, it’s not a 100 Favorites list and it’s not in any particular order. Instead, the Eating Our Words 100 is a way to introduce…
The Rocks Off 100: Walter Suhr, the Straw That Stirs Mango Punch!
Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link. With his signature panama hat…
Pop Rocks: Desperate to Escape Glee, Cory Monteith Flees to Rehab
In what can only be viewed as the triumphant endgame to four years of meticulous, Shawshank-like preparation, Cory “Finn” Monteith has “sought treatment” at an undisclosed rehabilitation center: Monteith, who plays Finn on the popular Fox television series, “asks for your respect and privacy as he takes the necessary steps…
(UPDATED w/No Gunfire Reported, But Bun Dissed?) Bun B, Clyde Peterson: Two Houston Giants End Blood Feud, Appear Together Onstage Thanks to Annise Parker
We know, we know — Beyoncé was able to gather a who’s who of the Houston music scene for an “I Been On” remix. But Bey can’t put together a Houston team like Mayor Annise Parker can. For years (we’re assuming) the world has been clamoring for two H-town giants…
Best Comics of March: Lovecraft and the Horror of Growing Up
Once a month, the amazing staff at 8th Dimension Comics selects a pile of the best new releases for us to peruse and judge. Hair Shirt This month I eschewed single issues to focus on a trio of brilliant graphic novels. First up is Hair Shirt by Patrick McEown, the…
Consider the Fork Considers Just About Everything in Your Kitchen
If your idea of a perfect evening is curling up under a blanket, sipping on a cup of tea and learning all about why butter knives are dull. then Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat is for you. This is the book that will answer…
Last Shot: A Concert Photographer’s Battle With Cancer
[Ed. Note: This post originally appeared on Heard Mentality, the music blog of our sister paper OC Weekly. Longtime concert photographer and OCW contributor Andrew Youssef found out almost two years ago that he had Stage IV colon cancer. In that time, he has continued to shoot tons of music…
Help for Hacks: A Comprehensive List of Athletes Getting Paid More Than the Astros’ Entire Payroll
Comedy is a combination of hard work, creativity and timing, and — depending on which comedians you talk to — an ample amount of drugs may or may not be involved as well. I don’t claim to be a professional comedian. Not even close. But I do think I have…
Doctor Who: I Love You. You’re Perfect. Now Change.
It’s been a long, long wait to get to the second half of Season 7 on Doctor Who, and “The Bells of St John” is not a bad way at all to start back up again. It’s a fast-paced, thrilling story that has begun what I am sure are a…
Here, Eat This: A Beginner’s Guide to Nigerian Cuisine
Tackling Nigerian cuisine so early in the Here, Eat This series? Why not? Nigerian food is some of the most accessible “ethnic” food out there — or at least, it will be for anyone who grew up eating Cajun, Southern or soul food. I’m looking at you, Houston. See also:…
Andrew WK: The Face of Playtex’s New Sex Napkins
In the most recent instance of things that never needed to happen, ever, Andrew W.K. has joined forces with Playtex — maker of all things Tampon-tastic — to bring you “Fresh + Sexy Wipes,” an intimate cleansing wipe for your nether regions to help you feel (I’d presume) fresh and…
North Forest ISD’s Hopes to Avoid HISD Merger Vanishing Quickly
The likelihood of North Forest Independent School District being annexed into Houston Independent School District seems imminently probable, even though North Forest promises at least one more appeal of the decision. North Forest, which has been in disarray for almost two decades now, threw a Hail Mary pass at the…
Moving Sidewalks Dust Off Their ’60s Brooms In NYC
This weekend the Moving Sidewalks, best known as the band Billy Gibbons was in before ZZ Top formed, were once again a living, breathing, kaleidoscoping musical being. Gibbons and the other Sidewalks – Tom Moore (organ), Dan Mitchell (drums) and Don Summers (bass), all of whom still live in Texas…
Dynamo Stay Unbeaten Through 34 Games at BBVA Compass; 5 Things We Learned
It was a busy slate of sports for H-Town this weekend, with almost every professional sports team representing the hometown the right way. For the Dynamo, continuing their home unbeaten streak to a mere 34 games was their claim to fame. This victory, which tied the MLS home unbeaten streak…
Yes, Hall & Oates Tickets Are $100, But They Could Also Be $375
Pop-rock wonders and ’80s radio mavens Daryl Hall and John Oates are coming to Arena Theatre on Saturday, May 25, their second time through the Houston area in the past few months. Most people outside the Loop may think that the duo has been in mothballs since 1987, but the…
These Deals Are No Joke! Flakey’s Pizza, Nelore and More
Let’s start this new week off right with a delicious deal, good for half-off ($8 for $16) at Flakey’s Pizza. The hand-tossed pizza’s at Flakey’s are made-to-order–no pre-fab pies here, guys–and offer the only pizza delivery in EADO/Eastwood area; Flakey’s will deliver free anywhere inside the loop for all orders…
No Beard? No Problem. Rockets Beat Clippers for 40th W of the Season
At the beginning of this season, I was talking to my friend David Hardisty over at ClutchFans.net. At the beginning of every season, we’ll usually talk about what we expect from the season. The team had just traded for James Harden, but neither of us were optimistic. I pegged the…
Consumption for a Cause: Does It Really Help?
In high school and in college, I consistently volunteered my time at hospitals, food banks, shelters and, one summer, even overseas teaching English to six-year-olds in northern India. Yes, my motivation stemmed in part from the fact that such activities looked good on medical school applications, but I also liked…
Michael Brown: He Was Quietly Released from Jail Last Week
It was truly a Good Friday for ex-hand surgeon Michael “She Had a Nice Ass, and I Was Hard” Brown, who was released from Harris County Jail March 28 after serving about 20 days of his 180-day sentence. Although Harris County Family Court Judge Sheri Dean denied Brown’s request for…
Last Call at Marfreless: “I Needed Closure”
Tom Lytle sits at the end of the bar, lamenting his last night at his favorite hole in the wall. “It’s an atrocity, it’s an institution and it shouldn’t be messed with,” says the loyal patron of Marfreless for more than 40 years. “I moved with them here and I…
Comedy Showcase Closes Its Doors, Leaving Houston with One Comedy Club
This past weekend, Comedy Showcase off 45 South at Fuqua closed its doors. The owner, Danny Martinez, wants to retire, and his wife Blanca Gutierrez looks forward to them both jumping into being grandparents full-time. The changing market and low attendance, plus the lagging economy, also contributed to the closure…
Thanks for the Drink! (Now, How Long Do I Have to Sit Here?)
Girl walks into a hotel bar. Traveling alone and therefore (she thinks) drinking alone. She plunks herself down and orders a Sidecar from the bartender, who looks uncannily like Kevin Spacey. From across the room, a male stranger, not completely unattractive and certainly not scary-looking, approaches her with a smile…
Senseless, Tragic But (Almost) Hardly Newsworthy: 17-Year-Old Killed When Teens Fire in Drive-By
Hundreds of people will be murdered in Houston this year, if it’s a typical year. Some of the dead will be teenagers. Some of the people doing the killing will be teenagers. So a Houston police report on an unidentified 17-year-old who died early Saturday morning in West Houston when…
The Merchant of Venice Doesn’t Need to Be Placed in a Nazi Concentration Camp
The setup: While this much-abridged version of Shakespeare’s “comedy” Merchant of Venice is not the first production to be set in a Nazi concentration camp, I hope it will be the last. The physical production from Classical Theatre Company is striking and the acting from the three men (Thomas Prior,…
Chef Erin Smith’s Spectacular Charcuterie Board on Anvil’s New Menu
To be completely honest, upon receiving an invitation to go sample and hear about the cold cuts and cheeses that Anvil Bar & Refuge consulting chef Erin Smith would be putting on the menu, my initial reaction was not enthusiasm, but rather skepticisim. With so much great experience under her…
Saturday Night: Southern Culture on the Skids at the Continental Club
Southern Culture on the Skids Continental Club March 30, 2013 There was a time when there was no more electrifying experience to be had than taking in a Southern Culture on the Skids show. Anything could happen, from flying chicken bones to booty-shakin’ the night away, and it usually did…
War’Hous’s Adventure Time Exhibition Hits Highs and Lows
Check out our Glob/WarHous slideshow. One might think that fans of Cartoon Network’s postapocalyptic show Adventure Time would generally range in the five-to-ten-year-old age group, but then one would be wrong. Adventure Time, the totally far-out show about a boy, Finn, and his dog, Jake, living in a dystopian society,…
Saturday Night: Deftones at Bayou Music Center
Deftones, Periphery Bayou Music Center March 30, 2013 After a decade, it’s easy for bands to make the short trip from real band to nostalgia act. They might continue to record new music, pushing out singles that radio will ignore and doing interviews about how excited they are about how…
A Public Plea for Bayou Place to Update Its Web Site
I love Bayou Place. I really do. I love the idea of clustering great restaurants and bars in one development in such close proximity to some of the city’s iconic cultural institutions: the Wortham, the Alley Theatre, Jones Hall and the new Houston Ballet. And tucked right into Bayou Place…
Astros Opening Day 2013: Fans Weigh in with Hopes & Opinions on AL Baseball
For as long as I remember, I’ve been a baseball fan. Which is kinda strange considering I never played Little League, didn’t learn how to hold a bat or catch a ball until my best friend taught me in high school, and my father’s favorite sports team are fútbol-playing goats…
“Feds Order 1.6 Billion Bullets” — New Spam E-Mail Goes After FEMA Conspiracy Theorists and Sports Fans?
Spammers don’t care about your political causes or your beliefs. They prey on the innocent and the naive, which is why a recent spate of e-mails I’ve received using conspiracy theory scare tactics does not surprise me in the least. I am not a “prepper,” nor do I fear the…
What’s Cooking This Week? Squash Gratin, Skirt Steak & More
I love cooking for my fiancé and me, but most of the time, cooking for two proves to be difficult. If I don’t make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredient’s I’ve bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter…
Top 20 Songs Dedicated to Drank, Part 2
Friday we brought you the first installment of songs passionately devoted to syrup. So far we’ve confirmed that Houston is indeed the only City of Syrup. It’s also safe to say that the late Screwed Up Click legend Big Moe sang about sipping more than anyone ever could, as he…
Game of Thrones: “Jugglers and Singers Require Applause, You Are a Lannister.”
Even before its third-season premiere last night, Game of Thrones officially crossed the threshold into legitimate cultural phenomenon. The lead-up to last night was months in the making, with magazine covers, cookbooks and even a tool to let your create your own house. Dream On never got that kind of…
R.I.P. Peeps, Till Next Year: We Send Them Off Via Limerick, Haiku, Beatles Song & Utter Tastelessness
Put that Peep down, perp! The Season of the Peep is over for yet another year, the hideous tastewarpers going out of sight, out of mind until stores once again begin next year’s Easter push, generally a week before Valentine’s Day. Much as we would like to simply forget about…
FX Network Is Taking Over and It’s Going to Be Awesome
AMC, HBO and Showtime, turn around, please, and meet your competition; its name is FX and it’s gunning to be the most talked about network on television. Very slowly over the past few years, the Fox spinoff network has turned from being a channel dedicated to reruns of Married…with Children…
Happy Birthday, Lon Chaney! A Playlist For a Monster
As resident Houston Press astrolabe polisher, chirurgeon and goth expert, the world of old horror-movie actors falls under my purview. My heart is given most to Boris Karloff, because any man who can rock horror and narrate the Grinch is more badass than any of us will either be. That…
VIDEO: Can This Man Beat the “Unbeatable” LA Crawfish Challenge?
At last count, only three people had tackled the spicy crawfish pho challenge at LA Crawfish — and all three had failed. My friend Tucker O’Bannon was determined to be the fourth challenger, and the first winner. Tucker eats ghost peppers like potato chips. He finishes large bowls of pho…
Comparing Tony Romo’s New Deal To Matt Schaub’s: The QB Contract Conundrum
Quarterback problems. They’re like everyday relationships.They take on different flavors and magnitudes, but pretty much every NFL city has them. Some are theoretically good problems to have: New England’s restructuring Tom Brady’s contract to open up more salary cap space, Green Bay’s commencing the calculations on what it’s going to…
Win 2 VIP Tickets to See Ryan Hildebrand of Triniti Battle Kevin Naderi at the Iron Fork Competition
The second competitor in our Iron Fork competition has been announced, and we’ve pulled out all the stops: Ryan Hildebrand, executive chef and owner of Triniti, will be going head to head with defending champion Kevin Naderi of Roost to see which chef can make the best two dishes with…
Reviews for the Lazy Gamer: BioShock Infinite
Game: BioShock Infinite Platform: PS3/Xbox/PC Publisher/Developer: 2K Games/Irrational Games Genre: First-person shooter Describe This Game in Three 12 Words: Kicks more ass than Liam Neeson getting his daughter back from kidnapping donkeys. Plot Synopsis: In 1912, Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton detective fallen on hard times, agrees to travel to…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: All Local Edition (No Foolin’)
DJ Sun The Flat, April 1 Now that some of the well-deserved publicity surrounding DJ Sun’s first-ever full-length release, One Hundred, has subsided a little, his true accomplishment on the disc seems even more impressive. In the span of 70 minutes, he pours his 20-plus-year career as one of Houston’s…
Top Five Things to Do in Houston Sports This Weekend: SHO, Astros and Croquet?
Hey, boys and girls, it’s the weekend again. I bet you didn’t think you’d make it here from Monday, did you? We assume the next few days are all filled up with plans for antiquing, buying groceries, working in the garden, eating sensibly and going to church for Easter. HA…
Super Happy Fun Land Celebrates A Decade Of Warping Houston
Out of all the entertainment venues in Houston, Super Happy Fun Land has got to be the weirdest. That’s meant in a good way; packed into every corner of the venue are curious odds and ends, most of them leftovers from childhoods lived in the ’80s and early ’90s. Check…
State Seeking to Close Rollover Pass After Almost 60 Years, to Residents’ Regret
Back in the rum-smuggling days, runners used to head for the narrowest, shallowest spit of land blocking the Gulf of Mexico from entering Galveston Bay. They’d roll their barrels over the land, which became known as Rollover Pass. In 1955 the state dredged the site in order to improve fishing…
Color: 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…
Scienter’s Guide to the Houston Music Scene
Stop me if you’ve heard this one — a lawyer, a doctor, and a writer walk into a bar… Yeah, I’m not exactly sure of the punchline, but that’s exactly what happened when I met up with last Friday with the guys from Scienter, Houston’s own self-described “melodic alt-rock” group…
Study Says Chewing Gum Does Not Aid Weight Loss
People across the nation have used chewing gum to help them lose weight. It’s sort of a logical theory if you think about it: Chew gum instead of food so you won’t overindulge and gain weight. However, according to a recent study published in the journal Eating Behaviors, chewing minty…
Houston Actor Chandler Canterbury Stars in Stephenie Meyer’s The Host
According to young Houston actor Chandler Canterbury, getting the role of Jamie in the sci fi flick The Host wasn’t all that difficult. “I sent a tape to the casting director. The casting director sent it to Andrew [Niccol], the director, and he liked it,” he tells us. Simple, right?…
This Week in Craft Beer: Ash Bash Continues, Beer Legislation News and More
It’s a busy week in beer. That said, it always seems to be a busy week in beer around here lately thanks to Houston’s growth in the industry over the past two years. The Craft Brewer’s Conference is wrapping up in Washington D.C. and we’re creeping closer to National Craft…
Last Night: Elton John At Toyota Center
Elton John has become the best-case scenario of the future life of a troubled character in one of his songs. Albeit a song that he has been writing since he and collaborator Bernie Taupin decided to forge a songwriting partnership nearly 45 years ago. He’s now a seasoned sage, deeper…
Uh Oh: North Korea Is Aiming Nukes at….Austin? Yes, Because SXSW Is TOO CROWDED, Man
North Korea, that mysterious country of Photoshopping experts, is once again rattling sabers. So who cares if they’re shaking some ancient cavalry weapon, you ask? Well, the sabers North Korea rattles are intercontinental nuclear missles aimed at New York, LA, DC and Austin. Austin?…
Top Five Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Dance Salad 2013, the Roscoe Mitchell Quartet, Misha Penton: Selkie, a sea tale, Dave Attell and Anime Matsuri
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s curated version of In Transit by the Compañía Nacional de Danza/National Ballet of Spain is just one of a slew of premieres seen at Dance Salad Festival 2013, which runs Friday and Saturday. The piece was inspired by Ochoa’s frequent stops in airports. Ochoa has a second…
Upcoming Events: What Do Duck Dynasty and Robert Earl Keen Have in Common?
Any and all crawfish-eating you’ve been doing so far this season has just been practice for the main event: the annual Texas Crawfish Festival in Old Town Spring, which is coming up on April 19 through 21 and April 26 through 28. The festival has to be two weekends to…
Rex Brown’s Official Truth: Pantera’s Literary Autopsy
Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story of Pantera By Rex Brown Da Capo Press, 304 pp., $15.47 Back in Pantera’s ’90s heyday, few fans would have guessed that the first guy to write a tell-all history of the band would be Rex Brown. Though an indivisible component of Pantera’s…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Title: G.I. Joe: Retaliation Who’s Retaliating? The process is twofold: Cobra is retaliating because of their defeat in the first movie, causing the Joes to retaliate to their…retaliation. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant to the Film: Two and a half Sgt. Slaughters out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Elite counterterrorism…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Killen’s BBQ, Sprouts Grand Opening, Iron Throne Beer, Ash Bash and Easter Brunch
Just because it’s Easter Sunday doesn’t mean you have to spend the weekend hunting eggs. There are plenty of non-Easter events coming up in the next two days. Killen’s BBQ Pop-Up 2804 South Main, Pearland Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Within a few months, Ronnie Killen will…
Dance Salad Festival’s Opening Night Ranges From Lighthearted to Perplexing to Poignant
For 21 years now Nancy Henderek has curated the renowned Dance Salad Festival, with 18 of those taking place here in Houston. The weekend-long festival is a celebration of domestic and international dance from established companies and emerging choreographers, and this year’s collection is not to be missed. Thursday night’s…
Stolen Gear Blues 2: Prevention Boogaloo
Running around like a bunch of wannabe guitar gumshoes is fantastic, but wouldn’t it be better to just avoid losing any gear all together? Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to keep things safe or at the very least traceable. It goes without saying that the musician’s I spoke to wish they…
The Astros Start Play On Sunday: Does Anyone Really Care?
The 2013 season begins for the Astros on Sunday night when they host the Texas Rangers on ESPN. And frankly, I’m at the point with Jim Crane and flunkies that I really don’t give a damn. Is anyone really excited about this Astros season? The team is going to be…
When Roberto Rodriguez (Allegedly) Endangers His Kids, He Really (Allegedly) Endangers His Kids
Fights with a girlfriend can be highly annoying, we can all agree. But maybe another thing we can agree on is that the best way to react to them is not by packing three kids into an SUV and then drunkenly peeling through the neighborhood doing donuts on front lawns…
Chef Chat, Part 3: Trong Nguyen of Crawfish and Noodles, Crawfish and Classic Vietnamese All Under One Roof
This is the third part of a three-part Chef Chat series. If you missed our previous posts, you can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. This week, we got to know the chef and owner of Crawfish and Noodles, Trong Nguyen. We learned how he struggled to maintain…
The Best Red Profile Pics Supporting the Marriage Equality Movement
Two things happened this week that I was absolutely sure were never going to happen in my lifetime. The first was the Supreme Court of these United States taking up both a case to repeal Proposition 8 that banned same-sex marriage in California by popular vote as well as possibly…
Five Great Texas Tributes from Unlikely Sources
All month long now, the AV Club has been running a new feature called State Songs featuring performances of famous songs revolving around each of the fifty states, one state per month. This month was Texas, so of course it caught our attention here at Rocks Off. But it made…
The Horrifying, Mystifying, Wonder-Filled World of Houston T-Shirts on eBay
There are few things more disposable these days than a T-shirt. The problem is, you just can’t bring yourself to throw one out. It’s still a shirt, right? Someone could fit into it somewhere, you know? So instead of getting tossed, they go to Goodwill or get used as a…
Top 20 Songs Dedicated to Drank, Part 1
Some call it lean; others call it barre or simply drank. Whichever you prefer, promethazine with codeine cough syrup is the ever so popular recreational drug used by many people. Houston’s hip-hop culture has made lean something everyone has wanted to talk about or even try for decades. If you…
100 Creatives 2013: Lydia Hance, Founder and Director of Frame Dance Productions
A Frame Dance Productions engagement is more than a dance concert; it’s an immersive experience that allows the audience to appreciate movement in ways that go beyond the proscenium stage. “I try to bring people into dance by making small shifts in the norm of experiencing it,” says Lydia Hance,…
Health Department Roundup: Haute Wheels Checked, and Mostly Good News in Montrose
This weekend, the city once again hit the Press-organized Haute Wheels food truck festival. Like last year, the trucks that inspectors visited did pretty well. Chilantro BBQ got hit with two violations: potentially hazardous food held at improper temperature (corrected on site), and no shatter-proof protection for artificial lighting. Happy…
As It Turns Out, The Texans Could’ve Very Easily Kept Connor Barwin
“I think Brooks (Reed) and Connor (Barwin) played well. Sometimes because they’re not numbers, the perception out there is somebody is not playing well because they don’t have sacks, but I can tell you that can be far from the truth. I think they play well. I think they were…
Comicpalooza 2013 Announces More Special Guests at Convention
Last year’s edition of Comicpalooza at the George R. Brown Convention Center was a success all around, giving Houstonians three days to mingle with one another and meet some of their favorite sci-fi idols, and, of course, to buy plenty of collectibles to fill their homes with. The organizers have…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Bill Carter, Chase Hamblin, Deftones, etc.
Bill Carter McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, March 29 With wife/writing partner Ruth Ellsworth, Bill Carter co-wrote 1989’s “Crossfire,” one of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s last big hits. That song went on to earn music publisher BMI’s “Million Airs” award for more than 2 million radio spins; musically speaking, it granted Carter license…
Openings & Closings: Pico’s Mex-Mex and More Are Movin’ on Up
If this week’s roundup of openings and closings had a theme song, it would be “Movin’ On Up” from The Jeffersons. Pico’s Mex-Mex is doing just that, by vacating its old Bellaire location to move into the recently closed Maggie Rita’s at Richmond and Kirby. The Houston Chronicle’s Alison Cook…
World’s Lamest Bank-Robbing Disguise (Moses? Blond Lincoln?) Baffles Cops
The FBI and local law enforcement are baffled by a disguise used in a northwest-side bank robbery this morning. Mostly they seemed baffled by just how half-assed and piss-poor the disguise was and why the robber would use an outfit seemingly designed only to inspire derision and laughter. The FBI’s…
Catching Up with Yelapa Alumni L.J. Wiley and Vincent Huynh, Both with Big Plans for Houston
It’s a rare occasion when you get to enjoy a favorite dish from a long-closed restaurant, prepared once again by the chef himself. But that’s exactly what took place this past Tuesday and Wednesday as chef L.J. Wiley and his old kitchen crew from Yelapa Playa Mexicana hosted four pop-up…
Connor Barwin’s Goodbye Ad Thanks a Long List That Includes Two Press Staffers
Connor Barwin is no longer a Texan, but he’s leaving town with the same panache with which he took it over. Barwin is headed to Philly to play for the Eagles, and he took out a full-page ad in the Houston Press (because he wanted results, dammit) to thank, it…
HISD Again a Finalist for Prestigious $1 Million Broad Prize
The Houston Independent School District is once again a finalist for the prestigious Broad Prize, which celebrates urban education and who’s doing it right. It’s the third time HISD has been a finalist for the award, which began in 2002. The district won the nationwide prize — which comes with…
Pro-Gay Marriage Willie Nelson Returns With A New Album April 16
As Willie Nelson inches towards 80 years of age on April 29, his schedule doesn’t seem to winding down one bit. He tours at an astounding clip, and it seems like he was in the Houston-area at least four times in the past year. In fact, we reviewed his latest…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Trong Nguyen of Crawfish and Noodles, on the Vietnamese Food in His Menu, the Flavor of His Crawfish
This is the second part of a three-part Chef Chat series. You can read Part 1 here and Part 3 in this same space Friday. EOW: So you took over this restaurant and it’s in the dumps. How did you bring it back up? TN: What I did is I…
Dust Never Sleeps: Lost ’70s Power Rock Trio Reemerges with Reissues
When you think of classic rock power trios, names like Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Blue Cheer, Grand Funk Railroad, and Mountain come to mind. But only hardcore music nerds may remember the short-lived Brooklyn-based Dust. Formed in 1969 the band – which included Richie Wise (vocals/guitar), Kenny Aaronson (bass),…
Suspense! A Daring Escape! International Intrigue!! Action-Packed Security Video Shows Hit at Indonesian Consulate
Most surveillance videos offer long stretches of not a lot happening, interspersed with a brief burst of criminal activity. But this latest offering from Crime Stoppers and HPD, my God — suspense, international intrigue, a frantic chase and sprint for freedom — it’s the summer blockbuster of the spring!!! Kinda…
Three-Alarm Fire Breaks Out at Sorrento in Montrose
Five Houston Fire Department ladder trucks responded to a three-alarm fire that broke out this morning at Sorrento, a popular Italian restaurant on Lower Westheimer. The fire started at the restaurant around 9 a.m., and had been downgraded to a one-alarm fire by 10:30 a.m. “No one hurt at Sorrento,…
Houston Press Voice Daily Deals at breakfast klub, Rioja
This week we are just THROWING money at you guys! (We were going to say food, but throwing food is mean. And messy.) First we offered you half-off at Rioja to help you celebrate National Paella Day in style, and today our Houston Press Voice Daily Deal is going to…
Rockets Close Out Home Stand with Loss to Pacers
If at the beginning of this seven-game homestand someone would ask the average Rocket fan what a good record would be given the teams on the schedule, most would likely want 7-0, but they would certainly settle for 5-2, which is exactly what they got after the Rockets went down…
Texas EDM Fans Dealt Setback With Nocturnal Wonderland Pullout
For three consecutive years, Apache Pass near the Central Texas town of Rockdale has been the home of Nocturnal Wonderland, a multi-day electronic dance music festival that Texas EDM fans have counted on to kick off their EDM festival season. The season is largely driven by L.A.-based supergiant promoters Insomniac…
The Rest of the Best: Houston’s Top 10 Dog Parks
Houston has several dog parks, from tiny, private “for residents use only” parks in gated communities to huge sections of wooded acreage. In deciding what makes a good dog park, we looked at amenities and features that are attractive to both dogs and humans. Ponds and pools were a big…
The Allure of Power Lines and Transformers
While exploring the imagery of power lines throughout his 30-year career, Randy Twaddle’s work with the surprisingly elegant black lines has appeared in paintings and on wool rugs, textiles, even tote bags. A new show at Moody Gallery featuring the Houston artist and designer’s work shows that he’s not done…
Spaghetti Supper in a Beer Hall: Lunch at the Saint Arnold Brewery
“You know what this reminds me of?” my friend asked me over lunch at the Saint Arnold Brewery earlier this week. “A really nice spaghetti supper. Except not at a church.” I saw what he meant: The long, wooden picnic tables that line Saint Arnold’s beer hall have a visual…
10 Musicians Who Should Grow Their Own Kind of Weed
Turns out Flesh N Bone — yes, of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony fame — has quite the green thumb, and he’s using this super-power to spark up a little buzz. In a move that makes him a viable candidate for my favorite rapper of all time, Mr. Stanley “Flesh N Bone” Howse…
Without Pay Raise in Twenty Years, UH Grad Students Take Petition to Masses
One month before your friends began painting their Facebook profile pictures red in support of gay rights, a group of University of Houston English Teaching Fellows swapped their main photos to something of the same color: a shot of the Cougars’ mascot, blazing red, with a bit of text underneath…
Pop Rocks: Your Guide to Watching Mad Men Without Staring at the “Hamm-Bone”
In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Mad Men star Jon Hamm reveals he’s a little tired of all this talk about his enormous genitals: “Most of it’s tongue-in-cheek,” he tells contributing editor Josh Eells in his first solo Rolling Stone cover story. “But it is a little rude. It…
For Astros Opening Day: Orbit, the Phantom of Minute Maid (VIDEO)
The Astros’ 2013 season begins this weekend, and whether that’s good or bad news depends on how much of a masochist you are. The team has been historically, utterly putrid the past two years, and detecting any signs of improvement in the recent offseason would require the most powerful neutron…
10 Ways to Make Ordinary Deviled Eggs Extraordinary
Each Easter, my family and I dye hard-boiled eggs with the standard grocery-store dyeing kit. My mom then hides them around the house for our Easter egg scavenger hunt/overly competitive holiday tradition on Easter morning. After we all run around the house in hopes of being the Easter egg hunt…
The Rocks Off 100: Tony Garza, La Orquesta Salmerum Founder
Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link. With the heat of the…
The Wonders of Griff’s Trivia Night: Six Recent Discourses Through (What Is Possibly) the English Language
On a typical Thursday night, the first round of trivia at Griff’s usually passes without incident. A group named something along the lines of “That’s Not Your Taint, That’s Your Ass” might be in third place, while “Balls Deep” and “A Gentleman Always Pulls Out” perhaps are tied for second…
NBC and The Tonight Show Debacle
Leave it to NBC to potentially screw up The Tonight Show, a television institution that has been around since 1954, again. Earlier this month, it was “leaked” that Jimmy Fallon would be taking over the late-night talk show from its current host, Jay Leno, and since that information has come…
Saturday Funday? Houstonians Hold Sunday Sacred for Brunching
After the third out-of-towner in a week asked me why Saturday brunch wasn’t a “thing” in Houston, I got curious. Once is a blip, twice is a coincidence, three times is a trend. The problem is that — as far as I know — Saturday isn’t the traditional brunching day…
Mama Tried: Backwoods Electric Country From the Wilds of South Houston
With a name like Mama Tried, you’d expect nothing less than the most quintessential sounds of Merle Haggard in his prime, but this South Houston five-piece is a scruffier, much faster version of the Hag. One look at Blake Plsek (banjo/harmonica) and Jason “J-Bone” White (dobro/guitar) and you’d think they stepped right out of…
Kristopher Sharp: UHD Student Targeted for Spreading AIDS, Promoting “Homosexual Agenda” on Campus
Late last week, Kristopher Sharp, a third-year social work major at the University of Houston-Downtown, was called into Dean of Students Tommy Thomason’s office. The dean handed Sharp a flyer printed on both sides. It had been been scattered along the university’s stairwells and tacked to the assorted bulletin boards…
1993: The Greatest Year for Movies in the History of Movies Ever?
I mean, in what other year could cinema reach the heights of Schindler’s List, Philadelphia, The Piano, Tombstone, The Fugitive, True Romance and Short Cuts while also providing us with Demolition Man, Leprechaun and Surf Ninjas? Let’s see, 1993, of course, that year after 1992 and before 1994, when gangster…
A Feast of Ice and Fire: Throw a Game of Thrones Season Premiere Party
Winter. Is. Coming. If you are confused by that statement, stop reading now. We are no longer friends. (Jk, you can keep reading.) This Sunday is a special day. Yes, I know it’s Easter Sunday and that is a very special day to many, but that is not what I’m…
The Five Greatest South Park Musician Cameos
Last week I looked at some of the worst musical guests on The Simpsons, a show almost as well-known for the appearance of musicians as Saturday Night Live, though with a hit -or-miss success rate since they can’t just have the musicians come on and perform their songs. Rewind: The…
G.I. Joe: Retaliation’s a Battle of Dumb Pleasures Versus Your Higher Brain Function
What must Bruce Willis have felt when he discovered that his seven or so minutes of G.I. Joe: Retaliation screen time offer much more agreeable Bruce Willis-ness than the entirety of A Good Day to Die Hard? Or that his cameo, shot two years back and rich with quips and…
The Astros: Out of Their League?
“We feel this is very appropriate. Ed Wade is an outstanding baseball man. He’s organized and has surrounded himself with a good, solid staff. Much of the work Ed did in Philadelphia had a lot to do with them becoming a champion. We feel he has us moving in the…
Eatsie Boys Go Brick-and-Mortar
See the colorful characters that run Eatsie Boys in our slideshow. If someone distilled all that is modern Houston into a restaurant, it would serve dishes like matzoh ball pho and fried shrimp banh mi in a casual, counter-service cafe shaded by thick-trunked live oak trees and fronted by a…
Henry V: Good Prince Henry
While we are thrillingly led “once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more” in Main Street Theater’s sterling production of Shakespeare’s rousing yet ironic flag-waver Henry V, look also unto the young king’s eyes. It’s there where you’ll find the play. As the untested, newly crowned heir to the…
Wrong Makes a Right
If real life were like Wrong, Quentin Dupieux’s sweetly unnerving experiment in ambient fucked-uppedness, your phone would ring before you’ve finished this sentence, and the words you haven’t gotten to yet would be read aloud to you by a voice you’ve never heard before. Then, while you’re at lunch someplace,…
The Screwball Economics of Major League Baseball
Police in riot gear guard the dugouts, preparing for the worst with German shepherds at heel. This is Philadelphia in 1980, after all. It’s the bottom of the ninth. Two strikes. Two out. Bases loaded. Human rocket Willie Wilson of the Kansas City Royals hugs the plate, curiously dressed in…
Here, Eat This
On the Menu Say you’ve decided to be spontaneous and embark on a new culinary adventure, sampling a brand new cuisine for the very first time. Good for you! You deserve a virtual high five. But what do you order? This is a common concern among people who either decide…
Goodbye, George?
Live Shots On March 17, a Sunday night, George Strait wrangled 80,020 fans into Reliant Stadium for what is sure to be justthe first of his “farewell” shows here in Houston. This glut of country fans — only a few thousand short of the total population of Santa Monica, California…
What to Wear
Highlights from Hair Balls Education The assistant principal shouldn’t have been surprised. When Tony Zamazal, a senior at Spring High School, approached the administrator in a school hallway a few weeks ago, Zamazal had already been wearing women’s attire since October. Following the holiday break, he figured it was time…
Capsule Art reviews: “Bert L. Long Jr: An Odyssey,” “Cats, Bunnies, and The Surface Value of It All,” “A chain of non-events,” “Cruz Ortiz: I Speak Lightning,” “Farewell Ruins: Julia Haft-Candell and Julia Kunin”
“Bert L. Long Jr: An Odyssey” If you can look on the bright side, this was some fortunate timing. The UAC Contemporary Art Gallery at Houston Baptist University was putting together a small show of Bert Long’s work late last year when the Fifth Ward artist was diagnosed with pancreatic…
Racial Identity and Driving Señora Daisy
Dear Mexican, About six years ago, my wife and I adopted a little baby boy. He is “pure” mestizo and we are complete wabs. I’m a little dark because of my mixed Arab heritage, but my wife is a major league blanca. He is a sweet little gabacho growing up…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Broadway at the Box, Broke-ology, Company, Jersey Boys, Waiting for Godot
Broadway at the Box The Music Box Theater is a repertory group of three women and two men — they sing, they dance, they act, they reminisce about their childhoods, they do solos and they do ensemble numbers, all this with such a sense of togetherness, of fun, of personal…
