“Texas! The Exhibition”
Yes, there’s a little something about the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto in “Texas! The Exhibition,” but neither of those storied events takes center stage. Guest curator J. P. Bryan says, “The whole purpose of the exhibit is to show the incredible history that we all share in…
“The Whole World Was Watching: Civil Rights Era Photographs from Edmund Carpenter and Adelaide de Menil”
It was 1968, and Vietnam War protestors at the Democratic National Convention chanted the phrase “The whole world is watching” in an effort to pressure politicians to withdraw from the conflict. More than 40 years later, the phrase is being used in the title of an exhibition of photographs from…
“Heinrich Kühn: The Perfect Photograph”
Ask Anne Wilkes Tucker, the curator of photography for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, what the new “Heinrich Kühn: The Perfect Photograph” exhibit is about, and she’ll laughingly tell you, “Long dresses and floppy hats.” That’s because Kühn often used his children and a family employee for models, creating…
“Judy Chicago: Setting the Table”
Influential feminist artist Judy Chicago’s “Setting the Table” exhibit includes plate settings, drawings and embroidery, all of which were created to honor influential women of the past, such as Virginia Woolf and Sojourner Truth. 8 a.m. to midnight Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to…
Mariachi Invitational
Six groups take turns trying to win over the audience and the judges during this year’s Mariachi Invitational, performing classics of the often dramatic, often lively music. At the end of Saturday’s preliminary session, the semi-finalists are chosen. They’ll face off during Sunday’s Go Tejano Day festivities, with the two…
100.3 KILT Carnival
There’s plenty to see, do and eat at the 100.3 KILT Carnival. Take a ride on the 1,700-foot gondola Sky Ride across Reliant Park to see the action from almost 60 feet up in the air. Or take a spin on the La Grande Wheel, the largest portable Ferris wheel…
Pig Races
None of the oinkers in the Pig Races are going to set any world records, but watching them is still a hoot for the spectators that surround the arena. Piglets, motivated by treats at the finish line, race as fast as they can around a 150-foot track. There’s lots of…
“Dodransbicentennial”
It was just 175 years ago that our glorious state declared independence from Mexico, sealing it with a victory at the Battle of San Jacinto. To celebrate the anniversary, Koelsch Gallery is presenting “Dodransbicentennial,” an exhibition named after this numerical milestone with work by Texan artists. The works range from…
“Storied Beads: The Art of Teri Greeves”
Artist Teri Greeves turns everyday objects into art in “Storied Beads: The Art of Teri Greeves.” Colorful, beaded Converse tennis shoes depict intricate scenes of modern Native American life, while a deer-hide umbrella, Indian Parade Umbrella, is decorated with characters marching in a parade. Also included are two small clutch…
“When I saw you last…”
“Anything can be used as art material,” says artist Josephine Durkin. For her exhibit “When I saw you last…” currently on display at the Lawndale Art Center, she creates sculptures by connecting desks, fans, pillows and chairs to one another. The centerpiece of her show, Filtered and Clipped (Please tell…
“Working Space” by Hollis Cooper
Artist Hollis Cooper, who now works out of Los Angeles, grew up in Houston. She considered a career in architecture but changed her mind. “I didn’t want to build anything that had to stand up,” she says. Cooper’s installation “Working Space” doesn’t stand up — instead, it’s made up of paint…
The Chris Bosh 2010-2011 Experience (In Quotes)
OCTOBER 27, 2009 “[Bosh] will never be the best player on a 50-win team. Sorry, someone will spend $100+M on him next spring and regret it.” — Me, in my 2009-2010 NBA preview, prior to Chris Bosh’s final season in Toronto SPRING 2010 “Keep in mind, Chris — this team,…
Video Pick: Is Design Art?
Lawndale Art Center re-branded its Modern Market last year, adding cutting-edge, contemporary design objects and a Texas co-op featuring limited production works by local artists, and with the support of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, University of Houston and international architect Lauren Rottet, Design Fair is back in a…
Actually, HISD Already Did Spend General Funds on Apollo 20
Update: On March 10, Texas State Senator Mario Gallegos sent Grier asking him for a detailed explanation of where Apollo 20 money is coming from, calling his statements that no money came from the general fund “disingenuous.” More at end of this post. Friends of Hair Balls have been besieging…
Comments of the Day
After reading the comments of Lauren Marmaduke’s “Pork No Longer ‘The Other White Meat,'” we had to look up both “long pig” and “clerihew.” Pork’s unpopular new slogan inspired some other efforts, like these from Francois Boisjoli: I would have gone with: “Pork – The Taste of Human Flesh, Without…
Health Department Roundup
We’re starting this week real classy-like with an appropriately apocalyptic Yeats poem, because we’re excellent at copying and pasting stuff that makes us look smart. Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon…
Music World Starts New R&B Live Concert Series Tonight
Beginning tonight, Houston-based gospel and R&B record label Music World Entertainment will host a concert series every Wednesday called R&B Live at the House of Deréon Media Center. Conceived by Mathew Knowles, founder of MWE and father of Beyonce, the project will showcase local Houston artists – both signed and…
Bryan McCarthy: Illegal-Livestreaming Defendant Gets Some Web Help
Bryan McCarthy, the Deer Park man arrested last week for illegally livestreaming sporting events on the Web, is getting some support. A Web-freedom group called Demand Progress says McCarthy’s arrest represents “a radical shift” in federal-government policy because his site only linked to (illegal) livestreaming of events. Their take (italics…
Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel More Influential as a “Chef” Than Tom Colicchio, Michael Symon
Michael Symon is a chef, a restaurant owner and a contributor to magazines like Gourmet and Saveur; in 2009, he won a James Beard award. Michael Ruhlman once credited Symon with saving the entire Cleveland restaurant scene. Giada De Laurentiis, while perhaps best known for her — ahem — figure,…
10 Things You May Not Know About Notorious B.I.G.
A lot has been said about the late great Notorious B.I.G., a man whose life was as large as his frame and whose lyrical prowess is well-documented in hip-hop history books. But how well do you know Big Poppa? In commemoration of the 14th anniversary of Biggie’s death, here are…
The Great Heights Art Heist: The Aftermath
Developments continue in the case of H Gallery, the Heights art gallery we featured last week that is alleged to have been ripping off artists for the past several years. Last Saturday, H director Heidi Powell-Prera showed up at the Heights’ First Saturday Arts Market, a monthly outdoor gathering held…
Composing a Film Score By the Seat of Your Pants
Take it from us, Frenetic Theatre has hosted some thoroughly mind-blowing events. Last time we had the pleasure of enjoying a night at the Navigation Blvd venue, we got free inhalants, kung-fu, and an education in how Sesame Street uses government-approved mind-control techniques. This Sunday, avant-garde Houston artist (and Art…
Not That Duo, Black Keys Musik Produce Their Own Buzz
A couple of weeks ago, we happened across the inherently enjoyable Black Keys, participant in and eventual winner of the Space City Beat Battle. Keys was a hurricane that night, uprooting everything that stood between him and the title. Come to find out, Keys is the actualization of Black Keys…
What’s the Deal With Blondie “Brownies”?
Admittedly I’m channeling Jerry Seinfeld with the title of this post, but I am looking for some insight about “blondies.” They seem sort of…confused. Because I so enjoyed my OMG cookies and cream cupcake from Rice Epicurean Market, I stopped by again on my way back from the gym (the…
Howard Judah and Greg Jablonski: If They Are Scam Artists, They’re Pretty Bad Ones
Say your insurance agent or financial adviser asks you to invest $25,000 on a sure thing with a “guaranteed” rate of return, with a company you never heard of. Do you cut a check right then and there, without asking a single question? Well, that appears to be what nearly 300…
Cleveland Gang-Rape Coverage: Chron, New York Times “Pathetic”
The popular women’s Web site Jezebel, which isn’t just for women, of course, has come out blasting today against the coverage of the gang rape in Cleveland, as practiced by both The New York Times and the Houston Chronicle. Eighteen men and juveniles have been arrested in the gang rape…
What Your Favorite Color of M&M Says About You
We all have our favorite color of M&M. The one that you reach for first when there is a big bowl of candy staring at you. I have even heard about people who will only eat certain colors and then throw away the rest. While I think that’s a bit…
After a Lot of Bitching, City Council Approves Adding Two New Seats
It took a surprising amount of bitching and complaining from people who apparently don’t like to share the spotlight, but the city council has approved Mayor Annise Parker’s plan to go ahead and add two district seats to the elected panel. The city declared that — no matter what the…
Rocks Off’s Fantasy RodeoHouston Lineup
If you walk through Reliant Center, hanging from the ceiling are banners listing almost every musical performer RodeoHouston has hosted since the ’60s. The names reflect the hallowed history of country and fleeting fancies of the pop-music world, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson mingling with names you couldn’t pick out…
Serial Rapist on the Loose in West/Northwest Harris County
Harris County sheriff’s deputies say DNA tests show there’s a serial rapist targeting women in the northwest and west sides of the county. At a press conference today, they released a composite drawing of the suspect, who uses a box cutter to threaten the victims. He’s described as “a short,…
Roast Suckling Pig at Madrid’s Botín: The World’s Oldest Restaurant
I knew Madrid would have excellent tapas, exquisite architecture, and amazing art museums (yay, Prado!). I didn’t know, however, that it would also be home to one particularly storied eating establishment. Built in 1725, Restaurante Botín (or just “Botín,” as the locals call it) has been designated by the Guinness…
Vegas Night / Send In the Clowns
Tonight, two Las Vegas institutions hit town. The globe-trotting Blue Man Group kicks off a five-night run at Jones Hall, and Cirque du Soleil will hold a special preview performance of its traveling big-top show OVO (running through April 10). Both are essentially clown shows–Cirque with its mute, otherworldly, childlike…
Never Mind SXSW, Says Promoting Machine Eric Dean
To say that Eric Dean is having a busy week is putting it mildly. Such is the life of a promoter, especially with the influx of touring artists that hit Houston in March due to SXSW. Dean’s calendar is packed with music at the moment, including a free punk show…
Rush Limbaugh Gets Pwned By CenterPoint
Rush Limbaugh is still busy preaching to the choir these days, even if his influence on anyone who isn’t a hard-core Republican has withered away. Apparently he was ranting earlier this week about smart meters, those devices that provide consumers with extra information about their energy use. Media Matters still…
The Oddly Endearing Idiosyncrasies of MerCheri’s
Back in January, I was so taken by the thrill of finding these amazing boudin balls at MerCheri’s in Pearland Town Center — the subject of this week’s cafe review — than I completely overlooked one important issue: The balls, while wonderful, were quite pricey. The boudin balls I disliked…
Retired Space Shuttles: Will Houston Get Shut Out?
Discovery has landed safely, ending its last mission of a long and fruitful career. It’s expected to spend its retirement at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum branch in Virginia. Two other space shuttles are retiring this year — the Endeavour and Atlantis — and 29 museums have filed proposals…
Five Common Baking Mistakes to Avoid
Baking can be a puzzling task. As such an exact science, just one slightly off element can produce disastrous results. Here are a few things to avoid learned from my more embarrassing baking snafus: 1. Not maintaining oven temperature It took about three days of living in my current apartment…
Billy Joel Safe At Home In Final Play At Shea
Billy Joel Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert Sony Legacy, $13.98 While not a Queens-bred boy, what better choice for a musical performer to close out Shea before its demolition than Billy Joel? Filmed over two nights in July 2008, this 2-CD/1-DVD package offers a great overview of Joel’s career,…
Sexiest Tumblr Blogs (NSFW)
The best thing about Tumblr isn’t just the ease of use, the overabundance of cat pictures, or the constant barrage of memes (or even the chicks in Star Wars shirts); no, it’s the naked folks. And all for the low, low price of FREE. This graphic from a few years…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Glen Trumble of Heights West
We sat down this week with Chef Glen Trumble of Heights West. The experienced Chef Trumble, who trained in France, now brings his culinary techniques to that hidden gem of a restaurant on Ella. Once an auto repair shop, this quaint spot now serves Southern food by day and French…
All of Rice on Probation for Alcohol Abuse
All resident halls at Rice have been put on probation immediately because of alcohol abuse, pretty stern stuff for a campus that is normally somewhat laissez-faire about drinking. We wrote last year about how Four Loko madness had increased the number of alcohol-related EMS calls to the campus. Apparently things…
Join Team Chile, Help Fight AIDS
The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place – lots of times, you’re even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good – so once a week we’re going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Something you always wanted to…
Rods, Hands, Shadows, and Strings: Bobbindoctrin’s 7th Annual Puppet Festival
The time has come for Bobbindoctrin’s 7th Annual Puppet Festival. That’s right, the SEVENTH annual puppet festival. Just when you think you’ve got Houston all sorted and figured out, up bubbles yet another creative wellspring of artists stretching the form and tradition of their chosen medium into something unexpected, daring…
Last Night: Keith Urban At RodeoHouston
Keith Urban Reliant Stadium March 8, 2011 Aftermath was all set at 8 p.m. to go to the Rodeo and witness Australian country star Keith Urban perform miracles like the ones we’d been hearing about on the Internet for the past few days. We listened to some country love songs,…
Pork No Longer “The Other White Meat”
Many of us have lived the better part of our lives believing pork to be “The Other White Meat.” In fact, a 2000 study by Northwestern University found the slogan to be the fifth most recognizable tagline in the history of modern advertising. Yet last summer the National Pork Board…
Houston and Rice Pray for a Miracle As C-USA Tournament Starts Today
John RoyalHouston Cougars coach James DickeyThe Houston Cougars and Rice Owls men’s basketball teams take to the court again today. Possibly for the last time. Possibly for the start of a miracle run. And while the Owls eagerly look for such a run to happen, using the Cougars of last…
Comment of the Day: Cockfighting and Endorsements
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
True Blood: Joan Jett Heralds The Season Of The Witch
Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He’s lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood – which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. No one was surprised when…
Cowboy Diaries: Tyson Durfey — Roped Sedated Calves at Age Four
True cowboys and cowgirls are hard to find, but not at the Houston Rodeo. Life on the road leads them here this time every year for the biggest rodeo in the world, where they’ll ride and wrangle livestock for cash and glory. Each day, Hair Balls will spotlight one person…
Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs
Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Dude, You Going to Eat That?: If you read only one blog…
iPad 2: The 1971 Version
In case you hadn’t heard, the iPad 2 comes out very, very soon. Geeks are already lining up. We hate to pour cold water on such a momentous event, but frankly, what’s the big deal about an iPad 2? As these five examples from a 1971 Sears catalog show, it’s…
Kareem Jackson, Cockfighting and Perception
“Look at all these people that be at these chicken fights, you would think its a college football game.” — Reemboi25 (Kareem Jackson’s Twitter handle) Early March is the meaty part of the NFL’s offseason relaxation calendar for players. The season has been over for a couple months (for most…
Comments of the Day
Could it be that patronizing The Olive Garden is worse than putting beans in your chili? After Kevin Shalin named the chain’s lasagna fritta as his top appetizer in town, there was a bit of a riot in the comments. This one from, er, olive garden!?!?!, is a good example:…
Mario Gallegos Goes Off on Terry Grier at Senate Education Hearing
Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier went all the way to Austin to testify before the Texas Senate Committee on Education, only to be ripped apart by Sen. Mario Gallegos, who continues to not like much of anything about how Grier does his job. Proclaiming that it’s not true that he…
Trentino Gelato’s St. Arnold Spring Bock Sorbet
Shortly after sampling St. Arnold Spring Bock, I found out about Trentino Gelato’s sorbet version. Don’t ask me how it took me until now to realize that Houston’s best gelato maker was using some of Houston’s best beer. I don’t know, either. The point is, I got some as soon…
Top 10 Louisiana Bands Of All Time
Pardon the geographical pun, but besides Texas, our neighbor to the east may be the most musical state in these United States. And in terms of per capita, Louisiana, which ranks 25th in population to Texas’ second, is probably second to none. Outside Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, the program most…
These Dudes Are Going to Hell
If there is a hell, there’s probably a space reserved for people who rob churches. If so, these two guys better watch out. Crime Stoppers and HPD released these sketches of two guys suspected in robbing people carrying the collection from Assumption Catholic Church back in January…
Patio Perfection at Brenner’s Blue Bar
A college roommate once theorized that the best times are often had near bodies of water. It’s not surprising that she went on to live for many years in Hawaii. I, on the other hand, moved to Houston. In the land of freeways, strip malls and suburban sprawl, it’s easy…
Have Script Will Travel: West Texas Hosts Reading of Award-Winning Screenplay
If it were any other one-stoplight, west-Texas town we’d be surprised. But when we heard the little Goode-Crowley Theater in the fine-art mecca of Marfa will be hosting a staged reading of a Nicholl Fellowship-winning screenplay, and that the writer and a former president of theatrical worldwide production at Warner…
Brigitte Gabriel, Koran Hater: Check Out the Bible, Woman
Fans of fearmongering nutjobs must’ve creamed their pants over the New York Times’ profile of Brigitte Gabriel, a self-described expert on global terrorism, and user of words like “Islamonazism.” Gabriel is the founder of Act! for America and author of They Must Be Stopped, which explains why the fairy tales…
Pre-Bieber, Five Memorable Musician Interview Gaffes
Remember in the days before “Bi-winning,” when Twitter was all up in arms about Justin Beiber’s interview with Rolling Stone? Was it really a surprise that some of the pop star’s opinions, as told to the magazine last month, would be half-baked and maybe even a bit ignorant? Put aside…
99-Cent Flat-Screen TVs: What Could Go Wrong?
If you’ve got a spare $1.07 (or is it $1.08? We’re not sure if they round up or down), then you can get yourself a new flat-screen TV this St. Patrick’s Day. Warning: You may have to wait in line for a while. The 99 Cents Only chain — surely…
Getting the Dirt
After transporting some heavy blocks for the garden, my brother Jaime’s old Chevy pickup got stuck in the mud out back. I fetched a shovel, and asked Jaime, a geologist, “How far down to the bedrock, to get traction?” His reply: “30,000 feet.” Basically, Houston floats on several miles of…
Gary Numan: Five Essential Songs On His Birthday
At the gym where Rocks Off wastes time and money every few days, there is a dude that looks like Gary Numan from the cover of his solo Pleasure Principle album, so much so that we want to ask him daily if he is a part of a Houston Numan/Tubeway…
On the Cleaning and Care of Copper
Outside of your classic cast iron cookware, one of the best investments you can make — especially if you’re a baker — is in copper. It conducts and holds heat very well; almost too well, in fact, if you aren’t accustomed to using copper and suddenly find yourself with a…
Obama’s Desperate Commencement-Speech Offer: At Least One HISD School Takes Him Up On It
A news item today, gleefully highlighted by the Drudge Report, noted an internal Obama administration memo bemoaning the lack of offers from high schools for the president to give the commencement speech. We’re thinking this probably falls more under not attempting the equivalent of buying a lottery ticket, although the…
Das Racist: Deconstructing The Rappers’ References
Over the past two years, Das Racist has been a Pitchfork favorite and highly revered for their witty, perhaps smarmy delivery of mostly historical and pop-culture references. The duo – trio if you include their hypeman, Dap, and quartet if you include their hypeman’s hypeman, Lakutis – is coming to…
Wine of the Week: Bastianich 2008 Rosato Refosco
Maybe it was the atmosphere, perhaps it was the good company, and maybe it even had a little something to do with the fact that I was on vacation – no husband, no kiddo, no worries – but I had a glass of what could be a contender for one…
Ali Cortez: Honey, Did You Happen to Find My Child Porn CD?
When you’re very, very estranged from your wife because she thinks you’ve been cheating, there are several conversations you desperately hope never to have. Chief among them would likely be something along the lines of “Umm, honey, have you seen my CD with the child porn on it?” Ali Manual…
Five Things Charlie Sheen Should Give Up for Lent
Charlie Sheen was brought up in a very Catholic family — his Dad’s about as Catholic as you can get — so it’s safe to assume he’s familiar with the idea of giving things up for Lent. What should he give up this year? Some suggestions, a few of which…
Dr. Seuss’ Top Five Hip-Hop Disciples
In honor of Dr. Seuss’ 106th birthday last week (March 2), Rocks Off’s present to you is the most Seussical rappers of all time, MCs who excel at the art of poetic rhyming and whimsical wordplay. Their rhymes constantly remind us that Dr. Seuss could have been a platinum rapper…
Food Fight: Fried Rodeo Fare
Fried delicacies abound at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, so what better place to do a little food fighting? To locate the stands we visited, click here. Battle Corndogs (Yoakum Packing Co. vs. Cajun Unlimited) What rodeo trip would be complete without scarfing down a corndog–or two? I first…
Upcoming: Motley Crue, Owl City, Primus, Skatenigs, Etc.
Black Queen Speaks: Fri., May 27. Warehouse Live. Dredg, The Dear Hunter: Thu., May 26. Warehouse Live. Face To Face, Strung Out: Thu., June 2. Warehouse Live. Fair To Midland, Periphery, Scale The Summit, thelastplaceyoulook, Hindsight: CHANGED Mon., April 18. Warehouse Live. Jessica Lea Mayfield: Fri., April 22. Fitzgerald’s. Kamelot,…
10 Facts for Fat Tuesday: The Story of the Hurricane
It’s one of New Orleans’s most enduringly popular cocktails, and — like most things from the Big Easy — it comes with a great back-story: the Hurricane. We know that many of you will be sipping a Hurricane of your own tonight (or perhaps today, you lucky bastard) in celebration…
The Best of TV Soft-Core (NSFW)
You know you loved these shows–after it got dark and everyone else in the house went to bed, those soft-core wonders of cock-socks and strategically placed hands. The simulated bumping and grinding giving younger viewers (like this writer), a false impression of where everything was supposed to fit during crazed…
Texans’ Kareem Jackson, Cockfighting Correspondent
The Houston Texans’ Kareem Jackson struggled through his rookie season, having trouble covering receivers. One thing he can cover: Cockfighting. Jackson made his debut as a sideline reporter via Twitter, as reported by CBSHouston, which is the web outlet for KILT-AM. Besides the picture shown here, he offered the following…
Space Cowboys: Big Head Todd Serenades Shuttle Crew
If someone woke Rocks Off up at 2:30 in the morning with a Big Head Todd & the Monsters song, even the band themselves, we might have a few choice words for them. But we suppose it’s a little different when you’re 220 miles above the Earth. That’s what happened…
Comment of the Day: Southwest’s Sexism Was Written Into the Manual
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Aeros Hope the System Will Save Them
John RoyalThe Aeros’ Pascal Morency goes for a little spinThis is a tough time for the Houston Aeros. They’ve been playing playoff caliber hockey since right after Christmas. They’ve gone 19-10-0-2 since then, and they’ve made a steady climb up to the top of the AHL West Division standings to…
Kim Kardashian’s “Jam” A Hurdle Too Big To Clear
Stick to what you’re good at: A simple, yet, invaluable lesson that can save you lots of embarrassment. Kim Kardashian hasn’t learned that lesson, but she will soon when she breaks into the music industry with her pop debut, “Jam (Turn It Up),” a nightmare of a song created and…
New On DVD: Every Day, A Film Unfinished, Four Lions, Inside Job, Jackass 3, Morning Glory, The Next Three Days
(Capsule reviews by Melissa Anderson, J. Hoberman, Dan Kois, Karina Longworth and Ella Taylor) Jackass 3-D The ultra-lo-fi, skate-culture-spawned, extreme-stunt brand that turned its freak show of featured players into celebrities, the Jackass franchise pounces on Hollywood’s latest cash-cow fad with its third feature film. Even in 3-D, the basic…
Brew Blog: Big Flats 1901
Poor “Big Flats 1901.” It’s such an easy target, people just can’t help themselves. First, it’s made for and sold exclusively by Walgreens, and, clearly, booze marketed by a drugstore has to be bad. Then, they had to go ahead and give it a name easily synonymous with crappy beer…
It’s Nut-Cutting Time at HISD
There was no talk of raising taxes as Houston ISD trustees reviewed a list of proposed reductions to the district’s budget next year and prepared to approve the first step in a notification process calling for fewer teachers by fall 2011. Cuts to schools alone came in at $65 million…
Top 5: Appetizers
Which places start your meal off just right? Find out, as we take a look at some of the best appetizers Houston has to offer. 5. Pappasito’s Matador Nachos Unless you’re a complete fat ass, I’d highly recommend splitting these between at least two, probably three people. Matador Nachos have…
100 Creatives: Andy Noble
(Part of our ongoing series profiling 100 Houston-area artists. No rankings; no order. Check back every Tuesday and Thursday for another edition.) What he does: “I have a hip-hop background,” says Andy Noble, co-founder of Noble Motion Dance, “and that’s how I came to dance. I started off as a…
Scott Stewart: Front Porch Fracas Over Crack Cash Lands Lufkin Man in Jail
While Scott Stewart might not charge much in rent, the 38-year-old East Texas landlord definitely does prove that adage that you get what you pay for. And there’s another old chestnut his alleged actions would seem to buttress, one first uttered by fuck-up messiah Charlie Sheen’s John the Baptist-like precursor,…
Last Night: Tim McGraw At RodeoHouston
Tim McGraw Reliant Stadium March 7, 2011 Tim McGraw is the essence of modern country. Last night, he appeared onstage, donning boots, a big-ol’, Texas-sized belt buckle, a red, white and blue plaid shirt and a dark black cowboy hat. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand,…
Willow Smith: A Chip Off The Old Block
You always want to be careful when writing about children. Not only because they’re the future, as Whitney Houston and Bill Hicks once told us, but because it isn’t exactly sporting to use your big person vocabulary and rhetorical arsenal to tee off on someone who hasn’t yet been beaten…
We Get the Celebrity Offspring We Deserve
You always want to be careful when writing about children. Not only because they’re the future, as Whitney Houston and Bill Hicks once told us, but because it isn’t exactly sporting to use your big person vocabulary and rhetorical arsenal to tee off on someone who hasn’t yet been beaten…
Gothic Council Debates Unionization, Johnny Cash
In Wisconsin, there’s a huge political fight over what form of bargaining state-worker unions will be able to use in the future, and it got us thinking. After all, goths provide many valuable goods and services to the community, such as dark music, disturbing art, and a whole genre of…
Cowboy Diaries: Yvan Jayne — Gave Up His French Accent to Be a Cowboy
Mandy OaklanderYvan Jayne, barebackTrue cowboys and cowgirls are hard to find, but not at the Houston Rodeo. Life on the road leads them here this time every year for the biggest rodeo in the world, where they’ll ride and wrangle livestock for cash and glory. Each day, Hair Balls will…
Where Are We Drinking?
The mimosas at this popular brunch place sell for $6.50 each. That is, unless, you mistakenly purchase a carafe, which costs $20 and contains enough OJ and bubbly for three mimosas — you do the math. At which restaurant were we paying extra for the pleasure of using this stoneware…
Sherlock’s Pub: Another TABC Complaint at Scene of Cop Shooting
Paul West, former chief financial officer of the company that owns the chain of Sherlock’s bars, has filed a new and improved TABC complaint against the company, in connection with a fatal shooting outside the River Oaks Sherlock’s. West complained that the River Oaks location’s dollar-a-drink happy hours begged for the…
The Sugar Land Skeeters Gear Has Arrived
You didn’t like the name of Sugar Land’s new minor-league team. Maybe you’ll like the gear. On the other hand, since it’s proudly emblazoned with the Skeeters name, it all may take some getting used to. The Sugar Land Skeeters have begun selling shirts and caps at an online store,…
Comment of the Day
Katharine Shilcutt sampled this year’s calorie-packed rodeo offerings, so you don’t have to, at the Gold Buckle Foodie Awards. One of her fellow judges called the chicken-fried bacon “stupid,” but commenter Ed T. disagreed: I happen to be a fan of CFB. Done well, it is worthy of being the…
Ron Artest Splatters a Spurs Fan with Hot Coffee (w/ VIDEO)
Why is it that the people who are the most clueless wind up with the best seats to sporting events? In theory, someone sitting courtside at an NBA game should be intelligent enough to (a) afford tickets that go for about a grand a pop, or (b) live in a…
On the Menu: Simos Diner’s Gyro
Simos Diner (5004 North Shepherd) is one of my favorite spots in all of Houston. The place has a tremendous amount of character, a group of loyal regulars and, of course, solid food. They offer a variety of entrees on the steam table, but my visits tend to center around…
Eldorado Ballroom: A Concise History By Dr. Roger Wood
Rocks Off was pleased as punch to report last week that, thanks to the efforts of the Texas Blues Project’s R. Eric Davis and Project Row Houses, which has owned the historic Third Ward venue since 1999, the Eldorado Ballroom will receive its own Texas Historical Marker plaque later this…
Discovery ‘s Last Take-Off: Some Wild Views
NASA has put together an impressive montage of the last take-off of the space shuttle Discovery, using a wide range of cameras on the launch pad and the vehicle. There’s about five minutes or so of preflight stuff here, so fast-forward if you prefer…
Mardi Gras Arrests Down by 50 Percent, Cops Say
Can you really have a Mardi Gras without a lot of arrests? Galveston is finding out. Galveston announced earlier this year that this year’s 100th anniversary Mardi Gras would be “family friendly,” with more security and an admission fee to key areas. And if, as some have complained in our…
A Gallon of Ghee
Among the other wondrous things you can find at Costco these days is this half-gallon container of ghee, or clarified butter. The gigantic jar you see above cost just a hair under $10. Considering the price of butter at the grocery store — four sticks of Land o’ Lakes cost…
Charming Shards of Love Presents Authentically Mismatched Couplings
The Setup: Shards of Love, eight short plays by Paullette MacDougal, illustrates how a playwright with imagination and heart, a talented cast and a dedicated theater can remind us that humor, love and understanding are not in short supply, at least in mature relationships. Seldom have the benefits of age…
Terry Grier Reverses Course, Recommends That Lanier Continue as a Vanguard, Not an IB Magnet
Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier, who yesterday changed his mind about tackling magnet school funding this year, also has reversed course on Lanier Middle School and is now recommending that Lanier remain a Vanguard school — rather than becoming an International Baccalaureate magnet, according to e-mail he sent to a…
Killa Kyleon’s Epic T-Shirt, Mixtape & Video Party: A Report
Saturday afternoon Killa Kyleon, who just started up a new team he calls Team Run It!, hosted a release party for his new “Don’t Mess With Killa” T-shirt that turned into a mixtape listening party that turned into a video shoot at Check Other Outfitters. Rocks Off went, hung out…
Homeade Vinegar
Among the many kitchen projects I’ve delved into lately, there’s one that has me more excited than the rest. One of my favorite things about food and cooking is the still-somewhat-magical aspect of transformation. You take raw ingredients, add a little bit of heat or apply a chemical reaction, maybe…
Country Playhouse’s Spelling Bee Buzzes with Appeal
The Setup: Precocious little Logainne SchwartzandGrubenniere (Monica Passley) — she has two dads, you see — stands at the microphone in the middle school gymnasium where the spelling bee is held. Her word to spell is “strabismus,” a squint caused by a defect in the eye muscles. She asks vice…
Southwest Airlines TV Ads: Creepy, Kinky, Sexist or Just Bad — Five Examples
Southwest Airlines had another big month in February, the company announced today. They also announced they’d be joining in the latest round of airfare hikes, which is nice. We do love us some Southwest here in Texas. Maybe it’s the ads. Through the years, they’ve been…odd, for the most part…
The Eating Our Words Burger Bracket: Call for Judges
Do you love eating burgers? Do you love judging things? Do you have the time and stomach capacity to do both over the next couple of weeks? Then we want you! The first annual Eating Our Words Burger Bracket is set to start next week in a March Madness-style epic…
Goodnight Sandworms, Goodnight…Dune?
Goodnight Moon, first published in 1947, is one of those beloved childhood books we’ll always remember fondly. For our money, there was never a more soothing feeling than quietly saying “goodnight” to the world around us as we drifted off into innocent slumber. Well, now there’s a version of Goodnight…
Saturday: Questlove, Bun B & Jimmy Fallon At Red Bull Music Academy
Red Bull Music Academy feat. Questlove, Bun B & Jimmy Fallon House of Deréon Media Center, Music World Entertainment March 5, 2011 See more photos of the “On the Floor!” event in our slideshow. Saturday night, Red Bull hosted an “On the Floor!” music session at the House of Deréon…
HPD Tries to Make Convenience Stores Safer
Houston police made a point of visiting convenience stores recently to inspect how well they’re set up to deter robberies, the answer to which, we assume, is “not very.” But the local Stop ‘n’ Robs, while they’re always going to be vulnerable to the meth-fueled till robbery that nets $40…
Ingredient of the Week: Sepia
What is it? Sepias are cephalopods – in the same class as octopus and squid – and have the largest brain-to-body size ratios of all invertebrates, so they’re pretty clever little creatures. While it’s also known as a cuttlefish, the sepia isn’t actually a fish, it’s a mollusk. The ink…
Man Bartlett’s 24-Hour Dream Appraisal
Saturday night, Art Attack checked out a curious show at the laid-back Montrose house gallery Skydive. New York-based artist Man Bartlett was in middle of a 24-hour performance piece called #24hClerk, in which he accepted dream submissions online and from spectators. Bartlett, armed with a price gun, repeated the dream…
What a Crock: Pinto Beans
It’s important to have a good bean recipe in the crock pot arsenal, especially living here in Texas. Beans are versatile, and if made properly, can be quite delicious. Let’s see how this crock pot pinto bean recipe turned out. The rundown I’m not going to sit here and tell…
Joe Frank Garza: Pleads Guilty to Misusing Millions in Seized Drug Cash
Joe Frank Garza, the Valley district attorney who for years has been loudly proclaiming his innocence on charges that he misused millions in seized drug money, changed his tune today. The Texas Attorney General’s office, which has been prosecuting the case against Garza, says the former DA pleaded guilty to…
Saturday Night: By The End Of Tonight Reunion At Fitzgerald’s
By The End Of Tonight, Young Mammals, B L A C K I E, Art Füx, Caddywhompus Fitzgerald’s March 5, 2011 By the end of the show on Saturday night, there was no longer any potential energy left in Fitzgerald’s upstairs room; it had been entirely converted into kinetic form…
Will Mainstream Rap Ever Stop Objectifying Women?
Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn’t a national holiday, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week’s Panel: Bun B, Lil Flip, D-Risha, Renzo, Kyle Hubbard, Doughbeezy, Brad Gilmore Not Invited: Kanye West’s affinity for corpses…
This Little Piggy Went to Kata Robata
Say what you will about Twitter — that the microblogging/messaging service is ruining our attention spans, that it’s killing “real” blogging — but sometimes paying careful attention to your Twitter stream pays off. Take this past Friday, when Kata Robata announced that it was offering free suckling pig on its…
Cowgirl Diaries: Jill Moody — Horse Once Skewered By Barbed-Wire Fence, But the Show Goes On
True cowboys and cowgirls are hard to find, but not at the Houston Rodeo. Life on the road leads them here this time every year for the biggest rodeo in the world, where they’ll ride and wrangle livestock for cash and glory. Each day, Hair Balls will spotlight one person…
Looking Back at This Weekend’s Houston College Classic
John RoyalRice’s Michael Ratterree slides across the plate to score a run yesterday against BaylorThe 11th Houston College Classic was played at Minute Maid Park this weekend, and though it’s only March, it’s probably safe to say that the best baseball to be played in Minute Maid Park this season…
Friday Night: Chuck Berry At Nutty Jerry’s
Chuck Berry Nutty Jerry’s, Winnie March 4, 2011 “Chuck Berry is food” – Keith Richards There is no adequate way to describe the evolutionary gift that Chuck Berry signifies to the world at large. He created everything that we hold dear and true – all the sex, anger, struggle, revolution,…
A Saner Cookie
No matter how healthy I try to be, there is one habit I just can’t kick. I need chocolate. It’s my drug, and I have no intention of going to rehab. I do try to find the healthiest way to indulge, but one can only pretend to enjoy so many…
John Oliver’s “Vanity” Project
Since 2006, John Oliver has been a correspondent and writer for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, bringing a brilliant satirical wit that fits perfectly with the show’s unstated mission to take no prisoners when it comes to attacking politicians and the media. He’s since branched out into acting roles,…
Worry-Free Entertaining
I threw my first party at age 15 while the parental units were out of the country. Not the smartest idea, but the gathering was pretty legendary. Since then, I have learned a thing or two. Some bits of wisdom are pretty obvious, like “don’t feed your guests straight vodka…
Comment of the Day: The Astrodome Ain’t No Wrigley Field
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Last Night: Selena Gomez At RodeoHouston
Selena Gomez Reliant Stadium March 6, 2011 See photos of the teen pop star in our slideshow. Teen-pop star Selena Gomez showed off a new, deeper register during her kid-friendly Sunday night set at RodeoHouston. It’s easy to forget that these kids can age just like everyone else, even as…
30 Seconds With Cowboy Mouth’s Fred LeBlanc
Rocks Off sat down with Cowboy Mouth drummer and lead singer Fred LeBlanc to see what we could learn about the legendary New Orleans rock band – “Jenny Says” is still one of our top 20 songs – in 30 seconds. Rocks Off: What is the worst song in the…
Owls Soar and Coogs Plunge As the Regular Season Ends
John RoyalThe Cougars and Owls tip off to begin Saturday’s gameMaurice McNeil made a lay-up 34 seconds into Houston’s Saturday game against the Rice Owls. This shot put the Cougars up 2-0. The Cougars never again led in the game, and except for one brief shining moment when they tied…
The Week In TV: Winners/Losers
Between reruns and Charlie Sheen, the past few days have been kind of a blur. This was the week in TV Land: • Here’s the biggest problem for SNL, aside from the occasionally terrible sketches: They’re always going to be late to the party in the digital age. The Charlie…
Grier Backs Off From His Controversial Magnet Changes
After a marathon meeting of parental dismay with proposed changes to the Houston school district’s magnet program last week, superintendent Terry Grier has waved the white flag and postponed any action until next school year. District spokesman Jason Spencer announced via e-mail that any magnet changes will wait until HISD’s…
Where Are We Eating?
The cheese enchiladas at this classic breakfast destination are fabulous with a pair of fried eggs on top, but the real coup de grace is the vinegary red sauce meant to be squirted wildly on top. Does this masterpiece of Tex-Mex breakfasting look familiar to you? Leave your best guess…
Jimmy Fallon Takes in the Rodeo, Ninfa’s
Late night host Jimmy Fallon breezed into town over the weekend to take in a Questlove show, film some segments at the rodeo and eat at the original Ninfa’s. What should we expect Monday night? Here’s another twittered photo:…
Last Night: Janet Jackson At RodeoHouston
Janet Jackson Reliant Stadium March 4, 2011 More pics of Ms. Jackson can be found in our slideshow. Keep your shirt on. Janet did. Clad in a sleek silver catsuit so tight it was a miracle she could even breathe, let alone walk, let alone shimmy, let alone writhe on…
Tommy Lee Jones for Senate: Congressman Gene Green Says Why the Hell Not?
Geoff Berg, host of KPFT’s Partisan Gridlock show, is leading the improbable battle to draft Tommy Lee Jones as a Democratic candidate for the Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison. They’ve got a Facebook page and everything, including a petition with an open letter to the actor: Let’s…
Countdown to NFL Lockout 2011 (Obama Speaks!)
“If we can make the kind of progress that you needed to make to have a further extension, that’s where we’d be looking.” — Jeff Pash, lead negotiator on behalf of the NFL owners …and that’s exactly what happened. On the heels of a 24-hour extension of the current collective…
Comment of the Day
Katharine Shilcutt reported on renewed efforts to assign appellations to Gulf oysters, and some commenters didn’t like the idea so much. “Seriously,” P. T. Barnum wrote. “Were these same oysters selling for inflated prices before their fancy name? Nope. Sucker.” But PJ Stoops defended the practice: I think the point…
This Week in Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we’ve spent the rodeo eating unnecessarily fried food while watching other people ride around on raw food. We sampled some local grub at Uncorked’s Rodeo Roundup, which was decadent and fun. Unfortunately, not every meal went as well…
MCM: More Local Music News Than Fried Food At The Rodeo
Each week Rocks Off navigates the treacherous seas of the mysterious Internet, casting nets to bring you the finest and freshest music news from around Houston. Enjoy. Scale The Summit’s new album, The Collective, was released this week, and the entire thing is up for streaming on Soundcloud, so today’s…
The Week In Art 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. If you think you’ve got a good eye, drop your pictures in the pool and we’ll post the most eye-catching shots. (Be sure to enable the HTML…
NASA, Free That Robot Now!!
Discovery’s been at the International Space Station for days now, and still no robot action. Even President Obama’s getting antsy. He told the astronauts yesterday they should let R2 out of his packaging and allow him to “stretch his legs.” (We’re sure they had to bite their tongues to keep…
Why Are We Going To Selena Gomez Sunday?
This Sunday afternoon Reliant Stadium will be buzzing with pre-teens and their parents coming to see pop-sensation Selena Gomez perform at RodeoHouston. The uncomfortably attractive Dallas-area native is currently dating the King Of Moppet Pop, Justin Bieber. A few days ago, according to paparazzi and social-media speculation, she was allegedly…
BARC Has a Burned, Scarred Dog That Needs a Home
BARC has put out another warning that conditions are getting crowded and anyone coming in to adopt a pet would be really, really welcomed. They’ve also got a special one they’re trying to give away, the dog pictured above, a black chow and German shepherd mix who was burned and…
Meat Sundaes and Deep-Fried Moon Pies: It’s Rodeo Season!
Hot beef sundaes are nothing new; in fact, we wrote about them back in March 2009, when the popular meat-and-potatoes parfait was taking to the streets of Nebraska through the magic of vending machines. Even then, the sundaes were just a rip-off of the popular food from the Iowa State…
Jessica Tata: Feeling the Hate on Facebook
No local Houston figure in recent memory has become so hated so quickly as Jessica Tata, the fugitive owner of the day care where four children died in a fire last week. Believed to be in Nigeria, Tata, who lied about her juvenile record on her registration application and then pocketed…
Last Night: Alejandro Escovedo At House Of Blues
Alejandro Escovedo House of Blues Bronze Peacock Room March 3, 2011 This never would have happened in Austin. In our fair state capital, Alejandro Escovedo is worshiped like a god, and more people would show up to watch him wash his car than came out to House of Blues’ Bronze…
Ed Emmett: Keep the Dome, But Make a Decision
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett became the latest in a series of local elected officials delivering dire economic news, in his State of the County speech today. Cuts are coming, and the county will be searching for ways to get by with less, he said. But Emmett also touched on…
A New York Fashion Designer’s Houston Education
Fashion designer Lyn Devon didn’t know what she’d find when she came to Houston to participate in our first-ever fashion week last year, at the urging of modeling agency owner Neal Hamil. She anticipated the women might all want “big ball gowns,” rejecting her classic American sportswear as too subtle…
Chef Chat, Part 3: Joe Apa of Rudz
After chatting at Rudyard’s and sampling some food and beer (see the rest of our conversation here and here), chef Joe Apa and I took an impromptu road trip to Conroe’s Southern Star Brewery. Immediately, we were in awe of this grass-roots operation. It’s a total craft brewery. Tall fermenting…
Spring Break Overnight Kits: Women’s vs. Men’s
Spring Break, whether it’s in Galveston, South Padre, Florida or even one of the alternatives we suggested earlier, always brings with it the enticing possibility of a hook-up. You never know when that magical combination of Jell-O shots, beer bongs and Jay-Z will make lust bloom, and you discover you…
Openings & Closings: February 2011
As we showed you in our sneak peek earlier this week, The Blue Fish is now open at Bayou Place downtown. The Dallas-based sushi bar will also open a second Houston location in a few months next door to benjy’s on Washington Avenue., where a new build-out is currently being…
Bartender Chat: Ashelee Wells of III Forks
When I first visited III Forks to interview chef/ owner Ozzie Rogers, I couldn’t help but notice how invitingly elegant the bar area was; bright and modern, yet simultaneously classic and timeless. So recently, after a long day at the office, I headed back to check it out properly. I…
Last Night: Sugarland At RodeoHouston
Sugarland Reliant Stadium March 3, 2011 The shenanigans have begun, folks. The Rodeo is back in Houston, and if you haven’t already, it’s time to stop by Reliant Stadium, pet some adorable farm animals, gain a few pounds eating fried everything – maybe even lose a few after visiting the…
One of the Most Expensive Blocks in the U.S is in Houston
Business Week has put together a list of the ten most expensive blocks in America, and Houston has an entry on the list. Spoiler alert: You probably don’t live on it. Everyone will surely be knocked over to learn that the block, which actually seems to be quite a few…
Your Meme of the Week: Hipster Grandma
The other day I was visiting my grandmother in the rehab facility back in Pearland, where she went after getting a new shoulder. I was wearing my new eyeglasses, and she inquired about how big they were, so I let her try them on for size. Of course I took…
No Mexico? No Problem! Five (Very Lame) Spring Break Alternatives
The Texas Department of Public Safety has strongly warned Spring Breakers from going to Mexico. whether it’s one of the famous tourist cities or the border towns that for years have attracted college students. What’s a person to do with their free time if they can’t cross over to a…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Rango
Title: Rango You Chose A Movie About Johnny Depp As A Chameleon Over The Adjustment Bureau And Cedar Rapids? I did. I felt any potential deficits in narrative complexity would be easily counterbalanced by the film’s philosophical underpinnings. Really? Fine, it was the screening closest to my house. Rating Using…
Last Night: Canned Acoustica II At Warehouse Live
Canned Acoustica II Warehouse Live March 3, 2011 Check out our photos of Canned Acoustica II: Acoutstic Boogaloo! It’s awfully hard to dog a charity event, especially one donating to a cause as noble as the Houston Food Bank, so Aftermath won’t even try. Besides, by the time that Come…
Upcoming Events: The All-Texas Edition
The pork taquitos from Molina’s that we enjoyed so much at the Rodeo’s Best Bites event in late February were a refreshing change from some of the heavier entries: just tender, shredded pork wrapped in a soft corn tortilla and topped with a tangy salsa verde. They were a hit…
Idol Beat: The Cult Awareness Network
I thought I imagined it at first, or was suffering the onset of hallucinations brought upon by sleep deprivation, strong drink, and three consecutive nights of watching Steven Tyler undress the audience with his eyes. But for maybe the first time since Season 10 of Idol began, I actually rewound…
Top 5: Food Flops
Have you ever gone to a restaurant with high expectations and left feeling disappointed? We all have. Here are my top five dishes from great places that ended up being real head-scratchers. 5. Fish at Feast I dined with a group of four the other night at Feast. It was…
Landry’s Admits Some Flagship Debris May Have Been Dumped in Gulf, and They’re Not Happy
Landry’s Restaurants, the company owned by Tilman Fertitta that is tearing down Galveston’s Flagship Hotel, has been disputing reports that demolition crews have been tossing debris into the Gulf. No longer. A letter to the contractor, issued publicly by Landry’s VP Jeff Cantwell, says, “We are deeply disappointed to learn…
Idol Beat: Brought To You By The Church Of Scientology
I thought I imagined it at first, or was suffering the onset of hallucinations brought upon by sleep deprivation, strong drink, and three consecutive nights of watching Steven Tyler undress the audience with his eyes. But for maybe the first time since Season 10 of Idol began, I actually rewound…
HISD: Terry Grier — Budget Crisis Detailed, 25 Magnets Proposed to Be Slashed
The Houston school district suggested sweeping changes to nearly every detail of its infrastructure last night in light of the budget crisis it faces, from cutting down the number of crossing guards that lead children to school to the schools themselves. In a standing-room-only board meeting, more than 300 parents,…
Last Night: The Walkmen At Fitzgerald’s
The Walkmen Fitzgerald’s March 3, 2011 Walk yourself on over to our slideshow to see more pics from the concert. “Play the rock, already!” yelled an impatient spectator toward the empty Fitzgerald’s stage. Fans at Thursday’s sold-out show (an understatement) were awaiting New York rockers The Walkmen – and impatiently…
Odd Pair: Mangos and 2009 Alamos Torrontés
The arrival of the warmer temperatures of March has put me in a springtime frame of mind. I suppose that’s why I went a little overboard stocking up on tropical fruit last time I grocery-shopped. The mangoes proved to be particularly golden and juicy, especially for this time of year…
Blue Movies
New York City, 1936. Several members of Europe’s expat avant-garde community have gathered in Julian Levy’s Madison-Avenue gallery for a screening of artist Joseph Cornell’s homemade film Rose Hobart. Cornell is operating the projector. The film, now recognized as a groundbreaking masterwork of Surrealism, is a crudely edited collage of…
Last Night: Linkin Park At Toyota Center
Linkin Park, Paper Tongues Toyota Center March 3, 2011 More pics of the Linkin Park concert can be found in our slideshow. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” Rock writers cannot…
Shiftwork Bites: Megadarra
For years now, I’ve been chasing the perfect megadarra. I was first introduced to this Middle Eastern staple at Droubi’s. My family has been visiting this grocery store-cum-lunch counter location for quick weeknight dinners for years, especially on Wednesdays, when megadarra and fried potatoes with lemon, garlic, and cilantro were…
Astros Spring Training: Is the Season Over Yet?
Is the season over yet?We’re approaching the end of the first week of spring training and the news for the Astros has been rather mixed. The team’s not really hitting. The pitching is half-assed. And frankly, there’s just not much going on to be optimistic about. So I thought I…
February 26-March 4: The Week in Photos
Each week, we take a dip into the Houston Press Flickr pool and see what our talented photographers have been up to. Since today is Go Texan Day, we want to see picks of you and your coworkers or kids in your finest cowpoke garb. Just drop them in our…
Effeminate Synthpop Band + Death Metal Singer = ???
Rocks Off likes to troll the musicians section of Craigslist in an effort to catch interesting acts at their very inception. Usually we get the same old thing day in and day out: Need FOC (Friend of Christ) bass player for worship band. Must have ride. 18 SERIOUS singer looking…
Cowboy Diaries: Bobby Mote — Ripped Abdominals? No Problem, That’s What Pills Are For
True cowboys are hard to find, but not at the Houston Rodeo. Life on the road leads them here this time every year for the biggest rodeo in the world, where they’ll ride and wrangle livestock for cash and glory. Each day, Hair Balls will spotlight one person with enough…
On the Menu: Eating Puppies at Denny’s
Easy PETA, I’m talking about Denny’s pancake puppies–the somewhat revolting breakfast appetizer I ordered last Sunday. I rarely get pancakes, but something was oddly intriguing about these bite-size balls of fried dough. Maybe it was just my sixth sense of the impending National Pancake Day. You’ve got two options when…
Comment of the Day: What Would Tilman Do?
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Comment of the Day
Glenn Livet hit the lunchtime happy hour at the Red Lion. Commenter Ted Stickles, for one, is over it: Man, screw this place. Yea, the food is good, but it really sucks that they raised their prices right after they were featured in that show. Since an Imperial pint is…
Houston Texans — Owen Daniels Gets Paid
It’s been quite an odyssey for Houston Texans tight end Owen Daniels these last few years. The highlight of his Texans career thus far has probably been his trip to the Pro Bowl at the end of the 2008 season. Since then, to say O.D.’s journey has been star-crossed is…
Video Pick: The Best Performances of the Decade
Last Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony was also the last Oscars of the first decade of the 21st century. The New York Times asked actors–Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Vera Farmiga, Christolph Waltz, George Clooney, Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, Colin Firth and others–to share their favorite/most inspiring performances of the last decade…
Houston’s Top 10 Wine Bars
Today’s Houston Press Deal of the Day (oh, you don’t know what those are? sign up; they’re seriously fantastic) is for 50 percent off at Boheme, a little wine bar in Montrose that also serves up cappuccinos and beer in a bar that’s part zen garden, part Spanish cafe. When…
Luis Enrique Ramirez: Border Guard Admits Letting Coke and Aliens In
A Border Patrol agent has admitted he waved through a car full of cocaine and helped aliens cross into the U.S. which, to be honest, is pretty clearly against the law. Luis Enrique Ramirez, 38, of Brownsville, entered a guilty plea today, saying he’d been part of a drug-trafficking ring…
Parker Gets Very, Very Gloomy About the Budget
If you’re making a list of “First sentences you don’t want to read in memos,” it would have to include “There is no easy way to deliver the news you are receiving today.” But that’s the way Mayor Annise Parker led off a grim summary to the council and city…
Charlie Sheen: A Playlist Full Of Winning
The social media Hiroshima and Nagasaki that is the past two weeks of Charlie Sheen’s life has led us to join the party by making our own playlist of Sheen songs. As if enough hasn’t been written about this gonzo hero already, Rocks Off is now chipping in our three…
An Oyster by Any Other Name
At this past weekend’s inaugural Foodways Texas symposium, one of the most eagerly anticipated seminars wasn’t held in a conference room, and it didn’t come with a PowerPoint presentation. Attendees instead slurped down all manner of freshly shucked Gulf oysters at Galveston’s classic seafood restaurant, Gaido’s, as oyster specialists like…
Cirque du Soleil Raises the Big Top
While a forklift’s stereo blared Queen’s “We Are the Champions / We Will Rock You,” Cirque du Soleil raised the grand chapiteau (big top) on its production OVO today at the Sam Houston Race Park. Cirque construction supervisors barked orders in English and French to the assembled 60-plus crew, a…
When Houston vs. Dallas Didn’t Mean Texans vs. Cowboys
Our sister blog in Dallas, Unfair Park, got pointed to the latest installment of Uni Watch, the blog by Paul Lukas, who has long obsessed over old sports uniforms. It dealt mostly with the old Dallas Texans of the AFL, but did feature the above program for a Dallas-Houston game…
Top Five Athlete-Rapper Team-Ups
Speak of the devil… Give an NBA player a mike and he’ll give you one of the worst performances of all time. Put the same athlete in the company of a decent rapper and the result might surprise you. If you’re still haunted by the bitter taste of our worst…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Joe Apa of Rudz
Take an awesome chef and put him in a pub, and you get a creative environment with a bar full of good beers. It’s like giving the Eagles Mariachi instruments — you know it’s going to rock but in another environment. We had a blast chatting with him this week…
2011 AIA Houston Awards Showcase Strong Local Design Talent
To win an AIA Houston 2011 Architecture Design Award, you either have to work in Houston or build here, so a glimpse at the annual awards is a reliable means of taking the temperature of the local architecture scene. We got a look at the freshly published list of winners,…
Bryan McCarthy: Deer Park Man Arrested for Illegally Livestreaming Sporting Events
Federal agents today arrested Bryan McCarthy, 32, for running a Web site that illegally livestreamed NFL games, pay-per-view fights and other sporting events. The operator of channelsurfing.net was arrested at his Deer Park home without incident by officers of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The…
Hot Breads on Hillcroft: Get Your French-Indian Fusion Fix
When it opened in 2002, Hot Breads Bakers & Confectioners was part of a worldwide chain of Hot Breads franchises that originated in Madras, India in 1989. And while the family at Houston’s Hot Breads — headed by matriarch Laila Vastani — bought out the place some time ago, you…
Kings Of Leon Playing Free Final Four Discovery Green Show
According to Houston’s KHOU-TV, Tennessee studs Kings of Leon will play a free show at Discovery Green from 12-4 p.m. the afternoon of Saturday, April 2, as part of the Final Four weekend festivites as the NCAA men’s basketball championship returns to Houston for the first time since 1971. Well,…
Unidentified Male, 53, Bayou Body Count No. 28
A man has been charged with DWI and causing an accident involving injury in relation to a car crash that killed a 53-year-old man on the far west side. Carlton Jay Eberle, 25, was drunk and driving in the 1700 block of Highway 6 about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when he…
Brew Blog: Allagash Black Belgian Style Stout
As the weather turns increasingly in the direction of the blast furnace that is a Houston summer, I’ve been turning more and more to lighter beers. It’s not that I’ve lost any love for a good stout or porter, they’re just not what I want to drink while sitting out…
DPS’s Driver Responsibility SALE-A-Bration: No One’s Taking Them Up on Their Great Deal Offer
As we told you in January, the Texas Department of Public Safety is offering a great deal for people who’ve gotten behind on the various fees that come with DWI and other offenses — just pay 10 percent of what you owe, and you can get your license back. That’s…
Last Night: Trace Adkins At RodeoHouston
Trace Adkins Reliant Stadium March 2, 2011 Aftermath admits that before Wednesday night, we were by no means experts on the bellowing country crooner known as Trace Adkins. After the show was over, however, we felt like buying every album he’s ever put out. Not only did the man lose…
When to Refrigerate Fruits and Vegetables
There has been a war raging in my apartment between my refrigerator and me for quite some time. Every week, I arrive home from the grocery store with bags brimming with brightly colored, yummy-looking produce and put it in the fridge. Yet when I pluck my treasures from their chilly…
Flagship Hotel Debris Video: You Decide
Bill Hill, a surfer and real estate agent in Galveston, has been leading the call to arms over allegations that the crews tearing down the Flagship Hotel have been tossing debris into the Gulf. Now he’s posted video. And, well, you can decide. Other videos are here. Landry’s, which has…
Eldorado Ballroom To Receive Texas Historical Marker
A year ago, Third Ward had no music-related official Texas historical markers. Soon, it will have two. Last month, the Texas Historical Commission approved a marker application filed by Project Row Houses for the Eldorado Ballroom, the historic music venue near Elgin and Dowling. Project Row’s board of directors raised…
“Tiger Blood” Splatters NYC’s Armory Show
Not even a high-profile “serious” art event like the Armory Show, going on right now in New York City, is immune to pop culture’s basest vulture-fodder–or, of course, to a sly comment on the pervasiveness of it (depending on how you see it). Light artist Vicki DaSilva “bombed” the show…
The Cowboy Diaries: Lose a Car, Ride a Bronco
True cowboys are hard to find, but not at the Houston Rodeo. Life on the road leads them here this time every year for the biggest competition in America, where they’ll ride and wrangle livestock for cash and glory. Each day, Hair Balls will spotlight one person with enough dirt…
Fratelli’s Authentic Italian Cuisine: Culinary Surprises Abound in a Northwest Houston Shopping Center
Houstonians are a funny bunch. Those that live in the suburbs have no qualms about traversing the city for a nice meal, while most inner-loopers balk at the idea of dining anywhere that requires logging more than eight minutes of freeway time. I belong to the second group, and had…
Remember Devin The Dude’s Gotta Be Me?
Houston’s history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We’ll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Devin the Dude Gotta Be Me (2010, Real Talk Records) We’ve written ad nauseum about Devin the Dude’s sleepy…
Apollo 13: The Theater Show
This is a trailer for Apollo 13: Mission Control, posted on NASA’s Buzzroom blog today. The show is not a NASA production, it’s an interactive theater piece that, as far as we can tell, is done in New Zealand and Australia. The show’s website says: To transport you to Houston,…
Idol Beat: Ladies’ Night
I missed most of last night’s introduction because I was still trying to get my head around how they’re going to milk tonight’s selection show for two freaking hours. American Idol is just another example of domestic inefficiency: take what should be — at best — a 30-minute program and…
Rice Basketball: Farce? Fiasco? Either Way, the Owls Lose Another
John RoyalThe malfunctioning shot clock displays Rice’s chances of advancing to the NCAA TournamentWhat if they played a basketball game and nobody cared? What if it was senior night, but the school was on spring break and not even the band or cheerleaders could be bothered to make even a…
Happy Hour Scene: Red Lion
The Place: Red Lion Pub 2316 S. Shepherd 713-782-3030 http://www.redlionhouston.com The Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays The Deals: $1 off beer and well drinks The Scene: The Red Lion is a nice lunch spot, but it isn’t anything approaching a…
Last Night: Ice Cube At House Of Blues
“Look at me; I’m just doing my motherfuckin’ thang!” Ice Cube House of Blues March 2, 2011 We all know the drill: You attend a rap show, buy a few drinks, say hello to your cousin/co-worker/pastor who also bought tickets, and then proceed to sit through a slew of opening…
Idol Beat: Some Girls
I missed most of last night’s introduction because I was still trying to get my head around how they’re going to milk tonight’s selection show for two freaking hours. American Idol is just another example of domestic ineffeciency: take what should be — at best — a thirty minute program…
100 Creatives: David McGee
(This is the first part of our ongoing series profiling 100 Houston-area artists. It’s not a best-of-Houston list; it’s not in order. It’s simply an exploration of the creative impulse–what sparks it; what keeps it going. Check back every Tuesday and Thursday for another edition.) What he does: David McGee…
Food Fight: Fried Mushrooms
An appetizer of fried mushrooms is hard to beat. I enjoy them more than onion rings, and a hell of a lot more than fried mozzarella. I headed to BRC Gastropub, along with the reader suggestion of Pappy’s Café, for this battle. Let’s see how it played out. BRC Gastropub…
Comment of the Day: Duke Floppers Ain’t Got Nothing on the Spurs
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Finally, A Medical Rationale For Celebrity Anti-Semitism
Time was, a celebrity with negative opinions about “ze Jews” could opine about the threat they posed to Western culture until he/she was blue in the face, and many did (Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh, to name a couple). Then World War II and the Holocaust happened, and (publicly) vilifying…
Medical Alert: Alcohol Is Turning Our Celebrities into Anti-Semites
Time was, a celebrity with negative opinions about “ze Jews” could opine about the threat they posed to Western culture until he/she was blue in the face, and many did (Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh, to name a couple). Then World War II and the Holocaust happened, and (publicly) vilifying…
Musicians Unite To Help Abyss Singer’s Injured Son
Zain Oliver is the young son of Sean Ozz, front man for dark rock outfit The Abyss and local tattoo guru. Not long ago… well, we’ll just let the picture at right tell the story of what happened to him. Now, what adjective does that justice? For many local musicians…
App of the Week: GasBuddy
App: GasBuddy Platforms: iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile Web site: GasBuddy.com Cost: Free People love their cars in Houston. More specifically, people love their enormous, gas-guzzling, monster-mobiles. With the turmoil in the Middle East driving gas prices through the roof, even in what many consider the oil and gas capital of the world, it makes…
Smoked Duck at Goode Co. Bar-B-Q
Some restaurants become institutions because of their fantastic food. Others, I’ve decided, become institutions merely because they are institutions. Take, for example, Goode Co. Bar-B-Q. This place is pretty much the epitome of Houston dining institutions. Since the mid ’70s, the iconic spot has been serving up brisket, sausage and…
Milo the Drink: Five Things to Expect, If You Know Milo Hamilton
A friend of the blog took this photo of an amazing drink called Milo. It’s popular in Australia, Wiki tells us, but here in Houston — home of Houston Astro play-by-play legend Milo Hamilton — it seems especially apt. We’ve never tasted the stuff, but just from years of listening…
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
If you’re looking for sexy shots of Ashley Alexandra Dupré, the young escort behind the political demise of former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, see Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. The documentary has the same lascivious images of her that were splattered all over the media…
Boo Town: Cut Down
The current production from the merry gang at BooTown, Cut Down, blends the Greek myth of Ixion, an impulsive man who was always breaking the most basic customs of hospitality (and paying for it dearly), with the fascinating story of the unknown fate of Amazonian explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett, who…
Eggshells
Austin’s favorite filmmaker, Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist), made what he called his “hippie movie,” Eggshells, in 1969. Described by Hooper as a mixture of Andy Warhol’s Trash and Walt Disney’s Fantasia, the film was once considered lost. Well, it’s been found. Eggshells had its resurrection last year at…
Children’s Parade
Here’s a Mardi Gras! Galveston event that not only allows kids, it’s made specifically for them: the Children’s Parade. Costumed kids and tweens will be on the floats and in the marching groups, tossing out junior-size beads and treats, while children and their parents line the parade route. Firefighters Local…
Mardi Gras: Krewe of Barkus & Meoux Parade
Four-legged creatures get in on the Mardi Gras celebration at the Krewe of Barkus & Meoux Parade. Animal lovers will enjoy this event, where pets are not only welcome, they’re the main attraction. There’s an optional pre-parade costume contest, with the winning pooches, cats, birds, bunnies, turtles and other pets…
Birthing Center
City slickers will especially appreciate the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Birthing Center – it allows visitors to see the miracle of birth without the odd smells and icky goo that often accompany the wondrous act. Since cows and pigs can’t be counted upon to produce calves and piglets on…
Marketplace
Be sure to browse the Reliant Center’s Marketplace. You’ll find a vast array of art, including western paintings and photography, as well as bronze sculptures, toys for little buckaroos, handmade jewelry and clothing, fancy footwear and cowboy hats, hand-pieced quilts, kitchen gadgets and kitsch. There are even handcrafted chaps, sets…
Mystic Krewe of Aquarius Fat Tuesday Parade
All good things must come to an end, even Mardi Gras. When the lighted Krewe of Aquarius 16th Fat Tuesday Parade rolls down the streets of Galveston’s Strand Distinct, the 2011 Mardi Gras celebration will be officially over. It’s the last chance to party, so do it up big. Look…
The Human Resources Manager
Israeli director Eran Riklis’s The Human Resources Manager, which won Best Picture at this year’s Israel’s Ophir Awards and was later selected as Israel’s entry for Best Foreign Film for this year’s Oscar, is the opening-night presentation at the 7th Annual Houston Jewish Film Festival. “Okay, there’s a human resources…
Warhol on TV
While Andy Warhol’s visual art, some of which can be seen regularly at Houston’s Menil Collection, is widely available for viewing, the artist’s extensive film and video output is rarely seen. Aurora Picture Show, in collaboration with the Menil and The Andy Warhol Museum, is presenting Warhol on TV, a…
12 Minutes Max!
DiverseWorks Artspace hasn’t produced its once-annual 12 Minutes MAX! performance in a number of years, but the organization is bringing it back…or at least hosting it again. Dance Source Houston is actually producing the event, which features the work of five choreographers presenting new works, works-in-progress and excerpts from 2011…
Punishment Park
The plot to the 1971 film Punishment Park is simple if chilling: It’s the middle of the Vietnam War and President Richard Nixon has declared a state of emergency. Thousands of antiwar, feminist and civil rights protestors are arrested. The convicted have the option to serve out their full sentence…
The Leopard (Il gattopardo)
Martin Scorsese had a hand in restoring Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard (Il gattopardo), the film being seen today at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Marian Luntz, film curator for the museum, says a reported 12,000 hours of work were put in to remove 47 years of dirt and scratches…
Inprint Reading Series: Chitra Divakaruni and Gish Jen
Award-winning writers Chitra Divakaruni and Gish Jen are the guest readers at this month’s Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series. Divakaruni, a faculty member at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program, will read from her latest title, One Amazing Thing. The novel deals with a group of people who…
August: Osage County
At the center of many of America’s greatest plays is a wonderfully, wickedly dysfunctional family. Think Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill — all these icons of the American stage wrote about gene pools that were seriously compromised. In 2007, Tracy Letts added to the canon with what may be…
Crawfish Festival in the Heights
It’s mudbug season in Houston, and among the many events dedicated to celebrating, seasoning and ultimately devouring members of the Astacoidea and Parastacoidea biological families, there’s the Annual Crawfish Festival in the Heights. “We’re very excited to grow this event this year, attracting people from well beyond the Heights,” says…
Tortillas with every meal
Dear Mexican, I am a mocha-skinned woman with long, curly hair and dark-brown eyes. Puerto Ricans always ask if I am Puerto Rican, Dominicans just come and start speaking Spanish, Cubans ask if my abuelita made good arroz con leche, but Mexicans know I’m black. What gives? La Morena Dear…
Royal Pain
It’s time for dirty jokes, food fights and glitter, juxtaposed with beheadings, riots and gang rape: The Houston Ballet and Artistic Director Stanton Welch have returned to the 2009 original ballet Marie. This three-act ballet is paired with an intense musical score by Dmitri Shostakovich, impeccably arranged by Ermanno Florio. Welch’s choreography is fresh,…
In a Pinch?
The day of green beer is back — where will you be knocking back a few? Check out some of your local bars for drink specials, musical entertainment and the chance to pinch a total stranger. — Abby Downing-Beaver THROUGH MARCH 17 88 Keys The Piano Bar 2736 Virginia St.,…
Capsule Art Reviews: “California Cool,” “Christian Eckart: The Absurd Vehicle & Other Propositions,” “Plenitude,” “Pteridomania,” “Timothy Greenfield-Sanders: Injured Soldiers and Marines”
“California Cool” Peel Gallery is offering up some “California Cool” in its current show of artists and designers who channel the 20th century, blending in some hip L.A. irony. The architecture firm Marmol Radziner presents some covetable low-slung, sleek chairs that riff on modernist icons as well a re-edition of…
Let Them Eat Cake
Let Them Eat Cake Online readers comment on “Come and Bake It,” by Robb Walsh, February 17: Ridiculous: I’m tired of folks suing everyone. Let the buyer choose what they want to eat. If I’m fine buying chili or tamales or a hot dog or tacos from a street vendor,…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Billy Elliot, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The War of the Worlds
Billy Elliot For a show set in the rough-and-tumble mining fields of northern England, this inspirational musical, adapted from Stephen Daldry and Lee Hall’s international hit movie, is the slickest thing imaginable — and won ten Tony awards to prove it. The entire show dances, from the set to the…
Advertisements for Herself
POLITICAL ANIMALS Advertisements for Herself Jolanda Jones says never talk to HPD By Mandy Oaklander Small white cards drifted around the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church on February 8, where an NAACP town hall meeting was being held to address Chad Holley’s police beating. “Know Your Rights With The Police,”…
The Great Heights Art Heist
For local artist Claire Richards, the opening night of her first solo exhibition, at a Heights artspace called H Gallery, should have been an evening to be remembered fondly for the rest of her days. And for a time, before Richards ran into months and months of lies, excuses, broken…
Stomp and Holler
Hayes Carll is nothing if not affable, with his ever-present half-smirk and aw-shucks persona. But don’t be fooled by his nonchalant swagger. The 35-year-old Carll, born and raised in The Woodlands, is also quite self-aware. Almost ridiculously so. See, Carll knows what’s on the immediate horizon of his career. He…
Portuguese Men of War
New York rockers The Walkmen introduced their bare-boned vintage-rock sound on their impressive debut album, 2002’s Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone. Refreshingly, 2004 follow-up Bows & Arrows was equally strong and contained eventual indie anthem “The Rat,” which remains unquestionably their most lauded song to date. But…
Come Here and Hang Out
Jaime Lawrence, a 24-year-old student and Continental Airlines employee with a hairdo that looks very expensive, is sitting at the bar at Midtown Lounge. This is her first visit, and she likes what she sees. “It’s an upscale lounge for young adults,” says Lawrence. “Men will occasionally offer to buy…
Janet Jackson
The world and the FCC both remember the last time Janet Jackson — Miss Jackson if you’re nasty — performed at Reliant Stadium. It was Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 and she was part of the halftime festivities with Justin Timberlake when Timberlake ripped off part of her outfit to…
Old 97’s
Appropriately enough for the band who wrote “Time Bomb,” the Old 97’s exploded back into alt-country’s front rank with last year’s The Grand Theatre, Vol. 1. After a couple of lackluster albums and a hiatus during which front man Rhett Miller made a couple of solo records, the Dallas foursome…
Pita in the Park
See the sights at Niko Niko’s Market Square location in our slideshow. “There is just so much to love on this table right now,” I found myself gushing over a recent dinner at the new Niko Niko’s in Market Square Park. I don’t normally get quite this silly over meals,…
By the End of Tonight
Bands get back together for all sorts of reasons, some more unfortunate than others. When their mutual van containing all their gear was stolen in January, former By the End of Tonight bandmates Brett Taylor and James Templeton decided a reunion was in order. Whatever the circumstances, a return appearance…
Porn-ing in America
Ink still wet on his MIT degree, Matt Franklin (Topher Grace) is back in hometown Los Angeles, waiting for his future to clarify itself while he loiters behind the counter at Suncoast Video, hawking VHSes of Harry and the Hendersons because it’s, like, totally 1988. Inspiration comes when Matt re-encounters…
Young the Giant
Young the Giant possesses songwriting wisdom and craft far beyond that of a band whose oldest member is only 22 years old. The California quintet is made up of guys who started playing music at a young age and have already amassed more indie-rock cred and mainstream clout than some…
Benevolent Force
The Adjustment Bureau is Bourne Ultimatum screenwriter George Nolfi’s directorial debut, an extremely loose adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s 1954 short story “Adjustment Team.” Matt Damon plays David Norris, a Brooklyn-born, bar-fight-prone congressman rocketing to the front of a Senate race apparently on the strength of his charisma and the…
Down
Metal supergroups don’t get too much heavier or better pedigreed than New Orleans’s Down, made up of former Pantera members Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown, Corrosion of Conformity’s Pepper Keenan, Crowbar’s Kirk Windstein, and Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod. Over 20 years together (but only three albums), the band has become…
Man-Child of the Corn
Fresh from Sundance, Miguel Arteta’s amiable Cedar Rapids is a mild comedy of embarrassment, set in the dark heart of Middle America and starring sitcom secondario Ed Helms (The Office’s obnoxious angry salesman Andy Bernard) as Tim Lippe, a prematurely middle-aged man-child. Taking an airplane for the first time in…
August: Osage County
In outline, Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County sounds rather derivative. It’s an intense family drama featuring a frightening, drug-addled mother, reminiscent of an O’Neill character. It’ll even remind you of Lear when, after their father’s death, three adult daughters argue about which one was the old man’s favorite. But Letts…
